I did a little bit of searching, but I didn't really find anything on the topic, so here is my question:

How do you enhance your X-Wing play experience?

Did you build a custom gaming board to play on?

Do you add Star Wars music to the background of your games?

Do you use any type of Star Wars sound boards while dogfighting?

Do you bring out thematic pieces to place around the play area to get lost in the game?

Do you have the Star Wars movies playing in the background or have the Battle of Endor on endless loop?

I know for certain there are ideas I haven't even thought of, so please share how you enhance your play experience!

___

I thought of this topic earlier today when I came across my old SWTOR Collector's Edition Soundtrack. I thought, "How cool would it be to play X-Wing while listening to Star Wars Music?" Now I've added the original music sets to my Christmas List and I'm researching the appropriate play medium...Can't decide between an iPod w/ external speakers or something else. I have a 'custom' gaming board I made a little while back...essentially a 3'x3' 3/4" MDF wrapped in black felt. It's too heavy to take anywhere and I don't really have a 'game room' space right now to keep it set up all the time...

Anyway, how do you enhance your X-Wing experience?

I sometimes play fan-cuts of star wars, like "Star Wars Uncut", or the very well-done Prequel stuff from the Auralnauts channel.

By not spending too much time reading the rage posts here on this forum.

I play some sound track cuts on my phone while making sound effects with the x-wing soundboard app.

I created a Spotify playlist for XWing - removed the slow tracks like Yoda, Princess, etc...

Here: X-Wing

The score to the Clone Wars series came out last week: Kevin Kiner – Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Seasons One Through Six/Original Soundtrack) - I might incorporate that into the list but haven't had a chance to listen to the complete album. Very battle-heavy overall it seems so probably a worthy addition. (He is killing it for Rebels by the way - increasingly impressed with the scoring for that show)

Mostly I try to keep things interesting by trying new formats. The 100 point deathmatch is great, but team Epic games and some scenarios are a lot of fun too.

I play at a game store and share the space with Magic players and RPGers, so I'm sure it'd be annoying to play Star Wars music or movies, and it would just add to the din.

If I were playing at home, I'd definitely put on some music or a movie.

Interesting stuff to check out Baba, thanks.

@Hoosteen: I'm right there with ya! There are just certain threads I tend to avoid...and that does actually enhance my play experience.

Great suggestions on music. I really don't like running the battery out on my phone, so I'll have to invest in some type of mp3 docking player device w/ speakers. That's awesome that TCW music was just released...added that to my list!

@DagobahDave: Yeah, music is definitely not game store friendly with other people are trying to immerse themselves in their own games. Great point on the new formats. I seem to barely get enough regular games in these days, but trying new formats is a great way to enhance the play experience. What are some of your favorite formats besides standard and epic?

One of the other steps I'm taking to enhance my play experience that I forgot to mention was to streamline my prep time. I'm trying to achieve this through the use of a magnetic storage container and by placing washers on the bottom of each ship's base. Essentially the goal is to store everything on their stands. Similar to this gent: http://imgur.com/a/zlgTu but using washers as a cheaper alternative to metal bases/magnets. I've also organized my pilot/upgrade cards to be somewhat color coded and sleeved in a decent card box.

LSD

I'm definitely buying and playing the Interstellar soundtrack from now on.

Also tons of scenarios. Rotational docking. Avoid massive waves of fire.

I have a custom game board of my own devising, i use custom 3D asteroids on stands, I use custom campaign linked missions on occasion. I fully intend to custom paint flight lead ships (notably a TIE fighter for howlie).

I also have a soundboard on my phone, but that doesn't get much use.

I haven't seen Interstellar yet, but I'll have to look into it! I've gotten to the point where I can paint my bases (just the bottom side to hide the washers), but painting ships COULD be in my future...as much as I want to I lack the knowledge and skill...maybe even the finances to get into it. Great way to boost immersion though!

Enhance my play experience? You mean drop acid before a match? No, that's a terrible idea, I don't know what you're thinking...

Enhance my play experience? You mean drop acid before a match? No, that's a terrible idea, I don't know what you're thinking...

Don't knock it 'till you've tried it.

Rogue Xtra Special Dead Guy does it every time. Now that the Keg is gone though we'll have to resort to Cavaticca Stout.

Play with a 9 year old. Every match will definitely be interesting or at least entertaining.

What are some of your favorite formats besides standard and epic?

Team epic is a lot of fun.

X-Wing combat racing is a good kind of mayhem.* (Rules for this can be found in the Resources section of my X-Wing page. Click the link in my signature below.)

In a couple of days we'll be running a tournament using the Political Escort mission from the core rulebook instead of the standard dogfight. The attack/escort roles are determined randomly after asteroid placement each round, and in our practice matches it's proving to be an interesting challenge trying to come up with squads that work well in both roles.*

*People will say things like, "Wouldn't [squad] win all the time with that format?" Then they find out that everybody has an idea of what squad will be the best in any given format, and everybody's ideas are different.

I got an X-wing sound effects app.

But during a game of X-wing I don't notice the music in the store/club and forget to play the app and everything so just playing the game does all the experience for me.

it would be nice If I had a textured star matt that I could play on and will keep the models from sliding when I place the movement template.

custom star map. hand picked the background and got a friend who has a large laser printer

Beer and Pretzels

The Cantina Song on repeat.

- A playmat is a must, for making the surface less slippery, but more so for having a fitting thematic backdrop to the dogfights.

- At home I run the movies in the background.

- At home, at friends or at the stores I use sounds form the various X-Wing and Star Wars soundboards available for the phone. I'll be using the sounds much less when playing in the stores or at tournaments, as to not overdo it or becoming a nuissance to other players.

- Cheesy quotes from the movies are a must.

- Got no costumes, but a plethora of humorous Star Wars t-shirts that I tend to wear for the games.

The game store I play in has some star field table toppers that we use.

I will either have a youtube video of Epic Star Wars music playing or sound effects app from my phone. I usuallky get chuckles from other gamers and never been told it's annoying. Maybe b/c I don't play too close to other gamers and/or keep it at a decent level. Still, the number of new players that I've drawn in with the music is surprising. I've sucked in at least one person a week with it.

Yes to a playmat, yes to ambiance if you are in a good place for it (if you haven't flown to the battle of yavin score you are missing out). I find that a good tray (I got a desk drawer organizer from wallyworld for 3 bucks) helps for speed and overall portability. Good opponents/friends help in the fun type area as well. List variety and ingenuity also make my game experience much better, so things like furballs and scenarios are a blast imho. Anything that requires on the spot list building is also fun.

As to enhancing my experience, it's almost always going to include some lysergic. I mean c'mon man, have you ever been experienced?

off topic a bit - but I've seen the term 'furball' before - searched around a bit but never really grokked what that is

any pointers as to where I can look into that more?

#weneedglossary

off topic a bit - but I've seen the term 'furball' before - searched around a bit but never really grokked what that is

any pointers as to where I can look into that more?

#weneedglossary

It's a general term for a fight, usually of the vicious sort where it's hard to tell what's actually happening.

In x wing terms it's a game with 6-8 players all with one ship at a fixed point value. My group normally plays in the 25-28 point range with no unique pilots, but any reasonable point amount should work. It's called a furball because of what the fight in the middle looks like/is. There are FFG furball and escalation rules around somewhere; I can't remember where exactly -- sorry.

Not really in the ambiance category, but a while back I picked up a laser level from a local hardware store. It's really more of a laser straightedge as it projects a laser line along whatever surface you set it on. Wondrously useful in any number of tabletop wargames for measuring line of sight, arcs of fire, etc.