Allies & Mercenaries Custom Format (Official App Integration)

By Marinealver, in X-Wing

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So in short, Allies and Mercenaries is a faction mixing format that allows for canonical multi-faction list building and uses S&V as mercenaries. Now with all 7 factions released I am using the FFG App custom formats feature as app integration for this custom format. The general idea is that you can play any extended list or an A&M format list by selecting your faction and an ally from a collection of custom formats on the app in order to make all different faction combinations in the format available. Now I do plan on keeping to canon allies so no Empire & Rebel lists but Rebel and Resistance or Empire and Republic would be acceptable. As for Scum they can't take allies but can be taken as Mercenaries by any faction.

So right now with the current tools provided by the app you can take any extended list.

  • Rebel Alliance
  • Galactic Empire
  • Scum & Villainy
  • Resistance
  • 1stOrder
  • Galactic Republic
  • Separatists Alliance

Or you can take an A&M list just select your Primary Faction below (in bold letters) and chose the appropriate ally/mercenary by clicking on the hyperlink. You will have to keep track of points spent on ally/mercenary ships separately yourself as the app doesn't have a way to calculate it separately. I have put a reminder in the title and the type of format will tell you your Primary Faction first and your selected Allied Faction (with a reminder of the maximum points allowed to be spent on them). When using an A&M list remember the following rules for list building in this format.

note: Scum when taken as Mercenaries count as your Allied Faction

  1. You must spend more points on pilots in your Primary Faction than on your Allied Faction .
  2. The most points you can spend on pilots from your Allied Faction is 90 squadron points.
  3. When taking an A&M list instead of a standard extended list you must include 1 ship from your Primary Faction and one ship from your Allied Faction .

I have right here all the quick links to the custom format of your choice of factions. All you have to do is click on the hyperlink that list the appropriate Allied Faction listed under your selected Primary Faction .

Rebel Alliance

Galactic Empire

Resistance

1st Order

Galactic Republic

Separatists

Title should read

A&M Faction w/ Fact . (Ally point Max 90)

Example: A&M Rebels w/Resist (Ally Point Max 90)

I put the format tag (A&M) in the front so it should easily appear if FFG ever puts in a search feature for custom formats. The primary faction is first, the allied faction is the second faction and often abbreviated due to character limits in custom format titles. Allied Point restrictions are in parenthesis. Scum and Villainy are called Merc instead of Ally for mercenaries.

As a note, I find it easier when list building to start with your Allies/Mercenaries pilots and their attached upgrades first so as to make sure that stays within the Ally/Mercenary point limit then finish with the primary faction.

Faction Paring are based upon a wheel I made below.

Also it should go without saying any list legal in extended is also legal in this format so if you don't want to mix factions (or want more than 90 points of scum) then you can bring in any of the 7 factions without any allies.

X-wing-alliance-alt.png

As you see so far no unholy alliances (Rebel-Empire, Republic-Separatist, Resistance-1stOrder) in this set up.

Edited by Marinealver
Updated for Wave 4
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We did something similar in my super-Casual Wednesday group, and it was a lot of fun. We haven't yet tried it for 2E. Thanks for doing the hard work!

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Just curious, but is there anyway of looking at this (the links) without logging in?

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On 10/20/2018 at 6:13 AM, any2cards said:

Just curious, but is there anyway of looking at this (the links) without logging in?

Well your forum login should be the login for the app as it is all Asmodee online services. If you are logged in here then it should be the same for the online app. At least that is what I did for my login, used the same forum login. Maybe the app needs to be verified to link your account to it.

So the hyperlink generated by the app when used the share function always directs mobile users to the Asmode(North America Page) as a work around I am including all the direct hyperlinks here.

When accessing from a mobile device follow these steps.

  1. It will prompt you to download the app. If you already have the app downloaded click No. IF not, download the App first then come back to here.
  2. It will take you to the App page but you will still have to sign in. Sign in using your forum login. Then you will be able to see the custom format.
  3. Click on Save Custom Format button and the custom format will be able to be accessed from your app under your saved custom formats.

Rebel Alliance

Galactic Empire

Resistance

1st Order

Galactic Republic

Separatists

Edited by Marinealver
Refreshing hyperlinks for mobile uses.
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I have always wondered why Scum & Villainy weren't allowed as allies in games of x-wing. When they first came out I was completely surprised that wasn't an option.

I really hope that's something that they bring into the game. It makes sense - most other table top games have some way to bring in allied detachments of other forces.

Who wants to make an ally matrix for x-wing?

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On 10/22/2018 at 11:09 AM, Starfall said:

I have always wondered why Scum & Villainy weren't allowed as allies in games of x-wing. When they first came out I was completely surprised that wasn't an option.

I really hope that's something that they bring into the game. It makes sense - most other table top games have some way to bring in allied detachments of other forces.

Who wants to make an ally matrix for x-wing?

Well it is kind of hard for an ally matrix considering that many of the factions are supposedly in different time eras (unless you are using the X-wing wars alternative story-line). It would be like trying to make a Modern warfare game and try to figure out which side should be allied with Imperial Japan (from WW2). In this format I am trying to make it so you can pick a Primary faction (one that will be the majority of your list) and either an adjacent faction as an ally or the Scum as Mercenaries. The way I selected it would be something I thought could be canonically feasible as far as unit composition.

X-wing-alliance-alt.png

So we all know the Republic split into the Galactic Empire and Rebel Alliance after the clone wars so it makes sense that those two faction would have old Republic equipment at the start. Rebel Alliance became the Resistance and Imperial Survivors became the 1stOrder. C.I.S. was mostly decommissioned after the Clone wars but thanks to the civil war and the destruction of the New Republic capital we can count on a lot of old C.I.S. hardware to be forgotten, only to be rediscovered by the new factions now fighting for supremacy. I think this sets up nearly all viable alliance pairs while keeping the Come the Apocalypse allies out. Basicly in Star Wars you got 2 spectrums of alignment, the obvious one is the Force (light/dark) but the other one is politics (unification/independence)

X-wing-alignment-chart.png

Just in case the Yuzzahn Vong (or a similar evil monster faction) show up in Episode 9, I have a chart that sets them as the outcast. They cannot take any other faction as allies nor can they be taken as allies.

X-wing-alliance-vong.png

Edited by Marinealver
vong
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I think a decent number of us have memories of trying out the superficially similar Star Trek: Attack Wing, and that's where a lot of us originated a fear of cross-faction squads.

But this method, where you can only bring in one other faction (I'm assuming that will be there going forward) and you are limited on how many points that other faction can be given in comparison to your primary faction, helps to alleviate some of the worst possible scenarios.

The hard points limit is something that could maybe move a little bit. I suppose Scum doesn't have as many of the really expensive pilots as Rebels and GE currently have, so maybe it's not as bad as I think. But when we have more faction options, it might be found to be too limiting at 85.

Is the current idea that you can only take one ally pilot+ship, or more than one as long as they fit the restrictions specified?

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1 hour ago, CaptainIxidor said:

I think a decent number of us have memories of trying out the superficially similar Star Trek: Attack Wing, and that's where a lot of us originated a fear of cross-faction squads.

But this method, where you can only bring in one other faction (I'm assuming that will be there going forward) and you are limited on how many points that other faction can be given in comparison to your primary faction, helps to alleviate some of the worst possible scenarios.

The hard points limit is something that could maybe move a little bit. I suppose Scum doesn't have as many of the really expensive pilots as Rebels and GE currently have, so maybe it's not as bad as I think. But when we have more faction options, it might be found to be too limiting at 85.

Is the current idea that you can only take one ally pilot+ship, or more than one as long as they fit the restrictions specified?

So the idea is you chose any factions as your primary and that faction has 3 possible selections for allies (unless you pick Scum & Villainy as your primary). You don't have to have an Ally as any legal extended list is also legal in this format. So your ally is you can pick one adjacent (clockwise or counter-clockwise) faction as your ally, and Any faction can pick Scum Mercenaries as their ally. Ally list restrictions are.

  • 1 ship from each selected faction (primary and ally) must be present in a list.
  • you must spend more points on your primary faction than your ally faction
  • you have a maximum of 85 points to spend on ally faction ships (pilots + upgrades equipped to those pilots) Upgrade restrictions still apply, Scum upgrades on Scum ships, ect.

In my 1st edition version I had a scaling point restriction based on total point cost just as a way to keep some of the more powerful Scum ships from becoming a broken combo with another faction. However with the app in its current state I figure the best bet is to keep the list building restrictions as simple as possible. But I did want to make a distinction between a primary faction and ally. I still want a Rebel w/Resistance allies list to be different from a Resistance w/Rebel Allies list. Hence the 85 point limit (which allows all currently available Scum Pilots to be taken as a mercenary).

When Wave 2 comes out I will be making 6 more custom formats to go with the A&M Format.

  • Resistance w/Scum
  • 1stOrder w/Scum
  • Rebel w/Resistance
  • Resistance w/Rebel
  • Empire w/1stOrder
  • 1stOrder w/Empire

As you can probably tell with the App a few of those are repeated lists (i.e Resistance w/Rebels and Rebels w/Resistance) the only difference is in the title stating which is the Primary Faction and which is the Allied faction (Max 85 points). So you won't be able to take Dash Rendar as an Ally for the Resistance but You can have a Rebel list that has Dash Rendar and take some Resistance Allies.

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On 10/20/2018 at 12:27 PM, Marinealver said:

Well your forum login should be the login for the app as it is all Asmodee online services. If you are logged in here then it should be the same for the online app. At least that is what I did for my login, used the same forum login. Maybe the app needs to be verified to link your account to it.

some people arent installing the app, so wont be logging in

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Just now, Vontoothskie said:

some people arent installing the app, so wont be logging in

yeah, unfortunately the App which was supposed to be a solution to many of the problems 1st edition had has now become a source of contention for 2nd edition. It is understandable that players will go just without the app just using excel and the publicized point cost and upgrade slots. As for me I was just trying to make use of a tool FFG has provided for us. It is a shame that the tool they given us is dull and not very useful.

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1 hour ago, Marinealver said:

yeah, unfortunately the App which was supposed to be a solution to many of the problems 1st edition had has now become a source of contention for 2nd edition. It is understandable that players will go just without the app just using excel and the publicized point cost and upgrade slots. As for me I was just trying to make use of a tool FFG has provided for us. It is a shame that the tool they given us is dull and not very useful.

yeah its a real shame. I havent converted yet mostly because of it, I simply have no interest in making computers part of my board game experience. also frustrated because it makes balancing homebrew incredibly difficult.

youve got a cool project there though. hopefully they make cool stuff like this easier as time goes on

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2 hours ago, Vontoothskie said:

some people arent installing the app, so wont be logging in

You don't have to install an app to login to the web version. It's just a website.

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...but why...?

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Unfortunately, I'm unable to open the formats on the website, or the app.

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4 hours ago, MajorTalon said:

Unfortunately, I'm unable to open the formats on the website, or the app.

Does the link take you to a page on the website or a complete error?

For the mobile user I know you can't make a new custom format on the mobile app (you have to use the website). At the website it should take you to a page that basically shows what is legal, and the upper right corner there is a button that says save to custom formats.

Then you should be able to go to new squad and custom, click on my custom formats and select which one, don't bother with selecting faction (the custom format is already sorted by faction) and then click on next.

Yeah the UI is very unintuitive, but the app has been proven to be rather unreliable at times too. See if you can give it another try later then let me know if it is still not working.

Edited by Marinealver
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The links bring me to the Asmodee North America website, but I was able to create something similar.

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On 10/25/2018 at 4:06 AM, MajorTalon said:

The links bring me to the Asmodee North America website, but I was able to create something similar.

Well that is good. Are you in Europe? If so then it is a good question why Asmodee/FFG's app doesn't work across regions. I would post this question in the App subforum but I am afraid it will get drown out with all the other cries.

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On 10/22/2018 at 1:57 PM, Marinealver said:

So we all know the Republic split into the Galactic Empire and Rebel Alliance after the clone wars

Wait, what?

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1 hour ago, Skitchx said:

Wait, what?

It's a fairly accurate statement, it wasn't an even split, though. Most of the GR became the GE, and those that were in the GR that weren't okay with the GE undermined from the inside while they could or left the empire in open rebellion. Organa's, Mon Mothma, Mon Cala, etc.

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59 minutes ago, CaptainIxidor said:

It's a fairly accurate statement, it wasn't an even split, though. Most of the GR became the GE, and those that were in the GR that weren't okay with the GE undermined from the inside while they could or left the empire in open rebellion. Organa's, Mon Mothma, Mon Cala, etc.

Apparently I missed the mark with my humor. I'll search for another comment somewhere that I can respond to that others might find humorous.

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On 10/26/2018 at 12:49 PM, Skitchx said:

Apparently I missed the mark with my humor. I'll search for another comment somewhere that I can respond to that others might find humorous.

One often overlooked aspect of communication that isn't transmitted through typed messages is tone & inflection. That can be overcome with formatting. Often if I am being sarcastic or snarky in my posts I use the : P emoji ( :P ) to let people know I am joking, unless they are offended by the joke itself but oh well.

Back on topic. Well an update to the App has came out but nothing that will have me make changes. When Wave 2 & 3 is released added to the app I will update (make the other 6 formats) until then there doesn't seem to be any major app changes that will require me to remake the current formats (not that I would mind).

Edited by Marinealver
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14 hours ago, Marinealver said:

Well that is good. Are you in Europe? If so then it is a good question why Asmodee/FFG's app doesn't work across regions. I would post this question in the App subforum but I am afraid it will get drown out with all the other cries.

I'm in North America, but, whilst the link should bring me to the web version of the builder, it instead redirects to the Asmodee site.

On that note, does anyone know how to set total force limit in custom formats?

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On 10/27/2018 at 12:22 AM, MajorTalon said:

I'm in North America, but, whilst the link should bring me to the web version of the builder, it instead redirects to the Asmodee site.

On that note, does anyone know how to set total force limit in custom formats?

Right now the only thing Custom Format does is which ship/pilot/upgrade card can or cannot be used in a format. It doesn't even set point limits though I believe it defaults to 200 after that your squadron list cost goes red. So your only options are On/Off and the name of the format.

Work around I have is bunching custom formats together and putting in restriction details in the title.

Edited by Marinealver
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Okay, well the App has updated with Wave 2 to include 1st Order and Resistance. So I have rearranged the layout to make faction selection easier. I may have to go back and work out some bugs so let me know if you have any questions or see something that may seem out of place.

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Poor Asajj gets no upgrades if she decides to work for her old CIS employers again.