17 hours ago, DonDingo3000 said:I‘d also like to see the „Age of icons“ mod in your list. Its an OT 100/6 mod with mobile firing arcs and some more rebalancing changes.
thx
got a link?
The big alternate formats thread!
ere we go ?
Top post has been updated with links for age of icons and 59-point cross-faction. That cross-faction looks really fun, I'll have to give it a try soon!
In other news, the Vassal Grayskull campaign is wrapping up soon (I have finished all my games, and there are just one or two more left to be played). Some of you might have been lucky enough to see the games being played on Vassal if you were online at the right time. If you missed it or want more info on how the campaign went down, don't worry. We will be posting up narrative reports of some of the missions after Christmas so you can get an idea of what Grayskull is like. I'll post a link here when we do.
In the meantime, though, I've got to say that Grayskull was some of the best X-Wing I've ever played. Apart from some very ridiculous dice in round 1, the missions were tense, dramatic, and generally ran on a knife edge right up until the end (especially the final assault on Grayskull base). The noble pilots of duck squadron flew admirably, and I had a blast. It was a bit weird playing games where generic pilots were the aces ruling the board and the main stress mechanic was thrust control fires, but it was great fun. I did find that there was much more dice variance than usual as well, since the pilots weren't all armed to the teeth with dice mods.
21 minutes ago, gadwag said:Top post has been updated with links for age of icons and 59-point cross-faction. That cross-faction looks really fun, I'll have to give it a try soon!
In other news, the Vassal Grayskull campaign is wrapping up soon (I have finished all my games, and there are just one or two more left to be played). Some of you might have been lucky enough to see the games being played on Vassal if you were online at the right time. If you missed it or want more info on how the campaign went down, don't worry. We will be posting up narrative reports of some of the missions after Christmas so you can get an idea of what Grayskull is like. I'll post a link here when we do.
In the meantime, though, I've got to say that Grayskull was some of the best X-Wing I've ever played. Apart from some very ridiculous dice in round 1, the missions were tense, dramatic, and generally ran on a knife edge right up until the end (especially the final assault on Grayskull base). The noble pilots of duck squadron flew admirably, and I had a blast. It was a bit weird playing games where generic pilots were the aces ruling the board and the main stress mechanic was thrust control fires, but it was great fun. I did find that there was much more dice variance than usual as well, since the pilots weren't all armed to the teeth with dice mods.
Pity we didn't win that last game but I don't think the Rebels can call it much of a victory either. A couple of snubfighters and a pair of transports got away.
Wrapping up my third campaign (ok, I'm running as organizer) in the new year. Schedules just fell apart to close it this year.
8 hours ago, LagJanson said:Pity we didn't win that last game but I don't think the Rebels can call it much of a victory either.
Oh, we're definitely calling this a victory
if not for much else, then to ruin
@gadwag
's
perfect streak and finally put an end to the notorious Defender Pilot Ryan Gosling (who already survived a couple of games on 1 hull against impossible odds)
The final game of Grayskull Campaign was a BLAST, and totally open up until the very end. Very exciting and refreshing x-wing experience for sure, would love to try it again sometime!
On 10/18/2017 at 0:50 PM, Babaganoosh said:The shuttle tydirium holodrive is a google drive folder we've been putting all of our original mission content into. It has several missions, alt formats, and the Grayskull narrative campaign
Might I suggest that this link gets put under Campaigns? The Grayskull Base is a full campaign.
Also, someone suggested you need a lot of players. It's not true. I would say the last round is set up for 4 players, but I wouldn't call that a lot. If you have enough ships, you could always have it a 2 player game.
4 hours ago, vladamex said:The final game of Grayskull Campaign was a BLAST, and totally open up until the very end. Very exciting and refreshing x-wing experience for sure, would love to try it again sometime!
So glad you enjoyed it! We worked pretty hard on that for a number of months. Phil did more than anyone else.
Here is a link to @Stefan 's HotAC Battlestar Pallas campaign (cooperative).
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9fmxyk9q8q1pnvp/Battlestar Pallas.docx?dl=0
Top post updated - pallas added and the holodrive has been moved into the campaign section.
15 hours ago, vladamex said:Oh, we're definitely calling this a victory
The final game of Grayskull Campaign was a BLAST, and totally open up until the very end. Very exciting and refreshing x-wing experience for sure, would love to try it again sometime!
That last game sure was fun. RIP Goose 1.
Don't let this minor victory fool you, rebel scum - the empire has destroyed your base and we have plenty more elite pilots lined up and ready to wipe you out once and for all!
@gadwag You can update the link for X-wing Community Mod
It is now in open alpha testing.
Edited by MajorJugglerTRON Wing (created by Ryan Fiedler)
TRON Wing was described on Shuttle Tydirium Episode 69 . It's an alternate playstyle which comfortably fits 2-4 players on a standard 3x3 mat. Just like light-cycles in TRON, this format sees players leaving their templates behind them as they move, forming deadly walls that damage enemy ships! Games take approximately 30 minutes for 4 players.
I played a few objective games last week for the first time and had a blast (shuttle scuttle and freight fight). In both games, the objectives didn't actually score any points, but forced both sides to engage quickly. The objectives also kept both parties in the fight because breaking off meant giving up points.
Compared to the Grayskull campaign missions, it was much harder to actually score points in the objective missions. Scoring points basically required your opponent to ignore the objective, but as long as they were nearby they could prevent you scoring even if they didn't score themselves. That said, contesting the objectives led to interesting decisions (both during play and while building a squad). Taking few ships made it harder to play the objective (especially in freight fight where the objectives were spread out and required actions to capture them), but taking heavy firepower allows you to wipe out an enemy that is greedily approaching the objective. When playing, you had to keep an eye on both enemy ships and the objectives to make sure your opponent couldn't score, but also avoid flying right into their line of fire. There were also fun tricks like parking a ship behind a large base objective and just camping there.
Also, the top post has been updated. I've updated the link for the map based campaign and also added an imgur link for the x-wing objectives so you don't have to go via dropbox every time.
One of the good things about the Objective games is that they force combat, which is better than normal death match. So, you may not score points off the mission, you do fight pretty fast.
Agreed. Sometimes I don't mind being a bit cagey about the initial engagement, but the objectives make you think and act fast, and force you to make compromises to win instead of waiting for the perfect moment. And as I like to say, a quick game's a fast game
Top post updated with -
By my dark arts, I raise this thread from the dead, for two purposes:
1. A new play variant - using legion-style randomisation for ship activation. This could be done for ships at the same PS, or even for all ships, and would make for really interesting games when you don't know who will move first. It's probably a little wonky for competitive play, but I am looking forward to trying it out in a casual game sometime. Some thoughts: 2.0 will be a more balanced base for this, as there are fewer action-independent ships (and when move order is random, bumps are much more likely). Ships with high PS may need to be discounted a bit in this format, or players could just play with a more restricted pool of ships.
2. X-Wing 2.0 is coming, and most/all of the alternate formats in this thread are designed for 1.0. If you are updating them for 2.0, let me know and I will update the links here!
On 10/17/2017 at 7:18 PM, gadwag said:Yes, there have already been a few threads I believe. When I get a chance I'll scour through them and copy the content over here so it's lol in one place. This thread is both to group all that info together and to gather some impetus so the Devs (hopefully) take notice
With X-wing 2.0 I am going to have to revisit my A&M format and set it up for the hard splits that are now a part of X-wing. I'm wondering if I should set it up with the Republic and C.I.S. factions in mind as a way of future proofing it or just go with the 5 we have and make a format out of that. Also if the app supports alternative formats maybe I could program mine into it.
It is my hope that FFG will have a built in alternative format with different lists in their spiffy app. I want to see things like "Battle of.." around all the time. I hope these other formats have some sticking power with the tournament crowd.
Edited by heychadwick18 hours ago, Marinealver said:With X-wing 2.0 I am going to have to revisit my A&M format and set it up for the hard splits that are now a part of X-wing. I'm wondering if I should set it up with the Republic and C.I.S. factions in mind as a way of future proofing it or just go with the 5 we have and make a format out of that. Also if the app supports alternative formats maybe I could program mine into it.
I'd definitely design it in a way that can support more factions. The CIS and republic will come.
Just now, gadwag said:I'd definitely design it in a way that can support more factions. The CIS and republic will come.
Agreed, I am just trying to figure out what would be acceptable alliances (Resistance and Rebel Alliance) and what would be non-accepted alliances (Resistance and 1st Order).
I have one of two options.
- An Alliance wheel, of which I have two variants. One which treats the scum as any other faction that puts it in teh circle and one that treats scum as a for hire mercenary faction that puts it in the center. I am leaning towards the idea that S&V can be taken as allies for any faction but cannot take allies themselves. Keeping them more as mercenary auxiliaries and if you want to go for more Scum you have to go all in for Scum.
- The other option is one of a revised version of 1st edition Primary Faction system where I can set up a variety of "Alliances" that includes a list of factions and players chose an alliance and two factions within that list. The obvious ones would be the Force Alignment (light side, dark side) however the less obvious one would be the Political Alignment (Galactic Unity vs Galactic Freedom). I can still set up Scum as being able to be taken as an ally by any faction, they won't be a part of an alliance because they literally ally with anyone.
So yeah there is some work here.
QuoteI am leaning towards the idea that S&V can be taken as allies for any faction but cannot take allies themselves. Keeping them more as mercenary auxiliaries and if you want to go for more Scum you have to go all in for Scum.
In terms of theme, any alliance (except with scum) will break either time boundaries (eg. resistance and rebellion) or ideology boundaries (eg. first order and imperial). The scum faction already breaks both of these internally, but not as badly. For instance, characters who died in the clone wars (asajj) can buddy up with the likes of constable zuvio and unkar plutt who were probably not alive back then. In terms of ideology, you can fly the black sun alongside a hutt cartel, but such alliances are not unheard of. I like your suggestion above as it's most thematically consistent: scum allies are less likely to cause immediate thematic concern, and none of the more idealogical factions is prepared to ally themselves with a scum army ("we don't need their scum!"). When scum are the main force, they are doing things for their own ends - they can't convince an entire army (even their CIS buddies) to work for them.
In terms of game balance, all bets are off once you allow alliances. You probably have better experience than me for managing alliance balance, but it's probably best to err on the side of less allying. Restricting the amount of alliance could be in terms of points or in terms of how many battles the allies can participate in, whichever works best.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, it's a good day for alternate formats. The 2.0 Preview Tournament at GenCon will be using special rules:
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2018/7/11/the-space-battles-begin/
This is an introductory tournament using quick-build cards (and presumably a threat level of around 4-6) but hopefully it means that FFG will introduce custom scenarios more often in Organised Play.
The FFG builder is live, and that means we have some more alternate formats to play with for 2.0! As of the 1.0.1 update, the alternate format restrictions are working correctly. The formats we have so far are:
No Glory
Generic pilots only
Battle of Yavin
Only pilots present in A New Hope are allowed. Notably, this means no scum, but all four lambda pilots are legal. This is the format for the Wave 1 deluxe themed event.
Playing favourites
A single unique pilot for each ship is allowed. In most (but not all) cases this is the highest initiative pilot for that ship. I haven't checked if there are limits on available upgrades.
You can also create your own custom game mode with whatever restrictions you want.
Personally, I'm stoked that FFG are supporting alternate playstyles. I'm hopeful that they will become more complex than just limiting the cardpool (objective play please!), but it's a start!
When I get time I'll update the top level post to separate 1.0 and 2.0 formats (and also split out formats that don't really need either system because they are so different). If you have a 2.0-updated alternate format, post it here!
BTW: No complaining about the app or web builder in this thread.
Edited by gadwagadded my example custom format
Link containing instructions on making and sharing custom formats in the official app. Custom formats are still just "lists with restrictions" for now.