Episode X: Deep Space Deception

[Nom Carver]

<p>I'm hoping to get a build done in time for once

The rebellion will certainly be thankful of your contribution.

[MKJoshA]

The rebellion will certainly be thankful of your contribution.

Yes we will!

[Artizan]

Soon your pathetic rebellion will be crushed and you will be one of us!

[Nom Carver]

Soon your pathetic rebellion will be crushed and you will be one of us!

Lord Vader is pleased with your enthusiasm .

[MKJoshA]

Less than a month before the deadline! And please keep in mind that we are going to try really hard to stick with this deadline this time So, I'm planning out my build, how's everyone else doing?

[Tariq j]

I started my build yesterday however I am sorry to inform you that you Rebels Scum will be crushed by the Empire once again!

[MKJoshA]

I started my build yesterday however I am sorry to inform you that you Rebels Scum will be crushed by the Empire once again!

Your overconfidence is your weakness!

[Nom Carver]

Good, gooood, your hate will make you powerful .

Seriously, I was starting to get a little worried with the silence over here, maybe this time we made the rules clear enough, and yes, there will be no exceptions this time, the deadline will change for nobody, regardless of the effect it could have on the final score.

[MKJoshA]

I have a question! (Is that bad since I helped with rule clarification to begin with?) If I build a 35x35 entry as a commander. Am I allowed to have more than 7 minifigs in the scene as long as they are not sigfigs?

[Nom Carver]

You can include minifigures that are not sigfigs as long as they are in the background and don't intend to intervene on the battle, lets say a technician supplying fuel or a couple soldiers having a pointless conversation, but no "this guy is our pilot" or "trooper X and Y will man the turrets of our ship".

[goatman461]

I'm not sure I understand the distinction between your examples. Is it that we just can't identify or single out specific non-sigfigs? But, we could have a dozen ground troopers lead an attack with two dozen generic stormtroopers, correct?

[BEAVeR]

Your example is right, goatman461, but your definition could use a bit of refining. You can include as many non-sigfig characters you want, but those characters can't fulfill crucial roles in the story. For example, the commander and the pilot should definitely be actual players and not made-up characters. The whole purpose of this is to encourage you to coordinate the stories and have every player fulfilling a meaningful task within the story. Why would you assign an important task to a NPC while you have real people who can take it further into a nice build and story?

[Nom Carver]

Beaver has it spot on.

[MKJoshA]

To further clarify, I could have 100 troops, but I could only assign mission tasks to the sigfigs. If there are 7 sigfigs, then the other 93 would stay behind and guard the hanger

[goatman461]

that's the problem, what does "crucial roles"/"important task" mean? wouldn't an invasion squad be fulfilling a crucial role? i'm really not trying to beat a dead horse, but i just don't get y'all's definitions. and we don't have enough real people in SoNE to fill a 50x50 MOC or to make a convincing detachment of imperial troops

[Nom Carver]

You are sending an elite raiding party, you cant send regular troopers to do a mission this important, crucial roles in this case would be: transporting your troops on an specialized and unique ship (second in command), defending the landing zone, clearing enemies and debris from the way and extracting the data from the main computer, it's not necessary to send a single large strikeforce even though it would mean more troops on the ground, from a strategic point of view, if one of the ships gets shot down you will still have half of your troops on the way instead of a whole lot of bad news.

[goatman461]

You are sending an elite raiding party, you cant send regular troopers to do a mission this important, crucial roles in this case would be: transporting your troops on an specialized and unique ship (second in command), defending the landing zone, clearing enemies and debris from the way and extracting the data from the main computer, it's not necessary to send a single large strikeforce even though it would mean more troops on the ground, from a strategic point of view, if one of the ships gets shot down you will still have half of your troops on the way instead of a whole lot of bad news.

This is where my problem is. I'm guessing both sides will have 8-12 builders. If either have to split into multiple teams, we're talking about a boarding party of 2-6. That does not make sense. What is the problem with filling the ranks with background stormtroopers, who will, of course, be fighting Rebels, defending/blocking corridors, etc.? The background stormies wouldn't have to be singled out, but they should be around. Look through the older MOCs; even the commando missions have some kind of background NPC in the scene.

The other thing is, everybody is doing their own MOC and will likely be in different areas of the ship. If there are no NPCs in the background, we'll either have to do some kind of time lapse where everybody stays together throughout (requiring most of the builders to have every sigfig), or send everybody out in teams of 1-2 to attack an unknown enemy force. Again, that doesn't make sense.

I don't see how having background stormtroopers inhibits or cheats the coordination aspects of this Episode. But if y'all have defined the rules in this way, I'll just accept that and build accordingly. I hope you will reconsider your definition of an important/crucial role so we can use NPCs as we have in the past

[MKJoshA]

I think the limit on NPCs is just for the commander and 2nd in command builds. Everyone else can have as many as they want.

[Nom Carver]

This is where my problem is. I'm guessing both sides will have 8-12 builders. If either have to split into multiple teams, we're talking about a boarding party of 2-6. That does not make sense. What is the problem with filling the ranks with background stormtroopers, who will, of course, be fighting Rebels, defending/blocking corridors, etc.? The background stormies wouldn't have to be singled out, but they should be around. Look through the older MOCs; even the commando missions have some kind of background NPC in the scene.

The other thing is, everybody is doing their own MOC and will likely be in different areas of the ship. If there are no NPCs in the background, we'll either have to do some kind of time lapse where everybody stays together throughout (requiring most of the builders to have every sigfig), or send everybody out in teams of 1-2 to attack an unknown enemy force. Again, that doesn't make sense.

I don't see how having background stormtroopers inhibits or cheats the coordination aspects of this Episode. But if y'all have defined the rules in this way, I'll just accept that and build accordingly. I hope you will reconsider your definition of an important/crucial role so we can use NPCs as we have in the past

The player may include NPCs for its build, as long as he is the one doing the mission that has been tasked to him, lets say that each player would be like a sargent, he needs to be briefed but its troops may not need to have to much details regarding to the mission, any player may include a dead trooper over here and a couple more entangled on a shootout, but the protagonist of the build must be the one breaching doors, destroying barricades, slicing computer terminals or what ever has been comanded to him, the pilot only has to fit the main characters in order to not push him too hard on building an outrageously large ship (a 5 or 6 seater has to be quite big to me).

The specification for the commander was in order to make clear that he (the only one with size restrictions) does not have to build a scene too big to fit NPCs as long as they are not tasked with the missions that should be assigned to players..

Edited November 6, 2015 by Nom Carver

[Commander Beltar]

Soo to add to the whole NPC discussion...would I be allowed to bring Sarge and Borris along on this mission? With what I have planned, it doesn't really make sense to have just one medical personal come aboard with the team.

~Beltar

[Nom Carver]

Soo to add to the whole NPC discussion...would I be allowed to bring Sarge and Borris along on this mission? With what I have planned, it doesn't really make sense to have just one medical personal come aboard with the team.

~Beltar

Who is Sarge and Borris? if they are not actual payers it will be OK, but the aforementioned restrictions apply mostly to commanders, and remember that you must be the one completing the task on your build or be the one coordinating a small amount of troops to do so (but you shouldn't go to wild with the amount of troops).

ALERT TO ALL TROOPS!!! 8 days remaining for the closure of the current episode.

Edited November 22, 2015 by Nom Carver

[Nom Carver]

ALERT TO ALL TROOPS!!! 2 days remaining for the closure of the current episode.

Sorry for double posting.

[MKJoshA]

My entry is in!

[Nom Carver]

Less than two hours to go, I may not be awake to mention the closure of the battle, but I will stick to the clock.

[Nom Carver]

Great job every one! now this episode is officially closed, we got a lot of great entries and is always good to see the community talking, organizing and featuring each other in their builds, I will try to get the judges to score this episode as soon as possible, thanks again for your participation.