We've got threads aplenty on squad builds, on synergy, a few on placement of rocks and, to a lesser extent, ships. We've got a very useful maneuver guide to help new pilots learn how to visualize their maneuvers.

We haven't got, though, many threads on the initial placement of ships with a description of what opening strategies we might use.

I'm useless at it. I always take worse shots coming into the fray than I manage to give out. After this,when the fighting is in close and tight, I do okay, but I can't easily plan and visualize the approach.

How do you guys do it? What general strategies and approaches do you keep in mind when first placing hour ships,and in the first few movement turns?

Almost always start in the corners.

Almost always.

Almost always start in the corners.

Almost always.

Go on...

What if your opponent takes his corners first because he has lower ps?

What if you're flying a swarm? What if only 2 ships?

What direction do you face your ships from the corner?

Starting in a corner is a good idea because it keep one of your flank safe. But that's also one side where you won't be able to go in case of a joust. That's why it's almost always a good idea to start in a corner.

If your opponent picked his corner first, you can either place yours in front of his, if you feel like jousting, or on the other side, if you feel like bringing the combat through the asteroid field.

If you're flying a swarm, place them in your formation of choice.

When using a 2 ship build, it depends on the synergy of both. Sometime it is better to start close, other time far away. With my 3 Interceptor list, I like to start in a corner and then first move one go left, one in the middle and one in front. I adjust speed of each depending on where my opponent placed his so that first round of fire, all three of my ship will have a shot on the same target.

Before placing my ship, I try to visualise some possible roads on the field: Where I'll cut throught the asteroid field, where I'll try to concentrate fire if I decide to split my force. Leave your door opponent in case your opponent pull a move you were not expecting.

Good topic, OP. I think that opening moves are often my downfall as well. Sticking to a corner is fairly obvious. Stalling to see how your opponent commits is also good. Even with those things in mind, I usually end up doing something that has the effect of either splitting my fire or allowing opponent to alpha strike something.

Practice. Practice. Practice. I suppose.

I tend to fly 3-4 ship lists as Imperials. So one thing I'm thinking of is the marriage of asteroid placement and opening approach. I try to approach somewhat slowly at first, with more obstacles on my side of the field, because I want to meet in the middle. That way, my opponents have to take the asteroids into account as they come back around for me, but I'm less restricted in doing the same. Second, I try to have my heavy hitter on the side, drawing the opposition through the asteroids to get to me. I favor lists where one threat is obvious, while the others are less so, which tends to make opponent approach and early game easier to read for me. For this end, Predatory TIEs (Black Squadron + Predator) and Outmaneuvering Royal Guards are a favorite. I tend to bring them up along the flanks of the opposed formations at range 2-3 for the first exchange, and maneuvering in close to focus on whoever got the black eye in the opener.

Also, if I'm approaching with any form of ordnance carrier, I try to approach slightly slower with them, target locking at extreme range and then using a slow maneuver to close, so that the opponent's motion is taken into account and they tend to be at range 2 (the optimum distance for most missiles and torpedoes).

This also means that the possible paths through the asteroids that my enemies can take are greatly restricted by then, making bombs much easier to land hits with.

I often move very little in the first round because some players will show you their intent here. I think some of the biggest mistakes are made in the first few rounds because it is here that determines the first engagement. Some players (including myself) misjudge the distance of the first engagement leaving some ships out of firing range while your opponent may have all of his ships within firing range. Even if one of you ships is out of range during the first combat it can leave his whole list vs. a fraction of your list. I hope that made sense.

Depending on what you enjoy flying, it can be useful to set up opposite your opponent for what may look like a joust only to do some hard turns for your opening maneuver. See if you can force them to set up an engagement in the asteroids, or take obstructed shots at you, before turning in at the best time for a trap. I really enjoy doing this with Interceptors and TIE Fighters since they have Barrel Rolls and 1-Hard Turns to navigate both asteroid fields and enemy ships.

Surprised no one has mentioned this yet, but in your opening set up and maneuvers, always remember the Rule of 11. Basically, in a straight joust, an engagement is possible once the combined maneuver speeds of those two ships is 11 or more. If two ships facing one another both do a 5-Forward, no firing will happen. But if one of those is an Interceptor who then decides to Boost, that means the ships are suddenly in range of one another. It's important to keep this in mind when deciding starting positions, asteroid placement and opening maneuvers.

Almost always start in the corners.

Almost always.

Go on...

What if your opponent takes his corners first because he has lower ps?

What if you're flying a swarm? What if only 2 ships?

What direction do you face your ships from the corner?

Sorry was on phone. And feeling really tired.

You should still take one corner of your own. If the enemy attempts to come directly at you the edge of the board blocks his motion for things like K-turns.

Also being in the middle tends to mean that you have to K-turn first as you get attacked from a better angle.

Being in the corners tends to give you more time to figure out what your first round engagement will actually look like:

1. You can go fast and straight and joust.

2. You can turn and go along your side until you drag your opponent into the center.

3. You can cut diagonally across into the center if you can create convergence AND your ability to dodge rocks is better than your opponent.

No matter what ships, swarms, 2 ships. ALWAYS corner.

4 modern rebels, like Paul Heaver, corner.

XXBB 2013 Paul Heaver, corner

The countering swarm Hothie, i think also started in corner.

Only exceptions I've found:

Darktemplar 2014 US Nationals. An effective tactic for this version of the shuttle is to be in the center with Whisper and Soontir on both corners. Use the shuttle to bump up fat ships and keep them there. And then use Yorr's ability as both aces head center.

Use of Lone Wolf on 2 ship build.

--

As for direction: Usually always forward. Other directions are if you have some special plan, but forward gives you the two strongest options: 4-5 straight forward. (engage within 2 turns) And also 2turn to the side. (break and allow for 4 or 5 turns.)

Versus facing toward your side center: 3hard doesnt go as far. turn 3 minimum engagement usually. Kills ability to joust.

Going 5 straight down your edge of the board does NOT give you anything. Esp since your opponent can cut you off faster via a diagonal towards the center, covering direct distance to you much faster than you can break away. This also requires a k-turn to return to combat.

Facing backwards: LOL. =D Secret Techniques.

Facing off the edge of the board: Lol. Fail.

I often move very little in the first round because some players will show you their intent here. I think some of the biggest mistakes are made in the first few rounds because it is here that determines the first engagement. Some players (including myself) misjudge the distance of the first engagement leaving some ships out of firing range while your opponent may have all of his ships within firing range. Even if one of you ships is out of range during the first combat it can leave his whole list vs. a fraction of your list. I hope that made sense.

I tend to find that the ability to react to a hard power push by going slow yourself never works. You don't get enough distance and options to react if the opponent goes for the correct and strongest choice.

This is especially true if you deploy forwards. As you also tend to push convergence that way. And at an accelerated rate since you're also heading towards your opponent.

I find opening moves to be dependent upon several things, but in no particular order, because you really need to react to each situation. I apologize for the lack of organization to this post...

1. Your strategy

- your list

- your plan

- your targeting priority

- what you think your opponent thinks your plan is.

2. Obstacle Placement

- Field Density.

- Lanes.

3. Your opponents strategy

- your opponents list

- what you think of your opponents plan

- your opponents targeting priority

- what your opponent thinks you think their plan is

- your opponents placement. (you know more about this with higher pilot skill than the opponent)

Now - all of that gets fairly complex, because many of the bits are moving parts that interact with each other - so just think about why you're placing as you are, and why the opponent might be. Individual examples can help, but so does lots of practice...

We can break some things down into super broad strokes -

Dense asteroid placement often means the edges will be free - but gives a hiding place for hypermobile ships. Something to drag large ships and swarms through.

Open asteroid fields open up the board for movement all over, especially with debris, which won't block firing. You can also set up across from an asteroid, and your opponent will guess that you will turn, but will have a 50/50 chance of guessing correctly - right or left! (unless you're super sneaky and fly straight across it...)

Which one is good for jousting? Dense or Open? - both, and neither. That's up to your opponents set up - if you both place in lanes across from each-other, you can joust along the lanes. You can often glean if the opponent wants to joust, based upon where they set up - and their first move. If you set up across from each-other and they fly straight at you on the first turn - they probably want the joust. If your opponent places in the opposite corner from you - or not facing you, then they may not want to joust - and may want to pull you through the asteroids, or control where the opening engagement occurs.

Why did Blail suggest corners?

He gave great reasons - but It really boils down to flanking. If you set up in the right hand corner you won't be flanked from the right, because that's the board edge. If the opponent sets up across from your or elsewhere, you can fly straight into them, or bank to meet - you're not likely to be flanked.

What about setting up in both corners?

Well - now you can try to flank the opponent, but you're going to have to judge your speed - the ignored group must speed up to meet, most often, you really need to make sure that both groups come in at the same time. If you're in one corner facing 2, you want to try to control the speed so that the flank is either too late, or too early, and you decide which group will come in at your flank... (This means, when you try to flank, your opponent chooses which is the flank - not you)

As for the middle....

Now you have the option to go left or right, you've got options, you can get into the asteroid field and pounce from within - but, you'll have a harder time keeping yourself closed to flanks when someone sets up in two corners.

Considering lists & opponent placement - we start to really get into case by case situations - if you see 8 tie fighters, you can guess they'll be set up all over the place - but you won't be sure, likewise if you see 7 ties you can bet they'll be in formation. Of course you won't know - until the opponent places. That's not a list you want to joust, so you don't want to set up across from them, unless you can feint and turn back in time, pulling them through asteroids etc... Lists give us more glimpses of this pre-setup. Howlrunner, Biggs, Squad Leader, Jonus etc all broadcast some kind of formation grouping. If you see the opponent group ships tightly, you can guess they'll fly in formation. (though more advanced opponents may want you to think that and break)

When you see your opponents list, one of the first things you need to do, is determine your desired targeting priority. (This is because that may not be easily possible depending on their setup) If you see 2 big threats, and one of them is Soontir, do you want to build a dense field for him to fly in and shake you? ) Do you want to set up to chase or to trap? If you see synergy, and notice that killing his kyle katarn will really be a blow to his list - you're probably going to go after Kyle. Place to flank, or trap Kyle. If your opponents list is a jousting list and yours isn't - don't set up to joust.

Your opponents placement of obstacles can be read too, do they toss them out? (Possibly no plan, or a plan that doesn't use obstacle. Or do they place carefully, taking their time? Do they place clustered? Spread apart? In the corners. Do they block your asteroid placements. If your opponent has initiative, you have greater control over the final field shape.

Now that the setup is done - the opening moves are a tree of positions that collapse, I've talked about this in attack line - but as you make moves, your further moves are affected - you have greatest flexibility in the beginning of the game. moving to places that will prevent you from turning in a direction can be bad without reason to take them (an ignored flanking unit)

The first move will often (but not always) tell you a lot about your opponents intentions, moving slowly = observing your opponent to see what they will do - or - luring them to a position. Moving quickly = jousting / target priority. If you have Poe and Corran in opposite corners, and they be-line for corran, they probably want to kill him first. (Beware of players using this to feint.) Also - be careful of slow play against a player that can take advantage of it - you may lose crucial time or positioning - especially against a stronger opponent. Slow play works a bit better if you have ships that can really alter their position - with a group of jousters, it can be just the time the opponent needs.

And - that's the short version =)

p.s. Here's a quick rundown of opening variables/strategies.

Sparse / Dense obstacles.

Individual / Paired / Grouped and Offset fighter groupings (offset = one larger group + one smaller group or single ship)

Left / Center / Right / split deployments

Forward / Angled / Flank facing deployments

Mirror your opponent for a joust

Slow play to lure / read your opponent

Converge 2 groups to flank.

Use board edges to guard from flanks

Use the center to leverage the asteroid field / divide opponents.

Delay stronger ships to pull the enemy through your weaker ships / shift enemies targetting priority (alternatively bait and switch)

My mental checklist:

1. Who is going to have more trouble moving around asteroids? Me - spread out. Them - cluster
2. Does his squad need to stay within range 1 of each other for [reasons] such as howlrunner? Set up opposite and lead them through the asteroids
3. Am I setting up first? Set up sideways down the board
4. Is there a value to 'pouncing' - because his squad is set up split up, I'm faster, and I don't want him to have time to do [something] (like build up a token bank on the Moldy Crow) - head straight at him
5. What range do I want to engage at? Cannons and 3-dice attacks prefer range 3. Autothrusters make range 3 shots a joke.
6. Which unit (if any) is it critical to kill first (because it buffs the squad) and/or do I not want to be facing in the end game.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVfyteSBiELJQtovkGkFxyg

I'm going to leave this link here, it's a collection of tutorial videos that I found priceless when I first got into X-Wing. However, I'm going to highlight one specifically, as it's relating to OP's subject.

edit: Ah, I see someone already mentioned the Rule of 11. This video will elucidate the point nicely in a visual format then.

Flying in formation, especially early on, can be huge (depending on the squad). I always think of Robert Baratheon's example of "Five vs One" (Which is stronger, five individual fingers or one fist?): if you can come in tight you're minimizing the space on the table where an enemy arc can have you lined up, and making it more likely that if you're in one arc your squad has those ships in multiple arcs of your own. This is especially important if you're using someone like Captain Jonus who wants to keep his allies close by. Learn to set up, and then fly a few turns, in a "staggered box" formation if you're using 3+ and none of them are flankers. As others have said, starting in corners is usually a wise way to handle things. The one exception I've noticed is sometimes you want a flanker-type (someone like Soontir Fel or Carnor Jax) a little off from the rest of the group to make it a little easier to get them around the sides of your opponent or to force him into going after the flanker an expose themselves to the rest of your squad. But not too far off, you want your squad set up where they can all assist each other if needed.

Obstacle placement is something that's really useful to try and understand, though a bit difficult to master (I'm still pretty awful at it, having played for over a year now). Try to understand what sort of playfield your squad wants to see and what your opponent's squad wants: try to build one and avoid the former. But like I said I'm... pretty mediocre at this part. Most guides I've seen on it are pretty basic "Maneuverable aces enjoy tight quarters as does a turret that can circle a tight cluster of obstacles, while bigger swarm-style squads want open fields!". Really wish someone more experienced than myself would write a guide on obstacles: optimizing placement, which size/variety of obstacles certain kinds of squads might like, that sort of thing.

But hey, some great advice in here from players better than me. Personally, I've found setting my squad up in a workable formation and learning to fly in said formation without bumping/hitting rocks went an incredibly long way to improving my game. Either take out your squad and set up a believable asteroid field and practice maneuvering them or, if you don't already have Vassal, download it and do the same (I actually prefer it, it's very precise and you can simply hit "undo" to go back and try a variety of different maneuvers from different starting positions). At the end of the day, almost any squad can be a forced to be reckoned with if you know how to fly em'.