Hi again. This old pearl.
Bare Bones has to justify itself to many old hands, but I feel it does.
Most first encounters start with some dismay regarding EPT’s and to a lesser extent Mods, then Titles. Using them is fine, because they are fun to play, especially when you know how to milk the synergy out of them.
What is not so much fun is the predictability that comes with having the ideal EPT/Pilot/Mod/Title forced on an opponent.
Of equal frustration to me is the railroading of winning builds over those weaker or less “on trend”. With FFG withdrawing support for 1e, the die is cast, leaving us with a dead space for future fixes and tweaks. Lets face it, there are ships we want to like but cannot and there are a few we want to hate, but use regularly, because no one likes to lose all the time!
Balance is the key, but it comes in layers and in those layers of detail (needed for top tier pay-in) comes the Devil. Each added layer needs a counter balance (I would argue it does not, but the tourney circuit needs them). Each counter balance adds it’s own issues, the next fix adds more etc.
Lost somewhere in here is story, identity with source and for some, enjoyment.
Sentimental favourite. Sentimental, but not solid starter.
How do we make BB more involved?
Taking EPT’s as the prime example of where the fun is, but it all went wrong.
Each named pilot has a special ability. This is usually, pretty much always, a solid support of their “legend” as seen by the developers. With few exceptions, they feel right and define the preconceived pilot’s role in the game term for Star Wars cannon.
Then there are EPT’s. These are added special traits that can double down, contradict or simply nullify a pilot’s inherent ability. A unique story element and squad member now has several clones, many with stronger other abilities or a cheaper points cost, making the original, the zero point irrelevant.
Mods and Titles are similar but often less justifiable. These are more often than not designed to add to a ship a feature it does not natively have it or to fix a perceived balance issue. These are often just made up excuses for points changes, ability increases and upgrade exceptions and a response to the growing game. They become semi-mandatory, effectively changing the ship permanently (as seen in 2e where many have been built in, which is better), so the whole “build to preference” thing goes out the window in favour of a “build right or die” feel. The dual kicker of having near mandatory upgrades and effectively spoken-for upgrade slots just jars with me.
The balance/counter balance/counter-counter balance build is a game in itself. In fact it is effectively the game, but to me, it is not Star Wars.
So why not just give up on X Wing, especially 1e?
I still love the elegance of the base system, the beautiful ships and the “feel” of 1e.
As a late-comer, or rather an extremely occasional fringe player*, I have a lot of catching up to do. Fully diving in led me on a sorry path of min/maxing, opportunities lost to try things now out of use and much rail roading, so to enjoy it for myself, I looked for ways to diffuse the grind.
Stripping away these “disruptors” left me with a simpler game, one with it’s own simple balance and reduced action bloat**. Suddenly the pilot’s, all of them, had a place in the greater game, especially with 120 point squads*** and cheaper ships. Instead of individual build tricks, squadron play has floated to the surface again and most ships/pilots have found their place. We fixed the couple of EPT linked abilities to simply meaning Pilot Abilities.
True some ships are a bit crap, even boring to fly. This has two benefits though. They are flown to their strengths, not modified to fit a different role and secondly, the better ships stand out for what they do well, which is often balanced out by points cost and what they do not do as well.
X Wings are tough brawlers with synergic pilot/droid combo’s flown in squads together for support, Kihraxz have tricky pilot and Illicit combo’s and the Interceptor is the only ship able to Evade/Boost/Roll without a (rare) pilot ability but no TL and sure the E Wing is dear, but it is the only fighter with a Droid and Systems slot making it exactly what it should be, an advanced, expensive development test bed.
It is not so much about what is missing, but more about what is special, unique and defining and how it is used in a group dynamic. It is definitely not about filling mechanic holes or satisfying tournament players.
:)
*I went Attack Wing instead, keeping in touch with the concepts, but not the game itself.
**Sometimes I think the core concepts are developed in a vacuum, balance retained naturally, then the tournament biased upgrades in another space entirely.
***The points increase fixed the point cost issue for the Defender, E Wing, Fang and Viper, allowing for decent squads of these with Aces.