Thank you all for your reply's - I have decided to take the plunge and see how it goes.

Excellent!

But now we must insist that you follow up with how you like it

Unfortuantly i personally do not know anyone local that plays (I'm in Denver). I have joined a group from MeetUp that plays every Monday however so that is where I would be playing at. There is another LGS that seems to have X-Wing night once a month as well.

I actually already have a Core Set, a Tie Defender, B-Wing and an Z-95 (most still packaged.) I then realized that I could trade in come cards that I have never played with to get store credit.

I will wade in slowly (good suggestion) and see how it goes.

Thanks for the responses people!

I'm in Denver, there are people here who play. I haven't met them at their thing but a friend of mine was talking about it. I played once and was hooked, don't get to play all that often thanks to family and work but I don't regret a single purchase.

I may be stepping out of bounds as I am not actually from Denver (I'm from Holland..) but I had the great privilege to visit your fine city and roll some dice with the local X-Wing community. Therefore it is with great confidence that I can direct you folks here:http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/131055-denver-co-casual-play-the-wizards-chest/

I'll be visiting Denver again on the 22nd of February which is a Sunday so I don't know if there are any places that facilitate play on that day, but would love to get a game or two in if at all possible.

On topic I'd like to add that X-Wing is s great social conduit as well as I've already met people of varying walks of life all over the world and every one of them up until now has embodied the spirit of flying casual.

The 22nd has the advantage that it is not valentines weekend so it is possible I can do something. The only real trick is that meeting a stranger from another country for 'the space ship game' is not something my wife will grok. If you want to try though shot me a pm with your travel plans and maybe we can do something.

Thank you all for your reply's - I have decided to take the plunge and see how it goes.

I'm glad to hear it, and I don't think you will be disappointed.

With the volume of releases available, I would get several expansions before you look into a second starter set. You may not want as many TIE fighters or X-wings as you would have earlier in the game because of all the other options that you have now. If you do pass on the second core set, you will probably want an extra set of dice. Also, sleeve your damage cards; they will wear a lot faster than you think.

The only reason I would say that now is a tough time to get into the game is just due to inventory supply. If the stores in your area are anything like the ones near me, their inventory is probably limited to a few YT-2400s and Decimators, a bunch of Lambda Shuttles, and then TONS of unsold HWKs.

People may see those HWKs and think, "This must be a really popular ship! Every store carries a ton of them!" Those people will be very wrong.

I'd expect the same inventory problems to hit with Scum, and basically to stay in effect until Armada hits and can cannibalizes some of the player base.

The detractors are there for any game. Heck, go look closely at the Magic community: people are always finding an excuse to quit. Bottom line: this is a premiere game and will continue to grow for the near future.

If you have $500 credit at an online store: you should be able to buy a near complete collection if you're 'smart' about it without much issue.

My suggestion if you're going to dump some credit into the game as a starting point:

2 core (3 if you want to fly TIE Swarm) (~$80)

1 Each of the Wave 1 and 2 ships, you still want a TIE Fighter & X-Wing Blister for the Pilots (~$100)

1 B-Wing, 1 Shuttle, 1 HWK (you can ignore the TIE Bomber if you're just going to get a singleton IMO) (~$40)

3 Rebel Z-95s, 1 Defender, 1 Phantom, 1 E-Wing (~$60)

1 Each of the Aces Packs (~$40)

2 Each of the Scum SKUs (~$150)

~$470 total will give you a near complete collection (sans a few other singletons for corner lists: eg, you'll probably, eventually, want a second Firespray, Falcon,and 4 Bombers if you want to go that way. Also, you'll want to get a Tantive IV for the 3p0 and R2 crew cards (which are both good- but not necessary to start)).

OP: Are you a tournament player or more Casual player.

Right now what you speak of is the tournament scene. My local group has a few tournament players, but most are just their to roll the dice and fly some ships. Even with the tournament scene the game is very balanced, yes there are a few unique things you may have to deal with, but compared to many other games (Warhammer, 40k etc) The difference is very minor and their are plenty of counters and fun ways to play.

Plus FFG notices issues and releases many updates to fix them. It's amazing when you think that with soon to be 6 waves of ships. All ways have ships which are still used and as new upgrades come out some of the older ships gets boosts too.

Take the chance with 2 starters, 1 x-wing, 1 y-wing, 1 tie advanced, and rebel and imperial aces. You won't be sorry

Small but vocal percentages of people are always getting into and out of this game.

They complained that the TIE swarm was too powerful when it first came out, or that this ship or that ship was too good or not good enough.

But that only remotely matters if you are going to be a serious tournament player, and even then, only if you care about winning all the time.

There can be more to this game than just tournaments, you can run scenarios or team events too.

It is well worth the fairly small investment, but if you are unsure I'd recommend showing up at some game night. Usually there are players there who would be happy to lend out stuff and teach you the basics so you could see if you like it or not.

meeeeeeeh

Honestly, and I say this with as much honesty as I can muster considering my only real reference is personal experience, it depends on your meta.

Right now we're in Wave 5, which was marked by the release of the turreted ships Vt-49 Decimator and the YT-2400. Since then, it's been ******* nothing but fat han, super dash, veteran instinct chiraneau, and phantom and the things that can hang with them (basically Wes Jenson or B-wings or Tie Fighters for me)

It's been getting better recently (others are finally getting bored), but holy hell it's been a few hard and stale months.

Check your meta, see what the guys are running. If you see some good variety, dive right in! Otherwise, wait for S&V in wave 6.

Scum & Villanry are introducing not only a new faction, but tons of new options to customize existing ships to shake up a meta in dire need of dusting.

Stay away from competitive play (which is broken) and play with fans of the Original Trilogy and you should be fine.

I actually didn't buy in UNTIL S&V was announced. I never liked being limited to two factions, but I played with some of my friends figures and the game is a blast. I started slowly picking up ships after S&V was announced: starting with a HWK and Slave 1 (although I wish I'd bought a Falcon before - I wanted it for a display ship originally; wish I'd followed through ...)

Stay away from competitive play (which is broken) and play with fans of the Original Trilogy and you should be fine.

Provided they're not the purist OT fans with EU-killed-my-family delusions, at least~