Strongholds

I guess I will have to buy this one when it comes out, as one of the four Rebel bases described herein is our own Tierfon!

Well, not our Tierfon. WEG's Tierfon. Or, more precisely, LFL/Disney's Tierfon.

You can read more about this book here:
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/star-wars-age-of-rebellion/products/strongholds-resistance/

New Arrivals, part 1

The Calm Seas glided into the clearing, flared to cut speed, then gently set down.

“Rapid turn around!” the pilot shouted into the comm system while flipping a series of switches.

The whine of the repulsors cut out. With a hiss and a groan the full weight of the old transport craft settled onto its landing gear. The rear loading ramp was already descending to the gravel below as Trooper Recruit Gortanna Mar unbuckled his flight restraints.

A welcome gust of fresh air swept through the cabin. Long spaceflights and tight quarters left something to be desired, as far as he was concerned.

Give me a posting on the ground any day.

Mar had to squeeze past the tied down crates and cargo pallets to join the other new arrivals making their way to the side exit stairs. Three of his fellow passengers were from Starfighter Command: two Tech Recruits and a brand new Flight Cadet. One was from Fleet, a Sub-Lieutenant by the looks of it. Another Trooper Recruit was from Ordnance and Supply. Mar was the sole representative from Sumitra Sector Command.

Mar got to the opening and paused for a moment atop the exit stairs.

Tierfon. A secret fighter base. My new home.

The battered GR-75 transport was sitting in a clearing ringed by pine trees. The sky was blue with just a few light, wispy clouds. A pair of high contrails revealed the X-wing escort that had followed them to the surface. The starfighters were headed up, back out into the inky blackness of space.

Mar took a deep breath. Moderate temp, no humidity to speak of, and nothing but wilderness as far as the eye could see. A smile crossed his face as he took in the view. Down below, a cluster of people awaited the new arrivals, and binary load lifters were already busy with the cargo. Off to one side of the improvised landing field sat more pallets and crates, along with a small handful of mixed personnel, waiting to board once the transport was emptied.

Never a dull day in the Alliance.

“Excuse me, sir, I should like to disembark,” the mechanical tones of a protocol droid interrupted.

“Oh, yeah. Sure,” Mar mumbled, hoisting his travel bag and heading down the stairs.

Near the base of the stairs a serious looking Rodian female approached, bio-scanner in hand.

“Trooper Recruit Gortanna Mar?” she asked, sweeping the scanner up and down in front of him.

Mar nodded but stood still and quiet, knowing the drill. With an affirmative chirp from the device, her demeanor changed. She stowed the scanner, half smiled and extended her hand.

“Geela Ral, Sector Command. I’m First Trooper for Fire Team Blue 2. You’re with me.” The Rodian turned toward a trail leading away from the clearing. She was halfway into the trees before glancing back, “Oh. And welcome to Tierfon.”

“Thanks,” Mar replied, hustling to catch up. The landing field was ringed by partially concealed emplacements and bunkers. All of the weapons were aimed in the general direction of the newly arrived Rebel transport.

Ral noticed his attention. “Base security is our top priority,” she said.

“Makes sense,” Mar nodded. The Calm Seas had been met in space by an armed escort and a scanner-equipped freighter. The starfighters hadn’t been there to protect the supply ship. Quite the opposite, in fact. The freighter compared the transport’s unique subspace engine signatures to the database and cross-checked the recorded manifest versus detected cargo. Then there were the coded communications transmissions and passcodes. All were routine. Many layers of security provided for a defense in depth, right down to the mandatory bio-scans for all newly arriving sentients. A similar scan confirmed the identities of all new droids.

Two heavy speeder trucks, loaded down with new supplies, eased past the line of personnel moving up the dusty trail. They were headed up slope now, and Mar could see an observation tower peeking out above the trees ahead.

Ral gestured to a pair of armed troopers out in the trees, 10 meters off the trail. They nodded, gestured back, and moved out of sight. “First, we’ll get you to the quartermaster. Then show you to your bunk. Then get you something to eat.”
“Sounds wonderful,” Mar replied. He hadn’t noticed how hungry he was before she’d mentioned food.

Desperate Allies (P)Review

Fellow gamers, I picked up my copy of Desperate Allies today. While I need some time to read it thoroughly, I thought I'd post a summary of what's in it.

-Nate


Page(s): Contents

1: Opening crawl

2: Inside title page/credits

3: Table of contents

4: Fiction

5-9: Overview of Diplomats and their role in the Rebellion

10-41: "Voices of Revolution"--Expanded Diplomat backgrounds and duties; three new species (the Caamasi, Gossam and Neimoidian); three new specializations (the Advocate, Analyst and Propagandist); new Diplomat motivations; two signature ability trees (Diplomatic Solution and Unmatched Insight)

42-65: "Tools of Intrigue"--Seven ranged weapons; five melee and brawl weapons; twelve types of armor; twenty other equipment items, including some cool stuff for espionage; seven types of droids, including the familiar LOM-series and TC-series; two landspeeders; two airspeeders; five starships; and four starship modifications

66-96: "Diplomatic Missions"--Suggestions for missions that focus on Diplomats, social encounters; two short political mission scenarios; expanded rules for Rebel bases; two short Diplomat scenarios; suggestions for Diplomat rewards

Learning the Ropes

I have been reading a nice little book called "The Bounty Hunter Code".

It's in the same vein as the "Millennium Falcon Owner's Workshop Manual" I bought some time back. This book is focused, as one might imagine, on the bounty hunter's Guild. Ostensibly a training manual provided to newcomers to this dangerous profession, the book covers the ins and outs of tracking and capturing elusive and dangerous quarry. It has a number of cool ideas and facts inside; a great resource for an Edge of the Empire game for sure, and a nice book to tide one over until the FFG Edge Bounty Hunter book comes out (there has to be one in the pipeline...right?).

A Wonderful Diversion

New Vehicle Stats

I will be working on full FFG stat blocks for the following vehicles over the next few weeks:

64-Y Swift 3 repulsor sled
22-B Nightfalcon swoop
ULAV
Arrow-23
TIE Advanced x1
LAVr QH-7 Chariot command speeder
AT-TE
KAAC Freerunner
Swift Assault 5 hoverscout
Personnel Skiff Model IV
HAVr A9 Floating Fortress
Heavy Tracker
Gamma-class assault shuttle
Zero-G stormtroopers
YV-666 light freighter
IPV-1 patrol craft
Raider-class corvette
Carrack-class light cruiser
Strike-class cruiser
MC40a light cruiser
MC30c frigate
Acclamator-class assault ship
Victory-II-class star destroyer
Venator-class star destroyer
MC80a star cruiser
Imperial-II-class star destroyer
Super-class star destroyer


Please let me know in the comments if stats already exist in FFG books I don't own.

Two Trailers

I think it's safe to assume that anyone who reads this blog is already familiar with the news coming out of the Star Wars Celebration this weekend. Even so, it seems appropriate--and even obligatory--to repeat some of that information here.

First and foremost, of course, is the trailer for Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

The Force Awakens Teaser 2

This one looks really pretty and provides more insight into the story for the film. It conjures some mixed emotions, too, because of how it seems to handle much of the storyline that was developed for after Return of the Jedi.

Perhaps more relevant to this blog, however, is the trailer for Season 2 of Star Wars: Rebels.

Rebels Season 2 Trailer

I find it especially interesting to see how that series, which felt a lot like an Edge of the Empire campaign during the first season, is starting to feel more like an Age of Rebellion campaign--at least in what one can see from the trailer.

Whatever the case, I think it's safe to say that 2015 is an exciting year in which to be a Star Wars fan.