Hi all,

Does anyone have an list ideas for introducing someone to xwing, I finally managed to talk someone into it, we played a rookie vs two ties using focus only followed by wedge vs mauler and an academy with all the actions

These games went down pretty well, the third included many upgrades and she kinda lost track a bit, I think mainly due to the sheer amount that was going on

So what do you run? Are some of the missions good or stick to dog fights?

Also I don't want to proxy cards - it's just confusing for everyone so I'm limited to what I own (list below) - but struggle in that I usually play with someone that has a lot of ships - we own one of everything between us apart from the shuttle - but on my own I'm missing a fair bit

I own -

Both core sets, t-65, b-wing, rebel aces, rebel transport, yt1300, e-wing, 2 y-wings, hwk, z-95

Tie fighter, imperial aces, imperial veterans, 2 tie bombers, tie defender

Most wanted, hounds tooth, m-3a, g-1a, Jumpmaster,

Any ideas?

Have her try Paul Heavers 2015 list. Not too many upgrades to worry about and other than the T-70, you don't have to be the greatest flyer either. No crazy synergies that she'd forget about either in the heat of battle.

Start easy like you did but have more than a couple of easy, no upgrade games. When you increase the upgrades, decrease ths number of ships. Allow the newbie to fly various ships and various builds. Initially, keep the pilots generics. Wait a half-dozen games before springing unique pilots. Wedge's ability is pretty pedestrian compared to Tycho's

Essentially you want the new guy to be comfortable with the rules and game mechanics. Once they reach that level it's easier to bring on the upgrades and give examples of the interaction between cards and pilots.

A lot of people start with the practice game in the beginner rules and then want to jump to 100 points. I think that jump is too big for people who aren't super excited and super invested in the game. If you're trying to convince someone to play, keep it simple for a while. Help them become completely comfortable with maneuvers and actions before adding in all the upgrades. If they're comfortable with the core mechanics, I think they're more likely to understand the upgrades and why they're helpful. To that end, I think you're better off going to 65 or 75 points first and keep it to small ships.

When it's time to introduce upgrades, I think you want them to be involved in the decision. Pull out a few options (not the whole collection) and have the person choose between one upgrade or another for each slot. This lets them start to experience list-building without being overwhelmed.

I think you want to leave the synergy squads in the box for quite a while. Those haven't gone over well when trying to play with new people, especially people who are just trying the game to humor me.

My favorite starter scenario is a take on the Death Star escape from A New Hope:

New Player:

Chewbacca w/ [Predator], Luke, [C-3PO], Falcon, Engine

(add in the upgrades in brackets if you don't think they will add too much confusion, otherwise you can leave them out and just fly worse with your ties )

You:

4x Academy TIE

The new player has a ship that can dodge arcs, modify dice even if they bump, doesn't care about critical effects, can tank quite a bit of damage and has upgrade cards that are iconic characters from the movies.

My favorite starter scenario is a take on the Death Star escape from A New Hope:

New Player:

Chewbacca w/ [Predator], Luke, [C-3PO], Falcon, Engine

(add in the upgrades in brackets if you don't think they will add too much confusion, otherwise you can leave them out and just fly worse with your ties )

You:

4x Academy TIE

The new player has a ship that can dodge arcs, modify dice even if they bump, doesn't care about critical effects, can tank quite a bit of damage and has upgrade cards that are iconic characters from the movies.

I don't think flying "worse" with your Ties is a good idea. Bring your 'A' game but do an annotated session. Set your dials in secret then both sides reveal. Have the new guy explain why he, or she, chose that maneuver and you do the same. This will give some insight into the game beyond what the rules can do. Knowing how a ship moves is only half of what is needed. The WHY is much more important.

It depends on what your goal is - get a player interested by the tactical complexity offered by the game or play a loose game that is thematic and taps into a love of the source material. You need to know your audience and tailor the game to that. Is the player here for the theme or are they the sort that loves mechanics?

Something that helped my friends better understand both the rules but also some more nuances of the game was sticking to the standard 1:2 ratio of Xwing:TIE but use the higher PS generics for half of them.

When you play PS 1 TIEs you always move first shoot last. Mix in a black squad pilot. Also add the higher PS Xwing

You could try 1 rookie 1 red squadron VS 2 academies 2 black. Now you get practice of PS importance and moving ships at specific PS order, learning to not run into a friendly. Stuff like that

http://www.themetalbikini.com/2013/08/seans-lengthily-titled-article.html?m=0

This is what you want!

Thanks guys

I'll think I'll stick to stuff that is iconic from the movies

Maybe go back to one xwing until she is really happy with that and move from there

I'd considered Poe

His ability is good and then you can slowly add upgrades such as r5-p9 to show how they work together

Let her have the cool ships, while you fly simpler stuff.

Were she an imperial player, I'd suggest a pair of ps1 x7 defenders and Soontir Fel, who is actually pretty simple despite being hilarious

Then fly a roughly equivalent list like XXBB generics, where she can deal with cool powers while you simply focus on good flying.

Hint: with any luck, you'll lose a couple games with this setup. That's entirely fine, because winning is fun... and you can slack off your handicap as you go.

A rebel equivalent is probably a chewie falcon with movie characters and maybe escorts - or maybe it's points in upgrade free generics. But my wife fell in love with Soontir, so I'm not such an expert on the alterative now.

Start with X-Wings and TIE Fighters - generics only and less than 100 points.

Slowly up the points and add in named pilots to introduce abilities and the new player's understanding of differing pilot skills between both opponents and within your own squad (i.e. don't bump your own ships!) and other ships that follow similar mechanics as X-Wings and TIE Fighters.

Once you hit 100 points, help them start picking upgrades and pilots themselves.

After a few 100 point games, add in the more complex ships one at a time, like large bases (assuming they didn't immediately demand to fly the Falcon), TIE Phantoms etc.

http://www.themetalbikini.com/2013/08/seans-lengthily-titled-article.html?m=0

This is what you want!

This is great

Fits into the relatively simple but also shows off many aspects of the game category

Do you think it's better with or without rocks to start with?

Go with ~60 points not 100 for starts. Keep it thematic. Personally I like Luke with a droid (prob r2d2 for theme) and a rookie vs Vader with an EPT, an obsidian and an academy.

Minimal upgrades, thematic, not horribly unbalanced and not too many ships to learn and remember at once and it helps demonstrate ps and its value fairly well too.

Reeled In at least a dozen suckers with this method. I see you're lacking an advanced however, maybe throw in a interceptor instead but I'd stay away from any super Fel schenanigans. We want to wntice new players. Not send them running!!

I will say that the missions can be a lot of fun. If you go with a lot of the lasted stuff then some of them can be broken (but only some and only if you take crazy stuff that can break it). The missions are a nice way to focus on something other than just a few ships flying around each other and trying to get shots. It's something that people can focus on more.

I agree that not going straight to 100 is a good thing. Bump it to 50 or so. Just have something like 2 X-wings vs. 4 Tie Fighters. Don't load up with too many crazy things. If you do, then maybe give her one extra cool thing and you stick with generics. That way she can get used to uniques on a very friendly way (beneficial to her).

Keeping things simple and thematic are awesome ways to get people in the game. I also recommend playing Star Wars music while playing, too.

http://www.themetalbikini.com/2013/08/seans-lengthily-titled-article.html?m=0

This is what you want!

This is great

Fits into the relatively simple but also shows off many aspects of the game category

Do you think it's better with or without rocks to start with?

Without.

Start simple, add complexity as you go.

So we played Chewie with predator and gunner vs assorted ties

First game I won with one hp on one tie left

Second game I got tabled - only did one damage to the falcon

And the best bit, she asked to add another ship

Her first step toward the dark side is complete

Best bet is to start with the 'Learn to play' squads from the starter packs. Make sure you read through the pack and don't overload the mechanics. Just start with pure flying - no actions and no obstacles as multiple mechanics can overwhelm some new players. Yes that means we're playing with naked dice. It does draw out the length of a game but is beneficial in allowing the new player to become more comfortable with things.

We used the TFA starter set.

Imperials

Epsilon Squadron

Zeta Squadron

Rebels

Blue Squadron Novice

Once they're comfortable with that introduce an extra ship to each squad (Omega Squadron & Red Squadron Veteran respectively). This let's you bring in initiative (with equal PS ships). We added range bonuses but still aren't using actions or obstacles in this game.

New players learn at different speeds so you'll need to tailor your rule additions. To explain equal PS I found it best to use the TFA provided initiative token and likened it to a +.5 on the ships for whoever had initiative.

From there it is definitely player dependent how you proceed. We have gone the route of new player chooses the type of ships they want to try and I build a squad for them (sans upgrades still) and balance an opposing squad to fly (including a bit of handicap to offset my flight experience). It's better to handicap yourself a bit, fly your best and lose rather than outclass and destroy a learner pilot IMO.

At this point my padawan has less than 5 games under the belt, but is still enjoying it. I'm finding that naked dice and pure flying against an unpredictable opponent is teaching me some nuances to my flying. For our next games, I'm planning a refresher game then adding in obstacles and possibly actions.