Hi everyone,

We are pretty much beginners at X-wing - but have decided to play in a local tournament at our game store on Saturday.

Two questions / requests for help....

1) Are there "standard" codes-of-conduct, conventions or unwritten rules for playing in this type of format? (Have heard people talking about not pre-measuring moves. That correct? And, if that is true, is it wrong if I know how my hand scales to the templates and use my hand to pre-measure?)

2) What might be the easiest to manage for beginners?

Tournament is for 100 point 'fleets'

We are playing the Empire - and have the following at our disposal:

- Beginner set (2 tie fighters)

- 2 Tie fighter expansion packs

- 1 Tie bomber expansion pack

- 1 Tie defender expansion pack

- 1 Tie phantom expansion pack (not very good at managing the features of this ship)

- 1 Empire Aces expansion pack

Left on our own, would probably try to make 100 points with the Tie defender and add in Tie fighters to make 100 points.

Here's a link to our early attempts to figure out how to play....

http://battlegaming1.blogspot.com

Many thanks for any/all suggestions or help!

To address your first question, pre-measuring in ANY capacity is usually considered cheating. Flat out. So using you hand to pre-measure will usually get called out right away. I would recommend not doing this at all.

This game is really a lot about spatial relations, and the first thing new players have issues with is flying correctly and not bumping into things. The only way to get better at this is to practice, so I would recommend practice flying your ships. Set up an obstacle course with ships and asteroids and try to fly through them. Only through repetition can you develop this skill and not even need to worry about pre-measuring. You'll be able to eyeball it!

By rule, the only time you are permitted to 'pre-measure' anything at all is when you declare a target for a Target Lock, and that is only after you have declared your target to see if he is in range. So I can not stress enough, you are NEVER permitted to premeasure movement, so do not do this. This isn't 40K

To finish off that first point, I recommend reading the FAQ and the Tournament Rules. You will find that most of your 'unwritten' rules actually have been written down and are found there. Aside from that, be friendly, be kind, remember to be clear in what you are doing and what actions your ships are taking. Place tokens correctly, use REAL cards, not proxies, and above all, have fun. Going into your first event do not go there to win it, go there to have a good time.

To address your second question, any list will do to be honest, this is your first event after all! However if you are looking for something that has a chance to do well, I would start with a TIE Mini Swarm list plus whatever, list this:

Howlrunner with Swarm Tactics
Mauler Mithel with Swarm Tactics
Academy Pilot

Academy Pilot
Rexler Brath

So, you run Howl and Mauler in a block formation with the Academies out in front like so:

A A
HR MM

This keeps everyone in range one to abuse Howlrunner's ability. At the beginning of combat, use Swarm Tactics to bump the Academies up to PS (pilot Skill) 8 and 7, making the whole list PS 7-8

Rex, I'd use him as a flanker and remember to use his ability.

So deployment might look something like this:

A A
HR MM RB

So move forward with the mini-swarm and cut in with Rex to pinch them between two targets.

I really hope that help, please let us know how you did.

Its true that you can't pre measure.

I'd say its immoral even if it isn't illegal to measure with your hand.

For a First Tournament I'd suggest fewer ships is better. The round will go more efficiently and you can focus your attention better. I'd say something like flying a Tie Swarm is best for your next tournament and not this one.

Good luck on your first tournament!

It is absolutely forbidden to premeasure. Even range. The closest you can come to that is when you acquire a target lock on someone who is far away, you measure to see if they are actually in range for target lock.

As for builds, I would first consider that you have 2 TIE expansions, which means 2 howlrunners. Whatever you end up putting together, I would suggest you each use a howlrunner to make your other ships stronger. One list could be howlrunner with a few TIE Interceptors, while the other uses Howlrunner with a Defender and Phantom, or something like that.

On second thought, throw that defender in the garbage and use something else. Defenders are trash.

On second thought, throw that defender in the garbage and use something else. Defenders are trash.

I completely disagree! Defenders are awesome, one of the best jousters in the game hands down. Are they a bit overcosted, sure, but still running one is not a bad decision.

The defender is an excellent ship! Stick a HLC and keep it at range 3 as much as you can whilst a tie mini swarm reaks havoc.

I hope you enjoy your first tournament. It was my firs tournament that cemented my love for the game.

Hi everyone, thanks a million for the super support and advice. We will not be pre-measuring (in any way!)....

And, thanks for the idea of practice flying. We worked on that this morning and it will really help.

(By the way, keeping 4 Tie Fighters in formation through a turn is tricky!)

We had some internal discussion, and decided to fly:

- Mauler Mithel

- Howlrunner

- Onyx Squadron Pilot (Defender)

- Shadow Squadron Pilot (Phantom)

Know this isn't exactly the advice given - but, stays with the guidance of fewer ships.

This left us 6 points for upgrades. Thinking to add at least one ion weapon and something like Marksmanship.

We took some photos of formation practice....

http://www.battlegaming1.BlogSpot.com

Hi everyone,

Follow-up on the tournament.

1) Thanks again for all of the advice - huge help

2) We learned a ton

3) Silly idea to deviate from the rather clear guidance of EvilEd209 to create a Tie formation with lower skill levels in front. What a mess trying to hold formation with the lower skill levels in back

4) We played a person who was really good with Echo in the Tie Phantom (amazing maneuvers)

--> And, advanced cloaking is very cool. Seems like almost an automatic if you have a Phantom in your list ??

5) Howlrunner did a great job

6) What an important thing practice is. By the 3rd match we didn't crash into any asteroids. In the first one, asteroids had done more damage than anything else.

http://www.battlegaming1.blogspot.com

Hello Battle Gamer and welcome aboard. I didn't have a chance to play you on Saturday. The person you played ( who came in first place) started relatively recently. I've seen him improve over the last 3 tournaments in the area. As you practice more with different builds, you'll find your niche. You'll do we'll, just keep up the practice.