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Sup Dakkanaughts?!

I've spent all day reading up on X Wing, and after initially dismissing it as rubbish I'm now about 98% certain I'm picking up a starter set tomorrow!

Thing is, I'm not a massive Star Wars nerd. I actually enjoyed Phantom Menace immensely. Do I need all the background info on secondary characters to fully enjoy the game, or do the rules and gameplay speak for themselves? I always preferred the toys to the movies, and the ships still have a very special place in the area where a human heart would be.

Cheers.

You don't need background information.

I wouldnt say so at all!

You should be able to enjoy the game without any knowledge of Star Wars.

The game is very very good and has great mechanics/playability.

However it also caters to those who are Star Wars geeks too!

You don't really need to know the background- you will find yourself wondering who these guys are, but really, it's just not essential. Fun, but unnecessary.

There's some fun bonus' if you know the Star Wars fluff, such as Bigg's ability to prevent friendlies from being shot. Biggs happens to be Lukes wingman who exploded- and now he has anti-plot armour.

If you enjoyed Star Wars as a kid...or as an adult, then that's pretty much all you need.
I'm completely ignorant of anything outside the movies, some tentative forays into Wookiepedia aside, and I was hooked after my first game.

If you can sit in a room with an xwing or tie fighter model and never have the urge to pick it up, fly it around, and say "pew pew" a little bit then this might not be for you.
Otherwise you're going to have a lot of fun.

I would say most people who play X-Wing don't know the EU characters involved until playing the game and even then it's not like it matters.

You really don't. One of the best pilots in the game (Wedge Antilles) is a bit part in the movies. You really only need to like going "pew pew." with some spaceships.

That said, watch episode IV so you know what's going on when your group decides to do a death star trench run.

I only know the characters in the movies but that doesn't stop me loving this game. I spent a lot of time playing Rogue Squadron on the N64 as a kid so this touches me in all the right places. All it takes is a love of the ships.

It does help you 'get' the concepts of some of the ships more, though. EG TIE's are quantity over quality. A B Wing is designed as a bomber, an A Wing is designed as an interceptor.

But then, as people we saying, Wookieepedia helps out with that.

Thanks everyone, that's all very helpful.

I suppose I could always dust off my original trilogy DVDs over the weekend. You know, for research...

@Frozensoul - I loved Rogue Squadron! That's it - SOLD!

I'll report back in a few days.

Roger, over and out - *ksssshk*

Best of luck, pilot!

If you are going to do some research, I highly recommend the X-wing series of books. The ones by Stackpole are worth their weight in Alderaanian wine.

No backstory really necessary, as long as you're okay with the ubernerds snickering at you every time you refer to Ibtisam, Howlrunner, or Kath Scarlett as "he."

 Zefig wrote:
No backstory really necessary, as long as you're okay with the ubernerds snickering at you every time you refer to Ibtisam, Howlrunner, or Kath Scarlett as "he."

Howlrunner is a woman?

*Mind blown*

Yep.

And Soontir Fel is Wedge Antilles's brother-in-law...

*dramatic soap opera music*

 Krinsath wrote:
Yep.

And Soontir Fel is Wedge Antilles's brother-in-law...

*dramatic soap opera music*

And the sister/wife ACTED IN SOAP OPERAS.

Or maybe just operas.

I'm a little fuzzy on that one.

Don't mention phanto-I didn't say it.Still we should prepare for a ground assault.5 miniutes later:Our AT TEs are useless against the awesomeness of AT ATs!-What happens when you say you like the prequels.

Ha, great responses from everyone, thanks!

My local comic shop and awful gaming centre (sorry, MTG centre) didn't have X-wing in stock.

I'm looking on Amazon and the starter set is £24. Bargain.

Now, do I go large staright away and get the Falcon and Slave 1 with it, or keep it steady and just get say, a TIE bomber or advance and a B-Wing or A-wing to bulk up my starter?!

Buy all the things...

Sadly it's the best option because each ship booster and box (for the 3 larger ships) comes with upgrade cards that can be used on other ships.

"Buy all the things" ha haa!

Well I opted for an A Wing and a TIE Bomber, so fingers crossed they arrive in time for the weekend!

 monders wrote:
"Buy all the things" ha haa!

Well I opted for an A Wing and a TIE Bomber, so fingers crossed they arrive in time for the weekend!

You laugh at that now, but I don't have the luxury of having a TIE Fighter Booster because I didn't buy all the things... Now I'm waiting for a restock, and have been for months

 Alfndrate wrote:

You laugh at that now, but I don't have the luxury of having a TIE Fighter Booster because I didn't buy all the things... Now I'm waiting for a restock, and have been for months

Sage advice, and I'll heed it!

in other news, I just printed off an A0 starfield at work. A0 is 46.8 inches by 33.1, so just shy of 4x3ft. Which is nice. We have wax balls instead of ink cartridges so it should last until I get a 'proper' mat sorted out.

 monders wrote:
Sup Dakkanaughts?!

I've spent all day reading up on X Wing, and after initially dismissing it as rubbish I'm now about 98% certain I'm picking up a starter set tomorrow!

Thing is, I'm not a massive Star Wars nerd. I actually enjoyed Phantom Menace immensely. Do I need all the background info on secondary characters to fully enjoy the game, or do the rules and gameplay speak for themselves? I always preferred the toys to the movies, and the ships still have a very special place in the area where a human heart would be.

Cheers.

I actually enjoyed Phantom Menace immensely.

enjoyed Phantom Menace immensely

enjoyed Phantom Menace

My stuff has arrived! Thank you, Amazon and Royal Mail!

 Surtur wrote:

 monders wrote:
Sup Dakkanaughts?!

I've spent all day reading up on X Wing, and after initially dismissing it as rubbish I'm now about 98% certain I'm picking up a starter set tomorrow!

Thing is, I'm not a massive Star Wars nerd. I actually enjoyed Phantom Menace immensely. Do I need all the background info on secondary characters to fully enjoy the game, or do the rules and gameplay speak for themselves? I always preferred the toys to the movies, and the ships still have a very special place in the area where a human heart would be.

Cheers.

I actually enjoyed Phantom Menace immensely.

enjoyed Phantom Menace immensely

enjoyed Phantom Menace

I may have to watch it again, I can only remember how awesome Darth Maul was

If you know about the films but nothing else, try the Wookieepedia.

In fact if you start with the X-Wing Miniatures Game page, that has links to all the expansion packs, each of which has links to the pages about the ships, droids and characters in those packs. There, you'll find such titbits as the fact that Dark Curse was on his last combat mission before retirement before getting blown up by Wedge Antilles at Yavin.

Well, hot damn. Wedge murders old people in space. Just when you thought you knew a guy...

Andrew - I'll defintely check that out this week, thanks!

I had my first game on Friday with Mrs Monders. Really enjoyed it, but we kept forgetting about the action tokens and such like.

She was working, and had to keep checking/answering her phone... ah well, a noble victory gor the heroic Empire (me)!