Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So, it happened. I thought it would be a few years, but after spending a few hundred dollars on 40k and, by the nature of the internet, surrounding myself with similar tihngs (eg-- wargaming blogs), I am irreparably, irreversibly, irresistibly now interested in X- Wing. So, where to begin? Also, a couple questions:

1) Is it just me, or does Fantasy Flight have a hard-to navigate site? I found the catalog with X-Wing minis on it, but there was no big, green "Throw Money Here" button anywhere. I may need to look again, but I think somethings may have been sold out when I last visited.

2)The starter set looks like a good place to start. How many times should I buy it? Or, rather, what, on top of the starter set should I buy?

3)As Generally as possible, how does the game play?

4) What is each faction like? (See, I've only really seen pictures, nothing with rules on it.)

1) yes the fantasy flight site takes a bit of time to get used to it. FFG does not sell on their website.

2) 2 starter sets is a good place to start. that gets you most of the way to 100 points for each faction. most of the rules and points values of the ships are on a squadbuilder website from the uk. What else you want to buy is going to depend on what kind of fleet you want to fly.

3)a game turn is every picks their moves secretly. each pilot as a skill level lowest levels move first. after a ship moves they can do an action then shooting were higher skilled pilots attack first. repeat .

4) each faction can be 2 ships at 100 points or 6 ships at 100points. with all the expansions they are similar.

 Powerfisting wrote:
So, it happened. I thought it would be a few years, but after spending a few hundred dollars on 40k and, by the nature of the internet, surrounding myself with similar tihngs (eg-- wargaming blogs), I am irreparably, irreversibly, irresistibly now interested in X- Wing. So, where to begin? Also, a couple questions:

1) Is it just me, or does Fantasy Flight have a hard-to navigate site? I found the catalog with X-Wing minis on it, but there was no big, green "Throw Money Here" button anywhere. I may need to look again, but I think somethings may have been sold out when I last visited.

2)The starter set looks like a good place to start. How many times should I buy it? Or, rather, what, on top of the starter set should I buy?

3)As Generally as possible, how does the game play?

4) What is each faction like? (See, I've only really seen pictures, nothing with rules on it.)

1. A lot of things are out of stock from FFG direct. Try Miniature Market (www.miniaturemarket.com) or Discount Games Inc (www.discountgamesinc.com) if you want to buy online. FLGS, or local Barnes and Noble also generally carry the game.

2. Most people buy 2 starters. This nets you 4 ties, 2 X-Wings, 2 sets of dice. The extra dice are recommended anyway because sometimes you need more than the 3 of each type that come in the starter. After that it is entirely up to what you want to play.

3. FFG did a decent tutorial video a while back: http://youtu.be/PuhwSma960Y

4. I'll leave this for someone else. Over the past few waves certain archetypes previously available to only one side have become available to the other. Generally, Empire ships are very maneuverable but kind of fragile, whereas Rebel ships are more durable.

 Powerfisting wrote:
So, it happened. I thought it would be a few years, but after spending a few hundred dollars on 40k and, by the nature of the internet, surrounding myself with similar tihngs (eg-- wargaming blogs), I am irreparably, irreversibly, irresistibly now interested in X- Wing. So, where to begin? Also, a couple questions:

1) Is it just me, or does Fantasy Flight have a hard-to navigate site? I found the catalog with X-Wing minis on it, but there was no big, green "Throw Money Here" button anywhere. I may need to look again, but I think somethings may have been sold out when I last visited.

2)The starter set looks like a good place to start. How many times should I buy it? Or, rather, what, on top of the starter set should I buy?

3)As Generally as possible, how does the game play?

4) What is each faction like? (See, I've only really seen pictures, nothing with rules on it.)

1) FFG does sell through their own site, but a lot of stuff appears to be out of stock at the moment. This seems to happen every year around this time. Wait until stuff comes back in stock and don't pay crazy prices. Try Amazon. If the price is higher than retail, wait.

2) I would recommend, like most people do, to pick up two core sets. You don't have to get a second set right away, but it is definitely worth it eventually. The extra dice and ships are well worth it.

For expansions, just pick up ships that look fun to you. They all add something interesting to the game. Don't get more than 1 of any particular expansion for now. (You'll probably never really want more than 1 each of the TIE Fighter and X-Wing expansions -- but you will definitely want 1 of each since they include some excellent pilots not found in the core set.) If you don't know where to begin, I'd start with ships you're probably familiar with from movies and video games.

3) It's a dogfighting game. I think it's pretty much World War I dogfighting in space -- which is a good thing. It is simple to learn, but the ability to customize your squads with different ships and upgrades gives it great depth. The models are generally great-looking and pre-painted, but you can paint right over them without needing to strip them.

There are some quick-start missions to get you familiar with how the ships move and fight. I recommend a quick battle between 1 X-Wing and 2 TIE Fighters. After that, you can try out different combinations of ships and upgrades and build larger squads. The most popular format is the standard dogfight, which uses 6 asteroids on a 3x3 foot play area, and two squads (Rebels and Imperials are the only options at this moment, but Scum & Villainy ships are coming later this year) built with 100 points each. For those 100 points, you usually end up with 3-5 Rebel ships, or 4-8 Imperial ships, but that's just generalizing. There are many types of squads possible (anywhere from 2 to 8 ships). Ships are set up at opposite sides of the play area and the game proceeds by rounds.

Each round, both players secretly set their maneuver dials for their ships at the same time. Then ships "activate" (move and take an action) in a certain order (lowest Pilot Skill to highest Pilot Skill). Shooting isn't an action -- that comes later. Once all of the ships have moved and taken an action, it's now time for the combat phase. Ships take turns attacking in a certain order (highest Pilot Skill to lowest Pilot Skill). You usually get just one attack -- either with your primary weapon, or with a secondary weapon if you have upgraded with missiles, heavy cannon, etc.

When attacking, you roll red attack dice. If you hit (rolling at least one "hit" or "critical hit" symbol), the opponent rolls green defense dice. These have symbols that cancel out hits. If there are any uncancelled hit or critical hit symbols, the defender takes damage -- losing shield tokens at first (if there are any shields), and then being dealt damage cards. Normal damage is represented by facedown damage cards. Critical damage is represented by faceup damage cards, which may have special effects. When a ship has been dealt a number of damage cards (facedown or faceup) equal to its Hull value, the ship is destroyed.

And that's one round of play. You go "back to the dials" and maneuver and shoot some more until one squad is wiped out. There are also missions that have objectives other than destroying the enemy team, but the dogfight deathmatch is the most common way to play.

4) There are currently 2 factions in the game. The Rebel ships tend to be sturdier, with shields, and the ability to target lock. They are generally not as fast or maneuverable as the Imperials. Imperial ships tend to be nimble, can barrel roll (a useful lateral movement), generally do not have shields or the ability to target lock. There are exceptions on both sides (some Imperials are slow and can target lock, some Rebels are fast and nimble with light shielding). I personally enjoy playing both factions and find that Fantasy Flight has done a good job of giving them distinct characteristics and keeping them well-balanced.

The Scum & Villainy faction is not yet released, and it's too soon to give a good impression of how they will play. But I gather that they will have abilities that can give you an advantage but just as readily turn against you -- a very high risk/high reward sort of faction. But it's too early to say for sure.

The best place Ive found so far for good bargain x wing goods is amazon. Cheaper than any game store Ive found so far.

Another place to look, if you have them where you live, is Barnes & Nobel bookstores. The two in my area have a good selection of X-Wing products.