My initial thought was "no good" at first too, but I may give this some consideration. The boards look like the same type and quality as they used in Tide of Iron. They are very solid and I have never had any warping issues with my ToI boards. Where using these might start to become nice is if there are more boards released. You could easily mix-and-match between sets to create all sorts of interesting layouts. I do agree $40 seems a bit rich, but that means you should be able to pick it up for $30ish from an online retailer. Still not a great price for this but closer to where I will think about it.
Starfield Tile Kit on Main Page
I don't like this on so many levels. Cardboard (won't last), modular (hard to keep together), terrible price point.
I'd rather spend $40 on one of these vynal mats (when Miniature Market has them you can get them for even less): http://www.gf9.com/Default.aspx?tabid=348&art_id=3614
I have a nice piece of black felt that works great and it only coast me a few dollars.
At best, I might get them when they go on clearance for $10 or so. Or, if it's ever a prize at an event I will try to win one.
I agree with an earlier point, whoever came up with this lame idea should be fired (or at least issue a public apology).
Lets not get ridiculous and melodramatic here, people. Is this a worse idea than coming out with a mat and then with larger punchout terrain that everyone can use instead of tiles that knock existing customers with mats out of the potential pool? Absolutely, but it's not some game disaster. Is the set on the expensive side? Sure… but the old D&D tiles from WOTC were a great deal and came 4 or 5 in a pack for $15 before they discontinued them as individual packs and that was several years ago. These tiles are bigger and you get 12 for $40 which isn't much of an individual price increase considering its been a few years and there are licensing costs involved in this that weren't involved in the D&D ones. Again, I'm not saying that I actually like this idea compared to the alternatives nor will I be getting it but it's not the unmitigated disaster that chicken littles are chirping about.
I've been trying to find a good-looking star-filled playmat for this great game, but man, these aren't it. As someone else said, where are the stars? And why tie us to the death star or alderan? Not a promising product!
There are actually stars on each tile but they're admittedly very hard to make out. I didn't see them when I first saw the announcement and only noticed them when I clicked to enlarge the pics. I prefer my much more visible mat made from a hubble telescope picture.
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Good to see that the Miserable Gamer is alive and well and playing XWing…
They couldn't do a vivid technicolor starscape on tiles because then they wouldnt be as interchangeable. You'd have breaks in mid starfield.
Nice vinyl mats exist right now, I don't see how they could have improved on the GF 9 mat, so I'm glad they went a different route.
What I was hoping for was something like a fancy neoprene pad, like a jumbo mousepad. It would stick to a table, be fairly forgiving to table bumps and be easy to transport. Is there already something like that available? I have been waiting to see what FFG was going to do, but am now thinking I should find my own solution. I could try cloth of some sort, but it seems like it would wrinkle and slide around too much. Hmmm… could you glue a GF9 map to a yoga mat?
Based on what I'm seeing, I'll definitely be sticking with my Hubble image on vinyl mat.
It's not bad, but I'd like to take a look at the tiles in RL before buying them.
Although @FFG: I'd would be great to get "booster" Packs, so I could buy some more tiles to have an empty space or a bigger playfield wiothout buying the Deathstar tiles again.
I think I'll pass on these. Playing the game on a table is bad enough because of the slippery surface, and this does not help that one bit; not to mention, I can already see the tiles constantly coming apart during play. And honestly, they don't even look that good.
I do not agree that this product is bad… it is great, but it just have a different good and bad sides than a mat. I own 2 airbrushed felt mats from Hotz Art Works and though they look great, they are tough, ships do not slide, etc they are in one piece, each 3'x3'. I keep them and carry them in a tube (about 3'3"/1m long) I bought from a craft/art store. Now, this Starboard tiles you can pack to a box the size of a Core set and put it in a rucksack with the rest of your X-Wing stuff. The major issue here, I think, is with the release date….it is like a year and a half too late. In my opinion this Starboard Game Tile Kit should be availble with the 1st wave. Now, when 90% of players already have a mat this won't be such a bestseller as it could be. Half of us, mats owners, would rather buy the tiles in one go with the core and expansions and save the bother of searching the net for a suitable mat. Hotz Art Works, GF9 and a lot of other companies saw the gap the FFG left them and did their business well. FFG overslept it and now it's quite late for this type of product, unless there will be something extra that will appeal to the old players as new guys might still consider this set as a viable option to the mats. And, FFG guys, making this kit the only surface that is tournament legal is not very bright idea. It would be good for FFG to make another set or sets like this but with different schemes, for example on one side surface of Tatooine on the other of Corellia. Why do we always have to fly in space? There were battles in the atmosphere, yes? BTW you can protect the surface with clear gloss spray and then use some matte spray to make it less shiny (gloss is more durable than matte so it protects better).
As for the cost, it is suprisingly close to other board tiles I have seen. CMON charges $25 for nine tiles for Zombicide. Extrapolate that to 12 and you end up at ~$34. Add in the Star Wars fees…
As for sliding around, just use a couple of strips of non-slip shelf liner to keep them in place. Something like this:
You can find it cheaper and it also works for other tile games like Settlers of Catan.
Certainly not where I expected them to go next, there is a market for acrylic templates, rulers and tokens. Also, they really need to have a way to replace turn dials. I have seen some that were very worn.
DarthBart said:
The major issue here, I think, is with the release date….it is like a year and a half too late. In my opinion this Starboard Game Tile Kit should be availble with the 1st wave. Now, when 90% of players already have a mat this won't be such a bestseller as it could be. Half of us, mats owners, would rather buy the tiles in one go with the core and expansions and save the bother of searching the net for a suitable mat. Hotz Art Works, GF9 and a lot of other companies saw the gap the FFG left them and did their business well.
IIRC the game only came out last summer at gencon so it's been less than a year since it was prereleased at a convention (and definitely not a year and a half late). I think that this product unfortunately isn't specifically aimed at the superfan you generally find posting on forums like this who likely already owned a mat prior to the game's release and/or picked up a star wars themed one after. I think the target is more mass market like the kids you'd find waiting for their parents at Target or adults who grew up with star wars who might see it at Barnes and Noble and pick it up out of nostalgia. I doubt its a mistake that the box looks stackable (both for gamers and stores) with the core set. Those types of more casual gamers don't have ready made gaming setups and would find this set particularly useful since they likely wouldn't know about any of the alternatives mentioned in the thread (like mats or even felt material). They're not the ones who know what minis are coming and their status on the FFG website (whether on the boat, at the factory, etc)… They're not the ones who know that you can buy laser cut foam to store the minis in rather than just keeping the plastic bins (if they even do that). Casual gamers would find a table setup (with extra tiles above the "standard" 3x3 size they're likely to play) that is easily storable with no effort required to make (unlike 40k tables/terrain you need to assemble and paint) a very useful product.
You'd be surprised how many internet savy gamers simply don't follow tabletop games online. At the local store in the area I moved into (not the one I currently play at though), they were playing 40k on white fold up tables and were amazed when I took a group collection up to buy some green felt to delineate the tables as no one had thought of that prior. I agree that the majority of gamers who
post
on these forums likely own or play on mats of some kind but that isn't true of the majority of gamers out there. Out of the 6 people I've played xwing with, only 1 person was registered on the forums and he hasn't logged in since early fall of last year. None of the people except me own a mat to play on despite owning over $100 each of xwing minis. 5 of the 6 local players are possible customers for this product… unfortunately, as the most die hard of them, I'm the odd man out. We're an important and vocal minority that shouldn't be ignored (as we unduely influence other gamers) but we're a minority nonetheless. The other important point is that despite the whining in this thread, it's likely that some of the people unhappy with it will buy it ANYWAYS. FFG knows that die hard fans are fickle but loyal and they're likely counting on it.
I'm not happy with this product as it voluntarily excludes me as a customer and will NOT be buying it as I have no need for it at all. If they come out with a punch out set of terrain pieces, I'll gladly (ok.. well… maybe not "gladly" at $40 but gladly at $30) buy it as it works with what I've already got. In the meantime, I'll express my displeasure without the rhetoric and exaggeration that would make a North Korean PR agency blush.
(not directed at Darth Bart specifically)
p.s. Is anyone else finding their return button not working at all on this stupid forum software? I keep having to copy/paste text from other forums to break up paragraphs as the return button on the keyboard doesn't seem to work here. It works elsewhere both on/off the internet so it's not a hardware problem on my end but specific to this site.
Count me in the I Like It and I WIll Buy It Group.
Those tiles aren't gonna slip. They look like Tide of Iron type boards which are more likely to break your foot if you drop them than move on a tabletop.
I like the graphics on the boards. They're not too garish. The mat the other guy has from the Hubble telescope image is just a tad too much for X-Wing, but would be fine for Relic or some chaos rift.
12x12 tiles are a great solution. I can store them easily and make the regulation 3x3 play area quickly and they are FLAT. I've seen the Death Star mat and a few of the other ones and I don't like how they curl on the edges.
The price is not so outrageous. EVERYTHING is expensive now. Past Me would not believe that Current Me spends as much as I do on boardgames, RPGs and miniatures.
Maybe I overdid it with year and a half but then my point was they had a chance to make more monies and wasted it
. It's not that I am trying to glorify this kit as a must have, but I wonder why you people whine so loud even before it came out? I have seen quite a lot of 40K minis I considered badly designed or just awful when I saw photos but then I changed my mind when I have seen them fully painted and in my hands. Seriously, the photo in the promo article is so small you cant posibly see the details of this tiles (but I belive in FFG stuff quality), so before you whine wait till it gets on shelves. And still I do not "glorify" those tiles as is but the idea of an expansion packs that are not ships. Maybe in the hopefully near future we will see more. And Sanguinary Priest is right, not all the die hards have a mat/mats, and there is a chance that casual players will take this kit from some local newspaper/books/music vendor in the mall alongside core and ships. The price is quite high tough…
We all have to buy it for tournament. I'll bet they handle it this way.
I like them. Sure, I already own some cheap 3x3 pieces of felt, but these look pretty cool. I dislike the Hubble playmats; the designs are too busy and they distract from the miniatures in play. I prefer a clean appearance.
I can throw down a piece of the aforementioned rubberized shelf liner and everything will stay nice and tightly in place. I do a lot of cooking so having pieces like these under my cutting boards is very important for safety when chopping things. I've got ten pieces of evidence that they work!
Insert derisive rant about people with overdeveloped senses of entitlement who need to grow up and not whinge and moan about every little thing, *especially* that the company is printing up something that serves the same purpose of something you acquired on your own. Good lord, how do you think they can guage what the probable demand would be??
If these things are cardstock on foamboard, you could use the ships to play shuffleboard on it. Bleagh.
Really disappointing.
I'll buy miniatures used in dogfights.
I'll buy cardboard bits that add to the game experience (eg. components for missions and such).
This?
No thank you…!
Rince said:
I'll buy cardboard bits that add to the game experience (eg. components for missions and such).
Asteroid field rules?
OK, we haven't seen these things yet, so I'm not going to gripe too much yet. Maybe they did include some way to keep them from coming apart during gameplay and we just haven't seen it because we don't have the product in hand. With as much attention as FFG has put into the development of this game, it seems odd that they would just put some pictures on cardboard and charge $40 and think they'll fly off the shelves like the minis have. So I'm going to give them a little leeway until they come out.
I don't know if I'll buy them right away. I may try and win some if they're available, or maybe they'll come with World Championships early registration, or find someone who has bought some and is selling their collection or something. Online retailers are bound to have them for cheaper. So, I may end up getting some, but I doubt I'll pay $40 for them.
And another thought, this may just be wave 1 of these things. I'm thinking/hoping a wave 2 will include Yavin/Endor, maybe a Death Star surface, and they will be able to be added to this set to make bigger fields or something.
So, I'm going to keep an open mind about them until I see them, although they will have to be exceptionally good for me to shell out $40 for them. First looks say that they aren't exceptional, though.
My personal opinion is that they will NOT be legal for tournament play because of how easy it will be to estimate range/maneuvers based on the edges of the tiles.
You're too kind, hothie!
These look like Dust Tactics tiles to me. There doesn't appear to be a way to interlock them, and the surface seems like it will be the same texture as the dials and movement templates, which.. ehhh.. If there is a way to lock them together, I will probably buy them. Otherwise, the price is too high for the product.
Personally, I think people should take it down a notch. I mean it's not the first time we see non-interconnectable tiles..
Lets look at Last night on earth for example…it uses cardboard tiles that do not have puzzle edges, and I never had an issue with them sliding around. and there is way more action and small pieces going on on there. also it seems as if these x-wing tiles are way thicker than these.
These are way more portable, modular, there is potential for expansion, they could create scenarios specifically for them etc.
id rather that than always looking at the same old non-starwars looking generic background.
Also for those complaining about the stars, have you ever seen the original starwars???
the design is exactly the same as in the movies… I don't think there is one pink/orange nebula in any of the first three movies.
personnaly, I think it's buyers remorse of people trying to justify their 40-50 $ third party playing field that we are seeing here.
They look pretty good to me. But go ahead and DEMAND AN APOLOGY like some kind of nutcase.
I always wonder if the people who praise those Hubble images and now are deriding these subtle star fields have ever actually seen the OT. There are no garish, gaudy nebulas. It's simple, basic points of light that get no embellishment unless the Falcon is jumping.