Proud father here. My son who is about to turn 10 told me he wanted to learn my Miniature Games I play. Now I have been focused more on Armada for over a year but I started X-Wing in the first month of release so it still has a place in my heart.

Now for my question. I know the rules pretty well and feel confident in showing him not only the rules but also many tricks but some of the newer ships are still an unknown, like the Ghost. We watch Rebels together and after this new season has been taking off he wants to play the Ghost with Phoenix Squadron support and that seems easy enough but how do players feel about new players with the Ghost? I know the rules on deployment of the Phantom well enough but is this a fair ship for learning.

I will be either flying Tie quadrons supported by the inquisitor or Slave One before we introduce the Assault Carrier. Once Rogue One is out I am sure we will be playing Rogue One Themed games.

Suggestions and thoughts are appreciated.

i started my 5 year old on Lothal Rebel with TLT and 2 prototypes to teach him the basics (he also loves rebels) and to keep it thematic went with a tie fighter/bomber list (cant remember exactly what i had but still) so nice mix of actions to help him get to grips.

Built it up to including the phantom with Ezra but he hasn't got the hang of deploying yet.

I realize if I want to keep it fluffy I got the Space Cow I can throw in for a large ship and the Interceptors were just introduced to the Rebels. Think the Empire is just put them in production.

Also we're calling Tycho "Ashoka" for the sake of fluff.

Hera Syndulla + Ghost + Fire-Control System + Twin Laser Turret + Recon Specialist + Nien Nunb (52)

“Zeb” Orrelios + Phantom (18)

Prototype Pilot + Chardaan Refit (15)

Prototype Pilot + Chardaan Refit (15)

Turret so he doesn't have to worry too much about the arc.

Fluffy.

Includes ships with arc so he learns that bit.

Hera/Nien numb: Nice and forgiving on movement selection 'till he gets the hang of it.

Go.

Do!

Turrets are a god awful teaching tool.

I will probably go light on the upgrades at first. Give him more ships to play with. I will also be going easy as for my upgrades too so we are focusing on the core mechanics. But Turrets are nice to have while learning how to maneuver but after our first game where I gave him several A-Wings against my Ties he showed he had a solid understanding of the maneuver dial. (Smart kid. He figured out how to flank me properly. I won't be going as easy on him next time.)

My son is 12. We play and he "won" his first ship in a tourney a few weeks ago, a Z-95. When I play with him I usually just give him ships w/o any upgrades. It's too hard for me to keep track of his and mine. Just last night I gave him a few upgrades (Predator, droids..) and he did well.

I say stick with plain ships and move up gradually.

My son is 10, and has been playing since he was 9. I think list building is tough for him (doesn't make most efficient lists, likes lots of upgrades) but he definitely gets the hang of the game and when I fly a list that's not competitive he can do well.

You guys should have a grand time!

May the force be with your son, always.

How can you be proud to have raised a terrorist, you should be raising your children to respect law and order and to have mindless obedience to the emperor.

I've reported you to child services expect storm troopers within 1-3 business days.

What? The ICS? (Imperial Child Services)

You know they will just take him away for "reeducation" in a slave mine.

Problem with Ghost + Awing lists, is that it is completely owned by Vader!

Problem with Ghost + Awing lists, is that it is completely owned by Vader!

When he's 12 I'll unleash him upon you guys and he will own you all!!!

(Seriously, I'm going to give him a challenge so he learns but I'm not going to Noob Stomp my own son.)

The ghost with a turret should be a good starter. You can make mistakes and still survive to the next round. And don't be surprised if he picks it up pretty quickly. My 10 year old has been entering tournaments with me lately and doing fairly well. He refuses to run anything but imperial. Once we graduated from the core set I started him out with the "Decivader" and let him run different ships with it to see what he liked and to get a feel for various ships.

Going back to the original question: whenever people are getting into the game I always recommend that they buy the ships they love first, and don't worry so much about the ships they've never heard of.

I think the same logic applies here. If your son loves Rebels then he is going to have a lot more fun flying the Ghost with a couple A-Wings than he will flying some conglomerate of ships that he's not familiar with just because they're easier to learn. And if he is having fun, then the relatively steepness of the learning curve won't matter one bit.

(congrats, btw, on raising your child properly: With a love of Star Wars and gaming )

Problem with Ghost + Awing lists, is that it is completely owned by Vader!

Good news is he is going to be playing against his dad and being not quite 10 he won't be playing at the LGS's with the competitive group. I like fluffy casual games and since it will be a Father and Son gaming experience it will be the perfect time to play Themed Fluff Games.

When he's 12 I'll unleash him upon you guys and he will own you all!!!

(Seriously, I'm going to give him a challenge so he learns but I'm not going to Noob Stomp my own son.)

You need to get the curb stomping in now because later he`ll win honestly, don't you remember that episode of the Simpson's

Going back to the original question: whenever people are getting into the game I always recommend that they buy the ships they love first, and don't worry so much about the ships they've never heard of.

I think the same logic applies here. If your son loves Rebels then he is going to have a lot more fun flying the Ghost with a couple A-Wings than he will flying some conglomerate of ships that he's not familiar with just because they're easier to learn. And if he is having fun, then the relatively steepness of the learning curve won't matter one bit.

(congrats, btw, on raising your child properly: With a love of Star Wars and gaming )

SAY NO TO TURRETS.

This has been a public safety announcement sponsored by the X-PATS (X-wing Players Against Turrets Society)

Seriously, I find new players get better faster when they start with a glass cannon like an interceptor. Has a lot of movement choices and you have to learn to play smarter.

We started with the core sets, but quickly added Most Wanted to have some form of turret (though not a primary turret) to make keeping arc a bit less important while they learned the basics. Dash was added soon after when we introduced rocks, so they could get some harmless practice in.

I then weaned them off of turrets entirely. To the point that when we went to a 60 point tourney, my oldest's biggest issue was that he kept trying to have arc with his fat Chewie instead of using the turret to its main advantage. By the next 60 point tournament, he could run his patrol leader + Wampa effectively, actually making use of the turret.

Inbetween those two, he wiped the floor at a summer tournament with his 3 x7 crackshot Glaives (seeing as he won his own Imp Vet as a door prize at the Chewie tournament, he wanted to use it). He was 2nd after swiss, but there was no cut. He did play the #1 player with the same lists the weekend after and crushed him, so there's that. And we're talking a very, very good player, who went undefeated through swiss at the Canadian Nationals.

I was 3rd that time, and I dutifully crushed him in our grudge match at home to see who would have won in the top 4. Gotta keep that ego in check!

He's not yet 7 and he's already getting a decent reputation locally. Thankfully, I'm still better than he is. For now...

So, 1) keep it simple, 2) ramp it up so he's always stretching to learn new things, 3) turrets are great, 4) turrets are a crutch, 5) above all, have fun!

Having 4 little X-Wingers, it's REALLY good to give them at least one turret and more total points than you. It can be really discouraging for a kid if he flies the wrong way and doesn't get to fire a single shot!

At the same time being rewarded and able to shoot out the front with a run-of-the-mill fighter because you flew right is important for kids too. They need both.

My preference is to give them something that hits hard but also soaks a lot of damage. That always keeps them interested. It's so funny how excited my 5 year old son gets when he inflicts damage, and then how visibly worried he becomes every time puts another damage card down on the Ghost/Decimator.

I think this new Falcon is going to be perfect for kids. It's got the turret, but it rewards better flying too.