Playtest II: Fistful of Lead- Starfighters!

With the release of the new Star Wars film, it was only fitting we tried another go at our space fighter combat rules based, yes, on the Fistful of Lead game engine.
Since our last game we've refined a few things and made a test simple build system so players can make ships from their favorite universe. We used the same scenario but let players "draft" their squadrons from 3 factions. Mercenaries could be used by both sides.

The Fleet: 6 players, 33 ships on the table

I ended up with 3 TIE fighters, a TIE Interceptor, a TIE defender and Bossk's bad ass Hound's Tooth.

 With long range reaching out to 36" the forces clash early. The Hound's Tooth packs 4 Heavy Lasers. Each one causes 3 rolls on the Damage (Wound) chart. But they have to recharge between shots so I was only shooting 2 a turn.

 The first 3 turns the Rebels got the worst of it. Even Han Solo had to break off from the fight. This happens when a pilot sustains more Shock than their ship has Damage left. They are forced to leave the battle but have a chance to return after sitting out turn off table. He ultimately made that roll, but the battle was already decided.
The Rebels started to come back. I had the only TIE remaining on the table.

Damage from one of the Hound's Tooth's heavies. 2 "Out of Actions" and a Damage. The X-Wings shields only stopped one..... 

By turn 5 the battle was pretty much determined. The Rebels had too many losses to protect the Rebel transport. It would be easy pickings for the waiting Imperial Fleet.

Another great game. I'm not sure I know of another game that can handle that many players and ships, play it out in time and still give a good feel for the genre. I need to try it on a smaller table. Not everyone has a 6' x 8' table.
While laying out the rules Cluck Amok sent me a text asking if I thought the rules would work with the horde of Crimson Skies planes we have. Another great game that suffers when too many planes are on the table. My answer was "Yes. Yes they will".
We've come a long ways from the Wild West.