Choosing and Using Obstacles – Tournament Prep

Like many players, tournaments in X-Wing are a big part of what got me hooked on and continues to keep me excited about the game. It gives me a chance to challenge myself and scratch that competitive itch, while still having a relaxing and enjoyable day with friends. Tournaments require a more serious approach to the game than casual play, but in the end the goal is still to come away having a good time. Let’s be honest though – winning some games is more fun than losing, so maximizing your chance of winning is well worth some effort.

When I got into X-Wing, I had two other new players trying out the game with me. This led to many long sessions of classic newbie X-Wing. Using upgrades wrong, rules confusion, clueless lists, un-timed games, and just plain a load of good fun. Sadly, it wasn’t long before my playing buddies were gone, with one moving away and the other losing interest in the game. This left me in my rural community with no fellow players and a 30-40 minute each way drive to any game night. Unable to get nearly as much play time in as I’d have liked, I turned to studying the game as a filler to feed my X-Wing addiction. YouTube stream games were a great outlet, but the other thing I did was zeroed in on aspects of the game I could improve in: solo practice.

Some of those things included doing a long hard look at the turn zero game. Here I’ll be sharing some of that basic information with you: specifically, obstacle selection and placement.

Even against quality opponents, I constantly see errors being made in the obstacle placement phase of the game. Beginner and even most intermediate players simply aren’t putting much thought into this, counting on their flying skill to decide the outcome. This isn’t an unreasonable attitude, as your play during the game is certainly the bigger factor in deciding the winner, but why give away advantages before the game even starts? With some simple consideration and a small amount of practice, I can promise that you can significantly improve the board setup in your favor.

Which Obstacles Should I Use?

Let’s start by figuring out the correct Obstacles you should bring with your tournament list. In order to keep this simple, let’s start with the most basic decision, dividing the various obstacle options into only 2 main categories:

Large Obstacles (the largest rocks and debris) vs. Small Obstacles (specifically the tiniest rocks and debris)

This leaves out many possibilities, including using a mixture, using medium sizes for flexibility, and using all debris (as certain lists prefer), but those kinds of cases we’ll save for a more in-depth discussion. For the sake of the early tournament player, the choice is likely to start with the most basic question: Should I bring big or small rocks to the show?

The two primary factors you take into account when making that decision are:

Your personal preference and skill level The interactions with your chosen list

Let’s start with the first one, personal preference. The big question facing new players is should I take large obstacles for the practice, or should I take small obstacles to limit their effect on me? The answer, at least in a tournament situation, is almost certainly the latter. Newer players are at a disadvantage due to lack of raw experience and practice. A more complicated and difficult asteroid field is going to favor the player with many more games under their belt, as they could literally have had thousands more practice reps of mentally gauging if a maneuver clears an obstacle or not.

If the skill level/practice is your main priority, then use medium obstacles in practice, and small obstacles in tournaments. Get some games under your belt working on the flying parts of X-Wing. Then when you feel you are ready to step up and start customizing obstacles to specific lists, move on to the next step.

Now for the meat of the article. You are ready to go beyond taking tiny obstacles for safety, and want to move up to optimizing rocks for your list. Here is the simple and effective rule to follow.

The Rule of the Rocks: You want obstacles that are the opposite characteristics of your ships.

Large base ships want small rocks, and a large number of ships want small rocks.

Small base ships want large rocks, and a small number of ships want large rocks.

As a starting point, that general rule will guide you well in almost all cases.** We’ll look at why, but first, let me clarify a bit on those basic rules, so you understand what my terms mean.

Large number vs small numbers: I’d define “large number of ships” as 4 or above, and “small number of ships” as 3 and below.

Large bases versus small bases is fairly self-explanatory. Okay, but what about medium bases you might ask? Are those large or small? Again, as a general rule think of it this way: if you have multiple Medium bases you are a Large ship list. Those things take up a lot of room. If you have a single Medium base and all others are Small, then you are a Small base list.

Now let’s talk about why this rule works.

Large Rocks and Large Debris fill up the most space on the board. This gives the player placing those rocks the ability to maximize the job that large obstacles do. Large rocks can create the most difficult “asteroid fields”. An asteroid field in X-Wing is a clutter of asteroids placed at (or near) the minimum distance apart.

Asteroid fields made of large rocks have a huge effect on the field of battle. They create a part of the board that is crowded, and generally leave another part of the board that is open. Large rocks make this crowded field particularly difficult to traverse.

Just imagine for a moment you are driving your car. In one case you have to circle around 3 cones placed on the ground. Further down the road you must circle around 3 cars parked haphazardly ahead of you. Even if the cars and cones are placed the same distance apart, the cones will be far easier to navigate, due to the small space they take up. You literally have more room to make errors and still succeed. The cars not only require you to account for that tight space between them, but their extra length and width do all kinds of tricks on when and how you can turn.

Crowded asteroid fields are the particular nemesis of 2 things:

Large bases. Take the example I gave above, and now imagine driving a Semi-Truck through either the cones or the cars. The larger vehicle’s difficulty in navigating a blocked field is dramatically greater than a small car. In X-Wing, that means the small base ships (particularly those with both re-position actions available) have a far easier time landing in, among, and passing through tight asteroid fields. Formation flying. Large obstacle asteroid fields are the enemy of any list that requires or greatly benefits from flying in formation. This may be the 6 ship TIE Swarm or 3 ship double-tapping Scurrgs. Any list that relies on sheer numbers to do its job, needs to consolidate its fire, and must stick together wants nothing to do with a crowded board. These lists want to operate in clear lanes and open spaces – the complete opposite of a large rock asteroid field.

Small obstacles work in essence as the opposite of the large rocks. They take up less space, are worse at closing off lanes and are easier to sneak past. Ships can avoid them more easily and formation flying swarms have better options to cross the board undisturbed.

So now take a look at that list you are planning on bringing to the local tournament Saturday and ask, which characteristics does it have? As for your obstacles…. Bring the opposite!

**Keep in mind, this of course is a general rule. As you gain more experience you will find exceptions and list specific ships or combos that blatantly break this, (i.e. Dash Rendar, Scum Han solo, multiple trick shots, etc) but for the person ready to move past taking small rocks out of fear and ready to take obstacles that benefit their list, this formula is your starting point.

Next up, if the Midwest Scrub can handle any more of my ramblings, we will look at three common Rock placement patterns and when you should use them.

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