In your opinion, what are the LEAST complex starting missions (of the 5) for newer players?

For the benefit of those who have not seen my previous post, I'm hosting an event with 4 other players - 2 of which are into X-Wing, 1 which is kinda neutral/not fussed about it and 1 who would say "RNG" plays a large part over skill (but he still agreed to try it out.)

Basically, the reasons I want to choose the starting mission are;

1) We'll likely only get the tutorial 'Local Trouble' and one other mission done in the time we have for the session. Especially considering our group can get caught up in the deliberating process.
2) I want to be really well prepared so that HotAC makes a good first impression on the more sceptical people in the group - increasing the chance of future sessions.

I'm really conscious of people being turned off way too early and bailing on future sessions (especially with the work I've put in to make this happen). Now, I've read through all the starting missions and to me, 'Secure Holonet Receiver' seems to be one of the more complex ones in terms of the mechanics at play. While 'Rescue Rebel Operatives' seems more on the simple side. The group did express interest in 'Capture Officer' and while it looks really good, I have heard this can be quite hard - can anyone who has experience with these missions comment on this?

I really want this session to work, because I think it looks like one of the best ways to enjoy X-Wing, at least cooperatively. In particular, the guy who is turned off by the competitive side would probably really enjoy the cooperative aspect greatly, it's just that he's coming into it with the expectation that he won't like it. I guess I'm worried that will be hard to get around if the starting mission I choose is off-putting in its complexity. If this session is unsuccessful, I know I can at least count on 1 of them to continue with me, but obviously I'd like to have everyone involved for the bonding/added enjoyment that comes with that.

What say you, Hivemind?

Rescue Rebel Operative is the one with the HWK, right? Oh....that one is TOUGH! I had to restart that mission 3 times one night because the Tie Fighters just rolled well. I wouldn't go with that one.

Rescue Rebel Operative is the one with the HWK, right? Oh....that one is TOUGH! I had to restart that mission 3 times one night because the Tie Fighters just rolled well. I wouldn't go with that one.

I second Jim's comment. I had to do it twice and only won by forcing the bumps and even then the hwk escaped with 1 hull left!!

Tread Softly is a fun one and rewards careful flying (and gives you stuff to shoot at real quick!)

Thanks guys! I'll stay clear of that one as our starter then!

It appears what seemed simple on paper is deceptively difficult in practice

Skip the Phantom mission too.

We did Rescue Rebel Operative fairly easily. There are two missions that will have a very random difficulty level: Secure Holonet Receiver and Needle in a Haystack. Both of those have something that has to be located and processed in some way. We failed the Needle mission (which introduces the Phantom) once so far, and the Holonet Receiver we've failed twice.

Tread Softly has already been mentioned. We finished that one easily on our first attempt. Rescue Rebel Operatives is easy to do as long as you understand the primary goal is to protect the HWK until it leaves the board, and killing TIEs is secondary.

HotAC is awesome! But I can understand wanting to set up a positive experience.

Avoid ones with the Rebel transport for a while as the extra rules will slow it down.

None of the opening missions require the transport.

I just realized I meant to comment on the initial post regarding "Capture Officer." We took two tries to get that one right. The first time the shuttle got away (with four hull points; at three points it's disabled). It's a fun mission, but more complex than Tread Softly.

I would stick with Tread Softly as the first mission after Local Trouble as it has the objectives that are the easiest to manage, and fewer variables to monitor.

Capture officer is not easy. To speed things up a bit I'd discourage group movement deliberations. That can really big down a session. Just say "I'm going here" and set dials. Don't let them have dials face up. Part of the fun is the reveal and it makes movement go faster.

Also maybe a shooting order if they are all the same PS. Start turn 1 on player 1, then go clockwise. Turn 2 start player two and go clockwise. Etc.

Debating about who should shoot whom will also really slow things down. And then give group exp so that players who are support oriented get to advance as well.

I've never had a problem with Captured Officer. Maybe it was because I'd always take a Torpedo Y-wing on that mission. We would blast the living bejeevas out of it in a couple of turns and then just moping up Tie Fighters.

I've never had a problem with Captured Officer. Maybe it was because I'd always take a Torpedo Y-wing on that mission. We would blast the living bejeevas out of it in a couple of turns and then just moping up Tie Fighters.

As somebody who lost this mission four times before beating it... Knocking out the shuttle was rarely the issue. Eliminating the fighters before the interceptors effectively ended the scenario by arriving was the biggest factor.

Our group has a bit of a challenge in that I'm running it as the "game master" so they don't necessarily know everything about the mission. For example, if one of the players reads the entire mission, then they know the trigger that makes the shuttle turn and run. In our group, they have to be able to recognize that he's not just turning to get a shot, he's running. The first time we ran the mission the shuttle escaped with 4 hull left because it was a couple of turns before they realized what was going on.

The next time they focused on blocking the shuttle repeatedly so that it spend essentially four turns sitting in place. They were able to work on clearing out the TIE forces, getting them down to a manageable level, and ultimately took the shuttle down to 1 hull to end the scenario.

Our initial group completed the "Nobody's Home" mission tonight, while a new crew started Local Trouble. Yes, we now have two campaigns going at the same time. The next time we play the newer group is going to do "Tread Softly" which was drawn from the mission deck, and the other crew is finishing the Capture Officer story arc with the final mission.

Regardless of the mission you choose please stress on the players that this is a CO-Op game. Some players, especially younger ones, just want to kill stuff and rack up points. And make sure they understand what the AI can and cannot do in each scenario. I ran the scenario that requires the ORS to find a cargo and escape pod in the ion clouds 3 times. After the 3rd debriefing it finally dawned on the guys that the Ties will key on the ORS and not the other ships. These are relatively good players but not focused on the mission only what they think the end results should be.

I've never had a problem with Captured Officer. Maybe it was because I'd always take a Torpedo Y-wing on that mission. We would blast the living bejeevas out of it in a couple of turns and then just moping up Tie Fighters.

As somebody who lost this mission four times before beating it... Knocking out the shuttle was rarely the issue. Eliminating the fighters before the interceptors effectively ended the scenario by arriving was the biggest factor.

Does your group usually take Torpedoes? There is always at least one person who takes Torpedoes in our group. I find they are a great way to blast the jawa juice out of a Tie Fighter. It's often a one hit kill.

We also usually have at least one player with a TLT, which is fantastic to finish off guys that are down to 1 hull.

Proton torps are indeed awesome for killing TIEs. I actually think the free mod slot for extra munitions on X wings makes them really really good.

Proton torps are indeed awesome for killing TIEs. I actually think the free mod slot for extra munitions on X wings makes them really really good.

Agreed! You get Integrated Astromech for free, too. So, the 2nd slot can always be Guidance Chip if you don't want something else.

Y-wings are also great to load up with Torpedoes. You can early get 2 Torpedoes and either Guidance Chip or Extra Munitions. Then, get the next one on your next Modification. That will give you 4 Torpedoes and GC modification! You can really rack up the kills.

It's also a good idea to think about Ion Torpedoes, as well. They don't have the native damage modification of one Eyeball to Crit, but they do roll 4 dice for damage modification. If you take Predator, you will probably be re-rolling 2 of them, anyways. Not only does it zap all the Tie Fighters in formation...allowing you to flank them and blast them up, but it's good for missions, too. There is one mission with the HWK where you need to check the satellite dishes. They are all within R1 of each other on the station. If you ionize them, it counts for hacking them. One nice Torpedo can zap three of them in one shot!

As somebody who lost this mission four times before beating it... Knocking out the shuttle was rarely the issue. Eliminating the fighters before the interceptors effectively ended the scenario by arriving was the biggest factor.

I agree. For us, Capture Officer has always been the most difficult of the starting missions. It's gotten to the point where we try to take out a couple of TIEs before we go for the shuttle ... and hopefully then leave the shuttle pointing somewhere where its gun (it does keep shooting, right?) doesn't interdict a huge swath of the board.

I've never had a problem with Captured Officer. Maybe it was because I'd always take a Torpedo Y-wing on that mission. We would blast the living bejeevas out of it in a couple of turns and then just moping up Tie Fighters.

As somebody who lost this mission four times before beating it... Knocking out the shuttle was rarely the issue. Eliminating the fighters before the interceptors effectively ended the scenario by arriving was the biggest factor.

Does your group usually take Torpedoes? There is always at least one person who takes Torpedoes in our group. I find they are a great way to blast the jawa juice out of a Tie Fighter. It's often a one hit kill.

We also usually have at least one player with a TLT, which is fantastic to finish off guys that are down to 1 hull.

Yup. Usually two.. I tend to use ion torpedoes.

As somebody who lost this mission four times before beating it... Knocking out the shuttle was rarely the issue. Eliminating the fighters before the interceptors effectively ended the scenario by arriving was the biggest factor.

I agree. For us, Capture Officer has always been the most difficult of the starting missions. It's gotten to the point where we try to take out a couple of TIEs before we go for the shuttle ... and hopefully then leave the shuttle pointing somewhere where its gun (it does keep shooting, right?) doesn't interdict a huge swath of the board.

Er... We've always killed the guns once it's disabled. If that's what you mean.

Er... We've always killed the guns once it's disabled. If that's what you mean.

As far as I know, there's nothing in the mission that says it stops shooting. (It's not a ridiculous inference that it does, but strictly speaking ... )

I've found rescue rebel operative to be a bit lacking in flavour. It's also low on exp-farming for an initial mission, due to the low number of non-TIE fighters. Personally, I have found Capture Officer to be the most exciting, challenging and enjoyable starting mission after local trouble.

The key to Capture Officer is to have a Y-wing take proton bombs and extra munitions, then have them drop both on the (incredibly easy to hit) shuttle, thereby disabling it while negating shields. I've found that this makes the mission much more manageable (as routinely attacking the shuttle takes forever ). Its also an excellent exp-farm. Its still an incredibly hard mission that, more often than not, results in failure. But a win on Capture Officer makes the team feel as if they've truly accomplished something, while a loss fells like yielding under overwhelming reinforcements.

In order, for the first 5 missions, I'd rank them as following:

1. Capture Officer. For the reasons listed above.

2. Tread Softly. An excellent experience farm on-par with Capture Officer, but a bit less exciting.

3. Rescue Rebel Operative. Its good in many ways, but it normally comes down to whether the TIEs roll well in the first two turns or not. I've had the HWK die on turn 2 because of crazy damage before, which is no fun for anybody.

4. Secure Holonet Receiver. Random chance is fun, and its a great mission, but a bit lacking in both theme and experience-generating opportunities.

5. Needle In a Haystack. This is a fantastic mission, and I'd go with it over Capture Officer if it weren't for the phantoms. They're geared to wreck low-level ships (such as, you know, at the start of a campaign),, so once it comes out, you'll be losing at least 1 pilot, and probably the mission if the YT-1300 isn't halfway home already. Where a Loss in Capture Officer feels like its justified, a Loss in Haystack feels like random chance, and that just isn't a good first mission.

Other tips for the campaign:

A concern that might pop up is "but if we're getting stronger, won't the missions become easier?" To answer that, show the Defender with Heavy Laser Cannon and Rexler Brath. Then explain to them that it has a focus and target lock every turn with four dice, adds another hit, and deals all damage as crits at the higher levels. This shows them that the A.I. becomes more challenging, yet still beatable.

Also sow them some of the cooler components (turbolaser towers, shield generators and minefields at least) and give them an inkling of what is to come. This will show them that the 16 mission campaign is not just repetitive variations on a dogfight.

Above all, have fun.

Saying it again for emphasis: one of the difficulties in running the campaign is changing the player mindset from "kill everything that moves" to "what is my mission objective?" In many cases losing site of the mission objective results in a loss, even if you have racked up a bunch of XP by killing Imperial ships. The campaign is designed so that the load-out for one mission may not be optimal for another. That's why you build up a "garage" of upgrades that you can swap in and out based on what you're trying to accomplish.