Hi all,

As the title suggests, I'm looking at getting into X-Wing with my partner. We've been looking at it for a while but we're both quite adamant we want to stick to original trilogy ships (certainly for now anyway, perhaps branching out later). I've seen various recommendations saying that both Core sets are viable, but the Force Awakens Core has a more balanced damage deck. How much does this change the game play, and is it deemed important?

I should mention that neither of us, nor our friends are into competitive tournament play. We all enjoy a very casual play style, the odd game here or there, perhaps incorporating X-Wing into an RPG or campaign of some sort, so we are fully able to print cards which are "essential" (not that I think that'll be necessary). Saying that, what are essential must have's for the game?

Since we'd be looking to perhaps buy the Core soon to see if we like it and then buy expansions later (maybe for Christmas), what expansions are good starters? What are the main differences between the base ships and Rebel/Imperial Aces/Veterans, and how inter-changeable or useable are they? What are the main differences here?

As far as we know there is no LGS near us, and we'll be moving house soon so just after recommendations before purchasing a Core.

Thanks for any help!

If you are wanting to start playing 100-point lists using the base trilogy ships, would suggest purchasing two of the original Core Sets, that way you will get two image decks, two sets of dice, range rulers, etc., one for each player. You will need to purchase at least one T-65 X-wing Expansion Pack, and one extra TIE pack in order to run a TIE Swarm list. Would suggest getting an Interceptor Expansion too. That should give you enough Rebel and Empire ships to play 100 points per side.

Good luck.

TBH if you are playing casual it shouldn't matter which core set, so go with the one you like the look of best.

The Aces sets are really good value.. So Imp Aces 1 and Rebel Aces 1 might be a good addition to the original core set giving you more iconic ships.

Of course, extra dice and tools are always helpful.

Sorry, I used "original trilogy" rather loosely, I include the likes of interceptors in that, and I'd include the Star Wars: Rebels stuff in my purchases, because I love the show!

Is 100 points the "standard" then?

<<Is 100 points the "standard" then?>>

Yes, very standard for tournaments.

When I started playing at home with my son, we ran 60-point lists and those were fun and shorter casual games.

100 points is the primary tournament format, and probably the most common one used for Pick-up games since if you go much higher you can fit too much on the table, and if you go much lower, the game becomes dominated by individual large ships. That being said, there's a number of people on this forum who are... shall we say, vocal about their opinion on 100 point dogfights (The word "snoozefest" comes up a lot from one person in particular), and swear by more mission based gameplay.

One thing to consider is your group's approach to proxying cards- All of FFG's product lines (or at least, almost all of them) strive to have something at least potentially useful to every player in each expansion regardless of faction, which means certain ships, particularly the Tie Interceptor, have a good number of their more popular upgrades spread amongst multiple expansions. If your group is okay with Proxies ( Yet Another X-wing Minatures Squad Builder and The Unnoficial X-wing Squadron BUilder are both great resources), Imperial Aces is a strong purchase.

One expansion I would caution you about is the Millenium Falcon- The Falcon's ability to fire outside of it's firing arc with no real restriction is a bit of a crutch to learning the game, and it also really punishes Flimsy "Arc Dodging" ships like the Tie Interceptor unless those ships have the Autothrusters upgrade. Also, the Falcon is getting another release next week, Heroes of the Resistance, so I'd wait to see which Falcon you like better if you do decide to get one.

Buy defenders!!!

You'll thank me later.

Thanks all! I must admit, I never used to like the look of Defenders. But having recently looked at them on the X-Wing wiki and in a couple of mods for games, they've grown on me quite a lot!

I'd probably enjoy switching up between smaller skirmishes and larger standard 100 point games, mission or story games etc.

How fun or big is epic play normally? I can't say I'd be very willing to splash out that kind of cash... But the Tantive IV does look **** fine. I imagine they make for interesting story missions, but do they not make a battle a little one sided?

I really like 150pts feels a bit more like Star Wars to me, 100pts always feels a bit like Wedge and his mates popped down the pub than an epic space battle. I wouldn't worry about the Epic ships to begin with. But the campaigns in the Epic boxes can be fun. We have done the Tantive over a day and it was a nice change of pace.

Thanks all! I must admit, I never used to like the look of Defenders. But having recently looked at them on the X-Wing wiki and in a couple of mods for games, they've grown on me quite a lot!

I'd probably enjoy switching up between smaller skirmishes and larger standard 100 point games, mission or story games etc.

How fun or big is epic play normally? I can't say I'd be very willing to splash out that kind of cash... But the Tantive IV does look **** fine. I imagine they make for interesting story missions, but do they not make a battle a little one sided?

Well, you can always have both sides take a huge ship (Tantive IV vs. Raider, for instance). But a well built squad of generics can pull its weight quite well in an Epic game.

Red core set (original trilogy) is the one to get...the damage deck is fine don't sweat it.

Two core sets is ideal for reasons mentioned above.(more dice templates,secomd deck ) and..it's also the most money saving route because that's three ships plus the super useful additional materials.

Then for expansions..no rush at all...just ease into it and get whatever your all's favorite ships are. That's how this game started and its how its still done for a ton of people.

Have fun, play it your way.eat pretzels drink beer laugh,be merry,play spaceships.

Red core set (original trilogy) is the one to get...the damage deck is fine don't sweat it.

Two core sets is ideal for reasons mentioned above.(more dice templates,secomd deck ) and..it's also the most money saving route because that's three ships plus the super useful additional materials.

Then for expansions..no rush at all...just ease into it and get whatever your all's favorite ships are. That's how this game started and its how its still done for a ton of people.

Have fun, play it your way.eat pretzels drink beer laugh,be merry,play spaceships.

I agree on two core sets. you will want 2 damage decks, and 3 dice is never enough...

Yep...also...if your playing fluffy original trilogy fun games...you'll want more tie fighters..and more tie fighters and more...well...tie fighters EVERYWHERE

I also just got into X-wing, casual only.

For having the most fun with not too many purchases, you might want some variety. Think of mixing 'light' and more 'heavy' ships with the first purchase. Therefore I wouldn't buy two cores, rather one core and one extra set of dice (overpriced, but having 6dice per color is more important than having two sets of templates, etc.). Add expansions so each side can field 4-5 distinct ships at least, and it's not always the same lineup. The Rebel Aces pack has one light and one heavy ship (A and B) to support the Xwing, the Imp Veterans pack has the popular Defender and the Bomber to supplement your Ties. (Imp Aces has two Interceptors, good but less variety than Imp Veterans.) Rebel Falcon and/or Imp Lambda Shuttle are nice as large ships. Beyond that, anything ...

Thanks for all the advice folks! Definitely been helpful in planning how I am going to get into it. Now I just need to wait for pay day!

Welcome to the team!

Good advice here already. 2 core sets a must. you will need those templates and dice.

For casual play you have more options with upgrades. Proxy them or even better, visit ur local game store and let players know u are a new casual player and would really appreciate any unwanted extra upgrade cards they dont use. Most established Players have loads of spare upgrade cards and tokens. This will give you a pool of stuff you can use in your casual games.

I should mention that neither of us, nor our friends are into competitive tournament play. We all enjoy a very casual play style, the odd game here or there, perhaps incorporating X-Wing into an RPG or campaign of some sort, so we are fully able to print cards which are "essential" (not that I think that'll be necessary). Saying that, what are essential must have's for the game?

That sounds like you'd enjoy HotAC a lot. It's a RPG-esque campaign where you fight the Imperials (as Rebels) for the control over the Aturi Cluster. It has I think 17 missions at the moment. You play as a team against a very well designed AI, you gain experience and upgrade your crafts. Every partaking player will need an X- or Y-wing, the options to convert later to A-, B-Wing or HWK-290 (it is themed in the original trilogy). The ARC-170 is also fitting. The general guide for the AI is, 2 normal TIEs per human, so if you and your partner both want to go into it with just 2 players, 2 core sets would be awesome since you get the 4 TIEs needed and 2 X-Wings. Most missions can be played with 2 additional TIE Interceptors, 1-2 TIE Bombers, 1-2 TIE Defenders, 1 Phantom, 1-2 TIE Advanced. You can skip missions that you don't have all fighters for, but if you're interested you can have a look at the guide and it tells you what is needed for which missions (just look at the mission pages). There is 1 mission with a GR-75 Transport and a Decimator, some missions require a Lambda-Shuttle, I think 2 require a YT-1300, also 2 Require a HWK-290 as NPC as well.

Everything about HotAC here: http://dockingbay416.com/campaign/

ElSee, on 23 Oct 2016 - 1:24 PM, said:ElSee, on 23 Oct 2016 - 1:24 PM, said:

Thanks all! I must admit, I never used to like the look of Defenders. But having recently looked at them on the X-Wing wiki and in a couple of mods for games, they've grown on me quite a lot!

I'd probably enjoy switching up between smaller skirmishes and larger standard 100 point games, mission or story games etc.

How fun or big is epic play normally? I can't say I'd be very willing to splash out that kind of cash... But the Tantive IV does look **** fine. I imagine they make for interesting story missions, but do they not make a battle a little one sided?

Great advice all around so far. I would personally go with 2 starter sets as 2x templates, damage decks, dice etc is great for casual play and you get 3 ships out of the deal.

Unless your going strait into an RPG game start with the smaller ships before going epic. When you are ready to run the FarStar campaign then make the investment.

Look for your minis at Cool Stuff Inc and Miniature Market. Two online retailers that frequently offer sales on the older (original trilogy and EU) ships.

The squad builder apps are very handy for learning what ships/upgrades there are, what they do, and what comes with each expansion.

I haven't run the campaign yet but have heard good things, might be a great fit for you and your partner.

Have fun and good luck.

Ohh, and most of the larger packs include a 'mission' that can be fun to play with its own rules etc. Might be a mission guide out there somewhere on the interwebs.

Hiya! I sent a PM that was chock full of useful advice. Lots of great advice here so far.

Your first post sounds a lot like mine, regarding the desire to only use Galactic Civil War era ships. After playing for six months, now I have at least one of everything.

There's so many amazing upgrades that really add a lot of potential fun in the new stuff, especially if you're not hardcore tournament competitors. Get what you like first, play some games, but I highly recommend grabbing any/every expansions. I'm thematic with my lists in some manner or another, but the mechanics in this game are deep enough for you to completely overlook the origins of where the ships originated, and instead just focus on the game at hand.

Honestly, if you are a fan of the OT, then the first core set, one X-Wing expansion, the Tie Advanced x-pansion and maybe the Falcon is enough to start and feel like you are creating a starwars experience with most the main characters.

Follow up with the Rebel Transport, to get one more x-wing, and then get a Tie Fighter and Tie Intercepter so you get Fel, and you keep going from there. At that point, you will have 3 x-wings on 3 ties, plus vader and intercepter.

PROXY CARDS!

You'll thank me later.

I fixed that for you. ;-)

Buying a defender and imperial veterans still a great idea, but more important is imo really the card proxing, which allows to buy the ships you want and play them to their fullest potential.

If you ever get into tournament play you most likely follow that "one of each expansion" approach already anyway and should have no issue with either buying missing cards or getting them as loan from the community. The community is awesome, and we help each other out with cards for tournaments or even ships anyway. So buy the ships you like to fly and experiment to make them work. Not all pilots are good, but there is really not one ship without at least one good option or card combination.