Star Wars!

[strider]

I should have my review copies this week. Can't wait!

[RFT]

bought some new ships at the weekend - a Falcon and TIE/I from the new wavre, and a TIE/A because I didn't already have one.The Falcon is a beast. shoots in all directions and very hard to kill as it soaks up loads of damage.

[Andy_Why]

Just got a Slave 1 and the Falcon. My word but they're pretty.

[Yewone]

Aren't they just.. The level of detail is great!

Really want an A-Wing as well, they are so diddy!

[moosegrinder]

I take it there's no solo (heh) game for this?

[RFT]

There are various systems that can be used - though none are official, and none really can offer much more than basic TIEs in a furball situation.

[moosegrinder]

Fair enough. I'd like it but I wouldn't get the use out of it it deserves.

[Treble]

I've put some time into a (han) solo variant, Moosey. I'll draw it all together and PM you with it.

[moosegrinder]

Wicked, cheers

[Treble]

Righto, here's my take on the SP variant: Treb X-Wing Minis Game SP Variant!

It won't make a huge amount of sense without knowing the existing rules, mind. As I say in the notes, this only covers wave 1 Imperials, therefore TIEs only - no Slave-1. I might well look into adding that if creating an AI grid for it's not too hard (or nab someone else's if they've done it already). Let me know what you think of the notes!

[Treble]

Bought another core set. Someone needs to stop me.

[moosegrinder]

When I picked up mine the guy said people were doing the usual fantasy flight thing of picking up two core sets to get the most out of it. I couldn't justify another £30 on it, but only 3 models does seem a bit stingy. Anyway, thanks for the rules Treble, I'll give them a go

[Yewone]

Righto, here's my take on the SP variant: Treb X-Wing Minis Game SP Variant!

It won't make a huge amount of sense without knowing the existing rules, mind. As I say in the notes, this only covers wave 1 Imperials, therefore TIEs only - no Slave-1. I might well look into adding that if creating an AI grid for it's not too hard (or nab someone else's if they've done it already). Let me know what you think of the notes!

Excellent stuff.. I'll try and give them a go tomorrow.. cheers.

Also what's the appeal of getting a second core-set is it simply to boost the number of ships?

[Treble]

Yeah, plus then both players have their own dice, markers etc. Having larger squads improves the game, also you can't throw-in something powerful on one side without a large force on the other, to compensate e.g. it'll take a lot of TIEs to add up to one Falcon!

Updated the SP rules to include Slave-1.

Surprisingly easy to create. I did realise that I'd been using the same move lists for the TIE Advanced as the regular TIEs (because i'm a dumbass) so have made a TIE-A grid too.

Solo Variant Rules v3

[Treble]

The spam continues...

Think you're a geek? Think again. I spent the afternoon building this tiny papercraft Imperial shuttle Tydirium:

So incredibly difficult and patience-straining. Some of the joins were a mil thick (>.<)

It's not perfect, but i'm still pretty chuffed.

Intend to use the model in scenarios for now, but will also build a set of cards and abilities around it at some point.

[Exit Chamber]

That's excellent. Great work.

[RFT]

Added another ship to the family fleet on saturday - an A-wing.

so my son and I had a big battle yesterday afternoon.

the game was quite an interesting one - I lost my two highest-point cost ships very early on (the TIE Interceptor and the TIE Fighter "Howlrunner") but then managed to pull back after a long fight by downing the A-Wing and Y-Wing.

I';d stripped the shields off the remaining X-wing and YT-1300 but at that point my luck ran out, and I lost the TIE advanced and one of the remaining black squadron TIEs. by then I needed to reclaim the kitchen table in order to make dinner, so conceded.

Here's the positions and the end of turn 2.

[Treble]

Awesome. I don't have the A-W, TIE-I or Falcon so mucho jealousy here.

[Exit Chamber]

I think the x-wing minis game is going to be my next purchase. I take it the base box will provide sufficient amusement for a few games before I start compulsively buying every other ship they release?

[RFT]

You can have a decent fun with the base box, though there are a couple of Caveats:

The base box doesn't contain enough dice (3 green, 3 red) - the mechanics of the game often throw up situations requiring 4 reds (X-wing firing up close) or 4 Greens (TIE Dodging at long range). you can obviously roll again, but re-rolling is a mechanic anyway and it can get a bit headachey. It's easier to buy a dice pack. There['s also an IOS app but it's a pain to use.

Only having one rebel fighter means that the rebel player doesn;t get to make many decisions or try cool tactics.

In short, the core box is a good way to see if you like the way system works and then you can go from there.

[smac]

So, what combinations of forces on each side make for good games?

[Treble]

You can have a decent fun with the base box, though there are a couple of Caveats:

The base box doesn't contain enough dice (3 green, 3 red) - the mechanics of the game often throw up situations requiring 4 reds (X-wing firing up close) or 4 Greens (TIE Dodging at long range). you can obviously roll again, but re-rolling is a mechanic anyway and it can get a bit headachey. It's easier to buy a dice pack. There['s also an IOS app but it's a pain to use.

Only having one rebel fighter means that the rebel player doesn;t get to make many decisions or try cool tactics.

In short, the core box is a good way to see if you like the way system works and then you can go from there.

You can buy the dice separately too, don't forget (but they are overpriced, as you'd expect). You can fudge it with a 1D8, if you really want to:

click

[RFT]

Treb - yeah a dice pack was the next thing I bought after my initial purchase of the Core set and a Y-wing.

Almost anything, really, should make for a fun game, but the fun in the system really starts to shine once you have 2-3 ships because

1: you're more likely to have something to shoot at each turn

2: Many of the "Ace" pilots you can use have abilities that affect nearby friendly ships

Example: in my picture, in front of the Millenium Falcon, is a pair of TIEs. the standard TIE is an ace called "Howlrunner". Flying with him is a TIE Advanced (Vader's TIE from the film), who has a lower pilot skill. Howlrunner has an ability meaning that an imperial ship close to him has a better chance of scoring a hit. he's also got an upgrade on him that gives the ship flying with him some of the effect of his higher pilot skill.

When I bought the game, I got a Y-Wing with it, so most of the games I've every played have had at least two ships on the rebel side. It's fun with the core set, things really start to get going when you've got an extra ship on each side (2 Vs 3) and the "recommended" level of play they use in tournaments is 100 points, which is what's in that picture up there. I probably wouldn't want to go much bigger though as it can get a bit overwhelming with all the tokens on the ships, such as who is locking up who.

[Exit Chamber]

Got a base set and some extra dice. They only had the Falcon apart from that, so dodged a few expensive bullets there. Can't wait to get home now and make PEW PEW noises while the wife sighs loudly.

Thanks for the advice chaps!

[moosegrinder]

Short post: played this last night. It's fucking great.

[strider]

I just re-enacted the escape from the death star. Dont get cocky kid!

[Padlocked]

It happens to by my 5 year old son's birthday next week. Please tell me a fairly intelligent 5 year old could grasp this.

Please.

[moosegrinder]

Hmmm. You could play with the basic rules that the game puts you through first. If you can wait 2 weeks you can have a go at ours? I mean it could be a late bday pressie...

[Treble]

I had a single player game using the rules variant above, and I'm really not happy with it. There's no gauge for distance, so it's too easy to exploit the AI.

The big problem is that if you're at range 1, the 'clockface' approach doesn't work if the rebel ship is moving away. Basically, you can fly in an inch in front of the TIE, position yourself at anything except 12 o'clock and the AI grid will pick something ridiculous like '3 Bank right' and end up with your Rebel guns in his tailpipe.

Similarly, at range 3 or over the AI often tells the TIEs to veer off at a ridiculous angle. On my very first move, a set of two TIEs on their own went off at a 90 degree angle and were, excuse the language, fucked for the entire game. The X-Wing pounced on them like stink on poop, dead in 3 rounds.

So I have a new concept that might work: take the manoeuvres list and overlay a 2x4 clear plastic, numbered grid. Position it over at LEAST 4 movement options, including the best/preferred option, then roll 1D6 and perform the move that matches the number. If you land on a 'blank' move, simply re-roll. I'm working through it right now, but i'll put up some instructions soon, see if they're any good.

[Nathan Wind]

Finally got around to a couple of games of this today and it's ace. I can see how it would be massively improved with a couple of extra ship sets though. Can anyone recommend a good, balanced squad for each side? I was thinking of picking up a Y-wing and an Advanced Tie, but I'm a little concerned that an X-Wing and Y-wing would destroy an Advanced and two normal Ties. They're hella expensive, so I don't want to buy more than one extra ship for each faction for now - until I know I'll be playing it frequently enough (or not) to make the investment!