Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game Starter Set
X-Wing is a tactical ship-to-ship combat game in which players take control of powerful Rebel X-wings and nimble Imperial TIE fighters, facing them against each other in fast-paced space combat. Featuring stunningly detailed and painted miniatures, X-Wing recreates exciting Star Wars space combat throughout its several included scenarios. Select your crew, plan your maneuvers, and complete your mission!
The X-Wing starter set includes everything you need to begin your battles, such as scenarios, cards, and fully assembled and painted ships. What's more, X-Wing's quick-to-learn ruleset establishes the foundation for a system that can be expanded with your favorite ships and characters from the Star Wars universe.
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All of the very positive reviews on this site combined with my love of old-school Star Wars had me go out and give this a try. I’ve never played a true miniature game (BattleLore is the closest), but I expect that Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) were specifically hoping to create a new and larger market (like me) with this starter set. So with that background, and another warning, this is a review of the Starter Set (ie. the game listed on this page) and not the entire FFG X-Wing Miniatures game universe.
Object. It’s a very straight-forward 2-player game – you either play the X-Wing fighter or the two Tie-Fighters. Your job, destroy the other enemy ship(s). Alternatively, you can play one of the included narrative mission games which has you still play one of the two sides, but at least one of you have a greater goal than just blowing the other player to bits. These are usually simple and similar to beginner missions in X-Wing or Tie-Fighter the computer games from the 90s in which you escort a shuttle, scan satellites, or just escape an attack. Very simple and straightforward.
Rules. Each turn has 4 phases: Planning, Activation, Combat, and End. Planning is where you secretly indicate your ship’s move for that turn. Activation is where you execute your move in ascending order of your ship’s pilot skill level and then take any available actions after moving, if possible. Combat is where you attack any enemy ship in your firing range in reverse order of pilot skill level (best pilot fires first). An attack is done by rolling special red 8-sided dice and the defender rolls special green 8-sided dice. The End phase is just the usual end of turn action and cleanup. Rinse and repeat until you have a winner. I am guessing from others that this game is unusually well-designed and simple to learn and play for a miniature game – it took no time to play with the most advanced rules. See coltsfan76‘s review here for greater detail.
Components. The consensus is right; the components are terrific! And the joy of having detailed and painted spaceships (1 X-wing, 2 Tie-Fighters) in my hands definitely brought back fond memories of playing with the Kenner toys as a kid. The cards and tokens are easy to understand and the overall quality is great. While the dice are nice, they should have included 2 more of each color as you often need more than 3 dice to roll at one time. For a starter set, it would have been great to include a poster of space to use as a starting play area or board, but my black table-top worked ok. The bases of the ships are light and it’s very easy to accidentally bump or move the ships, which does impact the game. This would be a very different experience with OCD players which demand perfection in placements. The tokens for the missions are nice, though these could easily be replaced with other models/miniatures.
Game play. My first game was the quick-start game they include. I was dead in 2 turns – fast! Our second game used the full rules, and took an hour to play. Once I killed one Tie-Fighter, it was a lot of flying in circles taking shots at each other (rolling dice). We both had so much defense that it took much longer than was fun (for either of us) for me to destroy the last Tie-Fighter. Not a good first impression. After several more experiences, I feel that I’ve played all I can with what the Starter Set includes.
Impressions. As I implied above, this does not seem like a full self-contained game or, when treated as one, it doesn’t have near as much strategy and replay-ability as I would expect. The game booklet recommends playing with 100 points worth of ships which is 2-3 times the amount that this set comes with. Considering the price of this starter and the four expansion ships available, this means you’ll need to spend ~US$100 in items for this before you have enough for a regular recommended game. For those who play miniature games, this may be the normal, but for newbies like me, I was not pleased. I wish someone here had written a review like this to warn me of this beforehand, hence this review. [To be fair, others recommended having fleets of ships, but I didn't realize how much this would be required for a better overall experience.] Like many of FFG’s big properties, e.g. Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, etc, this is another one where you get a taste and then have lots of ways of adding to your future play experience. But unlike those great card-based examples which have enjoyable self-contained starter games, this one one doesn’t and is much pricier than the rest. Many individual future ships to be released start to cost the same amount as this entire starter set (e.g., $30 for Millennium Falcon or Slave I).
I’m still debating if I’ll go all-in. For those of you who have, continue to enjoy! In the meantime, *pew pew*!
GAMEPLAY
The X-Wing Miniatures Game brings the dog fighting action of the Star Wars Universe to the tabletop, Specifically the Episodes 4, 5, and 6 timeframe. The game flows well from turn to turn as the game turn has four phases. One, Planning phase, secretly choose your ships’ movement. Two, Activation phase, move your ships and perform an action to help your ship survive and improve your chances to hit. Three, Combat phase, resolve you shooting for the turn. Four, End phase, clean up the game space. The planning phase offers a fun battle of wits with your opponent as your try to predict their moves and line up you shots. Each class of ship is restricted in their choices of manuevers. The Tie Fighters are fast but have restrictions on short turns with no shields. The X-Wings are generally mobile and have some shields. The Y-Wings are slow very durable and have lots of shield. Most of the turn is spent during the combat phase to resolve shooting. Ships have attack and defense dice. The die rolls can be modified by actions and pilots special abilities. Damage points are scored on each ship and critical hits will cause disruptions to the ship and the pilot.
X-Wing immerses you in the Star Wars setting and gives a fun fast gameplay experience. Having the game in two dimensions was clearly in the interest of keeping the game moving. A more hardcore dogfighting simulation can be found in Wings of Glory a WWII miniature game (Which I also recommend).
COMPONENTS
The models are well detailed, simply painted models. If you are a model painter the painting can easily be improved on, but the out of the box quality will have most fans smiling. The expected high quality Fantasy flight production is in evidence here, thick cardboard for the movement rulers, everything is easy to read, and the art is top notch. All of the stats and abilities are clear and easy to distinguish on the pilot cards.
THEME
Full of star wars. Get to fly as your favorite character from the movie when you are the good guys, Luke and Biggs. While playing the imperials the pilots get sufficiently generic evil names such as Mauler Mithel and Night Beast. The first wave of expansions add Characters with each ship including Wedge and Darth Vader. The Second coming early 2013 will add the Millennium Falcon and Slave one.
WHO IS IT FOR?
Anyone who loves Star Wars will enjoy this game. Players 10 and up can enjoy the game. The quick turns will keep younger players engaged.
The game out of the box will let players experience three basic scenarios which are all fun and different to play. Be for-warned though. As with most miniatures games, to play larger more spectacular battles, multiple expansions are necessary. The game recommends battle of 100 points. Each pilot card has a point value with weapon and droid upgrades available. 100 points battle require between four and six ships per side. The base set comes with 1 X-Wing and 2 Tie Fighters.
Buckle up folks, this one’s been a long time coming – it’s X-Wing: The Miniatures Game by Fantasy Flight Games! Now, before you go locking your s-foils in attack position let’s hold our fire and see if there are any life readings on board.
Components: In the past, there have been some mediocre Stars Wars miniatures, but with Fantasy Flight behind the wheel we have some of the best pre-painted miniatures I have ever seen. The detail is very crisp for the scale (which comes in at approximately 1/270th) and the paint jobs are nice and clean. Fantasy Flight is using a harder, lighter plastic than other pre-painted minis games. As a result the ships feel a bit fragile (due to the light weight), but are surprisingly sturdy and don’t suffer from the type of drooping/sagging/bending that plagues other minis. Additionally, the game comes with movements templates, tokens, dice and cards – all of which live up to the Fantasy Flight standard of quality.
The rulebook for X-Wing is nice, neat and accessible. The core box set has enough components for players to try a few scenarios (also included in the rulebook) and get a good grasp on both the basic and advanced rule sets that are presented. The rules themselves are intuitive to a point, though the interactions between ships while moving and the timing of certain abilities may pose a problem to players on occasion. Fantasy Flight recently released an FAQ/Errata document that clears up most of these issues.
Gameplay: X-Wing is a dogfighting game through and through. Players will build squadrons of fighters by selecting either named pilots (like Wedge Antilles or Howlrunner) or generic ones and equipping them with upgrade and skill cards. Pilots, equipment and skills all cost a certain number of points and the standard game size is 100 points. This allows players to customize their squadron as they see fit and could mean as few as 3 or as many as 8 ships on the table depending on what a player chooses.
The basic mechanic behind ship movement consists of players simultaneously selecting how each of their ships is going to move via a dial unique to that ship. The maneuvers include things like simple forward movement, slight turns, sharp banks and the infamous Koiogran Turn (a 180 degree turn around). Once players have set a dial and secretly placed it next to each corresponding fighter, they are revealed in ascending order based on each pilot’s skill value. Once a ship has moved, it can perform an action. Actions can range from improving your ability to evade, acquiring a target lock or even activating one of your upgrade cards.
After all ships have moved, players will enter the combat phase and attempt to shoot each other down. Simply check to see who is in your firing arc (a 90 degrees wedge in front of every fighter), how far away they are (there are bonuses to attack/defense depending on distance to target) and building their dice pools. Attackers take a number of attack dice equal to their primary weapon value and roll them. After counting up how many hits they’ve scored, the defender will build a pool of green defense dice equal to their evasion and attempt to roll evade icons to cancel hits. There are rules for shields, critical hits and of course character abilities that alter the core mechanics of the game, but these are the basics.
Overall: I’m in love with this game. Like, the scary kind of love that makes me want to tie it to a bed and break it’s legs so it can’t run away from me. Squad building is an exciting challenge and there’s enough variety so far to keep squadrons fresh and games interesting. Both the Rebels and the Imperials seem to be well balanced against one another. Since combat is dice based, there is a fair amount of luck involved and sometimes even your best laid plans can evaporate if you keep rolling blanks, but the game plays relatively quickly and the moments of bad-dice-temper-syndrome are likely to be few and far between.
If I could, I’d go back and change my rating of an 8 to a solid 9 – possibly even a 10. X-Wing definitely delivers your money’s worth and with new expansions coming out early next year, I don’t think I’ll be letting it collect dust any time soon.
By way of introduction, my son and I love Star Wars. I was four years old when Episode IV was released, and he was almost four when Episode III was released. We have both seen all the movies and enjoy the Clone Wars animated series. For him, Star Wars is the prequels and the TV series. It’s all about squads fighting on the ground and Jedi Knights leading clones (like the Star Wars miniatures game). For me, Star Wars is all about the intense dogfights between Rebels and Imperials and immense explosions in the vacuum of space. For me, Star Wars is the X-Wing Miniatures Game.
Starting with the components: this game looks amazing. The core set comes with three prepainted miniatures (two TIE fighters and one X-Wing) that are extremely detailed and wonderful to admire. The miniatures are designed to sit on a clear peg (you can put multiple pegs together to add height) that attaches to a base. A cardboard indicator is attached to the base and provides all the necessary stats for the different pilots that can be used for each ship. There are a variety of corresponding pilot cards (some common and some unique, and yes, including Luke Skywalker) that detail the pilots, as well. Various upgrade cards that can be used to customize the ships are also included. A variety of cardboard markers are also included, along with maneuvering templates, a color-coded range finder, and some really impressive maneuver dials that also correspond to the different ships. The entire production is top notch, has great artwork, and just oozes Star Wars theme.
The gameplay is straightforward and offers some great mechanics. At the start of each round, the players secretly dial in maneuvers for each of their ships. Once all maneuvers are chosen, they are revealed individually, and each ship makes its move, the order of which is determined by each pilot’s piloting skill (lowest skill moves first, followed by next lowest, and so forth). Once everyone has moved their ship, each ship gets to fire, starting with the pilot with the highest skill and moving down. In this way, the pilot with the highest skill moves last and shoots first, which can provide an advantage, particularly if the pilot destroys a ship with a lower skill before it even gets to take a shot. There are a variety of actions and upgrades that can be used to modify attack and defense rolls. Additionally, some maneuvers are more “stressful” than others and can prevent your pilot from performing certain actions (as in, the pilot is so focused on successfully performing the maneuver, he/she can’t divert their attention to an enhanced attack or evade, etc.). The game really gives players the feel of a dogfight (at least a Star Wars dogfight), with ships weaving in and around others, trying to outguess the opponent and line up the perfect shot, all the while trying to avoid the other ships’ guns. it feels like a Star Wars space battle. I can almost hear Vader saying, “I have you now” as the members of Red Squadron prepare to make the Trench Run…
The various ships have different capabilities and upgrades, depending on the ship type. TIE fighters are more nimble and have less armor, while the X-wings don’t have the maneuverability but can stand up to more punishment. The different pilots also offer varying abilities and play differently. They range from Luke, an excellent pilot, to guys that are fresh from the academy. The pilots and upgrades have different point costs, encouraging players to experiment with a variety of squad builds and leaving the way open for multiple expansions, the first of which have already arrived.
A few negatives: The MSRP may seem a little high for gamers not accustomed to paying for miniatures. However, if you look at everything that comes in the box, it really seems to be worth the money (at least for me). Also, gameplay may become repetitive if every match comes down to just destroying the other side’s units. This can be overcome by playing scenario games. Three are included in the core set, and there are multiple fan-made ones already available on the web. And the biggest negative: I have to wait until the end of the year for more new expansions!
Overall, this game is a huge amount of fun. It does a great job of capturing the feel of Star Wars squad battles in space, is easy to pick up and play, and looks great on the table. This game is a must for any Star Wars fans and should provide lots of fun and entertainment for gamers of all types. I highly recommend it.
Overview: Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game is a miniature battle game for two players that recreates starfighter dogfights in the Star Wars universe on your gaming table.
Gameplay: One player controls an X-wing, while the other has two Tie fighters. They are placed on opposite sides of the game area, three foot square being recommended. For every ship they control, each player secretly chooses how they want it to move from their “maneuver dial”. These dials have various choices specifically tailored to the speed and maneuverability of the ship. In ascending order, based on each pilot’s skill level, ships are relocated using “movement templates” that match the move from their dials. This is a very simple process. The template is held in front of the model. Then the model is moved to match up in front of the template, eliminating complicated measuring and angling common to most miniature games. Upon completing a move, each pilot can take an action, such as focusing his concentration or acquiring a target lock on an enemy.
Now, in descending pilot skill order, each ship is allowed to fire its weapons at an enemy within range. They roll special eight-sided “attack dice” while their target rolls “defense dice”. The successes from each are compared and damage is applied if the attacker has more. Combat damage is tracked using an interesting mechanic also. For every point of damage assigned, a card is drawn from a “damage deck”. Regular hits are kept facedown, while critical hits are placed face up, revealing text that adds further complications to the ship. When a ship has damage cards equal to its hull it is destroyed. Play continues until only one side remains.
The game also provides the ability to assemble customized squads. Players use a mutually agreed upon point total to select various pilots, skills and ship modifications, each providing new abilities and actions. Additional ships can be purchased enabling larger squadrons and offering more options.
The miniatures in this game are exquisitely detailed and painted. Original models used in the filming of the Star Wars films were referenced in creating these fine components. Looking at these ships on your table transports you into those epic conflicts from the films.
Pros:
- Amazing component quality. Ships detailed enough to satisfy non-gaming collectors.
- Simple rules very easy to learn/teach.
- Dials and templates keep movement intuitive and not technical.
- Combat and damage system avoids referencing of complicated charts.
- Expansions and squad building offer strong replay value
Cons
- Replay value limited while using only one core set.
- Need for more ships and expansions sets price point rather high.
Historical Figure/ Fictional Character I’d Most Like to Play Against: Jek Porkins
Much like the films it is based on, Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game provides a fast, brutal battle, light on the technical side. Its swift gameplay keeps it exciting and easy to include in a gaming session.
What Is It About? – An Overview of the Game
X-Wing: Miniatures is a miniatures based dog fight for two teams. It brings the space battles in the Star War trilogy to your kitchen table. Players dial up movement for a turn and use templates to standardize those movements. Combat is resolved with dice while damage is tracked with hit cards. The last player flying wins the game.
What Do I Get? – The Components in the Box
The core game of X-Wing comes with a pre-painted X-Wing and two pre-painted TIE fighters. It also includes a set of movement templates, a movement dial for each ship, a range ruler, a deck of hit cards, and three each of the attack and defense dice. The game includes multiple Pilot cards for each ship type and corresponding tokens to place on the plastic ship stands. There is also an upgrade deck ranging from pilot skills to astromech droids to additional weapons. A handful of tokens and other cardboard accessories are included to track information and set up for different scenarios. The game also includes a quick start guide with very simple rules to get families started right away. In the base game, the two named X-Wing pilots are Luke Skywalker and Biggs Darklighter and R2-D2 is one of the named astromechs.
What is lacking is a physical board. A 3’0” x 3’0” play area is suggested so you will need to demarcate your playing area if it is larger than this. Another option is to buy black fabric in this shape to have definitive edges.
What Do I Do? – Playing the Game
The game is played in four simple phases.
1) Planning Phase – Secretly select your movement
2) Activation Phase – move and perform an action
3) Combat Phase – resolve combat
4) End Phase – clean up
During the planning phase, each player selects the movement for each of his ships. This is done in secret and simultaneously. Ship movement is governed by the movement dial which limits ship classes to certain movements. For example, an X-Wing is much slower than a TIE so it cannot move at 5-speed straight. On the flip side, TIE fighters move so quickly they cannot do the shorter 1-speed straight or bank.
Each pilot has a skill marked as an orange number. The higher the number, the better the pilot. During the movement phase, the pilot with the lowest pilot skill goes first. He reveals his dial and selects the corresponding movement template which reflect speed (distance traveled) and direction. He then places the template in front of his ship (using the plastic guides) and moves his ship along the template, lining up the back of his ship with the end of the template. He immediately takes an action (which is explained below). The next highest pilot resolves his movement and selects an action until all ships have moved.
During combat, the pilot with the highest skill resolves first. In order for a ship to select a target, it must be both in his arc of fire and within range. He rolls the number of dice equal to his red Weapon value, possibly modifying the result through actions or abilities. Then the target rolls a number of dice equal to his green Agility number, again possibly modifying the results. Every evade rolled cancels out a single hit. Normal hits are cancelled first, and then critical hits. For every remaining hit, on shield (noted by the blue number) is removed first, with the remaining hits being taken as a face-down damage card. When the hit is critical, the damage card is taken face up and the instructions followed. A ship is destroyed once it accumulates a number of damage cards equal to its yellow hull value. Once this combat is complete, the next lowest pilot resolves his combat until all ships have fired or passed.
There are a few more rules concerning extra dice depending on range. Line of site is not an issue in this game (unless obstacles are involved). There is also an easy means to determine what happens if ships collide. All are simple and make sense in this game, keeping the flow moving.
In the end phase, any “end of phase” actions are resolved and players pull back any unused tokens for the turn. If one side is not eliminated, a new round begins.
Actions and Stress
Actions are at the heart of the movement phase. Each ship class has certain actions that it can perform. X-Wings can acquire a target lock on any ship within range, not counting the firing arc. This allows them to, in a future attack, reroll as many dice as they want one time. TIE fighters have the ability to Evade, granting them one cancelled hit or Barrel Roll, an additional sideways movement that allows them to nudge forward or backward in the process. All ships in the base game also have Focus which allows them to turn the Focus die results to either hits or misses as the situation allows. Upgrades and Pilots also have additional actions that can be used.
In addition to speed and direction, movement is either easy, normal, or challenging represented as green, white, and red arrows, respectively. A red maneuver causes stress to be placed on the ship and it will be unable to perform any action until it removes the stress. Performing a green maneuver allows a stress token to be removed, and once free of stress, immediately select an action again.
What Do I Think? – Final Thoughts
In the interest of full disclosure, I was a blind and beta tester on this product. However, my opinion of the game is not influence by my volunteer status and I receive no compensation based on any review.
I have seen the development of this game from GenCon 2011 to GenCon 2012 and I believe Fantasy Flight Games has published the best Star Wars dog-fighting product it possibly could. The game is easy to teach, and exciting to play. One of the most intriguing aspects of the game is trying to guess at your opponent’s movement and set yours accordingly. The last thing you want to do is fly past him while he still has you in his sights. The decisions associated with the actions are also tense as lesser pilots continue to guess where the better pilots might be. But the best pilot can survey the entire field and make sure his action is the most efficient. Combat is well balanced. While the X-Wing is outnumbered, he effectively has 5 hits to the TIEs 3 hits each and has the better actions available. The Target Lock stays in effect until used so allows you to hold onto it for a turn and couple it with a Focus action to do the most damage possible in a turn. The critical hits make for another interesting moment as you see if it will be the devastating Direct Hit (worth two damage), something you can repair, or something that will annoy you for the rest of the game.
While the game comes with a Quick Start rules sheet, this version of the game is too basic for most gamers. This is intended for families that want to get the kids involved within minutes of opening the box and just letting them get a feel for everything. Experienced gamers will want to dive into the regular rules and experience the full game right away.
The game also has three scenarios that highlight aspects other than just the dog fight. In one, you must escort a senator’s shuttle to safety. In another, you must repair your ship in an asteroid belt before flying to safety. In the final one, you must scan the imperial satellites for the win.
But where the game shines is with an additional copy and building a fleet. Each ship and upgrade has a point value. For standard games, 100 points is given to each side. This will field about 3-4 Rebel ships while the Imperial Fleet will have 4-6 ships. Even more fun is getting to larger battles with 200 points and see full squadrons dodging asteroids and attacking each other.
If there is any complaint to the game, it is that more expansions offer more variability. While a full game in and of itself, there will be the temptation to spend more money for more ships. Most people might consider grabbing a second copy of the game so each side can have their own templates, range rules, and more dice. And speaking of more dice, I do wish it came with one more of each color as often times, 3 is just not enough. But with a second set, this is a non-issue.
I find the game to be very satisfying with its easy rules, easy set-up and fast-paced nature.
What Next? – Other Recommendations for this Game
As already alluded to, this game has expansions. Wave 1 was released with the base game and includes single X-Wings and TIEs with new pilots (the X-Wing comes with Wedge Antilles). The TIE Advanced (with Darth Vader) and the Y-Wing are new ships. Each expansion comes with multiple pilot cards and appropriate upgrades. They also include the tokens and movement dial needed for that ship.
Wave 2 was announced at GenCon with the fan favorites Millennium Falcon and Slave 1 joining the A-Wing and TIE Interceptor. There are still more ships in the Star Wars universe so we can expect more waves in the future.
I like Star Wars, but am not a diehard fan. And, this would be my first foray into the “boardless” miniatures game market.
Components
This is Fantasy Flight, folks, so you can expect beautiful components. I was surprised to see just how much cardboard is in here! Great dice, nice chits, quality movement templates, and nifty little dials (to determine maneuvers) for your ships round out a satisfying unboxing. Much has been said about the detail/quality of the miniatures. They seem very nice to me, and they add a cool factor to a game that would otherwise suffer from game mechanics that I suspect are a too simple for the hardcore miniatures gamer. The nice instruction booklet is well-implemented, and even has a handy Quick Reference on the back cover. There’s also a 2 ply quick start sheet which will help you get your first game started fast.
Gameflow
The game round, which consists of 4 phases (Planning, Activation, Combat, and End – clean up) are simple and streamlined enough to keep the action going at a good pace. Clearly F/F is trying to strike a good balance between having enough choices to keep things interesting, while ensuring the game appeals to a large audience (I picked up my copy at Target). Of course combat is naturally the most engaging part of the game. Both attack and defense dice are rolled to determine if damage cards will be taken. Normal points of damage are represented by using the topside of damage cards. Critical hits require the player to use the faceup side and resolve the effects indicated. The various ways you can suffer damage really mix things up.
Fun Factor
As far as the core set goes, this is pretty fun, but I don’t think there’s enough variety in the ship cards, upgrades (or ships for that matter) to last many plays before things start getting stale. That being said, this is ONLY the core set, and with all the expansions coming out – some of which will probably add to the rules – I imagine the game will evolve into something pretty great. Judging the core set alone, I would place this in the category of a strong filler.
Positives
Great components, especially the miniatures
Feels like Star Wars
Nice damage system
Negatives
Price point (yikes)
Rules are a little too simple for my taste
When someone offered you to try X-Wing for the first time and you got addicted and it ruined your life? I’m kidding, kinda.
Summary
X-Wing Miniature Base set is a minis game where you are provided 3 miniatures as a starter set. 1 X-Wing and 2 Tie Fighters. First you need to determine a skill level threshold to pick your pilots. This is important for balancing because 2 really good Tie Fighter Pilots might not be a good matchup against one X-Wing Pilot, depending on the skill level. Some ships can have upgrades, providing extra actions or attacks to your ship. There is no game board, so you can use any flat surface to play the game, as long as there is enough room. Make sure you designate boundaries as well, because if a ship flies out of the boundaries, the ship is considered leaving the battle and is immediately destroyed.
Each round is composed of 3 phases. Move, action, and attack phases.
- Moving: Pilots with the lowest skill move first. You are provided with a wheel that shows what maneuvers are available for your ship, which you use to pick your move action. There are maneuvers that are more difficult, and put stress on your ship, as well as maneuvers that are easier and relief stress from the ship. When movement is decided, you use a measure stick to show where your ship ends their space. There are certain rules for overlapping ships as well.
- Action: During this time, the pilots have the option to choose what kind of action they want to prep for. Most common actions are focus, evade, and barrel roll. On both defense and offense dice, there are eye ball symbols. If you have a focus, focus token can change one of those to a hit or dodge, depending what you are rolling for. Barrel Roll is a immediate side maneuver to help you dodge or get a better angle. Evade token counts as 1 auto dodge for your ship.
- Attack: Lastly, the highest piloting skill attacks first. Both Tie Fighters and Xwings can only attack things in their front cone. and you also have to measure distance of attack. Further you are, the harder to hit and vice versa. There are also missile attacks that do different types of damage.
X-Wings come equipped with more weapons and they have shields. Tie Fighters have less on the ship, but have more maneuvers that they can perform.
Impressions
Pros:
- Being that I’ve never really played mini games before, I found this very refreshing to the mix of board games that I have.
- It was able to carry the space combat pretty well. At times, you really find yourself developing strategies of where to move next, either because you are chasing someone or because you need to get away.
- Cool Minis play to fans.
- Good number of variations on pilots, upgrades, and actions.
Cons:
- My biggest gripe on this, is that while the X-Wing and Tie Fighters are enough to get a feel for the game, you feel like you’re missing out by not having other ships. This is a game that will take a hefty investment, especially if you are soloing the costs.
- The majority of the movement during combat is actually pretty awesome, but at times it can get clunky especially when the ships are too close. The overlap rule settles the disputes, but this can sometimes take away from the game. Unfortunately this seems to be a necessary evil of the game.
- Some balance issues. When you set scores for piloting skills, most times, the tie fighters have 2 weaker pilots that add to the total, while rebels have 1 good pilot. We’ve only tried playing a few times with the base set, but it does seem a bit unbalanced on the imperial side. This is something we need to fidget with more and find a better way to even out the odds. Please note, we also tried with a few expansion ships after the fact, and that only lead us to believe we had to buy other ships…
- No board to play on. I guess you can say the world is your oyster, but they literally give you nothing to play on, not even poster paper that has stars on it.
Overall, this game was really a lot of fun. I enjoy the dynamics to the game and the options you have available. This is a game when after playing for the first time, I seriously thought about getting some minis to make more epic battles but it’s A LOT of money compared to other board games. Players who are more familiar with mini games might be used to such costs, but not all board game fans are looking to spend that much. This is a game I would recommend people to try, but it comes with a “buyer’s beware” for cost of game + expansions.
I’ll start this off by saying I am not the biggest Star Wars fan in the world. I enjoyed Episodes 4/5/6 when they first came out, but I never connected to the mythos like many others have. So, it wasn’t the Star Wars theme of Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game that caught my attention, but the actual game mechanics.
I was looking for something that was a reasonable price and that offered a strategic level beyond hex-based board games. I had a choice: Wings of War or X-Wing. I chose the latter mainly because I felt like I was getting in on the ground floor and there weren’t myriad additions that made me feel as if I had to spend a small fortune to get up to speed.
So, after watching a few videos, reading the rules, and clearing a 3′x3′ space, my teenage son and I set about playing our first game. Neither of us was expecting much; just a light quick game of dodging and shooting. Little did we know just how strategic the game was going to be. We were whipping around our makeshift space battlefield, dodging, maneuvering, taking damage, dealing damage, all the while getting strange looks from my wife (most of which contained some sort of smirk as if she were saying to herself “boys will be boys”). My son and I had a blast!
I had one problem in that, when I began taking the stands apart to put the game away, the connectors broke, effectively rendering my game useless. I got online and wrote to Fantasy Flight games, and within a week, I had a replacement ship and my son and I were off to do battle once again. Kudos to FF for being so responsive and helpful!
I’m not sure I’m thrilled with the prices of the new ships coming out, with the Millennium Falcon costing more than the base game, but then again I don’t have to buy it either! (Yeah, right! Like the Falcon isn’t going to become part of the game! And with it being a medium sized playing piece, I can only imagine what the Death Star will set me back when it comes out — which I’m sure it eventually will.)
Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game is a worthy addition to any gamers’ collection. Just realize that like other collectible miniatures games, it’s going to become like plastic crack, where you just have to keep adding playing pieces to the game.
It’s not easy being and male, general gamer because this tends to make every single game which includes waging war with small plastic figures so attractive and cool that it’s ridiculous. Especially at a young age because you’ll probably have a hard time understanding even half of what the thick rulebook(s) says, not to mention trying to memorize every single action that can be taken, how to score or avoid taking hits, the way your units move etc. And then there’s the enemy – your opponent’s miniatures, which probably doesn’t even act the same way your own does and they have all these special rules and stats.
And then there’s all the debating about whether something is within shooting range or not, and whether you just moved too far or too short.
Thankfully, Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game isn’t like that at all. The rules are easy to understand, the gameplay is rather fast-paced, and everything that both you and your opponent needs to know about every ship that is involved in the battle is printed on the cards which represent the miniatures and their pilots as well as onto the miniatures themselves (or rather – their bases).
You won’t be needing any thick rule books nearby because the game is so easy that anyone could understand it after having only a few turns. Everything that you need to know about the miniatures is available right in front of you. Measuring and movement cannot go wrong because of the included maneuver templates and range ruler. There are no charts to look into when trying to find out whether your shot missed or hit because of the symbols on the included custom dice – providing you with instant visual information. And thanks to the maneuver dials, every player may both plan their strategy and then carry out their actions simultaneously, reducing downtime.
A miniatures game for everyone that you are sure to be able to pick up and enjoy within minutes after opening the box, and most definitely WILL if you’re into Star Wars or just dogfights in general. Also supports team play which only adds an already enjoyable and varying experience, as do the included missions when you grow tired of simple head-to-head combat.