Looking to get some gifts for myself and friends and need some buying advise. Is it worth purchasing both core sets for entry into the game or should i get one core per player and an expansion per player? Please advise.

Hi. This is a subject that comes up quite a bit.

Getting two starter sets is actually pretty good. The number of ships for the investment is pretty good. You also get extra dice and extra movement templates which makes it easier to play. you sometimes need 4 dice for things, and you only get 3 in the starter box.

Which starter set to get? Or get one of each? It's a great question and I'm not sure there is a perfect answer. I think that any combo would be nice. The one thing to think about is that the newer starter set comes with a different damage deck. It's a better damage deck. I might recommend getting at least one newer starter set for that. Still, if you just didn't want the new stuff, you could just go with 2 of the older ones.

One thing to note is that while you get ships in the starter set, you don't get all the pilots and such for that ship. So...with the T-65 X-wing in the starter set, it doesn't come with Wedge or Garven Dreis pilots. If you want those pilots, you have to buy the T-65 blister. It's the same with all the ships that come in the starter set. You really do want to buy the blister for the same ship, as well. Then again...you could always just proxy the pilot cards (aka print off your own ones to use until you get enough money).

All special boxes like Aces packs and such are the same way. You won't get all the pilots and upgrades that you would normally get in the regular blister. It's frustrating that way.

Imperial lists are often the ones that need more ships to fill up to 100 pts, especially if you are going to use Tie Fighters (as they are cheap). Most Rebel lists will have 3-4 ships in it, but you might need more than that for the Imperials. I would lean towards buying slightly more Imperial ships. Also, if you buy larger ships you can fill 100 pts up easier.

Personally, I'd recommend starting off with the classic ships that are fun to fly. So, go with X-wings, B-wing, Y-wings, and A-wings for Rebels and the various Tie Figthers and Lambdas for the Imperials.

If you are just getting into the game, there is a really fantastic fan made campaign that is highly regarded. It's a co-op version of the game that pits you and friends vs. the AI for the Imperials. It's actually a challenge and an absolute blast to play. I might recommend downloading the "Heroes of the Aturi Cluster" campaign booklet (it's free) and look up to see the minimum ship numbers they have in the game. It's a smart list to drive towards, as well. Also note that the First Order Tie Fighters could double as regular Tie Fighters in a pinch.

I would start out with:

-1 original core

-1 Force awakens core

-A-wing

-TIE Advanced

-1 ffg playmat

Will be very balanced between rebels and imperials. I highly recommend a mat. They are awesome and make the game that much more fun and immersive.

Written on the wall of the mechanic in the original Mad Max movie:

"Speed is just a question of money - how fast do you want to go?"

In other words, what you should get really depends on what sort of money you're prepared to part with.

Tip:

Buy the nice big, portable Plano storage system or some large padded tool boxes or a wheeled luggage case or a deluxe 40 compartment tackle-box or something that will hold EVERY ship that exists with plenty of room for more. Get that first, you will need it.

Imperial players should immediately purchase imperial veterans and either a Tie/FO or Tie Defender expansion pack

the x7 Defender is forgiving for newer players and also top tier competitive, so it'll be a good purchase regardless of what level you're playing at

Defenders!

I'd suggest picking a faction, then deciding from there.

If you want Imperials, I recommend a New core, a Defender, and Imperial Veterans. If you feel particularly spendy, adding an Tie Interceptor pack and a copy of Imperial Aces is good.

With Rebels, I recommend a New Core and a copy of the new Heroes of the Resistance. If you feel like picking stuff up after that, the new ARC-170 is fun to fly, as is the YT-2400. Getting a copy of Rebel Aces can be fun because it gives you a couple ships to fly in one pack.

With Scum, getting into that is more about just buying any core, perhaps the old one, then adding in the scum ships that suit your fancy.

Jacob

You absolutely *** MUST *** purchase the Assault Gunboat first !!!

P.S. If you find it, please let me know. I, and many others, have been waiting for it since prior to Wave 1.

TFA starter

The ships you want to fly

Use proxies for cards/ write them out

If you want to jump into a tournement try borrowing from friends. If playing at a lgs pick up a ship while there.

As a new player to X-Wing who's still trying to find their way (so my thoughts might be skewed), I grabbed myself the new TFA Core set - updated rules, damage deck and giving me the start of a casual themed FO TIE squad. Another direction I've been looking at to expand my Imperials is as ficklegreendice mentioned above, the Imperial Veterans box and a TIE/Defender expansion - the beginnings of a competitive build.

However, I am definitely feeling the lack of Rebel direction having bought the newer TFA Core first. If you plan to play Rebels specifically I would really consider the original Core box first to grab yourself Biggs and R2-D2 - I'm really not seeing competitive lists using the TFA T70+BB8 over Biggs/R2 due to the latters ability to keep other ships alive in Rebel lists (I've been scouring sites for them cheap so I can get on with a Rebel squad). To add though, if you're looking for a squad in a box, both the HotR set (better with R2 on Poe) and Ghost boxset come close with plenty of options and potential from what I can see.

I'd still try and get an idea from your friends what they like - some people might prefer the classic stuff to the newer stuff, others may appreciate the more obscure ships.

You've taken your first step into a larger world.

If you have kids or friends who play I recommend building your collection so that you can have games. That is collect multiple factions.

Get the expansions with the ships you love. Everything will flow from there.

But for just dipping your toes in the game, I'd pick up at a minimum the TFA core set. Picking up the TIE/FO expansion and the T-70 expansion are great to build off of. If TFA is not your thing, then get the original set. The rules can be downloaded for free.

But whatever you do... Mistakes will be made.

You've taken your first step into a larger world.

If you have kids or friends who play I recommend building your collection so that you can have games. That is collect multiple factions.

Get the expansions with the ships you love. Everything will flow from there.

But for just dipping your toes in the game, I'd pick up at a minimum the TFA core set. Picking up the TIE/FO expansion and the T-70 expansion are great to build off of. If TFA is not your thing, then get the original set. The rules can be downloaded for free.

But whatever you do... Mistakes will be made.

+1 to that. In fact what you should buy depends on how you intend to play. If you want to play x wing with friends who do not own it, I would really go for 2 core sets, + heroes of the resistance and defender + imperial veterans. That way you and your friend can play rebels and imperials with a few variants. On imperial side I really enjoyed phantom since day 1, and rebel side K-wing could be a fine addition as well.

If you want to play with people who already own the game then choose your favourite faction and just focus on ships that suit you (stats, design , play style) but also checking the useful cards you will get just in case you want to play tourneys later (because you can't proxy at a tourney)

My 2 cents

I would start out with:

-1 original core

-1 Force awakens core

-A-wing

-TIE Advanced

-1 ffg playmat

Will be very balanced between rebels and imperials. I highly recommend a mat. They are awesome and make the game that much more fun and immersive.

Both core's is a good investment. You'll want the double pack of dice anyways! playing with a base set and a few other ships is best. Don't buy a ton until you get a feel for what you find fun playstyle and faction. I bought one large base ship just to get a feel for their movement as well while learning. The Ghost seems very viable for starters, the Jumpmaster is good but you'll need to invest in the scum faction to utilize it in a 100 pt build.

At minimum, buy the TFA core of course. Having started playing just this year, I'd have to recommend it over the Original core for a couple of reasons: Poe is easier to field than Luke (more fun to fly in my opinion), & points-wise R2-D2 is pricey & can become a crutch. Not having Biggs is not a big deal either. Imperials and Scum do fine without someone like him so... Anyway, I'd add buying a Heros of the Resistance expansion (Poe's Black-One!) or alternately a Millennium Falcon + T-70 X-wing expansion. For the Imperials, Imp Aces + Most any TIE (at least two) or a big ship in place of the extra TIEs (don't forget Slave-1 can fly Imperial!).

If they like it enough they'll seek out more expansions on their own.

Bought those defenders yet?

I wish rebs had a clearee build path, but with xwings having integrated things get difficult without proxies

Even heroes, the imp vets analog, has no real self sufficient awesomeness even approaching the x7

Apart from like m9g8 pava maybe

The rebel core offers more with biggs beibg great and r2d2 luke being servicable but you get the old deck which i do not like at all

One of the most self contained rebel packs is the Kwing. Just slap TLTs on Miranda and youve got a winner (also got another tlt if you want to tech into a tlt y)

You'll probably be able to do alright with a Force Awakens core set, a T-70 expansion, and Heroes of the Resistance. That gets you all the T-70 pilots, Integrated Astromechs for everyone, and a Falcon.

On the First Order side, the core set gives you two TIE/fo Fighters, and the TIE/fo expansion pack is one of the few self-sufficient blister packs in the game. Everything you need for the TIE/fo to do well comes in that pack, so you can get 2-3 of them and they'll be worthwhile.

From there, you can build things out with the original core set (for extra dice and the old damage deck) or another TFA set (for the extra new damage deck).

I recently started and bought both core sets and the millennium falcon among other things. I regret purchasing the old core and the falcon. I should have gotten the Heroes expansion instead as I now can't justify buying that one.

I'd recommend getting a loan or a second job. Possibly a divorce if necessary to free up the play time

One of each starter, and 2-3 extra ships from each of the rebels and empire. This will let you play 100 point games.

Next get Most Wanted and a few ships exclusive to scum, giving you a third faction that has 100 points.

After that, depends on your budget.

I'd suggest picking a faction, then deciding from there.

If you want Imperials, I recommend a New core, a Defender, and Imperial Veterans. If you feel particularly spendy, adding an Tie Interceptor pack and a copy of Imperial Aces is good.

With Rebels, I recommend a New Core and a copy of the new Heroes of the Resistance. If you feel like picking stuff up after that, the new ARC-170 is fun to fly, as is the YT-2400. Getting a copy of Rebel Aces can be fun because it gives you a couple ships to fly in one pack.

With Scum, getting into that is more about just buying any core, perhaps the old one, then adding in the scum ships that suit your fancy.

Jacob

This is a pretty good suggestion. Sounds like you have the makings of a play group, so there will be plenty of die between everyone. So the second starter can wait. Yes, with only two products per person, you'll only be able to play out one faction each ... for now.

If you are starting out, look for sales on line. It will be the cheapest way to grow your collection. Another thing to note, is that you need healthy kidneys, because you are about to sell one of them. FFG is about to mug you and take all your money and you don't quite realize how bad it will be. Also, don't even look at their other products, cause seriously, you're down to only one kidney.

I'd suggest picking a faction, then deciding from there.

If you want Imperials, I recommend a New core, a Defender, and Imperial Veterans. If you feel particularly spendy, adding an Tie Interceptor pack and a copy of Imperial Aces is good.

With Rebels, I recommend a New Core and a copy of the new Heroes of the Resistance. If you feel like picking stuff up after that, the new ARC-170 is fun to fly, as is the YT-2400. Getting a copy of Rebel Aces can be fun because it gives you a couple ships to fly in one pack.

With Scum, getting into that is more about just buying any core, perhaps the old one, then adding in the scum ships that suit your fancy.

Jacob

This is a pretty good suggestion. Sounds like you have the makings of a play group, so there will be plenty of die between everyone. So the second starter can wait. Yes, with only two products per person, you'll only be able to play out one faction each ... for now.

If you are starting out, look for sales on line. It will be the cheapest way to grow your collection. Another thing to note, is that you need healthy kidneys, because you are about to sell one of them. FFG is about to mug you and take all your money and you don't quite realize how bad it will be. Also, don't even look at their other products, cause seriously, you're down to only one kidney.

Of course it's cheaper to build a competitive collection for one faction only, but I dot not fully agree that you have to necessarily spend a lot of money.

If the intention of OP is to play casually with friends, he can just buy a few ships to enjoy diversity and proxy any cards needed.

I'd recommend getting a loan or a second job. Possibly a divorce if necessary to free up the play time

No kids is also advisable

I'd recommend getting a loan or a second job. Possibly a divorce if necessary to free up the play time

No kids is also advisable

Or having older kids (8+) to play the game with and buy ships "For them"?