Formation repositioning and basic blocking.

When all of your repositioning ships have the same manuvers, like 4, T-65 X-Wings, repositioning is fairly easy.

Each X-Wing plans a 4-K turn.

And things turn out fine. But let's use two T-70 X-Wings, and two Z-95 Bandits.

Most players will place the Bandits in front, since they have a lower pilot skill than two T-70 aces, like Poe Dameron and Ello Asty. But the Z-95's have a 3-K turn, while the T-70's have the same 4-K turn as a T-65 X-Wing. If this squadron all attempts to K-turn at once-

The Bandits move first, and accomplish their 3-K turns. Ello attempts to turn, and finds that his 4-K turn causes a collision with the Bandit that was in front of him.

But T-70's also have a 3-Tallon Roll, and provided there is enough room, can avoid a collision and still get repositioned.

Let's put our squad in an approach situation with Mauler Mithiel and Dark Curse.

There's not enough room to get the whole squadron repositioned, but we can attempt a block. Each fighters plans a 1 Forward.

The Bandits move first, and can take a Focus action since they did not have a collision.

Dark Curse and Mauler Mithiel planned 2 Forward manuvers-

Causing them to collide with the Bandits and thus skip their actions this turn.

Ello Asty and Poe Dameron execute their 1 Forwards, and can take a Focus action since they did not have a collision. We now have a situation where the bandits cannot shoot the TIE they are touching, but can attack the adjacent TIE.The TIEs are in a similar situation, though they can fire at adjacent Bandits, or the T-70 aces.

The T-70 aces can fire on either TIE, and have Focus available for attack or defense.

In a real game, blocking will seldom be this straightforward, but that is the basic idea.

Repositioning

I actually don't see a lot of discussion or tutorial on this subject. And I think it's a rather important fundamental to grasp.

In X-Wing, ships are almost always in motion. This means that eventually two ships are going to collide. Usually this happens on about turn 2 or 3, when two squads in formation meet head-on, and then have to get past each other. But it also happens when ships are flanking. Anytime their manuvers intersect, there's likely to be a collision. 

Let's consider a T-70 X-Wing collides with a Contracted Scout.

Remember, ships move in ascending order of pilot skill. So let's say the Contracted Scout plans a 1 Forward.

Since the Contracted Scout's base will not clear Blue Ace's base, the Jumpmaster stays where it is.

If Blue Ace had planned a 4 K-Turn, he would be fine. Clearing the Contracted Scout's base, turning around, and gaining a stress.

Blue Ace could also plan a 3 T-Roll.

So far, so good. Let's replace Blue Ace with a Dagger Squadron B-Wing.

The B-Wing has a 2 K-Turn instead of a 4 K-Turn. The Scout plans another 1 forward.

And bumps. If the Dagger Squadron player had hoped that the Contracted Scout would move past, and planned a 2 K-Turn...

A collison, and a stress, even though the B-Wing couldn't complete it's manuver.

Note that even if both ships were perfectly head-on, a 2 manuver will not clear a large ship's base. Even though a large base is 2 templates long. Because the template would also have to close the space between the front/back guide "nubs". There isn't enough length on a 2 template to totally clear a large base.

If the Contracted Scout had instead planned a 2 forward-

Clear. Now the Dagger Squadron can complete his K-Turn without bumping.

So both pilot skill value and predicting your opponent's manuver are important.

Let's replace the Contracted Scout with a Tie/FO, piloted by Zeta Ace.

And throw in a few asteroids. Note that neither ship has collided yet.

With a lower pilot skill, if our Dagger Squadron player had planned a 2 K-Turn-

A collision, a failed K-Turn, and a stress for his trouble. Zeta Ace completes his 4 K-Turn that he had planned-

And is on his enemy's tail, with a stress, but a clear shot, and a position to stay on the B-Wing's tail next turn.

Let's say that the B-Wing had planned a 2 Left Turn instead.

He's clear, and no stress. Zeta Ace takes his 4 K-Turn-

The B-Wing doesn't have a shot, but he didn't have a shot before either. He's now stress free, and can very likely absorb the damage from Zeta Ace on his shields. The B-Wing is in a much better position for next turn.

How to learn.

Let's start at the very beginning. It's a very good place to start.

There is a saying in the Old School Renissance. "D&D is always right."

http://maliszew.livejournal.com/450708.html

"The "D&D is always right" principle means that many times you're left wrestling with things that simply don't make sense or at least whose meaning is obscure. There are two ways to resolve the confusion. The simplest one is simply to assume that the original text must be "wrong," which is to say, that the author had no idea what he was talking about and that you can safely substitute your own preference in their place. The more difficult approach is to step back and assume the author actually intended something and that, simply because that something isn't immediately obvious, it isn't any less real. "

It's important to remember that any game, is primarily a game first. The X-Wing fighter in X-Wing miniatures is an abstraction of the fictional spaceship in game terms. We may think that the X-Wing should be capable of X, Y or Z, but you have to look at the ship from a game player perspective and ask, "What is the X-Wing capable of, in this game?" What stats and abilities did the designer assign to this ship? And will it perform the things I want it to do on the table top?

You may want to fly all X-Wings, and some players can do just that, but they are accepting the X-Wing for what it is, not what they wish it would be.

Feelings, nothing more than feelings.

It's ok to feel frustrated at a loss. It's ok to feel like you want to give up and do something else. It's ok to feel like the dice "cheated" you. It's ok to be impatient at getting better. You have my official permission.

But remember that those are feelings. Emotions. You may feel very differently after a good night's sleep. And I find that recognizing that emotions are fleeting helps me process them. I might feel like I'm not making any progress in improving my game, but my emotions may be wrong. 

epiphany

play

noun  epiph·a·ny \i-ˈpi-fə-nē\

a (1) :  a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something (2) :  an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and striking (3) :  an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure

b :  a revealing scene or moment

You may get advice from other players that just doesn't work for you yet. They may have other experience that makes that advice work for them, that you lack. When you get such advice, file it away in your head for future reference. Keep working at other aspects of your game. Look for blogs and videos on tactics and strategy. Some blogger may have the knack for explaining a concept where you finally "get it". It may happen when you're playing and see a tactic work for you the first time. You might "get it" while falling asleep. Or in the shower. 

Road to Regionals.

Last year, I participated in my local Store Championship, and my local Regionals. My performance was very poor. Coming in last or 2nd to last place.

This year, I planned to put some effort into actually winning a Store Championship and at least making the cut at the Regionals. Now, I didn't win a Championship, but I did improve my standing, and learned a lot about the game. Over the next few weeks, I plan to relate my approach, what worked and what didn't. 

Today I'll actually talk about the research. I spent a good amount of time watching youtube videos of the 2015 Worlds event, and the 2016 Store Championships. 

https://www.youtube.com/user/doctorpauldavis/videos

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPX3C7Bwe39q3fKR-B-t5Lg/videos

Paying attention to how a player actually flies their builds, and the decisions they make can provide a lot of information. One of the first things I wanted to work on was the part of the game after the first joust. When ships have converged, fired, and now have to get past each other and reposition.

This part of a game take much more thought than the initial approach. Attempting to K-Turn a ship and failing, means that ship is-

1. Still not turned around, possibly missing good shots.

2. Gained a stress for no benefit.

3. Now has to attempt to get repositioned AND deal with not having access to red manuvers to get turned around.

The rule of thumb I've adopted, is that unless I'm absolutley sure that ship is going to clear the traffic jam, that I'm not going to dial in a red manuver. I'd rather bump with a green manuver, than make that failed K-Turn.

There are always exceptions, A K-Wing, for instance, doesn't have to worry about getting turned around, since it doesn't even have any red manuvers, and has a turret. (Probably a Twin Laser Turret equipped.) And can dial in a longer manuver, get past the traffic jam, and still get to attack.

But for ships that do have to get repositioned, it's important to do it as quickly and with a minimum of colliding as possible.