Kelvan, Blair, Sozin and Sable are joined by special guest Geordan Rosario to discuss YASB, the most recent T-70 preview, the state of the game and how its complexity has increased over time, plus any number of random tangents.

https://teamcovenant.com/star-wars-x-wing/sv-41-yet-another-episode-featuring-geordan

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Here is Ricky’s Wave 3 article about the shuttle.

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Matt Siebert
Richard Haile
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Gregory Nussbaum
Matthew Williams

Kelvan, Blair, Sozin and Sable are joined by special guest Geordan Rosario to discuss YASB, the most recent T-70 preview, the state of the game and how its complexity has increased over time, plus any number of random tangents.

https://teamcovenant.com/star-wars-x-wing/sv-41-yet-another-episode-featuring-geordan

Please send any comments, feedback or fun wave 9 lists you’ve been enjoying to scumandvillainypodcast at gmail.com

Send all complaints to Mynock Squadron

10/10 just for the episode name & sending all complaints to the Mynocks. Looking forward to listening!

Kelvan, Blair, Sozin and Sable are joined by special guest Geordan Rosario to discuss YASB, the most recent T-70 preview, the state of the game and how its complexity has increased over time, plus any number of random tangents.

https://teamcovenant.com/star-wars-x-wing/sv-41-yet-another-episode-featuring-geordan

Please send any comments, feedback or fun wave 9 lists you’ve been enjoying to scumandvillainypodcast at gmail.com

Send all complaints to Mynock Squadron

10/10 just for the episode name & sending all complaints to the Mynocks. Looking forward to listening!

Geordan was a fantastic guest. I was ashamed to admit I initially thought it was "Ge-or-dan" and not pronounced "Jordan".

That's an awesome Spaceman spelling of the name though.

I'm guilty of misreading Geordan's name for a shamefully long time too Ricky - you're not alone!

Great discussion guys! I think I'm starting to turn into a grumpy old man like Blair because spoiler articles are increasingly making me ask myself "do I need to buy this to stay competitive?" rather than "oh that's cool, I really want to fly that". I'm starting to wonder whether the value added of each new mechanic is worth the cost in bloat and loss of accessibility. New mechanics and new ships continue to keep the game fresh, but they also shift it away from the simple but elegant game that I bought into. Geordan mentioned the CCG/LCG rotation mechanic and I'd been thinking about that too. I know the game hasn't been designed with that sort of system in mind from the ground up, so implementing that sort of idea would be a nightmare, but I do think there needs to be a way to keep the game accessible to new players/manageable for current players. In a local meta, you can achieve this by themed tournaments like the Wave 3 restriction you guys discussed, a draft format, a "no turrets" restriction, no Push The Limit, etc., but for FFG sanctioned tournaments things are really getting cumbersome and I'd really like to see some effort by FFG to address that.

I'm guilty of misreading Geordan's name for a shamefully long time too Ricky - you're not alone!

Great discussion guys! I think I'm starting to turn into a grumpy old man like Blair because spoiler articles are increasingly making me ask myself "do I need to buy this to stay competitive?" rather than "oh that's cool, I really want to fly that". I'm starting to wonder whether the value added of each new mechanic is worth the cost in bloat and loss of accessibility. New mechanics and new ships continue to keep the game fresh, but they also shift it away from the simple but elegant game that I bought into. Geordan mentioned the CCG/LCG rotation mechanic and I'd been thinking about that too. I know the game hasn't been designed with that sort of system in mind from the ground up, so implementing that sort of idea would be a nightmare, but I do think there needs to be a way to keep the game accessible to new players/manageable for current players. In a local meta, you can achieve this by themed tournaments like the Wave 3 restriction you guys discussed, a draft format, a "no turrets" restriction, no Push The Limit, etc., but for FFG sanctioned tournaments things are really getting cumbersome and I'd really like to see some effort by FFG to address that.

Unless something major Drops we're likely going to make that next episode's main topic.

Hey guys, thanks for picking my list! I've actually been playing it since its such a wonderful throwback to the panic attack stlye lists i tend to enjoy, I'm not super sold on latts on torkil, prior to the tactician tlt nerf she definitely would have been a tactican, and my inclination is to go back to it.

Blue Ace + Primed Thrusters + R3-A2 + Integrated Astromech is another spot for that card

Snap Wexley + Lightning Reflexes + R2 Astromech + Primed Thrusters + Integrated Astromech: does this allow the funky one special move I'm thinking it does?

Blue Ace + Primed Thrusters + R3-A2 + Integrated Astromech is another spot for that card

Snap Wexley + Lightning Reflexes + R2 Astromech + Primed Thrusters + Integrated Astromech: does this allow the funky one special move I'm thinking it does?

I think it does. I'm thinking of a move that lets you start nose to nose with someone and ends on a flank banked inwards.

Snap Wexley + Lightning Reflexes + R2 Astromech + Primed Thrusters + Integrated Astromech: does this allow the funky one special move I'm thinking it does?

"Snap" Wexley (28)

Lightning Reflexes (1)

R2 Astromech (1)

Primed Thrusters (1)

Integrated Astromech (0)

Total: 31

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Looks like it should let you do- say- a 2 bank and then flip it into an S-Loop, and then use his ability to boost back along the same path again. Or boost the other way, and have effectively barrel rolled.

I like it!

I think I'd prefer to put VI on him, to make him eligible for the Black One title, and thus his ability is also making him a tiny bit tankier. But I'm not going to say "no" to fun and funky maneuvers!

Thanks for the feedback folks! BTW, for anyone reading, we're looking for Mara Jade lists, email 'em to [email protected] and be like catchaninja!

Next episode we're gonna tackle our design of XWing 2.0, everything from game mechanics to packaging to organized play.

Cowboy Kenny of the Kessel Run here...

Sorry guys but I cannot agree with you on this. In fact, (and not to start some <Ooo-tini> or anything) I think you guys couldn't be more wrong.

It is, though, a very interesting topic for discussion. One that bears more time and effort put in than a post on this forum. Where typos and the English language may not convey my proper opinions on this matter.

But I do have access to a microphone and a very large portion of the same audience, so perhaps its best I express those opinions in a show!

Podcast Wars: Part Deux!!!!

No?

Okay....

Anyone from the forums is more than welcome to PM their opinions are feelings and perhaps I can convey them on our next show. You can also reach us at [email protected]....

Man, I need a new e-mail....

I agree with what was said about new players coming into the game. I no longer encourage my friends to buy anything from this game because the buy in is so expensive. I started a wave three so I have been able to buy as the waves come out. I used to be able to teach my friends to have a sound understanding of the game in a single setting. Not anymore.

I agree with what was said about new players coming into the game. I no longer encourage my friends to buy anything from this game because the buy in is so expensive. I started a wave three so I have been able to buy as the waves come out. I used to be able to teach my friends to have a sound understanding of the game in a single setting. Not anymore.

That's a really good point.

You used to be able to afford a solid list for 100$. That's getting harder and harder to do now.

Cowboy Kenny of the Kessel Run here...

Sorry guys but I cannot agree with you on this. In fact, (and not to start some <Ooo-tini> or anything) I think you guys couldn't be more wrong.

It is, though, a very interesting topic for discussion.

Awesome, looking forward to your take!

Here's some background material that I generated that might give you some more content to work with:

• reddit: to big for the britches? Thread

• Spreadsheet of mechanics over time

Good episode. I agree the mechanics are getting a bit complicated. It would be nice if they would back off the speed of the expansions and take a few waves to clean up things and give everyone time to settle with what we have now.

Cowboy Kenny of the Kessel Run here...

Sorry guys but I cannot agree with you on this. In fact, (and not to start some <Ooo-tini> or anything) I think you guys couldn't be more wrong.

It is, though, a very interesting topic for discussion. One that bears more time and effort put in than a post on this forum. Where typos and the English language may not convey my proper opinions on this matter.

But I do have access to a microphone and a very large portion of the same audience, so perhaps its best I express those opinions in a show!

Podcast Wars: Part Deux!!!!

No?

Okay....

Anyone from the forums is more than welcome to PM their opinions are feelings and perhaps I can convey them on our next show. You can also reach us at [email protected]....

Man, I need a new e-mail....

I look forward to this!

I think altering definition of game mechanic makes x-wing seem not quite so complicated...

Mechanics - as of released on post - as I can recall from my head

Actions --> base 9 (8 icon actions + Upgrade ACTION ) (Epic 12)
Upgrade types --> base 14 (Epic 17)
Token Sets --> 10 (focus, redblue lock, ion etc.. (Excluding mission specific and numerical tokens)
Bomb Sets --> 7 (proton bombs / rigged cargo chute, etc)
Deploy Mechanics --> 3
Decloak
Weapons types (2 Primary / secondary )
Arc types (4 Primary/Aux/Special/Mobile)
Obstacle sets --> 2 (debris / asteroid) (Epic 3 , huge ships)
Dial/template Based --> Bearings --> 9 Speeds --> 6 Colors -->3
Ranges (modifiers)
Ship Stats --> 12 ( pilot skill, hull, shield, agility, attack, ability text, upgrade bar, action bar, point cost, unique, weapon type) Epic 14 (energy / dual)
Game Phases (4)
State Based Rules (once per opportunity / golden rule / etc)

Thats 14 major categories of mechanical thing to know. Most of these are fairly straight forward, There's little to learn about the maneuver system, arc/weapon types. The timings of the phases, and the state based rules take more work and scrutiny, and have gone through some upheavals (like the recent attack timing chart) but - are quite learnable and generally don't change so much.

- It's the individual abilities, and upgrade cards where the interactions become exponential, especially the emergent properties therein. Consider the complexity of the game - it's very very high (old school complexity - the number of legal game positions reachable from the initial position of the game) - This was very high in wave 1. Now with more and more initial conditions possible, it's through the roof. If we look at the number of upgrade interactions - and consider wave 1, how many ways could you build an X-wing? (6 pilots, 4 droids, 1 torpedo, 4 epts available to 2 pilots --> Quite a few (140ish), I'd say somewhere around wave 3, that number was so ridiculous, that adding to it essentially doesn't matter, by the time modifications came in - that number grew further. While some combinations make little sense, its unlikely we will see every possible build for every possible ship.

What to buy for a new player is overwhelming because Faction X ship A may really like upgrade 1 in Faction Y ship C - so if you have a budget, what to buy to be competitive is really daunting - the old advice of 1 of everything, and 2 cores, is just not feasible now. The base rules and mechanics haven't grown too much - actions went from 4 in the core to 9 now, 3 of those (cloak, slam and rotate arc) are highly ship specific - with boost becoming a staple - not a lot of growth there.

We've seen 3 new maneuver types (Sloop, stop, Tallon roll), and no new speeds or colors. 1 new obstacle introduction, no changes to primary or secondary weapon rules or range bonuses. Ignoring the huge amount of possible upgrades and abilities , the core of the game remains relatively simple. (energy on huge ships in epic, being the only new "Phase" to be added - epic in general has lots of newer concepts) Which means the game is still easy to teach, and learn. Mastery of maneuvering, placement and tactics is still quite high - and why for casual and learning, it really doesn't matter what you'll play.

I'd say the biggest hurdle beyond memorizing all the cards - which is an aspect of any card based game - is learning the complexities and subtleties of the timings in the rules at the phase level - and the FAQ / Errata changes to cards. X-wing has a long way to grow - I look forward to seeing a new color of maneuver, and maybe another action or ship stat.