Bought the core set and a few expansions (2xTIE, x-wing, TIE adv, Y-wing, falcon, slave).

Had a few games yesterday with my wife. First time we've played it really, although I've had the game since a month after release or so.

So much fun!! We really like this game. It's simple and yet it has you thinking and guessing what the other player has planned. The building of your squad is tons of fun too.

We just ordered 14 new ships, including the aces set and another base set.

We only ordered small ships, because yesterday we tried games with only small ships and then games with the large ships.

Somehow, the fact that the large ships, and especially the falcon has a greater firing arch, made the game less fun. The slave was somewhat ok, as you could still approach it from a blind spot. But when trying to shoot the falcon, it was only when using the backstabber pilot that your approach mattered.

Using only ships that as a standard has the regular firing arch just seems a lot more fun and creates better gameplay. Perhaps we missed something, but for some reason, the games where we used the falcon and slave were just less fun.

Any thoughts on this from some of you experienced players?

The subject of 360 firing arc turrets is a very common debate amongst players and has been for some time. Many players feel that turrets make the game less enjoyable because the manoeuvring aspect is downplayed. Many other players feel that turrets are a necessary and balanced part of the game which prevents high-manoeuvrability ships becoming unstoppable.

You're likely to get many heated replies with players feeling strongly one way or another. Essentially, the threat of turrets keeps ships like Interceptors and Phantoms in check. Perhaps a bit too much, which is why Fantasy Flight are releasing cards with subtle advantages for ships that rely solely on movement (eg. the Autothrusters card).

Turrets are seen by many as ruining the game. I don't agree completely but there is indeed a case to be made that the manuevering part of the game is stymied by turrets.

I've seen the Phantom expansion and read all the cards. I'm not going to add that expansion to my collection, as I just don't like it from a gameplay perspective.

I think the slave and falcon will just be used for scenario objectives, in the future as we really felt like playing two completely different games.

With only fighters, it felt tense, there was a mind game and maneuvering felt more important than the dice rolling. With the large ships however it felt like the game shifted somewhat... the dice rolling felt like it suddenly played a bigger role than manuevering and it seemed like the mind game got lost to some extent in the process.

Perhaps if the defender had +1 defensive die (or the attacker one less attack dice) against turrets when outside the main firing arch or something, so it didn't just feel so pointless, like trading blows and putting all fate in the dice. Or if the turret had to be set, when putting down the movement dial, so it could only cover one of the three other 90 degree archs. This could be a seperate turret dial, showing the direction. The ship would be able to use this firing arch plus the regular frontal one.

There is no way I could put the Falcon on the shelf! I think some penance may be in order. Turrets do have a place in the game. If they did not exist then Soontir Fel would be the undisputed king of the game(I think he still is). If you have the hang of boost+barrel roll with Soontir try him out VS any current Rebel ship. I think you will see why the Falcon has a place. If I KNEW I would not be facing a range 1-3 3 dice turret I would run him every game.

Perhaps if the defender had +1 defensive die (or the attacker one less attack dice) against turrets when outside the main firing arch or something, so it didn't just feel so pointless, like trading blows and putting all fate in the dice.

Here is the Autothrusters card:

But to summarise:

Turrets are part of the game, and have been since very beginning (Y-Wing). Some people feel that manoeuvring is the only part of the game, but at the end of the day it's a dice game. It's also about list-building, anticipating opponent strategies, countering things or choosing upgrades. You don't have to use turrets when you play, just like you don't have to use the TIE Phantom when you play. But by cutting out a large and important part of the game's strategies you may quickly find that it is no longer balanced.

That's fine too. It's just important to recognise that other people feel differently and the way you like playing the game isn't always the way others like playing it.

The main thing about turrets is you tend to pay a lot for them in points, so you have less attacks overall then someone that didn't use turrets. One Falcon costs as much as two X-Wings, but only hits as hard as one of them. I myself tend to find the turrets reasonably balanced by that, although I admit that Interceptors and A-Wings really need those Autothrusters.

That said if you enjoy just playing the small ships then that's fine. You're under no obligation to use large ships in your kitchen table games.

Autothrusters card is quite nice, but I don't like you can use it at range 3, when inside the enemy firing arch. That's too much.

I do think however I like it as a general rule for all small ships when they are outside the firing arch - disregarding the boost requirement. Cheers for that.

Autothrusters card is quite nice, but I don't like you can use it at range 3, when inside the enemy firing arch. That's too much.

I do think however I like it as a general rule for all small ships when they are outside the firing arch - disregarding the boost requirement. Cheers for that.

You're reading the card wrong ,it's either range 3 OR outside the firing arc. Which is almost always against turrets unless you go for a straight up joust. But then again why would you ever do that with ships that can equip AT...

I could assume you know this, but will mention it anyway: turret ships still have an arc for things like missiles, tactician, abilities and other rebel cards. So depending on how you upgrade it, arcs can matter. To prevent exactly the complaint you have with the large ships then I normally run a tactician on my decimator. No, its not optimal, but it does bring back a reason for both me and my opponent to care about facings, which keeps the game enjoyable for me while letting me use big ships.

Autothrusters card is quite nice, but I don't like you can use it at range 3, when inside the enemy firing arch. That's too much.

I do think however I like it as a general rule for all small ships when they are outside the firing arch - disregarding the boost requirement. Cheers for that.

You're reading the card wrong ,it's either range 3 OR outside the firing arc. Which is almost always against turrets unless you go for a straight up joust. But then again why would you ever do that with ships that can equip AT...

I read it correctly and the range 3 OR outside firing arch. I don't think anyone needs more defense at range 3, when inside the firing arch. I don't know. Perhaps it's good in terms of gameplay, giving more room to move.

Bought the core set and a few expansions (2xTIE, x-wing, TIE adv, Y-wing, falcon, slave).

Had a few games yesterday with my wife. First time we've played it really, although I've had the game since a month after release or so.

So much fun!! We really like this game. It's simple and yet it has you thinking and guessing what the other player has planned. The building of your squad is tons of fun too.

We just ordered 14 new ships, including the aces set and another base set.

We only ordered small ships, because yesterday we tried games with only small ships and then games with the large ships.

Somehow, the fact that the large ships, and especially the falcon has a greater firing arch, made the game less fun. The slave was somewhat ok, as you could still approach it from a blind spot. But when trying to shoot the falcon, it was only when using the backstabber pilot that your approach mattered.

Using only ships that as a standard has the regular firing arch just seems a lot more fun and creates better gameplay. Perhaps we missed something, but for some reason, the games where we used the falcon and slave were just less fun.

Any thoughts on this from some of you experienced players?

Wait. You've had X-wing for two years and you are just now playing it!?

..back to topic. I do find it interesting when people say that turreted ships do not requiring careful maneuvering. Fly a Falcon or Deci straight at a enemy squad... I assure you it won't last long.

First game against another human being, there is nothing quite like reading them and lining up a right on their six off a turn. Twice.

Yeah we've had it on the shelf since a few months after release. To be honest I bought it mostly as I like Star Wars. I don't really like miniature games, but had no idea that X-wing was such an absolutely amazing game. Rules are very light and yet the game has a lot of depth. Apart from the old car wars game, it's the first miniature game I have really enjoyed. We both really liked it, so it will certainly see a lot of play here from now on. It's also great that we can finish a game within an hour easily, so it's a good game to play any day of the week. We do have a TV, but we never watch TV. We just use it when playing the PS4 or watching a movie once in a while. But board games are just a much better way to spend time together.

But we've ordered a big pile of ships and a nice army-like case with foam Inserts for everything, so we're looking forward to making some new squads.

The only reason we played it yesterday was because we recently got imperial assault and played 5 missions with some friends saturday and then got inspired to try X-wing.

I think it just instantly jumped on our top 10 board game list after a couple of games.

Autothrusters card is quite nice, but I don't like you can use it at range 3, when inside the enemy firing arch. That's too much.

I do think however I like it as a general rule for all small ships when they are outside the firing arch - disregarding the boost requirement. Cheers for that.

You're reading the card wrong ,it's either range 3 OR outside the firing arc. Which is almost always against turrets unless you go for a straight up joust. But then again why would you ever do that with ships that can equip AT...

I read it correctly and the range 3 OR outside firing arch. I don't think anyone needs more defense at range 3, when inside the firing arch. I don't know. Perhaps it's good in terms of gameplay, giving more room to move.

If the card didn't provide the range 3 benefit it would be a poorly designed card. It would be a card that is almost required when facing turrets and point sink if your opponent brings a list without turrets. The card is designed to give extra consistency to ships whose main defense is their ability to not get shot at. This defense has a tendency to fail spectacularly at long range and against turrets. The range 3 benefit makes it much more likely that a ship like an Interceptor will be able to live through the initial round of combat and be able to do some damage.

When the Autothrusters card releases there will only be 4 ships that are able to use them.

I find the most fun in X-wing is NOT playing by the 100 point tourny rules.

Play some of the random missions either in the books, with the expansions or on mission control. It makes it more interesting.

I don't think I've ever flown my Falcon in a game. I had a friend use it once or twice, but that's it. It's just not the game I want to play. Don't let others make you fly it if you don't want to. It does have weaknesses, but try to avoid the tricked out Fat Han that makes it a joy-destroying ship.

I'll agree that the game is a lot of fun....and more so when not just 100 pt tournament matches. There are a lot of different missions in the expansions, but also FFG has Mission Control. It's a website for fan submitted missions. I've got one that's been sitting just out of the TOP MISSIONS listings for a while now. It's part 1 of a 4 part campaign. It focuses on mostly generic pilots. There are a lot of good missions there.

I've found the epic ships are a lot of fun to play, as well.

Autothrusters card is quite nice, but I don't like you can use it at range 3, when inside the enemy firing arch. That's too much.

I do think however I like it as a general rule for all small ships when they are outside the firing arch - disregarding the boost requirement. Cheers for that.

You're reading the card wrong ,it's either range 3 OR outside the firing arc. Which is almost always against turrets unless you go for a straight up joust. But then again why would you ever do that with ships that can equip AT...

I read it correctly and the range 3 OR outside firing arch. I don't think anyone needs more defense at range 3, when inside the firing arch. I don't know. Perhaps it's good in terms of gameplay, giving more room to move.

If the card didn't provide the range 3 benefit it would be a poorly designed card. It would be a card that is almost required when facing turrets and point sink if your opponent brings a list without turrets. The card is designed to give extra consistency to ships whose main defense is their ability to not get shot at. This defense has a tendency to fail spectacularly at long range and against turrets. The range 3 benefit makes it much more likely that a ship like an Interceptor will be able to live through the initial round of combat and be able to do some damage.

When the Autothrusters card releases there will only be 4 ships that are able to use them.

I think I see your point with the range 3 benefit, but think I need a few more games under my belt to fully understand the consequences

I really like that card for all small ships. Perhaps it's mostly needed by ships with the boost action, but I'd like to see it on the TIE and TIE adv too. Then again if only some ships have it, then you may be more inclined to make an interresting squad instead of just 8 TIEs. So many things to think about in this game

Autothrusters card is quite nice, but I don't like you can use it at range 3, when inside the enemy firing arch. That's too much.

I do think however I like it as a general rule for all small ships when they are outside the firing arch - disregarding the boost requirement. Cheers for that.

You're reading the card wrong ,it's either range 3 OR outside the firing arc. Which is almost always against turrets unless you go for a straight up joust. But then again why would you ever do that with ships that can equip AT...

I read it correctly and the range 3 OR outside firing arch. I don't think anyone needs more defense at range 3, when inside the firing arch. I don't know. Perhaps it's good in terms of gameplay, giving more room to move.

If the card didn't provide the range 3 benefit it would be a poorly designed card. It would be a card that is almost required when facing turrets and point sink if your opponent brings a list without turrets. The card is designed to give extra consistency to ships whose main defense is their ability to not get shot at. This defense has a tendency to fail spectacularly at long range and against turrets. The range 3 benefit makes it much more likely that a ship like an Interceptor will be able to live through the initial round of combat and be able to do some damage.

When the Autothrusters card releases there will only be 4 ships that are able to use them.

Everyone with an engine upgrade too right?..... Never mind. Only one modification

I think I see your point with the range 3 benefit, but think I need a few more games under my belt to fully understand the consequences

I really like that card for all small ships. Perhaps it's mostly needed by ships with the boost action, but I'd like to see it on the TIE and TIE adv too. Then again if only some ships have it, then you may be more inclined to make an interresting squad instead of just 8 TIEs. So many things to think about in this game

Tie fighters are cheap enough that losing one does not ruin your chances, the tie advanced has shields so can take the hits before you get to hull.

The interceptor is not cheap but it is fragile against other fighters that's not an issue because they are great at arc dodging, against big ships however their ability to dodge is neutralized and they will drop pretty fast with only agility dice protecting them.

Word of advice about the Advanced: it's kind of a dog in its current form. It's getting a rather substantial overhaul soon, and will be well worth playing at that point.

Until then: take Darth for fun, but some other ship entirely if you want to win.

Autothrusters card is quite nice, but I don't like you can use it at range 3, when inside the enemy firing arch. That's too much.

I do think however I like it as a general rule for all small ships when they are outside the firing arch - disregarding the boost requirement. Cheers for that.

You're reading the card wrong ,it's either range 3 OR outside the firing arc. Which is almost always against turrets unless you go for a straight up joust. But then again why would you ever do that with ships that can equip AT...

I read it correctly and the range 3 OR outside firing arch. I don't think anyone needs more defense at range 3, when inside the firing arch. I don't know. Perhaps it's good in terms of gameplay, giving more room to move.

If the card didn't provide the range 3 benefit it would be a poorly designed card. It would be a card that is almost required when facing turrets and point sink if your opponent brings a list without turrets. The card is designed to give extra consistency to ships whose main defense is their ability to not get shot at. This defense has a tendency to fail spectacularly at long range and against turrets. The range 3 benefit makes it much more likely that a ship like an Interceptor will be able to live through the initial round of combat and be able to do some damage.

When the Autothrusters card releases there will only be 4 ships that are able to use them.

Everyone with an engine upgrade too right?..... Never mind. Only one modification

I think I see your point with the range 3 benefit, but think I need a few more games under my belt to fully understand the consequences

I really like that card for all small ships. Perhaps it's mostly needed by ships with the boost action, but I'd like to see it on the TIE and TIE adv too. Then again if only some ships have it, then you may be more inclined to make an interresting squad instead of just 8 TIEs. So many things to think about in this game

Yeah, they carefully worded Autothrusters to be only useable on a ship with native Boost. Which is exactly two ships right now that needed the help. Tie Fighters are fine how they are. They are cheap filler ships/blockers. Some of the named Ties are decent too, especially Backstabber and Dark Curse. Howlrunner, is ok, but I find she dies before she can be very useful.

The main thing about turrets is you tend to pay a lot for them in points, so you have less attacks overall then someone that didn't use turrets. One Falcon costs as much as two X-Wings, but only hits as hard as one of them. I myself tend to find the turrets reasonably balanced by that, although I admit that Interceptors and A-Wings really need those Autothrusters.

That said if you enjoy just playing the small ships then that's fine. You're under no obligation to use large ships in your kitchen table games.

If you and your wife are just playing for fun, you may want to leave Echo and Whisper in the box as well, and just use the Tactician card that they come with.

Until then: take Darth for fun, but some other ship entirely if you want to win.

I disagree. I came in 2nd at a Wave 3 event with a Vader list. I was actually thinking of going to one this weekend with Vader, but couldn;t make it for family reasons. He isn't brilliant, but he's not non-competative.

Yeah, the turret ships didn't really take over until the combination of the TIE Phantom

While it's true that you didn't see many YT's in major tournaments, the HSF list has always been popular.

Yeah, the turret ships didn't really take over until the combination of the TIE Phantom

While it's true that you didn't see many YT's in major tournaments, the HSF list has always been popular.

YT-1300s have always been good, but C3PO makes it better, and Z-95s provide a lot more bang for the filler buck. Add in the Phantom Menace, and it starts to fill a very needed role.