Epic
Explore the Two New Epic Tournament Formats for X-Wing (TM)
“As soon as each transport is loaded, evacuation control will give clearance for immediate launch.”
–The Empire Strikes Back
The Rebel Transport Expansion Pack for X-Wing™ is here!
Now available at retailers, the Rebel Transport Expansion Pack introduces the game’s first huge ship, as well as its first Epic Play experiences, and that means it’s time to take another look at the game’s official Epic Play tournament rules (pdf, 2.6 MB)!
The GR-75 medium transport provides support to a Rebel fleet during Epic Play,
as Imperial starfighters weave through asteroids.
In our previews of the Rebel Transport Expansion Pack, we looked at how the GR-75 medium transport utilizes a new maneuver template and new rules for “energy,” we looked at its escort X-wing and the four talented pilots who arrive to fly it, and we looked at the Epic Play missions in the Evacuation of Hoth campaign.
Today, we continue our exploration of the “Epic” new experiences the Rebel Transport Expansion Pack introduces by examining the two different Epic Play tournament formats introduced in the Epic Play tournament rules: Epic Dogfight and Team Epic.
Epic Dogfight
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In the Epic Dogfight tournament format, you and your opponent wage massive, head-to-head space battles atop a six-foot by three-foot play surface. Between the two of you, you’ll place twelve asteroids and field two fleets of starships worth up to six-hundred total squad points!
Each player has three-hundred squad points to spend, as well as five Epic points, which limit the number of huge ships that players can bring to the table. For example, the Corellian CR90 corvette is worth ninety of your three-hundred squad points, but it also costs three of your five available Epic points. Your fleet, therefore, can’t include two CR90s, but it could include one CR90 and one GR-75 medium transport, which costs two Epic points, as well as thirty squad points.
Meanwhile, Epic Play tournament rules impose a cap on the number of copies of a single type of starfighter that you may include in your fleet; you can’t field more than twelve copies of any one starfighter. Here, the rule checks the type of ship, as indicated on the maneuver dial, rather than the specific pilot, as indicated on the ship card. You could field “Howlrunner” and eleven Academy Pilots, but you couldn’t add “Backstabber” to the mix.
Imperial and Rebel forces collide in an Epic Dogfight!
Team Epic
The Team Epic tournament format is much as it sounds – a chance for teams of two to square off against each other in brutal battles of up to eight-hundred squad points!
As with the Epic Dogfight format, Team Epic games are played on a surface of six feet by three feet. You and your teammate each design a squad of two-hundred squad points and three Epic points. Both squads must match the same faction – either Rebel or Imperial – and, when these squads are combined, your team’s fleet must obey all laws for uniqueness and the cap on the number of identical starships.
Table talk is permitted in Team Epic, as you and your team open com channels to coordinate your fleet movement. You can discuss actions and maneuvers, and you can even show your teammate your maneuver dials before you lock everything into place. However, each player takes ultimate responsibility for his or her ships, and you may choose to have your ace pilot perform a daring strafing run, flying out of formation, in direct defiance of the team captain’s recommendations.
Rebel players discuss the CR90’s best shot in a Team Epic match.
Because Team Epic tournaments feature the game’s largest fleets and challenge players to work together to make good use of the limits on their Epic points and ship types to form a single, unified fighting force, the Team Epic tournament format is arguably the game’s greatest showcase for creative squad-building. Accordingly, developers Alex Davy and Frank Brooks offer a couple of sample Team Epic squads for both Rebels and Imperials, and they explain how the squads are designed to work together.
Sample Squads for the Team Epic Tournament Format
The Rebel squads by Alex and Frank highlight the interactions between starships from the Core Set, the GR-75 medium transport, the Corellian CR90 corvette, and a number of single starfighter expansion packs, including the HWK-290 Expansion Pack and the upcoming Z-95 Headhunter Expansion Pack.
Meanwhile, their Imperial squads showcase the fearsome lethality of a mixture of three Firespray-31s and four TIE interceptors, then partner that mix to nine TIE fighters that can swarm for damage or run interference against enemy flight paths. Accordingly, their builds make use of the Slave I Expansion Pack, the TIE Interceptor Expansion Pack, the Imperial Aces Expansion Pack, and the TIE Fighter Expansion Pack.
Alex Davy on His Rebel Squad: |
Frank Brooks on His Rebel Squad: |
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This squad is about as straightforward and “in your face” as it gets: a CR90 fully equipped and ready to blast apart any Imperials foolish enough to get within firing range. A pair of Headhunters with Assault Missiles prevents my CR90 from being overwhelmed by swarms of TIE fighters, and Airen Cracken’s action-passing ability, paired with Push the Limit, should allow you to fire both Assault Missiles with target lock and focus tokens. Biggs is in the squad to ensure that the fragile Z-95s aren’t destroyed before they have the chance to fire their missiles.
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In order to complement Alex’s action-sharing strategy, I put Comms Booster on my GR-75 so that it could ensure both of Alex’s Z-95s had target lock and focus tokens on the opening volley. Alternatively, the GR-75 can give focus tokens to Biggs, increasing his survivability and freeing Biggs to use his action for R2-F2. Additionally, my X-wings can fly within range of Biggs to benefit from his protection as they attack and attempt to stress my opponents’ ships. My Y-wings then use their Ion Cannon Turrets against ships that are already stressed, ionizing them and preventing them from performing actions on the next turn. Roark is present to boost the pilot skill of the ship that needs it most, guaranteeing that the right ship fires first at the right moment. His Recon Specialist can either help him use his Blaster Turret, or it can help him defend against multiple attacks as he could easily become a high priority target. |
“Howlrunner” leads a squad of TIE fighters into battle in a Team Epic match.
Alex Davy on His Imperial Squad: |
Frank Brooks on His Imperial Squad: |
| CR90s and GR-75 medium transports boast huge shield values, and the fact that they can take the Reinforce action means they can add a free evade result to every roll. This means that ships with only two attack dice are going to have a hard time putting quick damage onto these ships, so the Imperials need to bring the most powerful weapons currently at their disposal to this fight. Three Firespray-31s with Heavy Laser Cannons can give even a CR90 a run for its money, and if they fly in formation with Captain Jonus, the results can be utterly devastating. The squad’s three Academy Pilots are added for dogfighting and blocking, to help keep heat off the Firesprays while they engage enemy huge ships. |
Since Alex brought a lot of large ships, I wanted to make sure that we still had numerical superiority, so I brought “Howlrunner” with a complement of five Academy Pilots. I also really like to have a strong flanking unit that can move together (or split up) along the side of the board to either draw attention away from the other ships in our list or wreak havoc if they’re left alone. That’s where Soontir Fel and his Saber Squadron Pilots come into play. Also, because all of my ships have agility values of “3,” along with Stealth Devices, they should be able to avoid any Turbolaser fire I might run across as I close into attack position. |
Thanks, guys!
The Team Epic tournament format permits an unparalleled range of squad diversity, and the sample squads that Alex and Frank have created illustrate just one possible approach to the format’s massive… epic… battles.
The Rebel Transport Expansion Pack and Epic Play tournament formats allow you to enjoy an entirely new scale for X-Wing combat!
Download the Document. Deploy the Fleet!
The Rebel Transport Expansion Pack is now available, and the Tantive IV Expansion Pack is due to arrive at retailers later this month. That means it’s time to download the official X-Wing Epic Play tournament rules document (pdf, 2.6 MB) and get started!
Download the Epic Play tournament rules today, and start planning your assault. In the meantime, as you look forward to your first Epic Play tournaments and the release of the Tantive IV Expansion Pack, keep your eyes open for a look at some sample Epic Dogfight squads, as well as other X-Wing news and strategy articles!
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