https://docs.google.com/document/d/1De5-zgOHh4MsSaBxMNxp5S58rJccTOVuMbCPPJXwnjA/edit?usp=sharing

I have published my findings in the document linked above. Enjoy =)

-Dion Morales

Gold Squadron Podcast

It would be interesting to do this for prior metas and compare. I could see the TIE swarm meta of the early days slowing things way down. Also alpha strike lists are a lot more common now.

Same question, but this looks like the more appropriate thread:

You don‘t happen to have noted the amount of shooting rounds? Or even better, shots per ship per round?

From what you shared it looks like the game is mostly shot in 6 rounds (can‘t say ‚decided‘ because of course the approach and end game matter to determine the winner), with 3 before and 2 to close.

This is some really great info! Thanks Dion!

If you ever need help with more data collection, let me know. I'd be willing to help out.

I've started tracking games against my son, and so far they are generally 11-12 rounds, though nowhere near going to time, we both play very briskly.

These findings really explain why I kept feeling the Vassal League games were so long, both in number of turns and in actual game time, since planning time seems to swell to compensate for faster ship movement.

In waves 2 to 7 i found games took me an hour to 2 hours. post 8 games are often 20-30 minutes because the game is decided on first round of combat, what with power creed nuke lists and mega turrets. you try to line up your ideal engagement then go, and one player loses 1 ship immediately, often before it can fire. then the winner of that first engagement presses advantage and more than likely wins the game. 11 turns includes 2 turns of approaching your opponent, so its really 9. tells me strategy isnt the emphasis

3 hours ago, Vontoothskie said:

tells me strategy isnt the emphasis

Actually and to nitpick a bit... Strategic level in X-Wing is basically the list choice, your assessment of the (local) meta and so on. So strategy is exactly the emphasis.

What you probably mean is that tactics - predicting movement, target choice, reacting to the moment, arc dodging, range control - is not the emphasis.

7 hours ago, GreenDragoon said:

Actually and to nitpick a bit... Strategic level in X-Wing is basically the list choice, your assessment of the (local) meta and so on. So strategy is exactly the emphasis.

What you probably mean is that tactics - predicting movement, target choice, reacting to the moment, arc dodging, range control - is not the emphasis.

no, i meant the word that i said, strategy. most players i see have turned to net listing, thus bypassing the strategy aspect entirely. hence strategy is not emphasis.

7 hours ago, GreenDragoon said:

Actually and to nitpick a bit... Strategic level in X-Wing is basically the list choice, your assessment of the (local) meta and so on. So strategy is exactly the emphasis.

What you probably mean is that tactics - predicting movement, target choice, reacting to the moment, arc dodging, range control - is not the emphasis.

also you should look up definitions before you try to look cool. in the context of x-wing both "strategy" and "tactics" mean the same thing and are interchangeable. -5 clever points

It's great to see analysis based on empirical data, particularly since the reality seems to differ considerably from perception. This data does show why single use abilities are so strong though - most games are decided by maybe 2-3 critical rounds and any ability that can shift the balance in even one of those rounds is valuable. I'd love for the Biggs fix to be errata-ing in "Once per game ..." to his pilot ability.

18 minutes ago, Vontoothskie said:

also you should look up definitions before you try to look cool. in the context of x-wing both "strategy" and "tactics" mean the same thing and are interchangeable. -5 clever points

This is hilarious

Check e.g. the Mynock podcast episode 87. And then you can explain to me why I should listen to you instead of them.

Or alternatively you can open a book on the topic. I can recommend you some if you want.

4 minutes ago, Transmogrifier said:

This data does show why single use abilities are so strong though - most games are decided by maybe 2-3 critical rounds and any ability that can shift the balance in even one of those rounds is valuable

Yes, that‘s such an important point. And that makes Extra Munitions very good - more than two shots are hard to set up anyways

Just now, GreenDragoon said:

Yes, that‘s such an important point. And that makes Extra Munitions very good - more than two shots are hard to set up anyways

This is actually why I rarely bother with Extra Munitions unless it's on a JumpMaster - generally it takes too long to set up shots that by the time you have a 2nd shot lined up, your ship is dead or the game has already been decided. Same thing with running Scavenger Crane to recover Countermeasures, etc. - the extra use rarely comes in time to impact the game.

This does make we worry about the Reload action - unless you survive to the endgame, you probably won't find much use for it.

3 hours ago, Vontoothskie said:

no, i meant the word that i said, strategy. most players i see have turned to net listing, thus bypassing the strategy aspect entirely. hence strategy is not emphasis.

No I'm pretty sure you meant tactics as @GreenDragoon stated.