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Hi folks,

I just had my first few games of X Wing tonight and can't quite get a handle on it. - Incidentally, I was playing others new to the game as well.

It just seemed so hard to get a handle on the game as the rebels. I played a couple as the recommended Luke V Obsidian Squadron + Night-Beast. Basically, once we got the hang of the rules a bit, the game we played had Luke doing a couple of passes to do some damage, eventually killed the Obsidian squad guy, then got shot in the rear by Night Beast and horribly killed.

- It seemed to be the running theme, just about manage to kill someone, then get outflanked and killed because there doesn't seem to be much to do about it.

The next game, we tried to do something different. The other ship aside from the starter set I got was the HWK-290. Because Dark Forces was one of my first proper computer games.

I fielded

The Moldy Crow, piloted by Kyle Katarn, with a blaster turret and recon specialist. for 31 points.
This was against: Mauler Mithel and a Black Squadron pilot for 31 points.

This went a tiny bit better for the good guys, with my abusing the flip out of the focus tokens to fire my gun, 360 reroll and dodge if necessary. It still wasn't enough though. Again the redshirt died and the character got the final kill in easily enough due to extra manoeuvrability.

I really haven't worked out how to use the rebels much at all. - Is it just because since we're having such small forces / games, that it ends up being the guy that rolls triple hits when your opponent rolls blanks, is the winner?


I'm planning a game tomorrow with my board gamer club, and just so we can get the max number of players involved, I've sort of worked this out...

Rookie Pilot in X Wing. Rebel Operative in HWK.

Mauler Mithel, Marksman
Dark Curse.

Since the only other useful card I have is 'determination' I think the 1 point difference is the best I can manage. Of course, the HWK with 1 attack dice is rather useless, so I'll likely be flying that...

I've also got a question for the future... What are the next puchases I should be looking at? I don't plan on buying much more (in theory), however I've been looking at getting the Lambda shuttle because, well, it's purdy... I'm also seeing a good argument for getting another starter set. Any other ideas? For example, for a single purchase or so per team?

Thanks,
Compel

You've got two problems:

1) Lack of ships and cards. The starter set + HWK is missing a lot of good stuff (like the "push the limit" skill, Wedge, etc), and the HWK is a pure support ship that only works with 2-3 other good ships to support. For example, you pay points for Kyle's "pass a focus token" bonus but you didn't have anyone to give it to. And a single HWK without even an ion turret is just a waste of points.

2) Too few points. With only one x-wing on the table you're really vulnerable to bad luck. Once you start playing standard 100 point games where you have 3-4 ships on the table you'll stop losing the game because of one bad round of dice.

- It seemed to be the running theme, just about manage to kill someone, then get outflanked and killed because there doesn't seem to be much to do about it.

Don't forget your k-turn. It won't save you from taking one round of fire if you get outmaneuvered, but it will let you break out and get turned around for another pass.

Peregrine has the right of it. You are playing games that are too low in points to deal with all the upgrades.

Get a 100 point game going, or stick to just the starter set setup rules. You will enjoy the game a great deal more that way.

Ah, the K-Turn... That'd probably have helped loads. I guess I just for some reason figured that 'stress' was a very bad thing.

Unfortunately, 'buy a lot more ships' isn't particularly helpful, especially when there seems to be a lack of supply! Not to mention my general lack of knowledge of the game, plus the desire not to spend to much money...

So, I'm thinking something like. - No idea of the points cost of this stuff, mind you.

2x The Starter Set, the HWK and a B-wing.
- All season 3 stuff, so I should be able to buy it locally?

Imperials.

2x The Starter Set, the Lambda (it's purdy) and....?

I was tempted by the tie bomber, but that's supposed to be quite a bad idea. I'm guessing I'm probably needing 2 more ships, since I won't be using the Lambda all the time.

The TIE Interceptor would seem a good bet, but then would it be redundant with the Imperial Aces set coming out? Having 4 identical TIE fighters, then 3 interceptors just seems rather boring!

The TIE Advanced would seem a good option, but that's supposed to be extremely hard to get, isn't it?

The Tie/in and the Imperial Aces are going to give you totally different pilots and upgrades, it'll be worth getting both. Sontir Fel and Tur Phennir (both Tie/in pilots) are really good for their points, but Fel really shines when he has Push the Limit (out of the A-Wing expansion). If your looking at getting a large ship for the imperials, I'd look into the firespray rather than the lambda shuttle. It's a lot better at what you seem to be having an issue with...it can shoot front or rear. Also, for the rebels the YT1300 has 360 degree fire...no rear hiding place. other than that it sounds like you've got a good grasp of what you like. Just remember to have fun!

Thanks, but bounty hunters... I don't need that scum!

I'll put the Interceptor on the list then. - Having a look down the store list I was actually surprised there doesn't seem to be that much choice in Imperial fighters. Where's my Assault Gunboats and TIE Phantoms?

So, B-Wing is seeming like a good purchase then. A-Wing I'm a bit ambivalent about to be honest. Seems a bit pokey, though I'm sure it rocks.

Not a big fan of the a-wing in and of itself, but the upgrades it comes with are almost a must. Not saying that it is usless, just that for the points I'd rather get another x-wing. I'm a huge fan of the B-wing though. Put a Heavy Laser Cannon and it's rolling 4 red for every shot or an Autoblaster and it takes away most of the Ties defence at short range. It's pretty manuverable, just not fast, but takes a ton of damage to put down.

well, i'd say if you enjoy the game at all, definately get another starter set. That way Luke/Biggs can take on them nasty imperials. And you can get your head around the movement and dogfighting aspects.

My first rebel purchases (i started just before wave 3) was an additional x-wing and the falcon. Cause who are we kidding, Han/Luke? oh yes

after that i was hooked. Rebels are tough, but lotsa fun

Your choice pilots need back up and meat shields to really shine. They can try and take care of the add on support you have or concentrate on your point heavy unit and take lots of fire from your other basic units.

Well, that's me done my next purchases now, pretty much cleaning out my local area.

I've bought my Lambda Shuttle, plus a B-Wing and an A-Wing.

Playing about, I think I've got some playable lists now.

Red Squadron Pilot
Dagger Squadron Pilot + Proton Torpedoes
Kyle Katarn + Blaster Turret + Recon Specialist + Moldy Crow

Mauler Mithel + Marksmanship
Dark Curse
Colonel Jendon + Fire Control System + Heavy Laser Cannon + Weapons Engineer + Vader + ST-321 + Anti-Pursuit Lasers

Went a bit overboard on the Lambda, but I was trying to see how many points I could pull together. - The massive lack of Imperial models that I could buy was a bit of a problem.

Both sides are matching at 82 points.

It seems a sensible enough list though, in my whole knowledge of 2 proper games. Shuttle hands out Target locks and acts as heavy support, Mauler nukes stuff, Dark Curse doesn't die.


Anyone else got suggestions with the figures I've got that'd make a suitably sensible game for my boardgames club to take part in?

what ships do you have to build from? how many x-wings?
just two tie-fighters from the core set?

The Core Set (1 X Wing, 2 TIE's)
HWK-290
A-Wing
B-Wing
Lambda Shuttle

I don't particularly 'need' to use the max points possible. - Arguably, less points could mean less need to explain extra rules.

Ideally I just want a way so I could get several players into a game, each controlling their own ship. - A list with the X Wing, B Wing and A Wing could be worthwhile in that case, I'd need to have a play around and see what I get.

One player per ship makes for an abysmal game, in my experience. And demo'ing the game often, i've always had players more enjoy a deep-end throw... to see what the real game experience resembles.

At 100pts the game absolutely shines... at 1-2 ships per player, it can be downright dull.

Just my $0.02. I did a demo for new players with minimal upgrades and few fancy pilots, Thursday, and several commented that it was such an easy game to get into, that they couldn't imagine playing a further stripped down version.

The "core set" has almost always felt like a misnomer as it does the game no favors when played as a self-contained board-game.

When I said, 1-2 ships per player, I meant having 4-6 players, like a typical board game, a bit like on the Tabletop episode.

although its designed as a two player game ive had some gr8 games of 2 vs 2 players. you just split the points down the middle and work together in the game.

100pts gives the best balance, although i think even 75 or 125pt games would be pretty good.

id highly recommend grabbing a tie-expansion and an advanced tie-fighter expansion when you can, this will give you some more options with ur squads. if you can afford it id get a second starter set as well.

having vader and another 2 tie-fighters in the mix will allow you to field a decent tie swarm with vader+4 tie fighters.
you already have a nice mix of rebel pilots but i recommend getting the x-wing expansion as well (you get wedge!).

Yeah, I currently have the TIE Fighter Set, another starter set, a TIE Interceptor and the Millennium Falcon on order from wayland, but I have no idea when they'll turn up. In theory, I've chosen everything that's in stock. In theory.

 Compel wrote:
Well, that's me done my next purchases now, pretty much cleaning out my local area.

Good news is that the X's and Tie/Ln's shoudl be back in stock in a 5-6 weeks. Not sure when the Y's or Tie/Ad will be though.

 Compel wrote:
When I said, 1-2 ships per player, I meant having 4-6 players, like a typical board game, a bit like on the Tabletop episode.

The biggest problem is luck. If each person has one ship a round of bad dice can take someone out very early and leave them sitting around watching the game. If each player has at least 2-3 ships like in a standard game it's a lot more forgiving. That TIE might still die in one hit, but you've got three more to keep playing with.

Well, after a few weeks I have managed to get a hold of a decent number of X Wing models now. - Almost 1 of each. Almost, darn stocking problems.

Rebels
2 X Wings (from starters)
1 YT-1300
1 HWK
1 B-Wing
1 A-Wing

Imperials
5 TIE Fighters
1 TIE Interceptor
1 TIE Bomber
1 Lambda Shuttle
1 Firespray-31




Playing with lists right now, I'm liking the idea of:

Biggs Darklighter with an R2 Unit
Ten Numb with an Autoblaster
A HWK-290 with blaster turret and a supporting pilot of some kind.

But I'd probably need more experience with the game to figure out which R2 unit or whether Jan or Kyle are more useful in the Moldy Crow, or any other general upgrades to scatter about.


I've got absolutely no idea about an imperial force at the moment. Howlrunner leading a bunch of TIE's, Backstabber and the TIE Interceptor on the flanks, was about as far as I got in planning.

 Compel wrote:
I've got absolutely no idea about an imperial force at the moment

Look at a Firespay + 3-4 Tie Fighter list. It's sort of the Imperial version of Hand Shot First.

Also if you don't already know about it, check out this page...

http://x-wing.voidstate.com/build