Beyond Epic... X-Wing: Apocalypse // 3,000 POINT GAME

[SpikeSpiegel 2,077]

DISCLAIMER: This is not a new format announcement. This is just a bunch of us trying to "push the limits" of X-Wing.

 

About a week ago I jokingly asked if anyone wanted to play a 1k point game of X-Wing for some casual fun. The original plan was to have a 4v4 game at 250 points each. Then, it turned into a proposed 3v3 at 500 points each. Finally, we brought all our plastic to the table for a 3,000 point game of Star Wars: X-Wing Apocalypse!

 

And we made it happen: 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126218138@N02/sets/72157646523675976/

 

*Apologies for the low-resolution, more photos from the other players will be uploaded later!

 

Before we started, we came up with a few modified rules to help the game move a lot smoother and save us some time and confusion:

 

Play Area: The table was 6x4' and we decided to use no asteroids, we set up lengthwise. It was a huge joust with not a lot of space. I would probably recommend an 8x4', which we thought was too big, but in hindsight, would've had more freedom for movement and less crowding.

 

Squadron & Squadron Activation Phase: We allowed each side to group their small ships into base-to-base contact and move in unison as a single, extended base and the squadron would move when the lowest PS ship would move in a normal game. If the squadron were to break formation by no longer maintaining base-to-base contact, individual dials would be used once again. We also used "Squadron Actions" where the whole squadron would choose the same action- nothing different here.  

 

Rolling for Reserves: With a game so big, it was extremely hard to fit everything on the 6x4' table we used as the battlefield. We allowed each side to set up to 300 points of ships in "reserve" that can arrive at the beginning of any turn beyond the second turn. In order for reserves to arrive we would have to roll 3 attack dice, and for each "hit" or "crit" result we could place 100 points of models from reserves along the table edge (Rebels put a completely decked out CR-90 in reserves!). GW gamers would be very familiar with this rule. 

 

The Rebel fleet consisted of:

 

3 CR-90s

2 GR-75s

7 B-Wings with HLCs

4 Y-Wings

5 Z-95s

2 A-Wings

8 Rookie X-Wings

Every named X-Wing

E'tahn & Corran

Han Solo Super Falcon

Roark & Jan

 

While the Imperial fleet consisted of:

 

15 TIE Fighters

15 TIE Interceptors

4 Firesprays

6 Lambda Shuttles

4 TIE Phantoms

3 TIE Bombers

2 TIE Defenders

2 TIE Advanced

 

Setup took about an hour and the game itself took five and a half hours to complete 3 turns with the Imperials winning by wiping out two CR-90s and nearly every single one of our X-Wings. Even though we didn't get to play until total annihilation, three turns was more than enough to see the clear victor of the game, the store was closing anyway since they held their doors open a little longer for us to finish and start cleaning up.

 

The best part about the whole game, though, was the aesthetic flavor of it all. It looked like a scene from Star Wars. Seeing all of your plastic glory on the table and imagining all of the Pew! Pew! was so much fun. We (the rebels) didn't even care about losing, it was a blast! We were laughing hysterically when Biggs got vaporized and we couldn't stop laughing when Porkins' face up damage card was Console Fire.

 

After experiencing the awesome firepower of 3,000 points, we all came to the realization that FFG knows how to make an enjoyable game. Meaning that 3,000 points is not an enjoyable game for everyone. It is a logistical nightmare, it is a massive clusterbantha and it is an entirely different game of its own. This game among friends is fantastic and fun, but among other players who are unfamiliar with each other, I can see it being impossible to enjoy and extremely frustrating.

 

Did we play the biggest game in X-Wing history? 

Did our rules modifications seem fair?

Do you like the idea of massive games?

Will you ever try a 3k point game?

Was Biggs' death in vain?

 

...And on a serious note, how do I post pictures to the forum from flickr? Please PM me! Thanks!

 

-Nick

Edited August 18, 2014 by SpikeSpiegel

[SpikeSpiegel 2,077]

Reserving for pictures.

[player1823837 174]

Finally you get to use ALL of those number tokens on ships Looks like you had a great time! Nice to see what happens when you up the points to ludicrous numbers.

[Gunner070 53]

O..... M..... G......!!!!!

 

That's, well, EPIC!!!

[L0STHER0 79]

The worst decision, and im not saying that a 3000 point game was a great decision, was flying rebels in swarms/squads like they were imps. Those assault missiles just ripped our x-wings to shreds. B-Wings held their own. With out an Epic ship on the imperial side there are just too many points to fill with ships and upgrades, which translates into A LOT of dice and the imps put stealth devices on just about everything

[Joe Boss Red Seven 11,292]

VERY NICE!!!

[Dagonet 7,246]

I would suggest an even bigger board than 8x4, go huge and give yourself some room for maneuvers. 10x6 perhaps?

 

It looks like you were in range from basically the start and thats not really fun. 

 

6x3 is for 300 point games and you increased that 5-fold.

[SpikeSpiegel 2,077]

I would suggest an even bigger board than 8x4, go huge and give yourself some room for maneuvers. 10x6 perhaps?

 

It looks like you were in range from basically the start and thats not really fun. 

 

6x3 is for 300 point games and you increased that 5-fold.

Yeah, it was a mistake to reduce the size of the table. Looks are definitely deceiving.

Crowding the board was also one of the reasons why we came up with holding units in reserve until turn three.

[X Wing Nut 2,309]

I know what im doing next time my wife is out of town

[SpikeSpiegel 2,077]

I know what im doing next time my wife is out of town

Be sure you do it with people you enjoy being with! It will be a geeked out blast with friends   

I also recommend playing it on an 8x4 board if possible. Learn from our mistakes and share your experience with us!

 

On another note, the albums have been updated with more Imperial perspective shots and visuals of the lists each player ran.

 

-Nick

[ElJeffe313 228]

All you need to make the TIE Advanced viable is around 2,940 points of support!

[Skargoth 1,703]

It looks like too much formation flying to be fun. I dunno, very systematic.