Casual Game Format

By Boom Owl, in X-Wing

Thinking of using the following for some casual games, mostly at home with friends. Trying to keep the modifications some what "simple". Thoughts?

  • Banned Ships:
    • Jumpmasters
  • Banned Cards:
    • Autothrusters
    • Twin Laser Turret
    • Intel Agent
    • Kanan Jarrus
    • K4 Security Droid
    • Autoblaster Turret
    • Havoc Title Card
    • Kylo Ren Crew
    • ISTDS Condition
    • A Score to Settle Condition
  • General Changes:
    • When attacking it is impossible to roll more than 5 attack dice during a single attack
    • After rolling 5 dice if a mechanic would add an attack result it must replace one of the 5 dice already modified
    • When defending against a turret attack, if you are outside of the attackers arc, add 1 evade result
    • Turret Attacks do not receive additional attack dice at Range 1
    • Turret and Cannon Attacks do not deny additional defense dice at Range 3
    • If Darth Vader destroys Luke Skywalker's ship he remains on the board with 3 hull for one more round and the Imperial player may treat Luke as one of his own ships until the end of the round. The opposite is true if Luke defeats Vader.
  • Ship Specific Changes:
    • Firespray
      • Imperial Pilots may replace their Pilot Ability with their Scum Pilot equivalent
      • Cannons can be fired from the rear arc
    • U-Wings
      • Pivot Wing can be flipped at the start of the activation phase
    • Lambda Shuttle
      • May use the Firespray Ship base template and fire from the rear arc
    • HWK-290
      • Increase Attack Dice by 1
    • A-Wing
      • You may roll 1 additional attack dice that cannot be modified
    • E-Wing
      • Reduce Point Cost by 4
    • Tie Fighter or Tie F/O Fighter
      • Increase Hull Value by 1 if at range 1 of 1 or more Tie Fighters
    • Y-Wing
      • Named pilots without an EPT may equip an EPT
    • Tie Advanced
      • Add the following to Darth Vader's Pilot Ability:
        • "If you perform only one action another friendly ship at Range 1 may perform a free action"
    • T-65 X-Wing
      • Add Boost Action
      • Add Tech Upgrade
      • Increase Luke Skywalker's Pilot Skill by 1
      • Replace Luke Skywalker's Pilot Ability with the following:
        • "When attacking or defending you may use the force to change 1 of your results to a crit or evade. When attacking if you have 3 crits the defending ship reduces its agility to zero and is referred to as a Womp Rat until the end of the game.
    • YT-1300
      • Replace Chewbacca's Pilot Ability with the following:
        • " When you are dealt a faceup Damage card, immediately flip it facedown (without resolving its ability). At the end of the game if the opponent wins remove one arm."
Edited by Boom Owl

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Always good to have a casual league with a huge set of banned things and custom complete overhalls to ships and abilities.... that will keep it nice and casual.

And some of your tweaks are insane.... A-wings get another die? ummm wtf that ship is very strong as it is.

I would not play in a "casual" league that was anything like this. Its way to much stuff going on, not to mention some really messed up ****, how the **** are you adding manouvers to a dial? for your "casual" league you have to print out a custom dial and attach it to your old one destroying it?. using other ship bases? do the stats change? i cant even imagine how you organize that one, ya my lambda is using a different PS and stats base just ignor it this is "casual"

"i thought you said T-65's can boost" - casual guy
"well some can but not that particular T-65" - casual league organizer

Good start but too many tweaks - a simple fix for the t65 that my friend and I use is a t70 - we use the dial but not tech - no change in price - same price

in short - use t-70 dial boost and extra shield

U can keep the banned cards but don't edit the ships or people won't play with u

You really hate 360 degrees...

Sounds like yet another ban list which only picks on your hated items, and as such will not mean people want to play it. You didn't even touch Biggs, regen or mindlink (3 things which a lot of people dislike) but completely removed kylo ren, which is barely in the meta.

Why would you even bother banning score to settle? It's thematic, fun and not OP in any way (further evidence this is a personal "I don't like x" list)

No primary weapon rolls more than 5 dice at any range currently - so why bother adding the restriction? If someone wants to spend all their points on one overkill attack, then by all means go ahead ("I don't like x!" NERFED!)

That vader/luke thing is just silly.

TIE swarms -> OP (especially since you didn't even ban crack shot, but decided they needed a massive boost...)

Fair enough. My thoughts:

6 hours ago, Boom Owl said:

Banned Ships:

  • Jumpmasters

To each their own. I don't think they're too bad if you've taken a lot of their toys away (see the rest of the list) but it's your event.

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Banned Cards:

  • Autothrusters
  • Twin Laser Turret
  • Intel Agent
  • Kanan Jarrus
  • K4 Security Droid
  • Autoblaster Turret
  • Havoc Title Card
  • Kylo Ren Crew
  • ISTDS Condition
  • A Score to Settle Condition

Banning Autothrusters.....hmm. They are nasty, but also not too ridiculous unless you really reign in range 3 ordnance and turrets. It's the combination of autothrusters + focus + evade (+ palpatine) that makes for the "just goddamn die!!!??!?!" interceptor moments.

Twin Laser turret - not going to argue. It's a much-ragged-on card, so if you want it gone, it's gone. Bear in mind that it's reason to exist was chomping through C-3PO/Jan Ors/etc Falcons and Decimators (the infamous 'Fat Han') - taking it out of the game risks bringing that thing back with a vengeance (especially since Autothrusters, which were largely there to give TIE interceptors and A-wings a better chance against gunner/predator primary turret attacks are also gone)

Intelligence Agent - if you're banning Intelligence Agent, you also want to ban Cassian Andor (crew), otherwise you're not removing the ability, simply making it Rebel Only.

Kanan Jarrus - if this is Kanan Crew, I agree he's really powerful. Essentially making all white manoeuvres on a ship's dial green for 3 points is amazing, and that's ignoring his ability to buff a different ship if the ship he's on doesn't need it, so I get the ban.

K4 Security Droid - frankly worse than Dengar (crew) as an accuracy buff, but the big difference is that you can launch an Attack [Target Lock] missile or torpedo with it. Is it that bad? Not really by itself - it's the pairing of K4 security droid with the frankly insane amount of green on the Jumpmaster 2000's dial (especially with an Unhinged Astromech) and the ship's torpedo tubes that make the card nasty - on a YV666 it works but is hardly devastating. If you've banned Jumpmasters, I doubt it's that bad by itself (it came out in Most Wanted and didn't really make a splash before Punishing One, after all). K4 + Synced Turret HWKs are a possibility, but that's hardly earth-shattering.

Autoblaster Turret - Really? I get not liking Autoblaster/Accuracy Corrector (or Autoblaster/Accuracy Corrector/Ghost) but the turret by itself never seemed that bad (Autoblaster Turret Y-wings are rather fun to fly) - making it un-modifiable (like snap shot) or un-modifiable except by focus (like unguided rockets) might be a less drastic response. Equally, with the Havoc unusable, you only need to take it off the Ghost (small ship only?) and you're again stuck with Hwks and Y-wings, which isn't too bad. Still, your event, your ban list.

Havoc - okay....I get that Nym is really powerful. But he can't equip Autoblaster/Accuracy Corrector or Twin Laser Turret/Accuracy Corrector (because you've banned the turrets), so all this is really stopping him fielding is the Genius/Bomblet combination. If this really bugs you; I'd either remove Genius or remove the Bomblet rather than take out the title.

Kylo Ren (crew) - Fair enough. People don't like Blinded Pilot, especially delivered by PS10 turrets!

ISTDS Condition - in which case (since he's not on the Ban list) what does Kylo Ren (pilot) now do? I'm not advocating leaving the condition in, but you've just rendered his pilot ability non-functional.

A Score To Settle - Really, really? This ability helps both players equally as much. The only situation where it seems really unpleasant is paired with Kylo Ren - who's already banned.

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General Changes:

  • When attacking it is impossible to roll more than 5 attack dice during a single attack
  • After rolling 5 dice if a mechanic would add an attack result it must replace one of the 5 dice already modified
  • When defending against a turret attack, if you are outside of the attackers arc, add 1 evade result
  • Turret Attacks do not receive additional attack dice at Range 1
  • Turret and Cannon Attacks do not deny additional defense dice at Range 3
  • If Darth Vader destroys Luke Skywalker's ship he remains on the board with 3 hull for one more round and the Imperial player may treat Luke as one of his own ships until the end of the round. The opposite is true if Luke defeats Vader.

Allowing people to still use additional dice but to replace existing results is a nice idea. It means Advanced Guidance ChipsProton Torpedo/Fearlessness Fen Rau's many abilities all do something, but in a case of massively diminishing returns. Which feels right.

WRT turret attacks - is that turret (upgrade) or primary weapon turret? Because (again) han. Equally, does a mobile arc count?

This gives every ship autothrusters-but-even-better, so if it does apply to a primary weapon, then you don't need to worry about banning autothrusters vs turrets (although vs missiles at range 3, interceptors may still take a kicking).

Turret (upgrade) do not add additional attack dice at range 1 (except the dorsal turret, which hardly needs picking on), so I'd suggest "you may not gain a ranged combat bonus when attacking outside your firing arc" as a better way of phrasing it.

Turret and Cannon attacks ignoring ranged defence bonus - but not missiles? Remember that you've already stomped on the twin laser turret - there is no range 3 turret upgrade in the game now. Plus your defender is getting a free evade result (not even just a modified dice)

I'm....not sure what the Luke/Vader is supposed to represent, to be honest. But (a) it'll be a bit awkward to manage (you'll need to reset the ship by removing all damage cards, I guess) and (b) Vader is a massively more powerful asset to 'steal' than Luke (especially since to be killed, luke will almost inevitably have triggered Integrated Astromech, so won't have an astromech anymore, whilst Vader will have his TIE/x1 title and associated system upgrade), so the rule isn't equally balanced both ways.

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Firespray

  • Imperial Pilots may replace their Pilot Ability with their Scum Pilot equivalent
  • Cannons can be fired from the rear arc

Fine to the first.....erm to the second. More importantly, I'm not sure if the 'big guns' (the popouts on a firespray) were supposed to be able to traverse behind (I think the engine block may be in the way, depending on how far up the 'trunk' they were).

It's not too bad a rule, though, and goes a long way to helping Krassus Trelix (who doesn't have an improved scum pilot ability to swap to).

However - Heavy Laser Cannon, Tail Gunner, Kath Scarlet. 5 attack dice with -1 agility to the target. Are you sure you want to allow this?

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U-Wings

  • Pivot Wing can be flipped at the start of the activation phase

Nil response. I haven't enough experience playing against them to have an opinion. However, if this is a 'can also', be aware that you can then flip at the start of the activation phase, reveal a manoeuvre (stop), rotate, and flip the card back. I.e. you will never see the other side of the card in the combat phase, and as such you will only be agility 1 if shot at by snap shots or similar.

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Lambda Shuttle

  • May use the Firespray Ship base template and fire from the rear arc

The retractable guns are what anti-pursuit lasers represent. I've no real issue with an auxiliary arc, but it shouldn't be a 3-dice attack because I think they're pretty light armaments. For the sake of simplicity I'd rather keep the base (with the correct stats) and suggest allowing it to fire outside its arc (it should be less effective outside its arc but your +1 evade should take care of that).

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HWK-290

  • Increase Attack Dice by 1

Eh. Still needs a turret - which you've taken away it's favourite toys (TLT/Autoblaster) and probably killed off the others with the +1 evade rule. A 16 point ship with 2-dice primary is okay-ish but not with a HWK's dial.

Synched turret becomes a lot more effective, though, getting 2 rerolls instead of 1.

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A-Wing

  • You may roll 1 additional attack dice that cannot be modified

Really, really needs criteria adding to it!

The A-wing isn't too lightly armed when you're talking about a 15 point prototype pilot. When you're talking about a 20+ point ace with snap shot and ALL THE MISSILES then 2-dice is a bit wimpy, but as written you're throwing an extra attack dice with snap shot, or with missiles - do you really want 5 dice concussion missiles (modified or not), or a non-unique Green Squadron Pilot throwing a 3 dice snap shot and 4 dice primary, with Juke on both?

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E-Wing

Reduce Point Cost by 4

Simple enough. I'd like to see a more 'creative' fix but this definitely makes the E-wing better. The problem is that what it does is make Corran Horn better, because it doesn't make anyone else any better as an option relative to him, if that makes sense.

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Tie Fighter or Tie F/O Fighter

  • Increase Hull Value by 1 if at range 1 of 1 or more Tie Fighters

As someone who's used a TIE/fo swarm, their durability is not a problem. They're never going to be 'tough', but they're tough enough to avoid being one-shotted (and that shield is worth it's weight in gold because of the number of times it stops a critical!).

More to the point, having a ship's hull value vary depending on whether it's within range 1 of a friendly.....imagine I do 3 damage to a TIE fighter.

It has a wingmate at range 1, increasing its hul value to 4 (so it doesn't die).

Next turn, it moves.....so isn't at range 1 of another ship.

The wingman would have moved next, moving back into range 1......but because it was outside range 1 between the first TIE moving and the second TIE moving, it dies immediately.

Seems a bit weird.

Also; Omega Leader is one of the most hated ships going (especially point-for-point) - are you sure, even conditionally, that you want to make him tougher?

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Y-Wing

  • Named pilots without an EPT may equip an EPT

Fair enough. Makes R2-D6 a bit redundant, but fair enough. I'm not sure what Drea Renthal would be best given as an EPT, to be honest!

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Tie Advanced

  • Add the following to Darth Vader's Pilot Ability:
    • "If you perform only one action another friendly ship at Range 1 may perform a free action"

Why not give him Squad Leader?

This does exactly that, is an elite upgrade (which is a slot he doesn't really need), which comes in his expansion pack, suits his ability to a tee, and has him on the artwork of the card . If you feel it's too expensive, then by all means make squad leader either 1 point or free.

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T-65 X-Wing

  • Add Boost Action
  • Add Tech Upgrade
  • Increase Luke Skywalker's Pilot Skill by 1
  • Replace Luke Skywalker's Pilot Ability with the following:
    • "When attacking or defending you may use the force to change 1 of your results to a crit or evade. When attacking if you have 3 crits the defending ship reduces its agility to zero and is referred to as a Womp Rat until the end of the game.

I would definitely say no.

Firstly, because that undermines what makes a T-70 unique, secondly because if I wanted to make a T-65 more interesting I'd rather keep its capabilities similar but drop the points (so you could field 5 rookies, for example, or 3 aces plus torpedoes and toys). That is personal preference, but the former is not. Tech is explicitly a Force Awakens era thing.

As to upgrading luke - I'm not inherently against it. The Luke Skywalker card represents Luke at the Trench Run, in his first real dogfight. He shouldn't be as good as Vader; he's essentially Anakin in the Phantom Menace, just a little older. A couple of custom card suggestions for rogue squadron have suggested a 'commander skywalker' - the man you see in Empire Strikes Back leading rogue group - and for him PS9 seems perfectly apt.

The uprated pilot ability breaks the precedent set with Poe Dameron that up-skilled pilots retain their pilot ability, but it's your game, I guess. Still, a free blank-or-focus-to-evade is incredibly powerful, especially since (unlike Poe) it's not dependent on actions, positioning, range, manoeuvres, you name it, and is probably stacked with R2-D2 to boot.

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YT-1300

  • Replace Chewbacca's Pilot Ability with the following:
    • " When you are dealt a faceup Damage card, immediately flip it facedown (without resolving its ability). At the end of the game if the opponent wins remove one arm."

You need to reword this; at the moment you're removing one of your own arms if you lose!

:ph34r:

2 hours ago, ThalanirIII said:

Sounds like yet another ban list which only picks on your hated items

+1 to this. It just reads like a complaint list.

There is nothing casual about a list of banned cards and alt rules that long. So call it what it is a "X-Wing like I think it should be" Format.