Do the X-Wing & TIE Fighter expansions come with upgrades that are not available in the core set? I'm asking because those expansions are difficult to find at a reasonable cost.and it seems like buying the core set would make more sense. But my assumption is that the expansions come with items the core set does not, however.

Thanks.

I believe they do. I forget card wise but I know for sure they come with pilots not included in the core set.

In one word. yes. Yes, the expansions do come with additional pilot and upgrade cards the Core Set does not have.
Heck, all the Initial Wave expansions have upgrade cards that the Core Set does not have.

Ok, thanks. I assumed as much.

My suggestion, is get a second core set, you will need the dice anyway.. The pilots and upgrades are online, so you can get away with proxying them until the Wave 1 comes back in stock in a month or two. It seems a bit silly to spend a fortune on ebay for models that will be back in the shop soon.

The expansions really alter and enhance your game experience. Just one example is Wedge Antilles, one of the pilots from the X-Wing ship expansion. He quickly becomes the backbone of your Rebel squad and Luke will spend the rest of the game in your box. His stats are better and his ability gives him big attack bonuses. Pair him with Biggs and one or two cheap pilots and you have a much more tightly focused group than Luke and Biggs.

The TIE fighter pack also has a very OP pilot, "Backstabber." He gets a huge attack bonus when he attacks from outside the target enemy's firing arc, encouraging you to use the 180 maneuver frequently.

Those are just a couple examples. Oh, and Darth Vader in the TIE Advanced.

The expansions really alter and enhance your game experience. Just one example is Wedge Antilles, one of the pilots from the X-Wing ship expansion. He quickly becomes the backbone of your Rebel squad and Luke will spend the rest of the game in your box. His stats are better and his ability gives him big attack bonuses. Pair him with Biggs and one or two cheap pilots and you have a much more tightly focused group than Luke and Biggs.

The TIE fighter pack also has a very OP pilot, "Backstabber." He gets a huge attack bonus when he attacks from outside the target enemy's firing arc, encouraging you to use the 180 maneuver frequently.

Those are just a couple examples. Oh, and Darth Vader in the TIE Advanced.

I definitely agree 'Howlrunner' is a staple of Tie Swarm lists. It's definitely worth getting hold of them, I don't regret at all getting one of each. I was just saying don't get fleased and pay over the odds for them, when a re-print should be on it's way in a month or so.

I have to suggest taking Gelion with a grain of salt. He's oversimplifying a bit. Absolutely the expansions come with stuff worth having. There are usually places online you can find them without having to pay through the nose on eBay.

Wedge is awesome, but Luke is excellent too. Wedge's "stats" are not better - all X-Wings have identical stats.

He's claiming that a hammer is objectively 'better' than a wrench. That depends entirely on the job at hand. Keep in mind - Wedge is constantly going to be be the target of choice for your opponent, because he's so dangerous. He might as well come in a two-pack with Biggs because its the only way Wedge stays alive a couple extra turns. And you're now at 54 of your 100 points, with no upgrades.

Luke is a tougher kill because of his ability. As a result, you can often give him a focus and use it offensively, or give him a target lock and let his innate 'focus-lite' help protect him. If you don't have Biggs in play you need to give him a focus for defense, and rely on his innate ability to boost his offense. They're both useful, and I would never talk anyone off the expansion - I have two core sets and I think two expansion X-wings.

But just to be clear - Luke and Wedge are very different tools, and Biggs is almost an auto-include with Wedge, and all three have identical stat lines. They're apples and oranges.

u want to start with one wave1 expansion for each ship... tie-fighter, x-wing (as a minimum) then add a y-wing and a tie-advanced (optional). this will give u a good selection of new pilots to go with ur core set as well as some nice options to mix things up. no need to rush out and get multiples of each ship until u know exactly what u want to play. For example if u r a an imperial player u will want 4-7 tie-fighters to go with the best swarm squads (the winner at gencon played 7 ties) but u can build very competitive imperial squads with fewer ships.

wave2 ships allow u to go with even smaller squads... say 3 ships. falcon and slave1are nice additions and a must include if u want to open up more squad options. get hold of a tie-intercepter if u r an imperial player, they are very good and add another threat to ur imperial guys but remember that they r alot more expensive than regular ties so its difficult to play many in the same squad, especially if u want to use the name pilots Turr Phennir or Soontir Fel. A-Wings are interesting, imo the best thing about them is they come with the Push The Limit upgrade. i own two but rarely fly them, just my perference/style... quite a fragile ship that takes alot of practice and subtle tactics to play well (most players i find dont have the patience to invest in getting good with them and would rather play the obvious power of x-wings and/or a flacon over the A-Wing.

Here's a really good link that shows what comes with the core vs. the expansion packs (at least at a high level):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_X-Wing_Miniatures_Game

Get 2 cores because it's cheaper to get more ships (and dice) that way, giving you 2 X Wings and 4 TIES. You're probably gonna want at least 3 X-Wings anyway, so then buy 1 X-Wing and another TIE (which will give you all of the pilots/upgrades). Now you will have 3 X-Wings and 5 TIES.

If you're planning on running a TIE swarm of 7 or 8, then a third core set is probably your best bet since that would give you 4 X-Wings (can only run 4 in 100 point games anyway) and 7 TIES which should be cheaper than buying them separately.

However, you may want to hold off on that if you are planning on getting the Rebel Transport capital ship that will come with a new X-Wing as well as new pilots/upgrades.

Thanks for all the advice. Good to know.

I have to suggest taking Gelion with a grain of salt. He's oversimplifying a bit. Absolutely the expansions come with stuff worth having. There are usually places online you can find them without having to pay through the nose on eBay.

Wedge is awesome, but Luke is excellent too. Wedge's "stats" are not better - all X-Wings have identical stats.

He's claiming that a hammer is objectively 'better' than a wrench. That depends entirely on the job at hand. Keep in mind - Wedge is constantly going to be be the target of choice for your opponent, because he's so dangerous. He might as well come in a two-pack with Biggs because its the only way Wedge stays alive a couple extra turns. And you're now at 54 of your 100 points, with no upgrades.

Luke is a tougher kill because of his ability. As a result, you can often give him a focus and use it offensively, or give him a target lock and let his innate 'focus-lite' help protect him. If you don't have Biggs in play you need to give him a focus for defense, and rely on his innate ability to boost his offense. They're both useful, and I would never talk anyone off the expansion - I have two core sets and I think two expansion X-wings.

But just to be clear - Luke and Wedge are very different tools, and Biggs is almost an auto-include with Wedge, and all three have identical stat lines. They're apples and oranges.

Most of the points Crooked makes are accurate - each pilot fills a roll. His conclusion, however, is incorrect. Offense wins over defense in the current meta. Wedge is subjectively better than Luke (taking away an opponents defensive die is better than getting a limited defensive focus). Luke is also very good, but your opponent will just leave him for last. Wedge is a problem you cant afford to leave on the table. Getting the first kill or two is paramount in 100 point games.

The point is, the X-Wing and Tie fighter boosters are well worth getting, but you only need one of each and you shouldn't have to spend more than $15 for them.

Wasn't there word of some wave 1 reprints coming on the wave 3 boat at the end of this month? I could be mistaken, but I thought I read it somewhere.

Your opponent making Wedge the highest possible priority target and often killing him before he has time to make the most of his ability, particularly if you don't saddle him to a three ship build with Biggs, is part of WHY I'm not sure he's 'objectively better' than Luke. He comes with a lot more baggage and a big target on his back.

Your opponent making Wedge the highest possible priority target and often killing him before he has time to make the most of his ability, particularly if you don't saddle him to a three ship build with Biggs, is part of WHY I'm not sure he's 'objectively better' than Luke. He comes with a lot more baggage and a big target on his back.

Would you rather field Luke with R2 or Wedge with R2?

Biggs is nice, but he's not absolutely required.

R2-D2, R2-F2, or the R2 Astromech?

Wedge, Biggs, and two prototype A-wings?

R2-D2, R2-F2, or the R2 Astromech?

F2 or D2.

I can only think of a handful of quality tournament lists that exclude Wedge. Luke isn't in any that I know of. I think this is because of the reasons I mentioned above. Luke doesn't put pressure on your opponent, he actually might be worse than taking a rookie pilot when you consider the points.

It could be fun to build a Falcon list with Luke because your opponent wont have any good targets to deal with. Maybe a stealth device A-Wing with PTL to fill it out. Again, I doubt you can make Luke competitively as valuable as Wedge in this meta.

There's also an element of just playing around with the different pilots to see what you like. In order to do that, you will need to grab the expansions. I play the game casually, so list builds really aren't much use to me. The advice to get two starters is spot on. I honestly think you should do this first, before expansions; unless you have extra money to burn.

I would also recommend not going to e-bay to purchase ships, unless it is absolutely necessary. The scarcity of some of the previous waves has created an interesting grey market with some ridiculous prices ($35 Tie Interceptors come to mind). Ultimately, do what you think is right for you. You've got a good community here as a resource as well. They won't steer you too wrong.

As long as you know your prices Ebay is as good a place as any to buy stuff. The only problem there may be that if someone puts something up at a realistic price (say less that $20 with S&H for an expansion and preferably $15 or under) someone who is getting that $35 for them may just snap them up to keep the apparent price high.