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 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Surprised there's no 'Beam Weapon' slot for the TIE/d. The mini-tractor beam in TIE Fighter was a wonderful thing.

"What's that Mr. A-Wing? You thought you could get away? No, sorry. Just sit there helplessly whilst I send all my lasers into your back!"

Well, the upgrade cards aren't limited to the ship they are supplied with, so not having one now doesn't preclude there being one in the future (assuming there isn't one)

Ion weapons probably work functionally alike in the game anyway (hit a fighter with it, and it has to take a fixed move the next turn, so you know exactly what it will do and can plan accordingly)

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 msears wrote:
Me too, even though the E wing sounds like the better fighter from the description. I am terrible at gauging effectiveness until I field something though!

In this case the distinction is justified.

The Z-95 was an old fighter by the time the X-Wing showed up, and the E-Wing was meant to replace the aging X-Wing, so one being better than the other makes sense.

Hopefully the point values allow them to be fielded as such. And I remember the Headhunter from the old flight sims! packed quite a punch too if I remember,

The TieD blurb mentions " a maneuver never before seen on a dial", so they might be showcasing the tractor beams maneuverability options.

 msears wrote:
Hopefully the point values allow them to be fielded as such. And I remember the Headhunter from the old flight sims! packed quite a punch too if I remember,

You certainly noticed the difference when you went from a Z-95 to an X-Wing. The durability change alone was noticeable. Still, the Z-95 wasn't the worst fighter in those old games. The T-Wing was the worst.

Bah, the E-Wing was just another ugly killing machine, the X-Wing had style.

Which won't stop me from buying all of it.

 msears wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 msears wrote:
Me too, even though the E wing sounds like the better fighter from the description. I am terrible at gauging effectiveness until I field something though!

In this case the distinction is justified.

The Z-95 was an old fighter by the time the X-Wing showed up, and the E-Wing was meant to replace the aging X-Wing, so one being better than the other makes sense.

Hopefully the point values allow them to be fielded as such. And I remember the Headhunter from the old flight sims! packed quite a punch too if I remember,

Yes I remember those from the games, weren't they pretty much the first thing you killed in Tie Fighter?

Looking forward to getting a themed unit of them as some kind of Hutt's force or something

Expected, but allow me to say most excellent.

I don't think I'll go all out on the Tie/d or phantom, as I have with the Interceptors (4 of them are terribad, but they look so awesome), but I totally need one of each, at least. I know my gf will like the sound of the E-Wing an Z-95; she's ever so envious of seeing 6-8 Imperial ships to her 4, on average, and the E-wing sounds like a good high-end all-rounder, like the Defender.

Now, the question is, what next? Out of the EU, these are some of the most iconic ships, and save for the Skipray and Missile Boat, I couldn't think of an Imperial fighter shy of the Howlrunner and Preybird of late civil war eras, and they're hardly aesthetically pleasing ships. As for the rebels, I honestly can't think of anything other than the Outrider, which I think has good odds despite being similar to the Falcon.

The outrider MUST happen at some point. Shadows was too loved to be ignored. Could probably sneak the Virago in there too, and possibly another Bounty Hunter ship like IG-88's ship or something. Could have a badass SotE game that way: Landol and Chewie in Falcon, Luke in X-Wing, Dash in Outrider and Vader, Fett, IG and Xizor for the Imp setup. Yeah, I know Vader and Xizor hate each other. But still. Think of the awesome!!!

Hmm, yeah, the "where next" question does seem tricky.

Assault Gunboat for the Imperials? - It's basically an Imperial B Wing.

Missile Boats, skiprays, Hounds Tooth?

Rebels, The Ravens Claw, maybe? Outrider, The Lady Luck? R-41 Starchaser....

I imagine after Wave 5 or 6 or so, they'll probably head into the prequels era for a new release / game.

Imperials: Assault Gunboat, Assault Missileboat.
Rebels: K-Wing, R-41 Starchaser

BTW anybody knows how long the models of the Rebel transport and Tantive IV are?

No no no. I just finally got my Y-wing and Tie Advanced to complete my set, and now FF offers new minis? I wonder how long it will take for me to be able to get one of these.

Took me forever to get the Y-wing and Tie Advanced.

Davor wrote:
No no no. I just finally got my Y-wing and Tie Advanced to complete my set, and now FF offers new minis? I wonder how long it will take for me to be able to get one of these.

Took me forever to get the Y-wing and Tie Advanced.

They just announced them, so you likely have some time before they're actually released.

The T/A and Y-Wing were also part of the "Oh, you mean people still like Star Wars?" flood that wiped out supplies of the game and so a goodly amount of people were snapping them up "just cause" they were concerned they wouldn't get them later. The small ships of Wave 2 still seemed to disappear, but I don't think there's been any where near as bad of shortage issues with the Wave 3 ships (or at least I've not seen any in my area...YMMV). I think FFG has learned roughly how many ships they need to make to meet the demand, and these being EU ships are (probably) not going to be swarmed as much as the more iconic movie ships were.

 Compel wrote:
Hmm, yeah, the "where next" question does seem tricky.

Assault Gunboat for the Imperials? - It's basically an Imperial B Wing.

Missile Boats, skiprays, Hounds Tooth?

Rebels, The Ravens Claw, maybe? Outrider, The Lady Luck? R-41 Starchaser....

I imagine after Wave 5 or 6 or so, they'll probably head into the prequels era for a new release / game.

I can't see The Raven's Claw showing up as it is very similar to the Moldy Crow even though it would be sweet to have Kyle in the Crow and Jan or Jaden in the Claw on the battlefield. Same goes for the Outrider being very similar to the Falcon. This is FFG and they could surprise us like the did with the GR-75 and the Tantive IV

First thinks: Then thinks to self: Two minutes later: three minutes after that: then finally

My guess for wave 5:
Rebel:
Outrider- large ship with less 360 and more front firepower
K-Wing- slow missile truck with minimal cannon weapons.

Imperial-
Skipray- cannon, turret slot, Imperial counterpart to Y-Wing
TIE Scimitar- fast strike bomber with shields

TIE Defender... *dribbles*

Dang it, will need a few of those.

As to where its going, would love to see some of the other Bounty Hunter craft for the Dark Side.

Hmm. Currently have half of wave 1, and half of wave 2. Been trying to figure out how to get caught up with at least one of everything, and they do this to me...

Ah well. Better try and get a couple of overtime shifts in...

 Vertrucio wrote:
Bah, the E-Wing was just another ugly killing machine

Not to me; the E-Wing is a symbol of the New Republic.

My guess for next wave:

Rebs:
Outrider
R-41 Starchaser

Imp:
Hounds Tooth
assault gunboat

I'd argue that the Hound's Tooth isn't the most iconic thing in the world, but then again they did release the Moldy Crow.

 Manchu wrote:
Not to me; the E-Wing is a symbol of the New Republic.

And almost sure to be removed/negated by the new films.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
I'd argue that the Hound's Tooth isn't the most iconic thing in the world, but then again they did release the Moldy Crow.

 Manchu wrote:
Bah, the E-Wing was just another ugly killing machine

Not to me; the E-Wing is a symbol of the New Republic.

HBMC - And almost sure to be removed/negated by the new films.

 Eggs wrote:
I've been hearing rumours that they are mining the extended universe for inspiration. Right down to some of the characters, like Mara etc. No point reinventing the wheel. I'm optimistic anyway.

Not sure how they can use stuff from the Thrawn trilogy (origin of Mara Jade) if Ford, Hamill and Fisher are going to be involved. The current ages of those actors throw the whole Thrawn timeline out of whack. Even if Mara was 10 years younger, she'd be 50. Not really a great age to introduce the character.

Obviously you haven't experienced the wonder of...CGI! Gaze upon Benjamin Button...and TRON I guess, and be amazed (and maybe throw up in your mouth a little)!

I'm not that impressed with the E-wing mini though. Although I know it'd make it more delicate, I think it could have done with X Wing / Z-95 style guns, as opposed to the moulded on ones, especially at the top.

 Flashman wrote:

 Eggs wrote:
I've been hearing rumours that they are mining the extended universe for inspiration. Right down to some of the characters, like Mara etc. No point reinventing the wheel. I'm optimistic anyway.

Not sure how they can use stuff from the Thrawn trilogy (origin of Mara Jade) if Ford, Hamill and Fisher are going to be involved. The current ages of those actors throw the whole Thrawn timeline out of whack. Even if Mara was 10 years younger, she'd be 50. Not really a great age to introduce the character.

What I've heard, and its purely rumour and probably a fair bot of speculation, is that they are using it for inspiration, but not necessarily treating it as canon. Last I'd heard, they were using Mara Jade as inspiration for a new character, which doesn't sound too promising....

I'm pretty pumped about these. Nice to see they're really giving the EU some love. Now I wouldn't be surprised if we get the Outrider eventually, and it would be sweet to see the IG-2000 and Hound's Tooth and ships like that. Since they're obviously beginning to pull some ships from the video games, I have a lot more hope that we'll see Assault Gunboats and maybe Missile Boats as well. Maybe the Wild Karrde would be another option as well?

I would rate the E-Wing as fairly safe. These models were approved by LucasFilm/Disney which probably has a good general idea of what they'll be doing for the films even if exact details are hazy still.

Also, examine it from a business perspective. Disney wants to move toys. The E-Wing is an established design that your hardcore nerd fans already recognize. All you would need to do is include the already-designed E-Wing in a movie and you'll have the nerds happily pointing to the screen and proclaiming "Look! An E-Wing!" While this will annoy everyone at the theater, it will keep the "I will right a letter about Han's blaster in Act IV. Scene 13 being 12mm too long" fans mostly placated and then the ship has been shown in a movie and you can begin to print money on the toys.

So basically, I see the the easy track to making it from the EU to the new movies as being "Can we turn it into a toy and sell it?" Disney might not be one of the nicest companies on the face of the earth, but they are a long way from stupid when it comes to making money.

It does sound horrible, but from a purely practical perspective, it makes sense - it would be extremely difficult to make the new movies follow the Thrawn trilogy, (no matter how much I'd like them to), because the original actors are so much older, so whatever they do, they are going to have to trash the existing extended universe to some extent. No point re-inventing the wheel though, as there has been a staggering amount of development around the star wars universe. We are seeing Fantasy Flight reap the rewards of that work with the EU ships. Don't see why Disney won't do exactly the same, and mine it for the bits they want, and discard the rest. Anyway, I'm pulling things off topic, so I'll finish by saying I want two of each of the new ships please!