I finally dusted off my old complete Starship battles collection and decided to give it a go again. But seeing as how my play group hasn't touched the game in years and is scattered around this time of year I decided that the simple attack and dice-based "luck" gameplay makes for an excellent single player game. What I did:

1. Build a 300 point squad. Whichever side you are using (dark/light) the A.I. is the opposite.

2. Flip a coin to randomly generate an opponent:
Heads: All Capital Ships (Roll dice again to randomly select which ships)
Tails: Fighter swarm (Class 1 and carrier ships up to 150 then roll dice again to select which fighters you are engaging, I.E. 1 X-Wing swarm, 2 A-Wing Swarm, 3 B-Wing Swarm, 4 Y-Wing Swarm, 5 Rouge Squadron, 6 One of each type of fighter [to fill remaining points]

For battling dark side:
Heads: All Capital Ships (roll D6 for opponent, for example:
-1 Super Star Destroyer x2
-2 Super and two Star destroyers w/Palpatine and 4 fighters escorting
-3 Star Destroyer x5, Interdictor, TIE fighter x2
-Etc...

3. Place on map as per normal setup

4. At the beginning of the game flip coin to see if A.I. Is offensive (charging in with all ships, turning class 1 for barrages, using command points for increased/damage and attack when applicable) or defensive (holds formation with all capital ships and uses fighters as screen until fleet destroyed, uses command counters to increase Defense and heal/cancel attacks when possible)

5. Use a die to see which ship enemy will focus on next and will continue to attack that target until it's defeated. Fighters attack closest enemy and the rest is pretty easy to figure out.

The simplistic rules and dice slugfest of the game makes it enjoyable to play and random how it turns out. Since you got to build your team the tactics and synergies almost make up an advantage over the A.I. But the dice control the game and can end your day pretty quick. Tried two games, one Super team versus another viscount based team and I lost. Then a capital ship battle which I managed to win only by the skin of my teeth and some bad rolls from the A.I. Near the end. I can say I honestly had fun playing this as a single player game. And the rules are far more conducive to it as opposed to SWMs far more tactical play which almost always requires another player to work properly.

Anyone else ever try this? Or have their own special rules? Nice to know the game does have it's uses.

Agreed, sounds very fun! I actually tried to incorporate X-wing and SWM, but it never really came to fruition:-( lol