I was eagerly waiting for this game, along with the other SW releases from FFG, but my disappointment only grew as news came out.

I first took a glimpse at the rules and found out that they were rather easy and that the game would be fast paced. I hadn't set my hands on Wings of War and thought this could be a great addition to my game shelf, being also a major SW fan.

However, when I realized that there were only 3 miniatures in each core set, hand-painted or not, my high spirits fell to the bottom. Three miniatures, even with different pilots meant few different scenarios. If you take that and then see the price of the core set, 40$ the result is total catastrophe. Too much money for what is inside, and spending that money would only result in spending more money in expansions.

The starter can be had for $25 online, but methinks this type of game may not be for you.

tydir said:

Total catastrophe as defined by what exactly? Just because you can not afford it does not mean it isn't fairly priced. The fact is while you may not be able to afford the game as is, it is selling very well, which means it has been fairly/correctly priced.

Honestly, what is the point behind your post?

Not sure how you see this game as expensive for painted models. Most miniatures games usually range up to $200 for a mediocre starting army(non painted). As others suggested, buy online at either miniaturemarket.com or coolstuffinc.com. You are able to purchase 2 core sets and one of each expansion for under $100. It is more than enough for 2-3 players to play a game.

As for simple rules, it was meant for quite a large amount of people to understand quickly so they would be able to play immediately and enjoy the game without being bogged down by large rule books full of complicated rules.

And once you consider that X-wing packs aren't randomized miniatures/pilot cards like some other minis games, it's actually quite a bit cheaper to play.

Because of the Star Wars license, I think a lot of people that don't normally play miniatures games are catching on to this and having a hard time with the price. For about the cost of 2 Core Sets, and an extra pair of ship expansions (1 for each side), you can get a 100pt game going pretty easily, which is the defacto points cost for a tournament game, per the official rules.

The game isn't really supposed to be about a macro level game of dozens of ships on each side swarming the the table. It's more about the tactical maneuvering and decisions on firing priority, what upgrades to take, etc.

From a miniature game perspective, the cost involved is staggeringly low. It gets even better if you have a friend that is getting into it too, as you can combine your models and have twice the pieces for your dollars.

As board games go, it's pretty pricey to keep having to buy pieces. As for a minis game, it's a ton of value. I think it depends on what you were expecting out of it, in that sense. I will concede though, that unlike, say, the LCG series, the Core Set is really bland for repeated gaming. It was great for learning how to play the game, but once we played it once, and knew what we were doing, it was time to add in the cool stuff, like the TIE Advanced, etc and get some more elaborate battling going on.

So from a self-contained box of fun point of view, it's terrible, absolutely. I hope you had fun with the game, and I recommend you expand out with a few more ships. I know it sounds like a cash sink, but if you look around online, there are retailers everywhere that sell X-Wing at a discount.

I live in Toronto, and there are a few brick and mortar stores I regularly get my games from, and I'm usually coming out with 20-30% off everything I get. If you were budgeting for online MSRP, you can certainly get more bang for your buck through stores like that. That's good advice, not just for collecting X-Wing, but games in general.

Final Thought; if you're just not feeling it with the game, nobody's going to change your mind, because it all comes down to personal taste. Feel free to hook a brotha up with your Core Set

tydir said:

tydir said:

It's Star Wars……..you realize there will be unlimited scenario's and missions posted by fans not that you should need them if your a fan you should have dozens of ideas.

It's a premium product like most of FFG's stuff your paying more for higher quality I can't see more then a 150.00 investment needed due to the games being mostly played at the 60-100 pt level. For a miniature game this is low cost overall

So buy it on Amazon when it's at $25.00.

It's true that the core set probably isn't enough for more than a few plays, but by purchasing two extra ships, the game really opens up. Again, Amazon. $50 for 5 ships and great components. Free shipping if you're lucky.

I don't really understand why you're comparing this to Wings of War while griping about the price. X-Wing simply has better components across the board and is a better value for the money FOR gamers who want to play with models instead of cards. I like Wings of War just fine. I'd like it better with cardboard movement templates, and without altitude rules which detract from the game(I know these are optional).

Another note about the whole thing: X-Wing is really a game for the die-hard, manic Star Wars fan. It's not like Starship Battles where you can quickly, easily and cheaply obtain scores of ships. Let.s face it, $40 for - bottom line - THREE ship pieces is pretty off-putting to the casual fan (out of sheer curiosity, I keep checking the six Starters at my local Target; not a one has budged).

All that said, yes there are cheaper routes than MSRP and virtually every fan on these boards has made use of 'em - before the game was even released! But no, it does seem that this isn't the particular game for you. If you haven't already, you could check out SSB; the game's defunct, but the stuff is easy enough to come by.

I can understand the OP's frustration a bit. You're waiting for a game you really want and find out that with only one core set, whatever the price may be, you seem to only get a sample of a game.

I finally bought 2 core sets and all 4 expansions because I love the game but I didn't bought them enthousiasly but rather by "necessity". Its sad that you need at least a couple expansion PLUS a bare minimum of 1 core set to be able to have field gameplay and some kind of fleet.

But OP, calm down a bit and try to find a core set cheap. I know it's not what you thought it would be but after a couple of plays, if you like the game and see how deep and complex it really can be, buy another core set or a few expansions.

You got 3 options:

1) Don't buy into this game at all for whatever your reason

2) Buy slowly. Buy 1 core set and if your wallet is heavy enough add maybe 1 Tie Advanced and 1 maybe 1 more X or Y-Wing

3) Buy 2 core sets and all 4 expansions and be ready for some epic 1.5-2 hours battles!

Get a job and get over it. I work at Toys "R" Us, I've worked there for over a year now, and trust me, there are suuuuuuuuuch bigger rip offs, but you need to realize who has to get paid when they sell a set.

Lucas Arts

Manufacturers

Distributors

Producers in some cases

The retail store has to make a profit

and much more but I just woke up.

Furthermore the plastic that is used in these ships is a very light weight, and high quality plastic, it's not cheap, it's actually rather expensive, they do it for us so that it doesn't break and we don't demand refunds. Hand painted? Do you know how complicated that can get per ship? The designers of the game also deserve money for their hard work you know.

I would love to see you try to make a game with as many pieces, with as popular a franchise as star wars, and then try to sell it for less, and still make profit.

The core set is loaded with fun! When you start customizing, it's great! And just because you've played a team once, doesn't mean it's boring to use that team again. Add to that the missions and there's even more fun included! I feel that 1 core has a lot of replay value. You shouldn't discount it just because there are only 3 ships.

The fact is, I have enough ships to make 100-point squads, but I still haven't done that because I'm working up to it by starting with smaller squads. Smaller squads let you play faster and go through more games to try out different tactics. If this is a game you were really looking forward to trying, I say buy a starter and give it a try! You'll be surprised at how fun one core set is!

You also have to take in to account the Star Wars "Tax". FFG made Wings of War and while I always heard it was a cool game no one played it. From what I've heard X-Wing is just a modified Wings of War and it's selling like crazy. It does seem a little over priced at first but when you take in to account the quality of the miniatures and the fact that FFG had to pay for the Star Wars lincense I think it's a good deal.

Sorry to hear that. It really seems a lot of people are getting surprised at the high costs of miniature gaming…

But I think that X-Wing is probably the best value for money you would get when compared to other famous miniature gaming games.

Budgernaut said:

You are in the top three of my very favorite FFG forums users, Budgernaut.

Another factor that I haven't seen mentioned in this thread yet is the quality of all the other components.

The cardboard markers are crazy thick. Thicker than any other 'cardboard' game components I've ever seen (personally). Then there are all the 'little things' that they bothered with. The plastic bases have little 'pips' on them (front and back) to help you center the movement templates. They also have an arrow molded into them. Why is this important? Because they bothered to make the connectors on the stands, pegs and ships 'one way', so that you can always be sure that the base, token and ship are always facing the same way.

Believe me, after what seemed like a lot of delays, I was ready to write the game off. Boy was I surprised when I got my order and saw the quality. Also, take note. As others have said, you have absolutely no reason to pay retail ($40 for a Core Set, $15 for each expansion ship). You can get the Core Sets online for $26 and each expansion for less than $10. And if you want more TIE Fighters or X-Wings, get more Core Sets. At the 33% discounted prices even, you get 3 ships and a ton of high-quality components for $26. Just buying the three ships included in the Core Set as expansions would cost $30 at the discounted prices - without the extra components (dice, movement templates, distance measures, status markers, cards, etc.). You will likely still want to buy one each of the expansion TIE Fighters and X-Wings, just for the new cards. C'mon, if you truly aren't just a troll, given all the factors cited in this thread, this game is actually a bargain, if you shop smart (Shop S-Mart!).

By my count you get 169 pieces in the starter set (including 12 plastic pieces that make up the 3 ships -- ship, base, pegs; 51 cards; 1 high quality rule book; and 103 cardboard tokens/dials/maneuver templates/range ruler). That's everything you need to play a few slightly different 31-32 point squads. Seems very reasonable to me for $26. And it's very inexpensive to add between 2 and 4 boosters which will give you lots of fun options to play.

Monopoly and Clue and Apples to Apples $20-25 on Amazon. Those games aren't nearly as fun for the price. The first two don't have expansions, but Apples to Apples does.

El_Tonio said:

But Monopoly leads to so much violence when the negotiating starts. Can you really put a price on that?!

qwertyuiop said:

Aww, thanks!

The only thing I find stingy in the core set is the 3 dice per color. You routinely need 4 for commonly used pilots/upgrades/range situations. 4 per color would have not been too difficult for them to include.

magadizer said:

I agree, but then there would be no, or less incentive to buy another core set / dice expansion pack / their completely useless phone app lol

Harleequin said:

Too true! I bought two core sets because I felt I needed the extra dice, but I haven't opened the second one because once I got it, I realized that's $25 I could have spent toward wave 2. I'm still undecided on whether to open the second core set or not but I'm not sure I could find anyone to sell it to.

Budgernaut said:

Open it I would say, you would spend 5 bucks on a dice pack anyway. So it's like spending 20 bucks on 2 TIE's, 1 X wing, and bonus pieces in case you lose any. Totally worth it.

Harleequin said:

Good point!

Currently I have 3 starter sets…I like having enough dice, tokens, ships, and range rules that I never really have to look for one.