It has been a long time, but we finally had an opportunity to jump back into the cockpit and play some more X-Wing second edition this last Sunday. Joining us for the game where my sons, George and Ben, and their friends Carter and Craig. With five players, I quickly whipped up some multiplayer rules and options, that not only would make it competitive but also allow for the limited ship supply that I had.
The mission was simple – closest to the center scored a team point for every turn – highest points at the end wins. Due to limited ships, Rebels (Craig and Carter) and Imperials (Ben and myself) each had two 150 pt squadrons, while the Scum (George) fielded a single 200 pt squadron. Setup was a bit chaotic – any ship could be setup along any of the sides without restriction (other than range to the edge), and we rotated thru with the oldest player first. As a result, the Empire was rather scattered about, attempting to get some advantage on the other ships, and the Scum started separated as well. The Rebels managed to hold it together, and fly a tight formation.
The game itself was good – the play was slow at first (several had never played), but it picked up speed fast, and everyone understood the mechanics after the first turn or two. The Empire started out rough, losing a TIE to a proximity bomb in turn one, and taking heavy damage before looping away from the center. The Scum, with their very sturdy ships dominated early on, and then became the focus of attention for everyone – by the end Slave I only had 1 hull left, and the Falcon had accidentally fled the field (also heavily damaged). For the Rebels, Luke found himself square in Vader’s crosshairs and was destroyed by turn 3, with the Y-wing falling as well. The other X-wings held on with minimal damage, but where heavily out of position at the end.
After numerous hours, we had to call an end. By that time, the Empire had a dominating hold on the fields, with 5 of 6 ships remaining. The Scum barely had 1 of their 2 ships left, and the Rebels had 2 of 4. Victory points were very even though, so we called it a strategic tie across the board.
For future games, we will either need to add more ships to the collection, or likely play with less players. Unfortunately, 2nd edition has not released enough variety as of yet to fully equip the multiple teams (though a normal game has plenty). Personally, I only collect Empire, Rebel, and Scum, which does limit the options as well.
I did manage to record the session, and may at some point edit and post the video. The game lasted 6 hours though (likely much less once trimmed), so I am not sure I will dedicate the time required for the editing.
