One of the local store owners was asking me yesterday if I've seen any successful alternative formats for play to the 100 Point Dogfight that is the gold standard for the game. I noted that there are rules for Escalation, but that it hasn't been a hit when I tried it and she thinks it is too complicated. They've had success with a "Wingman" format wherein two players on a team each get 75 points (+/- 5 for some flexibility, totaling 150) but are looking for other ideas that might draw a fair crowd.

Has anyone else experienced an alternate format they've really loved that seemed easy for all levels of players to jump in and be a part of?

I like their missions: http://tools.fantasyflightgames.com/xwing/

Many even have pre-built squads.

Furball - Every man for themselves, get 35ish points.

There is also a new one talked about on the Nova Squadron podcast called the Hunger Games. Kind of like a furball, but everyone just gets one ship from a list of points adjusted ones and there is a ring of upgrades in the middle that are up for grabs. Kind of like...the Hunger Games.

I like Furball, and I also like 75 point matches on a smaller surface (2.5 square or 2 square). 2v2 with 75 point squads is also fun, but takes a bit longer.

Doing missions, or creating a Map and fighting for supremacy over the galaxy can be fun. Here's an idea I've been kicking around:

1. Create a galactic map with star systems to fight over, and give 1/2 of the systems to each faction (1/3 when scum comes out)

2. Each battle, pick a system and fight over it - a system must border your own controlled area (I.e, you can attack from an imperial planet to a connected Rebel planet, and the Reb's defend their space) - you could also pick the squad point value per system (75, 100, 125, 300/epic). For example, tatooine might be a 75 point system, whereas Coruscant would be an Epic battle of 400 points a side.

3. If an imperial squad defeats the Rebs in a Reb system, the system becomes Imperial.

4. As the galaxy swings in control toward one faction or another, create bonuses for the faction that's 'losing' the galactic war. Some ideas I've had: a) bonus 10 points for the defender's squad; b) Free non-unique Astromechs on rebel ships b) free ordinance on imperial bombers. - Note that in some cases a defender from a losing faction would only be allowed to pick one of the 'bonuses' during a particular fight, but if they were losing bad enough (owning only 1/4 of the systems or less) could pick 2. Also, you'd have to decide if these would be defensive bonuses only, or offensive, or perhaps having different options for defensive or offensive bonuses.

5. Have fun! Sometime's it's good to give 'power play' or 'penalty kill' situations in a game like this. It sharpens us as players, and leads to a fun environment where creative lists are more valuable than the 'domination-killer-meta-ultimate lists' can be.

Jacob

I've tried several times 120 pt battles and it is a very interesting format to me, better and funnier than the standard 100 pts in my opinion.

My FLGS is hosting a 150pt Named Pilots Only tourney this weekend. It's still a dogfight format, but it really makes your head spin with the possibilities.

So there's still the struggle over the anguish of whether to go with just a few, tanky ship builds or squeeze in more pilots because you have the points to do so. (I'm probably going with a four ship Imperial list: Echo/Rexlar Brath/Captain Kagi/Carnor Jax, and I know my friend is running a 5 X-Wing list).

I find a lot of the missions that FFG includes with expansions a little too gimmicky for competitive play, generally speaking. I did really enjoy the escape Hoth missions in the GR-75 pack; you could definitely look at those for some fun.

Mission Control can be a great resource for spicing things up. There are hundreds of missions up right now; the real problem with finding something fun to play is sorting through them. Some are really good, but there are plenty of missions up that aren't great. Many missions are just people testing the system to see if they can publish something.

The "Top Rated" section in mission control is a good place to start, although there are a lot of good missions without high ratings. I suggest going through the missions from highest rating down, and try to find missions and mission authors that you like.

There are some real gems on MC, including an incredibly thorough Battle of Yavin campaign by J Rhea, and several variations of your favorite battle scenes from the movies, including the Falcon's escape through the asteroid field and the first death star.

If you're looking for competitive-style scenarios, I made 4 or 5 missions that are pretty easy to learn, reasonably well-balanced, and compatible with any type of squad or matchup (i.e. RvsI, IvsI, RvsR). You might find something you'd like to try there.

My FLGS is hosting a 150pt Named Pilots Only tourney this weekend. It's still a dogfight format, but it really makes your head spin with the possibilities.

So there's still the struggle over the anguish of whether to go with just a few, tanky ship builds or squeeze in more pilots because you have the points to do so. (I'm probably going with a four ship Imperial list: Echo/Rexlar Brath/Captain Kagi/Carnor Jax, and I know my friend is running a 5 X-Wing list).

You've said too much - I know your plan now.

Anyway, that's the "ACES" format. Gotta repeat it so that it catches on and becomes a thing. ACES!

Anyway, that's the "ACES" (TM) format. Gotta repeat it so that it catches on and becomes a thing. ACES(TM)!

Fixed that for ya.

Have you tried the 24 pt no uniques format?

Or, two 24 pt lists added together for 48 pts. (This tends to be better for good players).

Its quite fun and it gets back to the basics of flying well.

We had the most fun at Worlds with Furball with 4 of us, SpaceMonkeyMafia, Picasso, Jeremy, and myself 30 points max, and it was a non-stop laugh fest.

I would also consider the NOVA Squadron Hunger Games as well. I REALLY wanted to make it there this year to play, but funds were just too much to be reasonable for me.

Or, ya know, there's always Pirate Rules. (No faction restrictions, no uniques, no more than one of each ship type.) Those are always fun.

And, of course, EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!

60-PT furballs. I like escalation. : /

150 pt skirmishes, max 2 large ships per side. Allows for some truly nasty builds that are really non-forum meta.

40 point dogfight was fun,quick, and easily accessible to someone with a starter and expansion.

I just ran a 59 point dogfight with 12 asteroids and it was required you had at least one ship of each faction. Asteroids couldnt be setup in the deployment zones. Tons of fun! But bobba with han crew wasnt as good as youd think... but the commentary was hilarious!

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/114531-stepping-up-to-150/?hl=150pts

Tired of 100 point dogfight? Then do we have a deal for you! (look at the thread)

Have a 500 point per side battle.

Have a 500 point per side battle.

NOW your talkin'!

We really like scenarios and missions.

As they are often time limited you get more credible results like a few ships being crippled rather than the 100 point deatmatch standard result we get where the 'winner' has one ship left on the field.

Real engagements tend to go on until one side completes its objective or the other sustains to many casualties to bare (usually about 20 per cent in real warfare is considered 'heavy' but 'disasters' usually get made into legend when 70 per cent or more of a force is wiped out, even if they win!)

To me the 'tantive IV' campaign is an excellent example of xwing missions done well.

The old GW necromunda game had a good mechanic as well, if you lost more than about 25 per cent of your force you had to make 'bottle tests' every round to see if your men would keep fighting despite the casualties.

This was fairly essential for a campaign and story based game, xwing doesnt have that but with a campaign system if they ever did one they would need to give you a reason or incentive to retreat against impossible odds

My FLGS is hosting a 150pt Named Pilots Only tourney this weekend. It's still a dogfight format, but it really makes your head spin with the possibilities.

So there's still the struggle over the anguish of whether to go with just a few, tanky ship builds or squeeze in more pilots because you have the points to do so. (I'm probably going with a four ship Imperial list: Echo/Rexlar Brath/Captain Kagi/Carnor Jax, and I know my friend is running a 5 X-Wing list).