Okay, I apologize if this question has been answered, I'm sure there is probably an already existing thread in some frequently used area where you send all new players to answer this question, and you're all tired of answering this question over and over, and you'll just tell me there is a thread for me to go read, but I was unable to find it, so now you must endure my question.

After much deliberation between X-Wing, Armada, and Imperial Assault, I have decided to go with X-Wing (at least for now) and am looking for advice on a good starting point? Obviously there's the core game, but would it be prudent to purchase two core games? Or is that a waste of money? What are some good initial expansion packs to purchase as well? Or have I missed the boat and need to go with Armada or Imperial Assault (not that anyone from the X-Wing forums would really steer me in that direction)?

Any advice for a new player looking to get in to this game would be very much appreciated!

-Nathan

Welcome

Generally speaking the best advice is 2 cores, then 1 of any ship that strikes your fancy.

A lot of it going to depend on if you're going to limit yourself to a single faction or collect all three, or two of the three. There really aren't any 'must buy' expansions as in you have to have a Y-Wing but you can skip the A-Wing. So really buy what you want, but given the nature of how FFG does upgrade cards most people end up buying 2-4 of a given ship.

What I'd recommend is single core, and play a few games with it. Then if you like it a 2nd core is very handy... Unless you're going to play S&V only.

https://www.reddit.com/r/XWingTMG/wiki/faq/buying

DONUT, as you can see by that site, theres a lot of ways to start. After you read it and decide which route you are taking come back with more questions! As you can see from several of our sig lines, members here are into XWing for different reasons and our purchases reflect that!

Buying two Core Sets is a somewhat outdated strategy in my opinion. It made sense in earlier waves when playing TIE Swarm or TIE mini-swarms at some point was almost inevitable due to the lack of variety in builds. But with the variety of ships now, it's very possible to never run a swarm list just because there's so many lists to try.

Nowadays, I would pick up just 1 Core Set for the templates, damage deck, and dice.

From there, the best method is to just pick up the ships that you want to fly. If you're playing casually against friends, proxying cards that you don't own is a great way to start. The important thing is that you have the physical ships and dials. Upgrades cards won't matter until you're playing in tournaments or against players who might not be too happy about supplying cards all the time.

In my group of friends, for example, we have 3 players that own almost every ship, and the remaining 4 players have bought their favourite ships only. That way, they still feel invested in the game, but have only spent ~$30 and get to play with everything available.

This is a great resource to see what cards (and how many) come with each expansion.

There are many great expansions, but here are some notable ones and the cards of importance (*asterisk indicates cards only found in that kit):

Millenium Falcon (2 x engine upgrade*)

Slave I (gunner, heavy laser cannon, 2 x stealth device*)

Imperial Aces (great value for 2 interceptors, 2 x hull upgrade, 2 x push the limit (found elsewhere only in the A-wing kit which is low priority)

Lambda Shuttle (rebel captive*, advanced sensors)

TIE Phantom (tactician*, recon specialist, fire control systems)

From there you could go for more big ships - the YT-2400 and the Decimator kits are incredibly self-sufficient kits that can fly very well with what's included. Both benefit greatly from Engine Upgrade.

Or, you could pick up that second Core Set to start flying TIE mini-swarms, in which case you'll want the TIE Fighter kit as well for Howlrunner, a force mulitplying pilot found only in that kit.

E-wing, TIE Defender, TIE Phantom, and TIE Interceptor are generally one-time purchases since they're very specialized and point-heavy ships.

B-wings, Y-wings, Z-95's, TIE Bombers often like to fly in numbers, so keep that in mind too.

Hi and welcome to X-Wing!

That question has many answers depending on budget, faction choice and whether you will be mainly a casual or mainly a tournament player.

The Reddit link is very useful and provides a nice summary especially of things like "one or two core sets?"

My personal recommendation is to get one core set and then one additional small ship for Rebels and one additional small ship for Imperials and play some practice games with them. Once you have learnt the rules and the ships you have, you will have a good idea of where you want to go, either because it's a ship that looks like it will play very differently to the ones you currently have, or because it's a ship you just like in the fluff or visually.

Eventually, aim for one of each expansion for each faction you want to collect and then get extras of the ones you like the most.

I used to recommend buying 2 core sets, but due to the lack of usability of the X wing these days, it doesn't seem that useful. Plus, if you eventually go "all out" in the game, you'll end up with 3 X wings as it is (Core set, Expansion, Transport), and likely a 4th one soon enough (Rumored to be the EP7 version). As for TIEs, you'd already have 5 (Core set x2, Expansion, Gozanti x2), so unless you're planning on running a full swarm, you'll never need more than that.

So, at that point, you're just buying a second core set the dice, second damage deck, and second set of templates. And none of that is a big deal. The dice can be annoying, but oh well, worst case you buy a dice pack for $8.

So, now that we've decided against a second core set, the question becomes are you buying for yourself or for multiple people? If just for yourself, I would recommend starting with a single faction and getting a few "center piece" ships for that faction, and fill out from there. If playing with friends and therefore collecting all of the factions, I'd recommend pretty much the same strategy, but is obviously a larger expense.

The "Center Piece" ships that I referred to would be:

Imperials:

Interceptor

Firespray

Phantom

Decimator

Rebels:

YT-1300

B Wing

E Wing

YT-2400

Scum:

Most Wanted

IG-2000

Firespray

I would start with a core set too, then I would pick a primary faction and get what you'll need for a few different lists. Then do the same thing for your second and third factions.

For example I am primarily a rebel player. I have more rebel ships than imp or scum. My secondary faction is scum, and then my tertiary is imperial. I have purchased multiples of rebels and scum ships, but only singles of imperials, (except starter ties and intercepter aces) and dont have all of the scum or imperial ships that are out.

Forget logic. Forget reason.

Buy everything and don't look back.

As a fellow newbie myself, I've followed the same advice everyone above has mentioned.

I'd say the biggest mistake I made early on was trying to fly top lists I found online. Some ships I found were just really hard to fly effectively (especially the firespray), or I just wasn't acclimated to the meta.

Find the ships you think are cool, play as much casual play as you can against other lists, and you'll learn pretty quickly what works for your play style.

Looking at a good entry point ($100), I wouldn't recomend 2 cores off the bat. Get the core, and then a couple of ships of your preferred faction. And from there, let the addiction take you where you want...

Welcome! As your designated imperial enrolment officer, I will be taking you through the pros and cons of choosing a faction.

Rebel

Do you like anarchy? Infighting? Incest? Do you have a sanctimonious misplaced sense of your own importance in the galaxy?

More importantly, do you like ships that take two parsecs to turn around? Ships that try to compensate for the terrible pilots that are naturally attracted to this band of thugs?

Then the rebellion is for you! Best of luck. (By which I mean I hope your corpse ends up extruded in bantha droppings.)

Scum & Villainy

Lots of cheeky fun, one-off tricks, interesting ships and on the edge of the design wave, so lots of exciting new ships, and builds, coming out.

Best single attribute? They're not rebels.

Imperial

The glue that binds the galaxy together, and the backbone that holds its citizens in a state of law and order. Bringers of peace. Wearers of natty uniforms.

Ships that respect your blossoming excellence as a pilot, brothers you can rely on, and a real honest to goodness space wizard in charge of the whole business.

The choice is yours. Choose ... wisely.

https://www.reddit.com/r/XWingTMG/wiki/faq/buying

EOD this is an excellent site! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks. I wrote it myself, though a lot of bits and pieces are just advice I've gotten from others around here and on Reddit put into my own words.

Welcome Welcome!!!

You chose wisely! X-wing is an awesome game (I also love Armada & Imperial Assault and would heartily recommend them but if I could only choose one to play - it'd be X-wing...)

Don't worry about coming late into the game - only your own OCD will demand you own everything... (it'll happen eventually mind... )

To start I would echo the above posts - 1x core set to start and whatever expansion(s) you and your budget desire...

As there are now a lot of expansions to choose from for each faction it might be an idea to borrow ships you are potentially interested in if possible - a couple of play tests will help you decide if you like the way a ship plays in the game besides just it's looks... If borrowing isn't an option then go for looks/favourite memories/whatever else makes you drawn to a ship. To be honest there isn't a ship out there that doesn't have some appeal to me and FFG have done a brilliant job of ensuring no ship is completely obsolete (no matter what some of the threads may say) especially in a friendly casual game setting that i'm sure you'll be encountering in your first games...

As far as numbers of each ship go I'd limit buying multiples of any ship to 1-2x max initially to allow you to decide whether any more are needed or not...

Regardless of what/how many you buy - welcome to the club! It's a great game and almost exclusively played by a great player-base happy to help where they can...

Alright, I'm liking all this feedback and I've got a bad feeling that my bank account is about to be very empty very soon. Perhaps some more specifics of my game style is that I will be the casual player type and I doubt I will ever get in to tournament play (despite it sounding quite fun) and I will be supplying ships for those that I play with (since I'm the only smart one who spends the majority of their paycheck on games). So if that's the case, then it seems like I can get any ol' ships that I want and I should be fine.

Thanks for all the feedback! And feel free to share more since I've yet to click the purchase button on Amazon.

and I will be supplying ships for those that I play with

In that case a 2nd core is almost mandatory. You get a 2nd set of templates, dice and damage deck. All things that will make it much, much easier for 2 people to play.

Also you may want to look at http://www.miniaturemarket.com/or http://www.coolstuffinc.com/ as a place to order, you may find better prices there. Both for example have free shipping on orders over $100.

I woudl absolutely recommend two core sets if you can find them on sale. The fact that you get 3 ships in one box is usually always going to be the most cost effective way of getting you started faster - AND you also get all the dice you'll need that way. Plus you get extras of all sorts of other things like maneuver templates and range finders, etc.

After that picks a faction and get a few ships from it so you have some options. Alot of stuff has crossover now, (Meaning that One ship will have upgrades that work for it's own faction, but also good for other factions), but if you are really trying to save money, I'd get a larger ship like the Decimator or the Millinium Falcon. Those ships will allow you to dump a ton of points into a single ship, meaning you won't need 5 ships to fill out 100 points. Heck, a Millenium Falcon and 2 X-Wings (WHich you'd get from a core set) is a very popular and competitive list. Or get an E-Wing also, for a ton of options. B-Wing is my favorite though.

If you are going Empire, a Decimator is certainly a good option. Imperial Aces is another good option since you are getting 2 ships for one pack. (Granted there is also Rebel Aces for the Rebels, but I skimmed past that). I'd really suggest the TIE Fighter expansion pack if you ever want to run a swarm because it comes with Howlrunner, who happens to be one of the best support ships in the game for multiple ships.

Also I'd steer clear of the Scum faction for awhile - as they would require you to buy the most stuff to get started.

and what banjo said...

well said that man. fine upstanding citizen. salt of the earth. real community spirit.. an inspiration...

Alright, I'm liking all this feedback and I've got a bad feeling that my bank account is about to be very empty very soon. Perhaps some more specifics of my game style is that I will be the casual player type and I doubt I will ever get in to tournament play (despite it sounding quite fun) and I will be supplying ships for those that I play with (since I'm the only smart one who spends the majority of their paycheck on games). So if that's the case, then it seems like I can get any ol' ships that I want and I should be fine.

Thanks for all the feedback! And feel free to share more since I've yet to click the purchase button on Amazon.

and I will be supplying ships for those that I play with

In that case a 2nd core is almost mandatory. You get a 2nd set of templates, dice and damage deck. All things that will make it much, much easier for 2 people to play.

Also you may want to look at http://www.miniaturemarket.com/or http://www.coolstuffinc.com/ as a place to order, you may find better prices there. Both for example have free shipping on orders over $100.

I woudl absolutely recommend two core sets if you can find them on sale. The fact that you get 3 ships in one box is usually always going to be the most cost effective way of getting you started faster - AND you also get all the dice you'll need that way. Plus you get extras of all sorts of other things like maneuver templates and range finders, etc.

After that picks a faction and get a few ships from it so you have some options. Alot of stuff has crossover now, (Meaning that One ship will have upgrades that work for it's own faction, but also good for other factions), but if you are really trying to save money, I'd get a larger ship like the Decimator or the Millinium Falcon. Those ships will allow you to dump a ton of points into a single ship, meaning you won't need 5 ships to fill out 100 points. Heck, a Millenium Falcon and 2 X-Wings (WHich you'd get from a core set) is a very popular and competitive list. Or get an E-Wing also, for a ton of options. B-Wing is my favorite though.

If you are going Empire, a Decimator is certainly a good option. Imperial Aces is another good option since you are getting 2 ships for one pack. (Granted there is also Rebel Aces for the Rebels, but I skimmed past that). I'd really suggest the TIE Fighter expansion pack if you ever want to run a swarm because it comes with Howlrunner, who happens to be one of the best support ships in the game for multiple ships.

Also I'd steer clear of the Scum faction for awhile - as they would require you to buy the most stuff to get started.

OK if you are going to be the main group supplier i agree with vandor and crabbok - 2x core sets will be really useful. Luckily as the game is well established lots of earlier releases including the core set can be had for less than the RRP...

You are going to get a range of suggestions. I personally do not think buying 2 cores right off the bat is a good idea. Buy the core and a ship or two that you think looks cool to you. Play with them. Then, decide how you want to grow your collection from there.

How to get in the game on the cheap for each faction (if the goal is 100 point lists):

Rebels (perhaps the easiest and cheapest):

Buying a single Falcon will create a competitive list. Flying a loaded Han and Luke may not be the best list, but you will learn the game and have a fighting chance.

Empire:

for a single purchase (to go along with the core) I'd suggest either the Firespray or the Decimator. You will learn what it take to succeed in the Imperial Navy with either of these two ships plus the two TIE Fighters in the Core.

Scum (the most expensive):

The core give you 0 S&V cards and ships. Along with the Core you'll need the Most wanted set, and then the Firespray is probably your quickest and cheapest way to a 100 point list. The Firespray could also be used in an Imperial list, so it's a double win.

Hold off on that second Core. You might find you have no interest in another X-wing and two more TIE Fighters. At this point the FFG Dice application or buying another physical set of dice would be the cheaper option going forward.

I would hold off on a 2nd core until they announce the episode 7 stuff. Many are speculating that it will be a new core. It might not be a bad idea to wait to purchase anything until that time in case it is a major marketing effort by FFG to get new players into that game.At that point there might be some very obvious first sets to buy.

Ditto! If you are supplying everything for both sides, TWO CORE SETS is pretty much mandatory! From there, purchase what catches your fancy!!

I highly recommend MM as they usually are the least expensive, have stuff in stock and have rewards points which add up quickly with this game! Shipping is usually only three days to me and I always order over $100 at a time to get the free shipping!

Good luck!

With the announcement that we're getting some kind of Episode VII-related stuff by the end of the year, I'm 99% certain it will be a new Core set with Ep. VII X-Wing and TIE Fighters. So one Core to start, wait a bit and see if that's the case, but get at least 2 Cores either way. Of course, there's like a 1% chance I'm wrong.

I will be the casual player type and I doubt I will ever get in to tournament play (despite it sounding quite fun) and I will be supplying ships for those that I play with (since I'm the only smart one who spends the majority of their paycheck on games). So if that's the case, then it seems like I can get any ol' ships that I want and I should be fine.

Sounds exactly like me earlier in the year - and I'm about to play my very first tournament in two weeks time, so you never know! It's such a great game, it certainly gets its little perfectly-formed hooks into you.

What I did with my buying strategy was buy one core set and both aces, then the falcon and firespray. Looking back I might have gone straight for the yt-2400 instead of the falcon as that looks like a much riskier and more enjoyable ship to fly. I take care of buying the imperials and my friends put in for a few rebel ships each, along with my core outlay of rebel aces & falcon. It's nice, as they get to experiment if there's a ship they really want, while still having a decent backbone to make up a number of good lists.

As to the 1 vs 2 core set, I'm firmly in the 1 camp. For the price of the core set you can get the tie expansion, the x-wing expansion, and a set of die (the only bit of the set you really need double of). This is a lot better, imo, as it gets you a lot of the best pilots for both the tie and the x (e.g. wedge and howlrunner), rather than duplicates of what you already have. Collecting the cards in this game is almost as important as the ships

There's already a ton of good advice, so I'll just add that you might want to check out miniaturemarket.com , they have great prices, about 33% less than the msrp, and if you order $99 or more you get free shipping. I've bought most of my collection from them, and a couple off amazon.

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned yet but a standard game is 100 points of ships & upgrades, the core will get you about 25-50% of that (depending on which faction & which pilots you use). You can check out an online squadron builder to see what you need to get that full 100 points, and it'll give you an idea of how the ships differ from each other

Yet Another Squadron Builder

X-Wing Squadron Builder.