Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game

[Wraith]

Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures (http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=174) games by Fantasy Flight Games

Curious to see who (if anyone) has any experience with dogfighting X-Wings and TIE Fighters. I was introduced to this game about two months ago, and to be honest I'm slightly embarrassed by how much money I've already spent on it. :smallredface:

What I like most about this game is the system itself - I've never been a big Star Wars fan, but I think I'd still play it if it were WWI Bi-planes, submarines, or whatever.

I like it so much, that I've even sought out a couple of local tournaments to get involved with, though with little success - my first tourney ended with me in dead last place, but I'm optimistic that I'll be able to improve at my next one at the weekend. :smallbiggrin:

Favourite ships? Interesting equipment combinations? Preferred faction? I want to know.:smallsmile:

[Seatbelt]

The game's fun. I have nobody to play it with though so I mostly just collect them. I'll open them in a heartbeat to play though

[Mando Knight]

I watched it on Wil Wheaton's Tabletop (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mxPFHBCfuU). (It's also one of the episodes that they've released an extended edition (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STpqDELA_MU) for, in case one is wanting to spend about 100 minutes watching somewhat-famous people play one game) It looks pretty fun, but I don't have the cash for a miniatures game right now...

[hamishspence]

Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures (http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=174) games by Fantasy Flight Games

Curious to see who (if anyone) has any experience with dogfighting X-Wings and TIE Fighters. I was introduced to this game about two months ago, and to be honest I'm slightly embarrassed by how much money I've already spent on it. :smallredface:

What I like most about this game is the system itself - I've never been a big Star Wars fan, but I think I'd still play it if it were WWI Bi-planes, submarines, or whatever.


I like what I've seen of it so far - very nice models, and by all accounts it's well balanced without each side being excessively similar.

[Gnoman]

I've played the Star Trek Attack Wing version (nearly the same ruleset, with things reflavored to fit the universe) quite a bit. It is quite solid.

[Wraith]

Has anyone had much experience using the Firespray-31 (http://www.afewmaneuvers.com/topic/573-full-card-list-by-expansion/#slave1) (aka, Slave 1)?

The last time I wen to a tournament, I took with me one tanked-up B-Wing and a pair of A-Wings, and I was thoroughly destroyed by everyone I met.

Having now figured out the better way to play the game ("quantity of dice over quality of pilots") I'm toying with the idea of two cheap Firesprays with Heavy Lasers, backed up by a particular TIE Fighter who lets them take extra actions every turn ("Howlrunner (http://www.afewmaneuvers.com/topic/573-full-card-list-by-expansion/#tiefighter)" with the Squad Leader upgrade, for those who are familiar with him).

Short of "forget it and just take a TIE Swarm/B-Wing mob", can anyone see any problems with that that I'm not aware of?

[hamishspence]

I've seen reports that Firesprays are very very tanky, and that multiple Firesprays are a list that's hard to kill.


backed up by a particular TIE Fighter who lets them take extra actions every turn ("Howlrunner (http://www.afewmaneuvers.com/topic/573-full-card-list-by-expansion/#tiefighter)" with the Squad Leader upgrade, for those who are familiar with him).


Apparently Howlrunner is a her:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Civé_Rashon

[Peelee]

Has anyone had much experience using the Firespray-31 (http://www.afewmaneuvers.com/topic/573-full-card-list-by-expansion/#slave1) (aka, Slave 1)?

The last time I wen to a tournament, I took with me one tanked-up B-Wing and a pair of A-Wings, and I was thoroughly destroyed by everyone I met.

Having now figured out the better way to play the game ("quantity of dice over quality of pilots") I'm toying with the idea of two cheap Firesprays with Heavy Lasers, backed up by a particular TIE Fighter who lets them take extra actions every turn ("Howlrunner (http://www.afewmaneuvers.com/topic/573-full-card-list-by-expansion/#tiefighter)" with the Squad Leader upgrade, for those who are familiar with him).

Short of "forget it and just take a TIE Swarm/B-Wing mob", can anyone see any problems with that that I'm not aware of?

It's pricy, but Boba Fett with the navigator copilot is one helluva build - you can turn any bank maneuver to any other bank maneuver, effectively, so unless you need a hard turn, you can always change you're move to your advantage. It can also have a large array of firepower, but it's already costing a lot.

I don't do tourneys (not that good), but one of the perks of being in the 501st is I have no shortage of friends willing to play.

[Balain]

I first saw this on tabletop and liked it told a friend about it and he bought it and some of the extra ships. I shortly later picked it up to we both currently have all the ships except for the new giant one that cost $100

I really like it but it seems a bit limited in how often we can play

[Seatbelt]

Popular Firespray builds are mini-swarms. You run one competent Firespray Pilot (not Boba he's too expensive) and 4-6 ties.

[Wraith]

Apparently Howlrunner is a her.

Interesting. I always assumed that TIE pilots were Storm Troopers, and thus always male. Good to know :smallsmile:


Popular Firespray builds are mini-swarms. You run one competent Firespray Pilot (not Boba he's too expensive) and 4-6 ties.

Truthfully, I'm not a big fan of TIE Swarms, and especially not along side another type of ship.
On the one hand, I'm not so good that I can reliably control that many ships at the same time, and especially not when one of them has a large, awkward base to boot.
On the other, for the price of 1 Firespray I could afford 3 more TIEs and get better Defence dice, better Offense dice, similar survivability (9 Hull Points against 6 Hull/4 Shields) and a lot less to risk in points deficit as I lose 12pt TIEs rather than 32pt Firesprays. If you're going to do a TIE Swarm, I'm advised, do it all or not at all.

More to the point, I don't envision myself buying 4 more TIE Fighter models even to make up the mini-swarm, let alone yet more for the full thing! :smalltongue:

[hamishspence]

There's a couple of upcoming releases that'll make it a bit easier for Rebels to pull a Swarm- the Rebel Aces set, with its Chardaan Refit card (reduces A-wing cost by 2- but it cannot take missiles) and the Z-95 Headhunter.

One could have a fleet of 6 A-wings, 5 of which are Prototype Pilots with Refits (Even Tycho fits in if you give him a Refit as well).

Or even slightly more ships, if they're all Bandit Squadron Headhunters.

[Mando Knight]

Interesting. I always assumed that TIE pilots were Storm Troopers, and thus always male. Good to know :smallsmile:

Not even all Stormtroopers are male. According to The Making of Star Wars, Lucas had written background material for licensees that remarked that although rare, female stormtroopers did exist.

However, as Essential Guide to Warfare notes, the kit is the same, so you could stand a meter from a female trooper and never know it.

[hamishspence]

Not even all Stormtroopers are male. According to The Making of Star Wars, Lucas had written background material for licensees that remarked that although rare, female stormtroopers did exist.

However, as Essential Guide to Warfare notes, the kit is the same, so you could stand a meter from a female trooper and never know it.

Yup.

Belloflostsouls is probably the go-to place for X-wing previews.

The swarmiest Rebel list to retain a special character would probably be a 7 Headhunter list (Airen Cracken would be the best of the Headhunter characters).

[Wraith]

Not even all Stormtroopers are male. According to The Making of Star Wars, Lucas had written background material for licensees that remarked that although rare, female stormtroopers did exist.

I think I said above, I'm not that big of a Star Wars fan, truth be told. Pretty much all of my knowledge comes from the films - in this case, SWII: Attack of the Clones probably being the most relevant. I don't think a few odd episodes of Storm Trooper Bob will help me, here. :smallbiggrin:


There's a couple of upcoming releases that'll make it a bit easier for Rebels to pull a Swarm- the Rebel Aces set, with its Chardaan Refit card (reduces A-wing cost by 2- but it cannot take missiles) and the Z-95 Headhunter.

I'm honestly more looking forward to the VT-49 Decimator. I'm not even much of an Imperial player, it's just that model and the Firespray that I particularly like. And the best part is, you probably can't make either of them into a swarm.... :smalltongue:

[hamishspence]

True - 3 Firesprays is about as swarmy as they get, and the Decimator is big enough that it'll probably be impossible to fit more than 2 in.

[Cheesegear]

I've been running the Scarlet Cowgirl build myself for a while, it's done fairly well.

Kath Scarlet; Expert Handling, Rebel Captive
Omicron Group Pilot; Engine Booster, Fire Control System, Gunner
Royal Guard Pilot; Push the Limit

I've also run double Firesprays, too. But it gets annihilated by TIE swarms.
I can post my Scarlet repaint tomorrow. Because other Firesprays just aren't that good.

[Wraith]

the Decimator is big enough that it'll probably be impossible to fit more than 2 in.

The sneaky preview on the FFG website shows some of the cards already - the most expensive Decimator 'Hero' is 46pts, without upgrades, so 2 with at least semi-decent gear seems plausible.
Which, at 3 Attack Dice, 12 Hull and 4 Shields each, blows the Rebel equivalent (Han Solo/Millenium Falcon) out of the water. :smalltongue:


Omicron Group Pilot; Engine Booster, Fire Control System, Gunner

Have to admit, I'm not a big fan of the Lambda Shuttles. For their decent stats and reasonable cost - maybe I'm not imaginative enough to see their potential - but whenever I see them in play they come across as ponderous and I don't like that on such a big base. *shrug*

Unrelated question: Is there an errata for the X Wing cards online anywhere? As I look at your list, I'm seeing possibilities that hadn't occurred to me before and I'm wondering if I'm reading it right. (Specifically; does a Gunner combine with a Secondary Weapon in the way I am thinking it does?)


I've also run double Firesprays, too. But it gets annihilated by TIE swarms.

From what I've seen, so do most things that aren't a) a B-Wing Swarm and/or b) festooned with Assault Missiles and ways to guarantee at least one hit. :smalltongue:


I can post my Scarlet repaint tomorrow.

I would like to see that, and I'm totally not fishing for inspiration for my own models. :smallbiggrin:

So.... Tomorrow is my tournament, so far looks like I'll be one of about 8-12 participants, and I'm still divided over which list I will take. Thoughts, anyone?


Firespray-31 (Bounty Hunter)
+ Heavy Laser Cannon
Firespray-31 (Bounty Hunter)
+ Heavy Laser Cannon
TIE Fighter (Howlrunner)
+ Squad Leader


Total: 100pts

Both Firesprays have four attack dice at any range, decent shields and armour, and hopefully some reliability by combining both a Focus and a Target Lock every turn thanks to Squad Leader. With any luck I will gain some advantage due to this being a somewhat unique build - very few people in my meta run even a single Firespray, let alone two.


X Wing (Rookie Pilot)
X Wing (Rookie Pilot)
B Wing (Blue Squadron Pilot)
+ Heavy Laser Cannon
B Wing (Blue Squadron Pilot)
+ Heavy Laser Cannon


Total: 100pts

Similar to the above; lots of attack dice at all ranges and lots of shields, who run straight at the opponent and hope to chew them up before they do the same to me. Massed B Wings universally stole the show at the last competition I went to, though admittedly that was when the Lambda was still new and way before the 4th Wave releases were out - it's reliable, but likely to get mauled by any list that turns up with predominantly high Pilot Skills.

[Peelee]

Have to admit, I'm not a big fan of the Lambda Shuttles. For their decent stats and reasonable cost - maybe I'm not imaginative enough to see their potential - but whenever I see them in play they come across as ponderous and I don't like that on such a big base. *shrug*


I've only run it once, when I first got the idea, but the Lambda with Vader copilot and Rebel Prisoner did AMAZING things. The Rebel Prisoner (and the fact that the Lambda isn't all that good offensively) led my friend to steer away from gunning for it at first, which let me put my plan into action - shoot the shields off his ships with TIEs, then have the lower-rated Lambda fire off a shot at the newly unshielded ship. Hit or miss, Vader forces them to take a crit, and the Lambda has more than enough shields and hull to take several of these Force blasts (is how I fluff 'em). Best part is that once the plan was realized, going for the Lambda was still risky - the highest rated pilot was the first to shoot, so he took the stress, which worked great for me - and I was able to utilize the large base strategically with the full stop maneuver.

Lambda is a pretty nice strategic ship, all things considered.

[hamishspence]

Unrelated question: Is there an errata for the X Wing cards online anywhere? As I look at your list, I'm seeing possibilities that hadn't occurred to me before and I'm wondering if I'm reading it right. (Specifically; does a Gunner combine with a Secondary Weapon in the way I am thinking it does?)


The X-Wing Support Page (http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=174&esem=4) on the FFG site, is the place to find FAQs and so forth.

[Wraith]

Thought I would share my adventures at the Tournament last weekend - I had a lot of fun, and I'm still surprised by how the game seems not to have produced a single powerful, dominant list that keeps taking the top spots.

In the end I took the (2x Rookie X-Wings and 2x Blue Squadron B-Wings w/ Heavy Laser Cannons) because, while I was correct in that it would be unique, I didn't feel confidant that I'd had enough practice with the Firesprays. I think it turned out to be a good decision overall...

(Please note that my opponents' lists are only approximate, I'm pretty sure that one or two had upgrades that I forget, because they didn't get used and such. The ships are certainly right, if nothing else.)

Game 1: TIE Swarm!
TIE Fighter (Howlrunner)
+ Swarm Tactics
TIE Fighter (Mauler Mithel)
+ Swarm Tactics
TIE Fighter (Obsidian Squadron Pilot)
+ Swarm Tactics
TIE Fighter (Obsidian Squadron Pilot)
+ Swarm Tactics
TIE Fighter (Obsidian Squadron Pilot)
+ Swarm Tactics
TIE Fighter (Academy Pilot)

Probably the closest that I saw to a "power" list.... although there were three players with lists almost identical to this one between 10 players. Apparently abusing Swarm Tactics to get 6 TIEs with Pilot Skill 9 is the fashionable thing.

I started out quite well - while the TIEs advanced at full speed, I went as slow as possible and got two quick kills of an Obsidian and Academy Pilot in turns 3 and 4.
By this point, however, the TIEs were up close and started getting their bonus attack dice, which Howlrunner made into something horrible, and closed me down so that I couldn't turn effectively or get out of range.
Within another 4 turns both my X Wings were gone, one B Wing was badly damaged, and the other one was stuck at point blank range with 3 TIEs and the only maneuver that I could make in order to escape, guaranteed that it would then fly off the board in the next turn.

Had I thought about it, I should have been targeting Howlrunner and Mithel as early as possible; their extra dice whittled my shields away too quickly, and B Wings don't have the evasion to stand up to that sort of attrition.

Still, I made the guy work for it, and he told me that he was sweating a lot more than he thought he ought to have done, so I don't feel bad. This guy also went on to take 2nd place overall, so I was feeling pretty good that I knew where I had gone wrong and how to fix it.
Bottom line: I wanted to stay at long range, the TIEs wanted to get up close, and I couldn't hope to move fast enough to stop them.

Game 2: Rebel Gunships
YT-1300 (Chewbacca)
+ C-3PO
+ Push the Limit
+ Something else, possibly Millennium Falcon

B-Wing (Blue Squadron)
B-Wing (Blue Squadron)

Right at the outset, the player told me that this was his second ever game of X-Wing, so he was probably going to lose. I told him that at the last competition I played in, I came dead last out of 20 players, so if he was going to beat anyone then it would be me. :smallbiggrin:

Since we were both Rebels and both at exactly 100pts, we rolled initiative and I won - which, in hindsight, probably was the reason that I won the game in the end.

It started well for me when the YT-1300's first move was to accidentally make a Hard Right (3) instead of a Straight Ahead (3) maneuver, and it was two turns and 2 shields lost to asteroids later before it got back into the game.
Which meant that his two 'naked' B-Wings had to joust all four of my ships. He took out one of my X-Wings, but my Heavy Lasers gave me a huge advantage by stripping most of his shields before an unexpected K-Turn put me at point blank range and put them down for good.

And then I spent the next 30 minutes chasing the YT-1300 around the board, cursing loudly at the C-3PO/Chewbacca/Evasion combination that was soaking up hit after hit after hit. I'm not kidding; I was putting out at least 8 Attack dice per turn (sometimes as many as 11), and I was lucky if he took one damage at a time.
Long story short; his turret took out my other X-Wing when it go a little too close and lost it's Focus after colliding with an asteroid, but I won the battle of attrition before he was able to remove all the shields from either of the B Wings.

My first win in 7 games! And by wipeout, no less! :smallbiggrin:

Game 3: Rebel Random!
B-Wing (Ten Numb)
+ Ion Cannon Turret
Y-Wing (Horton Salm, probably)
+ Adv. Proton Torpedoes
HWK-290 (Kyle Katarn)
+ Moldy Crow

I went into this game both confident and apprehensive - I was riding high after my last victory, but as I arrived at the table the previous opponent who I was replacing informed me that he was running exactly the same list that I was.... and had been crushed in a handful of turns. :smallconfused:

We both advanced cautiously - I, so as to try and get in as close to Range 3 as possible to as to start with the Heavy Lasers, and he (or so I presumed) because none of his ships really had the durability to take the beating that I was offering.

Turns out, I was wrong - HE wanted to get into Range 3 as carefully as possible too, because his two other ships had spent 3 turns stacking Focus tokens and Target Locks on Horton Salm, who promptly screamed forward and unleashed his Advanced Proton Torpedoes at my lead X Wing, hitting it with 6 dice and rerolling or augmenting ALL of them into hits. He was virtually dead before I bothered rolling dice. :smallconfused:

....Fortunately, from thereon it turned out that the list was a one-trick pony. Salm was closest but he was still at Range 2, so he took two Heavy Lasers and an X-Wing to the face and immediately went down in flames. Then it was Ten Numb's turn - even his hardest turn couldn't get him out of my Fire Arc, and he too was destroyed outright (nearly twice over) in the next turn.

Faced with such an aggressive list and also (apparently) the enmity of the Random Number God and only a HWK-290 that was facing in completely the wrong direction to his name, my opponent's immediate response was to concede. The game took 4 turns, and was over in just under the first 15 minutes of an hour-long slot. Ouch.

By the end, I finished joint 5th (actually 3rd, along side two other players who had scored two victories and one defeat) and I was very happy with it. My defeat was earned, and my wins were comfortable.... Vindication! :smallbiggrin:

[Seatbelt]

I just got my wave 3 ships in the mail. I bought 3 of each. Very excited. Probably won't get to play them until GenCon though. Nobody likes Star Wars in my area.

[Cheesegear]

I would like to see that, and I'm totally not fishing for inspiration for my own models. :smallbiggrin:


http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/Cheesegear/Scarlett_zpsff3d3c15.jpg

The blacklining is less than ideal. But, the goal here was to simply differentiate Kath Scarlet from 'the other one' when running dual Firesprays.

[Janwin]

What I like most about this game is the system itself - I've never been a big Star Wars fan, but I think I'd still play it if it were WWI Bi-planes

Well, fortunately for you, the Star Wars Miniatures game is based off of another game that was out before it, using the same system, called Wings of War. It is a WWI aerial combat game, and later on they released WWII planes as well. :smallbiggrin:

[Seatbelt]

I got to play some today. Tie Interceptors are amazingly deadly. Holy smoke.

[hamishspence]

They're also as fragile as normal TIEs though.



http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/Cheesegear/Scarlett_zpsff3d3c15.jpg

The blacklining is less than ideal. But, the goal here was to simply differentiate Kath Scarlet from 'the other one' when running dual Firesprays.


Very nice.

I wonder if you'd like to try a "Tactica X-Wing" guide like you've done a lot with 40K? Your insights there have generally been interesting.

[Peelee]

Two part question.

A.) Suppose I had no artistic skills whatsoever. Would anyone be willing to take on commissions for a reasonable price?

2.) Wholly unrelated to question A, assume I have a ship that the peg thingie snapped off, and I can't find it. What is the best way to go about replacing it, barring buying a new ship?

[Wraith]

A.) Suppose I had no artistic skills whatsoever. Would anyone be willing to take on commissions for a reasonable price?

While I obviously can't comment on behalf of the entire GitP community, you might have better luck asking that in one of the Arts and Crafts Threads. Or, alternatively, look on Facebook - I can think of at least one community on there, that regularly shows off repainted models.


2.) Wholly unrelated to question A, assume I have a ship that the peg thingie snapped off, and I can't find it. What is the best way to go about replacing it, barring buying a new ship?

Contact Fantasy Flight Games (http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_atencion.asp) directly. Apparently they have a very good reputation for replacing broken parts and missing pieces, if you ask nicely.

Otherwise? Look up Attack Wing, which is basically the same game, but made under the Star TREK license. Produced by Wizkids, they use the same sized bases and stands, but crucially they sell them separately, unlike FFG.

eBay is also a good bet. Or, if it's a small ship (X Wing, TIE Fighter, etc) just use the one half of the peg. They fit on the one, they just don't stand quite as high. :smalltongue:

==============================================

Unrelated topic; I got back from a local Tournament today, and did a lot better than before - placed 8th out of 19 players. Yay! :smallsmile: Writeups maye be incoming,one I've recuperated.

[hamishspence]

eBay is also a good bet. Or, if it's a small ship (X Wing, TIE Fighter, etc) just use the one half of the peg. They fit on the one, they just don't stand quite as high. :smalltongue:

I thought that it was the little peg, permanently attached to the bottom of the ship, that was being referred to.

The one the long pegs plug into.

That might be a little harder to replace.

[Peelee]

While I obviously can't comment on behalf of the entire GitP community, you might have better luck asking that in one of the Arts and Crafts Threads. Or, alternatively, look on Facebook - I can think of at least one community on there, that regularly shows off repainted models.
Bah! Curse your fine logic and ability to think things through. Curse them, I say! Also, good idea. Thanks.


Contact Fantasy Flight Games (http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_atencion.asp) directly. Apparently they have a very good reputation for replacing broken parts and missing pieces, if you ask nicely.

Otherwise? Look up Attack Wing, which is basically the same game, but made under the Star TREK license. Produced by Wizkids, they use the same sized bases and stands, but crucially they sell them separately, unlike FFG.

eBay is also a good bet. Or, if it's a small ship (X Wing, TIE Fighter, etc) just use the one half of the peg. They fit on the one, they just don't stand quite as high. :smalltongue:
Awesome! I see Attack Wing all the time at my local game store when I feel like paying extra to throw them some business. Always get annoyed at the absolute no sense of scale with it, but I very much like the "everything can be bought separately" aspect. Did not know about that. I'll give FFH a try. Double thanks!

==============================================

Unrelated topic; I got back from a local Tournament today, and did a lot better than before - placed 8th out of 19 players. Yay! :smallsmile: Writeups maye be incoming,one I've recuperated.

Kudos! I get no tournaments 'round these parts (at least, not that I've heard of), so I'm gonna tourney with one of my 501st friends who is just getting into it. I think I can at least snag 2nd place, with luck.