Embrace the Chaos - Random Player Order and You

AMG announced back in September that they were instituting some fundamental changes to X-Wing, specifically eliminating the bid to determine player order. They were light on the details but said it would be random. We all assumed that would happen at the start of every game. But, last Friday they revealed the actual plan:

I don’t think anyone was expecting this. There are three main components to this change that we need to look at. We’ll take them one at a time.

First, the process for rolling for player order has been set as rolling three dice and seeing who gets the most crits. The rules establish a hierarchy for results to break ties. Which, given that crits have only a 1/8 chance of occurring will happen frequently. This system is needlessly complicated. For years, player order, when there was no bid, was determined with a coin flip. Either with actual coins or the expedient method of rolling an attack die and calling “hits or misses”. It was a 50/50 call. Simple. Quick. Why roll three dice?

Second, we have the concept of random player order each round. This fundamentally changes the nature of the game. No longer can you know who will do what first. This adds an element of randomness to the game that will mess with long-standing tactics and strategies.

But it is the third aspect that will truly throw things into chaos. Player order is determined randomly after dials are set. When you put your dials down, you don’t know if your ships will move first or second. Ships at the same initiative may, or may not not have vacated the spot you intend to fly into. A maneuver could turn into a bump or fly into empty space.

There is a lot of doom and gloom on the internet about these changes. My initial reaction was “wow, that’s unexpected. I’m not sure I like it”. After thinking about it more, I’ve come around on the idea more. It will shake things up and force players to develop new strategies instead of relying on ones that are ten years old at this point.

Instead of many games being determined before the game begins, when an ace player wins the coin toss and will get to move second the entire game, it forces that player to keep having to stay vigilante for the entire game. If you rely on needing to move second, you are going to have a very bad time.

Now, I understand the concern about changing the game to be more random. There is some valid points that the game did not rely on randomness. You went into games knowing a lot of information that would not change. This shifts away from that, so that victory becomes less assured each game. Randomness can and will affect games more directly.

That’s scary and it can be frustrating. No one wants to lose due to a die roll. But it is also refreshing. Each game will play out differently. Two lists, facing off against each other multiple times, will have a completely new chance to win each time they play. The winner will be the one that responds to the changing state of the game better, rather than the one who built the better list before the players even met.

I say all this with the caveat that I have yet to sit down and play games like this in earnest. The idea is too new. There haven’t been any tournaments where it has been in place. I acknowledge the possibility that it will suck donkey balls. Losing because of random chance does suck.

It also may end up mattering very little. How often do you have games where you and your opponent don’t have any pilots at the same initiative? In those cases, which in my experience are most games, this rule change matters not at all.

I also look forward to giving this an honest try. It feels invigorating. I look forward to going into more games unsure how the match will end.