I don't actually think 1v1 is the way to do it, whether serious or for fun

I've had a Soontir v Soontir off in a local tournie, and it was some dull ****. My opponent had the advantage by giving me the initiative and I had to think like hell to get him in arc, but ultimately nothing happened outside of a lot of maneuvering, boosting, rolling, token assigning, and 0 damage dealing. Why? Because I couldn't block him or force him into poor maneuvers with just one ship, and like-wise he could not do the same to me.

The "skill" portion of X-wing comes across when you're moving a few ships around in concert with one another, trying to manage arcs and formations while going around obstructions and ships (both yours and your opponent's). Having just two face off makes for some very simplistic and ultimately dull gameplay, imo

Shuttles at dawn!

Now this made me laugh

I gotta say, I am not entirely sure what this will accomplish.

Based on the ships chosen, this is either going to turn into K-turning/dice exercise or a regular turning/dice exercise.

A lot of the subtleties of maneuvering only come into play when there are multiple ships on each side on the table. When you get down to only one target, one firing arc to avoid and one firing arc to shoot out of, there are not a lot of choices.

I gotta say, I am not entirely sure what this will accomplish.

Based on the ships chosen, this is either going to turn into K-turning/dice exercise or a regular turning/dice exercise.

A lot of the subtleties of maneuvering only come into play when there are multiple ships on each side on the table. When you get down to only one target, one firing arc to avoid and one firing arc to shoot out of, there are not a lot of choices.

I go to you? I stick up for you? And you no help me now??? I say f' you Jobu, I do it myself.

the best way to test your skills is to run a tourney where you play the same guy 2 rounds in a row. once with your list, and then you swap lists and play again. do a margin of victory for both games and the most points moves on to the next round.

If you're going to do a flying aces tourney set the point limit at 34 or less to prevent Echo shenanigans.

Isn't that the essence of dog fighting though? Knowing my ship and the capabilities of the opponents which allows me to make an educated guess on what they might do? I think it's a valuable excercise which would make players better pilots.

That is correct in the real-life sense. It doesn't really apply to the game though.

In real life, you can react instantly to what you see your opponent is doing. You are not locked into doing a 2-bank after you see your opponent do a K-Turn.

If you want to test piloting skill (because it would be impossible to actually test combat skill due to dice/luck), fill out the 3x3 board with asteroids all within Range 1-2, maybe Range 1.5 of each other. Then fly from one corner to another.... using Echo. The one to do it in the least amount of turns wins.

In terms of pure flying (not combat) there's always Beggar's Canyon

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Beggar's_Canyon

You could have a couple of maze-like courses and, you can bounce off the walls, but when your hull is gone (no shields), you die. Whoever flies it fastest wins.

I want to try.