Hi all,

At our LGS a few players bought the starter set and many (if not all) an additional blister or two.

Now, as a grizzled Star Wars fan (episode 4 was my fist movie in the cinema EVER!) I'd like to kickstart the X Wing scene where I live.

So I will make an effort to organise a mini tournament.

I am thinking to keep points low (50, maybe 60 points) in order to make it possible for people to play and participate with the starter-set plus one blister.

My questions;

-How many points would you recommend and why?

-Any other limitations or recommendations you can think of?

Any and all input much appreciated.

Thanks a bunch in advance.

Cheers,

Eric aka 'Elkerlyc' (something like 'it could be anyone' in ancient Dutch)

for small points 60 seems to be the sweet spot. you can fit a few upgrades in and most people, if new wont be running 5 tie fighters. It also leaves room if someone wants to take one of the bigger ships. Keeps a lot of the diversity which is what is so great about this game.

If the tourney is mostly all new players, 60 points seems good. It's a good spot balance wise between Imperials and Rebels.

I'd also consider not including asteroids just to keep things simple. Finally a 60 minute time limit should be plenty for a 60 point game.

I've found 55 to be a sweet spot. To build off of what Guitarquero is saying, at 50 the best squad is 4 academies. Same thing at 60. At 60, you can still only fit 2 x wings, but the imps can fit an extra ship. So I've found 55 a good balance of creativity and fairness between the sides. I would suggest banning R2-D2, as the opponents will have a hard time killing whomever he is on at the lower point total.

Perhaps limit asteroids to 3 or 4, but definitely use them. I agree that 55 points is a great squad number for the reasons outlined already.

Perhaps dis-allow all unique upgrades like R2-D2, Darth Vader Crew, ST-321, Rebel captive etc. That way everyone is similarly handicapped?

So far:

-55 points seem to work best judging by the responses. Giving a few options but not too many.

-Not allow any unique upgrades.

How about unique characters? Are they fine?

Note that the insidious and devilishly cunning plan is to lure people INTO the hobby.

I would highly recommend unique pilots, especially on the rebel side. If you're just starting, that means they probably have the core, and as you said, 1 blister. Even if that's a B wing, you're looking at 23 (red) + 24 (dagger) points = 47 points for the highest cost generics. 8 points of upgrades, while doable, is probably not in their best interest, especially since it'll more than likely end up being 2 proton torpedoes since you don't have very many upgrades to choose from...

In that example, you would have:

Fire control systems (2)

Droids (1-3, R2D2 is disallowed)

Proton Torpedoes (4)

Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)

But if you allowed unique pilots, you'd probably come across lists like Luke w/ R2F2 + Blue w/ FCS

Not a particularly "good" use of points once you get behind the math, but still a fun use of points, and something I'd expect to see from a new player.

Perhaps limit asteroids to 3 or 4, but definitely use them.

Guess that depends on how many games the people have already played. If they're at least semi-comfortable with moving the ships and picking maneuvers then a few can be ok.

But if they're really new, rocks are just going to cause frustrations IMO.

Perhaps limit asteroids to 3 or 4, but definitely use them.

Guess that depends on how many games the people have already played. If they're at least semi-comfortable with moving the ships and picking maneuvers then a few can be ok.

But if they're really new, rocks are just going to cause frustrations IMO.

Having no asteroids makes the game feel pretty bland though. When I play with/watch new(er) players a lot of the best moments come when someone clumsily lands their ship on top of an asteroid at a critical moment, it gets a lot of laughs from everyone including the player that did it. That nervousness when they commit to a maneuver that they aren't quite sure will clear an asteroid makes for some pretty tense moments too

X-wing is a pretty simple game to pick up, I don't think you really need to dumb it down that much just to get people into it. If they are really that worried about using asteroids they can always just stick them in the corners during setup, or you can place out some more forgiving asteroid layouts in advance and just have the players use your preset asteroid field instead of doing it themselves like normal.

When I teach players the game, I start with the "out of the box" quick start rules (move and shoot, move and shoot)...then add actions and asteroids with the same ships. Once they have it, I have two 60 point squads (Luke+R2-D2, Biggs+R2-F2 [60 pnts] / Howlrunner+swarm tactics+stealth device, Acadamy Ties x3 [59 pnts]). This teaches them how Pilot abilities and upgrades work.

That being said, 60 pnts is a great starting point for small games. You can have everything the 100 pnt build can give, just smaller. I ran a 60 pnt "tournament", and everyone was happy with the options the 60 pnt limit allowed them to use. My goal is FUN, and that allowed for ppl to enjoy the building of squads, running them, and actually enjoying the day, win or lose., without feeling too limited.

I also used the 2' x 2' space as recommended in the quick start rules, because with small squads, the regulation of 3' x 3' just seemed to be too much space. This also created intense dogfights.

Now about asteroids: On the smaller field, I limited the asteroids to 4. 3 tends to have the effect of them just being laid out randomly, and not really getting that "mini-game feel" during the placement. 4 gets that "feel", with asteroids being strategically placed, which they now end up being a part of the game. Plus, 4 gives the players 2 each, instead of one player only getting to place one asteroid.

I hope this can help give you ideas. The greatest thing about this game, to me, is the flexability, so do what feels right for you and your group, just keep in mind that the point is to enjoy life, and have fun.