It’s been a little while since our local group started hammering the X-Wing Miniatures game heavily and, during that time, many battles have been fought and lost… and several of us have struggled to buy the ships we want to field as the game appears to have gone crazy across the world, doing huge business, and keeping the more popular ships sold out on a regular basis, whether at our FLGS, or further afield in Australia or, indeed, the world.

My thoughts, at this time, largely hinge on the core game that comes with the starter pack (as that’s been my main purchase so far), in which two TIEs take on one X-Wing. This is a GREAT way to learn the game but, on repeated playings, ultimately becomes unsatisfying. You see, without shields, the TIEs can go down pretty easily — even during the space of one turn if the attacker rolls well — and once it becomes 1:1 between an X-Wing and a TIE, it’s a Rebel victory 99.9% of the time. That is, after all, why it’s 2:1 in the first place!

Playing Imperial all the time, this has been one of the bug bears of the 2:1 starter game, for me. Sure, it’s possible for the two TIEs to shoot down the X-Wing — and I’ve done it — but it’s pretty rare in my experience and conversations with others. Generally a 2:1 game will see one of the TIEs getting taken out; often before the X-Wing has even lost all of its shields, let alone started to take damage. When this happens, it’s goodnight Imperials (and especially if the X-Wing is playing R2-D2 and actively repairing their shields as they go!)

I’m looking forward to bigger games; starting with a 4:2 ratio of TIEs and X-Wings. Yes, there’s twice as many X-Wings to down, but if only one or two TIEs are being targeted on any given turn (whilst hopefully most are firing on the X-Wings), they are going to stay in the game longer and, even if one or two do go down after a few turns, hopefully by the time they do, there has been enough damage done to the X-Wings that the game still feels like anyone can win it — unlike the 2:1 game where, as I keep saying, when one of the TIEs goes down, it’s basically game over… unless they have hammered the X-Wing enough already to give the remaining TIE a chance at a lucky win. But again, that’s rare.

How are you folks finding X-Wing Miniatures? And when did the 2:1 game stop being a learning experience and just become painful for you, like it has for me?

PS: The above is a lift from my blog. I know you guys already know most of what I'm saying. I'm most curious about the question I post in the subject line (and at the end of the piece).

I don't have a lot of experience with the game, but I have tried an experiment using a low skill 2X 2Y squad against a higher skill 1TA 1Howlrunner 4 Obsidian TIE squad. The rebels lost again and again. When I halved the squads down to 1X 1Y against a 1TA 2 Obisidian TIE squad, the rebels won much more easily.

What seems to ring true is skilled flying (denying your opponents a shot while you are able to shoot) wins the game. Frankly I don't know how easy that is in a 2:1 game, but in experiment above I've been trying, it would give the rebels a chance to beat the swarm.

In my early games, I found the opposite and that the numbers worked for the Imperial player. Even after adding a TIE Interceptor and an A-Wing it seemed the Imperial side still had the advantage, but the last couple of games have had rebel wins (one with my friend playing rebels, then with me playing them). All seems to really come down to luck and strategy more than anything. My last game I got lucky and took out one TIE Fighter with a proton torpedo, then used a Concussion missile to almost take out the Interceptor, a couple of rounds later it was all over with losing all shields and one damage taken on each the X-Wing and A-Wing.

Barrel Roll. Seriously, learn it and love it.

Most Imperials lose because they close head on with the Rebel player, and TIE just aren't tough enough for that. Prodigious use of Barrel Roll is a must, since it helps you get behind and stay behind the Rebel player. You can run 5, and you can barrel roll, and you can Koorigan at 3 or 4, and you can do a 1 turn. All of these are things the X-Wings cannot do, and if you abuse them you can do well. More to the point, by using your tight turns one time and your top speed another, followed with barrel rolls to change position, you can force the rebel to fire at one ship one turn and the other ship the next turn, and generally keep him from getting a good range 1 shot in at you. Never, ever trade range 1 shots with an X-Wing if you can possibly avoid it. Mathmatically, you have much greater advantage at range 3 (remember to evade). At range 1 get out of his arc.

Having said that, I found that I quickly got tired of the 2-1 game. But then, I only played it twice before buying in pretty big, so take that for what its worth. With only 3 ships on the table, the tactical options are just too limited to stay interesting for very long.

I played the 2:1 game 5 times, because I taught the game to 5 different people. Since then I have started one 70 pt game, and one 100 pt game, both of which had to be cut short. I've played through to completion three 100 pt games. Despite the limited playing, I have bought in big. I currently own:

• 2 Core sets
• 2 X-Wing expansions
• 2 TIE Fighter expansions
• 1 Y-Wing expansion
• 1 TIE Advanced expansion
• 3 A-Wing expansions
• 3 TIE Interceptor expansions
• 1 YT-1300 expansion
• 1 Firespray 31 expansion

So this puts my options at:

• 4 X-Wings
• 1 Y-Wing
• 3 A-Wings
• 1 YT-1300
• 6 TIE Fighters
• 1 TIE Advanced
• 3 TIE Interceptors
• 1 Firespray 31

As you can imagine, I have yet to really give everything I got a whirl. With upgrades, I have enough to make 300 pt squads for both factions. I've been ready to jump in for awhile, and have had a blast playing the full game. I just wish I could do it more often. I think I am going to limit myself from playing the large ships for few games so I can make the most of my opportunities and play other things. I've had a chance to run the Firespray and the YT-1300 once each.

So I got tired of the 2:1 game pretty quick. It helped that my original buy in was one of each Wave 1 expansion and a core set, however while I was waiting for my stuff to come in the mail I bought another core set at a brick and mortar store and that was when I got most of the 2:1 games in.

KineticOperator said:

I think you've nailed it: Barrel Roll and maneuver to spread the damage across your fighters. This is especially helpful when it's any number of TIE fighters vs. X-wings. With Rebel ships that have no Barrel Roll or Boost, it's easy to predict where they'll be and roll into position even if they move after your Academy Pilots.

Once you get other ships, especially the wave 2 ships, things get trickier. Once you're up against more maneuverable Rebels (A-wings, Expert Handling, Engine Upgrade) or turreted ships (YT-1300, Ion Cannon Turret), the Barrel Roll advantage is almost completely nullified. You're better off taking the Evade action.