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Hi Dakka

I've been playing 40k for a couple of years now and absolutely love it, don't want to move away from the game at all but stumbled across x wing while watching a few bat reps and got intrigued (big star wars fan).

Looked at both X Wing and Amarda and thought that X Wing provided a nice contrast to 40k being more fast paced and tactical compared with Armada that looked more similar to 40k (please correct me if I'm wrong here), also loved the fact that X Wing could be played very quickly so would be a good filler in between what has become 4-6 hours of 40k per game.

Now the reason for the post is thus, I have nothing, haven't even played the game. What advice would you give to someone just beginning the game (hard I know as we are on the 9th wave or something). Have looked at both core sets and I know I'll open it play a game and want more ships. Have read advice about getting two core sets and then not to as it complicates things with newer ships etc. Any advice from recent newbies and veterans?

It's to go on my wish list so not looking to spend much over £100 all in and am looking to field two evenly matched imperial and rebellion forces (so friends can play)

Thanks in advance!

I would suggest first buying the old core set and the new core set. This will give you enough maneuver templates and dice for two players, and will give you access to the unique cards from both sets (there's no reason to double up on one version of the core set unless you want two of the new damage deck).

For your first couple of games, just fly two X-Wings vs four TIE Fighters, using the basic pilots. That should give you a good feel for how the game works.

Next, buy a couple of ships that you think look cool. Typical squads will contain 2 to 6 ships, skewing towards the low end of that spectrum, so expect to buy two or three extra ships to get you up to 100 points. Don't worry about what's "good" right now - almost everything is usable right now, and it's more important that you fly ships that you like when you're new. There are a few stinkers I would avoid: the Starviper, Kihraxz, and TIE Punisher (these are frustrating to use even in casual games).

Don't worry too much about having physical access to certain upgrade cards. The various squad builders have comprehensive information about everything in the game.
https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=es.eko.squadronbuilder
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/aurora-squad-builder/id1020767927

Then... just play a lot.

Here's a couple of squads you can fly with minimal investment, just the two core sets, a Y-Wing and an TIE Interceptor. There are a lot of interactions between these two squads that will not be obvious to a new player, but will reveal themselves with play.

Wes Janson (29)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Seismic Torpedo (2)
R3-A2 (2)
Integrated Astromech (0)

Poe Dameron (31)
Push the Limit (3)
R2-D2 (4)
Sensor Cluster (2)
Autothrusters (2)

Gold Squadron Pilot (18)
Twin Laser Turret (6)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder


"Omega Leader" (21)
Juke (2)
Comm Relay (3)

"Zeta Leader" (20)
Wired (1)

Soontir Fel (27)
Push the Limit (3)
Autothrusters (2)
Stealth Device (3)
Royal Guard TIE (0)

"Dark Curse" (16)

Total: 98

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Great thanks for the help!!! So was thinking of these two options to start with...

Purchase 1: (3 rebel ships, 5 Imperial ships)

Core set old
Sore set new
Millenium Falcon
Slave one

Or Purchase 2: (3 rebel ships, 5 imperial ships)

Core set new
Heroes of the resistance
Slave one
Imperial Aces

Both comes to around the same amount of money. Thoughts?

Personally I'd pick the second choice, and maybe look to pick up an old core set at a later date (extra dice. rocks and templates are always handy plus it has some nice cards in)

I agree. The T-70 will give you more mileage than the T-65 at this point. And if you happen upon the old core set on sale at a later point, then pick up your copy of R2-D2 at that time.

Great thanks guys.

Can I quickly just ask what the difference is between the millennium falcon in the heroes of the resistance box and the original one? Also am I repeating any x-wing pilots by getting the new core set and the resistance box?

Want to get the best bang for my buck! Thanks


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Or just had a thought to enter the game at its starting point may be beneficial for the learning curve. In which case could get the following wave 1-2 sets...

Purchase 3: 4 Rebel & 5 Imperial

Core set old (its £21 on amazon currently)
Millenium Falcon
Rebel Aces
Imperial Aces
Slave one

The two Falcon model are almost the same, bar the square dish and some battle damage to the underside (cheers Lando)

The old Falcon comes with Pilot cards for Han, Chewie, Lando and a no name scrub

The new Falcon comes with Pilot cards for Han, Chewie, Rey and a slightly better but still scrubby no namer, the Han and Chewie have different rules to the previous ones

The upgrade cards in each are also different with the older box being stuff from the Classic's and the new box being mostly Force Awakens stuff

You wont be doubling up on pilots for the X-Wings as again the old Core set has T65's and the likes of Luke and Biggs and the new box has T70's (basically updated X-Wings with better options but slightly more pricey in points) and has Poe and his lot as Pilots (you would kind of double up on Poe if you get Heroes box and a new Core box as oddly he has two pilot cards almost exactly the same apart from one has higher pilot skill for a few more points)

Hope that helps

 Turnip Jedi wrote:
The two Falcon model are almost the same, bar the square dish and some battle damage to the underside (cheers Lando)

The old Falcon comes with Pilot cards for Han, Chewie, Lando and a no name scrub

The new Falcon comes with Pilot cards for Han, Chewie, Rey and a slightly better but still scrubby no namer, the Han and Chewie have different rules to the previous ones

The upgrade cards in each are also different with the older box being stuff from the Classic's and the new box being mostly Force Awakens stuff

You wont be doubling up on pilots for the X-Wings as again the old Core set has T65's and the likes of Luke and Biggs and the new box has T70's (basically updated X-Wings with better options but slightly more pricey in points) and has Poe and his lot as Pilots (you would kind of double up on Poe if you get Heroes box and a new Core box as oddly he has two pilot cards almost exactly the same apart from one has higher pilot skill for a few more points)

Hope that helps

Big help Thanks!

What do you think of the third option? Good idea to try and keep my first purchases Wave 1 & 2 and build from there? Baring in mind that I have no concept of the game so don't know how powerful things are etc? Or am I wasting an opportunity to start with a stronger base going with the new stuff? Will people be buying the new falcon if they already have the old?

Sorry lots of Qs but want to try and get it right.

Thanks to everyone for helping out!

While the core set is a convenient place to start, I don't think it's the best or necessarily cheapest place to start, unless you really want all the stuff bundled within. Chances are... you'll end up not using a lot of the stuff, which at first seemed like a good deal. I think the easiest way for me to articulate this, is just to bullet-point what the core set contains, and the alternatives (which I think are better).

• Movement Templates: The core set contains cardboard movement templates. A lot of players will eventually replace these with laser cut acrylic templates, which look better and are more durable. So the templates are of little value.

• Tokens and Counters: Ships always come with enough extra tokens and counters to use the ship, so these aren't really needed.

• Dice: The core set contains some dice (probably fewer than you need). While dice are always useful, you can buy them separately, and you can also buy custom dice (which are cooler).

• Damage Deck: The two core sets have different damage decks. You only need the Force Awakens deck, and that's easy to find on ebay (because a lot of people buy multiple sets and have extras.

• Asteroids: The core set contains 6 cardboard asteroid counters. These are useful, but you can also get acrylic ones or make your own scenery

• Upgrade/Pilot cards: There are a few good cards spread through the core sets (mainly for Rebels). R2-D2 is the only one I'd consider a "must have" for competitive play. Poe is good, but you get an updated version of him in the HoR box. And again, you can pick up specific cards on ebay.

• Ships: The t-65 is considered quite underpowered at the moment. Tie Fighters don't make many lists, unless it's as cheap fodder to spend some leftover points on. The Tie/Fo is best with Omega Leader, Juke and Comm relay, all of which come in the single ship expansion, and not the core set, so you're better off getting the single ship (and you probably only need one). The t-70 is decent, but it also comes in the HoR box.

• The Rulebook: The rules are available to download for free as PDFs from the Fantasy Flight website. While it's nice to have a hard copy, you'll still need to refer to the PDFs because a lot of stuff has been errated, changed and FAQed since printing.

• The game box: Which is too small to fit anything in, and has an annoying hole in the lid.

So in conclusion, the core sets contains "usable" but inferior cardboard components, and ships that will probably get shelved just as soon as you get any other ships. If that's what you want, then it's a good deal, however you could also save your money and put it straight towards better components, and cooler ships (which you'll probably buy eventually anyway). That's something to think about.

Also you should look out for components on ebay. A lot of people buy 2 core sets and end up with loads of spares, which they don't want, and there isn't much demand for. So you might be able to get a very good deal on things like card templates, and damage cards. Which will leave you more money to spend on cool ships.

 Xeones7 wrote:
Purchase 3: 4 Rebel & 5 Imperial

Core set old (its £21 on amazon currently)
Millenium Falcon
Rebel Aces
Imperial Aces
Slave one

I don't usually recommend Imperial Aces unless you're crazy about flying Interceptors. Better to get a regular Interceptor pack, and then one more imperial ship (TIE Defender maybe).

I'm also not a big fan of the Imperial version of Slave One, unless you're also going to buy into Scum and Villainy (which I do recommend).


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Smacks wrote:
the core sets contains "usable" but inferior cardboard components, and ships that will probably get shelved just as soon as you get any other ships.

Core sets are super cheap, though. Much cheaper than getting acrylic tokens.

A little confused now... Again thanks for the detailed responses. Thanks Smacks, you make some really interesting points and are completely right when you look at it like that I don't want to buy a load of stuff that will eventually sit on a shelf.

I think perhaps i should clarify further that I'm not part of a club or anything and will be only playing with a couple of gaming friends so really global meta isn't the issue (until we all get hooked and try to outclass each other). Also the wife has actually asked me what I want for Christmas so chasing eBay bargains is out of the question I'm afraid (which I hate because I love a bargain!)

Perhaps I should ask a different question, if you were starting out with £100 in your pocket to spend on the game for balanced sides what would you buy?

It really depends what you want to get out of the game, and how you want to play. If you want to play "Star Wars" with friends, then you're probably going to prefer using the iconic characters and ships. In that case I would get the original core set and Heroes of the Resistance. That will get you most of the familiar heroes (Luke, R2, Biggs, Han, Chewie, Rey, Finn, Poe), and the two x-wing and Falcon ships.

For Empire, I can't see any reason not to get Vader's Tie Advanced, as Vader is both Iconic and awesome in the game.. The smaller imperial ships such as the Interceptor, Phantom, and Defender and Tie/fo, are also good ships, which you can use to bulk out the Imperials.

I'd avoid the Decimator and Lambda for now. Decimator versus Flacon would be boring as hell, and the Lambda is slow and not very exciting. The Tie bomber and Punisher are also a bit underwhelming, I'd avoid them unless you're getting the Imperial Veterans box (which is probably the best way to pick up the Defender). Slave 1 is interesting, Iconic, and fun, but not amazingly powerful. If you must have a large ship for Empire then it's probably the way to go, though it's no match for the Falcon on its own.

For Rebels, the Rebel aces is a good way to get some iconic ships, and Y-wings are fine. I'd avoid the YT-2400 if you're also getting the Falcon, as having both of the 360 turret ships on the same side is going to be pretty overwhelming for new players to fight against.

Of course, if you'd rather lean towards more competitive games, and you don't care about characters, or you're happy to proxy cards, then the Force Awakens core set has more competitive ships, and the more recent damage deck.

I'd get the new Force Awaken starter, Imperial Vets, Rebel Aces, and Millennium Falcon. I got all prices from Amazon. the new starter is 18USD.

For upgrade and pilot cards you can print them out on the internet, because you'll only be playing casually. I made some lists based off these, keep in mind I'm a strictly Empire Player.

100 points

Pilots
------

Tycho Celchu [A-Wing Test Pilot, Push the Limit, Veteran Instincts] (30)

Blue Squadron Pilot (22)

Chewbacca [Gunner, Millennium Falcon (Evade Version)] (48)

==================
[Unnamed Squadron]
==================

Click to change squadron details

98 points

Pilots
------

Colonel Vessery [Tractor beam, Veteran Instincts, TIE/D, Stealth Device] (40)

Tomax Bren [TIE Shuttle, Crack Shot, Recon Specialist, Tactician] (30)

“Omega Leader” [Comm Relay, Crack Shot, Stealth Device] (28)

Core Set Force Awakens
T-70 Expansion Pack
Heroes of the Resistance

You can do 3 ship or 2 ship in this list of items and there is a decent amount of variance. You will have 3 integrated astromechs for your 3 T-70s.

Why do I bring this one up? On Amazon you can get this cool themed force for (19+14+40) if you are on a budget.

This is coming from the most Frugal X-Wing player on earth, I was lucky to get a free 5 buck coupon from paypal that I used to get my first Push the Limit card.

Thinking thinks like this is using the ol' thinker... I think.

Thanks for the thoughts and advice from everyone... good to know dakka isn't all about 40k and painting!

Well went for the following in the end:

Core set (old) ((Im a sucka for the original star wars!))
Heroes of the Resistance
Imperial Veterans
TIE Advanced

Should see me through the holiday season and hopefully be enough to snag some friends to play. No doubt I'll be getting a load more when I get hooked!

Any advice for a good mat?

Sounds like you got a pretty good mix of ships. One thing I'd suggest is that you try running Vader with an Engine Upgrade modification, and play around with combining the Boost and Barrel Roll actions, to outmanoeuvre other ships. That would be a good way to familiarise yourself with arc dodging, which is one of the core strategies in the game (countered somewhat by turrets).

You might also want to google: x-wing squad benchmark. Which is a fun little simulator, and will let you try out lots of ships and upgrade combos.

For mats. I think FF just brought out some official ones, but if you don't like those, Deep Cuts has a pretty good selection of 3x3 mats, which are quite reasonably priced.