My son and I are very new to xwing. Huge star wars fans, and new to board games all together. Trying to figure out the easiest way to explain and set up the initial cards and enhancments for the game. For instance, we were gifted the basic game, plus a slave 1, a tie defender, a tie advanced, another xwing and a year wing, as well as 2 more tie fighters. I know everyone else has done these before, but we're still trying to learn how to walk and keep the game balanced. Any help would be appreciated.

Start with the ffg you tube tutorial.

A few things that helped me when I was starting out was you tube. If you type into you tube search guys playing games x wing. they have a large amount to videos that explain simple game rules like stress and how it works or bombs ETC. They do a really good job on explaining things they keep it short and to the point.

Another thing that helped me is to get with your local gaming store community. I felt welcome and 99% of the people were very interested in teaching me.

ffg forums as you already have found out. I have found that most people here don't mind question even simple ones so ask away.

You can also try sling paint on you tube and gold squadron pod cast but these maybe after you get a little more advanced.

I hope this helps. if you have any other questions please fell free to ask

The only stupid question's are the ones that don't get asked where you then go and start doing things the wrong way.

To be honest, I think "game balance" could be a little try to achieve if you're just looking Rebel vs. Imperial. Sounds like you've got three rebel ships to work with (Core X-Wing, guessing X-Wing expansion, and Y-Wing?) which can give you something to fly in the standard 100 point format but your Imperials have far more choices. With these ships I'd say start small (a game or two with quickstart rules) before moving on to the full rules although even then you could start out with limited points. In some ways you I can see the Rebels being the base against which you learn to fly as you mix up the Imperials as their ships may give you several strategies to try.

The ships you mention are all fairly balanced against each-other in terms of effectiveness vs. how many squad points each costs (i.e. none of these ships are crazy ultra competitive monsters out of the box), so as long as you are building squads for each team that come to the same point total, you should be fine. When you are first starting out, I would recommend trying to avoid loading ships up with a ton of upgrades - the more expensive you make a ship, the better you have to fly that ship in order to get that value back out of the ship. So try to stick with about 1, maybe 2 upgrades per ship - it's less stuff to forget and you make your squad more forgiving to fly. Since you only have 3 rebel ships at the moment (2 X-Wings, 1 Y-Wing), you might want to play your games at somewhere around 80-90 points per side. If you are playing at the full 100 points, it gets a bit tricky to build those 3 ships up to 100 points without getting a bit silly with upgrades.

Here's an example of what I mean:

91 points

Wedge Antilles (32)
X-Wing (29), Marksmanship (3)

Biggs Darklighter (29)
X-Wing (25), R2-D2 (4)

“Dutch” Vander (30)
Y-Wing (23), R5-K6 (2), Ion Cannon Turret (5)

Wedge uses Marksmanship as his action, Dutch takes a Target Lock and gives one to Wedge too, Biggs draws fire away from both of them.

Welcome to great, better (and expensive ) world

Currently you should ignore all advice, seriously. Maybe FFG tutorial only. And go though the cards you own to find out ones you find interesting - play them and evaluate. You will find out what suits you, find out what cards (like Boba Fett pilot) can you use to correct beginners mistakes and so on so on.

And for gods sake stay away from Biggs he can be ultra confusing when you just started, he is really great pilot later but his rules got so many catches and he is really easy to tilt the game if not used correctly

I remember on my first games (~75 points cause i didnt have full 100 back then) i had a blast with turreted Ywing and Squad Leader Vader.

Play the missions that come with the core set to learn to play the game. Then either play missions from the other expansions or start trying to make 100 point lists

I second the YouTube idea I got into x-wing after watching some vids it is a good way to learn the basics.

And don't sweat balance while learning just have fun.

First off, there really are no stupid questions when it comes to this game. By asking the community and our efforts to answer these questions and explaining the rules behind the answer, you learn how the game works. This is what I love about X-Wing: people will help you out on every question you have, no matter how 'stupid' that question may be.

There's one golden rule that you will read a lot and that you should always keep in mind: Do what the card says, don't do what it doesn't say.

Quite often you will find yourself in a situation where you assume that a card effect should be handled in a way that isn't expressly stated on the card. Don't overthink. Apply the golden rule.

And most importantly: fly the ships that are the most fun for you, not necessarily what is most competitive. Fly casual and have fun! That's an order!

EDIT: as others have already mentioned - if you are interested, there are great videos and tutorials all over youtube that can be immensely helpful. Just stay away from casual gamers, because there are some who get a couple of rules wrong. For example, I have seen Bossk's pilot ability being used incorrectly so many times on youtube, it's crazy...

This is what I love about X-Wing: people will help you out on every question you have, no matter how 'stupid' that question may be.

However, that help will soon fade when some refuse to accept or believe the answers they're given. (see https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/237184-do-i-need-the-new-starter-set/for a prime example)

This is what I love about X-Wing: people will help you out on every question you have, no matter how 'stupid' that question may be.

However, that help will soon fade when some refuse to accept or believe the answers they're given. (see https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/237184-do-i-need-the-new-starter-set/for a prime example)

Yeah, that thread is a hoot.

This is what I love about X-Wing: people will help you out on every question you have, no matter how 'stupid' that question may be.

However, that help will soon fade when some refuse to accept or believe the answers they're given. (see https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/237184-do-i-need-the-new-starter-set/for a prime example)

All the more reason to come here and ask your questions early and as often as needed. It's much easier to LEARN things the right way than it is to learn the wrong way and have it set up in your mind. Even then a rule does occasionally change but you'll often get a history of the rule changes when you ask.