As far as i know the EU than the E-Wing was produced after the New Republic had been established. Sure, the new company was smaller than KDY and such, but it was not rushed.
E-Wing now a Rebel fighter?
It first appears during the Dark Empire series, which - whilst post new republic - is a period where the 'republic' isn't a great deal better off than the rebel alliance was - it's lost coruscant and is operating out of hidden bases.
As far as i know the EU than the E-Wing was produced after the New Republic had been established. Sure, the new company was smaller than KDY and such, but it was not rushed.
Well, that has apparently changed, since the E-Wing is now available during the primary battle against the Empire rather than in the aftermath. So at this point, saying "such & such detail was explained in this EU source" is holds about as much water as a leaky sieve in Death Valley at high noon.
And even when production isn't deliberately rushed, designers may take "cost-saving" measures that turn out to be really bad ideas once the product hits the field. As the old military adage goes, "remember that your equipment was built by the lowest bidder."
Well, that has apparently changed, since the E-Wing is now available during the primary battle against the Empire rather than in the aftermath.
Says who? Fantasy Flight Games X-Wing miniatures? Is FFG actually stating anywhere that the E-Wing was produced before the Battle of Endor or are they just releasing another mini for game battles that don't need to be restrained by an in-universe time period?
I know this is an FFG forum and I own X-Wing, but just because a mini game releases an E-Wing to fight alongside older Rebel fighters, that shouldn't automatically mean FFG intended the E-Wing to be pre-Endor (it's a game, not a novel/TVshow/movie). That in no way should trump the original creator's intent which is post Endor.
Your response will be (I assume) that Disney announced the fall of the EU and the E-Wing mini is being launched after such announcement? There's going to be quite a few things released that were already in production as Disney took over and tossed the EU. Many (most?) of those productions are still going to go through due to monetary reasons. I don't think those pre-Disney-developed but post-Disney-released EU items should somehow by pure luck of timing be given special status over EU stuff that came out previously.
Until the E-Wing shows up in a new post-Disney novel, movie, Clone Wars, Rebels, etc with new info to suggest otherwise, I think we must stay with all of the material (including the original) putting E-Wings after Endor, not before.
From Wookieepedia regarding the new canon:
Since then, the only previously published material still considered canon are the six original trilogy / prequel trilogy films and the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series and film . Most material published after April 25—such as the Star Wars Rebels TV series and all novels beginning with A New Dawn —is also considered part of the new canon, on account of the creation of the Lucasfilm Story Group , which currently oversees continuity as a whole.
Shows and books, no mention of game stuff that was already in production.
All of this is really moot, however, if FFG X-Wing doesn't actually say in some fluff that the E-Wing was produced before the Battle of Endor. The pre-release page DOES mention the new TIE Defender as being released before the Battle of Endor, but doesn't say jack about when the E-Wing was produced.
If the next release of X-Wing minis includes the Fury and Predator class starfighters, must we retcon those to have been released pre-Battle of Endor instead of over a century later?
Edited by SturnIts also possible that FFG was told that the E-Wing was going to appear in the sequel trilogy and added it due to that rather than them meaning for the fighter to be around pre-Endor.
Its also possible that FFG was told that the E-Wing was going to appear in the sequel trilogy and added it due to that rather than them meaning for the fighter to be around pre-Endor.
Unlikely. In the same wave they're including TIE Defenders and TIE Phantoms, as well as the Z-95 Headhunter, so I think it's simply a collection of ships from the EU they thought would be appropriate to add to the game.
Given the large numbers of ships we have seen invented I don't think the canon police at Lucasfilms or now Disney are, or ever were, too concerned about ship classes. No real impact on story or history or characters.
My supposition about the E-Wing was based on the fairly logical conclusion that as the vast majority of FFG's gaming ventures dealing with the Star Wars license has focused entirely upon the Rebellion Era, that X-Wing fell into that same bracket, and thus the E-Wing was being rolled into the Rebellion Era as well.
Of course, if Sturn has proof that FFG's SW-themed gaming endeavors (RPG, CCG, Minis, so forth) are not categorically based upon and set within the Rebellion Era as the default era of play, then I'm curious to see it. But I doubt he'll be able to provide such proof.
The RPG books themselves make it pretty clear they're set after the destruction of the first Death Star yet well before the death of the Emperor, placing them rather solidly in the Rebellion Era. The CCG itself is focused upon the Rebellion Era, using personalities and locations from that era. And outside of the E-Wing mini, every other ship in X-Wing can itself be found in the Rebellion Era, which makes a pretty strong case that X-Wing, like all the other FFG gaming products is itself centered on the Rebellion Era. So that leaves a hell of a lot of indicators that the various games are Rebellion Era by default unless directly specified otherwise.
What era is default for FFG is a moot point unless FFG actually says so for the X-Wing game . It isn't called, "X-Wing: Rebellion Era". What era the CCG and RPG is set in really doesn't have anything to do with whether a 3rd game's new mini is supposed to be in era X. I played games with miniatures as a child pitting Vikings against WW2 soldiers because it was fun, but I never once thought it actually made historical sense. I would like to see how a Fury would do against an X-Wing if those minis were later released for FFG's game while never once suggesting such forces the Fury to be retconned into being produced over a century earlier.
Nowhere did FFG say the E-Wing was produced in the Rebellion era. Every other source that comments on it's production put it at post-Endor. So why are we even suggesting it was produced pre-Endor in the first place?
Sorry I offended you by pointing out the facts above. There still isn't anything in print in a game, novel, TV show, or even the X-Wing mini game that says the E-Wing was produced during the Rebellion era. Thus my argument against such a suggestion.
The Wookeepedia has 24 sources in which the E-Wing makes an appearance. All of them are in the post-Endor period. X-Wing is a miniature game with no specified era.
I'll be curious to see if the E-wing comes out in Age of Rebellion. It wasn't in the Beta, but sometimes a few things are added or removed.
Its also possible that FFG was told that the E-Wing was going to appear in the sequel trilogy and added it due to that rather than them meaning for the fighter to be around pre-Endor.
Unlikely. In the same wave they're including TIE Defenders and TIE Phantoms, as well as the Z-95 Headhunter, so I think it's simply a collection of ships from the EU they thought would be appropriate to add to the game.
Are Z-95s still considered non-canon ships even though a variant of them appeared in The Clone Wars? As for the Phantom and Defender perhaps they are slated to appear in the ST as well.
I would say the look that was settled on for a Z-95 is canon if not the nomenclature for it.
Art is expensive. Fantasy Flight gets a lot of nice art, but they also make sure to use and reuse that art. So long as the Story Group doesn't put the brakes on it, I would not be shocked if some Age of Rebellion book has E-Wings in it. I also wouldn't be shocked if they are a limited run or prototype style ship in the AoR lore, to help explain why the Rebellion doesn't have them flying around at Endor.
Regarding TIE Defenders and Phantoms and if they will be canon--from now on, anything that comes out will be canon, because it's all got to be approved by the Story Group. If a new novel mentions one of them, from this point on, they "exist" in canon. It does't have to make it into the sequel trilogy or the spin off movies. Heck, maybe TIE Phantoms will show up even earlier and play a role in the Rebels series?
Z-95s showed up in the Clone Wars. The various models of Z-95s may not be canon, but the fact that there is a ship that generally looks like that and is called a Z-95 Headhunter is established.
Edited by KnightErrantJRIs it just me, or am I seeing parallels between the pencil sketch in the OP's post and the starfighter in the this episode 7 spy shot? (spoiler warning)
The nose on the fighter in the photo is a little stubbier, there's no dorsal gun (yet), but it's clearly a 2-wing fighter with a big hulking engine on either side of the fuselage. Is it a new rendition of the EU E-Wing or something else?
It looks like an X-Wing with its S-Foils closed to me but I could easily be wrong.
I'm not seeing an X-Wing in that picture. There's only one visible engine inlet (and presumably a matching on the other side), and it's centered on the hull. The X-Wing had 4 engine inlets, stacked 2x2. The engine inlet also has 3 horizontal slats across the opening, which the X-Wing didn't have. The nose also looks way too short to be an X-wing, although that could be due to the camera angle of either this shot or the the angle they will film it at.
It's definitely an Incom/Subpro design, borrowing from the Z-95 Headhunter and T-65 X-Wing, but it sure looks like it isn't a ship we've seen before. The cockpit looks like an X-Wing, as do the guns, but nothing else really does. I wish there was a shot from the rear - it's impossible to tell from this shot what the engine outlets look like.
Edited by PaladinSBI'm not seeing an X-Wing in that picture. There's only one visible engine inlet (and presumably a matching on the other side), and it's centered on the hull. The X-Wing had 4 engine inlets, stacked 2x2. The engine inlet also has 3 horizontal slats across the opening, which the X-Wing didn't have. The nose also looks way too short to be an X-wing, although that could be due to the camera angle of either this shot or the the angle they will film it at.
It's definitely an Incom/Subpro design, borrowing from the Z-95 Headhunter and T-65 X-Wing, but it sure looks like it isn't a ship we've seen before. The cockpit looks like an X-Wing, as do the guns, but nothing else really does. I wish there was a shot from the rear - it's impossible to tell from this shot what the engine outlets look like.
Take a close look at the laser pods. The way the wing curves around them suggest to me that the wing seperates. The engines have at keast one small exhaust, and I suspect a total of four, but one large 'intake' on each side, and I suspect that the s-foil assembly shifts around the main engine - one solid engine with wings that move.
This looks like it could be a 2d background set piece, possibly for a hangar shot.
Edited by That Blasted SamophlangeAfter 30 year, I'd expect the X-wing to have been replaced, not simply upgraded. I see your point, though. The wingtips do look like they are meant to divide, so some type of X spread seems likely. I guess that rules out it being an E-Wing. It looks like there are parts on the floor in the foreground for another one.
Why do you think it would be replaced completely instead of upgraded so soon? FA-18 and F-16 models are still in active service despite the original designs being more than 30 years old and predicted to remain in service for quite some time.
And I think starfighter tech in Star Wars evolves either more slowly than Jet Fighter tech IRL or maybe at around the same pace.
I could see a new starfighter for the X-Wing role being introduced in that timeframe but it would take a while for production of the new fighter to meet demand and odds are that there would be upgraded X-Wing models before that happened. We don't know that the x-Wings we are seeing are supposed to still be top of the line models when the sequels take place.
Edited by RogueCoronaAs the fighter that blew up two death stars, id imagine the x-wing becomes a bit of a recognizable icon for the republic. Technology improves very slowly a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.
We know the Ep VII guys love them some McQuarrie art (and quite rightly so), so I reckon it is one of these:-
X-Wing Mk 2. It's inspired by the old art for the X-Wing only if those engines split in half when the wings open. I can't decide if it splits or not myself.
In the image we have, I can't see anything that suggests that engine splits down the middle. Since this is obviously meant to be sitting in a hangar, the builders didn't have to worry about such, but if the engine was to be able to split in half, we would at least see a grove that suggests they could. I can't see that in this image. But, obviously those wingtips suggest they come apart. Perhaps in this X-Wing Mk2, the wings can split, but the engines don't?
Now to counter my own argument. That full-sized model obviously isn't finished. When looking at the circular engine, are we looking at the mated halves of the two half-circle engines pressed together and at that distance we can't see any grove? Was it built as one piece since it's a hangar model and we will see the grove only painted on? Also, as Sylpheed suggested, there are several pieces in the foreground that appear to be parts for another ship. I see lots of half-circle pieces which suggests the engine may be two half-circles instead of one large circle. Or was it just easier to construct thus? Lastly, if you look very close, you can see a couple smaller full circle pieces lying on the ground. Could these be for the 4 outlets at the back of the ship? If you try to picture using only 2 of those for the back of the ship for engines that don't split, that sized outlet just doesn't seem large enough. If you picture 4 of them, they do seem the right size.
It would be nice to see a picture of the back of this ship to answer the split or don't split question for us.
Another question. Is that nose complete? Or is it waiting for a nose cone to be pulled around it?
I think its a cardboard cutout, presumably for sitting in the background of a shot or as a marker for later CGI improvement.
Those tips definitely look like the split, but in the middle. So the wings won't be identical but slot together somehow.
Well, now we know - it is an Episode VII X-Wing based on the old McQuarrie art.