on the other hand im still very excited about the damage cards and what they will bring. maybe a lucky draw there could compleetly ruin your ship in a lucky shot.

Two more things that makes the games very different:

Commands: Having to plan your commands in advance is a big deal: bigger ships are slower to respond to commands but can store more of the 'lesser' version of said command via token (allowing them to react later on, or store up tokens for one big strike, manouver or repair).

Activation: Each player takes turns to activate a ship, but can activate any that have not gone that turn. This aspect of the game is more reactive and balances nicely with the planning ahead of commands. Plus, the order that you activate your ships can be a real game changer (moving a ship in or out of firing range at a crucial point).

Both of these sound like great mechanics (especially the latter, which is different to X-Wing's pilot skill, and the turn-based mechanics of many other games). Combined with multiple types of attack dice, defence tokens, squadron rules, and objectives, there is just so much more to this game IMO.