Does anyone know what's up with the X_Wing: Starfield Game Tile Kit?

It's not happening.

Cancelled months ago.

Apparently FFG won't make a product they know to be terrible just to make an extra buck.

I think that most people, myself included, prefer a whole game mat to tiles that can easily slide around on the table. The testing probably did not go well for it. The tiniest movement would create gaps between tiles. Plus, as time goes by and the tiles slightly warp, that can cause problems, too.

All in all, I think it was an interesting idea, but not a very good one, unless it was also going to come with a gripping surface to lay the tiles on, but then that becomes more expensive and kind of redundant. So, I'm not surprised that it didn't happen.

Thanks!

I think that most people, myself included, prefer a whole game mat to tiles that can easily slide around on the table. The testing probably did not go well for it. The tiniest movement would create gaps between tiles. Plus, as time goes by and the tiles slightly warp, that can cause problems, too.

There are lots of ways to solve that. The most obvious would be to have interlocking nubs on the edges of each tile, but there are probably more elegant (but also more expensive) ways to achieve the same result.

I also don't think the slipperiness is a real factor, once all the tiles are locked together. They'd have a similar surface area/texture to a single 3x3 board, and no one complains about their one-piece board sliding around.

I still think this idea is ripe for a Kickstarter/3rd party manufacturer. The biggest obstacle to surmount would be the shipping, since the ideal material is probably some sort of particle board/MDF, which gets heavy once you start to stack up a table's worth of 1x1 sections. And few people would be content with the minimum amount of tiles, since modularity is the biggest offering of this sort of system.

Then again, terrain manufacturers like Sarissa seem to be doing alright, and they're dealing with the exact same challenge of having to ship big stacks of MDF.

If I had more balls/seed money I might look into getting this done, because I really believe it could work. Mostly because I know I would seriously consider buying in if I was on the other side of the equation, and the product was done right.

Or...DiY?

Been debating on this for a while. Have some preliminary $$$.

1 yard starfield fabric ~$7 (alternatively black felt is about the same...just add paint).

9x 12"x12" foam squares ~$10

Glue gun or regular arts/craft glue $2-3

If you want really cheap and portable...just buy the fabric.

Saves you a few bucks over a store bought mat which run ~$30.

Though what I am thinking is using galvanized sheet metal on foam. Just like magnetic dry-erase boards. I magnetize my ship bases so no more Heisenberg elbow/wrist bump drift...home depot has sheet metal for $5 a sheet (1 foot squares).

Or...DiY?

Been debating on this for a while. Have some preliminary $$$.

1 yard starfield fabric ~$7 (alternatively black felt is about the same...just add paint).

9x 12"x12" foam squares ~$10

Glue gun or regular arts/craft glue $2-3

If you want really cheap and portable...just buy the fabric.

Saves you a few bucks over a store bought mat which run ~$30.

Though what I am thinking is using galvanized sheet metal on foam. Just like magnetic dry-erase boards. I magnetize my ship bases so no more Heisenberg elbow/wrist bump drift...home depot has sheet metal for $5 a sheet (1 foot squares).

What I did is I went to Michael's (an arts and craft store) and paid $5 for a 3'x6' piece of black felt. I then had my buddy airbrush Space onto it. Another guy at my LGS just dipped a piece of flexible plastic in white paint and flung it at the felt to give it random star drops. It works really well, and it's cheap, easy, and quick.

Another cheap and easy solution are white paint markers on black felt. All you do is shake the marker at the felt and spray the paint all over it. You have a lot of control over how many stars you make, and it's kind of fun in a lose-your-inhibitions sort of way.

Back on-topic, why do you think the Starfield Tiles set hasn't been removed from the products page?

Because they have a crappy webmaster? I mean, despite what they claim, the upcoming product page isn't always updated at the exact times something moves into a different position.