X-Wing

[The Silver King]

Hi guys,
I am going to be doing a 4-man demo/actual game tomorrow of X-Wing for my local Meetup gaming group and I could use some advice for making the game balanced. I am not going to be using obstacles, upgrades, secondary weapons, or certain ships with advanced/unique capabilities (TIE Phantom, K-Wing, etc) for the sake of simplicity. There will be 8 ships, 4 for the Rebel side, 4 for the Imperial side, with two per player. Below are the lists I thought to use:

Rebels
T-65 X-Wing - Wedge Antilles (PS 9, tho Vader on the Empire side will have initiative)
A-Wing - Gemmer Sojan (PS 5)
Y-Wing - Gray Squadron Pilot (PS 4)
B-Wing - Blue Squadron Pilot (PS 2)

Empire
TIE Advanced - Darth Vader (PS 9, gets initiative over Wedge)
TIE Interceptor - Turr Phennir (PS 7)
TIE Interceptor - Avenger Squadron Pilot (PS 3)
TIE/FO Fighter - Epsilon Squadron Pilot (PS 1)

As you can see, I gave the Empire the edge on PS until halfway, when the Rebels get to go twice in a row, to compensate for the Rebels' edge on shields. I am not sure if I should of just given the Empire the edge on PS period, since the Rebels will have a lot more shields (12 to the Empire's 3). Also I choose the elite pilots based on the simplicity of their abilities.

I should note that if the sides are just a bit off-balance, I can simply join the weaker side and try harder than I would normally have on a demo, since I will be the only player with experience in this game.

[caps]

Rebel ships, particularly the Y- and B-wing, without missiles or torpedoes are really underplaying IMO. I would swap those two out for more X- and A-wings. Or do more points for a TIE swarm and some proton torpedoes. Looks good other than that.

[MegaSilver]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

Rebel ships, particularly the Y- and B-wing, without missiles or torpedoes are really underplaying IMO. I would swap those two out for more X- and A-wings. Or do more points for a TIE swarm and some proton torpedoes. Looks good other than that.

Torps and Missiles, while fun, are rarely worth their points.

At least until the Guidance Chips come out.

Y-Wings need a turret, though. Bs are fine as-is.

[Johngee]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

Rebel ships, particularly the Y- and B-wing, without missiles or torpedoes are really underplaying IMO. I would swap those two out for more X- and A-wings. Or do more points for a TIE swarm and some proton torpedoes. Looks good other than that.

I concur with Caps. For the Rebels, an A without missiles, a B without a cannon, an X without torpedoes, or a Y without a turret is counter productive. Sure the shields make them more resilient, but it would be like jousting on donkeys. And the whole Imperial dogfighting philosophy is based on having more ships that are more maneuverable.


In a multi-player demo as you've described, I would completely skip the unique named pilots and try to go with all generic squadrons with medium Pilot Skill Levels (not 1's & 2's or 8's & 9's). Understanding the priority of who moves first-to-last and then reversing that order for who shoots first-to-last is (IMO) an important concept that needs to be grasped early.

[The Silver King]

I am limited to my ship choices, since I only have one of each of the following:

A-Wing
B-Wing
Y-Wing
X-Wing
T-70 X-Wing (I didn't want to use this tho, since the Tallon Roll might confused whoever plays it)
K-Wing (Didn't want to use it since its difficult to maneuver)
E-Wing (Didn't want to use it since it is costly and I tried to keep the ships relatively balanced in points)

TIE Advanced
TIE/FO Fighter (I had two, but the base plug-in of one broke recently)
TIE Phantom (Didn't want to use it cuz Cloak)

I also have three TIE Interceptors, but I didn't want to use all of them, to make the game a bit more diverse.

[The Silver King]

Originally Posted by MegaSilver

Torps and Missiles, while fun, are rarely worth their points.

At least until the Guidance Chips come out.

Y-Wings need a turret, though. Bs are fine as-is.

Yeah, I tend to agree with my fellow Silver-named 'Scaper here, Torps and Missiles have never once earned back their points in the 30-40 games I have played so far of X-Wing, and it would be yet another concept that I would need to introduce to total beginners, so I am going to avoid that.


I will probably add a turret to the Y-Wing tho, and probably grab it for myself so I won't need to explain how it is used to one of the newbies.

[Johngee]

TSK -
What ever you decide will be fine if you act confident about your choices. I seen the PS 9's dominate other pilots too often. Here on east coast they're even getting Veteran Instincts EPT to make them 11's. I agree with your idea of keeping the upgrades and modification to a minimum to lessen the confusion. If you can keep the session short, so you friends can get the general idea of planning movement with a dial, making moves with the templates, and then attacking and defending with red and green dice - let them switch sides ( or to other ships ) and play again.

My suggestion is:
PLAYER #1 gets: X-Wing and E-Wing ( two heavies @ 30+/- pts each )
PLAYER #2 gets: A-Wing, B-Wing, and Y-Wing ( three lights @ 20 +/- pts each)
PLAYER #3 gets: Tie Adv and Tie/FO ( two heavies @ 30 +/- pts each )
PLAYER #2 gets: 3x Tie interceptors ( three lights @ 20 +/- pts each)

Can you run two side-by-side demo games on separate maps (i.e. pick up a two sheets of poster board on you way to the meetup for about $1)? This might be better than having a very congested air space with 8 or 10 ships intermingling.

[rym]

I think Johngee's suggestions are spot on for a great way to demo.

And just to throw my 2 cents into the torpedoes / missiles discussion, I think they would definitely work in this format. This isn't a standard, 100-pt competitive army build. This is a ship or two to learn the game and see what they can do. It's supposed to be fun and exciting, and by virtue of putting missiles or torpedoes, or whatever you want, into play, there is the chance for some great, cinematic gaming moments happening. I think that alone would be worth the cost and at least warrants the consideration of taking them.

Remember, fun, not competitive.

[Johngee]

Originally Posted by rym

... there is the chance for some great, cinematic gaming moments happening. I think that alone would be worth the cost and at least warrants the consideration of taking them.

I love the way you stated that concept. Re-living the critical turning point events of this type of game (X-Wings & HeroScape, etc.) in an after session report or discussion is an important part of the fun factor.

[CrazyTankster]

Is there a difference between executing an action and performing an action?

[Arch-vile]

Originally Posted by CrazyTankster

Is there a difference between executing an action and performing an action?

I don't believe so. Most cards use "perform an action." What card says to execute an action?

[MegaSilver]

Originally Posted by Arch-vile

I don't believe so. Most cards use "perform an action." What card says to execute an action?

Are you thinking of acquire a target lock, perhaps? Acquiring a TL is not an action. (For example, look at K4 Security Droid. So long you do a green move, you get to acquire a TL, even if you bump a ship or have multiple stress.)