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People in this subforum might know me as "that guy who comes in asking stupid newbie questions". Well tonight I took the first step toward amending that reputation: I actually played three games of X Wing. Granted, it was against someone else who had recently learned the game so we ended up spending a lot of time looking up rules, especially for the "Talon Roll" and "S-Loop" maneuvers. Nevertheless, we did manage to get in three games, and here are my impressions and overall take on the game:

First, the models and components themselves, while reflecting the price point, are of good quality. The cards and templates may be made out of cardstock and cardboard, but are study enough for the task and will last a long time if handled properly. The models, while not sharing the level of detail as the Citadel models I am used to, are very well-made and have a solid level of detail. The plastic appears to be of good quality, and I can imagine stripping and repainting these models would be easy if I wanted to do so.

On to the games themselves. We played at 60 points due to the way that my friend built the lists. I ran Poe Dameron with BB8 and a Blue Ace, while my friend flew a bunch of named TIE fighters, including the new TIE/fo fighters. I won two of the three games, though I don't consider it to be entirely due to my playing. The rules are simple and concisely written, and have a level or clarity that I could only dream of for GW rules. It feels like a much tighter and more well-written ruleset compared to 40k.

Movement is everything in this game. Unlike 40k, where movement is more about setting up to maximize your shooting and/or minimize your opponent's, in X Wing positioning is the core of the game, with all other mechanics dependent on it. The mechanics of movement are solid with moving and shooting order depending on Pilot Skill, and the overall strategy reminds me of chess and predicting where your opponent is likely to move and how they will react. Just like in chess, you need to be thinking several turns ahead and the game is very much is the "easy to learn, difficult to master" category.

As new players, me and my opponent spent much of the game bumping into out own and each other's ships and the obstacles, so we were never able to take full advantage of the actions each ship offered. Boost really stood out to me as powerful; in a game about positioning, extra movement is a very useful ability. Blue Ace was also very handy for the hard 1 template boosts he could do. Focus is great for dice mitigation, both offensively and defensively. Poe Dameron didn't do much for me due to collision issues, but in the right hands I can see him being very powerful. Barrel Roll is also great at repositioning, and I was very Impressed with BB8's ability to let me perform a green maneuver, Barrel Roll, and then Focus with Poe. Evade is very powerful, giving you even more defensive dice mitigation than Focus. I wasn't as impressed with Target Lock, but that may be due to there often being better options for me in the situations that presented themselves.

Each faction seems to have their own style of playing and their own flavor to their ships. Imperial Ships lack shields, but tend to be more agile and have better maneuver and action options, while Rebel ships have shields for much greater durability but lack in the maneuver, agility, and action department. Personally, I think I'd prefer to play Rebels, as I like the look of their ships more and the shields allow you to compensate for errors in maneuvering, but I am interested in how the Imperials play as well. I've heard there is a third faction, Scum and Villainy, composed of criminals, pirates, and bounty hunters, but I don't know much about them or how they play.

My only concern with the game has nothing to do with the game itself, but rather with the local scene. While my hometown has a great X Wing scene, at my college the tabletop gaming is entirely focused on Warhammer 40k, Kings of War, and Warmahordes. I will be graduating soon, and I don't know where I'm going to end up and whether or not there will be any playing groups for X Wing there. However, I am still very much interested in X Wing, and I'm going to see if I can arrange to get the Original and Force Awakens Core Sets for Christmas.

Pretty much. And X-Wing is still growing in popularity, you'll be able to find or foster a community anywhere you go, I bet. It's certainly less daunting to pick up than 40K nowadays.

Only one little thing: BB-8 lets you perform a barrel roll when you reveal a green maneuver. So you can perform the barrel roll before you actually move. It's not the preferred build, but if you pair that with Push the Limit, you can then clear your stress from PTL and then get to focus in your regular action step.

 TheNewBlood wrote:
I've heard there is a third faction, Scum and Villainy, composed of criminals, pirates, and bounty hunters, but I don't know much about them or how they play.

Dirty Tricks

Broadly speaking, scum ships ships are less capable dogfighters, but have more powerful pilot abilities that directly screw with the opponent. And like the other factions, they have squad archetypes that break that mold (e.g, IG-88 lists, which are super-agile dogfighters with powerful shooting).

Great read, thanks! As someone who has heavily invested in the game but has yet to play, this was very encouraging. Luckily for me, there's at least one good-sized gaming group in town. Hopefully I'll be able to get a few games in once Christmas insanity is over with.

Movement is everything in this game. Unlike 40k, where movement is more about setting up to maximize your shooting and/or minimize your opponent's, in X Wing positioning is the core of the game, with all other mechanics dependent on it. The mechanics of movement are solid with moving and shooting order depending on Pilot Skill, and the overall strategy reminds me of chess and predicting where your opponent is likely to move and how they will react. Just like in chess, you need to be thinking several turns ahead and the game is very much is the "easy to learn, difficult to master" category.

Definitely agreed. One very reassuring thing is how well you can do with a theoretically 'simple' list once you learn how to fly it. There are still 'that list off the internet' that people claim will win automatically and don't require thinking.

Trust me. They're lying.

Probably the best example - the French Nationals last year were won by a guy with eight entirely unmodified generic TIE fighters.


That's not to say well-handled aces won't eat a squad alive - but if....shall we say....the pilot is rather higher skill than the player controlling them, it won't help. Especially if you're just starting the game, where (if you're anything like me) you'll collide with the rest of your squad repeatedly, misjudge arcs of fire and turns and find yourself with no shot, and collide with Every. Sodding. Rock. On. The. Board. Twice.

DanielBeaver wrote:

 TheNewBlood wrote:
I've heard there is a third faction, Scum and Villainy, composed of criminals, pirates, and bounty hunters, but I don't know much about them or how they play.

Dirty Tricks

Broadly speaking, scum ships ships are less capable dogfighters, but have more powerful pilot abilities that directly screw with the opponent. And like the other factions, they have squad archetypes that break that mold (e.g, IG-88 lists, which are super-agile dogfighters with powerful shooting).

Sounds cool! I always liked the bounty hunters in Star Wars, but I hear Scum and Villainy is harder to get into than Rebels or Imperials due to not being included in the core set.

locarno24 wrote:

Movement is everything in this game. Unlike 40k, where movement is more about setting up to maximize your shooting and/or minimize your opponent's, in X Wing positioning is the core of the game, with all other mechanics dependent on it. The mechanics of movement are solid with moving and shooting order depending on Pilot Skill, and the overall strategy reminds me of chess and predicting where your opponent is likely to move and how they will react. Just like in chess, you need to be thinking several turns ahead and the game is very much is the "easy to learn, difficult to master" category.

Definitely agreed. One very reassuring thing is how well you can do with a theoretically 'simple' list once you learn how to fly it. There are still 'that list off the internet' that people claim will win automatically and don't require thinking.

Trust me. They're lying.

Probably the best example - the French Nationals last year were won by a guy with eight entirely unmodified generic TIE fighters.


That's not to say well-handled aces won't eat a squad alive - but if....shall we say....the pilot is rather higher skill than the player controlling them, it won't help. Especially if you're just starting the game, where (if you're anything like me) you'll collide with the rest of your squad repeatedly, misjudge arcs of fire and turns and find yourself with no shot, and collide with Every. Sodding. Rock. On. The. Board. Twice.

I can believe TIE/In fighters being powerful. A swarm of them can do real damage at close range, and some of the named pilots are great.

Were you witnessing my games? Because you're basically describing how me and my opponent flew. My friend tried to fly his TIE fighters in close formation, and every game he ended up colliding with his own models. I ended up playing "ring around the asteroid" a lot with my T-70s, and only my shields saved me. I just goes to show how important movement is in this game; one wrong move or mistake in judgement can cost you the game.

One thing I found to be particularly interesting was how lower Pilot Skill ships, due to moving first, can end up blocking the movement of higher PS ships. The higher PS ships can't shoot at the blocker, and has to give up performing an action. I can see how this could be ver powerful if used correctly.

 TheNewBlood wrote:
Were you witnessing my games? Because you're basically describing how me and my opponent flew. My friend tried to fly his TIE fighters in close formation, and every game he ended up colliding with his own models. I ended up playing "ring around the asteroid" a lot with my T-70s, and only my shields saved me. I just goes to show how important movement is in this game; one wrong move or mistake in judgement can cost you the game.

So basically: how every first game goes. As you play more, you'll become much better at getting your ships to go where you actually want them to be.

One thing I found to be particularly interesting was how lower Pilot Skill ships, due to moving first, can end up blocking the movement of higher PS ships. The higher PS ships can't shoot at the blocker, and has to give up performing an action. I can see how this could be ver powerful if used correctly.

Yep, blocking is a powerful concept in this game. Aces get the ability to make decisions after other ships have moved (allowing you to decide whether to re-position with a boost, take an evade action, etc.). The low-PS ships have the advantage of being able to obstruct the aces, and make them lose actions. The winner of this year's world championship used one low-PS ship as a dedicated blocker, so it's not just a goofball tactic.

That moment when you read halfway through and realise it is your opponent you played with at Texas Toy Soldier.

Great post man! It was funny to find out you were describing our first games!

 TheNewBlood wrote:

Were you witnessing my games? Because you're basically describing how me and my opponent flew. My friend tried to fly his TIE fighters in close formation, and every game he ended up colliding with his own models. I ended up playing "ring around the asteroid" a lot with my T-70s, and only my shields saved me. I just goes to show how important movement is in this game; one wrong move or mistake in judgement can cost you the game.

Could be worse. There's one guy at my store who somehow managed to land his Firespray on the smallest asteroid in the game multiple times. In multiple games. Then, he was flying along the side of the board, messes up his maneuver, and flies a loaded Firespray off of the board. When going in the opposite direction would have involved a close pass on that asteroid. We think that he's scared of it; his opponents have started bringing it every time they play him.

 TheNewBlood wrote:

Sounds cool! I always liked the bounty hunters in Star Wars, but I hear Scum and Villainy is harder to get into than Rebels or Imperials due to not being included in the core set.

It's not just that. It's that no ship, on its own, tells you the whole story of what to do with that ship. I find S&V requires a lot of synergy planning, and you have to be able to adapt and change your list more often. Dirty tricks only work so often.

Oh.

The one other classic (and embarrassing) failure to watch out for if you play imperials.

The TIE fighter (and now TIE/fo) are....well.....a fairly non-descript sphere-between-two-hexagons. Unless you're paying attention, it's very easy to set them up facing the wrong way without realising it.

It's quite embarrassing to fly half your squad off the board on turn , but even mid-game, if you're trying to keep track of 6+ ships in a furball, you can often realise mid-way through the turn that you've set your dial assuming the TIE in question was facing the other way....

locarno24 wrote:
Oh.

The one other classic (and embarrassing) failure to watch out for if you play imperials.

The TIE fighter (and now TIE/fo) are....well.....a fairly non-descript sphere-between-two-hexagons. Unless you're paying attention, it's very easy to set them up facing the wrong way without realising it.

It's quite embarrassing to fly half your squad off the board on turn , but even mid-game, if you're trying to keep track of 6+ ships in a furball, you can often realise mid-way through the turn that you've set your dial assuming the TIE in question was facing the other way....

This literally happened my first game with the OP.

With the TIEs you might want to consciously look at the firing arc to be certain how they're facing.

But yeah, movement is definitely key to this game. Doing things like positioning a low-skill TIE in the path of your enemy's cool big ship to interfere with its K-turns can win you games.

Trying searching for a local community on Facebook. Or you can always start your own local Group on Facebook. That is how I get together with X Wing chums in NYC.

Host some games and allow others to watch/play. I saw some guys playing X Wing, asked some Q&A, the next week I promptly bought the starter box and started playing in the same group.