X-Wing fast play – X-WING TAVERN WARS

Grey Jedi don’t like 2-ship skirmish

The tall young man with the cascading black hair towered over the older bald man like an AT-AT Walker looming above a downed T-47 airspeeder. Sarzo Lord, Grey Jedi, was not pleased.

“Two ships,” Lord said before finishing his beer. “You expect us to guard your latest shipment of alcohol with just two ships.”

Elmer, owner of Argy’s Space Tavern and Sarzo’s boss, chuckled.

“Parts for repairs are scarce. And maybe we’d have more credits to buy newer ships if you didn’t drink so much. Sometimes you’re faster with a drink than you are with a light saber,” Elmer said.

Elmer paid Lord to lead his rag tag mercenary force in the Tavern Wars, an ongoing dispute between the old man and the proprietor of another nearby space drinking joint in the Outer Rim. Both establishments were housed in large barges that cruised through the lawless backwater of the galaxy.

“Cheer up Sarzo,” Elmer said as he motioned to a bartender for another beer for his employee. “I doubt our rivals will be able to field many more ships than us. Just get me the booze and soon we’ll all be flush again.”

This quick-play scenario was inspired by a tournament Out of Arc Gaming ran featuring players squaring off against each other with just one small base ship built up to 75 points, a 20-minute time limit and a slightly smaller playing area than the usual 3’x3’.

Yes, there’s now a massive disturbance in The Force. New rules, new points, basically the Bantha has been thrown out with the bathwater. So why not experiment by running a two ships versus two ships casual format?

For this duel each player gets 2 small base ships. And each player has a maximum of 8 points under the new system to build their mini list. (Note there’s no penalty for a list that comes in under 8 points, but there must be two ships).

Game time: 25 minutes.

Play area: standard 3’x3’ mat.

Obstacles: four – two per player.

X-Wing mission: Aces vs Aces

The juke box at Argy’s space tavern levitated about six feet above the floor as the patrons watched with wary amusement as Elmer, the joint’s owner, reached up with a screw driver and plyers in an attempt to fix the aging machine. Like most things at Argy’s the music box had seen better days. The barkeep grumbled and shouted as he worked, which made it seem like the juke box was playing a particularly angry spoken word album.

“Fang fighters. Lew the Hutt has gone and bought several Fang fighters,” Elmer sputtered.

Sarzo Lord, the Grey Jedi who was keeping the juke box aloft via the Force, sipped his beer and allowed his employer a few more rants and raves before he spoke.

“Fang fighters are tricky to fly,” said Lord, who Elmer employed to lead the Argy’s forces against his rival’s mercenary pilots in the ongoing Tavern Wars. “Besides Bake Travnor I’m not sure anybody else at the Steamline could handle one of those things.”

After a few more adjustments music again filled Argy’s and Lord gently set the machine back on the floor, where it crunched softly as it settled into the decades-old grime. Lord, who stood a full head taller than his boss and had cascading black hair that contrasted sharply with Elmer’s baldness, waited quietly for the instructions he knew were coming. Elmer placed his tools back into his rusting little box, then looked up at the young man whose features were partially obscured by a cloak that was darker than Bantha fur.

“Wrangle up our best pilots and find our most nimble ships that are still spaceworthy. Put those Jedi flying skills to use.”

Bring out your aces! In this two-player scenario each pilot has 150 points to spend on a list.

X-Wing mission: Mayhem in the Hawkwind debris field

A half-dozen pints of Andoan ale levitated inches above the long bar in a dimly lit space tavern, alternately amusing or frightening the regulars depending on their level of intoxication.

“Sarzo, stop that,” said Elmer, who operated Argy’s from a space barge stationed just outside the Aturi Cluster. “If the young Jedi Master could come here please. I pay you for your piloting and fighting skills, not to amuse the regulars.”

The glasses slowly lowered, then touched down gently on the wooden surface. Sarzo Lord, dressed in a dark brown, hooded robe, rose from his bar stool and walked over to the elderly proprietor.

“You’re crankier then Luke Skywalker was in his last years at the Jedi Praxeum,” Sarzo said.

The two humans faced each other, a study in contrasts. Sarzo Lord was 30, tall with long, black hair that touched his shoulders; Elmer was north of 70 and short. The remaining strands of grey hair on his head were sadder than most of his patrons.

“As one of the last graduates of that Jedi school you must’ve been a great disappointment to Skywalker. So many skills, yet your devotion to the bottle is as strong as your mastery of the Force.”

Sarzo laughed. “All the better for you, Elmer. What’s the next assignment?”

Elmer had hired Sarzo to be his ringer in the Tavern Wars, the ongoing conflict with a rival Outer Rim space tavern owner.

“Several enemy ships are making a delivery through the Hawkwind debris field, thinking we’d never go after them there. Take some pilots and stop them.”

Sarzo reflexively grasped the light saber at his side as he considered the mission.

“Out there you’re just as likely to be killed by a piece of space junk or an asteroid as you are by laser fire.”

Elmer cracked a toothy smile, something he rarely did.

“Just use the Force, young Jedi.”

Continue reading “X-Wing mission: Mayhem in the Hawkwind debris field”

X-Wing mission: A Jedi gets ambushed

Bake Travnor, the grey-bearded leader of Whiskey Squadron, couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“A Jedi? Elmer has a Jedi working for him?”

Travnor’s boss, Lew the Hutt, nodded his huge brown and green head as he motioned for his employee’s drink to be refilled. Lew owned the Steamline Space Tavern, and the gastropod was fighting Elmer, the owner of Argy’s Tavern, over the delivery of booze and beer to their establishments. The Outer Rim Conflict was known as the Tavern Wars.

“More of a Dark Jedi,” Lew explained with an intimidating chuckle. “Sort of grey, really. He has a bit of a drinking problem, from what I hear. You’d probably like him.”

The Hutt had an assistant bring a local star sector map over to a table in his office at the Steamline, which operated out of a large space barge. “He’s human. His name is Sarzo Lord and I’ve got a tip that he’ll be leading several ships on a delivery of Kowakian Rum to Argy’s tomorrow.”

Travnor sipped his Corellian Whiskey, then placed the glass gently on the table. The veteran pilot had spent years flying missions for the Rebellion and New Republic. He knew what Lew was going to say before the words were spoken.

“Your job, Travnor, is to stop him.”

Continue reading “X-Wing mission: A Jedi gets ambushed”

Tavern Wars: Fast play X-Wing system

Battles, conflicts and strife rage throughout the lawless Outer Rim Territories, but none have been as fierce as The Tavern Wars. The owners of two space taverns are locked in combat over deliveries of beer and booze to their establishments, which sit just outside the Aturi Cluster. Lew the Hutt and Elmer, friendly once but now enemies, hire rogues, pirates and freelancing pilots from various factions – as well as the occasional drunken Jedi – to get shipments to their joints and sabotage their rival’s operations.

Welcome to X-Wing Tavern Wars, a fast-play system designed to test out builds and practice for tournaments – or just enable you to get more games in. X-Wing Tavern Wars is meant to be played quickly, either by two players or solo. Agonizing for 10 minutes over a maneuver doesn’t make sense when the round is up in less than an hour.

The basics:

Each player has a maximum of 150 points (Second Edition) to spend on a list. Round time is 50 minutes, to be played on a standard 3′ by 3′ battle mat.

For a two-player skirmish each person picks a space tavern to represent, either Argy’s (Elmer) or The Steamline (Lew the Hutt). Argy’s players may use Force abilities if they wish, Steamline players cannot. Steamline players may use Whiskey Squadron special rules.

Each player selects two obstacles for standard play. Specific missions and scenarios may dictate different obstacle numbers and specific placement.

For solo play, pick a 125-point squadron. The AI system gets a 150-point squadron. We use Herkybird’s original solo system or for certain Empire ships the cards for HoTAC.

The winner: A) Destroys all enemy ships. B) Completes the mission objective. C) Destroys the most points by the end of the round if neither A nor B is accomplished.

Fly Casual.