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So i picked up an X-Wing starter for my son and I, he's just starting to get into minis gaming. The shop just received a restock of the starters, and we're both star wars fans, so this seemed a good time to take the plunge. Additionally my most often gaming opponent (best friend) and his son (my son's best friend) are also interested and might join us.


My son intends to play rebels, i'll likely play both, but focusing a bit on imperials to start.

We're going to take the game relatively slow, and if we like it, i'll double down on a second starter, and pick up a tie and xwing expansion so we can get the ships and pilots, etc.

However i also have an eye to the future, as even if my son doesn't keep interest with it, it's exactly the kind of game my friend and I would like and enjoy, i can tell this already from the sole demo I got, and the two larger games i observed. It's a really, really well designed game.



Given that, how's the Firespray ? I'm sure you'll all find this totally original, but i'm a Boba Fett fan, and the idea of using both him and his ship is pretty awesome.

I've seen there are two "main" build versions of him, one of which appears more denial focused, and the other is gun-boaty. Gun boaty is the one I want to play. What would i need to do that, and is it an overall good build (note, even if its not uber optimized, that's fine, i like Fett enough to play something that isn't min maxed to the gills).

Also, it appears Slave 1 is currently out of print, but i think a reprint is set for Q1 ? If this is true, i'll put him on order with my local shop.


So i guess 1) is a Firespray / Boba Fett gunboat doable and worthwhile to do ?

2) if the answer to above is "borderline" or "yes", what would i need to make good Boba Fett / Firespray gunboat builds ?

2b) Am i going in the wrong direction with imperials, i've heard mention of Scum and Villainy, is this an expansion or a third faction, i haven't gotten much of a sense for that yet.

3) thanks for answers to noob questions

I'm in a similar boat of n00bery with you so my contributions will be slimmer than some... but it does look like Fett still rocks the slave1 in the scum list. I'm also eying the q1 2015 reprints (of various ships) with a fair bit of anticipation.

Scum and Villainy is a third faction and it seems like it will repurpose several ships from the rebels as well as the slave 1, while having it's own unique ships. I believe the upcoming 'Most Wanted' expansion will come with three ships and 20 ship cards including HWK-290 and Firespray (slave1) cards to 'convert' existing ships for use with the Scum.

I think even rebel players will be interested in Most Wanted as it comes with three ships they can use at a bit of a bulk discount, as long as they have an existing z-95 and y-wing for rebel pilot/ship cards. 19 upgrade cards too, though some or all of those may potentially be scum specific.

Hopefully a little help.

1/2) Boba Fett for Empire has an ability based around changing moves, which makes him a bit more situational than Scum Fett, who just has re-rolls when in the midst of enemies. A solid Fett set up is Outmaneuver, Navigator and Engine Upgrade. Pricey, but he can pretty much go wherever he likes and with Outmaneuver working on his rear arc he can do some solid damage.

2b) Scum is a 3rd faction, but has some ships that crossover with Empire and Rebels.

3) X-Wing is an awesome game, welcome!

Buy a 2nd starter, both aces packs (rebel/imperial) and any other ships you think are cool. That is more than enough to play w/ variation.
He is a link that has almost a complete listing of sets/ships and the cards that come w/ them.
http://www.afewmaneuvers.com/topic/573-full-card-list-by-expansion/

BTW-miniature market has really good prices on most games w/ free shipping over $100.

http://www.miniaturemarket.com/table-top-miniatures/x-wing.html#/?_=1&filter.manufacturer=Fantasy%20Flight%20Games&page=1

So i hit barnes and noble up. They were out of core sets, and no firesprays / falcons, BUT i did manage to get the very very last X-wing expansion and Tie fighter expansion (both of which i was dead set on getting, due to the pilot cards.... glad i did, both howler and wedge are beasts!). So those were good snags. THey had both "aces" sets, but i didn't want to get crazy and i know a store i frequent occasionally has them. Also... i was talking with a store worker who seemed to know the game and he mentioned that they will likely have a sale on the toys / games right ater the new year. The current sale they were having on lego stuff was like 30% off, so i figured i would wait and check it out.

THey seemed to have all the "current" releases, other than the phantom (which if they had i would have picked up, as whisper and echo seem cool, and i love glass hammer-y stuff).


I think assuming i can't get Slave 1 any time soon until reprint, my next pick up will be likely Tie Phantom and the aces packs (i know the B-wing is stellar, not sure how people view the interceptor, and the A-wing i think is the one with push the limits which is really good).




@ Chumbalaya ... thanks for that information... sounds like Scum Fett is the way i want to go, as i want to do gunboat Fett, so that info is helpful. I'm assuming Scum Fett is not actually out yet, or am i wrong ? I thought Scum and Villainy is upcoming (again, sorry new ass questions).

 Haight wrote:
not sure how people view the interceptor

High PS Interceptors with stealth device (+1 agility until hit) and Push the Limit are such a pain for your opponent to deal with. They can boost and barrel roll right into a great kill shot position/out of opponents arcs entirely, they have excellent damage output and their ridiculous agility means that you can circle the battle when not needed rolling 5 defence dice at range 3 until its time to swoop in. Their only downside is lack of shields, but this is common to most Imperial ships so it's not like it's some massive unique weakness.

Scum isn't out yet, signs point to February. Scum can re-use ships from other factions, so if Scum is your aim I'd look into these multi-faction options. The HWK-290, Firespray, Y-Wing and Z-95 are all usable in Scum.

And Interceptors are pretty sweet, easily one of my favorite ships. They're fragile with 3 hull and no shields, but they are incredibly fast, have an awesome maneuver dial, a huge array of actions and with named pilots and upgrades they can pretty much go anywhere, do anything. They excel at closing quickly and dodging enemy fire arcs, so turrets give them a bit of a rough time.

So i played two games with my son tonight ; game is funtacular, and as big a fan as i am, my son is over the moon for it. I know i made a good gift move in this when my son (playing an x-wing), shoots one of my ties at basically point blank range, blows it up, and says " Oh my god, DAD, I JUST PULLED A WEDGE ANTILLES FROM STAR WARS WHERE HE BLOWS UP THE TIE AND FLIES TRHOUGH THE EXPLOSION" . And yes, caps were needed.


Eagerly awaiting the re-print on the firespray, after playing a couple games, damn that ship has some things on it that i can see being useful. And i can totally see how Boba Fett would be tricky to deal with now.


For the first game we just did core... this is my sons first mini game, so i did an Xwing but let him have R2D2. I took an academy pilot and obsidian squadron. Letting him have R2 was not necessary, he kicked my butt ! I was going maybe a little easy on him, but not much.

Bear in mind i just have Core + xwing + tie fighter, but i enjoyed marksman on an xwing, and Mauler with marksman was silly (my son picked up that one), whereas a black squadron with swarm tactics towing around an academy pilot was pretty neat too.

Second game, we did a 50 point game, he did academy pilot, black squadron with swarm tactics, and Mauler with marksman. I did a Red Squad with marksman and a Red Squad with the 1 point droid (forget what it is / what it did, as that xwing was dead turn 3... Mauler earned his namesake, haha!).

The remainder then became a really cool 60 minute dogfight, i ended up crippling obsidian pilot and blowing up academy, but suffering both my shields and 2 hull points to boot. We ended up calling it on account of dinner, but we're both totally sold. Amazing game, neither of us can wait to play again.

Ships on my short list to get:

Firespray if possible
Phantom
Bwing (honestly, i'll probably get aces)
Interceptor (again, probably aces)
Have to see from there.

I had the starter for Christmas and I am also intently looking at both aces packs to expand. Along with at least one more starter pack.

 carlos13th wrote:
I had the starter for Christmas and I am also intently looking at both aces packs to expand. Along with at least one more starter pack.

Yeah definitely going to get another core set too... for one thing, moar ties, but for another, the dice and templates alone will be invaluable.

Having roughly as much experience as yourself, I am finding myself in love with the super-maneuverable A-wings and the ridiculously-maneuverable-for-a-big-ship-YT2400 freighter. The aces packs are nice, they have a pretty good batch of cards each.

I picked up a second A-wing and quite like the combinations possible between the standard and aces expansions for them, and if you're quite sold on the Interceptor, apparently Soontir is a must have (regular interceptor expansion).

Got another game in tonight with the kiddo ; was going to teach my best friend how to play but his car lost its starter randomly (which sucks, it's less than 4 years old. I'd be bs if this happened to my relatively new car).

We went to the LGS today and picked up a Phantom, and Rebel Aces. I really wanted a B-wing expansion, but meh, they didn't have any. Also, completed a trade with a friend : 4th ed Black Templar codex and current hard back of Space Marines for a complete core set, lambda shuttle, phantom, and tie advanced (the tie advanced i sorta looked at as "meh", until i read the raider cards released today. Good lord can you make a disgusting ass tie advanced now. Tie/1x making advanced targeting computer cost 1 is obscene. )

So pretty happy with that trade.

We played 75 points.

My son's list was Mauler (i think he really, really likes mauler) with Swarm tactics, two academy pilots, and a Shadow Squadron with Advanced Cloaking Device.

My list was Bwing Keyan Farlander (who i enjoyed throughly, the stress token mechanic was awesome), a green squadron pilot with Chardan refit, Awing Testpiolot, and marksmanship, and a red squadron pilot with the R2 -F2 (wanted D2, but didn't have the points, and other than go down to rookie pilot couldn't figure a way to get that point without giving up anything i didn't want to). Looking back, it was a wonky list. I wanted the Bwing with marksmanship, and i wanted a quick point defense awing, and i wanted a deceptively sustainable xwing. I ended up with none of that. Probably because my dog (black lab foxhound mix, also, insane) was distracting me.

My son had a rough time getting the hang of the Phantom's decloak procedure. He kept forgetting about the 2 forward or 2 barrel roll maneuver until late game. This led to some unfortunate scenarios where the phantom was JUST out of position to put some serious hate on the Awing or Xwing. It did manage to blast 4 shields off my Bwing though.

The bwing was a rock star for me, eventually taking out Mauler after a particularly intense game of cat and mouse, meanwhile my xwing and awing had their shields blown off by the ties. Late game the phantom corrected itself to the point where it took out the awing, but the damage was done ; the phantom was left with no shields, and a single hull point left. The xwing was the tactician of the game, only taking a single shot which blew off his shields, but for the remainder of the game he was always either just out of range 3 range, or dancing in people's blind spots. He continued to plink any target of opportunity.

Second to last turn after a well planned K-turn, the bwing blew the phantom apart, and the academy pilot ties converged to take some shots on the bwing hoping for some crits (it was a bit of a hail mary but the mauler and phantom were dead, and the xwing was out of fire arc, so they had little choice... still, he had both at range 1, so it wasn't all that bad a move). Unfortunately craptacular die rolls lead to only a single hit. We called the game there on account of dinner.


So after getting handed two defeats, i pulled one out with the rebels today.


I can't wait for my trade goods to come in, because i really want to try a (fun) list of 2 phantoms.

I think that's one of the nice things with xwing. Every new set you add gives you a little 'squee! I can make a MONSTER' moment. It can get a little 'need x to counter y', so larger communities tend to give rise to more balanced builds.

winterdyne wrote:
I think that's one of the nice things with xwing. Every new set you add gives you a little 'squee! I can make a MONSTER' moment. It can get a little 'need x to counter y', so larger communities tend to give rise to more balanced builds.

I can definitely see that! Honestly after my latest game (last night) with the kiddo, while 2 x phantoms could be fun, it would largely be a wasted game i can see.


I played 1 shadow squad with advanced cloak and a two point upgrade (i forget which, as i was dead turn 2 due to a very close miscalculation which led me open to an xwing firing and a bwing with heavy laser turret), and 3 naked academy pilots. Son played Bwing with HLC, a red squadron xwing with the 1 point astromech, and a test pilot Awing with chardan retro.

Due to some good but ever so slightly miscalculated decisions, i lost an academy pilot tie and phantom turn two. However, the remaining two academy pilots performed well, working over the next 5 turns brilliantly to destroy the bwing. At that point though the xwing blew up one, and the awing put the other down to just 1 hull left. Together they polished off the last Tie.

Great game, really loving it.

Roark Garnet makes phantoms tremble. As does wedge with engine upgrade and push the limit. Quite a few counters to them, they're really quite fragile.

But 4 attack dice stock is sexy I also quite like the ridiculous variety of positions available to Echo, since you can use either orientation of the bank-2 template for decloak. Feels like the upgrade that lets you stealth after attacking is all-but-mandatory though.

I quite like the Interceptors alternatively, boost and barrel roll together with push the limit is fun, and they've got some neat pilots. Even royal guards with the upgrade for a couple of mods can be neat.

For you dads out there; Barnes and Noble has restocked the entire line, including Slave I and Millennium Falcon:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/x-wing-expansion?store=allproducts&keyword=x+wing+expansion

Wonder if we'll see them pop up at other online retailers soon... Miniature Market likes to do them for 20 bucks a pop rather than 30.

winterdyne wrote:
Roark Garnet makes phantoms tremble. As does wedge with engine upgrade and push the limit. Quite a few counters to them, they're really quite fragile.

They do have lots of counters, but right now until my best friend and his son start playing, and i start checking out the LGS scene, my only opponent is my son. Our fleets right now consist of 3 ties and 1 phantom and an a-wing, b-wing (both from aces), xwing from core, and xwing expansion. We have another xwing, 2 x ties, 1 x phantom, and lamda shuttle on the way from the aforementioned trade which will swing the pendulum of options from rebels having more to work with to imperials, but it will at least let us do a 100 point game at that point.


Given that context, the phantom is nasty. I have been letting my son proxy the Heavy Laser Cannon on the Bwing to make things a little more fair. He's surprisingly good at the game thus far, but i find gets frazzled when i do something unexpected or put early damage on a ship. But you make a great point, i had overlooked Roark. That's a good option (though its a tad metagaming, which i don't want to do against a 7 year old, but it would be good to let him do it against me).


That all said... i agree overall with your comment. I almost can't imagine using the phantom without advanced cloaking device and either whisper or echo (i personally like echo's maneuverability more, but whispers higher pilot skill and the built in focus token after attacking for evasive action is pretty nice). Which is a big chunk of your points. So i think the trick is learning what the phantom can be doing and maintaining that cloak. I've discovered in a couple games that if you lose that cloak, you more often than not lose the phantom.


And the counterpoint to this is if you can maintain the cloak using advanced cloaking device, 4 native attack dice is really awesome.


Hopefully with the re-stock coming sooner rather than later, we'll be able to open up some more options as my son and i gain access to the Falcon and Slave 1, defender, and some other stuff.

The Defender is neat in theory but it's costed up there with the Phantoms (maybe higher a bit?) which makes it trickier for me to sneak it into lists. Neat ship though.

At this point, having flown the YT2400 around some, I'm not sure how I could end up liking the Falcon better... however, the Falcon has a lot of useful cards and it's a pretty Iconic ship to add to the collection anyway. And the dual fire arcs of the firespray make it sound pretty darn neat.