There will be a board game showcase event and there will be an opportunity to run demo X-wing games. The crowd will probably be into general boardgames, not necessarily tactical wargames.

I hope to run 2, maybe 3, 1 hour long games, 5 to 7 players per game. Top priority is for them to have fun while grasping the basics of the game. Have them fly 1 ship (maybe 2 identical ones) each and a have them learn dial setting and movement, basic actions (focus, boost, barrel, etc), stress mechanic, and basic attack and defense. Should be more than enough to see if they enjoy the game, present a challenge but not overwhelm them. Considered skipping the full actions ruleset, but turrets need it.

What is the best way to demo X-wing in this setting? Standard, but simplified game; or an Aces High furball? In both cases will deploy basic generic pilots with little or no upgrades in iconic ships if possible (turrets for some ships and maybe passive buffs like shield and hull to even up points). I have only got OT ships.

For standard game, with players flying 1 or 2 ships, possible list:

Showcase - Rebel Squadron

• (67) Outer Rim Smuggler [Modified YT-1300 Light Freighter], Points: 67
• (41) Red Squadron Veteran [T-65 X-wing], Points: 41
• (41) Red Squadron Veteran [T-65 X-wing], Points: 41
• (32) Gold Squadron Veteran [BTL-A4 Y-wing], (3) Dorsal Turret, Points: 35
• (32) Gold Squadron Veteran [BTL-A4 Y-wing], (3) Dorsal Turret, Points: 35

Total points: 219

Iconic rebel ships, some jousting and some turret play, Falcon as centerpiece.

Showcase - Imperial Squadron

• (43) Omicron Group Pilot [Lambda-class T-4a Shuttle], Points: 43
• (25) Black Squadron Ace [TIE/ln Fighter], Points: 25
• (25) Black Squadron Ace [TIE/ln Fighter], Points: 25
• (25) Black Squadron Ace [TIE/ln Fighter], Points: 25
• (25) Black Squadron Ace [TIE/ln Fighter], Points: 25
• (36) Saber Squadron Ace [TIE Interceptor], Points: 36
• (36) Saber Squadron Ace [TIE Interceptor], Points: 36

Total points: 215

Classic empire ships, with Tie mini-swarm, a couple of zippy ints and a Lambda centerpiece. Tought about replacing the Lambda for a Decimator, still think Lambda is more iconic and eyecatching.

About standard game:

Pros:
- can deploy iconic models (YT1300, Lambda), that are really eyecatching.
- should promote some teamwork among players

Cons:
- players eliminated cannot rejoin game (maybe they can if the keep splitting ships at the beginning).

Alternative: winning condition is to destroy enemy big based ship (should shorten the game length, shouldn't be too unbalanced).

Aces High game

Around 40pts ships:

• Rebels: X-Wing, B-Wing, U-wing, Y-wing w/turret
• Imps: Interceptor + Hull, Advanced X1 + Hull
• Scums: Khirax, Kimogilas, Fang

Pros:
- simple setup, one ship.per player, free for all
- players can join and drop as they please

- more ship and factions variety

Cons:
- leaves out iconic ships, like TIE Fighters or the Falcon

Ideas and suggestions welcomed.

I vote for Aces. The ability to have players come and go as they please is critical, plus you’re more flexible to play with a lot of people.

Have a standard game set up as a demo, so they what normal 1v1 looks like (and you can show off iconic lambda and falcon there). You can explain how standard puts you in charge of a squad but basically the game plays similarly.

You may not be able to have tie fighters in aces high, but you can have Interceptors. And standard LN fighters can be over on the demo static image table.

For your Aces builds: try to keep it iconic or second tier iconic ships (ie nothing from Legends). Also try to include as many factions as you can: some people really love the OT, some really love prequels, and others love the new films. Embrace them all.

Lastly, for your actual Aces High ships: I’d recommend keeping them to ships only available in 2.0 packaging if possible so someone doesn’t fall in love with a thing only to find out they can’t have it without eBay or a conversion.

26 minutes ago, ScummyRebel said:

Lastly, for your actual Aces High ships: I’d recommend keeping them to ships only available in 2.0 packaging if possible so someone doesn’t fall in love with a thing only to find out they can’t have it without eBay or a conversion.

Unfortunatelly there are no FLGSs around, if they do want to get in the game, Amazon and Ebay will be their go-to place.

Ships for Aces High (I only have OT factions):

Rebels: X-Wing, B-Wing, U-wing, Y-wing w/turret

Imps: Interceptor + Hull, Advanced X1 + Hull

Scums: Khirax, Kimogilas, Fang

All ships with generic pilots, and no upgrades save the bare minimum to even somewhat points (will update the op with this)

Great idea that of showing the models even if they will not see play. Txs

I did this same sort of thing here last weekend.

I used some of the Epic Battles scenarios as a frame work with a selection of iconic ships just as you mentioned, most of them being in wings.

I set the game up and then used the HotAC AI to play against myself until people showed up.
Sure enough, a few people wander by to pick up a dial or two and within a turn stick around for the full game.

I was a little nervous about the length and complexity of the epic battles as opposed to a more standard mode, but it worked well. (I also just wanted to try some of them myself. ) Everyone that came to my table had a good time and enjoyed the wings while still having the simplicity of only thinking about one dial.

I'm sure a simpler scenario could have worked well, but I was glad for the results.

I think the running by myself while nobody else was there helped.
People saw a game moving and being played rather than some guy bored and sitting behind a complex looking game.
It made it easier for people to wander in, I think.

Txs for the input, but have no HOTAC experience or component.

The idea of playing a standard game with the objective of destroying the large base ship is a way to introduce a scenario of sorts (might need to beef up their defenses...)

Do you have a friend you can recruit to help you? Like RebelRogue said, seeing a bored guy sitting waiting for people to come up to them isn't as inviting as having a game being played live for potential players to watch. So if you can, bring an extra body or two. Having company will definitely help. Additionally, they (the potential new player) can jump into the game already in progress if they take your place while you coach them through the rules.

Slave-1 vs the Millennium Falcon, Luke/Wedge/Biggs vs Vader & Ties, Kylo & the Upsilon vs Poe & friends--you already know this.

Whatever format you play (I vote for a standard 200/6) I would strongly recommend you have iconic ships from as many factions as you are able out on the table beside your game. People love the models. When they see something they recognize they have a built in connection to the game right there.

Also, if you still have them around, use the cardboard components. Seeing someone giving a demo with 3rd party kit can be misconstrued as a necessary added expense.

Good luck!

I used to demo this yearly at a Con. Original Trilogy ships work the absolute best. TIE fighters and X-Wings namely. I had one of the senators shuttles 3d printed and we would run that mission with however many people (since on a 30" wide folding table with a few rocks, it can easily be run in 30 or so minutes). I just scaled the scenario to the number of players. Most of the time it was small groups coming up to play, not just one person. So you could easily split them between rebels and imperials. One ship each. Lay out the scenario, fly the shuttle yourself or let the rebels collectively decide the maneuver. I didn't use the damage deck, just the damage tokens from the core set. I also scaled up with 2 TIEs per rebel ship. So if 6 people came up, 4 had TIES, one had an x-wing, and another had a Y-Wing.

In your case, I'd go with a standard 3x3 table mat and one of the scenarios (or maybe 3 different ones?). I'd mix up the scenarios by adding many more rocks. Maybe use the Lambda shuttle and flip it so the TIES have to protect that shuttle in a similar manner to the regular scenario.

The great thing is the game looks amazing and will draw in people on looks alone. I'd say after a demo mission game you could always offer to have folks play an Aces High for a little more flavor. I found that a mission, with some recognizeable quotes thrown in while you set dials... "NEVER TELL ME THE ODDS!" when rolling dice, etc, worked wonders for the Demo table! Lastly, if you have anything to give participants... like an Alt art Luke, or anything movie recognizable, you will be in a much better spot. I used to spraypaint Chance cubes (super easy - blank dice and blue/red spraypaint. They look better the more they wear down) and give those away.... naturally quoting Watto.

Even if you don't have HotAC stuff, playing both sides for a bit might help. Just something to keep the table moving so people walking past can see what's happening. That's what I thought was helpful.

Solid advice all around, thank you.

I'm tagging a friend, since I know @ZealuxMyr has been doing X-Wing demos at a local convention for a few years running.

Thanks @theBitterFig.

I have been running demos for the SnowCon Gaming Convention (held annually the weekend before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in Bangor, Maine) for seven years now and, due to my work and involvement with the Con centered on running X-Wing Events, am the reigning King of the Con (2020). The demos have evolved over the years and taken many forms, not least of all due to the changes caused by the introduction of Second Edition.

Traditionally anything I set up as Learn-to-Play (LtP) is done such that each player gets 1 ship, typically small base - I did mix it up this year (2020) and allow some medium and large bases and it worked just fine. All the ships are pre-built with upgrades to a specific point value with a little fluff room. Some ships fall short and some disadvantaged ships (like the Upsilon-shuttle) may have gone over the point target by a point or two. During the LtP sessions, players choose one ship and learn the mechanics of the game. I typically have enough participants to do new-players-on new players as either a Free For All or team-based slug-it-out. I've also, in order to add flavor and provide a more impressive experience, started running LtP sessions as games of capture the flag. Obviously this takes a little more care when balancing pre-built ships, you've got to make sure things stay balanced and pre-structuring the event helps. (As one could imagine, allowing players to build their own ships is quickly overwhelming and, if they do figure it out or have played before, could lead to an entire team just running interceptors to zip in and out with the flag).

The most popular LtP sessions I run, which have evolved into their own beast at this point, are custom formatted campaigns. I do not run HotAC and I do not base my campaign on HotAC. It's a 100% homebrew with custom rulebooks, upgrades, mechanics, missions, abilities, and so on - I should add that it is all carefully planned to be as neatly and tightly packed as possible; people need to be able to grasp the concepts quickly and, as the creator, it's my number one duty to avoid overwhelming new-players with information. This year I introduced new materials, allowing players to select from 25 pre-built custom species with their own traits which proved alluring to new players, provided new/exciting twists for players familiar with the games, and allowed one player to see a rules interaction I had not foreseen to comedic effect. The campaigns change from year to year but I do take care to develop and present a smoothly formatted drop-in drop-out experience. It's a great team-based way to teach someone how to play. Second edition makes it a little more challenging, as players need to buy upgrade cards with in-game galactic credits and the costs are based on the squad points (which no longer appear on the cards; players can't just flip through my binders anymore...). For my campaigns I run them as the AI controlling Game Master, this provides for more intelligent and realistic responses to player actions/mission objectives than any non-human controlled system ever could. I must say, thank you FFG for the Squadron Wing templates out of the Epic Battles kit - this made campaign movements so easy this year. Thanks to 3D prints I was running 12x Droid Fighters in the first mission, only had to deal with 2 dials. Loved it.

My advice for running events at Cons, with the intent of teaching the game to new players, is to run a game with structure and minimal knowledge of the game. Pre-built and/or guided builds are best, if the participants can just pick up a stack of cards and a ship and go they'll be more invested and you can avoid overwhelming them with information. Provide an open, lenient environment. Let them learn how to play and have fun; don't rules dump on them. If someone wants to premeasure because they've never played before and they have no concept on where different templates will put them, let them - yes you can explain that the game rules do not allow for it but you need to remember you're teaching and they are learning. Not everyone can visualize spatial displacement easily and not everyone does it the same way, in order to learn some people need to see it before them - don't stop them, encourage them (and encourage questions!).

Also, remember to explain the first rule of X-Wing: The dice hate you.

- His Exalted Highness, King Zac

One thing we’ve had success with when doing demos, is to also have a couple of the bigger, flashier models set up nearby - just to help draw people in.

Epic ships are obviously great for this, but so are things like the VCX or Deci, showcase just how awesome this game looks as well as how it plays!

For several years I am running Xwing demo games at the Vienna Comic Con (VIECC). There, our main target ist to introduce a very attractive and easy-to-learn tabletop system.

We mainly plan with two different player levels. First, people who never tried any tabletop games nor complex board games but like the star wars theme.

Second, advanced gamers with experience in more complex rule sets, especially euro games.

For both groups we built four 200 points lists which are easy to split into two parts to get easy beginner lists:

IMPERIAL:

--- beginner part - - -

Academy Pilot (22)

Academy Pilot (22)

Black Squadron Ace (25)

Black Squadron Ace (25)

--- advanced Part - - -

Darth Vader (67)
Supernatural Reflexes (32)
Fire-Control System (2)
Total: 195

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

REBELS:

--- beginner part - - -

Red Squadron Veteran (41)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)
Servomotor S-Foils (0)

Red Squadron Veteran (41)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)
Servomotor S-Foils (0)

--- advanced Part - - -

Han Solo (80)
Trick Shot (4)
Chewbacca (4)
Leia Organa (7)
Engine Upgrade (7)
Millennium Falcon (3)
Total: 199

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

REPUBLIC:

--- beginner part - - -

Gold Squadron Trooper (25)

Gold Squadron Trooper (25)

Obi-Wan Kenobi (48)
R4 Astromech (2)

--- advanced Part - - -

Anakin Skywalker (62)
Precognitive Reflexes (13)
R2-C4 (5)
Delta-7B (20)
Total: 200

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

SEPARATISTS:

--- beginner part - - -

Precise Hunter (23)

Precise Hunter (23)

Trade Federation Drone (19)

Trade Federation Drone (19)

Trade Federation Drone (19)

--- advanced Part - - -

Darth Maul (65)
Hate (9)
Heavy Laser Cannon (5)
Chancellor Palpatine (14)
Scimitar (4)
Total: 200

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

For both types we started the game setup at range 2 with only 3 (rocks) obstacles.

We explained the maneuver dials as 'nav computers' and focused on the main stats (attack die, defense die, hull and shields) and basic actions.

Our main argument to persuade passer bys to give it a try was: the game is explained in 10 Minuten and the details you will learn on the fly 😁

15 hours ago, Banjo79 said:

Our main argument to persuade passer bys to give it a try was: the game is explained in 10 Minuten and the details you will learn on the fly 😁

This summarizes all the best advice given so far.

Keep it simple. Teach the minimum. Those who want to learn more will ask.