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Author Topic: Is there a new X Wing squadron builder?  (Read 1375 times)

Offline olicana

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Is there a new X Wing squadron builder?
« on: April 18, 2019, 05:49:54 PM »
Hi, Some time ago, as it's been some time since I played, I used a squadron builder site called "X Wing Squadron Builder" accessed through (signed into through) Facebook. It's an excellent resource for squadron building giving various options and the ability to use cards you don't actually have. It's still there, great, but...

I went back to it yesterday to build some squadrons for an impromptu game. It has not been updated for quite some time and several things are not available to build squadrons I have ships and cards for (I know because I've bought ships - unused - since then).

As said, it's been a while, so has this site moved on to a new address or has something better come along?

Please advise.

Online Jemima Fawr

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Re: Is there a new X Wing squadron builder?
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2019, 05:56:33 PM »
That's a good question.  I haven't played for over a year and I've changed computers (I had it bookmarked on the old computer).  I hope it's still there...

The last time I looked, the Starwing was there, which is my most up-to-date ship.  I haven't ventured into 2nd Edition though.
Suffering from insomnia?  Too much excitement in your life?  Jemima Fawr's Miniature Wargames Blog might be just the solution you've been looking for: www.jemimafawr.co.uk

Online Jemima Fawr

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Re: Is there a new X Wing squadron builder?
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2019, 05:59:09 PM »
I tried some old links to it, but they seem dead. Do you have an active link?

Offline Mr Tough Guy

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Re: Is there a new X Wing squadron builder?
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2019, 07:23:08 PM »
X-wing 2.0 was introduced last year, so depending on what rules that squadron builder uses it might not have the newest ships as there just aren't any 1.0 rules, although that is limited to a few ships iirc it's just Lando's falcon, the mining guild TIE, the resistance A-wing and all republic and separatist ships I think

I think both these builders are as up to date for 1.0 as it gets, and include everything up to Saw's Rebels which was the last 1.0 release
http://xwing-builder.co.uk/build#
https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Rebel%20Alliance&d=v4!s!&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron&obs=

For 2.0
There's the official app and online squadbuilder
https://squadbuilder.fantasyflightgames.com/
although I'd advice a 3rd party app like launchbay

Online Jemima Fawr

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Re: Is there a new X Wing squadron builder?
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2019, 08:03:39 PM »
Cheers Mr TG! :)

Everything seems to work.

Offline olicana

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Re: Is there a new X Wing squadron builder?
« Reply #5 on: April 19, 2019, 09:13:14 AM »
That's the one I have.

Thanks for the link to the other site for the Rebel Alliance; that could be useful going forward.

I've made a firm commitment not to upgrade to version 2. I have well over 60 ships; I never play in competitions (official or otherwise); X Wing is very much a sideline to my historical gaming that I use for pick up / ad hoc games that I can put on at very short notice: So the upgrade would probably prove, on a cost benefit basis, to be cost prohibitive.
« Last Edit: April 19, 2019, 09:19:58 AM by olicana »

Online Jemima Fawr

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Re: Is there a new X Wing squadron builder?
« Reply #6 on: April 19, 2019, 09:22:03 AM »
Yeah, same here.  I bought an absolute shed-load of ships while running a campaign and have absolutely zero interest in competitive play, so it's 1st Edition all the way for me.

Offline Daeothar

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Re: Is there a new X Wing squadron builder?
« Reply #7 on: April 19, 2019, 10:11:54 AM »
I still use an app on my Android phone called X-Wing Squads Designer. I've found it to be the best for years, even though it's not available through the Google Play Store. Instead, there used to be a Google+ Groups page where the latest versions could be found, as well as discussions with the owner about issues etc. But Google+ ceased its services earlier this year, so I'm unsure where they have moved to now...

I've not upgraded it through the auto-upgrade function since 2.0 came out though, as I'm afraid it will change to 2.0, rendering it useless for 1st ed.

That's the one I have.

Thanks for the link to the other site for the Rebel Alliance; that could be useful going forward.

I've made a firm commitment not to upgrade to version 2. I have well over 60 ships; I never play in competitions (official or otherwise); X Wing is very much a sideline to my historical gaming that I use for pick up / ad hoc games that I can put on at very short notice: So the upgrade would probably prove, on a cost benefit basis, to be cost prohibitive.

Exactly that. I've got about 100 ships, and the contents of the upgrade kits are such, that I would need two per faction, or source individual upgrades, which would cost me just as much. Luckily I decided to not expand my sequel trilogy fleets beyond the few I have, or I'd have to get expansions for 5 factions as opposed to 3!

So even though my regular opponent invested in upgrading his entire fleets, I decided not to, simply because for that money, I could start an entire new army for whatever game I'd like (getting them relatively cheap would still net about €50,- a box, so costs for upgrading would amount to 3 x (2 x €50) + (2 x €50) = € 500, and that's still without the entire fleet of Huge ships, which do not have 2.0 cards (yet). Of course the total might come out lower, if I would decide to sell off the excess upgrades in the 2nd box for 3 factions, but still...  ::) ).

Also, I'm not a fan of points costs not being on the cards, but only in the squad builder. Basically, errata are automatically integrated in the app, but this means that cards can and will become obsolete (as also happened at the end of 1st ed), and using cards to keep track of rules, abilities etc will not be possible along the line, as more and more changes are made in the name of balance.

I say; bring balance to the force (if you must), but don't attempt balancing a game (with 7 factions!), as it (unless you want Chess in Space) will only bring suffering.
And suffering leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to switching to other game systems that have been thoroughly playtested...  ;D
« Last Edit: April 19, 2019, 10:16:08 AM by Daeothar »
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Offline Carrakon

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Re: Is there a new X Wing squadron builder?
« Reply #8 on: April 19, 2019, 12:08:14 PM »
Also, I'm not a fan of points costs not being on the cards, but only in the squad builder. Basically, errata are automatically integrated in the app, but this means that cards can and will become obsolete (as also happened at the end of 1st ed), and using cards to keep track of rules, abilities etc will not be possible along the line, as more and more changes are made in the name of balance.

The idea behind points costs and upgrade slots not being on the card is precisely that this provides two angles for balancing without making the card obsolete. Imho a far superior mechanic when compared to things like the Chardaan refit or errata'ed cards with new ruletexts which share only a passing resemblance to the text on the actual card.
If I were you, I'd rather be me.

Offline Daeothar

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Re: Is there a new X Wing squadron builder?
« Reply #9 on: April 19, 2019, 01:05:49 PM »
My point actually was that a proper lead-time with sufficient play testing for each expansion would prevent having to FAQ the heck out of your products.

In fact, I think a lot of testing might be foregone by using a database and some smart tools to filter out a lot of overpowered combos before play testing even began. Would it be complicated? Yes. But would it be worth it in the end? Also yes.

I admit that the amount of cards towards the end of 1st ed. was becoming quite ridiculous and even in casual games, only a handful of cards saw actual use, so culling those made sense. And omitting points costs also makes sense, when adjusting for overpowered combinations you didn't foresee. But with proper statistical- and play testing, that should just not be necessary...

Back on topic though; I don't know how it is right now, but just after the 2.0 launch, I found the FGG app to be not very helpful, buggy and lacking in useful features. I'm assuming they've ironed out the wrinkles by now, but to me, that was yet another sign they were rushing to meet their (self imposed) deadline, foregoing proper testing.

As an aside though; one thing I do think the app could be helpful for (to the game developers at FFG at least) is that it probably sends through all built lists, allowing the game devs to learn which ships are popular, which aren't , what combo's are good, which are not etc.

I'm not a fan of any software that records, stores or shares my (personal) data, but in this case, I can actually see the benefits, as it can/should lead to a better overall game.

It ultimately was not the rules that stopped me from transferring to 2.0, and I would probably, eventually have started using the FFG app, but it was the sheer cost of converting to 2.0.

(Oh; I hadn't mentioned that yet, but of course you'd need the new starter box as well. so I'm going to have to add another €50,- or so to the total conversion amount...)  ::)

Offline Carrakon

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Re: Is there a new X Wing squadron builder?
« Reply #10 on: April 19, 2019, 03:02:23 PM »
Oh they absolutely should pkaytest more and there are a few things where the points costs are rather ridiculous but I doubt that any amount of dilligent playtesting realistically could weed out all the ridiculous combos the playerbase can come up with - therefire I'm happy with the chosen path for future-proofing.

By now the FFG-App works as intended, but personally I prefer third-party apps.

I can only recommend giving 2.0 a try - it really is far Superior. Getting rid of 360 degree arcs alone was such a huge Improvement it almost makes updating worth it by itself imho. 

Offline olicana

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Re: Is there a new X Wing squadron builder?
« Reply #11 on: April 20, 2019, 03:55:02 PM »
I've read the rules for 2.0 and can see some benefit to the extra sequence step and the turret arcs (I have a Lancer - Shadow Caster- class ship for version one with an indicator, so this wasn't that new and I liked it a lot).

Also having the rules for large ships, ion cannons, manoeuvres, etc., in the main rules is a very good idea. I'll probably download and print a copy just for reference rather than having to look things up in the ship supplements, then write a version 1 a crib sheet based on that part of the document.

As for points, I do use them but, I always build the squads for both sides so I rarely build 'super-ships' and 'super-ship-combos', except by complete accident. I only use the points as a rough guide so my squads are often built to a 5 - 10% tolerance of each other anyway - a few extra points to get some extra bombs into the game is neither here nor there when the game is being played by rank amateurs.  I know that goes against a lot of the X Wing game ethos of squad building but I'm not building to win at any cost, just fun - and guests get first fleet choice anyway.

I'm also not opposed to changing some rules to make things like small ship turrets less effective - like having Y Wings only having rear firing turrets (a Tail Gun Charlie!) who can target anything behind the rear edge of the fight stand base (for half upgrade points). I did this for the last game we played and everyone liked it.


Offline Bahir

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Re: Is there a new X Wing squadron builder?
« Reply #12 on: April 20, 2019, 07:40:42 PM »
That's the one I have.

Thanks for the link to the other site for the Rebel Alliance; that could be useful going forward.

I've made a firm commitment not to upgrade to version 2. I have well over 60 ships; I never play in competitions (official or otherwise); X Wing is very much a sideline to my historical gaming that I use for pick up / ad hoc games that I can put on at very short notice: So the upgrade would probably prove, on a cost benefit basis, to be cost prohibitive.

I agree. I only have a few ships beyond the starter set, but there is no way I'm going to shell out more money for ships I already have. I did this dance with GW. I've played since RT days, and when the annouced 4th ed., I threw in the towel.

Offline AWu

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Re: Is there a new X Wing squadron builder?
« Reply #13 on: April 22, 2019, 10:21:17 PM »
I am using Launch Bat next (it takes a little getting used to but works very well and has fast updates)

I   too will try to persuade you to reconsider.
2.0 is such gaming improvement.

Its much more ship centered than card heavy 1st edition.