Hello and Happy Friday,

If a new person was starting to play X-wing and they asked you where do I start, what is your advice and reason for one faction over another?

(cost, fun, Thematic, Soontir Fel, etc..)

edit*** by q1 next year damage decks, Obstacles, dice and movement/measuring tools are available so a core set is not needed but can be a good place to start. There is a reason it's a core set....

Rebels. Because Wedge is awesome and his ability is very simple to understand.

got me hooked for... FIVE YEARS OMFG

I’d ask them if they enjoyed the prequels and/or Clone Wars series.

If yes, I’d recommend the Republic because it’s got a wide range of ships at its disposal already, and more will be coming without the fear of needing a conversion kit.

If they said no, I’d recommend the Rebels because they have decent rereleased content choices and have more coming with wave 6 reprinting Saw’s Renegades. They’re more forgiving than empire out of the core set in terms of survivability as well.

I really like to start with first order because you don't have a lot to remember for your faction and can focus on flying/ learning the basics.

Imperials or Republic atm.

Seps are SOOO wordy.

Don’t focus on a faction immediately, focus instead on the ships you like or think have neat things associated with them. Learn to play the game with the ships you are motivated to fly in the manner that most interests you (Epic, Tourney, Mission, etc). Once you’ve gotten a solid foundation in game play - while having fun - decide if you need to focus on a single faction. You might discover you don’t need to.

Whichever faction they want to start with. The game is pretty balanced this point in anything is fair game. The only thing I would warm someone on is is that Empire can cost more if they want to go with lots of Tie fighters.

Faction schmaction, do what I did and go straight for the big guns. Tantive IV for the win!

I’d ask what their favorite parts of the Star Wars universe are, and then talk through what I know about the squad building & playstyle aspects of the corresponding two or three factions. Hopefully that would help point the way toward a faction that both captures their interest and plays the way they want to play.

Seems like most people enter with an interest in either Rebels or Empire, which is both understandable and helps justify getting the core. But I’d also challenge them to think about the prequels & sequels to see if something there strikes a chord. The OT factions have a lot more options, but IMO it’s nice having smaller factions, too. It might let a new player get a feeling of having a complete collection much more easily.

If the only concern is ease of buy in, Republic or Resistance. With the former, you can buy a squadron pack and any individual ship, and have a playable list. With the latter, you can buy any combination of 4 T-70s or RZ-2s, and have a playable list. In both cases, the player doesn't have to worry about tracking down old extended ships.

Happy Friday!

I definitely tend to base my suggestions on the tastes of the potential new player. But, I will say on the basis of cost, I would recommend Republic. One of each of their first wave I think gives you a decent base to start from.

Happy Friday!!

I would recommend Seps because they seems to have the most creative energy right now.

Republic would be a fine second choice as a growing faction.

FO and Resistance would be runners up as growth factions with old timey feel.

But seriously, this game finds itself in a sweet spot where nothing sux.

For the S&V who want to shout me down, I can only respond: The Mandalorian. Your day is coming...

Resistance:

1) It's the good guys, but it's the more fun good guys

2) They've got a lot of upcoming content in the pipeline and beyond

3) I don't have them so it makes a great opponent!

Republic.

Easy to manuever, a lot of good pilots and ships; Can agrrange list multiple ways (Aces, Beef plus support, Aces plus support etc.) the opportunity for good synergy between ships etc. (iconic characters)

37 minutes ago, Cgriffith said:

Republic.

Easy to manuever, a lot of good pilots and ships; Can agrrange list multiple ways (Aces, Beef plus support, Aces plus support etc.) the opportunity for good synergy between ships etc. (iconic characters)

And to think, people used to be like, “Eww, Clone Wars.” And Anakin be all like, “How do ya like me now?!” 😝

(To be clear, I don’t know if you yourself were; not intending to target individuals here!)

I’m not a huge fan of the Clone Wars or the prequels, but I told the guys at my game store that I like to pew pew so they started me off with Jedi.

It got me hooked on the Republic and I haven’t looked back. I think they’re a good beginner faction because of how forgiving the Force can be.

6 hours ago, astronautcowboy said:

I’m not a huge fan of the Clone Wars or the prequels, but I told the guys at my game store that I like to pew pew so they started me off with Jedi.

It got me hooked on the Republic and I haven’t looked back. I think they’re a good beginner faction because of how forgiving the Force can be.

I recommend the Clone Wars cartoon, but I HIGHLY suggest you google the chronological order to watch them in. The first 3 seasons are all out of whack. It will make a BIG difference in watching them. Besides that, the show gets quite good albeit Season 4.

I'd recommend Republic or First Order. I'd also recommend not getting a Core set (and would lend a damage deck in the meantime - I have 3). You can get into Republic and have everything from that faction available right now. First Order is only missing 1 ship (Upsilon) and will be getting an Interceptor in Wave 6 so it has lots of options right now as well.

Resistance is a lot of fun but is missing 2 ships (Falcon and StarFortress) without hunting for their 1.0 versions and buying a Conversion kit. Separatist is in the same position as Republic obviously, but might be a bit too tricky for a new player.

The original three factions, Rebellion, Empire and Scum & Villainy, are super fun (yes, even Scum!) but would require a bigger investment, unless the player sticks to Hyperspace (only the 2.0 versions, which right now means 5 ships [Reb], 5 ships [Imp] and 7 ships [S&V]).

2 hours ago, heychadwick said:

I recommend the Clone Wars cartoon, but I HIGHLY suggest you google the chronological order to watch them in. The first 3 seasons are all out of whack. It will make a BIG difference in watching them. Besides that, the show gets quite good albeit Season 4.

Oh, I’ve watched them all (on Netflix, I wasn’t a Star Wars diehard or living in the US when they were airing).

Clone Wars Anakin is the best Anakin. I just like Rebels better, mostly because there’s less filler. Clone Wars distilled down to its best episodes would be a treat. But things like “25% interest rates”...woof!

I'd recommend Rebels because they have enough health to be forgiving, but you can also field a completely competitive list with the core set and 2 $20 ships. That way you can come out and play for half of the $160 you'd be shelling out to get into the CIS.

I would start by determining their preferred factions and archetypes. Then factor in complexity imperials and scum almost require a conversion kit, separatists are more complex, etc.

I personally would recommend republic resistance and first order in that order. Both the republic and resistance are completely hyperspace legal and you can grow with the faction. The republic's ship options are better right now.

First order is a little more complex because the upsilon is still just in the conversion kit. But for the most part the same principles apply and the Tie/sf is one of the most flexible chassis in the game.

This is actually a tough call. On the one hand, I love the Republic, they have single handedly revitalized my interest in the game, they are fun, and they are supremely inexpensive to start. Core set, Guardians of the Republic, and an individual aethersprite and you are good to go with a number of viable squads. It also lets you expand out on a reasonable basis without having to play a lot of catchup.

Having said all that, the Republic (and particularly Jedi) can be deceptively difficult to fly well. Aethersprites are surprisingly fragile if you don’t play to their strengths, and understanding timing windows, maneuvers and force tokens are all very important to prevent General Kenobi over there from transforming into space dust. I know high initiative Jedi get a bad rap for being a bit dominant in the game, but it’s not like I can just slap down regen 7B Anakin and expected to cruise to victory. Understanding WHY Jedi are so good and how to leverage their strengths is a huge part of success with them.

On the other hand (or other-other hand), the Republic does enable a player to learn more or less every mechanic in the game. Linked actions, repositioning, force tokens, ordnance, turrets (with the Y-Wing), additional firing arcs, and just about every non-faction/era specific type of upgrade. So it’s good for a player to learn all that stuff.

There is also a solid argument to be made for Resistance. Some X-Wings, some A-Wings and a transport and they have a ton of lists available to them, even without the bomber or the falcon. The only downside is that you will need to buy some conversion kits to get the most out of these ships (hello, advanced optics), but something as simple as 4 Heroic Black Squadron Aces provides an effective and stable list to learn the game with.

I guess ultimately, whatever they want, but points to Republic and Resistance.

15 hours ago, Cubanboy said:

I really like to start with first order because you don't have a lot to remember for your faction and can focus on flying/ learning the basics.

This was my buddies idea as I resisted 2.0 and he got me the FO conversion kit and three Upsilons (yeah it was THEN), so I agree, this faction is easy to digest, fun to fly and iconic pretty much (TIEs) and look cool on the mat. They are struggling, but slightly better after the last points change... maybe the new Interceptor will give it fun toys that work real gud???

14 hours ago, heychadwick said:

Whichever faction they want to start with. The game is pretty balanced this point in anything is fair game. The only thing I would warm someone on is is that Empire can cost more if they want to go with lots of Tie fighters.

This. @heychadwick is always the voice of reason and logic.

If you aren't hooked in by love of the movie ship you like, it will be hard to get into the game and shell out the $$$ to really get into the game.

13 hours ago, CoffeeMinion said:

And to think, people used to be like, “Eww, Clone Wars.” And Anakin be all like, “How do ya like me now?!” 😝

(To be clear, I don’t know if you yourself were; not intending to target individuals here!)

No worries. None taken. I love the Clones Wars (Anakin Skywalker is my favorite character i.e Episode III right after Order 66 until his limbs were taken off I love Human Vader)

2 hours ago, clanofwolves said:

@heychadwick is always the voice of reason and logic.

Awww....shucks! Wish my wife felt that way...