Just found out that the library is hosting a board game night tonight, and I thought it might be fun to bring along some ships for a quickie game. So what ship mix would you guys suggest for an easy learning curve (with hopefully enough cool stuff to make the game interesting). Assume that I've got at least one of everything thusfar.

I'm thinking like one Red Squadron Pilot and one Gold Squadron Pilot for the good guys and a Black Squadron Pilot and a Saber Squadron Pilot for the bad guys - and no upgrades, no missiles to muddy the waters. Point totals aren't quiet equal, but pretty close - or at least close enough for a friendly match.

That sound good, or should I bring something else?

I would think about bringing a YT-1300, mainly it's very forgiving for new players with the turret as the "primary" weapon, and it's very iconic. Just my two creds. Have fun.

Im thinking Luke and Biggs vs Vader and 2 Academies. both sqauds equal 53 points without upgrades. It looks appealing and iconic

I would think about bringing a YT-1300, mainly it's very forgiving for new players with the turret as the "primary" weapon, and it's very iconic. Just my two creds. Have fun.

Oooh, I like the idea of the 1300 versus Tie Fighters (Gotta admit that's a classic Star Wars moment, recreating the Escape the Death Star). Perhaps something like Han Solo+shield upgrade versus four Obsidian Squadron Pilots? That's only 4 points difference.

I'm not sure I agree with the other posters. I think the YT1300 is a great starter ship for a squadron of rebels, but not as a stand alone ship. You would pretty much be removing the best part of the game: the dogfighting. The YT1300 would just slowly fly around the field shooting at anything that gets in range. The TIEs likewise wouldn't have to worry too much about dog fighting as strafing runs and jousting would be by far the safest strategy. So you end up with the ultimate in boring X-Wing matchups: endless back and forth jousting.

For small, introductory games stick with X-Wings and Tie Fighters. They have unique feels and play styles, but also allow for a lot of fun dogfighting and maneuvering. Only bring the YT1300 to larger battles where it can be a foundation for a squad, rather than a stand alone, extremely boring ship.

I would not suggest the YT-1300 to a new player for the purpose of learning the rules. While the turret is very forgiving to new player, it won't help them because

A-it's a big base, so it doesn't quite control like a small ship

B-the turret and range 3 remove the need to maneuver, you just need to stay in range and, I might be alone here, but a lot of the fun is planning your next move to outmaneuver your opponent. Playing just the YT-1300 will be just rolling dice to attack and defend. Not the best way to bring the excitment to new players.

I would suggest 2 Academy pilots and 1 saber squadron for the imperial and 1 Rookie X-Wing and 1 Gold Squadron with Ion turret for the rebel.

This way you teach:

A-the importance of PS

B-how to maneuver your ship while trying to outmaneuver your opponent and the player can see two kind of maneuvrability

C-the possibility of 360 weapons while limiting his power being range 1-2 and doing 1 damage

D-How a ion token can interact in the game and help you to plan ahead

Eh, fair point about the Falcon - I was thinking Rule of Cool over game mechanics (And honestly I haven't played much with the Falcon to notice its non-dogfighting nature). Okay, 1300 is off the table!

Thinking more about it, I would make the X-Wing a Red Squadron so it has the same PS as the Saber Squadron. This way, you can also teach how initiative work.

What's it called again? Secret Force or something like that? It's two 50 points squads set up something like this:

Rebels:

Chewbacca + Gunner + Marksmanship

Imperials:

3 TIEs of some sort: Howlrunner/Dark Curse/Backstabber is one example

Chewbacca is all about simplicity. No real need to worry about critical hits. Gunner (and Marksmanship) makes hitting much more reliable. Primary Turret weapon means you don't need to worry about lining up your Firing arc to make attacks.

The Imperials are more about "team" building. Backstabber still teaches Chewie pilot about importance of Firing Arcs. Howlrunner shows some synergy and promotes formation flying. Dark Curse may not be so impressive with Marksmanship on the other side but it can show value of actions.

Of course there are plenty of ways to mix things up at 50 points without presenting an overwhelming number of options. With so few points you should try to avoid the "keep away" squads.

Luke plus R2 Astromech, Rookie Pilot (50) vs 2 Academies and 2 Obsidian squadron pilots (50). Very iconic (X-wings vs TIEs), gives a mix of pilot skills to teach initiative, adds an Iconic hero, and is relatively flavorful of the sides: better pilots for Rebs versus numbers for the Empire. Game should go fast allowing you to play several.

Yes you want to teach people important mechanics of the game but I think especially in your scenario where your trying to get people interested in it is to not bog the game down with rules. Make it very simple manoeuvre | shoot | evade. you want to attract someone's attention and make sure there enjoying it. Teaching and playing with my GF is a chore sometimes because she gets frustrated by all the rules (There isnt many but to someone not familiar with miniature games its a a lot to take in). She hates it when theres only 1 ship left flying around running away and 2 - 3 ships chasing it down and taking forever to land that critical blow.

So what im saying is make it simple make less upgrades the better, Having to characters is a good idea to draw people in and show them the cool special abilities (Luke and Vaders are probably the simplest) Maybe drop Biggs and take a red squadron (i just threw him in to balance points.)

Take the core set with you. Run one of the missions. They are a GREAT way of teaching the game and introducing it to others.

Take the core set with you. Run one of the missions.

Yeah the lists and missions in the core set are great for someone's first game.

I would vote for core set as well. It was fantastically put together as an introduction to the game.

I agree core set and keep it simple and avoid upgrades. Just use the quick start rules to get things going Rookie vs Academy & Obsidian. That way you do not need to spent too much time with rules.... just fly and shoot.

It might be worth noting that Luke + R2D2 can make for a frustrating match against two ties.

Personally I wouldn't worry as much about the 360° turret on the Falcon being an exception to most of the rules.

Yes you could keep it simple but on the flip side there's nothing like flying the iconic ships around for that visual to get people interested. Pair up Han with Luke and R2 to keep it simple and have them square off against Vader and some TIE fighters.

Let the newbies use the Rebels so that it's kept easy for them and you pilot the TIE's. They get to see what's required to fly a formation of TIE'S but don't have to execute it.

For me it's all about that awesome visual and instantly recognizable ships.

I don't think it's about being an exception, I think it's about it being boring. Four tie's vs YT1300 is about as boring a match as you could set up. Neither side gets to do anything besides roll dice to see if they hit, and the side that rolls the best wins.

Now a 100pt match with a YT1300 and 2 X-Wings? Sure. I'm not arguing the YT1300 can't be fun, it's a blast as part of a bigger strategy. But as an introduction to new players, a 1ship YT1300 build is lacking. Up the points and your good, or replace the falcon with some other ships.

Riplikash, your definition of a "boring" match may be just what a newbie needs to play so they can get certain concepts. You don't start reading War and Peace as your first book but rather something you would almost certainly consider a "boring" read once you've learned the basics.

Besides, seeing three TIEs in against a Falcon (if you're using 4 you've probably gone too basic) will most likely result in a quick battle. Being able to play lots of games is fun and can expose the game to more people. That 50 point Chewbacca build is good for beginners because it still uses a lot of the basic but LEGALLY gets to ignore some of the other game concepts that can come later.

I would vote to keep both sides in the small ship bases. X-Wings and Y-Wings are just as recognizable as the Falcon. Part of the early fun in the game comes from trying to figure out how to maneuver to get a shot on the other guy. With the turret, there is none of that.

One of the advantages to the quick game from the core set is that it creates a gentle introduction that over and done with in 30 minutes. By then they are hooked enough to take the next step to more rules and the 55-60 point squad. You could even have the 55-60 point squad hot-seated (prepped and off to the side) and ready to go immediately after the quick start game is done if they are eager for round two.

Yes yes, keep the game a short as possible. You may have others that want to play as well and you may find yourself overseeing two games going on at the same time and not even playing. How cool would that be?

Well, I wound up going with a Red Squad X-Wing and a Gold Squad Y-Wing against three obsidian TIEs - and I got worked. I started strong but quickly made a bunch of stupid mistakes. Fortunately since I was pretty open with tactics and strategy in helping the other fellow he was willing to let me slide when I set my dial to turn left when I really was wanting to turn right. (Hey, the ship was facing me! Not my fault!)

Anyway, we had fun and it was pretty close in the end. He blanched a little when he asked how much the ships were - but I explained that you didn't need a huge fleet to play and it was vastly cheaper than buying blind boxes like the WotC mini game. Only got one game in (with rule explanation) before they kicked us out, but we both had fun.

He blanched a little when he asked how much the ships were - but I explained that you didn't need a huge fleet to play and it was vastly cheaper than buying blind boxes like the WotC mini game.

LOL, typical reaction by folks that have never played a miniatures game. My wife thought the ships were expensive when she bought them for me at Christmas and I didn't have the heart to tell her how inexpensive they are compared to most other table top war games. I suppose if I were going to do this sort of demo at a library or other board game event I would take a cost sheet of 40K miniatures to show how reasonable X-Wing really is.

Or you could show what $XXX buys for the game sets vs. what would be a "basic" squad.

Yeah, I told him that you could build a pretty solid navy for about 60 bucks. The main game about 25, and then a handful of ships to get some variety and he should be up and running with his friends. (I didn't tell him that once the bug has bitten, he'll be buying ships left, right and center. (: )