So I have some friends coming over next week to drink some great beer (BCBS Sampling from 2010 to current) and they want to learn to play X wing.

I figured we would all get a bit buzzed and talk around the table while flying pretty little spaceships around.

So I wanted to make a 300 point team play out of it. Hey if we spend 3+ hours playing then we might even sober up.

While I don't want it to be super competitive I do want some of the better cards in the game to showcase the game a bit and be at least a B- in power.

MY collection includes/ will include by this time:

1 of each Epic ship (both sides)

1 yt 1300

2 yt 2400

5-6 t 65

5 t 70

5 A wing

4 y wing (including scum ones)

4 b wings

4 z 95

2 K wing

1 Firespray

1 Lambda

1 Decimator

2 phantoms

12 tie IN

8 Tie FO

3 squints

2 bomber

2 punisher

So most of the stuff.

For Rebels I was Thinking:

CR-90

poe and some other t70

Bunch of A wings

roark garnet

and Han Solo yt 1300

for Imp I was thinking:

Raider

jonus

Vader

and a bunch of ties either in and/or FO

Maybe Boba fett?

so kit out my raider and Tantive... give me some cool cards that would work.. and then give me some suggestions

Since most are new I don't want to get into all of the ships since having new players learn different dials is the hardest thing and can spoil a game real quick even with mulligans..

and having lots of ships on the table looks cool.

So help me out with some basic builds. and do note some iconic characters from the movies will help slightly.

Thanks.

I played a roughly 300 pt game today.

I used a raider with a single ion, 2 quad lazer and teams to help with energy and shields, and palpatine

Decimater (highest skill one) with some kit and engine upgrade (I think I had marksmanship, EU, Mara jade, and tatican)

Vader with title, advanced targeting, vet instincts

Soontir fel with auto thrusters, stealth device ptl, title

Echo with stygium, recon specialist

Fought against an empire list

He had a pretty much identical decimater, an identical Vader without the VI, a tie ace that removed stress, and a phantom, 2 aces and 6 other (basic?) ish ties.

He had 12 to my 5 ships wise

We played with the raider starting at full energy (wich is OMG broke.... )

First few turns not much Happened. 3rd turn I had taken out 3 of his ships. By turn 5 he had 4 left and by turn 7 we called. Game ended with my decimater having 3 hp left, a minor crit effect and the raider down 1 shield on the front, with Vader also down 1 shield. (His got one shotted off the board. He did forget about vaders shields, wich would have kept him alive for one-2 more volleys but we didn't catch it till a turn later )

What I learned - and the point of the shameless batrep

- huge ships need escorts. Without they take damage and get hurt FAST.

- be careful with movement around huge ships. It didn't happe. But was always a concern and at one point my deci barley managed a boost out of the way of the raider and a bad head on smash

- don't start the huge ships with full energy. Just.... Don't. It's way overpowered, and proper management can fill and provide plenty during the game.

- lots of small ships at this point level slows the game down a ton. I had my movement dials picked and out in a few min, his took considerably longer. Same for resolving the moves, shooting etc. having more highly upgraded / elite / expensive stuff means less things to do, and a faster game.

I would suggest for the rebels

The corellian thing with a good amount of upgrades and toys.

1 or 2 large ships. A "fat Han" would do well here.

3-5 xwing aces. Fly in formation or solo.

For the empire

Raider again load it up. The turbo lazer is good for large / huge targets with crap agility and the quad lazer for close in fighter defences. The ion is good middile range for either. (So maybe one of each?) include palpatine. He's too cool and too thematic to not include.

A decimater. Make it a ram boat or whatever. This thing WILL bleed crits by mid game, so keep that in mind.

3-6 ace ties. Again Vader is too thematic to leave behind, so grab him and give him an escort of the best fighters you can.

It should turn into a really fun game. Good luck!

I disagree about Palpatine on the Raider: it's a huge target, and he's not valuable because he's IN the ship, but just because he's on the battlefield. Stick him in an Omicron Group Lambda and leave him in the corner of the board.

The Gozanti is (in theory) another solid core large ship: it's far cheaper to kit out than the Raider, giving you more other ships. I like this one:

Automated Protocols lets you Jam/Slicer Tools without giving up your Reinforce action - if you wanted to, you could swap Broadcast Array for a Tibanna Gas, I mean, stress is a part of the game and because the Gozanti moves after everyone else you'll be able to punish PTL-users and other random stressors. Dual Laser Turret is there mostly to avoid arc issues, Engineering Team will keep you topped up on Energy for the Shield Tech and Slicer Tools.

The raider when kitted IS a massive target. And palpatine on board makes it even more of s bullseye.

Wich is perfect.

The raider can, with upgrades, title and crew, reinforce / recover actions and good energy management actually tank a ton of damage. And it's got imho probally the best shield regen I've seen on the battlefield. It can draw the fire because it can take it.

Wich allows your other stuff to wreck face. In my large game ref above - the raider accounted for 3-4 ship kills. And pinged a few shields here and there.

Vader (on my side) had 4 kills on his own.

Fel had 2 more

The phantom had 2 and the deci soaked fire and aided the aces.

So a huge portion of my offense came from the small stuff. Why? Because everything he had went after my big things. The deci and the raider. The deci barley limited out of the fight, banged up badley. But the raider? Took it all and laughed. At one point I had zero shields and zero energy at the end of the round. The next 2 I recovered back to almost full shields and had about 4 energy to spare.

My point is the raider wants to draw fire and "be the distraction" - so load him up and let him! Then let your escorts go to town and deal with the enemy the way they can.(and point 2 - if the lambda took as much fire as the raider it's dead in 2 turns or less taking the emprah with - imho wasting that 8 pt investment and really powerful ability.)

Just my friendly 2 bits

Where is this happening? Sounds like a blast. Can I invite myself?

Where is this happening? Sounds like a blast. Can I invite myself?

This is going to be a private game at my house. But I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm still looking for ideas.

Perhaps, if your friends have no x wing experience, totally green, Raider + CR 90 first play, 300+ points, could be a little too much.

Field one CR 75, Combat Refit, and a cheap Gozanti. "Hi guys, the Rebel ship ca do jamming and electronic warfare. The Imperial is a small CV and is armed with a little but nasty 360 degree turret"

Add half a dozen small ships per side, avoiding things like Phantons, ATCs or complex astromechs. A table with two Epic ships plus a dozen small crafts, if your friends are green and beer hardened, is enought to say...EOOOWWWW...I WANT MORE !!!

And in the second play you field TRUE epic