So I am the head of a club that plays a good deal of X-Wing and we have recently had a large influx of new players, which is awesome. The problem is they fly well, poorly in many cases, and so of course I have been trying to help them. I have been having some trouble so maybe you guys have some advice. Ok so my toughest challenge has tried flying 2 types of lists, tie swarm and aces (either imperial defender, or rebel xyb), and he has the worst time. With the aces he forgets actions if I don't remind him and often ends up careening into my kill zones. If he flys a swarm then he bumps into himself. I have tried to help him but I don't know how, so if anyone has any advice I'd take it.

Is he trying to learn how to fly in general or trying to learn how to get the best use out of his list? He might be aiming a bit high starting off with an aces arc dodging list if he isnt sure where certain maneuvers will put him. I loved Echo when I first started, but boy did I screw her up royally. I went back a step to basics and learnt to better judge where different choices in maneuvers would put her.

TL;DR... He either needs to roll back the upgrades if he is forgetting a lot, or he needs to play the same list over and over to hammer into his brain what upgrades he has and when they should be used.

The Pavlovian method works every time you see a mistake you whip him, he`ll improve.

We use it all the time at the academy.

More like getting the best use out of his lists. He typically plays me and I almost always play rebel aces, so he has to deal with that and has trouble arc dodging because my rebels move after him. But he does poorly at predicting me as well, which if he did he could wreck me since I typically only have 3 ships. So it's getting the most out of his lists that kills him. If it helps he has:

Old core

B-Wing

Tie

A-Wing (Crynid is his favorite ship)

Defender

Y-Wing

Bomber

Anything I own (I let him borrow)

His typical list is Rhymer, Brath, Academy, Acadamry, Dark Curse, Mauler Mithel. I see no reason why it can't run, since it has a good deal of firepower and hull.

I'd say that if you want to teach ship specific maneuvering just do away with combat and throw the ships into a heavy asteroid field and tell them to fly around in it for a while.

1. wash all the cars

2. wax on, wax off

3. sand floor

4. paint fence

5. paint house

No ask questions, start early.

Oh, you were talking about xwing. No clue.

Not everyone is a pro at everything... Get someone else to show them how to play.. I have a guy who forgets to do his actions all the time... I keep reminding him, so I have decided to give him a glass token so he can place it on the ship card of the ship he is moving.. then he can move it as he activates different ships.. If nothing else it should make him feel like I'm trying to help.

The same way you train someone to become better at ping pong.

Practice. Lots of it.

And the best way to encourage practice is to have fun

Try a Joust and Chase scenario. Basically 1v1 in and around the asteroids.

Drop down 2-3 times as many asteroids on the table and setup in a head-to-head approach.

The Ideal Pilot to use is Tycho + EH + EI + PTL or Saber + PTL + TC.

Each player has all the standard actions available.

Every time someone dies reset to a Joust approach AND exchange initiative.

Most kills inside 30mins is the winner.

Also works with a mini swarm (4x TIEs).

When Attacking if they maintain a R1 formation they gain 'Howlrunner'

When Defending if they maintain a R1 formation the gain 'Serissu'

Any ship outside of R1 formation loses 1 Agility and Attacks against it gain +1 Attack.

Note: the player could pair them together in 2s or a single group of 4. But remind them of the risks. If one pair becomes a single ship it immediately suffers an 'Outmanuver' effect and all attackers gain +1 against it.

---

The former is good practice at remembering to make actions and thinking of which one to select. The latter is good practice at formation flying and remembering to apply special effects.

Ok, I'll keep reminding him. He has been getting better it's just taking time and I was hoping to give him some expert pointers. My whole thing has been, "don't fly to where I am, fly where I am going."

Take a handicap. Learn to be okay with losing so he can get some more balanced practice. 50 vs 30. 60 vs 80. 100 vs 75.

Mix up your lists. take something simple.

Focus on one aspect each game: not hitting rocks. Predicting your movement. Stop early, and focus on that part again.

have them play on a team for a casual game. 1 ship per.

Take a handicap. Learn to be okay with losing so he can get some more balanced practice. 50 vs 30. 60 vs 80. 100 vs 75.

Mix up your lists. take something simple.

Focus on one aspect each game: not hitting rocks. Predicting your movement. Stop early, and focus on that part again.

have them play on a team for a casual game. 1 ship per.

I like to train by F flying three rookies and Jake. It's a subtle handicap while he's learning, and much easier for him to keep track of while he learns his own lists' tricks.

That's a good trainer list.

Jake without prockets im assuming so the newbies dont "learn the hard way"?

Haha.

Yeah. I'm not particularly merciful with the learner level kids. =P But that's my own problem: I hate losing.

Start by building things up gradually.

Begin by getting them to fly just basic pilots - maybe one single ace - in low point games. If they want to use aces and upgrades, fine, but get lots of games in with generic guys to learn how the game works, THEN throw the specials at them.

If there's a lot of them, I'd suggest the following format for a quick event (maybe even use a game night kit for it):

• 75 points
• You may only include one unique ship (with a ●) or assign one ship upgrade cards (not both)

It boils down to small, very basic squads, and people playing lots of games - which is what they need.

With a TIE swarm player, it just takes practice. The most important thing is to (a) show him pinwheel formations (how to deploy ships so you can move them without bumping), and the 'quick reference' of using your guides and arc of fire to see your final positions.

I would say this though: I actually tried at one time to teach the game with ONLY generics. It was UTTERLY boring and a few new players actually felt like the game wasn't interesting as they could figure out the firing cycle of sharpest possible maneuvers.

Having a few cards is really the better way.

I learned with a B and a Y first. Then like Wedge and Garvin vs Vader Mauler and Howl.

Those were more interesting. Keep it small, keep it simple.

Another really good way is to actually NOT give them squads. (Beyond the first game.)

Tell them, they get to pick 2 ships and upgrades, and they get to pick 1 ship and 1 upgrade for you for a 60vs 30 game. ish.

Make them make you squads. Then they'll literally create the exact handicap that they are creating for themselves. They get to choose something they want to test out and see how it works.

I found for teaching newer players you can make a cheat sheet with a list of what the ships general type of action order should be

If they're very new then it helps to both fly very simple lists, possibly even the core set (1 xwing vs 2 Ties). It's the easiest way to learn and really rolls back the amount of upgrades and actions a new player has to think about.

The asteroid training sounds like a great idea too.

The second thing after basic how to set dials and not hit rocks that I teach is maneuvre cones. The fact that (pre reposition) if you can put yourself in the spot they started at, you can shoot them, and most everyone has to go forward when they move.

Swarms are generally horrible for new players.

Easy lists include:

- Fat Han, 2Xs (they only need to know the tricks for Han)

- Some combination of Juno eclipse, countess ryad and Navigator+Fett (perfect for learning the consequences of positions)

- Thug life (seriously that list is great for newbies)

- Accuracy corrected Advanced - once red dice are a certainty I find people are more likely to take chances to fire, teaching them about positions)

- Oicunn or Bumpmasters. New players clonk into things a lot. These guy are perfect in mitigating the frustrations of this.

Being new (3 games total) I can at least give you how my demo games went:

Before game 1 was played but after I had arranged it a read the rules. I mean seriously they are not a huge tomb. It shouldn't be hard for anyone who plays games to get most of it.

Game 1 was the first starter set demo game. Luke v 2 TIE's and the guy giving the demo just answered my questions and corrected any mistakes I had in what I thought the rules were. The biggest was the unfounded assumption that focus changed a single die and not all of them!!!

Game 2 on the same night was a 50pt game where my opponent (same guy) had crafted both lists. He knew I was a Vader fan boy so I got a fully kitted out Vader and I think it was a black squadron TIE without much on it. This was a good intro to cards as I really only had one ship with them on. He explained all his cards before the game and on each use.

After that I devoured as much internet content as I could. From the videos that try and explain basic movement and how to fly a swarm right up to 2104, 2015 coverage of the best players at the time. Sure I didn't understand half of what the ships and the upgrade cards did but watching good players move their ships about is very informative. Before my third game I came to this very forum for help. Thread here: https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/219531-first-non-demo-game/

My opponent was also a new(ish) player and we played for 2 hours but it was a great game and afterwards I could reflect on the odd 'silly collision' or 'missed use of an upgrade card'. The fact that my opponent was making similar rookie errors probably kept it a very close game and very enjoyable. (small report in that thread I linked).

My fourth game will be on the 22nd at a local store tournament. I expect to be kicked all over the place by better players but that is how I'm going to learn.

Firstly your novice must want to learn. If they don't then there is no hope. I've tried to demo a different system to a new player and instead of making any progress he just simply states why he thinks the rules are wrong/unbalanced. I've given that up as a waste of my time.

Even someone who wants to learn will have a natural way of learning and all other methods will not yield results as good. For me personally I lean best by being thrown in the deep end and just playing. After the game I reflect on what went wrong for me (or right) and what I could have done better. If you are trying to help a person who learns best like me then the vitally important step is chatting to them after the game and using your experience to explain what the person did wrong.

Some people just do not like getting destroyed whilst they are starting the game so perhaps the best way for them would be to stick to smaller games with less stuff. I'm not saying no upgrades just not 4+ different ships all with specific upgrade packages. Then as you play. Put your dials on the table before the new person and then talk through with them what their options are and what they should be thinking about. Ask them what they plan to do (it's fine your dials are already set) and then help them plan or at least make them think about their turn. The result of the game doesn't matter and you might not need to do too many before the ideas stick and they are ready to go solo again.

Some people just want to push plastic spaceships around and have fun. They are not that interested in knowing about the current 'meta' and 'killer lists' they just want to fly 'cool' or 'themed' lists. This is perfectly valid. The best you can do for them is to bring your own off the wall lists or themed opposition and just kick back and enjoy the game.

Good luck

The Pavlovian method works every time you see a mistake you whip him, he`ll improve.

We use it all the time at the academy.

Pavlov is my hero. I learned that all I have to do is massage the back of my wife's sore neck and good things always follow.

If they really want to learn how to fly and visualize where their movements are going to put them, I'd also recommend guiding them to this thread by Osoroshii.

There's a lot of talk about the novices needing to want to learn...but learn what, exactly?

FFG is marketing to the masses but many gaming groups push hard on 100Pt deathmatches where you're going up against tourney practice lists a lot. That'll turn off a newbie who didn't come to a "fight club with toys." Some people don't care about tournaments and can come off as not wanting to learn when really they don't want to buy into the rat race and just wanted a group of fun players. Some people don't want to take their hobbies so seriously.

It's happened that a group of local xwingers at a FLGS didn't really want new players to the game but instead new tournament players. Some can't differentiate between, and that's what can turn newbies away.

My preferred way of training novices is by first getting them to drop their habits.