At a recent System Open, I came to the realization that a casual Star Wars fan who had only seen the movies, on walking up to the top cut or top tables, would probably not have recognized the game being played as based on Star Wars, since virtually all of the ships are from EU sources or parallel media (animated series, comic books, etc).

So I'm working up a concept for a tournament based on the Galactic Civil War, with the intent of having it be recognizable at Star Wars to someone who has only seen the movies (and specifically the Galactic Civil War era ones, to allow for a later series once the latest trilogy finished). Appreciate feedback on the concept and questions below.

Rules: Tournament is run as a standard X-wing tournament, with the exceptions listed below.

(1) Ships. Ships must have appeared on screen in the movies Rogue One *, Ep IV: Star Wars , Ep V: The Empire Strikes Back , or Ep VI: Return of the Jedi .

(2) Unique pilots must have been named or appear on screen in the above movies, or have “call sign” names*.

(3) Unique crew upgrades must have been named or appear on screen in the above movies.

(4) All generics of legal ships are allowed.

(5) Allowable ships (allowed unique pilots) and unique crew by faction are:

(a) Rebel Alliance allowed :

a. X-wing (Luke Skywalker, Wedge Antilles, Wes Janson, Jek Porkins, Garven Dreis, Biggs Darklighter, Hobbie Klivian, Tarn Mison)

b. Y-wing (Dutch Vander)

c. A-wing (Tycho Celchu, Arvel Crynyd)

d. B-wing

e. U-Wing (Cassian Andor)

f. Millennium Falcon (Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca)

g. VCX-100 (Hera Syndulla, Chopper)

h. YT-2400*

i. Unique Crew: Luke Skywalker, Han Solo Leia Organa, C-3PO, R2-D2, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, Nien Nunb, Bo Shek, Cassian Andor, Jyn Erso, Bodhi Rook, Bistan, Baze Malbus, Hera Syndulla, Chopper

(b) Empire allowed :

a. TIE Fighter (Howlrunner, Scourge, Dark Curse, Mauler Mithel, Backstabber, Youngster, Winged Gundark, Night Beast, Wampa, Chaser)

b. TIE Advanced (Darth Vader)

c. TIE Bomber (Captain Jonus)

d. TIE Interceptor (Fel’s Wrath)

e. TIE Striker (Duchess, Pure Sabacc, Countdown)

f. Firespray-31 (Boba Fett)

g. Lambda Shuttle (Colonel Jendon, Captain Yorr)

h. Unique Crew: BoShek, Moff JerJerrod, Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine*

(c) Scum allowed :

a. Y-wing

b. Firespray-31 (Boba Fett)

c. YT-2400*

d. YT-1300* (Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca)

e. Unique Crew: Boba Fett, 4-LOM, Zuckuss, IG-88D, Bossk, Greedo, Dengar, Gonk, BoShek,

*Questions:

(1) Should Rogue One be included or excluded in the movie list?

(2) Should “call sign” pilot names be allowed (e.g. "Howlrunner")?

(3) Scum is limited – should YT freighters with generic pilots be allowed for scum (YT-2400 due to inclusion in Ep IV Special Edition)? Do we even need a separate Scum faction in this concept?

(4) Should certain cards be disallowed for balance (e.g. Palpatine, TLT?)

Thematic army lists are a good idea, I think. They give breathing room in cramped design space. You can still play Anything Goes 100/6, but it is more easy to accept that some combos will be outliers in terms of efficiency. As an example: the themed army lists worked well in GW's Lord of the Rings game.

42 minutes ago, Hawkstrike said:

*Questions:

(1) Should Rogue One be included or excluded in the movie list?

(2) Should “call sign” pilot names be allowed (e.g. "Howlrunner")?

(3) Scum is limited – should YT freighters with generic pilots be allowed for scum (YT-2400 due to inclusion in Ep IV Special Edition)? Do we even need a separate Scum faction in this concept?

(4) Should certain cards be disallowed for balance (e.g. Palpatine, TLT?)

(1) Included.

(2) Yes. The game can't do without, I think.

(3) I'd add the Quadjumper, but wouldn't give scum the YTs.

(4) I've no problem with disallowing TLT, but would simply add a rule for Palpatine: if he dies, the other side automatically wins. It's thematically inexcusable that he would be sent into a dogfight with only one or two other ships on purpose, so the Imperial player should really know what he's doing if he uses Palpatine.

Maybe the ships and upgrades from Rebels should be available, too? That would open things up for Scum, right?

Palpating is a tough call. I'd love to participate in a thematic tournament in any case.

1 hour ago, Hawkstrike said:

So I'm working up a concept for a tournament based on the Galactic Civil War, with the intent of having it be recognizable at Star Wars to someone who has only seen the movies (and specifically the Galactic Civil War era ones, to allow for a later series once the latest trilogy finished).

*Questions:

(1) Should Rogue One be included or excluded in the movie list?

(2) Should “call sign” pilot names be allowed (e.g. "Howlrunner")?

(3) Scum is limited – should YT freighters with generic pilots be allowed for scum (YT-2400 due to inclusion in Ep IV Special Edition)? Do we even need a separate Scum faction in this concept?

(4) Should certain cards be disallowed for balance (e.g. Palpatine, TLT?)

First of all, great idea!! In response:

(1.) Yes, RO. It's the newest movie, and directly links to Ep IV.

(2.) I'm torn on this. I kinda like that the "meta" is greatly reduced, forcing a reassessment of list building, no I guess, mostly no.

(3.) Maybe not even include Scum; most of the ships are not recognizable, anyways. Either way, I think I would allow the YT-2400 as one "obscure" movie ship.

(4.) Yes. Again, shake up the usual "obvious" builds. (Although I do like Verlaine's idea that if Palps dies, it's an auto-loss for the Imps.)

What about the ARC? I know it's not GCW, but it is recognizable from the movies.

Also, yeah, skim scum. You have a whole 2 movie ship and theg can be used in other factions.

All for a "kill Palp and win" rule. Though scratch the TLT too.

This format heavily favours the Rebels.

20 minutes ago, Nyxen said:

This format heavily favours the Rebels.

Maybe, but as an Imperial player I'd love a no-Scum, no-KWing, no TLT tourney. Being "stuck" with interceptors and advanced is a cross I could bare.

Maybe you should change the name to something like "Cinematic Skirmish" or "Theatrical Skirmish?" Calling the mode "Galactic Civil War" might be a little misleading, as all the EU ships are considered Galactic Civil War era ships. Other than that, I like the idea!

1 hour ago, Lobokai said:

Maybe, but as an Imperial player I'd love a no-Scum, no-KWing, no TLT tourney. Being "stuck" with interceptors and advanced is a cross I could bare.

Generic Interceptors and Darth Vader. He's pretty great, but this format basically says the Empire gets Howlrunner swarm or Vader and fill.

If callsigns are allowed (and they should be), the Empire would be fine. Strikers, Fighters, Bombers, Interceptors, Advanced, Shuttles, Firesprays, and I'm sure I'm missing some.

I'd play that.

Would it be better to open it to all pilots of an available ship? I was afraid of Soontir everywhere (and the "who's Soontir?" from the more casual fans).

I'm not inclined to bring in Star Wars Rebels content (aside from the Rogue One nod to Hera/Chopper) -- not only does that start creep toward more recent/powerful ships, but even a lot of the X-wing regulars I play with haven't watched the show, so I don't think it fits the goal of being recognizable to people who have only seen the movies. Ep VII content is recognizable, though, so another alternative option might be a "movie edition" with 5 factions -- Rebels, Resistance, Scum, Empire, and First Order, splitting Rebel and Empire crew options between factions. Scum still gets sold short, but they pick up a ship (Quadjumper) that way.

Apparently Horton Salm was at the battle of Endor and should be included.

I'm also ok with named Interceptor pilots.

Really I think all the named pilots in ships that were seen in the movies should be allowed.

2 hours ago, Lobokai said:

Maybe, but as an Imperial player I'd love a no-Scum, no-KWing, no TLT tourney. Being "stuck" with interceptors and advanced is a cross I could bare.

Also makes the full tie swarm viable again

Quote

So I'm working up a concept for a tournament based on the Galactic Civil War, with the intent of having it be recognizable at Star Wars to someone who has only seen the movies (and specifically the Galactic Civil War era ones, to allow for a later series once the latest trilogy finished). Appreciate feedback on the concept and questions below.

It's unnecessary to ban pilots. The recognisable element is the ships.

That's what I was thinking. Someone who has only been exposed to the movies themselves isn't going to recognize most of the minor characters by name anyway (and the pilot cards don't have pictures, so that won't help).

Might as well focus on limiting the ships, not pilots or crew.

6 hours ago, Hawkstrike said:

*Questions:

(1) Should Rogue One be included or excluded in the movie list?

(2) Should “call sign” pilot names be allowed (e.g. "Howlrunner")?

(3) Scum is limited – should YT freighters with generic pilots be allowed for scum (YT-2400 due to inclusion in Ep IV Special Edition)? Do we even need a separate Scum faction in this concept?

(4) Should certain cards be disallowed for balance (e.g. Palpatine, TLT?)

(1) YES.

(2) Yes.

(3) I'd leave out scum, but allow for the Empire to "contract" the Scum version of Boba Fett, as Slave 1 was part of the movies, and the Imperial version simply isn't as useful as scum.

(4) Maybe? On the other hand, by eliminating a lot of the ships we've seen so much of, balance may be thrown out in favor of the return of Fat Han and TIE swarms....

First draft revision:

Rules: Tournament is run as a standard X-wing tournament, with the exceptions listed below.

(1) Ships. Ships must have appeared on screen in the movies Rogue One *, Ep IV: Star Wars , Ep V: The Empire Strikes Back , or Ep VI: Return of the Jedi .

(2) Unique crew upgrades must have been named or appear on screen in the above movies.

(3) All generics of legal ships are allowed.

(4) Emperor Palpatine special rule: if an Imperial ship carrying Emperor Palpatine is destroyed, that player loses the game.

(5) Allowable ships (allowed pilots) and unique crew by faction are:

(a) Rebel Alliance allowed :

a. X-wing (all pilots)

b. Y-wing (all pilots)

c. A-wing (all pilots)

d. B-wing (all pilots)

e. U-Wing (all pilots)

f. YT-1300 (Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, generics only)

g. VCX-100 (all pilots)

h. YT-2400 (generics only)

i. Unique Crew: Luke Skywalker, Han Solo Leia Organa, C-3PO, R2-D2, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, Nien Nunb, Bo Shek, Cassian Andor, Jyn Erso, Bodhi Rook, Bistan, Baze Malbus, Hera Syndulla, Chopper

(b) Empire allowed :

a. TIE Fighter (all pilots)

b. TIE Advanced (all pilots)

c. TIE Bomber (all pilots)

d. TIE Interceptor (all pilots)

e. TIE Striker (all pilots)

f. Firespray-31 (Scum or Imperial; Boba Fett, generics only)

g. Lambda Shuttle (all pilots)

h. Unique Crew: BoShek, Moff JerJerrod, Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine

(c) Scum allowed :

a. Y-wing (all pilots)

b. Firespray-31 (all pilots)

c. YT-2400 (generics only)

d. YT-1300 (Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, generics only)

e. Unique Crew: Boba Fett, 4-LOM, Zuckuss, IG-88D, Bossk, Greedo, Dengar, Gonk, BoShek

Still considering on Scum ... perhaps keep them but force the Firespray to be Scum only? Or delete them entirely?

3 hours ago, Hawkstrike said:

Would it be better to open it to all pilots of an available ship? I was afraid of Soontir everywhere (and the "who's Soontir?" from the more casual fans).

Truthfully, if I was playing an event like this I'd be fine either way. You'd have to look at your accepted pilots list and make that call. But the generic interceptors are pretty good anyway in this "historical" mode.

Edit: I'd scratch the scum. There's not a single scum dogfight in those movies.

I'd say allow scum that were seen in Emipre Strikes Back: Dengar, Bossk, IG88, Zuckuss, 4 LOM, Boba Fett.

I recommend some broad squad-building controls to try to keep turrets, spam and swarms from ruining an otherwise fine format.

Maximum 1 turreted ship per squad , counting any primary weapon turret or turret upgrade. This gives aux-arc ships like the ARC and Firespray more utility, but does make swarms more effective. This forces players to choose whether to use a turret ship for support or as their main hitter, but not both. This way you probably won't have to ban TLTs.

8-ship swarms can chew up a clock, and it's dreadfully boring when a block of ships moves at a single Pilot Skill. To prevent swarm abuse, set a maximum of 2 copies of any card that isn't unique. You can still manage a 7 ship swarm, but it'll be a mixture of Pilot Skills, being much more sporting and interesting.

2 hours ago, BlodVargarna said:

I'd say allow scum that were seen in Emipre Strikes Back: Dengar, Bossk, IG88, Zuckuss, 4 LOM, Boba Fett.

Maybe delete the scum faction, but allow the Empire instead to choose from among those six scum crew cards (thematic for Empire Strikes Back).

21 hours ago, Nyxen said:

This format heavily favours the Rebels.

I know he initially excluded Soontir, but just saying: Soontir/Vader/Palpshuttle is a list that can even be played in the current meta.

Other than that: that's a great idea!

Quote

(2) Unique crew upgrades must have been named or appear on screen in the above movies.

Again, why? The idea is to make the game recognisable to an outsider which means they're looking at the models. The cardstock doesn't matter, it's rules text.

You just need to restrict the ships and then put in whatever rules are necessary to stop the format breaking. =

There's no point including IG88D crew if not allowing Aggressors.

I really wouldn't limit the pilots (or upgrades) of ships included in the films. Nobody walking past is going to notice Soontir Fel isn't named in the films, they're going to see X-Wings and TIE Interceptors and know it's a Star Wars battle. There is no need to make confusing rules outside of you can only fly these N ships which appear in the films.