FAQ

Question 1:

Why aren't ALL the characters 'Ranged' or Shooters?

Answer:

The answer is pretty straightforward.  To match the original games tried and true gameplay, you need a mix of Ranged and Melee characters.  If you've ever played Jango Fett vs Boba Fett you know what I mean.  Imagine every matchup like this one.  The movement aspect of the game would be gone.

Question 2:

So, how did I decide which characters would be 'Ranged' and which would be 'Melee'? 

Answer:

There were a few considerations.  First, in the original game, there were 3 Ranged characters out of 12 (Majors).  So, I wanted Epic Ground Battles to have mostly Melee characters; to match the feel and playability of the original game.  In the Ground expansion, there are 5 out of 26 decks that have Ranged majors.  So, it's almost exactly the same percentage.  Nailing down the major characters was the first thing I needed to do.  The second consideration was the size of the vehicle.  It made sense to me to have the 5 biggest units be Ranged characters.  They are the Juggernaut, ATAT, AAT, ATTE & the Spider Walker.   On the battlefield, it stands to reason that the ATTE would have more range than a Speederbike or Stap exc.  Lastly, the minors were then assigned Ranged or Melee based on overall deck strength and size of unit came into play also.

Question 3:

Ok, so how do I remember which characters are Ranged and which are Melee when I'm playing?

Answer:

Every character that is 'Ranged' is labeled with an (R).  If the game piece does NOT have this, it is a Melee character.

The Flip-Flop

The end result of making the biggest units 'Ranged' was that they 'could' have ended up the most powerful characters in Epic Ground Battles.  I recognized this would have been the exact opposite result from the original game; in which the Shooters are among the weakest.  The key in making the Ground Expansion was to make the big units strong, but not invincible.  The key is balance in relation to the other decks in the game.  I believe I achieved this by doing 3 things.  I gave the big units an 'Orange' shooter deck, limited their draw power and I made their minors 'Melee'.   Each of the Ranged decks has strength and weaknesses that can be exploited either way.  They fair much better than Han, Boba and Jango do in the original game; but they are not dominant either.

As you can see from the above graph, the Orange deck is 6 points below a Blue deck and 3 points above a Yellow+ deck.  I didn't want Han and the Imperial Officer to have stronger cards than the Vehicles.  That wouldn't make sense.  To make up for this and their low hp (14), I gave them more Movement, Direct Damage, Drawing ability and Healing.

Well, I hope this explains some of the reasoning I used in making the Epic Ground Battles game.  There were other factors involved.  But,  I think I hit on the most significant.   

Your comments are welcome! 

(Back to Epic Ground Battles)