HotAC: Unity Squadron - TIE/FO's AI v0.1

I formed my first test squadron and flew the starter mission the other night. Since I'm running a mono-campaign, 4 ships is my max. Beyond that I can't keep track of all the different details. I went with a 30-points starting value so I could use a TIE/Def with at least some type of upgrade. So here's my starting lineup:

Unity 1 - Rebel HWK-290: Ion Turret, Moldy Crow, Jan Ors
Unity 2 - Rebel T-70 X-Wing: Vectored thrusters, R2-D2
Unity 3 - Imperial TIE/Def: TIE MKII, TIE/x7
Unity 4 - S&V Y-Wing: TLT, R4 Agromech

As mentioned, to compensate for the increase in power of the starting ships, I've replaced all standard TIE/LN's with the TIE/FO. I modified some of the AI logic to utilize the S-Loops, target locks, and evades. Here's what I ran with for the first time out. Sorry no update card. I'm a .NET developer by day, and not really proficient with graphical design.

TIE/FO's can swerve from 4K to a S-Loop and vice versa
All TIE/FO's are equipped with a Comm Relay

Movement Changes from a standard TIE/LN:

The movement changes have worked so far, though they have not come up much. Also, if the TIE needs to swerve from a 4K, it can swerve to a 2-Sloop, and vice versa.

Action AI:

1. Remove Stress or resolve critical
2. If no evade token, evade
3. Barrel roll to get a shot
4. Barrel roll to avoid arc and keep a target in arc
5. Target lock is an enemy ship is inside arc an within range 3
6. Focus

At first, this seemed pretty good in theory. However, in practice I found that the TIE/FO's never hit anything, and very few things hit them. This led to a very boring game. Now, this was against a squadron without many upgrades, but it does lead me to a few theories. As a campaign progresses and players get access to things like Predator and PTL, the FO's will start dropping a bit faster. Also, players will be more inclined to take abilities that will negate tokens (4-LOM, Old Teroch's pilot ability, etc), which may lead to players feeling at a disadvantage if they don't have something along those lines, which is not what I'm going for.

All TIE/FO's are equipped with a Weapon Guidance tech upgrade

1. Remove Stress or resolve critical
2. Barrel roll to get a shot
3. Barrel roll to avoid arc and keep a target in arc
4. If enemy ship is in arc and within 3, focus
5. Evade

Looking at this, this means the TIE/FO's are going to be a bit scary on the offense. As long as they still have a focus, it means that they are going to get at least one hit in when they fire. Now, this does mean they will never use target lock, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. When you have 8+ TIE fighters on the board, keeping track of target locks for each of them can be daunting.

Of course, I'm also thinking that I should just make this simple and just give all TIE's a shield upgrade instead of using the TIE/FO's as the standard TIE. Then just make the TIE/FO one of the ships that can be appear at random and include elite options.

Heroes of the Aturi Cluster - Unity Squadron - The Rules

If you are unaware of what Heroes of the Aturi Cluster is, then check out the link to the right first. Don't worry, I'll still be here when you get back. (If you already know, don't spoil it :)).

OK, what I'm working on is a variant to HotAC. I ran a campaign earlier this year, and it ended up being a huge success and a lot of fun. But the one thing that I did hear a lot of is that players would have liked to have been able to run their favorite ships in the campaign, rather than be stuck with the small selection from the standard rules. And why not? I love the B-Wing, so I was happy, but what if your favorite ship is the E-Wing, or even a TIE/Advanced or a StarViper?

So, to answer that I came up with HotAC: Unity Squadron.

Check out my first post for the back story
http://unitysquadron.blogspot.com/2016/08/welcome-to-unity-squadron.html


In games terms, it works like this:

• First, Players choose a faction: New Republic (Rebel Alliance), Imperial Remnant(Galactic Empire), or Mercenaries/Militia (Scum and Villainy). Once their faction is chosen, they cannot change factions without starting a new pilot
• Next, players choose a starting ship. This can be any small-based ship that is normally available to their faction. The EO can set a base point limit (26-30 works best), and players can choose ships on point scale based on the standard skirmish game. I've come up with some costs, and still tinkering some, but I'll link it once it's ready. Any points left over are used for upgrades, just like normal. Just for reference, standard HotAC uses about 26 points to start.
• Players can spend XP for upgrades and pilot abilities that are available to their faction and ship choice only. Sorry, no X-Wings with Darth Vader's ability, and etc.
• Players can switch to a new ship once they reach PS 4 (just like the standard rules). However, they can switch to any ship available to their faction for 5 points. This is so if new ships come out, a player can jump in them and play without having to start over.

That's pretty much it on the players side. The down side of this is that some ships might make the game a bit too easy. So to compensate, I'm tweaking the AI ships a bit. I'm going to try swapping out all standard TIE Fighters with TIE/FO's. Kinda makes sense thematically, and makes the standard cannon fodder just a bit tougher. This is not set in stone, though. As I have to find the right balance of movement and action AI for the FO's. I may just say all TIE's (not just TIE Fighters, even Intercepters, TIE/Adv, etc) gain a free Shield Upgrade.

I also want to toy with the idea of allowing large ships, and/or allowing pilots to keep their old ship when switching to a new one, essentially allowing them to go back in forth between them as needed. But that will come later. For now, I'll be running series of test in a mono-campaign at home (that's a campaign with me controlling all pilots).

Welcome to Unity Squadron

STAR WARS

Heroes of the Aturi Cluster

Unity Squadron

The galactic year is 20 ABY. The NEW REPUBLIC has managed to restore peace in the galaxy after it's defeat of the Galactic Empire 18 years ago, leaving the once great GALACTIC EMPIRE a mere shadow of its former self. A peace treaty was signed, and the IMPERIAL REMNANT retreats to the edge of the galaxy.

In a relatively unremarkable system beyond new Republic space, a new dark threat emerges. A civil war has broken out between the Imperial Remnant and an offshoot faction determined to restore the Empire to its full glory. Millions of civilians have been caught in the crossfire, driven from their homes or worse. Unable to deal with the threat on their own, the Imperial Remnant sends out a request for aid...to the New Republic.

Republic Chancellor MON MOTHMA has agreed to a coalition between New Republic Forces, the Imperial Remnants, local militia, and various mercenary groups. From that coalition, the formation of a unique fighter squadron, consisting of pilots from all walks of life, Republic, Imperial, and civilian, has been formed. This squadron, call sign UNITY, has been given the daunting task to work together and to restore peace to the galaxy...