I probably know the answer already but I'll ask it anyway.

I'm a big fan of Star Wars and I'm contemplating starting this hobby.

What stops me is my tendency to get 'addicted' to FFG products and the lack of players where I'm from (northern part of Holland).

With the announcement of a reboot of GoT lcg (another game I spent a lot of money on and didn't get to play a lot) I'm hesistant to invest in another FFG game which I suspect to be a strain on my wallet.

How is X-Wing miniatures? Do you need to keep up with expansions to be able to compete like with lcg's? Is it suitable for casual play? Are certain products obsolete or can I just buy the expansions I want?

Sorry for the massive amounts of questions

It's never too late to get started as they do reprints all the time. The game can currently be played over the internet via vassal which may alleviate your lack of players problem. Regarding your addiction.....well it's still WAAAAAAAYYYYY cheaper than WH40K.

It is suitable for casual play. There are several scenarios in the core set that cam keep you entertained for a long period of time. You can just buy expansions you want, but if you want the full range of upgrade options, you gotta catch em all.

I think it's a fantastic game. But be warned, buying ships is addictive. Individually, they are reasonably priced, but they do add up...

Provided you can get your hands on at least 1 core set, and enough other models, you're fine. How much 'enough' is would be up to you

You can play casual for as little as about $60USD or have multiples of everything for around $1,000USD.

I'm a big fan of Star Wars and I'm contemplating starting this hobby.

What stops me is my tendency to get 'addicted' to FFG products and the lack of players where I'm from (northern part of Holland).

The lack-of-players argument is the most salient here.

How sure are you that there is a lack of players in the Northern part of Holland? Could you be a little more specific? While I don't live there now, I grew up in the area. Have you exhausted all your means of finding possible players of the game? In my area, we have a Facebook group which helps us connect. Maybe there's one in your area too.

Speaking as someone who only just started I would say its great if you have a close family member / friend to take the plunge with you.

My brother-in-law picked up the core and 1 x-wing and 1 tie fighter back in August of this year. We played several games with that set and he acquired more expansions and now owns at least 1 of everything (wave 5 not incorporated). My wife doesn't mind if her bro comes over to play with spaceships

Needless to say we both like strategy games so I started my own collection 3 weeks ago and now have a core, rebel aces, imperial aces, tie advanced, tie fighter, firespray, lambda, e- wing, x-wing, z-95 headhunter, set of dice, b-wing, and hawk. Today I just picked up a decimator and a yt-2400 for $97.00 in Canada.

It can get addictive and relatively expensive fast (not as expensive as 40k). I think the biggest draw is having someone to feed off and play against. Maybe if you have stores in your area (here there are 2 with random folks Thursday nights and Sunday afternoons) you can join a weekly game night.

I think it's worth the investment and my pool table makes the perfect battleground

Thanks for all the answers, I appreciate it!

I'm talking with a friend of mine to see if he wants to play as well. We do have a local gaming store where I know a couple of people play the game every now and then. I'll check there as well.

The one question that remains is how this game compares to a card game with a ever shifting 'metagame'. With a game like Game of Thrones lcg, you had to keep up with the latest expansions to be able to play and the earlier expansions became obsolete. I'm a collector at heart and would love to buy all expansions for X-Wing as well, just hate to buy the first ones only to realise they were essentially worthless since the 'metagame' had already moved away from those kinds of ships.

Thanks again!

The game designers keep returning to ships that are getting obsolete, and put in fixes to make them more relevant again. Also, remember that a lot of upgrades that come out with newer ships can be used on the older ones to give them new abilities.

I wouldn't worry too much about the 'metagame' unless you're into tournaments. I mainly fly X-wings, a ship even the designers have noted is lagging behind in the current tournament meta.

The only ship that I personally think is obsolete is the Tie advance, and the rumour mill says a fix is coming.

It's never too late to get into X-Wing. Stuff keeps coming up all the time but for casual play where you provide everything for your friends you could start with a couple of core sets and either add 2x TIE + 1x X-Wing expansion or just buy one of the each model you like for variety. In a non-competitive setting the balance between squads is up to you. For casual play you don't have to worry if you got all 3 Push The Limit cards or 2 Engine Upgrades that you may need - just write/print the squads on paper. No one would complain since you're providing the game anyway.

All of this is still cheaper than a single copy of some board games - and I'm not even talking about miniature/card/collectible games here!

The actual problems start when you get into collecting ships to run thematic squads or want to dabble into Epic games though...

I got hooked one afternoon when a friend bought a core set so we'ed have something to do we played it a bunch and i put an order online for a bunch of stuff to get me started. If your really not sure just get a core set and play a few games with a friend if their a starwars fan or played just about any of the lucas arts pc games they will bite.

Don't delay - jump right in.

We've got a very active X-Wing scene in North Holland with several tournaments a month and a good and friendly crowd of regulars. Though, if you meant Holland as the Netherlands, then I have no clue how much is going on up in Frisland and Gronningen, but in the North - and South - Holland province (or rather, the Randstad specifically) there are plenty of scheduled games.

There often is a lack of players. I'm in the surrounding territories of the 4th largest city in North America and while an Organized Play event can draw from 15 - 50 players, casual weekly events can struggle outside the very core of Toronto.

I can imagine if you're in a smaller community it can be a real struggle.

Let's not also forget that if your player base insists on buying twelve copies of every ship, FFG continues to underestimate demand, and the printing/boat process is so slow your new players don't have much to start up on.

Nothing is obsolete. Some ships may only have one or two really good pilots, but they are all a lot of fun. I now own at least 1 of every available expansion. They look amazing on the table, and each one has a distinctive feel.

Don't worry about what the min/maxers say, or worse, the parasites that never actually buy the expansions and simply click around Vassal and whine about ships they don't own.

Playing this game in person is an experience. I highly recommend it. Star Wars fans are everywhere, and even non-gamers are drawn to this game you should be able to get matches.

Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!

Once again: thanks a lot for all the answers! A friendly friendbase with people like yourselves is a good argument to get into the game. I'll ask around to see if my friends are interested (and have a look at the upcoming armada game to see if I'd prefer that to x-wing). According to the local game store there are at least 4 players in the city. This may not sound like much to you guys but if I compare it to the amount of GoT players (2, myself included) it's perfect.

I'll keep you posted, but I think I'll soon have another ffg game in my collection

@cremate: I meant northern Netherlands (Groningen), my bad.

Ah, suspected that might be the case. There is a Facebook page for X-Wing players in the Netherlands and I have seen a couple of people and activities in your region adverticed there.

Also, while not quite the same as playing with the physical models face to face, there is also a very vibrant online community playing the game using the vassal programme. If you get the X-Wing bug very bad it can be an outlet between local games.

I'm always late to the forums, but +1 for not being to late, as others have mentioned u can either play online with vassal, or convince someone you know to play with you, so far I've convinced 3 people to try and all 3 loved it and played more games, (ex-roomate, exgf, & my boss).

Another option is check with gaming stores a few around me have the core set opened and you can try it out before taking the plunge, though I'm sure once you play you will be addicted like us, so then I imagine ebay will be your best bet until the reprints are out, but like mentioned before you can always just write down on paper what you don't own.

Another point the minis are more durable than I initially thought and I've ended up with having more ships than I can possibly field because my niece loves to come by set up all the ships and play

Hey TheycamegtomBEHIND, thaks as well for your answer. The (local) webshops are remarkably well stocked with all nearly all expansions being readily available (predictably the Falcon and Slave 1 being the exception). Good for me, bad for my wallet!

@cremate: I think I found the dutch fb-page (star wars x-wing nederland). Here's hoping Groningen gets some representation

You wouldn't happen to be the one posting an Groningen event there mere 20 minutes ago, then? Otherwise, check it out

I got into this game 2 or 3 months ago myself and never looked back. I'd say if you're a fan of star wars absolutely go for it

@ Cremate: nah I told a local shop owner I know (whom I know to be holding a tournament soon) about the facebook page so he'll have some more hype for the event. I'll probably take a look as well just to see how big the x-wing scene is over here.

Also one of the most used pilots Biggs Darklighter is in the core pack not to mention one of the top meta squadrons the Tie Swarm is easy to get when you just buy multiple core packs.

Now if you are trying to get one of each well there might be a slight problem as everyone knows FFG has been having distribution issues with X-wing miniatures. Still it has reprinted all of Wave 1 and you can still find some wave 2 and 3 items out there. It just takes a little more looking now than what was necessary last year.

and you wouldn't spend any more money then if you started when it was first launch. (actually some might have saved a few bucks waiting for sales)

It's too late. You've missed the boat on this one. Oh wait, that x-wing boat moves pretty slow. You might be alright.