Do something like this, easy to tell apart from the rest .... OR ID tokens.

I believe ID tokens is the answer, but if i have the time or the skills, some markings or numbers on the ships is a good idea.

You would still need a token in the card ship to tell which ship is which number...

Military planes of almost all ages have numbers/markings to identify planes/squadrons... Why the Empire will be different??

Except that in Star Wars your own HUD will supposedly identify the ships.

Conclusion: use the ID tokens, 1 in the ship, and 1 in the card.

Characterization in Star Wars didn't really exist in the movies, it was HUD based in games and didn't surface much with the exception of mods, comics, and books. Customizing your TIE Fighter was also against regs I guess, the Empire was pretty drab with things.

For swarms, I would insist on id tokens. I need to be able to identify which ships have taken damage so I can focus fire.

Its no that I don't trust my opponents, but I like to be able to check everything myself during the decision making process.

These work great for me

http://www.lit-langner.de/shop/product_info.php?products_id=991

Decals. I repainted my tie swarm because well I can. But in addition to Howlrunner's ship having a red central ball, I gave 3 of them squad markings decals from a 40k guard sheet I had from back in the day. Academies don't get squad markings. They just have not earned them yet.

If you're using multiple copies of the same pilot you'll need to use the ID tokens. Even if you're just running multiples of the same ship you're probably best off using them unless you are doing custom paint jobs to help your Aces stand out more.

As for not knowing about your opponent's abilities I recall reading a wikipedia about one of Germany's great aces who had a custom pain job on his fighter. The thing was allied pilots would recogonize that painting and try to avoid that plane. Now if you're looking for kills it may be disappointing when an enemy won't come near you so the story goes that he went back to an unmarked plane and they let the newbie fly the ace's plane for combat experience with less risk because the allies actively avoided that plane.

As horrible as this sounds in a friendly game I'd consider using an alternative model TIE Fighter to make some pilots stand out more. I know the rules say you need to use the right model for the ship type but then the rule now allow for small changes to a model's structure that weren't allowed before. If you repainted them both the same it would be pretty hard to tell your old TIE Fighter from a TIE/fo especially when physical modifications are allowed to each of them. The TIE/sf could be thrown into the mix as well. Of course Sabine's TIE may be an actual "TIE Fighter" and thus a perfectly legal model to use in an Imperial squadron w/ the right base tile and pilot card.

I don't have enough TIE-Fighters yet, but I do have a plan:

The way I identify TIE fighters is by primarily looking for the large panels on the sides. When I was younger I thought those panels were rectangles, but then I came to realize that they are actually hexagons. Looking for those big hexagons panels used to be a sure give away that I could identify what I was looking at as a TIE Fighter. Of course with the First Order TIEs it can be difficult to identify solely by shape. Luckily the panels on the first order have large white sections. Those large white sections are a dead give away that you are not looking at a TIE Fighter.

For swarms, I would insist on id tokens. I need to be able to identify which ships have taken damage so I can focus fire.

Its no that I don't trust my opponents, but I like to be able to check everything myself during the decision making process.

yep. 100% agreed. every instance of "wait, which one is this?" is both time-wasting and an unfair look into your opponent's decision-making process. They should be able to determine which ship is which without asking.

I realize the base markers are for the very thing discussed here, to identify which ship is which (especially useful for faction vs. same faction games.

However, I was thinking, in combat, if different pilots were flying the same ship, how would enemy ships recognize specific pilots of opposing ships? I wonder if there is a way to directly tie ships to pilot cards in case of actions/attack/destruction/etc, but would not give away what ship was which, at least until it was called out in an attack?...just thinking crazy thoughts.

Realism and game balance do not always intersect. For game balance it's important that both players know all the relevant information about each opponent's fleet.

No... its really not. Most of the games I play (and I play a LOT of wargames) do not follow that "rule". In war, there is no such thing as "perfect intelligence" and, as others have mentioned, when faced by a swarm of identical TIE fighters, how do you know "Howlrunner" is piloting which one? Answer: you don't! Well... there would probably be ways to tell, transmissions, etc... I digress... The point is that "fog of war" exists and can provide an exciting (realistic) element to the game. The only reason that XWM is played with "full disclosure" is because FFG decided to market it as a competitive table top game. The focus on tournaments and competition have guided the development of the game. "Fairness" is expected ... and imperative in a competitive game format, where winning is more important than learning or having a good time with your chums. In a competitive, tournament based game, how can you ensure that your opponent is not cheating, that there squad list is "legal", that the TIE fighter you see is actually an elite pilot and not a recent graduate of the Academy or that that bomber is loaded with a conner net and not proton bombs...? Answer: all cards are open to public inspection at all times and each ship is clearly identified (to both sides). Personally, I think this was a mistake on FFGs part but they knew who they were marketing the game to and have done pretty well with it. I still think it would have ben a better game with more "Fog of War".

Anyways, I have played numerous games this way and it works just fine. Some players may have issue but it should only be a problem if you are trying to play it with hyper-competitive types who have trust issues when playing games with their friends. If you don't have an expectation of perfect intel, it is no problem. Some might even find it a simpler game as they only have to fly their ship and not be distracted by too much else. Yes, FFG really missed out on something that could have added more fun and suspense to the game because they chose to market and promote it as a competitive, tournament based game.

One problem I have noticed is certain pilots are obvious by their PS or special abilities, but that's o-k, just don't reveal them until it becomes relevant. If your opponent forgets just which ship is which in the middle of a dogfight, too bad. It is not like dogfights aren't frantic furballs of confusion in the real world.

Recommendation: try an Epic game without looking at your proponents cards or studying his ships. It will become obvious just who is who as you play the game (PS skill, special abilities, etc...).

Little numeral painted on the side could work.

Yeah I could use the little tokens, but I am not a great fan of them.

Strictly speaking they're required by the rules, but as long as you've got a way of making it clear who's who, most opponents will let that slide.

Just be aware there are bellends out there who demand strict adherence to such things.

Even with identifying paint jobs, you may need to use little markers as well.

Unless it's something that's very obvious, like red a-wing with a red a-wing art card and blue with the blue card, you should have an easy and intuitive way for you and your opponent to know which card goes with which ship, and a white stripe or two might not convey this clearly enough.

I realize the base markers are for the very thing discussed here, to identify which ship is which (especially useful for faction vs. same faction games.

However, I was thinking, in combat, if different pilots were flying the same ship, how would enemy ships recognize specific pilots of opposing ships? I wonder if there is a way to directly tie ships to pilot cards in case of actions/attack/destruction/etc, but would not give away what ship was which, at least until it was called out in an attack?...just thinking crazy thoughts.

Realism and game balance do not always intersect. For game balance it's important that both players know all the relevant information about each opponent's fleet.

No... its really not. Most of the games I play (and I play a LOT of wargames) do not follow that "rule". In war, there is no such thing as "perfect intelligence" and, as others have mentioned, when faced by a swarm of identical TIE fighters, how do you know "Howlrunner" is piloting which one? Answer: you don't! Well... there would probably be ways to tell, transmissions, etc... I digress... The point is that "fog of war" exists and can provide an exciting (realistic) element to the game. The only reason that XWM is played with "full disclosure" is because FFG decided to market it as a competitive table top game. The focus on tournaments and competition have guided the development of the game. "Fairness" is expected ... and imperative in a competitive game format, where winning is more important than learning or having a good time with your chums. In a competitive, tournament based game, how can you ensure that your opponent is not cheating, that there squad list is "legal", that the TIE fighter you see is actually an elite pilot and not a recent graduate of the Academy or that that bomber is loaded with a conner net and not proton bombs...? Answer: all cards are open to public inspection at all times and each ship is clearly identified (to both sides). Personally, I think this was a mistake on FFGs part but they knew who they were marketing the game to and have done pretty well with it. I still think it would have ben a better game with more "Fog of War".

Anyways, I have played numerous games this way and it works just fine. Some players may have issue but it should only be a problem if you are trying to play it with hyper-competitive types who have trust issues when playing games with their friends. If you don't have an expectation of perfect intel, it is no problem. Some might even find it a simpler game as they only have to fly their ship and not be distracted by too much else. Yes, FFG really missed out on something that could have added more fun and suspense to the game because they chose to market and promote it as a competitive, tournament based game.

One problem I have noticed is certain pilots are obvious by their PS or special abilities, but that's o-k, just don't reveal them until it becomes relevant. If your opponent forgets just which ship is which in the middle of a dogfight, too bad. It is not like dogfights aren't frantic furballs of confusion in the real world.

Recommendation: try an Epic game without looking at your proponents cards or studying his ships. It will become obvious just who is who as you play the game (PS skill, special abilities, etc...).

OK.

Good luck persuading anyone at any tournament that you should be able to keep it a secret which ship they're shooting at.

If they forget, that's on them, but you don't get to hide your list, and the rules specifically say that any identical ships have to be identified distinctly using ID tokens.

Don't be a jerk about it.

I'm sure it could be interesting to play a fog of war type game, I'll have to try it sometime.

But in general, I'm not playing this to pretend to be a TIE pilot. I'm not even playing it to pretend to be a general or an admiral.

I'm playing it as a player playing a board game. I value game balance and game design so that I can test my skill at building and flying against my opponent's. If he intentionally obfuscates which ships are which without my prior buy-in, I won't play with him again if I can avoid it.

I believe ID tokens is the answer, but if i have the time or the skills, some markings or numbers on the ships is a good idea.

You would still need a token in the card ship to tell which ship is which number...

Military planes of almost all ages have numbers/markings to identify planes/squadrons... Why the Empire will be different??

Except that in Star Wars your own HUD will supposedly identify the ships.

Conclusion: use the ID tokens, 1 in the ship, and 1 in the card.

Yup ID tokens is the answer. No doubt about it.

I think OP was talking about a step forward.

I would love markings on my ships. Even though the HUD will ID the ship fast, maybe ground crews could use visual ID for those zillions of TIEs.

I believe ID tokens is the answer, but if i have the time or the skills, some markings or numbers on the ships is a good idea.

You would still need a token in the card ship to tell which ship is which number...

Military planes of almost all ages have numbers/markings to identify planes/squadrons... Why the Empire will be different??

Except that in Star Wars your own HUD will supposedly identify the ships.

Conclusion: use the ID tokens, 1 in the ship, and 1 in the card.

Characterization in Star Wars didn't really exist in the movies, it was HUD based in games and didn't surface much with the exception of mods, comics, and books. Customizing your TIE Fighter was also against regs I guess, the Empire was pretty drab with things.

The lack of markings/numbers/IDs in military ships in StarWars could be explained through various explanations, from lazyness (in design), to tech (HUD, kind of VR on ground crews)

Obviously, to keep discipline and uniformity, you wont be able to paint blue your TIE (with very rare exceptions) but almost every air force in WWII (a known influence to SW) had some kind of personalization in the planes of pilots able to survive few battles (pinups or mascots in american planes, or the "S" or "heart" on Galland and Hartmann's planes)

In SW the 181st has the red stripe...

[snip]

...

I'm sure it could be interesting to play a fog of war type game, I'll have to try it sometime.

...

I was thinking that, but then I realised that it could actually be quite hard to keep track of your own ships without inadvertently cheating!

I have seen an interesting idea of painting the sides cardboard ship pieces and corresponding ID tokens. Though, that was in a 3 ship list (u-boats with different crew and munitions) and the 3 colors used were quite clear (yellow, red and blue) which may not be the case if you want to paint 8 of them..

I've seen it with colours. I actaully think its better.

As long as there is a clear/obvious link between the model and the card on the edge of the table, I'm happy.

One could even use card sleeves of a given color to link pilot and his ship. But I would do it only if I fly with the same squad a lot.

These are available here and serve me very well.

The rings fit around the peg and the pilotcard markes have a clip - they do as well serve as a ship placement marker.

In the set you also get corresponding TLs and markers for large ships with the thicker peg.

My issue with the ID token's is "Why do I have 50 on them?". Does Fantasy Flight really think that I might need numbers that count up to 50?????.

Now I admit that I have a problem. I just love the little cardboard tokens I get with my ships. I feel a compulsion so sort and keep them all. 'Caus, just because I haven't figured out a time when I will need 600 shield tokens and ID tokens counting up to 50, doesn't mean that I won't the moment I throw them away.

No... its really not. Most of the games I play (and I play a LOT of wargames) do not follow that "rule". In war, there is no such thing as "perfect intelligence" and, as others have mentioned, when faced by a swarm of identical TIE fighters, how do you know "Howlrunner" is piloting which one? Answer: you don't! Well... there would probably be ways to tell, transmissions, etc... I digress... The point is that "fog of war" exists and can provide an exciting (realistic) element to the game. The only reason that XWM is played with "full disclosure" is because FFG decided to market it as a competitive table top game. The focus on tournaments and competition have guided the development of the game. "Fairness" is expected ... and imperative in a competitive game format, where winning is more important than learning or having a good time with your chums. In a competitive, tournament based game, how can you ensure that your opponent is not cheating, that there squad list is "legal", that the TIE fighter you see is actually an elite pilot and not a recent graduate of the Academy or that that bomber is loaded with a conner net and not proton bombs...? Answer: all cards are open to public inspection at all times and each ship is clearly identified (to both sides). Personally, I think this was a mistake on FFGs part but they knew who they were marketing the game to and have done pretty well with it. I still think it would have ben a better game with more "Fog of War".

Anyways, I have played numerous games this way and it works just fine. Some players may have issue but it should only be a problem if you are trying to play it with hyper-competitive types who have trust issues when playing games with their friends. If you don't have an expectation of perfect intel, it is no problem. Some might even find it a simpler game as they only have to fly their ship and not be distracted by too much else. Yes, FFG really missed out on something that could have added more fun and suspense to the game because they chose to market and promote it as a competitive, tournament based game.

One problem I have noticed is certain pilots are obvious by their PS or special abilities, but that's o-k, just don't reveal them until it becomes relevant. If your opponent forgets just which ship is which in the middle of a dogfight, too bad. It is not like dogfights aren't frantic furballs of confusion in the real world.

Recommendation: try an Epic game without looking at your proponents cards or studying his ships. It will become obvious just who is who as you play the game (PS skill, special abilities, etc...).

Agree completely. The game gets so much more fun when you're not quite sure who is who until the lasers start flying. There's no in-universe reason why you'd know which ship Howlrunner was piloting out of a swarm of TIEs, except by noting movement patterns and positioning. And for munitions carriers, having all the cards face down also adds a fun element of "is that more ordinance" where you never quite know if they're done firing.

I also agree that this wouldn't work in a competitive setting, but of course not all games have to be hyper competitive.

Food for thought. If your terrible at painting print out these stencils and use them to paint numbers on your ties, or the bases/stems. It goes quick and helps if you don't want to use the ID tokens. Get some card shelves and paint your numbers on them also.

An idea for identification I've always liked was stenciling the imperial logo on the craft's wings in white(as seen earlier in the thread), then painting one of the black spokes in a different colour. This way you could easily mark ties one through six. Then from seven to nine they get two opposing spokes coloured in. Ten and eleven each get three spokes coloured, and the flight leader gets them all coloured in.

Then each squadron gets a different colour.

Always figured that would look awesome for an imperial warlord/remnant themed force. Still regular and orderly but a little less uniform. And in that environment aces could also get away with some decoration on the ball and struts of their ties.

My issue with the ID token's is "Why do I have 50 on them?". Does Fantasy Flight really think that I might need numbers that count up to 50?????.

Now I admit that I have a problem. I just love the little cardboard tokens I get with my ships. I feel a compulsion so sort and keep them all. 'Caus, just because I haven't figured out a time when I will need 600 shield tokens and ID tokens counting up to 50, doesn't mean that I won't the moment I throw them away.

Obviously you need so many so you can keep track of your entire fleet with persistent numbers if you are doing a Campaign. 50 is only 4 squadrons and a couple of support craft (perhaps Gozanti to ferry the fighters into combat, or experimental craft like the TAP?). Combine that idea with the fog of war type games people are discussing above and you could have an amazing campaign.

This website has to scale decals . As an example, here's the Gothic numbers set.

A sheet is like 5 bucks.

http://www.fightingpirannhagraphics.com/decals/goth1.htm

Be extra awesome and use battle tech unit logos.

I use the Id tokens. I put the in pilot order. That makes it easier to identify which group of pilots move and shoot first. I do use the TIE fighters from the Gozanti expansion, which are different colours, to identify my aces. But I guess in realty the opponent shouldn't know who that is, at least initially.