heX-Wing

[Lifer4700 396]

Hi everyone,

 

I was bored at work one day, and this thought appeared in my head.

 

What if I put my X-Wing Miniatures on a hex grid?

 

 

Then:

• How would movment work?
• Can I figure out a way to use the dials as-is?
• What about the firing arc?
• Ranges?
• What size hex would I need?

I knew that with the hex map, the movement templates and the range ruler would not be needed.  There were some decisions that could have gone one way or another, and I mostly stuck with whatever made it easiest to remember.  I tried to keep things accurate where I could, but ease-of-use won where the alternative - more accurate - option would've been more complicated.

 

I worked on the basic concepts that night, fleshing out details over the next few days.  A friend and I play-tested a bit one weekend, trying different things.  

 

Obviously, it makes for a very different game, but my intent was not to duplicate the all the movement strategy and subtlety of X-Wing.  Instead, I wanted some quick and fun dogfights (no large ships) with easy movement  while using all the rest of the X-Wing rules.

 

I thought I'd share it here with the community.

 

Here it is:   heX-Wing  version 0.1, in PDF format.

 

Enjoy!  Or not.  It's up to you.

Edited December 6, 2015 by Lifer4700

[Wildhorn 453]

You are more than 2 years late: https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/97008/hex-wing-version-31

Edited December 6, 2015 by Wildhorn

[MegaSilver 2,867]

If you want a game with hexes, I suggest you check out Heroscape!

[knavelead 447]

There are tons of Hex grid space combat games. B5wars, Starfleet Battles, others.

And movement feels limited in those games when compared to non-hexgames.

Edited December 6, 2015 by knavelead

[z0m4d 727]

.

Edited December 6, 2015 by z0m4d

[Gausebeck 197]

It looks like you've tried out some fairly large games from the shot with the Star Warriors board -- how does the hex version feel?

 

On converting X-Wing maneuvers to hex patterns:  I would have thought the 1 forward would be a 2-hex move, since normally it moves you about two ship-lengths forward.  Then a 2 forward would be 3 hexes, etc.  Did you shorten them for simplicity?  I also would have thought that a bank would convert to a 60 degree turn and a hard turn would become 120 degrees, though that's definitely a judgement call -- the actual 90 degree turn is equally far from 60 or 120 degrees.  Did you try both versions?  With banks and turns both rotating 60 degrees, do they still feel like very different maneuvers?

 

Also, how do you deal with touching ships?  With hexes, it's very easy to land exactly adjacent to someone without overlapping them.

[Wayne Argabright 1,581]

check out a game called "Sopwith"  it even has a " dial"  I mean control panel....

[Lifer4700 396]

You are more than 2 years late: https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/97008/hex-wing-version-31

 

D'oh!  It seems I'm always late the party!

 

Ray's rules are certainly more cleanly presented than mine, but it seems that he and I made different decisions regarding the ultimate workings.  I don't feel there are right and wrong, just different opinions.

• His Turn is 120 degrees, while I limited mine to 60 degrees.  The main reason was that I didn't want a maneuver to do more than a 90 degree turn without it being one of the "special", typically red, maneuvers - K-Turn, Segnor's Loop, or Talon Roll.
• He chose 2 hexes per range band, I chose 3.  The "real" value is 2.5 ship bases, so it could go either way.
• He added a hex in distance to all his non-straight (and k-turn) bearings, so a 2-turn actually moves you 3 hexes, and a 3 bank actually moves you 4, but his straight and k-turn bearings move you the "correct" amount.  I had thought about adding a single hex to all moves considering the "1" movement template is as long as the ship's base, therefore you're actually moving 2 ship bases forward during a "1" move, but then you have to consider that the banks and turns move you more than the straight for the same speed, like Ray did.  For simplicity I just kept all hex counts equal to the dial reading.

There are tons of Hex grid space combat games. B5wars, Starfleet Battles, others.

And movement feels limited in those games when compared to non-hexgames.

 

Yes, I own many hex-based movement games, which is why I thought about this.  But I wanted to use my X-Wing models, pilots, dice, etc.  Basically just make a simple-to-move version of X-Wing without all the fiddly-bits of template movement that can turn people away.

 

And yes, movement IS limited in hex-based movement games compared to X-Wing.  That's the whole point.

 

Think of it as a gateway to X-Wing for the unfamiliar.

 

 

It looks like you've tried out some fairly large games from the shot with the Star Warriors board -- how does the hex version feel?

 

On the Star Warriors map, it felt absolutely ENORMOUS!  If I was going to run a 200 or 300 point-per-side dogfight, that would be the map I would want, but for 100v100 play, I would only use half, since that's already more than a normal X-Wing size.

 

On converting X-Wing maneuvers to hex patterns:  I would have thought the 1 forward would be a 2-hex move, since normally it moves you about two ship-lengths forward.  Then a 2 forward would be 3 hexes, etc.  Did you shorten them for simplicity?  I also would have thought that a bank would convert to a 60 degree turn and a hard turn would become 120 degrees, though that's definitely a judgement call -- the actual 90 degree turn is equally far from 60 or 120 degrees.  Did you try both versions?  With banks and turns both rotating 60 degrees, do they still feel like very different maneuvers?

 

Yes, my decisions were completely made for simplicity.  Upon seeing Ray's version (linked above in post #2), I am going to try his out, but I might add "1" to all his straight and K-Turn bearings, for accuracy.  I would be curious to see how his version would feel compared to mine.  I'm guessing that you would be able to cover ground much easier, and since you can turn around and shoot behind you in 1 maneuver instead of 2 like mine, the "special" bearings (k-turn, segnor's loop, and talon roll) will probably be less utilized.

 

My Banks and Turns still feel different from each other because a bank can be a drift or a 60 degree turn decided at reveal, but as a turn, the bank's radius is larger than the radius of a turn.  If an enemy pursuing ship plans to land in your hex after you leave (a common strategy in X-Wing to maintain pursuit), a Turn (which gives you the option of 0 or 60 degrees) leaves you in his firing arc, whereas if you had fully committed to a turn, you would not be.  It gives you a slightly smaller turn radius as well.

 

 

Also, how do you deal with touching ships?  With hexes, it's very easy to land exactly adjacent to someone without overlapping them.

Landing in an adjacent hex is no problem, take your action and fire away!  Only if you land IN a hex with a ship is that considered an overlap.  Again, keeping it simple.

[Lifer4700 396]

check out a game called "Sopwith"  it even has a " dial"  I mean control panel....

 

I have seen Sopwith and its control panel.  I have never played it, though.

 

One of the games in my collection that I consulted is Blue Max.

 

I appreciate all the suggestions, since there are some that I hadn't considered or seen, but my main purpose was to use all my X-Wing stuff, except for movement templates and the range ruler.  I especially wanted to keep the dials and use them unchanged.

[Wilhelm Screamer 1,230]

If you want a game with hexes, I suggest you check out Heroscape!

Or battletech

 

Battletech is neat

[MegaSilver 2,867]

 

If you want a game with hexes, I suggest you check out Heroscape!

Or battletech

 

Battletech is neat

 

 

But Heroscape is a lot like X-Wing:

 

Easy to learn, hard to master. And lost of customization to your armies!

[Lifer4700 396]

I like the Heroscape 2" Hex terrain that was created, but that's all I would be interested in.  Not the game itself.

 

If only it came in "space" color.