I'm a pretty serious X-Wing player who has gotten deep into the strategy side of the game. I'm competitive, but mostly in a "Huh, I wonder if this weird list can work" sort of way, rather than a "must win" mentality. Recently, I've even been playing the Heroes of the Autri Cluster co-op campaign solo, simulating three players and running all the ships myself. X-Wing, to me, is most appealing as an intellectual challenge crossed with the whizz-bang-zoom of getting to fly awesome spaceships around my gaming table.

Just today, however, my partner has for the first time expressed interest in trying to learn the game. That's awesome! But it presents a dilemma - we have totally different gamer styles. My partner mostly plays games for the social and story aspects. They love hearing about a character's backstory, seeing pretty art on cards, and creating a narrative together in a cooperative game. To make things even harder for us, they're more of a Star Trek fan than a Star Wars fan (yeah, yeah, blasphemy, I know).

How can I modify and/or present X-Wing miniatures in a way that will most appeal to my partner? I can definitely accept that it might just not be their type of game, and that's ok! But I'd love to maximize the chances that this could become a game we can both enjoy together.

I'm definitely planning to use the Aturi Cluster co-op campaign as a starting point. Using call signs and having the narrative of each mission be unique will help a lot. Obviously, though, the campaign isn't nearly as story-driven as other games like Mice and Mystics or D&D, so I'm wondering what else I can do to spice it up and grab my partner's interest.

For those of you out there who are social and/or narrative gamers, how do you bring out those aspects in X-Wing? Do you invent backstories for your pilots and squads? Or do you focus more on flying characters you recognize from the books and movies? Etc. Etc.

Anywho, thanks for reading. Any and all thoughts are appreciated!

If you have either Armada or Imperial Assult, you could try to intertwine the two or even all three if you have them in to one big cohesive story. Blow up Heroes of the Aturi Cluster to a huge system battle with the armada then shrink it down to the commando dice rolls into actual missions with Imperial Assault. You could use a specific hero in Imperial Assault and continue it as an Xwing pilot (or whatever ship you choose). Employ a role playing aspect to it by committing to the rebellion and if you die, you're done. Well you start over and lose everything. But it would be really neat!

I try to create a story for every match, "the Imperials have stumbled upon some Scum in the middle of an illicit transaction amidst a light asteroid field."

If your partner likes seeing pretty art, they probably also like seeing pretty miniatures.

If a story setting is important for them to keep their interest, you could create some campaign. I bet some people already designed campaigns with background stories. I haven't check out any of them myself, but I'd be interested in a campaign mode, where you gradually upgrade your rookie-pilot/ships to elite pilots/ships as the game progresses

Play scenarios.

Play scenarios.

this.

I don't know for certain -what- to do to get your friends interested, but I'm quite certain that you should NOT use the standard-100p-games (not that there's anything wrong with them! they just drive no story home). be creative, use scenarios, use your imagination.

perhaps try "rpg elements", moral dilemmas etc (capture freighter A thats full of stuff you REALLY want, or freighter B that's full of slaves your character will want to free, you have only time for one), combine armada and xwing for campaign stuff..

the sky imagination the force some hokey religion is the limit.

that, and the four attack dice of my patroling phantom &friends that are about to enter this table in 3,2,1 turns..

-Put on some Star Wars soundtracks.
-Play scenarios (as others here have suggested).
-Look for or create reenactments of battles from the movies, then iterate with "what if?" changes. ("What if it was Soontir Fel rather than Darth Vader leading Black Squadron at the Battle of Yavin?")
-Look at the guidelines for cinematic/campaign play on these forums. You're not the first to look for something like that, and I know a number of people have developed various systems for this.
-Cook your own campaign-style setup. I'm not sure what this might look like- maybe you get your missiles for free in the next game if you didn't fire them in this one- but one good idea I saw was "growing" your pilots from battle to battle: start with a skill-1 pilot (Outer Rim Smuggler, say), then if that pilot survives the battle, he can progress to a skill-2 pilot of your choice. Continue as you go, selecting a name and developing better pilot skills and gametext as you go. Select upgrades and ships to "unlock" as you progress, and maybe play your partner in a way that reflects more of something like Imperial Assault or Descent: a "player team" and a "gamemaster team."

If none of that works... *sigh* ...play Attack Wing.

Campaign

Yep, all the epic ship campaigns are a lot of fun...

I've not had a chance to play co-op campaign since I recently moved out-of-country and don't have my little plastic ships with me at the moment, but this Co-Op Campaign designed by a forum-goer has received nothing but positive reviews and excellent feedback. From everything I've read and seen, it seems to be extremely well-done and a blast to play.

You can read the entire topic here, and many people seem to enjoy the blend of a narrative-driven game with X-Wing's fast-paced tactical combat.

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/186308-x-wing-co-op-campaign-is-here/

Mix EOTE/AOR with X-wing... design an adventure that takes the player characters into dogfights on a regular basis. The squad lists will be weird if you wanna get the story telling part into Xwing. I usually allow (as GM) a shield to regenerate just in time so the characters don't die- or let them escape in a pod.

Look at the published missions for inspiration.

Play the epic campaigns

I can't stand playing Pandemic or Arkham Horror in the exact same your friend won't like playing X:WING TMG.

I see this thread is pointing down one of the lesser explored avenues that this game can be played. And one with rich potential for fun !

I also believe that the FFG game developers know this and consciously consider the non-competitive play aspects in their game development decisions. That is another aspect that doesn't get much discussion on these boards. (With the heavy focus on the 100 pt dog-fight).

There are many routes to go; scenarios, missions, epic, campaign, and whatever else people are developing in the isolation of their homes or FLGS.

Lets see more sharing of these ideas!

Create them their own "rookie pilot" card, photoshop in a cool picture from somewhere, paint up a ship for them in their favorite colors (its EASY), and play a scenario. Or do a 30 point furball with multiple people with their ship/card, play up a little bit of a scenario with some skillfully laid quotes and phrases from the Star Wars universe.

I hate to suggest this, but since a buddy of mine just bought 2 starters for x-wing, I went ahead and dropped the same amount on Star Trek Attack Wing. We went and played an OP and he brought the exact ship/crew for the scenario. I took along my own fleet playing the way I want to, we duked it out storywise, battling wits throughout the match. As much as I hate to admit it, for a casual gaming trekkie - Attack Wing may be much better suited here.

However, I still think your best bet is with some carefully laid plans of incorporating a special paintjob on a ship, or creating a player card for a generic ship that they can relate with.

Start every game you play with a back story...

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away!

I try to create a story for every match, "the Imperials have stumbled upon some Scum in the middle of an illicit transaction amidst a light asteroid field."

Every single time. (Remember to pick up your TIE pilots floating around after the battle!)

Even during the match.

"Weapons crit, your attack is now zero."

".....I roll down the window and fire my small arm at him."

........... *gives one attack die*

If you have either Armada or Imperial Assult, you could try to intertwine the two or even all three if you have them in to one big cohesive story. Blow up Heroes of the Aturi Cluster to a huge system battle with the armada then shrink it down to the commando dice rolls into actual missions with Imperial Assault. You could use a specific hero in Imperial Assault and continue it as an Xwing pilot (or whatever ship you choose). Employ a role playing aspect to it by committing to the rebellion and if you die, you're done. Well you start over and lose everything. But it would be really neat!

Boarding on huge ships. So much.

Going to deck-plan out the Raider at some point; I'll post it when I do. (Need to study all of the cross-section books first.)

When reading this thread, some might think that scenario play is for those who are looking for a story-oriented game. This is a misconception. In reality, the scenarios are every bit as technical as 100 pt. matches. The difference is, of course, that the boundary conditions are variable. This means that other ways of maneuvering and squadbuilding become more viable. Case in point: my recent game where a 100 pt. Soontir/Kenkirk w. Palpatine list was totally unable to mount a serious challenge in Mission H1 Evacuation. Two ships cannot control the mines, and because the Imperials are seriously outnumbered they need a list that can focus on achieving the victory conditions, not a list that is good at taking down 100 points of enemies.

The fact that all of this is done against a dramatic backdrop that makes it credible why these ships are flying around shooting at eachother matters little for the tactical decisions, but it does add to the appeal of the game. And who could be against that? If we didn't care about the story behind all this, we might just as well be pushing wooden blocks with numbers around. The names, models and everything that is Star Wars is totally unneccesary in terms of gameplay.

So any kind of player can get something out of these missions. Standard games have very few advantages over them.

It's worth considering the squads from a story point of view too. For example, I like flying Luke with R2-D2, Wedge and Biggs because , well, that's how it went down. Or perhaps you put Keyan Farlander up against Maarek Steele to see which of the flight sim game "heroes" is best. It might mean you pick some upgrade cards for thematic value rather than because they're "best", and it might also mean you need to tailor both forces against each other.

You can also add other elements. For example, take a look at this:

http://www.beastsofwar.com/eventslist/live-blog-xwing-endor/

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It turns the game into a low-level atmospheric dogfight, with terrain to be avoided and ground units too.

I considered when getting into X wing using the minatures and rules within one of the Star Wars RPG sytems to role play out space combat. I found though that the nature of the X wing game often would lead to the destruction of player characters in their ships due to the vagaries of tactics and combat dice rolls. That doesn't lend itself to an RPG continuing narrative nor to player satisfaction when their hard fought for and much loved PC is arbitrarily blown up by an academy pilot by a lucky red dice roll or the failure of the fickle green dice. Instead I plan to use the models as minatures under the RPG rules for space combat.

I'm a pretty serious X-Wing player who has gotten deep into the strategy side of the game. I'm competitive, but mostly in a "Huh, I wonder if this weird list can work" sort of way, rather than a "must win" mentality. Recently, I've even been playing the Heroes of the Autri Cluster co-op campaign solo, simulating three players and running all the ships myself. X-Wing, to me, is most appealing as an intellectual challenge crossed with the whizz-bang-zoom of getting to fly awesome spaceships around my gaming table.

Just today, however, my partner has for the first time expressed interest in trying to learn the game. That's awesome! But it presents a dilemma - we have totally different gamer styles. My partner mostly plays games for the social and story aspects. They love hearing about a character's backstory, seeing pretty art on cards, and creating a narrative together in a cooperative game. To make things even harder for us, they're more of a Star Trek fan than a Star Wars fan (yeah, yeah, blasphemy, I know).

How can I modify and/or present X-Wing miniatures in a way that will most appeal to my partner? I can definitely accept that it might just not be their type of game, and that's ok! But I'd love to maximize the chances that this could become a game we can both enjoy together.

I'm definitely planning to use the Aturi Cluster co-op campaign as a starting point. Using call signs and having the narrative of each mission be unique will help a lot. Obviously, though, the campaign isn't nearly as story-driven as other games like Mice and Mystics or D&D, so I'm wondering what else I can do to spice it up and grab my partner's interest.

For those of you out there who are social and/or narrative gamers, how do you bring out those aspects in X-Wing? Do you invent backstories for your pilots and squads? Or do you focus more on flying characters you recognize from the books and movies? Etc. Etc.

Anywho, thanks for reading. Any and all thoughts are appreciated!

I've recently been informed pig and elephant dna just don't splice. Maybe it's time to pick up EotE?

Some of these suggestions are awesome, but are too time intensive and probably too complex for a new player. I would just use the Aturi campaign as a base and then build more story into it and explain why the missions are important. Aturi is almost there it just lacks some story depth which you and your players sem to like.

Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions.

Today, I introduced my partner to the first mission of the Aturi Cluster co-op campaign ("Local Trouble"). To make it easier for them to get into the game, I laid out all my small-base ships and let them pick any one they wanted to play, even a Scum or Imperial. My partner pretty quickly decided they loved the shiny look of the Star Viper, so I grabbed a Kihraxz to fly alongside it for myself. We decided we're a pair of mercenaries and even named our characters. The mission went well - we didn't kill many Imperials, but at least we made it to turn 10 to win the scenario. My partner actually picked up the rules of the game way faster than I expected. We also had fun with in-character radio chatter as the mission went on. There was one TIE that landed on an asteroid almost every turn, which we couldn't help mocking and laughing about.

In the end, we had a good time. Looks like we'll be getting to play X-Wing together at least occasionally in the future. It's never going to be my partner's favorite game, but I'm really happy I got to share it with them and have it be a positive experience.

Last week my Agressor and two Kihraxz tried to deliver 20 tons of cocain to the Death Star. Needless to say the Royal Guard and Sabers foiled their plan.

I considered when getting into X wing using the minatures and rules within one of the Star Wars RPG sytems to role play out space combat. I found though that the nature of the X wing game often would lead to the destruction of player characters in their ships due to the vagaries of tactics and combat dice rolls. That doesn't lend itself to an RPG continuing narrative nor to player satisfaction when their hard fought for and much loved PC is arbitrarily blown up by an academy pilot by a lucky red dice roll or the failure of the fickle green dice. Instead I plan to use the models as minatures under the RPG rules for space combat.

One solution to facing overwhelming odds or simply losing a fight is the standard tactical response - kick in the hyperdrive and get to light speed (and out of there). Just add a simple rule that to engage your hyperdrive you need to perform two straight ahead moves with the last one at the ship's max and you can 'safely' depart the scene.