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With the upcoming release of a 3rd faction for X-wing, does it become more viable to collect one faction only?

I know folks who got in "on the ground floor" tend to have both of the original factions, but that is quite pricey! Apparently, at tournaments you can face off against the same faction you're fielding, so I'm not planning to collect Rebels or Scum.

Also, can I just say, Barnes & Noble is awesome . Ordered a lot of things through Miniature Market, but starter sets and Interceptors were out of stock. Apparently I live nearby to a half-dozen Barnes & Noble stores, and a quick stop by 2 of them later, I've got the items that were out of stock online. Particularly Interceptors, which I couldn't find for retail price online anywhere!

A suggestion on collecting only one faction:

DON'T.



In all seriousness, if you want to play only casually, you can print the cards offline and use whatever upgrades, even with only a single faction (if your opponents are cool with this).

If you want tourney stuff, you'll either have to get all factions to be competitive, trade/buy for stuff, or accept the fact that you'll be lucky to scrape out a win by hamstringing yourself so much before the match even starts.

That's really one of the problems in my opinion with it. You need to collect the entire range to get all the upgrades.

Well, I'm hoping to buy (ebay) or trade for upgrade cards that might be needed from rebel packs. And yeah, for starters I won't have a problem printing out or borrowing certain upgrades that don't come with the Imperial packs.

Is there a good list anywhere of the upgrade cards that are universal, but only come in certain packages? Or, I guess just a list of what cards are in what packages? Anything I've found like that so far only lists card names, but not if they're universal (usable for both rebel and imperial) or not.

Secondly, is there a good site other than ebay for buying upgrade cards separately?

http://xwing-miniatures.wikia.com/wiki/X-Wing_Miniatures_Wiki has screenshots of all the upgrade cards. The only cards that are faction-dependant are some of the crew. Otherwise, pretty much everything is universal.

Perfect, thanks Henshini! That's similar to the site I was looking at, except that it doesn't crash my PC

I will definitely try to buy/trade for upgrade cards that I need that only come with rebels or scum. On that note, I've got 2 X-wings for trade if any kind experienced soul knows which cards I'd be likely lacking and is willing to trade them (otherwise I'll just learn as I go but PM me if interested!)

since the new Faction steals a bit from the other two factions. it makes it tempting to run all three. sure if you want to play any list it is spendy. I am sure I have dropped over a grand on x-wing but I can play 90% of all lists.

 RiTides wrote:


I will definitely try to buy/trade for upgrade cards that I need that only come with rebels or scum. On that note, I've got 2 X-wings for trade if any kind experienced soul knows which cards I'd be likely lacking and is willing to trade them (otherwise I'll just learn as I go but PM me if interested!)

Another slightly more expensive option is to buy the blisters that have upgrades you want (hopefully at less than retail), and resell the ship models, pilot cards, tokens, and base inserts to try and make back some of your money. I know there are cases where I would just buy the ships, but have no real use for the upgrades.

 derek wrote:
I know there are cases where I would just buy the ships, but have no real use for the upgrades.

You're exactly the kind of person I'm looking for (I'm thinking a lot of folks might be in that position, getting copies of ships where they already have enough of those same upgrade cards)

Cheers for the advice, I'll start out with the upgrade cards I have and then start looking for any upgrades I feel I'm lacking.

I don't get why anybody would want to limit themselves to just one faction. They both have so many options but are still very distinct from one another.

Mainly because I have no love for Imperials or Rebels.

I want my Scum and Villainy peeps and care not for the others.

I collect both becuase the game is quick and we can easily play 2-3 games in a single club night. Mostly we swap factions for the 2nd game and so bring along one fleet for each side.

I have been collecting both Imps and Rebs because even though I do have my preference to one side I do fancy a swap every now and then. It is nice to not be limited to just one side. I will be starting a collection of the S&V once I'm happy with my forces of the other two. I am by no means a quick collector as I've had the game for a year and have so far purchased 6 expansions.
I will speed up a bit starting next month as I've noticed I've been finding more people to play against in the last month or so.

To be honest the cards aren't the only reason to run with more than one faction, it also helps you learn the game much better as they do fly differently.

That too.

 Vain wrote:
Mainly because I have no love for Imperials or Rebels.

I want my Scum and Villainy peeps and care not for the others.

That's what got me thinking of this... I know most long-time players collect both rebs and imps, but as the game grows it becomes more burdensome for new players to do so. In any game (say, 40k) having multiple factions can help you learn. But I have finite resources, not to mention interest!

I know many locals planning on skipping scum & villainy (and thus not collecting all the factions). I'm just skipping rebs (although I'll happily swap models with my opponent if they want to try running the other side occasionally; but I would run them so seldom that purchasing would be redundant).

Edit: I almost wonder if this new faction was a way for FF to tempt in new players who resisted previously? With a lower cost of entry to get everything for a new faction. And maybe to give vets' wallets a brief respite (as I said a lot of local players are skipping it) to save for Armada. They get the money either way, of course

I'm not a follower of he whole Star Wars genre, never read any of the books, comics or stories, so scum and villainy isn't bringing me anything "special". That said though I'll probably pick up one of everything to complete my collection ( ADHD and OCD). But lack of funds always means I don't get all the ships right away. Still any wave of ships is cheaper than buying two boxes of a GW product, or even a "starter" army box for GW.

The card point raised was a valid one, there are many upgrades that are highly used only available in one particular ship, for example, stealth only coming with Slave 1. Cards are extremely scarce on ebay, and can cost upwards of 10-20$ from a UK ebay store which is the only reliable source I have seen. For non-unique cards, generally you will be better off just getting the ship.

However, for certain unique cards like some crew and astromechs, you will probably be able to get them if still for a hefty price.

My other argument to collect multifaction is two-fold, one advocating getting all of them, one advocating getting one of them.

To get all of them: If you want to be a serious player, or really get into the game, I find it good to switch things up from time to time and fly the other factions so you can really get an idea for the other ships and what they can do. For example, I learned to deal with a falcon by flying a falcon in the initial stages of learning the game. Each dial is unique, and the skills and abilities of each card have so many synergies it is tough to keep track of without experience in my...er... experience. I hear this from other players too.

To get only 1 other faction: I would advocate getting 1 other faction, at least a few ships, simply because x-wing is the most socially accessible mini game I've ever seen. You will probably find you have a large pool of potential players that would be willing to have a go, so, having another force to fly against for home pick-up games is actually a lot more handy than you would think.

That being said, you could mirror match from your own collection, and you don't absolute need any 1 card ever, there are always viable lists if you can fly expertly and predict your opponent well... and y'know, dice gods and all.

It is definitely expensive, even if it is 'cheap' it still gets expensive when you want to collect enough to field all the lists possible for your faction. There is a reason a lot of people have 6 z95s but only ever fly 2-4... it's really a 'just in case' collector obsession, and generally for me, something I take to be a sign of enjoyment in the game.


In short, you can't really go wrong with your current course, but if any of the above arguments to expand resonate, you can always change your mind any time!


Good luck, hope you enjoy the game!

Another nice thing about the game is they are instantly reprinting it. Hey might be out of stock for a while, but a new shipment will come at some time so its not like trading card games where you have to buy straight away or miss out on the opportunity until the card gets reprinted in a new set a year down the line.