Hi All,

Just thought I’d share an alternate play format that I tried on the weekend that my friends and I really enjoyed.

I play with a couple of friends casually and they aren’t as interested in doing 100-point death matches and so we played a multiplayer ‘Racing’ play variant last weekend.

Rules we played:

We setup 4-markers (a Starting marker in the bottom right corner, Waypoint 1 in top right corner, Waypoint 2 in the middle of the map, and Waypoint 3 in the top left corner), and then had 65-points to select a squad of no more than two ships each, and then placed 9 asteroids on the map (3 each; 1 at a time by initiative order). Initiative was decided by points and/or roll-offs as required as per usual rules.

The objective was to have the first ship to ‘flee the map’ off the bottom edge of the board after having travelled from the starting marker to each of the 3 waypoints in sequential order.

Special Rules:

• Starting positions are determined by initiative and piloting skill as per usual, but must be placed within range 1 of the starting marker.
• Reaching a waypoint is determined by finishing your activation phase at range 1 from the waypoint marker.
• Ships cannot use any weapons until they have reached Waypoint 2.
  • Yes, ships can visit Waypoint 2 to activate their weapons prior to going to Waypoint 1. However if they do, they will have to return to Waypoint 2 after Waypoint 1 to meet the sequential reaching of Waypoints condition to finish the race.
  • Weapons become active the turn after a ship reaches Waypoint 2

How we played it:

We quickly chose different tactics:

• I chose Tycho with PTL and Ion Pulse and Horton Salm with Ion Turret and Flechettes. The Awing to race, and the Ywing to go to the centre and run interference when the opponents racers come past.
• Player 2 chose: Rexler with Engine Upgrade and Kir Kanos. Two Racers – If one dies, the other one will get there
• Player 3 chose: Ibitsam with PTL and Jan Ors with Ion Turret. Two Blockers – Straight to Waypoint 2 and nobody gets past!

Asteroid placement were mainly clustered around Waypoint 2 but also sporadically across the course and along the starting stretch.

Once the starters gun went off the three racers (Rexler, Kir Kanos and Tycho) sped 5 forward and boost towards the first waypoint... they were all lined up single file due to starting placement and avoiding asteroids but with no weapons active this wasn’t an issue. Meanwhile the blockers stressed themselves to get to Waypoint 2 to activate weapons.

The second turn got Tycho and Kir Kanos to Waypoint 1 and Rexler not far behind.

Turn 3 got Rexler to waypoint 1 with a white 4K while Kir and Tycho began turning for Waypoint 2, meanwhile Jan and Ibitsam hit Waypoint 2 while Horton landed short

Turn 4 Jan set herself up heading to block the way to Waypoint 3, while Ibitsam setup full guns blazing towards the racers incoming from Waypoint 1... Horton finally gots his weapons active while Tycho and Kir Kanos came racing in (Tycho actually flew past Ibitsam much to my friends chagrin). Jan shot at Tycho which missed and the Ibitsam shot Rexler which missed.

Turn 5 Tycho and Kir Kanos hit Waypoint 2 just behind... Ibitsam changed tactics and decided to head for Waypoint 1 (and would have virtually no more impact in the game). Jan Ion’d Tycho, while Horton Ion’d Kir Kanos.

Turn 6 Tycho Ion’d got parallel with Jan but used actions to turtle up,. Rexler moved into Waypoint 2. Jan couldn’t hit Tycho. Horton Ion’d Rexler.

Turn 7 Tycho raced forward to Waypoint 3, Kir Kanos on his tail oversteered and landed on an asteroid (no damage) and was unable to shoot at Tycho (race-leader). Rexler Ion’d Boosted and started peeling shields of Horton in revenge. Jan turned away from the action to dodge an asteroid and couldn’t hit Tycho through an asteroid. Horton continued to Ion Rexler.

Turn 8 Tycho hit Waypoint 3, Kir got facing towards Waypoint 3. Rexler Ion’d boosted and continue to eat away at Horton (now at half health). Horton continued to Ion Rexler. Jan starts a slow U-turn no shots

Turn 9 Tycho turned and almost fled the board off the left edge while Kir Kanos straight 5’d over an asteroid to get Waypoint 3! (This is a race boy!). Rexler Ion’d and boost continues to trail the racers, taking a wide turn to Waypoint 3 and taking yet another point off Horton who Ion’d him again. Jan Ion’s Horton.

Turn 10 Tycho setup for home, Kir Kanos begins to turn for home, Rexler lines up for Waypoint 3 trading fire with Tycho... Rexler deals two damage but takes one in return (both on one health). Jans and Horton trade fire but both miss.

Turn 11 Tycho speeds for home... With one health left... boost or turtle up?!? Boosts and focus. Rexler free of Ion for the first time in 4 rounds speeds to Waypoint 3. Ibitsam finally gets back from Waypoint 1 and pot shots at Horton taking him down to 1 health. Jans and Horton have no shots. And the game decider... Kir Kanos lines up behind Tycho and fires... 3 natural hits at Range 3.... Tycho rolls a black, and eye and two evades... focus token saves the day.

Turn 12 Tycho races off the board and wins!

Overall, I think the scenario rules was pretty spot on as the game ran a good amount of time, was well balanced... there was a good tension between using racing actions and combat actions... and it was very close... the three racers had only 4 hit points left between them! And if only a couple of shots had differed the outcome would have been different:

Modifications if we played it again:

-I would pull Waypoint 2 slightly further away from Waypoint 1 (and closer to start)

• I don’t think the blocking ships got quite enough time to setup (ie. I think the B-Wing got robbed when the Awing managed to jump it)

-I would reduce the points slightly...

• I felt at 65 points we all got ‘premium’ options (with similar Pilot Skills)
• At maybe 55ish points we might of had to make slightly tougher choices on where to spend our points race vs block

-I would consider more asteroids. Note: we played on a 1-metre square surface which is a few inches larger each direction than a standard playing surface

• I think we got the asteroids number about right but I certainly would not have wanted less and would consider more

I would consider placing proximity mines along the race track as additional / alternative obstacles as suggested by another forum in a recent discussion.

Thanks for reading,

Tren

It is always good to see new ways of playing the game. I am working on a racing variant that allows up to speed 12 in a single move plus the option of boosting. No weapons but lots of ramming and sideswipes. It also stars Vader Jr.

I have a "capture the crate" version that I made into a mission. It is for 3 vs 3 and it ran really well when I had a table of 6 people. The courier ship has to fly to the other side and pick up a cargo crate, then run back to their side to win. One player builds a 50 point attack force and another builds a 50 point defence force for their faction (100 points plus courier ship per side).

http://tools.fantasyflightgames.com/xwing/htmlpreview/371/

Check out this thread on X-Wing racing:

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/112581-x-wing-racing/

Thanks DagobahDave...

I was trying to recall the forum post that inspired my race idea... also love the Densis Rift Idea (and in general the amount of work you've put into it)

As someone who has obviously run a few races:

- How do you feel about limiting to 2 ships each?

- We played at 65 points but thought it was too much, you play at 40 points but don't allow uniques... where do you think the sweet point lies? (And why no uniques?)

- I considered trying having to fly outside of corners, but thought proximity worked just as well... how well does corners work? Does it cause pile ups at the corner?

- you've limited weapons for 4 turns, I've suggested Waypoint 2 to allow different tactics (race or block)... How well does a 4-turn delay work?

Just about any variation on this idea should work okay.

Limiting to two ships sounds fine. Personally, I like running as many cheap ships as I can, but there doesn't appear to be any sort of sure-win squad.

We play forty points with the possibility of gaining up to five more, depending on how well you place on the previous race. It works fine. I picked the number arbitrarily, since it's just enough to run anything from three swarmers to one Bounty Hunter, without imposing any other hard limits on ship count.

I think I included some house rules for running unique pilots, but the reason they're not allowed in the standard race setup is because I wasn't sure how certain pilot abilities might complicate things, and it's weird if there are multiple Soontirs in the race.

Instead, every pilot in the game has the opportunity to be elite and purchase an elite talent slot if they like. I also like the idea of allowing ships to purchase any kind of upgrade slot.

Corner asteroids seem to work fine. Bunching up is fun, but we haven't seen a lot of that. There are usually enough blocking ships and laggers to keep things interesting the whole race.

Delaying weapons fire until round four is another arbitrary choice, but it seems to be just enough time for the ships to set up their strategies before trying to ruin everyone else's.