Hey all, I'm constantly seeing references to house rules and often thinking, "oh that's a good idea." Regardless of where you stand on the concept (let's debate that in a separate thread), I thought it would be neat to see the individual wisdom that becomes a house rule so please share! Don't forget to include any necessary context or tragic loss that lead to the rules creation!

Honestly, I thing FFG did an awesome job of making a balanced game. The only rule we have is the formula for points assigned to a squad. We like to play team games (multiple players on a side). Our guide is 50 points per player plus 10 points per team. So, a 3 vs 3 game would have 160 points per squad.

In my gaming group we often play 2 vs 2. We always play rebels vs. Empire. Each team have 150 points and have to share them 75-75 points. The players then have to sit like this when playing: rebel, empire, rebel, empire and we are not allowed to show our dials to the team mate, The player position around the table makes this rule feel natural. When one team mate has his fleet destroyed the team has lost.

I dont know if its really a house rule, just something i thought was a neat way to place asteroids.

I play with my gf every now and then and when we went to set up asteroids she grabbed 6 dice and rolled them on the board.

Me looking at her estranged asked her what the hell she was doing.

Placing the asteroids? isnt that how you place asteroids?

No. But i like it.

Now most likely the dice will come really close together so then i just measure them 1R away.

Thought it was neat = P

well me and my group are doing often 2v2 or 3v3 in 100 point matches devided between the players so max points will be still 100 and that the team partner can talk about thier strategy without shouting it out loud like it sais in the rule book that is our only house rule

Put your tokens on the dang table near your ships or on their bases!

This is a huge pet peeve of mine when playing this game so if you play with me you will be placing your tokens where I can easily see them and I will do the same for you.

I bought my house from a Navy man. Over the kitchem sink hangs a small brass bell. Game winners (and occasionally players with fantastic die roles or particularly good strategies) get to ring the bell.

*DINGGGGG*

I think I remember reading that after asteroid placement is when you pick sides (that might just be in tournaments). We don't do that. We pick sides first and then place asteroids in a manner that we hope hinders the other side.

I've yet to get the guys I play with to pick a list at or under 100 points, but next time I'm putting my foot down on that. 110 and 120 games can be great fun, but I want us to have to make the hard decisions that come with 100 point loadouts.

I'm very much a casual gamer. I play to have fun, not to win. Don't get me wrong, I like competition, and especially adore crude trash talk. But I'm the first one to let you take a move back or spend that focus token you forgot to put out.

We haven't tried it yet, but I think if you measure a rebel shot with the green side or measure an imperial shot with the red side of the ruler, you need to take a shot of whiskey (bourbon of course). Kind of a double jeopardy, "all answers must be phrased in the form of a question" type drinking game. Measure wrong, drink up!

Not really house rules but until I get my hands on more ships, we play 60 point games and I usually don't use the Falcon. Most of the time whoever else is playing won't use it either.

100 points is a bit hard to reach when you only have 3 TIEs and an Adv. That being said, somehow I've beaten HSF with those four ships.

I give the X wing engine upgrade or barrel roll for the same cost and advanced sensors or fire control system to mimic the XJ X wing to keep it competitive with some of the new ships.

We also do a lot of scenarios.

House rules? We gamble on sports with points. One of my friends in a Green Bay Peckers fan, while I'm a Chicago Bears fan. We wager 10 x-wing points to the winner.

One house rule I have been considering is in an effort to promote more "quality over quantity" squads. I call it:

Target Rich Environment

During the Movement Phase, when you have more than 2 ships and your opponent has at least twice that number of ships, you may choose to acquire either a free focus token, or free target lock if Target Lock is on your Action Bar. Acquiring a target lock follows the normal rules for target locks.

The purpose of this rule is to give a smaller squad with quality pilots a fighting chance against a large swarms. The rule would only apply for a limited time during the match, so I don't think it would kill game balance, but only testing will says for sure. Hida77, wanna give it a try?

we have no house rules for general play, only scenario specific rules.

I am currently working on ship explosion models to place on the stem of a ship just destroyed.

the idea is to leave this and the ships base in play until after the next movement phase. if moved through or landed on roll 1 attack die and suffer 1 damage if you roll a critical. (1 in 8 chance)

we haven't tried this yet because we have been gearing up for tournament this weekend and playing standard games.

I've been thinking of trying out some games with no defense dice allowed for a really quick game.

One house rule I have been considering is in an effort to promote more "quality over quantity" squads. I call it:

Target Rich Environment

During the Movement Phase, when you have more than 2 ships and your opponent has at least twice that number of ships, you may choose to acquire either a free focus token, or free target lock if Target Lock is on your Action Bar. Acquiring a target lock follows the normal rules for target locks.

The purpose of this rule is to give a smaller squad with quality pilots a fighting chance against a large swarms. The rule would only apply for a limited time during the match, so I don't think it would kill game balance, but only testing will says for sure. Hida77, wanna give it a try?

You are welcome, as usual, to do so if you and your opponent agree to it. I thinks its pretty fair and can see the appeal of encouraging the more elite squads.

In my opinion though, swarms are balanced as they are, even against smaller elite squads, making the rule a bit extraneous. I wouldn't necessarily be against using it even if I were the swarm, but I think people do need to learn how to handle swarms and giving them a handicap can impede that process.

I do discourage 3 (small) ship rebels just in general though, especially for new players since it can be very difficult to come back from the loss of a ship if you make a mistake or are unlucky on the dice early on. But that's really more out of preference/ease of play rather than a balance issue.

To re-iterate, you are more than welcome to use that for the purposes of our league provided whoever you play agrees.

Gamers must wear deodorant.

I think I remember reading that after asteroid placement is when you pick sides (that might just be in tournaments). We don't do that. We pick sides first and then place asteroids in a manner that we hope hinders the other side.

This is how tournament asteroid placement is done.

3' X 3' is not large enough to truly simulate space combat. We play on a large felt octagonal poker table that allows for a little more room. It is fun to go a couple rounds just moving and positioning in a more round space environment, before actually engaging in combat. Then having the room to truly break off and run in order to regroup if needed.

All of the games have been without asteroids to get in the way, just true ship-to-ship dogfighting. My 12 yr old son loves the game and caught on too quick. I was killing him due to his predictable always K-turning past me. Sure enough, he out-witted me and ended up R1 with his B-Wing to the side of my Tie Interceptor. One-shoted Turr into space dust, when I had moved into position anticipating a K-turning B-Wing. That was a high-five and hug moment to see him outplay me in just our 3rd game.

We have thought about trying a house rule of separating the moving and actions into two phases. All ships move PS low to high. Then all ships have action PS low to high. Then combat high PS to low. Has anyone tried this?

One of my friends in a Green Bay Peckers fan, while I'm a Chicago Bears fan. We wager 10 x-wing points to the winner.

You need to get a Vikings fan so you can both get a nice boost in points and someone to beat as bad as the Vikings get beat...

We have thought about trying a house rule of separating the moving and actions into two phases. All ships move PS low to high. Then all ships have action PS low to high. Then combat high PS to low. Has anyone tried this?

Target locks, barrel roll, and boost become much more powerful this way, since you get to know (even on the lower PS guys) if it will get you out of arc/be in range/etc. Not necessarily a bad thing, but does trivialize actions a bit.

We have thought about trying a house rule of separating the moving and actions into two phases. All ships move PS low to high. Then all ships have action PS low to high. Then combat high PS to low. Has anyone tried this?

We tried this for awhile. Can't say I'm a big fan. I like that lower skilled ships FEEL lower skilled. They have a harder time making good decisions about what the battlefield is going to look like, while higher skilled ships are great at it. It's something I've not seen simulated well in any other game.

By splitting things up so that lower skilled pilots can see everything higher skilled pilots can see, you are removing a lot of that feel.

And it's going to be a HUGE buff to tie swarms, something they do not need.

As to the question of the thread:
We used to play barrel rolls incorrectly. Based on one of the cards we had somehow misunderstood and thought that ALL barrel rolls removed targets.

This made for a pretty fun game where TIE's were constantly spinning across the board, or having to make tough decisions about evading target locks or using focus. It also gave the rebels an interesting way to influence TIE movement.

It worked great in Wave I when it was just the two ties and the two rebel ships. I don't think it would work out as well these days though. Then again, maybe it would. I should try it again.

I dunno if it's a house rule or not, but lately the guys I've been playing with allow you to play Rebel vs Rebel, or Imp vs Imp - to simulate tournament conditions.

I dunno if it's a house rule or not, but lately the guys I've been playing with allow you to play Rebel vs Rebel, or Imp vs Imp - to simulate tournament conditions.

Not a house rule. That is OK and is discussed in the rule book how to determine initiative.

Loser side pays the pizza.