Unconventional Warfare is a progressive format for XWing for leagues and multi-round events. On top of the existing rules it layers some list-building restrictions, where your style of list grants you a perk for each round.
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| I asked AI to generate an image of Star Wars unconventional warfare. I don't know what the hell's going on here, but it's definitely not conventional... |
So your style of list is referred to as your Strategic Approach. The rules say that you declare your approach during setup, between Place Obstacles and Place Forces, but anyone looking at your list should be able to figure out what it is... You can build a standard 20 point list and play that, but if it doesn't fit either of the available approaches you can't claim the perks. (And in my limited experience with the format, they're worth having). The two approaches are:
Fighter Aces - you can only use small ships that are limited, and you must have a minimum of three
Heavy Hitters - you must have at least two medium ships or one large ship, and you may have up to two small ships
These approaches can place limits on some of the factions (unless you're prepared to give away deficit points). Separatists who want to play Heavy Hitters have to take Firesprays because they can't take a Gauntlet or Infiltrator and make a 20 point list. The Resistance can't play Heavy Hitters at all as they can't make a 20 point list. And with the Upsilon not being in Standard, the First Order player wanting to play Heavy Hitters has to take two Xi shuttles. Which may not be sensible...
Perks
Unconventional Warfare is played across three rounds; how long a round lasts is up to your TO - at a convention it could be a day, for a league at your FLGS it could be a week, a month or more. For each round you receive a new perk based on your strategic approach:
| Round | Fighter Aces | Heavy Hitters | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | After a friendly ship moves through but does not overlap an obstacle or enemy ship, it gains one evade token. | Once per round, while a friendly medium or large ship defends at range 1, the attacker ignores the range 1 bonus. | |
| 2 | While a friendly ship attacks, if the defender is in its bullseye and the attacking ship is not in the defenders rear arc, add one attack die. | Once per round while a friendly medium or large shp attacks at range 3, the defender ignores the range bonus. | |
| 3 | While a friendly ship performs a barrel roll or boost, it may use the speed 2 straight template. After a friendly ship uses this perk, it gains 1 stress token. | Once per round, while a friendly medium or large ship attacks, it may suffer 1 face-up damage card to add two attack dice. |
Alignments
There's support in the rules for tracking wins and losses for the Light and Dark sides; it doesn't have any mechanical effect but I know some stores run campaign maps thattrack which side has the upper hand. The Republic, Rebel Alliance and Resistance score victories for the Light Side, and the Separatists, Empire and First Order score for the Dark Side. Scum and Villainy can play for either side, but the S&V players must declare at the start of the event which side they are playing for.
So there you have it, all the rules you need for the format. And if this sounds like your cup of Whyrens Reserve, I'm running an Unconventional Warfare event at Aardvarks and Dragons in Woodbridge on 9th June. And there'll be some cards from Adepticon in the prize pool.
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