I'm going to be spending the next couple weeks working my way through this section and several of the subforums, don't worry. I'm a newb not a noob.

I'm hoping folks who have been on here longer and know the answers might be able to point me in directions where I might find answers, in case my own searches take forever, or I miss something, but also so I can maybe get started on my Grand Plans sooner and not waste time going in potentially wrong directions. Here goes...

• Creating/using custom ships/pilots -- I know by now there's been some experience and folks will have figured out a lot of what works and what doesn't. Where might one look for the best guides/tools for doing this, and also for printing the physical tokens? The other side of this coin is where it is and isn't okay to use customs. Also, is the re aplace where people share the customs they've created for others to potentially use.

• Scale -- how hard-and-fast is the 1:270? If I use 1:350 models or miniatures, is the scale too visibly off? Or do most folks not notice/care (close enough)?

• I won't bore with a list of the miniatures I'm hoping to see at some point, but there are a couple that I'm curious enough about to want to know whether there are any plans afoot: Clone Wars-vintage craft like Y-Wings, ARC-170s, V-19s, or V-Wings; the TIE Avenger (Decipher did the best job, I think, of realizing this craft, and I'd love to have a good physical representation); and is there any hope of FFG fixing the Royal Guard TIE Interceptor miniature, or are we stuck converting it to be accurate?

• Precedent or rules for using larger ships, like frigates, in X-Wing for more than just scenery?

Looking forward do diving in fully over the next few months.I absolutely love this game (and wish it had been around when I was in high school, dammit...).

--Jonah

Welcome

I'm hoping folks who have been on here longer and know the answers might be able to point me in directions where I might find answers

I'll throw this link out first, it may be very useful for you. index of useful links

And now onto the questions.

• Creating/using custom ships/pilots

To be honest we don't use much in the way of custom ships and pilots. Some people will make custom pilots but those are typically something they use at home only.

• Scale -- how hard-and-fast is the 1:270?

FFG sticks to it with the small and large ships, the Huge ships not so much. But again, we all tend to use the ones FFG sells, so scale isn't an issue.

Clone Wars-vintage craft

Other than the Z-95 and Y-Wing we don't expect to see much clone wars stuff. FFG has said they plan on sticking to the Civil War era.

and is there any hope of FFG fixing the Royal Guard TIE Interceptor miniature

There is a Royal Guard Tie Interceptor, but it lacks the extra fins you see normally, so it's really just a red TI.

• Precedent or rules for using larger ships, like frigates

That would be the Epic rules. If you go to main page and click on the support link you'll find the FAQ and other rule doc's that might come in handy.

I'll throw this link out first, it may be very useful for you. index of useful links

Yep, been browsing through that a little.

To be honest we don't use much in the way of custom ships and pilots. Some people will make custom pilots but those are typically something they use at home only.

Hm... Or friendly games at one's local game store? Not tournament-legal, though -- I didn't mean for that.

Other than the Z-95 and Y-Wing we don't expect to see much clone wars stuff. FFG has said they plan on sticking to the Civil War era.

I don't mind sticking to the Civil War. I just mean the Rebels have a tendency to use older craft if they're still flyable -- to say nothing of fringers and pirates and other assorted Scum.

There is a Royal Guard Tie Interceptor, but it lacks the extra fins you see normally, so it's really just a red TI.

Yeah, that's what I was referring to. I'm pretty good at scratch-building and converting, so I know I'll be able to come up with something. Maybe 3D printing... *wanders off to doodle*

Thanks also for having me take a second look at the Epic rules. I saw that Huge ships are used there, but things like Frigates tend to be huger than the other Huge ships I've seen so far, so I didn't think Epic covered it. Reading more closely now...

--Jonah

Wasn't that the subtitle to Birdman?

They won't do bigger Epics than we have already. On a 3' x 6' play surface the Epic ships we have can still be hard to maneuver. The Star Wars Armada game covers those big boys.

They won't do bigger Epics than we have already. On a 3' x 6' play surface the Epic ships we have can still be hard to maneuver. The Star Wars Armada game covers those big boys.

Right. I'm rather looking forward to that. I was looking to be able to have a frigate or something of that ilk on the board doing more than just being an obstacle -- flight coordinator providing some kind of tactical buff, antiaircraft batteries, tractor beams, objectives, reinforcements entry point... *shrug* Something interactive for the fighters and light craft to be buzzing around. I'm even tentatively looking at building a star destroyer command tower down the road to use as such a setpiece.

--Jonah

I have done up a bunch of alternate artwork cards, which I post to my site every once in a while when I have a batch ready. Static page with all of the cards added to it can be accessed here. I still make more when I come across some artwork that warrants the effort required.

Most recently I posted some cards with Ralph McQuarrie artwork, as March 3 was the anniversary of his passing.

I have printed a couple pilots and put them in the sleeves with art on the back, so having a blank reverse side doesn't matter. I've seen a few threads on other boards where people post their own rules for new classes of ships. Sometimes they seem very cool, sometimes they are way out to lunch. Mostly just for fun, especially if you have models from another game or if you've gone to the trouble of making your own customs.

Very nice work. PM inbound.

I'm even tentatively looking at building a star destroyer command tower down the road to use as such a setpiece.

--Jonah

There is a topic around here somewhere of a guy who build an actual Victory class Star Destroyer for a play table. It's like 8' long. Looks pretty sweet. It's active too; turbo lasers, shield generators, etc.

People do all sorts of "house rules" and there is no reason you cannot do that if you wish. You won't see a lot on that here but its just not applicable for the rest of us, but it can still be fun to do on your own. It's a game, the main objective is to have fun, and from time to time someone will ask the community's help in coming up with stats for a ship like the ARC-170, and by the time we are done, it's usually in the ballpark. If you search around, several people have made cards for it, all you would need is to source a minaiture from somewhere like shapeways or mel's miniatures. If you want a frigate, mel sells a nebulon B which is awesome, I'd love to have it.

There are a few epic ships already, and epic games can be a lot of fun. I encourage you to give one a go, and you will have an idea for how xwing manages them. If the big boys are what you are most interested in, Armada will be out soon.

You are never gonna see a real star destroyer in X wing. it's too big and too powerful. The raider is the closest you are likely to get. Welcome to the game and forums.

Darthfish, thank you for pointing me to Mel. That's gonna help me a lot. Continuing to read and absorb. Where the hell was this game when I was in high school? *chuckle*

--Jonah

Plenty of people make their own custom ships; more power to them. Someone attends our league nights and brings his own custom creations. While that's interesting and I hope he continues to do so, I'm not very interested in playing games that include those customs.

Take a look at Mel's miniatures; people have been 3D printing customs from the beginning.

Okay... It's taken me a bit ot read through everything. *chuckle* I'm really impressed not only with the amount of thought FFG have put into X-Wing (and Armada), but also with how active the player community is and how good the back-and-forth between the two is.

Based on what I've found, and my local player base and locations, I've been scribbling up what I have and what I need -- rules and miniatures wise -- for a comfortable collection. I'm looking at

- At least one squadron from Baron Fel's 181st Fighter Group (if not all three), with custom pilot cards for the established characters within it

- A sort-of "what-if" version of Red Squadron between Hoth and Endor (I say what-if because in the original story Hobbie died ramming Veers' walker, and I like that version). Problems I ran into are the atrocious disconnect between ROTJ's script and what got edited together on the screen. From what the film shows us, Gray Leader is Red Two, in a Y-Wing. Red Three and a couple others are in A-Wings. Going with the bulk of visual and spoken evidence in the film, I'm treating it as following Red and Gold Squadron throughs the battle, including all the pilots we see dying, including the supposed Gray and Green Leaders, including the deleted footage of other pilots. When Lando calls for all craft of Red and Gold to follow him in, the grand total that do is five. But that's okay. Working with the most fighters seen onscreen of any given type in any given shot, we have no reason to think there are any more than 26 Rebel starfighters in the battle (9 X-Wings, 8 Y-Wings, 5 A-Wings, and 4 B-Wings). So I've been trying to wring something useful from that.

- A Clone Wars-vintage Charger-class frigate salvaged from a battle site and used as a roving base of operations for some fringers, with an ARC-170 and two Y-Wings. Plus a few other nonaligned craft.

- A Nebulon-B frigate because they're awesome.

I'm now looking into my options for bringing the craft that FFG doesn't do or got wrong (*GASP!*) into existence. Thanks again for the pointers and advice.

--Jonah

Welcome Inquisitor Peregrinus!

I hope your enjoy X-Wing for many years to come.

Others have answered you questions well so I will not attempt to do so.

Have fun!