X Wing - newbie practical questions

[olicana]

Apart from a few quick games back in 2014 with my mate's starter set I'm a complete newbie to this game, so please forgive me if these questions seem a bit stupid. I just have so little experience of the X Wing game to go on - except for the experience of a sudden drain on my wallet, which I understand goes with the territory.

I started a small collection of X Wing stuff over New Year. The stuff is now coming in thick and fast and I've just wondered, with practice, how many models can one person be expected to manage and still have an exciting game?

What would be the ideal number of players?

What play area is required for the models? I bought a 6 x 4 'space mat' and thought that would do for most games with three to four players, but should I consider getting another one for an 8 x 6 playing area, or would the ships just get lost (slow down the game) in all that space?

Most 'stuff' seems to be for the Rebels and I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to buy for the Empire. What would you add to the list below (my forces so far) to balance up my forces? Say, with a budget of about £200 (about 15 fighters / equivelent at current prices). I'm not going to be playing tournaments, this is just for fun games and scenarios, so I don't need a 'killer force'.

4 Tie Fighters
1 Tie Advanced
1 Tie Interceptor
3 X Wings
1 Y Wing
1 B Wing
1 Millenium Falcon
1 Slave 1
1 Lambda shuttle

BTW, my mate has:
2 Tie Fighters
1 X Wings
1 Y Wing
1 Millenium Falcon

[OSHIROmodels]

Regarding playing space, I think te game recommends 3' square but I find this a bit too cramped. 4' square works well and I've played a couple of four player games on it without too much bother.

I would like to play on a larger table as the recommended 3' seems a bit GW 'line up your armies and shoot it out' in style but of course that's each to his own 

I would suggest maybe getting a TIE Phantom or two, just to change the imperials play style a little, a couple more interceptors and an A-wing or two 

cheers

James

[Mr Tough Guy]

The thing with X-wing is, it's very geared towards the tournament scene, so typically most people play 100 point games on 3' by 3' mat as that is what's played in tournaments. Even me and my mates usually play 100 points even though only a few of them ever occasionaly go to tournaments. For a 100 points 2-8 ships is usual.

Of course there's also epic play which is 300+ and of course if you want you can play whatever point games you want.

As  for what to buy, I think an imperial aces (2x TIE interceptors) and/or a decimator might be a nice addition

[Argonor]

Tons of TIEs are always fun!

[The_Beast]

The thing with X-wing is, it's very geared towards the tournament scene, so typically most people play 100 point games on 3' by 3' mat as that is what's played in tournaments. Even me and my mates usually play 100 points even though only a few of them ever occasionaly go to tournaments. For a 100 points 2-8 ships is usual.

As an aside to jaded non-tourney players, consider campaign play. I know there have been several schemes floated, but I don't hear about them often.

A fellow and his mates in Yorkshire have been playing one for over a year, and it appears a delight. Yarkshire Gamer X-Wing Campaign Game 21

What I especially like is,  you don't just buy upgrades, you earn them, and the scenarios can really be more than simple slugfests.

Mind you, takes more organizing and dedication than I've been able to talk locals into...

Doug

[Elk101]

This is a timely thread as I've literally just purchased a set. That's interesting that the 3'x3' playing space might be considered a little restrictive as I wondered that myself. I've found a 3x3 space mat at a very reasonable price but wasn't sure it would be big enough.

Great tips on the ships too.

[Michi]

I've found a 3x3 space mat at a very reasonable price but wasn't sure it would be big enough.

I´m plying for years on 3x3" now. Only the campaign scenarios that needed bigger tables were played on such. I always found it sufficient. I find X-Wing is a dogfight game and it needs to get the fighters into contact each turn to keep the thrill. If you had space to outmanouevre and flee the opponents it would be half the fun. Usually I play 100P, but have played 150 or bigger too. We had a game of Poe Dameron in his T-70 against two TIE/EO which was 45P per side - three ships in total only and nonetheless firnig at targets each turn. A bigger table would have made the game longer and less exciting - btw. Poe Dameron shot down both TIES and only lost one of his shields....

[Hatemonger]

Apart from a few quick games back in 2014 with my mate's starter set I'm a complete newbie to this game, so please forgive me if these questions seem a bit stupid. I just have so little experience of the X Wing game to go on - except for the experience of a sudden drain on my wallet, which I understand goes with the territory.

I started a small collection of X Wing stuff over New Year. The stuff is now coming in thick and fast and I've just wondered, with practice, how many models can one person be expected to manage and still have an exciting game?

What would be the ideal number of players?

What play area is required for the models? I bought a 6 x 4 'space mat' and thought that would do for most games with three to four players, but should I consider getting another one for an 8 x 6 playing area, or would the ships just get lost (slow down the game) in all that space?

Most 'stuff' seems to be for the Rebels and I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to buy for the Empire. What would you add to the list below (my forces so far) to balance up my forces? Say, with a budget of about £200 (about 15 fighters / equivelent at current prices). I'm not going to be playing tournaments, this is just for fun games and scenarios, so I don't need a 'killer force'.

4 Tie Fighters
1 Tie Advanced
1 Tie Interceptor
3 X Wings
1 Y Wing
1 B Wing
1 Millenium Falcon
1 Slave 1
1 Lambda shuttle

BTW, my mate has:
2 Tie Fighters
1 X Wings
1 Y Wing
1 Millenium Falcon

As has been said, the game's "center line" has been designed around 100 points on a 3'x3' board. My group has played for over a year now and this has not felt overly restrictive so far. I would think this also depends a lot on how much you like a "standard" skirmish/dogfight vs. wanting the narrative/logistical complexity of campaign/scenario games. Be aware that bigger spaces can definitely lead to ships getting "lost" wandering around or the possibility that one small fast ship can evade a slower one indefinitely.

It's designed as a two player game, and the mechanics of movement make it pretty important to activate ships in proper initiative order, so adding too many more players creates a very real danger of sitting around waiting for your turn to do stuff. Four (2 v 2) should not be too bad, and I think 6 or 8 would work all right for a big game, especially if you ensure they each have a spread of talent (some high Pilot Skill and some low). That's for one game session, of course. Ideally you'd have a bunch of people to switch it up so you're not always facing e.g. Sean's infamous Vader list for the 8th week in a row.

At 100 points, the most you can fit is 8 low-end TIE Fighters. Most lists are 3-4 fighters, or one large ship plus 1-2 fighters. I'd say that matches up with the right amount for one player to control.

What to buy next:
Rule #1: Buy what you like. It might seem obvious, but there it is. For what it's worth, most of the ships are pretty balanced in their capabilities, although some of them have required some "patches" in the form of various upgrade cards released later. If you're less concerned about a competitive game, then this is... well, less of a concern. 

I should mention that it's worth considering game vs. fluff too. I know some people are "movies only" type fans, and personally I dislike a lot of the "wacky TIE variant we made up for a video game", but in terms of playing, it's nice to give Imperial players an elite choice besides just Vader and Soontir Fel (which of course is why they were made).

Some recommendations:
1) Imperial Aces. More Interceptors to vary your TIE mix, plus some good broad-appeal uprade cards.
2) Decimator. Gives the Imperials a Millennium Falcon type. See previous comments about gameplay and fluff choices.
3) Gozanti cruiser. You'd have a captial ship for scenarios or big games, two more TIE fighters (bringing you up to 8 if you combine your collections), and some more TIE pilots and uprades to vary them further.
4) Any other TIE things that you like, to add more variety as desired.

5) HWK freighter is a cool little Rebel support ship that could double as a neutral/objective type ship in scenarios.

6) Most Wanted. Opens up a lot with the 3rd faction, including re-purposing your Y's, HWK, and Slave I. If you're not enthused by Scum, you can still use the ships (and some upgrades) as Rebels, although you'd need pilot cards for the Z's (i.e. buy one pack).
7) More Scum ships if you want to have more options for this faction as a playable force (as opposed to just scenarios).

8.) Outrider is a fun ship to play and can also fill the neutral/objective role, although in many respects it is similar to playing the Falcon.
9) Rebel Aces adds some neat stuff for Rebels (including "patch" upgrades for A- and B-wings).

As I said, feel free to avoid something you don't like, but unless you leave out big chunks, that list should easily hit the limit of your budget, and likely what you can absorb in terms of game content for a while too.

Oh, and I didn't even include the new movie ships, or the upcoming wave around the end of this month. 

- H8

[Elk101]

Very useful summary,  thanks. Let's face it, most of us are drawn to the models first anyway!  

I've just bought the Force Awakens starter set and was thinking of the Aces sets next. Mr Bibbly suggested that I would most likely end up with the original core set too so it's interesting to read the comments that suggest two starter sets to get things going. He's probably right then  

[mellis1644]

I started mid last year and have to say I'm really enjoying the game. Most games are 3x3 for me and the comments so far have been good. I would recommend just buying the ships you like though. All of them can be useful if flown in the right way and vulnerable to the wrong opponents ships.

[Hatemonger]

I started mid last year and have to say I'm really enjoying the game. Most games are 3x3 for me and the comments so far have been good. I would recommend just buying the ships you like though. All of them can be useful if flown in the right way and vulnerable to the wrong opponents ships.

Couldn't agree more!

For the most part, if you see something you think would be cool and fun, then it probably will be. Sometimes it's harder to make it "work", and obviously some things are more effective in certain situations rather than others, but there is very little in this game that can be considered completely ineffectual, or completely overpowering.

Occasionally you may run into a Rock-Paper-Scissors situation between two specific lists, but usually that could be remedied by changing out one or two ships on either side - keep in mind that one ship can easily constitute 1/3 or more of a list! So if your buddy has you in the grip of his List of Death, you head down to your FLGS and spend $20-30 on new toys (which, let's face it, you wanted to do anyway) and boom, you've tipped your 2-person metagame on its head.

- H8

[olicana]

Thank you all very much for your considered responses, especially to hatemonger.

I bought two 'old style' starter sets, so perhaps I should add a Force Awakens starter set too. That would give me four X wings and six Tie Fighters, plus my mates starter set.

[OSHIROmodels]

He's probably right then  

I actually meant Armada as well as X-wing 

cheers

James

[Elk101]

I actually meant Armada as well as X-wing 

cheers

James

Even worse! At least in terms of expense. I'm looking forward to getting it. I might have to ignore Armada for the time being. There's quite a few X-wing ships I'd like

[Daeothar]

My mate and I have been playing X-Wing once a week for almost 2 years now, and always on a 'regular' 3x3 mat.

We started out with 100 points each, but pretty soon realized that that was a bit restrictive, so we agreed on 120 points as our standard size, as that would allow us to build the lists you'd actually want when building a 100 points list...

Thing is, with a busy job, family and social life, there's usually very little time to play larger battles or do more planning than throwing a list together on a mobile app during lunch hours. We do however assemble a new list for every game we play; it's very rare for us to play with the same list twice.

It helps that we are both SW nuts and at the moment have over 50 ships each (including the huge ones), so there's plenty to choose from each time. Also, we alternate factions every game. So far, after over a hundred games in, we're still not bored with this setup and we still haven't even touched the scenarios (even though I'd really like to) and Epic play yet.

All I can say is that for a 'simple' game, X-Wing has proved itself to be a very fun, challenging and rewarding game, even without the added layer of campaigns, epic- and cinematic play.

It's come so far now that Youtube is rife with championship coverage clips. With each battle being shown in real time, with commenters covering the game and handy graphics on-screen showing the lists in play. I've really enjoyed watching many of these games, even rooting for certain lists, and yelling at the screen when some player makes a stupid mistake. 

It's like watching a sports match and in my recollection, X-Wing is the first tabletop miniatures game that is being covered like that.

Looking back, I still have to laugh at remembering being in a game store when X-Wing just came out and my mate asking the store guy about it. And he proceeded to state, at length, that it was a game for little kids, with no tactical depth, was broken from the start, would be boring in no time and was no match for games such as Silent Death or Full Thrust. He highly recommended not getting it, as it would be a quickly fading fad...