X-Wing Miniatures Game

Hey everyone, what's up? 

Pete here, coming back after a hiatus and here on the blog to look at the cracking X-Wing miniatures game, from Fantasy Flight Games. 

But, before I go much further with that, can I just say.... 114,300+ page views on GGUKBlogspot? That's amazing!

OK, X-Wing... By now, you've probably heard a little, if not a lot, about this great game from FFG. If you picked up Wings of War, you'll see a lot of similarities in the approach, but X-Wing goes a step further. Whilst the basic concept of planning and executing moves and shooting down opponents turn-on-turn remains, X-Wing adds in force building and the ability to customize your starfighters to better fit your style of playing. This certainly ticked the boxes for me as a player and I've played a lot of games, expanding my collection of playing pieces well over the contents of the base boxed set.

The boxed game is the best place to start out. You get two TIE Fighters and one X-Wing to get you out of the blocks, along with all the movement dials and templates, pilot and upgrade cards, dice and tokens that you'll need to play. You can either plump for a straight-out dogfight, or setup one of the three missions outlined in the rulebook, which are a lot of fun and add a further level of consideration to your games.

The basic principal, is that both/all players plan their move for each of their ships for the following turn, by selecting the appropriate direction and speed on the ship's corresponding movement dial, which is placed face-down on the tabletop next to the ship.  Once all moves are planned, the ships are moved in order of pilot skill, lowest to highest (indicated on the pilot reference card) using the movement templates provided in the box. 

Depending on the movement made and any tokens in play, ships can normally then take an 'action'. This can be anything from a barrel roll into or out of a firing arc, an extra boosted move, acquiring a target lock on an enemy ship and so on. Each pilot has a different array of actions to select from, including some specialist skills that may buff their own attacks or those of an ally.

Fighters then get to resolve attacks, again in order of pilot skill, but this time from highest to lowest. Attacks are resolved using red attack dice and green defence dice, and any damage suffered is allocated from a deck of damage cards. 

In realtime, this sequence would occur in a matter of seconds and reflects the higher-skilled pilots being able to react quicker to unfolding situations as they occur. After all movement, actions and attacks are resolved, the next turn starts over with the next movement planning phase. The game ends either when the victory condition set out in the mission has been achieved, or one side has been completely wiped off of the table.

 

This is probably a good point for me to stop rambling and recommend you check out the X-Wing edition of Wil Wheaton's (of Star Trek fame) Tabletop series from YouTube. It's a bit chaotic, but gives a good flavor of the game.

 So, what's next? If you haven't already done so, go grab yourself some models! Head along to Kids Dreams in Shoreham and Gary can hook you up! Book yourself a game at an upcoming 'Skirmish Tuesday', held at Kids Dreams every Tuesdcay evening, or come along to Gambit Sunday where you're sure to get a game in. Gambit Sundays are held in the Scout Hut, Vale Park, Portslade on the last Sunday of each month. More details can be found elsewhere on this site or on the Gambit Games UK Facebook page. 

Also, coming up at the end of October is the Gambit Games UK X-Wing Tournament. Places are now VERY LIMITED, so get in touch to book your slot now. It's shaping up to be a good day's gaming, where we'll be re-living, re-writing and re-defining the classic Star Wars Trilogy, to find out who are the best rebel and imperial pilots. Let us know the faction of your choice, but you gotta be quick!! (Did I mention places are limited??)

Coming up on this page, I'll be looking in closer detail at the ships on offer from wave one and two, their pilots and what they bring to the table, as well as mulling over some tactics. If you can't wait until then, check out the other X-Wing articles on GGUKBlogspot here, or over at Hobby Before I Die, the home of mad scientist and ace pilot, Dan.

Until next time folks,

Pete of Team Gambit