On Saturday, October 6, a bunch of us got together at the Game Parlor, a gaming store in Chantilly, Virginia, for a couple of rounds of X-Wing. Soon after I got there we jumped into a "Political Escort" mission, where Roy, the creator of the "A Few Maneuvers" forum, and another new initiate to X-Wing led the Imperials, and Roy's friend Jarrod and I took the helm for the Rebels, to escort the shuttle.

The forces arrayed for this mission were as follows:

Rebels

• X-Wing #1: Piloted by Wedge Antilles + Proton Torpedo + R2-D2 astromech
• X-Wing #2: Piloted by a Red Squadron pilot + Proton Torpedo
• Y-Wing: Piloted by “Dutch” Vander + Ion Cannon + Proton Torpedo + R5-K6 Astromech

Imperials

• Tie Advanced: Piloted by Darth Vader + Cluster Missiles + Squad Leader Elite Talent
• Tie Fighter #1: Piloted by an Obsidian Squadron Pilot
• Tie Fighter #2: Piloted by an Obsidian Squadron Pilot
• Tie Fighter #3: Piloted by an Obsidian Squadron Pilot
• Tie Fighter #4: Piloted by an Obsidian Squadron Pilot
• Tie Fighter #5: Piloted by an Obsidian Squadron Pilot

We used a Hasbro Titanium series Imperial Shuttle for the shuttle, instead of the card board token which came with the box. The Titanium series shuttle is close in scale to the X-Wing game.

The game was a lot of fun, with a number of exciting and close moments. The best moments included:

• The Rebels concentrating fire to destroy one of the Tie Fighters in turn one, which then reappeared on the Imperial edge on turn two (**** reinforcements rule!!!)
• An Obsidian Squadron Tie Fighter pilot killing Wedge Antilles on turn two
• The Rebel shuttle pilot out maneuvering Darth Vader's Cluster Missiles
• And the coup de gras, the knuckle biting ending in turn six where the shuttle touches the very edge of the Imperial edge, but then gets vaporized by Darth Vader and three Tie Fighters

You can find a more thorough write up of the game, with multiple photos, over at the Team Banzai - Wargaming site.