I'm currently looking at getting into X wing and was wondering what would be some good first purchases on a budget. I'm looking at going imperials.

I have thought about the core plus a extra tie and slave 1.

If you're planning on mainly going Imperial, I'd start with these sets:

-Both core sets

-Imperial Aces

-TIE Interceptor expansion

-TIE Fighter expansion

-TIE/fo expansion

-TIE Advanced expansion

These will give you the majority of the pilots that are being played in the current meta for Imperials. The only problem is there are a few cards that are essential to the meta that are found in expansions for a different faction, such as autothrusters in the Starviper expansion. The expansions I would pick up after the initial purchases:

-Starviper expansion

-YT-1300 expansion

-TIE Defender expansion

-TIE Bomber expansion

-Imperial Veterans (when it comes out)

-TIE Advanced Prototype expansion

-Firespray-31 expansion

That'll get you a lot of upgrades you need, like engine upgrade and autothrusters, and a few more ships to mess around with. If you're on a rather strict budget then I'd whittle my first list down to:

-Original core set

-TIE Fighter expansion

-TIE Interceptor expansion

-Imperial Aces

Hope this info helps!

If you're planning on mainly going Imperial, I'd start with these sets:

-Both core sets

-Imperial Aces

-TIE Interceptor expansion

-TIE Fighter expansion

-TIE/fo expansion

-TIE Advanced expansion

These will give you the majority of the pilots that are being played in the current meta for Imperials. The only problem is there are a few cards that are essential to the meta that are found in expansions for a different faction, such as autothrusters in the Starviper expansion. The expansions I would pick up after the initial purchases:

-Starviper expansion

-YT-1300 expansion

-TIE Defender expansion

-TIE Bomber expansion

-Imperial Veterans (when it comes out)

-TIE Advanced Prototype expansion

-Firespray-31 expansion

That'll get you a lot of upgrades you need, like engine upgrade and autothrusters, and a few more ships to mess around with. If you're on a rather strict budget then I'd whittle my first list down to:

-Original core set

-TIE Fighter expansion

-TIE Interceptor expansion

-Imperial Aces

Hope this info helps!

Thanks for now I think I'll grab the core, Tie Fighter, Tie interceptor and Aces and then refer back to the other expansions listed and build from there.

I agree with the poster above, but I'd also say get a second core set, your choice of which one. As an imperial it's a cheap way to get more ties, which are cheap in the game and usually found in numbers and your also gonna want the extra dice, templates, and until your collection gets larger storage space.

Also just a heads up there are certain ships in this game that came out, and then several wave later FFG released an expansion with new cards to improve them, or make them good at all. This includes:

Imperial vetrans for tie bomber and tie defender

Imperial aces for tie interceptor

Imperial Raider (this is a huge, expensive ship so don't worry about it as a begginer) for tie advanced

Rebel aces for a wing

Starviper has autothrusters which is essentially necessary for interceptors and a wings

Seems like a decent lot of advice to me too. Check the list section and the regionals results too and you'll see what the competitive builds are. Slave 1 is fun but doesn't see much use in tournament play at the moment.

I agree with Rellik94. Fel from Intercetor autothrusters from sta also rviper + royal guard title from imp. Aces is great, but I would also find a ships with push the limit like an a-wing expansion.

I'm currently looking at getting into X wing and was wondering what would be some good first purchases on a budget. I'm looking at going imperials.

I have thought about the core plus a extra tie and slave 1.

Get a fat turret ship, like the Decimator. The Decimator is one of the most skill intensive ships in the game, the way its turret works is very interesting to use and play against.

The only ship more skill intensive and interesting than the Decimator is the Falcon. C-3PO is such a risk/reward upgrade, he adds so much excitement to playing the Falcon.

The sarcasm is thick with that post

If you're planning on mainly going Imperial, I'd start with these sets:

-Both core sets

-Imperial Aces

-TIE Interceptor expansion

-TIE Fighter expansion

-TIE/fo expansion

-TIE Advanced expansion

These will give you the majority of the pilots that are being played in the current meta for Imperials. The only problem is there are a few cards that are essential to the meta that are found in expansions for a different faction, such as autothrusters in the Starviper expansion. The expansions I would pick up after the initial purchases:

-Starviper expansion

-YT-1300 expansion

-TIE Defender expansion

-TIE Bomber expansion

-Imperial Veterans (when it comes out)

-TIE Advanced Prototype expansion

-Firespray-31 expansion

That'll get you a lot of upgrades you need, like engine upgrade and autothrusters, and a few more ships to mess around with. If you're on a rather strict budget then I'd whittle my first list down to:

-Original core set

-TIE Fighter expansion

-TIE Interceptor expansion

-Imperial Aces

Hope this info helps!

Thanks for now I think I'll grab the core, Tie Fighter, Tie interceptor and Aces and then refer back to the other expansions listed and build from there.

I like what you have chosen as a first choice. The Tie Interceptors are a lot of fun.

I personally wouldn't recommend buying upgrades for cards. Yeah, the TIE interceptor is fun but if you follow metagame builds for it the cards are spread out over a lot of expansions. If you just want competitively viable ships there are a lot that work pretty much as they're packaged: the TIE/fo, the TIE Advanced Prototype, the TIE fighter, TIE punisher and the TIE defenders that come in the soon to be released Imperial Veterans.

Furthermore, don't get the TIE advanced unless you plan on getting the Imperial Raider. In its original state it's incredibly weak for its points: it was given a very powerful TIE advanced only upgrade (it's overpowered to cancel out the underpowered of the basic model) but that's in the Imperial Raider expansion, which isn't cheap.

This is all, of course, assuming you're planning on playing tournaments. If you're not, then buy the models you want and print off the upgrade cards.

I'm currently looking at getting into X wing and was wondering what would be some good first purchases on a budget. I'm looking at going imperials.

I have thought about the core plus a extra tie and slave 1.

Get a fat turret ship, like the Decimator. The Decimator is one of the most skill intensive ships in the game, the way its turret works is very interesting to use and play against.

The only ship more skill intensive and interesting than the Decimator is the Falcon. C-3PO is such a risk/reward upgrade, he adds so much excitement to playing the Falcon.

What are you doing? You are spoiling him! Noooo!

Well if you want a competetive ship the Decimator is actually a good buy as much as that pains me. It survived the meta changes way better than its counterpart (speaking gameplay), the Falcon. It does however significantly improve with Engine Upgrade, which so far you can only get in non-imperial large base ship expansions.

I would not really say the TFA core is a good buy if you are only interested in Imperials. The TIE/fo expansion is all you need for flying TIE/fos, I never used the two from the core set or any of the pilots, since Zeta Ace and Omega Leader are easily the most atractive pilots for that ship. Also gives you the tasty Juke/Comm Relay combo. The best thing you get from the TFA core is the new damage deck which is a lot less swingy. Hold off, get a second original Core first to build your TIE swarm.

Although you should have a core set, or two, for templates, damage deck, and dice I think Imperial Aces + TIE Interceptor is certainly a way to just right into playing the Empire.

Budget? Go Rebels.

One of either core set and either the Falcon or the Ghost. Can make some decent two ship lists from those.

Red box core

Second core blue or red

Tie Fo or tie fighter expansion

Imperial aces and or interceptor or imperial veterans when it comes out I think.

That gets you flying 100 points pretty quickly you could also reasonably get three core boxes and one or two epansions and have something to fly.

And add a Lamda-Class Shuttle close to the top of my second list. That gives you part of what you need for a Palpmobile (Emperor Palpatine on an Omicron Group Pilot shuttle) and everything you need for a Doomshuttle (Darth Vader on an Omicron Group Pilot shuttle).

Two cores is plenty, and one of each is better than two of the same.

Inquisitor TIE, phantoms, and the TIE/fo are all very self-contained; punishers can do OK and the upcoming imperial veterans will do you great (and if you fall in love with either ship you have spare cards to boot a second ship too).

Decimators are solid. If you eventually but a raider, the TIE advanced and lambda shuttle end up really neat too.

Intercepters... take a lot of expansions, and you either end up with 3 of them or bust, but then again, three of them isn't bad either.

Lots of options! Hope it helps.

@OP: When you say "get into X-wing," do you mean just buy in, or do you mean you want to join the tournament scene? You'll have different recommended buy orders depending on how you want to play. You can skip the Raider if you want to do low-point casual games with proxies, but you'll really want it if you intend to do tournament stuff or Epic. Similarly if you are a Defender fan you might need to get a Punisher or two for the TIE MkII upgrade, not to mention the upcoming Imperial Veterans pack, but only if you are planning for tournament lists, since you can proxy cards that you don't have if you are doing casual things.

@OP: When you say "get into X-wing," do you mean just buy in, or do you mean you want to join the tournament scene? You'll have different recommended buy orders depending on how you want to play. You can skip the Raider if you want to do low-point casual games with proxies, but you'll really want it if you intend to do tournament stuff or Epic. Similarly if you are a Defender fan you might need to get a Punisher or two for the TIE MkII upgrade, not to mention the upcoming Imperial Veterans pack, but only if you are planning for tournament lists, since you can proxy cards that you don't have if you are doing casual things.

Maybe we shouldn't assume knowing what a proxy is is common knowledge

To proxy upgrade cards is extremely easy in X-Wing. http://xwing-builder.co.uk/build# This squad builder for example allows you to print out your squadron with upgrade cards, meaning you don't need to actually own them to play with them. This also works for pilots. Proxying a ship on the other hand is hard, since you won't have the specific dial. I wouldn't recommend it. This is not allowed in tournament play, but most people you meet to play should not care.

@OP: When you say "get into X-wing," do you mean just buy in, or do you mean you want to join the tournament scene? You'll have different recommended buy orders depending on how you want to play. You can skip the Raider if you want to do low-point casual games with proxies, but you'll really want it if you intend to do tournament stuff or Epic. Similarly if you are a Defender fan you might need to get a Punisher or two for the TIE MkII upgrade, not to mention the upcoming Imperial Veterans pack, but only if you are planning for tournament lists, since you can proxy cards that you don't have if you are doing casual things.

By getting into X wing I mean starting out casual while I get used to playing and maybe in the future look at playing more competitive. I do want my first few list to be slightly competitive so they don't get steamrolled too.

I have bought Red Core, Tie Fighter, Aces and Interceptor.

I'm currently looking at getting into X wing and was wondering what would be some good first purchases on a budget. I'm looking at going imperials.

I have thought about the core plus a extra tie and slave 1.

If you want to build efficient, cheap list that is really good in competitive enviroment I would go with the following buys:

Imperial Aces x 1

TIE Interceptor x 1

TIE Advanced Prototype x 1

Starviper x 2 (Autothrusters!!!)

A-Wing (Push the Limit)

This way you can make great Imperial Aces list with Soontir, Carnor Jax and Inquisitor. It is really fun to play and will teach you a lot about playing X-Wing.

@OP: When you say "get into X-wing," do you mean just buy in, or do you mean you want to join the tournament scene? You'll have different recommended buy orders depending on how you want to play. You can skip the Raider if you want to do low-point casual games with proxies, but you'll really want it if you intend to do tournament stuff or Epic. Similarly if you are a Defender fan you might need to get a Punisher or two for the TIE MkII upgrade, not to mention the upcoming Imperial Veterans pack, but only if you are planning for tournament lists, since you can proxy cards that you don't have if you are doing casual things.

By getting into X wing I mean starting out casual while I get used to playing and maybe in the future look at playing more competitive. I do want my first few list to be slightly competitive so they don't get steamrolled too.

I have bought Red Core, Tie Fighter, Aces and Interceptor.

I personally think you might consider a Decimator as it is fairly tough and the turret makes it easier to use. It makes a good "anvil" to the hammer of the interceptors. Interceptors are drastically improved by Stealth Device (in Slave I and something else) and Autothrusters (only in the StarViper). But they are playable without them. When I started out and didn't have very much, I was putting Shield Upgrade on them! I still did fine.

One thing I would caution vis a vis reading these forums: the level of play/competition is rather high. A typical game uses 100 point fleets, and people here will worry about something being 2 points overcosted... obviously that's only a 2% inefficiency. So please mostly just have fun and don't get wrapped up in the numbers.

And add a Lamda-Class Shuttle close to the top of my second list. That gives you part of what you need for a Palpmobile (Emperor Palpatine on an Omicron Group Pilot shuttle) and everything you need for a Doomshuttle (Darth Vader on an Omicron Group Pilot shuttle).

i wouldnt bother with the Lamda shuttle if on a budget. Its not that great without Palp or cards from like 3-5 other expansions, some of which are not imperial.

Budget means dumping a 100 bucks on a single ship for basically 1 card until he wants to go Vader/Juno ace is way out of the question.

Decimater is fun but tbh i dont really like any of the imperial large ships. Firesprays feel like theyre paying too much for upgrades you dont even want on them, already mentioned the shuttle, and Decimaters are rather difficult to build a list for since theyre expensive. A properly built Chatneau will run you 65pts alone or so, which cuts off a lot of the solo aces from being a partner with it.

Main thing i like doing with the Decimater is get this "wtf?" reaction out of people when i make it barrel-roll with Expert Handling rofl. Yeah, he's stressed for it, big deal barrelroll on a large ship is massively useful. Still isnt competitive at all but its fun to do.

And add a Lamda-Class Shuttle close to the top of my second list. That gives you part of what you need for a Palpmobile (Emperor Palpatine on an Omicron Group Pilot shuttle) and everything you need for a Doomshuttle (Darth Vader on an Omicron Group Pilot shuttle).

i wouldnt bother with the Lamda shuttle if on a budget. Its not that great without Palp or cards from like 3-5 other expansions, some of which are not imperial.

Budget means dumping a 100 bucks on a single ship for basically 1 card until he wants to go Vader/Juno ace is way out of the question.

Decimater is fun but tbh i dont really like any of the imperial large ships. Firesprays feel like theyre paying too much for upgrades you dont even want on them, already mentioned the shuttle, and Decimaters are rather difficult to build a list for since theyre expensive. A properly built Chatneau will run you 65pts alone or so, which cuts off a lot of the solo aces from being a partner with it.

Main thing i like doing with the Decimater is get this "wtf?" reaction out of people when i make it barrel-roll with Expert Handling rofl. Yeah, he's stressed for it, big deal barrelroll on a large ship is massively useful. Still isnt competitive at all but its fun to do.

Hence the reason I didn't put the shuttle in my budget list...did you even read my post? And a shuttle costs $25 max, though you can find them cheaper, and you literally get everything you need for a Doomshuttle. The shuttle is a good value and you can fly one very cheaply in a list as a support ship.

The shuttle is also stylish

I'm currently looking at getting into X wing and was wondering what would be some good first purchases on a budget. I'm looking at going imperials.

I have thought about the core plus a extra tie and slave 1.

If you want to build efficient, cheap list that is really good in competitive enviroment I would go with the following buys:

Imperial Aces x 1

TIE Interceptor x 1

TIE Advanced Prototype x 1

Starviper x 2 (Autothrusters!!!)

A-Wing (Push the Limit)

This way you can make great Imperial Aces list with Soontir, Carnor Jax and Inquisitor. It is really fun to play and will teach you a lot about playing X-Wing.

No A-Wing needed, Imperial Aces has 2 Push the Limits.