Medium Bases
June 21st will see the release of Wave 14 for X-Wing, giving us Saw’s Renegades and the TIE Reaper expansion packs. This will also be our first introduction to the Medium base which will be a feature of many ships in X-Wing 2nd Edition! So, before that hits shelves, we did some research with 3d-Printed Medium bases to get us ready to use the new base sizes! Before you read this, we highly recommend watching our Video Learning Series on Measuring Bases and Templates, as this article is sort of a continuation on those concepts applied to Medium bases.
The following information was gleaned using 3D-printed bases to the dimensions of the Medium bases as described by Fantasy Flight Games.
What’s the difference?
X-Wing uses the Small base as its “standard” unit of measurement. Medium bases fall exactly between small and large base on the scale: Small bases (and the 1-straight template) are exactly one “Base Length” long, and Large bases are 2 Base Lengths (henceforth abbreviated as BL) on each side. Medium bases are 1.5 BL on each side, and it’s this half-length that makes them tricky. Ships that use Medium bases are difficult to fly in formation with other, small and large-based ships because their base moves differently from everything else – but it’s not impossible! Just like every other base size, there are relationships between the templates and visual cues on the base itself that make it possible to “sight” your maneuvers and to know, rather than guess, where your base will end up. Let’s explore these!
Sighting Your Maneuvers
Straights
When a ship in X-Wing executes a maneuver, it is important to take into account the base length when estimating how far forward the ship will go. For example, a small base executing a 1-Straight will end 2 BL in front of its start position, because its own base adds one BL to the total movement. A Large base will add 2, so for the same 1-Straight, the Large base will end 3BL in front of its start.
Medium bases will end 1.5 Base Lengths in front of their start point. This is the “weird” part about Medium Base Straight maneuvers, and something you always have to take into account – Medium bases will reach a whole number of total bases moved every other maneuver. We will explore this in-depth later when considering how they fly with other base sizes. Otherwise, to sight a Medium base maneuver, simply look at the front guides and estimate X BL in front – that is where the rear of the base will end up, and 1.5 BL in front of that is the front of your ship.
Hard Turns
Fortunately, sighting hard turns for the Medium base I relatively simple. Simply draw an imaginary line between the rear and front corners of the plastic base. in the direction you are turning and extend it out (X – ¾) BL in that direction, where X is the speed of the turn. This tells you where your rear corner of the base will end up in the final position of the turn once executed!
For example, if I want to execute a right 3-Turn maneuver, I draw an imaginary line from the rear-left to the front-right corner, then extend that imaginary line out 2 ¼ Base Lengths from the front-right corner. Now I know exactly where the corner of the base will be, and I know it will be rotated 90 degrees to the right! By using these sighting rules, you can tell exactly where the base will be – you do not have to guess. Top-level X-Wing is not a game of guessing maneuvers!
These rules apply to all turns: a 2-turn will be separated by 1 ¼ BL, and a 1-turn ill be separated by merely ¼ BL. These rules are similar to those for sighting a Small base, just remember that the separation at the final position is slightly less.
Banks
Banks are the toughest maneuvers to sight overall in X-Wing. Besides rotating merely 45 degrees instead of an easy-to-determine 90, they have some of the more nebulous sighting guides: the nubs of the bases. To sight in a bank maneuver, draw an in agynary line from the rear to front nubs in the direction of the maneuver. This will intersect the nub of the base at its final position. Now, unlike turns, banks don’t then sight the distance from the sighting line, but rather from the corner of the base to the corner of the base at its endpoint. To find this endpoint, follow that imaginary nub-nub-nub line, from the corner of the base, extend that out (X – ¼) BL in that direction, where X is the speed of the maneuver.
For example, to execute a 3-Bank right, first draw your sighting line front he back-left nub through the front-right nub of the base and extend that out in front. Then, from the front-right corner of that base, estimate 2 ¾ BL following that line: this is where the corner of the base will end! Rotate the base 45 degrees on that point and voila! Final position. These rules apply to all turn speeds: for a 2-bank, your corners are separated by 1 ¾ BL. For a 1-bank, they are separated by ¾ BL.
Flying with Other Medium Bases
Turns out, you can fly these ships with other medium bases! They can fly in pairs or as a unit, but they have to follow some basic principles. Perhaps most interesting is what formation flying with Medium bases can do to the Bullseye firing arcs of the formation
Formation Turns
How do you turn your side-by-side formation of medium bases? We know from exploring small base ships that if small bases turn on the outside with a 2-speed-higher maneuver, they can pivot the formation on the inside base and remain side-by-side. We also know that large-base ships are too… large to accomplish these maneuvers in formation. Which rule do Medium bases follow?
As it happens, Medium bases are closer to Large in their formation flying capabilities. There is no amount of separation or combination of turns that will keep a side-by-side Medium formation exactly side-by-side after the turn. They are ever so slightly too bulky for that! However, we can still do some pretty cool things.
A side-by-side formation of Medium bases can perform the same turn in the same direction. In fact, they can do this even if they are not separated at the start of the turn. However, it is always prudent to leave a small amount of separation between your bases, otherwise the nubs will likely get in your way. When you perform this maneuver, the bases will end inline, with their bullseye arcs perfectly aligned. Remember to use the rules of sighting the end of the turn (Corner-corner-corner) for the inside base.
A Medium base can turn through a Medium base positioned directly in front of it. So, if you are maneuvering a formation with a Medium base in the rear, as long as they are aligned, the rear ship can move through the ship in front of it with any speed turn and complete that maneuver.
Where things get interesting is when we start combining maneuver speeds. If your bases are separated by about a template’s width, a Medium base formation can stagger its bullseyes if the inside ship performs a maneuver of one speed less than the outside ship. For example, the outside ship performs a 3-turn, and the inside ship performs a 2, the inside ship will still end up ahead – but instead of inline, it Is staggered slightly, just enough to almost perfectly stagger the bullseye arcs of the two ships. This is useful if you want to have a greater chance of catching an opponent in a powerful Bullseye ability, such as Dead to Rights with the 2nd Edition M12-L Kimogila.
To perform slower maneuvers on the inside, Medium bases must be separated even further so that they do not overlap. Either the inside must start behind the outside ship, or farther out to the side. Otherwise, the ships will overlap at their final position.
Formation Banks
In some ways, banking a pair or formation of Medium bases together is simpler than turning them, despite the unique challenges of sighting bank maneuvers themselves. Remember, separation of the bases is key – Since banks turn the base 45 degrees, they in fact require a little more separation than turning in order to complete most maneuvers effectively. For safe maneuvering, I recommend to separate bases by roughly 1 Base Length to ensure they do not overlap while conducting formation banks.
When properly spaced, the formation can take the same speed banks safely. The bases will end with their corners aligned and the ships in staggered formation – this is similar to how small and large bases perform, unsurprisingly. Remember that the rear base, though (the one on the outside of the turn) will end 1.5 BL behind the front – this is important when banking in to engage and trying to play the range control game. The inside base is always “faster,” and this goes for banking small and large ship formations as well.
So, what if we want to control effectively? Small bases can do that easily by banking in more slowly on the inside of the turn. Unfortunately, much like turns, Medium bases have trouble staying inline with banks as well, though we can maintain the original side-by-side formation with careful spacing. If your inside base performs a bank of 2-speed less than the outside base, they can end up inline at the end of the maneuver if they are separated by 1 BL at the beginning. This is your formation pivot – but it is very slow (slow to turn, but it covers a lot of ground quickly!) and requires a lot of space. Remember that two Medium bases side-by-side exceed the Range-1 band, and so you must be careful taking these through the asteroid field.
Mixed Formations
It will be rare to have a list comprised entirely of Medium-base ships, although is possible (Brobots come to mind)! So let’s explore flight with Small and Large-base ships. All discussion of mixed-formation flying comes with the assumption that the bases are either aligned at the front or aligned at the rear at the start of the formation maneuver, as the outcomes can be drastically different for each differing alignment.
Small Bases
Straights
Whenever flying small and medium bases together in straight-ahead maneuvers, the golden rule is that the Medium base ends up ½ Base-Length ahead of the small base for each maneuver they do in tandem. That is, the Medium base is slightly “faster.” Unlike Large bases, however, it is not faster by a clean whole number so that you can easily compensate, rather that ½-BL can cause some issues.
Always consider the starting alignment when flying mixed formations of Small- and Medium-base ships. If the bases start rear-aligned, the end positions can align after the maneuvers complete, if the small base executes a maneuver 1-speed higher than the Medium base. This is because you “lose” ½ BL at the start of the maneuver, and another ½ when you end, making a whole BL to make up with a quicker maneuver. However, if the bases start front-aligned, the end positions cannot align as one of the two bases will end up ½-BL ahead of the other. If the Medium base is ahead (which is accomplished by executing the same speed maneuvers), the bases will end rear-aligned. Basically, every other turn it is possible to end with the front of each base aligned, and only every other turn – there is no fancy combination of maneuvers that can give you that extra ½ length, only full ones.
This has serious ramifications for planning an initial engagement. If you are flying a mixed-base formation that is set up to joust, you must consider your deployment alignment when planning your maneuvers for the initial engagement, because this dictates what turns your formation can engage at the same range. Since mixed formation can align only every other turn, you lock in what turns this is possible with your initial base alignment.
Consider a formation that starts front-aligned. Turn 1, they are unaligned. Then turn 2, they can align again assuming the Small-base ship performs a maneuver of 1-speed greater than the Medium base. Then, turn 3, they are unaligned again before coming back together on turn 4. This means, if you are jousting and start front-aligned, you can only engage at the same range on turns 2 and 4 (and 8 and 10 but that’s beside the point). Therefore, if you expect to engage on the second (or 4th, etc.) turn of the match, start your mixed formation front-aligned.
Next, consider a rear-aligned formation. Rear-aligned formations can align on turns 1, 3, 5, etc. if the maneuvers are selected carefully. Notice the difference? These ½-BL increments make it difficult to fly your formation simply in straight-ahead patterns and that must be carefully controlled. Simply put, Medium bases in mixed formations are less adaptable in a joust than homogeneous formations, as they play the range control game in ½-BL increments. A savvy opponent can force your hand on turns that you will be unaligned, perhaps catching a ship slightly ahead of the formation with all their firepower before you can return effectively.
Banks
Performing formation banks with small and medium ships follows some of the same principles as straights: alignment and separation are key to keeping your formation on track! Mostly, we will be talking about banking with the small base on the inside of the turn, as it is generally fine to perform the same maneuvers with the small base on the outside of the turn, due to the forward start point of the Medium base. In order to end aligned and perform the same speed of bank, the small base must start rear-aligned. If they do, even with almost no separation, the bases will end front-aligned and rotated 45 degrees, pivoting the formation. Also starting rear-aligned with a small amount of separation (roughly ¼-BL), a small base on the outside of the turn ends rear-aligned with the medium on the inside if it performs a 2-speed greater turn.
Turns
Unsurprisingly, alignment matters when considering tun maneuvers! For the most part, with about ¼-BL spacing (or a little more to be safe) small and medium base ships can perform the same turn maneuvers without incident. There is one exception: A small-base ship cannot 1-turn in front of a Medium base ship if they start rear-aligned.
Just like we saw when considering Medium-only formations, we can effectively stagger Bullseye arcs with careful selection of maneuvers, while taking into account how our bases start aligned. If they start rear-aligned, the Small and Medium can perform the same turn maneuver and end with their Bullseyes staggered! If they start front-aligned, though, their bullseyes will be perfectly in line.
You can pivot a formation of Small- and Medium-based ships, as long as the Small-based ship is on the inside of the turn. Whether they start front- or rear-aligned doesn’t matter, as long as there is a little separation. The Medium performs a 3-Hard, and the Small performs a 1-Hard, and the bases end rear-aligned. If they start front-aligned, they will still end rear-aligned, but with less separation.
Large Bases
Hoo, boy. You made it this far? Good. There’s a lot to remember! Fortunately, Large bases are in some ways easier to understand once you have accepted the ideas of Small-base mixed formations. This is because, for Straight maneuvers, the relationship between Medium- and Large-base ships can be interpreted the same way as with Small- and Medium-bases! Since they both differ in size by half a base length, the only thing that is different is the absolute space they take up. So, for Straight maneuvers together, everything is the same – just keep track of your ½-BL increments and plan out carefully when you will engage. Remember the dimensions of the Large ship: 2x2 Base Lengths.
The relationship might be the same, but together, they constitute a very fast formation and take up a lot of absolute space. For this reason, although the relationship is similar, there are a few considerations that need to be made due to the space the Large base takes up. Since they differ, too, by ½-BL and not ½(smaller base length) like Small vs. Medium bases, some things like Banks and Turns ton’t work out quite as cleanly.
Banks
There are a few little differences we need to consider when talking about Bank maneuvers. Unlike small bases, Medium bases on the inside of a bank maneuver won’t front-align if they start rear-aligned – they will end up by half the Medium base length (¾-BL?) in front of the Large base. They will, however, be able to pivot and end aligned if they are on the outside of the bank! By starting front-aligned on the outside, Medium bases can perform a 3-speed bank while the Large performs a 1-speed and end front-aligned again. This allows you to, albeit slowly, pivot your entire formation.
Turns
Unfortunately, there is no clean way to pivot a formation of Large- and Medium-based ships, no matter which size is on the outside of the turn. If they perform differing speed maneuvers without adequate separation (about 1-BL), they will even overlap. We just have to be aware of this and plan in our maneuvers accordingly.
Fortunately, performing the same speed maneuver with the Large base on the inside of the turn is really not difficult. If the bases start front-aligned, they end with their Bullseyes aligned and if they start rear-aligned, their bullseyes will end staggered. Once again though, be cautious of the 1-Turns: a Medium base cannot 1-turn “through” (or “In front of” if you wish) a Large-base ship if it starts rear-aligned because the 1-turn simply doesn’t traverse enough space in front of it.
Conclusions
If you have made it this far, congratulations! What a trooper – this is a dense topic and one to keep fresh in your mind as Saw’s Renegades and the TIE Reaper come out in the next week or so. Drop a line in the comments or send questions to feedback@backtodials.com if you noticed anything or have anything to add! Finally, some things that came up while I was writing this article and recording the episode with Adam that seem very pertinent:
The Medium base is the only base size that can exactly traverse 1 range band (2.5 Base-lengths) with a 1-Straight maneuver. The Firespray-31 for example will ALWAYS get 1 range closer when it performs a straight Boost maneuver! Unlike the Large base though, it can’t “cheat” and cross 2 range bands with one straight boost.
Mixed formations with Medium bases are not very adaptable. Because of the way their alignment works, and because so much of their maneuvers “working” depends on being either front- or rear-aligned, it is much more difficult to change your plan halfway through the leadup to an engagement if you are trying to keep your formation cohesive. Consider using the Medium base as a flanker or, at the very least, the vanguard and inside-corner of your formation to enhance your ability to change plans on the fly and pivot as needed.
The “Rule of 10.5” applies to Medium bases. Recall the Rule of 11 states that, in a jousting scenario, you travel a collected 11 Base-Lengths across the board at each other before you are just in Range 3. Because the Range Ruler is 7.5-BL long, you are in Range 3 exactly at 10.5 Base Lengths! This does, of course, assume that your board is exactly 3 Range Rulers, or 22.5BL, long on each side – inconsistencies in this (and they do exist!) will cause you to be slightly out or further in range than you think. For safety, keep assuming the Rule of 11, and you can hit exactly 11 Base Lengths with a Medium ship (on even-numbered turns, of course)!
Original Article by Asa Graf and Adam Katning, June 17th 2018.
