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As every gamer knows, a planet is divided into hexagons to regulate movement.
There is a never-ending debate about whether hexagonal grids or square grids are superior. They have different advantages and disadvantages and therefore different applications in different gaming contexts. But that only encourages people to go into deep analysis of which works better in games. Not only games, there are also arguments over which is better for serious statistical and mathematical purposes, and scholarly articles comparing hex and square grids for spatial accuracy of hydrological flow vectors of surface water, computer graphics rendering, image processing to align images, and urban traffic management.
Ultimately though, at least for gaming purposes, it comes down to preference. A lot of people like hexes, but a lot of people like the simplicity of squares.
Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)
Which way is North in space? Up is much easier; that's just the opposite direction gravity pulls something in. But North? There's no Sol or Earth around to reference for the current definition we humans use from the International Astronomical Union. Maybe the Star Wars universe uses the right-hand rule on the galactic plane as its reference point? Luckily Jim is an astro-geologist and not an astro-cartographer, so the GM doesn't need to quickly come up with an explanation.
Just X-wings so far; that makes sense as a parallel callback to Episode IV. I'm counting only eleven X-wings here though. That's fewer spaceships than that episode, even forgetting about the Y-wings. It makes me wonder where all of the capital ships from Episode VI have gone. At the very least, Admiral Ackbar's ship should still be around as he's still alive. With how big the weapon is, especially compared to the Death Star, I would think it would be extremely simple to stay out of the firing arc. And if the Resistance really did have the support of the Republic like the opening scroll mentions, I think there would be more ships available for the attack.
Transcript
Allan: Okay, one squad, two squad, red squad, blue squad, take my lead.
Yolo Ziff: Dropping out of lightspeed.
GM: The X-wing fleet approaches the Peace Moon.
GM: The colossal muzzle of the weapon sits in a deep trench nearly 800 kilometres across.
Snap Wexley: So, we attack the weapon barrel?
Allan: No. That trench is far too deep. Geological forces would overwhelm any normal matter and collapse the moon into spherical hydrostatic equilibrium.
GM: Um—
Allan: So the trench lining and weapon must be some hyperdense material that can withstand anything we can throw at it.
GM: That’s—
Snap Wexley: So we need another target. Something on the surface. Do we see any likely structures?
GM: Er... There’s a... hexagonal structure due north of the weapon, with radiating transport lines and concentric hexagons around it.
Allan: That looks important! And much more vulnerable.
GM: Both adjectives that describe my adventure plan.