Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures

[Chrisoc13]

That's a good point, probably trying to space out the releases, and also trying to decide how best to approach the imperial huge ships. I'm sure scum ships will be coming too, especially since the IG-2000 is clearly designed to be extremely useful in epic games, it seems all 3 will be in epic.

[$iljanus]

So I ended up ordering two each of the individual scum ships and one Most Wanted scum pack. I love the way "scum" just rolls of the tongue. Can even say it with a bit of a snarl. Even typing it makes me snarl. The pilot costs for the IG-2000 looked a bit high but I did read something about multiples of that ship having an advantage since they're piloted by robot assassins and can join together in a sort of hive mind. So instead of just getting one I figured I'd try flying two of them.

[Chrisoc13]

So I ended up ordering two each of the individual scum ships and one Most Wanted scum pack. I love the way "scum" just rolls of the tongue. Can even say it with a bit of a snarl. Even typing it makes me snarl. The pilot costs for the IG-2000 looked a bit high but I did read something about multiples of that ship having an advantage since they're piloted by robot assassins and can join together in a sort of hive mind. So instead of just getting one I figured I'd try flying two of them.

The IG-2000 really has me excited for possibilities. Each one links together so every IG-2000 has the pilot skill for every other IG-2000 in the game. I think the one they spoiled cost 36 so 2 would likely be the most you could take in a 100 point squad. No need for more. I ended up pre-ordering 4 because I've been playing a fair amount of epic and having 4 of them in epic each sharing pilot abilities would be very, very fun and powerful. I'm an easy sell...

[$iljanus]

So I ended up ordering two each of the individual scum ships and one Most Wanted scum pack. I love the way "scum" just rolls of the tongue. Can even say it with a bit of a snarl. Even typing it makes me snarl. The pilot costs for the IG-2000 looked a bit high but I did read something about multiples of that ship having an advantage since they're piloted by robot assassins and can join together in a sort of hive mind. So instead of just getting one I figured I'd try flying two of them.

The IG-2000 really has me excited for possibilities. Each one links together so every IG-2000 has the pilot skill for every other IG-2000 in the game. I think the one they spoiled cost 36 so 2 would likely be the most you could take in a 100 point squad. No need for more. I ended up pre-ordering 4 because I've been playing a fair amount of epic and having 4 of them in epic each sharing pilot abilities would be very, very fun and powerful. I'm an easy sell...

I look forward to reading an AAR from you using 4 of them in a game. Even though I bought the blockade runner and transport I've yet to play an epic game so I'll live vicariously through you instead. I'm also pretty happy that the HWKs will get some more options from the scum side as well.

[coopasonic]

I am on the fence here. I am trying to decide if I should sell of my X-Wing stuff, stick with what I have (2 cores, 1 of everything released minus the humongous ships) or just go all in (still just getting 1 of everything because $$$).

The dream is that my kids will play it with me. I know Isgrimnur will play it with me, but I haven't made the meetups in many months (Hey Wayne, I'll be there tomorrow, really, promise!) and he's about to start a whole new journey.

Also, if I go all in my storage solution isn't going to get it done anymore... so many ships, and big ships!

[Isgrimnur]

Well, that gives me incentive to go. I hadn't really been thinking about it until today.

[Zarathud]

I am sticking with it -- 2 of base and small ships, 1 of Medium and Epics. My stuff gets used at Octocons and 2-4 times a year with my sister. The rest of the Chicago crew has been lukewarm, but the FLGS has tourneys that I usually can't make.

I went to 2 cases for the ships, and will likely have to go 3 with the new faction. I expect this would get even more play with the 3 factions, and its price to skyrocket later for anything out of print. At the worst, I get a nice display.

[Chrisoc13]

Looks like rebel aces shipped today for me, should be here tomorrow. Should be some fun combinations with the new abilities, looking forward to trying a few things out. I think I will have a chance to play this Saturday (only the second time I will get to play since June).

[Chrisoc13]

Unboxed my aces today, should get a chance to play with them this weekend. The ships look fantastic, as is expected with X-wing. Looking forward to trying out the scenario too!

[Chaz]

You nerds have some extra money burning a hole in your pocket? Have too much room for minis storage that you're looking to fill? Have I got the thing for you!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/11 ... ne-scenery

[Zarathud]

Rocks from the yard are cheaper.

[Chaz]

I thought money was no object when it came to X-Wing Minis.

[Zarathud]

That was before I bought the epic minis.

[Chrisoc13]

I do want that space worm one though...

[Chrisoc13]

Broke in my Rebel Aces today. They add some really nice options for the game. The A-wing gets a huge boost from it. Cheaper ships, two elite pilot skills, just new pilots with fantastic skills, all around it really improves the A-wings. The B-wings get a nice boost of variety, and with at least one new pilot, a serious contender for one of the best pilots in the game.

Played three games today. First game I was empire vs. Rebel. I played Vader (Tie advanced) with expose and proton rockets (new in the Rebel Aces pack, you get one extra attack dice for each agility dice, so it is a great munitions for the Advanced), Whisper with veteran instincts and advanced stealth device and intelligence agent, and 2 acadamy ties. My opponent took tycho (with PTL) and Jake Farrel with PTL (Both a-wings) as well as Keyan Ferlander (B-wing). We exchanged blows initially but then the phantom did what the phantom does, got behind the B-wing and ripped it to shreds. Keyan is incredibly powerful in the B-wing though, getting to spend stress tokens to turn focus into hits on the dice, really pretty incredible. One of the strongest pilots in the game for sure. Jake Ferrel (A-wing) was also impressive, with PTL he easily gets three actions a turn. Really pretty impressive. But Whisper did what whisper does and hunted down and stalked the other ships one at a time.

This was before the battle really got under way, Vader went down in the first volley, as did Tycho. From there the Phantom took care of business.


The second game I played the rebels, and didn't fare much better. I took an Outer Rim Smuggler (Falcon) loaded with C-3PO, and Tycho and Jake Farrel (A-wings both). Both with PTL, refit to cost 2 less points, test pilots, predator, and stealth devices on both of them. My brother took the lambda (Omicron group pilot), Colonel Vessery in the Defender, and Whisper with advanced cloaking and veteran instincts in the phantom. The match didn't go well from me. Tycho nicked an asteroid (and I do mean just nicked) and took a hit, losing the stealth device and a shield. The Phantom found tycho and one-shot him in the first volley. It was devastating for my list, all because a little bit of poor flying. The outer rim smuggler I had never flown before (I normally take a named pilot if I take the Falcon) and I for some reason had never realized that not only does it have lower hit points, but also lower attack value, which was huge. So I made a tactical error when I made the list. Still the falcon drew most of the heat and managed to give some damage, scratching the defender and pounding the Lambda. The Lambda was destoryed in rather good time, but the Falcon wasn't far behind as a phantom at range 1 and a defender at range 2 is just too much to handle. Somehow I still almost pulled it off with just my A-wing Jake Ferrel left. He took down the phantom, and put some dents in the Defender but it was too much, the defender overcame it.

Here's a pic from the phantom and defender preparing to eliminate my Falcon while my plucky A-wing is still fighting the good fight:


The third game was rebel vs rebel. I flew 2 plain E-wings and Keyan Ferlander (B-wing) with C-3PO, heavy laser cannon, push the limit, and advanced sensors against 2 B-wings and an E-wing. Odd kind of mirror match. It wasn't a terribly exciting game, I was on a roll with the dice and managed to wipe my opponent out rather quickly. THe E-wings are just so much more maneuverable than the B-wings so I was able to move around at will. Fun game though, sometimes I forget how good E-wings can be. And Keyan Ferlander was incredible. Well worth taking. My favorite B-wing be far at this point.

Overall I am happy with the rebel aces. The new paint jobs are great, although I prefer the original B-wing to the new paint job. The new A-wing is particularly good looking. The cards boost the A-wing and even the B-wing more than the Imperial aces boosted the Interceptors, although I thought those did a great job too.

My brother happy as he realizes my falcon is going to be done soon:

[Chrisoc13]

Received my wave 5 shipping notice from miniature market Saturday. Looks like the two new big ships should finally be in my hands, but I doubt I will get a chance to play them until January at the earliest. Maybe I will get lucky though.

[Zarathud]

I am counting on my sister and mom to deliver more ships for Christmas.

[Chrisoc13]

I am counting on my sister and mom to deliver more ships for Christmas.

Nice, the best kind of Christmas gift in my book

My ships arrived last night, I unpacked them, put them in my battlefoam (already had the foam ready for them) and looked through the cards. Wow, I really like these cards I forgot since the previews were so long ago. Some really cool decisions to be made during fleet building now (like do I use countermeasures? What about experimental interface etc.) and also some cards that will really change the way I fly some ships (lone wolf for instance, what a cool card, really changes the way you fly the ship and the way you build a fleet.) Lone wolf on a phantom, would that be good? Would it be worth giving up veteran instincts on whisper? Not sure. Interesting things to think about.

Also more scum information continues to be released, including some major help for the interceptor coming soon in terms of this card:


Really helps out against all the turrets now out there. Even the empire has a turret now so it will be nice to have some support for Interceptors, A-wings etc. against the turrets.

Sadly I won't get to try out these new ships till January most likely. Just too much going on until then. But I am excited to get them on the table then. Scum won't be too far behind them come January I'm guessing.

[coopasonic]

CSI has the Tantive IV on sale for $50. Resistance failing.

[Chrisoc13]

CSI has the Tantive IV on sale for $50. Resistance failing.

Just picked one up at miniature market retail location for 45 which is a screaming deal, but I think online they are sill 60. Funny enough I also picked up a decimator for my brother which was 38... Almost the same price now.

I love epic games, the tantive is worth it for that alone IMO. Just a completely different way to play. I can't wait for imperial and scum huge ships.

[Kurth]

Finally took the plunge and got some x-wing miniatures for the boys (and me) for Christmas. Got the following:

- core starter set (1 x-wing; 2 ties)
- rebel aces (1 a-wing and 1 b-wing)
- imperial aces (2 ties)
- tie phantom
- hawk freighter
- sleeves for cards

Anything else I need out of the gate? Storage?

[Chrisoc13]

Welcome to the party! Great time to get onboard especially with scum and villainy coming out soon.

I think you are good to go. Next I would look at big ships, especially the falcon and slave 1 as both are really good ships, iconic, and fun to play. But try out what you have first then decide what you want to add. After a few games you will have a better idea of what you want in your fleets. Variety is the key I think, and numbers for the empire.

Each of the expansions come with different pilots even if they are the same ship. For instance the best x wing pilot (wedge) comes in the x wing expansion and not the core set. The best interceptor pilot (soontir fel) comes in the interceptor expansion and not the imperial access. I believe the best tie fighter pilot (howelrunner) comes in the tie expansion and not the core set (going from memory here though). So they make a way to get you to eventually buy everything even if you already own the ships.

So yeah my suggestion would be slave 1 and the falcon next. Both are beginner friendly and tons of fun.

On bgg everyone will say get a second core set. I would say only get a second one if you really end up loving the game and playing it in your regular rotation. If not one is great.

In terms of storage I use battle foam, but it's overkill for most collections. The best suggestion is the Plano box that zarathud uses and I believe he posted it earlier. If not I'll link it later when not on my phone. It's a great cheap solution that you would almost swear was made for x wing. I don't think there is a better storage solution.

[Zarathud]

That's the Plano 5321 storage. As you add on to the collection, you can get a second (or third) storage box.

The Slave 1 and Falcon are solid recommendations. But I would recommend a second X-Wing and a TIE Fighter. Why? Those single ship expansions get you access to the most useful pilots -- Wedge and Howlrunner. Running 2 X-Wings makes for a solid Rebel team. Imperials generally fly quantity, and I expect you're going to find yourself short on TIEs. A TIE Swarm calls out for 3 TIE Fighters and Howlrunner to go with your 2 TIE Advanced.

When you find out the TIE Phantoms are awesome, you're going to want a second one. Just a heads up.

[Chrisoc13]

Good points.

The nice thing is it is hard to go wrong adding ships to this game early on. There are so many options now.

A couple more points (primarily just my opinion on these matters):
- The best A-wing pilot comes with the A-wing expansion (Tyco)
- You already have the better B-wings pilots (they are in rebel aces)
- 4 Tie fighters is pretty standard fare in lots of lists. Like Zarathud said, mini-swarms are good for the empire.
- The Tie advanced is the least useful ship in the game, except for one thing... it has Darth Vader! Who does actually live up to his reputation in this game, despite having the weakest ship. Worth buying for him alone.
- The lambda is actually a pretty good ship, but IMO it has the steepest learning curve. I have had success teaming it up with Tie Defenders, had a blast doing that. But it takes a certain list.
- In the same vein the HWK is a bit difficult to succeed with as well. I've won with it, but it hasn't been easy. There is one particular lineup that it excels with.
- Every ship is pretty much worth owning. So no worries there. Although I haven't tried the new Decimator and YT-2400 yet. But they won't be an exception.

Like I said you can't go wrong with whatever you decide to go with next. Zarathud has great suggestions as well, and either way would work well.

[Kurth]

Thanks for the helpful feedback. I ordered one of the Plano boxes from Amazon last night.

For now, I'm going to roll with the ships I ordered and see if the kids get into it. The boys are 11 and 6. I'm hoping I can team up with the 6 year old and take on his older brother. Think an 11 year old can grasp the rules and the strategies involved enough to have fun playing on his own?

Also, if I were to get some more ships, I'd love to get my hands on the falcon and slave 1, but they seem hard to come by at a decent price. What have you seen them going for recently?

[coopasonic]

Also, if I were to get some more ships, I'd love to get my hands on the falcon and slave 1, but they seem hard to come by at a decent price. What have you seen them going for recently?

They sell online for around $20. There will be a reprint. Just be patient.

[Blackhawk]

Think an 11 year old can grasp the rules and the strategies involved enough to have fun playing on his own?

It depends on the 11 year old, but yes. I teach my own kids strategies with a simple system - every time I nail them with something that works, I stop and explain to them what I did and why. It takes a few games for them to absorb enough ideas to really grasp it themselves, but after that they're competitive.

[coopasonic]

Think an 11 year old can grasp the rules and the strategies involved enough to have fun playing on his own?

It depends on the 11 year old, but yes. I teach my own kids strategies with a simple system - every time I nail them with something that works, I stop and explain to them what I did and why. It takes a few games for them to absorb enough ideas to really grasp it themselves, but after that they're competitive.

Isgrimnur does that for me with X-Wing too... we don't play enough though.

[Chrisoc13]

Also, if I were to get some more ships, I'd love to get my hands on the falcon and slave 1, but they seem hard to come by at a decent price. What have you seen them going for recently?

They sell online for around $20. There will be a reprint. Just be patient.

This. Don't pay crazy prices for any ships. They are constantly being reprinted. Then it should be around 20 for the big ships (falcon etc) except the decimator which runs a bit more. The little ships should always be between 10 and fifteen. If they are more than that just wait for reprints.

[Chrisoc13]

Well I actually got a game in today with wave 5.

I played the empire. My brother played the rebels. I took a Decimator ( Commander Kenkirk who gets an agility when he is defending once he is damaged into the hull) with an engine upgrade and Ysanne Isard who gives an evade every combat phase with damage into the hull), as long as 3 tie fighter escorts. 2 Academy ties and Mauler Mithel with an engine upgrade and lone wolf. The decimator started with the two academy ties on one end of the area, and Mithel with lone wolf on the other side.

My brother took the generic YT-2400 with the title and heavy laser cannon so it can only shoot at range 2-3 but it can do so outside of it's arc, which basically means 4 red die in any direction! Wow that is a cool use. He also took a generic Z-95 bandit with ordinance and Keyan Farlander (the B-wing that lets you spend stress tokens as a focus). Oh and also a heavy laser cannon. So lots of firepower on his side.

As I would have predicted he made a B-line for the Decimator which took a lot of damage in just the first round of shooting. As in it took 6 hits, shields down, and two damage. But it is a tank and still had 10 hull points left. I had minimal success shooting the first round as I couldn't get Mithel into range and the academy ties just annoyed the other team but didn't do much.



This is the initial confrontation.

In the second round he realized how good the decimator was at defense once into the hull in the current build, so he changed his tactic to take out the tie fighters and deal with the VT-49 later, I think this proved to be the biggest mistake.

Mithel managed to get behind the YT-2400 at range one and wrecked havoc on it, just tore it apart with 4 dice attacks 3 rounds in a row with no friendly ships within range (lone wolf allows reroll of one blank dice then) and the outrider couldn't return fire since I was range one. Pretty good flying on my part I felt like.


This is just before Mithel managed to sneak behind the outrider.

Finally the decimator rejoined the battle and took care of the B-wing and the Z-95 in rapid fashion.


Right before the end, my two academy ties were gone, but now Mithel finished off the Outrider and the VT-49 cleaned up the other two rebel ships.

All in all it was a great game, and I am very impressed with both of the new Wave 5 ships.

I also was playing on a new type of mat, a mousepad quality one. It stuck to the table great and felt good... but... it was really slippery, making it difficult to accurately move ships around. But it was a nice change, and I will probably use it from time to time.

[Chrisoc13]

Oh also wanted to add the new announcement today from FFG:

Finally an epic ship for the empire, and I think we learned why it took them so long to announce one, they made a new one up! They couldn't find anything in the EU that fit right with the game and would be a counter to the Tantive so they created one with Lucasfilm.

It is called the Raider, and I think it looks distinctly imperial and will be very happy to add it to my collection when it launches, especially since Epic is one of my favorite formats but it has felt flat up to now with an epic ship for the Empire. I only hope they come up with one soon for the Scum faction as well so they can join in Epic. I'm sure they will as long as this game keeps selling like it is.



I like the different shooting arcs it has, very interesting. Seems like it will fit in well.

It also comes with an escort Tie Advance (different pains scheme they say, although I cannot tell what the paint scheme differences are to be perfectly honest... maybe a blue scheme instead of the grey of the original).
And with the new tie advance, a huge improvement so the ship will be competitive again:


So basically a free system on any Tie Advance, and some points off too! Huge boost for the ailing ship. It also includes a new system just for the Tie advance:


I'm excited for this to come out obviously, as it will really bring epic play to life.

[Turtle]

Yeah, that's a big change for me since I used to fly Advanceds as a joke. Now I can field 3 and have them be worth it.

Also very nice to see FFG start making their own designs of ships. Let's face it, a lot of the EU stuff looks butt ugly. Stuff like the E-Wing should have been redesigned before making it to market.

[$iljanus]

The ship design looks quite beautiful and I also like their attempt to make the Advanced more relevant in the game. Didn't know it was entirely their own creation but I'm not a purist about these sorts of things.

If they're making their own ships up now I can't wait to see what they come up with for an epic Scum ship!

[Chrisoc13]

I'm just happy my three tie advanced ships will finally be useful! I've played Vader a lot recently because he actually is really good, but now he will be even better! And other Tie Advanced ships will be used a lot.

I also see some use for the lambda running with them passing off target locks, and Vesserey will be nice to take with them as well. The more target locks out there the better now! I like that, some good synergy on the side of the empire.

Also very nice to see FFG start making their own designs of ships. Let's face it, a lot of the EU stuff looks butt ugly. Stuff like the E-Wing should have been redesigned before making it to market.

Yeah I agree, I've never been a huge fan of the EU stuff for the most part, some of it is good, some of it needs tweaking. I don't mind the E-wing so much, but lots of other EU ships are ugly. The HWK is really ugly, but I'm pretty used to it now so it has grown on me. But lots of the huge ships people were throwing out there were ugly beyond belief or just stupid and this ship they made themselves is much better.

[Zarathud]

What am I missing? If the TIE/x1 is a title, there can be only 1 in play. So you're going to have Vader with the free Advanced Targeting Computer in 1 TIE Advanced. They'll need something else to help the other 2 TIE Advanced.

Those firing arcs make the Imperial Raider's nose its weak spot. Disable it, then the ship can only fire broadsides. I wouldn't be surprised to see the new ship design come into the new movies somehow.

[Turtle]

Titles do not have to be unique. Most titles are unique, since they are ships within the story, and they are marked with a diamond next to their name. Titles, or any cards, without that diamond can be taken as many times as you want.

For example, the Royal Guard TIE title card is an upgrade that costs 0 and is non-unique, just like TIE/x1. You can take it as many times as you want.

[Harkonis]

I'm happy they have cards coming to help ships that need it, I'm bummed they are included in Epic ships since I have no desire nor money to go down that path

[Turtle]

This is a miniature game, not a CCG. While FFG is hoping some people will be into only using the cards they have, the reality is you don't need the cards at all. You can use a list builder and print out your lists, or print out extra cards yourself, the images of the cards will be online in high res.

I've stopped chasing the cards I need and the game has become even more enjoyable, especially since the way they balance the game is through new card releases.

Anyway, I've started using this Decimator build

Decimator Read Admiral Chirnau
Expose + Experimental Interface + Darth Vader

Expose allows you, as an action, to gain 1 attack die on your primary weapon in exchange for losing 1 defense die. Then experimental interface allows you to, after taking an action on your ship's action bar, to take another action listed in your upgrade cards, at the cost of being stressed. So, you can target lock, then use expose, and now you're shooting at 4 attack dice base, 5 at short range, and you can reroll your misses, and the Rear Admiral character lets you turn one of your focus icons into a crit. Then, if you happen to leave a ship damaged but not dead, you can tack on another crit with Darth Vader.

This combo is incredibly deadly, and is on a turret so you don't have to worry about finding a target. You just have to make sure you're not going to get hit by so many things at once, and that your damage output exceeds the damage taken. Back this combo up with a Black Squadron TIE with Wingman, and 2 academy pilots, and you have a pretty effective combat group.

[AWS260]

Read Admiral Chirnau

Because knowing is half the battle!

[Turtle]

Hey, if I could use Geordi Laforge as a crew member on one of my ships, nothing could stand in the way of my fleet.