So this weekend, my brother and I are heading to a bachelor party weekend. There are going to be about 16 guys there, and even though no one else in the group plays x-wing besides my brother and I, we are thinking of having one huge game using all of the ships we have available and get everyone involved.

Has anyone ever done this before, and how did you coordinate the game? I was thinking between the ships I have, and my brother has mostly scum ships, we can probably field everyone with 100 point squads. The issue is, we have way more rebel ships than any other faction. I was thinking, with the Imp Raider, use that and all the scum and Imp and just do a head to head rebel vs scum and imp. But I'm open to any other suggestions.

Obviously we are going to play on a much larger space as well. We have a ping pong table available that I think will work for size.

Do you have any Scum or more Imperials you can borrow from other friends?

If you need more Imperial, I would recommend space fortresses or some such. To start with, you can always go for the space stations from the Heroes of the Aturi Cluster campaign. If you want the turrets to look better, you can find some meant for the Death Star. I found a PDF somewhere online and built enough Turbo Laser Turrets to look cool enough. The ones from HotAC are all flat. Taller is better.

I've also built a space station from 2 plastic picnic plates, a big gulp cup, and a yogurt container. Glue them together and prime them. Even better if you have some 40k bits to stick on them at random places. You can make up some rules for that.

Using 2-3 tables might also work. Have them need to accomplish different missions on each table to win. Best 2/3 wins.

A bachelor party. I would think girls would be a good idea. Imo.

Do you have any Scum or more Imperials you can borrow from other friends?

My brother has a good chunk of Scum expansions with Most Wanted, StarViper, Slave 1, and he has the original core set. The turret idea I think would be really cool.

A bachelor party. I would think girls would be a good idea. Imo.

That's tonight

We did something when we were trying to drum up interest in X-Wing in the early days of the game at our local game store and that was a mission using all the cool ships. The story was that the Rebels were trying eliminate an Imperial Shipyard. But basically we had three corvettes on the table (mostly for the cool looks) and every non experienced player was in charge for a squad of ships. So three X-Wings (rookies or Reds), three A-Wings, whatever. Experienced players played the roles of named pilots. And Imperial Players were in charge of defending the station. It was loads of fun! We had about 14 people playing on a big 4X8 table, and with the small squads, non-named pilots, and just basic mechanics (dial in moves, shoot, defend with a goal in mind of destroying the station) it was easy to pick up and tons of fun.

We had the corvettes play the role of carriers. So if a player lost all of his ships, his 'new' squad would just deploy from the corvettes (or from the station for Imperial player) and they were back into the game. This kept players interested throughout the game! And that is key!

I think the shipyard had these stats:
Attack 4
Agility 0

Shields: 12
Hull: 12

Actions were to regen 2 shields. The 'DM' played the role of the station and the corvettes. The vetts had the choice to fire 4 unmodified attack dice at the station or to help their buddies and fire on Imperial Squads. The Station would fire at Rebel Squads.

The whole thing is just for fun and was weighted pretty heavy in favor of the Rebels. BUT, people got the basic mechanics of the game, rolled dice, and had a blast.

EDIT: We had the experienced played really play their roles. So the guy playing Wedge would tell players playing X-Wings to do this or do that, "Hit those bombers hard before they take out our corvettes' The new guys were really getting into it and would reply 'Rodger Red Leader!' We also had Lando on the field to direct squad of B-Wings, Howlrunner in charge of TIE Fighters, it really was a ton of fun. When aided by some beer it could really be just a blast!

Might be worth trying!

OP, I would really re-consider giving 14 new players a 100-point list each to play with.

A 7v7 Epic game would take like 5+ hours even for experienced players. It's going to be a grueling 7-10 hour marathon of re-explaining rules, countless abilities and interactions...

Newer players are going to be overwhelmed. Even if not by the rules, then by managing their own 100-point lists, and not bumping into the other 1500 points of ships on the field! I think they'll get frustrated really quickly especially if they're not really into the game in the first place.

What I would recommend:

1. You and your brother field the Raider and as many TIEs as you can each handle.

2. Your friends each take a Rebel ship worth 30 points (yes, that's super basic and some ships might not even have upgrades. But trust me, if 14 people are constantly confused about interactions and their abilities, it's gonna suck). 14 x 30 = 420 points.

3. And you'll probably want to give your friends a huge points advantage (420 vs 300 or something). TIE Fighters are already incredibly efficient, your friends won't know how to not joust, and you want to avoid them getting crushed. And they'll probably have a lot more fun if the group of 14 newbies manages to "steal" a victory. And hey, you want a challenge, right?

300 vs 420 is still a ton of ships on the table, so the epic theme will still be there, but I really think it will be a much more enjoyable experience for their friends if they only have to remember the ability of one ship. Hope that helps!

My brother has a good chunk of Scum expansions with Most Wanted, StarViper, Slave 1, and he has the original core set. The turret idea I think would be really cool.

You could have one section defended by Scum. Just a thought.

Also, here is a picture of my space station before I had it painted up. It was pretty easy to make.

It's pretty easy to make anything else look like something space oriented.

I agree with Evil Ed about squads. Don't worry so much about point limits. Just have squads of ships for each person. I'd go ahead and make most of them generic. Load them up with Torpedoes or whatever. They are fun.

With mainly non-gamers, remember KISS rule and you'll do fine. For the bachelor party game I would try to build up some kind of a scenario and not bothering the balance or the points too much. Put the groom in charge of the Raider (new title: Lost Bachelor) and maybe an ace or two, supported by (naturally) his bestman/-men and the closest friends flying some other Imperial escorts (ships, not the other type of escorts!). The rest will fly the Rebels, a ship or two per participant.

Have the Imperials run the gauntlet with Rebel ships coming from the both sides. The Imperials have to push through to get the admiral to his wedding, and the Rebels are tasked to destroy the Raider before that happens. Simple, easy, focussed and most likely fun!

Minimum upgrades and special rules, maximum casual flying!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am thinking doing squads and a defend mission. Have my brother be the leader of the Scum and Imps and have them defend a "space station" using the Raider as a mobile command. Then I'll lead the rebel assault. Figure do two turrets with stats of 2 attack, 0 agility and 4 hull.

Basically divide all the ships, small base rebels get one regen, tie fighters with 2 regens. Regen ships enter from edge of the playing field for rebels and from a "docking bay" for Imp. Don't do any other upgrades and do just basic ships. The YT 1300, YT 2400 and Ghost, Slave 1 would all be one and done.

I think doing it that way, like EvilEd said, just move, shoot, defend. That way it's simple for people who haven't played, but gets everyone involved.

I'm late to the party here, but I want to reiterate zerotc's point. You want to cap Epic games at about 600-800 points TOTAL on the table. Unless you are planning on leaving the table set up for multiple days, you can't go much bigger than that. 300 x 300 is a two hour game for experienced players. For newbies, that's a 4 hour-plus game. You're talking about 1400 points on the table. Yowza. That's not gonna finish in a geological age. People are going to get worn down and confused. Way too much time between ship activations is going to make them bored and cranky. This is the opposite of what a Star Wars experience (much less a bachelor party!) is supposed to be. It'll LOOK absolutely GLORIOUS! But the glory will wear thin in the first half-hour.

When you exceed 400x400 points on the table, you are really looking at a multi-session game. That's a "Clear out the weekend, call your brother, send your wives for a pedicure (unless you're a lucky bastard who married a gaming woman!), stock the big cooler in the garage with cheap-ass American beer, and get down to business" kind of game. That's awesome too... but not the kind of game you want to break in newbies on. ESPECIALLY not 14 at a time.

There are lots of good suggestions here for finding an Epic format that flows quickly and makes everyone feel included. I picked up a couple ideas myself.

One way you can streamline the game is to standardize PS for individual players, so they move all their ships at the same time. That will cut down on dead time as people forget what PS step they go at, or what PS step everyone is on. Have one person whose responsibility it is to call out each PS step as you go.

Give each new player 3-6 ships of the same exact type and generic pilot. I'd say that they shouldn't have upgrades, either, to keep them things simple.

I'd say this is a warning bell. Find out if people are interested in this ahead of time and even then prepare for trying to teach everyone how to play in a 16 player game to be something of a nightmare.

So here is what we have finally decided on, and thank you all so much for the input. I did find out we have a few others that have played before, just not consistently.

Wedding Escort (thanks Niinivaara for the idea)

The Admiral is getting married. Imperial spy networks have intercepted transmissions of rebel activity in the area. The Admiral has chosen his Instigator Corvette to ensure his safe arrival to the ceremony. Escorted by his most trusted pilots and a small contingent of Tie fighters, he makes his run through rebel occupied space.The Admiral has also called in favors with some of the galaxies bounty hunters to help ensure his safe arrival. A small rebel fleet has moved to intercept The Admiral and keep him from his "engagement".

Set Up: 6' x 3' table, Shuttle and escort are starting at one end with the goal to reach the other side. There are start points for rebel ships at half way point and opposite end of the table. Small base rebel ships will get one regen, and Tie Fighters with get one regen as well. Rebels will initially deploy at the half way point, rebel reinforcements will be deployed at far end. Tie fighter reinforcements will deploy from Imperial starting point.

Groom is running the Imperial Raider filled to the max with 150 points. Best Man and Groomsmen are piloting escorts (Slave I, Tie fighters, Tie Advanced, StarViper, HWK, Aggressor, Z-95s, Scum Y-wings). This team will have by brother (experienced) and two other players that have played before.

Rebels will have three large base ships (YT-1300, YT-2400, Ghost), and a slew of small base X-wings, A-wings, B-wings, Y-wings. This team has myself and one other casual player.

No upgrade cards are being used on any ships except the Raider, and only the large base ships are allowed named pilots, all others are generics. The idea will be, except for the raider, just simple move, attack, defend. We will have a log set up so we know what order each ship is moving and attacking. The hope is that the raider will just continue to move straight across to the objective the entire time, trying to keep itself alive and hammering the incoming rebels. I figure this should help keep the game time limited. Also having the regen ships starting at a farther distance from the main battle means that the "reinforcements" will only be moving for a few turns when they get onto the board before they can get in range to attack. If I did the math right with all the ships we have, this scenario heavily favors the Raider, but that's the whole point.

Bachelor party, 16 'bros', ladies program already scheduled...

I'd go with a FFA generic battle 35pts. When your ship is destroyed 'Shotgun a Beer' (or chug).

Or go Teams with everyone controlling a single ship. Beer by death rule still applies.

After said beer, respawn at a 'friendly table edge' after 1 full round.

How you draft the order on ship selection is up to you.

A bachelor party. I would think girls would be a good idea. Imo.

That's tonight

Please tell me the guest list is the same as the bachelors party.

So how'd it go on Thursday? Where you able to play on Friday?

Remember this. Geeks make great husbands, but terrible boyfriends.

I might recommend at that many people, most new to the game, giving everyone a single ship might work best. My gaming group has started playing 25 point free for all which turn into flimsy alliances and backstabbing.

With 10+ players teams of two (not faction dependant), a small point cap (25-30) and something to exciting on the board (I like Mario cart style random upgrade you can grab) could be a good way to introduce new players and have everyone involved. Epic games turn into large joust and few interesting things to do for most ships (players). I would go too crazy on extra rules or list. Maybe make up the single ships for each player then let them just choose one. With that many players I might even let people join back in as a 12 point ship just to keep playing.

Unfortunately we ran out of time (and coherent people) to play. But I'm still keeping the idea as a mission type game.

Here what I think would be really awesome but it is a future thing.

If there was someone good at putting together scenarios and missions perhaps they could put something together like Star Wars: Empire at War. Whoo Hoo!!!

Setup Ideas:

• Two star bases each with a default production per turn. Perhaps 12 points.
• The bases produce points that are equivalent to squad point values.
• At the end of each turn you can convert the production points into actual ships.
• Ships can always start within range 2 of their base.
• Alternatively ships can start within range 1 of their side provided no enemy ship is with range 2 of them.
• Certain asteroids provide extra production (perhaps as much as the initial default), mines, etc...
• Limited maximum squad points per side.

Scenario Ideas:

1. One base for each side; placement and starting position at opposite corners of the long ends of a 6'x3' area; no epic ships.
2. One base for one side; side with the base does not have epic ships; side without base must use 4 or more epic points.
3. Something else?