I'm just saying that suggesting something like that off the bat can leave a bad taste in people's mouths. I've found that teaching new people with the setup suggested in the core box (Luke vs Night Beast and Obsidian) works really well, then stepping up to 100 points have them play a Han Shoots First list and I play a low ship count Imp list, usually a Firespray and Soontir with Academies filling in the difference.

And sadly, my girlfriend isn't interested in learning to play. Or Star Wars in general :'(.

I'm just saying that suggesting something like that off the bat can leave a bad taste in people's mouths.

You're right of course.

Telling someone "Well since I'm so much better at this game, I'll play with half the points, so that way it's interesting." is not going to win anyone over.

That said, it's my experience that by and large you're better off giving someone new to the game an advantage on their first game or two. It's rare for someone to really get excited about playing a 2nd game when they get stomped on hard in their first game.

I just use slightly smaller tokens that sit on happily on top of the base. We really don't have major issues. But I can definitely see the issue with the one supplied.. and TLs are always an issue.

This new Kickstarter has what they call "ship markers" to keep track of the exact location of ships on the mat when you need to move them, etc. a firing arc extender to make fudging less likely, and additional 1 and 2 length range rulers, extra tokens of TLs, etc... I have to admit I'm very new and haven't played a ton, so... would you guys find this useful?

I just use slightly smaller tokens that sit on happily on top of the base. We really don't have major issues. But I can definitely see the issue with the one supplied.. and TLs are always an issue.

This new Kickstarter has what they call "ship markers" to keep track of the exact location of ships on the mat when you need to move them, etc. a firing arc extender to make fudging less likely, and additional 1 and 2 length range rulers, extra tokens of TLs, etc... I have to admit I'm very new and haven't played a ton, so... would you guys find this useful?

I liked the colored bases ... this would really come in handy in mirror matches

I must say my ships never get mixed up.. So yeah different bases helps.. But they are not hard to spray with car body spray different colors, I think they would look ace in brass or gunmetal.

I've just been discussing changes to the maneuver templates I designed, so they now have notches cut out of the 1 and 2 maneuver. We use the 1 and 2 regularly to mark ship positions. So they will now run along the front of the base as well as the side perfectly as the guide nobs will slot into the notches in the movement template.

And sadly, my girlfriend isn't interested in learning to play. Or Star Wars in general :'(.

Then she must be amazing. Not liking Star Wars is a huge hit to the likability score.

Torps and missiles would be perfect if FFG steals something from Attack Wing*gasp*.... Turn the card face down and use an action to reactivate the missiles/torps.

But they aren't a reusable item on such ships.. it works well for Capitol ships due their large storage areas/capacity.. All tops and missiles should be one use items.. just cut the costs by 1.

I don't see where people complain about one use items.. it's not like it's a laser cannon or such..

We're not talking about magically reusing the same torpedo over and over. Its called ammo. The X-Wing carries 6 torps, the Y has 8. Personally, I'd let a player put as many Torps on a ship as he wants, but limit the rate of fire to the # of torp icons on the ship's card. So an X-Wing could fire 1 torpedo/turn while a Y could fire 2. (that would give the gunner something to do )

Same deal with mines/bombs.

You know, I get what the original concept was... I just feel that possibly because the cards are all plural, that maybe just possibly they understood that each ship has a few loads of the missiles or torpedos, and possibly the damage done is for all of those. Then again, maybe I'm wrong as I wasn't on the design team.. like all of us here.

What I meant was that since these ships don't have a ammo locker to store multiple loadouts for the card that possibly they decided to keep the concept simple... also.. note what they did with the bomber.. 2 slots each for torps and missiles.. I feel each card represents multiple missiles or torps..

I guess maybe think about itnthis way.. would you rather a x wing have 4 slots fir 1 die torps, or one 4 damage torp.. same with missiles.. and would someone really want to deal with 12 missile cards for a bomber and 4 cards for bombs or seismic charges..

I would like to see a change in the order the maneuver dials are revealed. Right now it goes from lowest PS to highest. To boost the effectiveness of high PS pilots I think it should be changed to allow the high PS pilots to interrupt the reveal order at any point prior to being their normal turn to reveal, thus slip in between anytime they want and conduct their own maneuver. That way they would become a lot less predictable and it will be harder to block them.

Here's an example how the new system would work:

2 Academy pilots and Darth Vader fight Biggs and 2 Rookies. As of current rules the Academies start the activation. The first one reveals and conduct his movement. Just before the second one wants to reveal the Rebel player decides that Biggs should go first to get a better position. So he interrupts and reveals Biggs dial, and runs his maneuver. After Biggs it returns to normal order, so the Academy that was about to reveal continues to do so. Now it would be the Rebelplayers turn to reveal one of the Rookies dials. This time the Imperial player decides that it's better for Vader to go first to not bump into one of the Rebel ships so he interrupts and runs Vaders maneuvers. After Vader finished his maneuver (and took his Actions) the Rebel player continues with the Rookie that was about to reveal, and after that he runs the second Rebels maneuver, thus finishing the activation phase.

As you see the high PS pilots will be able to pick the best time to act, thus making sure that they move to the spot they want to and more important they will keep their actions.

No changes to anything else, shooting goes from highest to lowest as usual.

The only aspect in the game that I really don't like is that you you have serve troubles when you want to fly in a 'real' formation with the leader in front and the grunts in the back. In X-Wing you have to do it the other way around ...

If I were going to tweak anything with the X-Wing system, I would have to tweak the elite pilot talent system. I would split it into 2 categories: Pilot Modifications and Elite Pilot Talents. All ships would be able to take a single Pilot Modification (like a ship modification), while ships that have elite pilot talents would keep them. I would then break out a bunch of the skills that are elite only and make them Pilot Modifications. Adrenaline rush is a prime example of an upgrade that could be a generic 1pt upgrade for any ship instead of using a precious ept.

If I were going to tweak anything with the X-Wing system, I would have to tweak the elite pilot talent system. I would split it into 2 categories: Pilot Modifications and Elite Pilot Talents. All ships would be able to take a single Pilot Modification (like a ship modification), while ships that have elite pilot talents would keep them. I would then break out a bunch of the skills that are elite only and make them Pilot Modifications. Adrenaline rush is a prime example of an upgrade that could be a generic 1pt upgrade for any ship instead of using a precious ept.

i actually like this idea a lot. it could even be 'leveled' so that PS12-16 could take 1pt upgrades, PS17-21 2pt upgrades, PS22-26 3pt upgrades etc. so a pilot with PS22 could take any Elite Pilot Talent that cost 1-3pts.

There should still be some pilot talents that can only be taken by pilots that have the EPT slot.

Higher Pilot Skill Pilots, say 27-29 could be allowed to take TWO elite pilot talents but the highest costing talent costs double.

I've come up with a few things that seam to have helped game play at least with my nit picking friends

my friends and I play three on three battles at 300 points per team witch typically means at least 15 to 20 ships on a board .

one of the first things was the playing surface .keeping ships from moving after being placed ,dice rolls clumsy ppl or just tight spaces just a little bump can throw off your next move and was taking up play time trying to fix and make sure everything was were it should be after each turn .

so I used magnet paint on a 4x4 x 1/4 in. board then painted it using gloss black spray paint and added stars (take a cheap brush dipped in white and just shake the brush at the board if you get to many in a spot repaint and try again till u get it the way u want)

then put self adhesive magnet strips(any craft store should have them) on the bottom of all my ships and the asteroids

the problem has completely gone away and added a good hour to are actual playing time.

cost wasn't bad magnet paint costs the most at 30.00 and you will need to use the whole can ,spray paint 5.00 the board came all ready to go as a 4x4 sheet cost 15.00 magnet tape was 7.00 did 32 ships and still have a little left

The other problem was the tokens ,we use the front slot for target locks(in case of more then 1 extras go on ship card) and the back slots for ship numbers if needed, all focus and evade tokens just stack on the rear of the ship as well as any stress tokens no other tokens are used on the board(bomb tokens are the exception )

all other tokens and damage cards are kept with the ships cards off the play board

one other tip I can offer especially for large games is a small dry erase board we write down a list of ships and players in order of lowest pilot skill to highest giving us a check list witch really helped speed up the turns

I would like to see a change in the order the maneuver dials are revealed. Right now it goes from lowest PS to highest. To boost the effectiveness of high PS pilots I think it should be changed to allow the high PS pilots to interrupt the reveal order at any point prior to being their normal turn to reveal, thus slip in between anytime they want and conduct their own maneuver. That way they would become a lot less predictable and it will be harder to block them.

Here's an example how the new system would work:

2 Academy pilots and Darth Vader fight Biggs and 2 Rookies. As of current rules the Academies start the activation. The first one reveals and conduct his movement. Just before the second one wants to reveal the Rebel player decides that Biggs should go first to get a better position. So he interrupts and reveals Biggs dial, and runs his maneuver. After Biggs it returns to normal order, so the Academy that was about to reveal continues to do so. Now it would be the Rebelplayers turn to reveal one of the Rookies dials. This time the Imperial player decides that it's better for Vader to go first to not bump into one of the Rebel ships so he interrupts and runs Vaders maneuvers. After Vader finished his maneuver (and took his Actions) the Rebel player continues with the Rookie that was about to reveal, and after that he runs the second Rebels maneuver, thus finishing the activation phase.

As you see the high PS pilots will be able to pick the best time to act, thus making sure that they move to the spot they want to and more important they will keep their actions.

No changes to anything else, shooting goes from highest to lowest as usual.

I have thought about that too, letting high PS pilots reveal before they normally would. Mechanically it would be hard to implement but would be very cool. You might see alot more higher PS ships.

I would like to see a change in the order the maneuver dials are revealed. Right now it goes from lowest PS to highest. To boost the effectiveness of high PS pilots I think it should be changed to allow the high PS pilots to interrupt the reveal order at any point prior to being their normal turn to reveal, thus slip in between anytime they want and conduct their own maneuver. That way they would become a lot less predictable and it will be harder to block them.

Here's an example how the new system would work:

2 Academy pilots and Darth Vader fight Biggs and 2 Rookies. As of current rules the Academies start the activation. The first one reveals and conduct his movement. Just before the second one wants to reveal the Rebel player decides that Biggs should go first to get a better position. So he interrupts and reveals Biggs dial, and runs his maneuver. After Biggs it returns to normal order, so the Academy that was about to reveal continues to do so. Now it would be the Rebelplayers turn to reveal one of the Rookies dials. This time the Imperial player decides that it's better for Vader to go first to not bump into one of the Rebel ships so he interrupts and runs Vaders maneuvers. After Vader finished his maneuver (and took his Actions) the Rebel player continues with the Rookie that was about to reveal, and after that he runs the second Rebels maneuver, thus finishing the activation phase.

As you see the high PS pilots will be able to pick the best time to act, thus making sure that they move to the spot they want to and more important they will keep their actions.

No changes to anything else, shooting goes from highest to lowest as usual.

I have thought about that too, letting high PS pilots reveal before they normally would. Mechanically it would be hard to implement but would be very cool. You might see alot more higher PS ships.

It's not hard to implement. There are games out there that already uses a system like that. All you need to do is allow the a higher PS pilot to intercept once when the dial of a lower PS pilot is about to be revealed (after the announcement which one will be next to reveal). That's it. In game reality it goes like that:

Imperial player with 4 Tie Academy pilots (PS 1) has to start with revealing one of the Academies dials. Right before he starts revealing the first one he simply asks if one of the higher PS pilots in the game wants to intercept and go before that specific dial (it could be the other player with one pilot or the same player could decide to reveal say Turr first). Lets assume that none intercepted then the intended dial reveal will take place and the Academy conducts its move and actions. The the same player announces the next Academy dial he wants to reveal and again asks if another higher PS wants to intercept. It goes on like that until all dials were revealed by both sides (just like now). While it sounds like slowing the game (asking if someone wants to intercept etc) its actually not going to be like that. Both players already know which pilots they want to activate prior to lower ones, so the revealing will be mostly like it is now until the moment arrives when you want to slip in between with your high PS dude, you will then announce that you are going to intercept.

In the case that both sides want to intercept at the same time (for example an Academy pilot is about to reveal, the Rebel player wants to intercept and wants to have Luke go first while at the same time the imperial player wants to intercept with Vader) you just follow the rule that says that whenever a lower PS pilot is about to reveal a dial a higher PS may intercept and go first; here we have an Academy that wants to reveal. That's about to be intercepted by Luke who wants to reveal; and now comes Vader who intercepts and reveals prior to a lower PS pilot. After Vader follows Luke (he was about to reveal but was intercepted, so he still goes right after Vader) and then comes the Academy pilot that "started" the interception chain. You might have to put down numbered counters if you get a long interception chain (showing the timing of the interceptions).

I have a player here that's fluent enough in the game rules that I can run tests for that rule with him. I will do so within the next games to see how it goes. I will report back.

This game needs more players nearby

:-)

That's actually something everyone of us can change. Just go out and threaten someone that you will do horrible things to him unless he starts playing X-Wing immediately.

Or use some other method that guarantees to get a new player...

I need opponents, no victims

any other suggestions that might smooth or improve x-wing gameplay or mechanics?

i would suggest anything that would give you a reason to use middle tier Pilots(3-5 or 3-6 for the Rebels)

As i see it right now there is no viable reason for a Rebel player to use any ship that has a 3 or higher PS until you get to PS 8,this is simply because the majority of Empire ships are either PS1 or 6 ,with a few at 8 and even if you have the same PS then unless you have initiative your still going after the Imp player.

I feel that the pilots should decided how they are going to move and do so on the turn they are to move.

i would suggest anything that would give you a reason to use middle tier Pilots(3-5 or 3-6 for the Rebels)

As i see it right now there is no viable reason for a Rebel player to use any ship that has a 3 or higher PS until you get to PS 8,this is simply because the majority of Empire ships are either PS1 or 6 ,with a few at 8 and even if you have the same PS then unless you have initiative your still going after the Imp player.

Perhaps large battles, where you have enough points for the top tier pilots and these guys too?

i would suggest anything that would give you a reason to use middle tier Pilots(3-5 or 3-6 for the Rebels)

As i see it right now there is no viable reason for a Rebel player to use any ship that has a 3 or higher PS until you get to PS 8,this is simply because the majority of Empire ships are either PS1 or 6 ,with a few at 8 and even if you have the same PS then unless you have initiative your still going after the Imp player.

The metagame has already been shifting towards using PS4 rebel ships. The world champion ran PS 5/4/4/2.

On the other hand, he might have been the only one that ran a PS4 rebel ship. Maybe that was a large factor in why he won.

The Pilot Skill "bid", as I've seen it referred to, is a fascinating factor in this game. I find it a highly regional factor, and tough to predict. If the Royal Guard Interceptors become popular, will some of the PS 4 squads still spend the 6-8 pts for PS skill that isn't that useful in such an environment?

I would like to see a change in the order the maneuver dials are revealed. Right now it goes from lowest PS to highest. To boost the effectiveness of high PS pilots I think it should be changed to allow the high PS pilots to interrupt the reveal order at any point prior to being their normal turn to reveal, thus slip in between anytime they want and conduct their own maneuver. That way they would become a lot less predictable and it will be harder to block them.

Here's an example how the new system would work:

2 Academy pilots and Darth Vader fight Biggs and 2 Rookies. As of current rules the Academies start the activation. The first one reveals and conduct his movement. Just before the second one wants to reveal the Rebel player decides that Biggs should go first to get a better position. So he interrupts and reveals Biggs dial, and runs his maneuver. After Biggs it returns to normal order, so the Academy that was about to reveal continues to do so. Now it would be the Rebelplayers turn to reveal one of the Rookies dials. This time the Imperial player decides that it's better for Vader to go first to not bump into one of the Rebel ships so he interrupts and runs Vaders maneuvers. After Vader finished his maneuver (and took his Actions) the Rebel player continues with the Rookie that was about to reveal, and after that he runs the second Rebels maneuver, thus finishing the activation phase.

As you see the high PS pilots will be able to pick the best time to act, thus making sure that they move to the spot they want to and more important they will keep their actions.

No changes to anything else, shooting goes from highest to lowest as usual.

I have thought about that too, letting high PS pilots reveal before they normally would. Mechanically it would be hard to implement but would be very cool. You might see alot more higher PS ships.

I understand the desire to get a little bit more of a benefit of for higher PS pilots, but shooting first is already a huge advantage. I feel like the game is pretty balanced the way it is and if you change an integral part of the game there should be a tough choice with an equal detriment. One thing my gaming group has been throwing around is this simple rule change:

-One ship per side with the highest pilot skill may switch its PS to zero for one round during the planning phase. This must be announced to your opponent at the beginning of the planning phase. (We've played around with making this a hidden choice like using a hidden marker you flip face up or down to make it a little harder to decide)

We've been playing around with the frequency like once per turn or per game but it seems to work pretty well. It gives both players a chance to change up a PS before making maneuvers, and it makes initiative have an impact. Additionally you really have to weigh the benefits of going first since you are going to be shooting last. As far as we can tell this is a pretty balanced way of changing up the movement problems for high PS pilots without having to start adding points or giving a huge advantage to them.

People need to start playing at larger point values. A 100 pt game shouldn't take longer than 45 minutes, 200 would balance a lot of the dice issues out.