Standard, epic, team epic, missions, furball, etc... Which do you play?

[DagobahDave 1,621]

There are lots of different ways to play X-Wing and I'm interested to hear which ones you actually play, and about how often, and which formats you enjoy playing most and why.

I know I'm not alone in getting burned out on the standard 100 dogfight once in a while, but I do enjoy it.

My favorite format is 2v2 (or 2v3) team match at 200 to 300 points per side, without huge ships. When the Raider is available I'll definately want to play some huge v huge matches.

I haven't had a lot of fun with the missions, which tend to be imbalanced or just too difficult for one side on the first attempt, and older missions were never tested with the newer stuff so those missions can have major balance issues. I'd like to see more official missions with symmetrical objectives, such as capture to the flag.

Your turn. (Or, back to the dials.)

Edited January 15, 2015 by DagobahDave

[Tvboy 3,462]

Standard. A lot of people don't see it, but standard play has a lot of hidden objectives that make winning much easier if you get them. For example, when playing against a Fat Han list, my objective is to kill all the support ships while only losing 2 of my support ships before time runs out. Or against a Phantom, the objective becomes to keep the Phantom out of my Range 1 donut hole but within range 3 for as many turns as possible. 

 

That's where the challenge is in Standard play, identifying what the objective is without it being spelled out to you by a mission. 

Edited January 16, 2015 by Tvboy

[DraconPyrothayan 6,107]

Most Played: Tag Team Furball

I crafted the rules, and my local group loves it. It's always engaging, and no-one really suffers a crushing defeat.

 

Second Place: Standard

The meta's slowed down near me, with one person refusing to give up their Norton 360* fleet (two Ion Ys and Chewbacca), and one person discovering that Z-95s with Assault Missiles and Munitions Failsafes are just the bees knees, it's gotten fairly easy to stay on top.

 

Tertiarially: Team Epic

Our newer go-to for when we want big fleets, but don't want to Standard. It's starting to overtake the regular 100 point for second place, though.

 

Honorable Mentions: 300 Epic, Campaign, Scenario

Yeah, we haven't touched these formats.

[Mikael Hasselstein 6,896]

I only play standard anymore, but (as you - Dave - well know) I would like to do something with narrative stakes.

 

I'm also really looking forward to Epic with Huge ships. The Raider is on pre-order. The long wait has begun. I feel like my FLGS is pregnant, and I'm her baby daddy.

[Scabiosus 40]

After more than a year, I played finally played the missions that came with the large ships and the aces packs (and one Rebel Transport mission).

They are great fun, and for a change, I had to prepare squads with specific mission objectives in mind, other than just destroying my opponent.

 

When we had enough time, we enjoyed swapping sides and replaying each scenario, as we would when playing Space Hulk.

 

 

[Chris Maes 522]

I enjoy all play options for XWM.  Here is what I play...

 

1. Standard 100 v 100 pt/6 asteroid Tournament-style game- least favorite, least enjoyable, least thematic and least sensible (I think it is stupid- jeesh!  Is the SW universe filled with THAT much rubble?  And why do we keep fighting over it if it is that all pervasive?).  I have played a lot of these games but most of them have been solo as it is difficult for me to find opponents with similar time schedules. *Sigh*  Still, the more you play (even by yourself), the more familiar you become with the game and (theoretically)the better you get.

 

2. 2-Player, 100 v 100 point Casual game- more enjoyable than above.  We will sometimes add in other fun, thematic twists to make the game more "Star Warsy".  Frequently use Dagobah Dave's Random Squadron and Random Mission generators, which are simple ways to add some variety to your games.  Thanks, Dave!

 

3. FFG "Official" Scenario games- some of these are great, others... less so.  Still, having a "reason" for shooting each other and mission goals/victory conditions that go beyond "destroy all enemy ships before they do the same to you" is much better than 1 v 1 "Tourney-style" games.

 

4. 300 point Epic format game- more "epic" than standard format or even small skirmish scenarios.  More ships = more fun!  You even get to take some ships/pilots/upgrades you would never use in smaller format games.  Star Wars (the movie) is "epic"... your XWM games should be too!  Games do take longer but this should not be an issue unless you only play during your lunch break or have a rather short attention span.  Games also tend to require more table top surface area on which to play.  Any "real" or "serious" wargame will typically require more time and more space.

 

5. 2 v 2 Epic format game- played a few and enjoyed them.  More players means even MORE fun!  Miniatures gaming is a social event and I have found that the Tournament scene, despite being filled by a bunch of interesting and fun gamers, is, by its very nature, rather competitive and I have found that "cooperative" play is more FUN than purely "competitive" play.  But, that is just me; to each their own.

 

6. DIY, Scenario-based, multi-player games- as an old... I mean "long-time", wargamer with decades of experience playing a variety of different games, this is my expectation and why I play games.  I want games that are "epic"... I want games that are interesting... I want missions that "make sense"... I want to share the fun with as many of my friends as possible.  Win or lose, just playing in a game like this meets MY victory conditions!

 

What ever your favorite format, I hope you have FUN while playing.

[DariusAPB 6,925]

Standard, Epic and missions.

 

My favourite is in part of a campaign(D20 based) where pilots get xp etc.

[Khyros 4,218]

I've really never played anything but the standard 100pt dogfight.  I keep wanting to play the missions through, just for fun (and limiting the lists to either what they say, or what was available at that time), but I never seem to find the time / opponent.  I did play a 2v3 300pt non-epic match awhile ago.. there were several new players that wanted to try the game out, so the two of us that were experienced decided this would be a good way to do it - it was a blast, everyone had fun, and even though my team destroyed the opponent (while my teammates did some silly things) it was all in good humor and everyone has happy at the end. 

 

I have 2 Transports, and a CR-90, but I've never put them on a table.  I no longer even bring them with me to my standard game night.  Though to be fair, once I finish my CR-90 light job, I'll want to play with it and show it off... But that could be several months out, especially with February being loaded with Store Championships.

[Ken at Sunrise 2,064]

I don't get to play often but....

 

Standard 100 point game if fun, quick and fairly easy with pre-built squads.

Epic can be fun once in a while.  I love the Epic/huge ships.

 

I like thematic games better, more Star Wars.  Only one YT-1300 period. Only one Firespray period.  Tons of X-Wings and TIE fighters.   Other stuff for flavor 

[Marinealver 8,068]

Mostly standard because that is what everyone else wants to play. However that is the way with just about all games that has multiple formats. You may want to play planescape but everyone else is playing EDH, or you may want to play King of the Hill but everyone else is playing deathmatch. In those scenarios you only have 2 choices play the format everyone else is playing (standard, EDH, deathmatch) or attempt to set up the format you want (epic, planescape, King of the Hill) and if no one wants to play those formats you might not play at all.

[Hobojebus 11,341]

Standard mostly, 150 points every now and again and the occasional mission from an expansion.

[EvilEd209 1,474]

99 out of 100 games will be standard games for me.  Every once in awhile we will play a game that is either more/less points or break out the epic ships.  But for the most part, it is standard games all around here.