by Al Butler
As a Child of the Seventies, I know I should be more enthusiastic as concerns the entire Star Wars franchise. The original films, which I did see in theaters, had a definite and lasting impact upon my generation. Yet, somehow, I was unable to immerse myself in that fantasy sci-fi world when it came to board games, pulp novels, and definitely not the “dolls” mass produced as “Action figures”. (Dolls are for little girls’ period!) The Franchise needs no further elaboration in that the Billions of dollars it has produced since 1977 should be evidence enough of its power and popularity. Until recently, outside of the movies themselves, anything with a Star Wars theme received an “Eh, so what?” from me and I moved on.
However, that was before our friend Mike introduced us to a neat little miniatures game called Star Wars: X-Wing.
The components of the minis are top notch, and the flight/movement templates (including hard banks, and reverse maneuvers) really make the game play easy. In this game you command various ships from the Star Wars films such as Tie-Fighters, X-wings, and even the Millennium Falcon, in a tactical combat situation. All of the minis are pre-painted out of the box (big plus for me) and have a great amount of detail on them. The various cards are easy to read and interpret, thus eliminating a need to constantly cross reference charts and lists in a rule book. The other components like the defense and hit die (eight sided) are also well made.
Game Play is simple and the rule set is light so you don’t have to have a bunch of thick rule books and con people into playing, they will often join in of their own free will. Using a point system each side is allotted so many points from which to build their fleet. As each ship needs a pilot, the player must purchase one from the different types available, and then deduct the cost from his/her total point allotment. Some pilots cost more than others but the more expensive ones tend to have special bonuses associated with them that enhance the ship in some way. You can also use points to purchase upgrades and equipment for your ship like an Ion Cannon or mines etc. Once a player has used all of his/her points their fleet, or even single ship, is built and they are ready to start.
Each player then picks one of their ships and using a small cardboard dial, which comes with each craft, secretly chooses what maneuver that ship, will perform. Next they “activate” their ships to move by following the initiative order and implement the maneuver they chose on the dial. This is done by taking the appropriate template, fixing it to the front of the ship’s base, then while holding the template down with one hand they pick up the ship and move it to the front of the template.
To fire at your opponent you must first check to see if a target is in range (another measuring template is provided for this). If you are able to shoot then the attacker rolls some red attack die and the defender some green defense die. The attacker simply tries to roll more hits than the defender evades. The order in which movement and attack are determined is simply done by using your individual pilot’s initiative number which is printed on the ship card. Low initiative numbers always move first and attack last while high initiative is the opposite, move last but shoot first.
This game is fast, easy, and very engaging to play, even for guys like me who don’t care for anything in the Star Wars genre. However there is a downside to this entire laser blasting fun, the cost. Base sets, which start you off with, templates, dials, dice, two tie-fighters and one x-wing range anywhere between $30 and $40 US and by all accounts you need two of these to facilitate group play. There are also countless expansion ships which all are purchased separately. Mike has been building his fleets of ships slowly and now has quite a nice little collection going.
Overall, having played twice, I feel that this little Miniatures game is worth the price tag, in that larger games with more players and ships are much more fun than the simple head to head play of a base set alone. This past weekend we set up a game with six players and until the very end everyone was around the table watching, calculating and discussing events as they unfolded. This included even those of us who were knocked out early due to a cowardly and treacherous act by one of their team mates. (Anthony)
So if you are looking for a space themed miniatures game that is easy, fun, colorful, and engaging I recommend parting with your hard earned shekels for Star Wars: X-wing.
Cheers
AL
As a Child of the Seventies, I know I should be more enthusiastic as concerns the entire Star Wars franchise. The original films, which I did see in theaters, had a definite and lasting impact upon my generation. Yet, somehow, I was unable to immerse myself in that fantasy sci-fi world when it came to board games, pulp novels, and definitely not the “dolls” mass produced as “Action figures”. (Dolls are for little girls’ period!) The Franchise needs no further elaboration in that the Billions of dollars it has produced since 1977 should be evidence enough of its power and popularity. Until recently, outside of the movies themselves, anything with a Star Wars theme received an “Eh, so what?” from me and I moved on.
However, that was before our friend Mike introduced us to a neat little miniatures game called Star Wars: X-Wing.
The components of the minis are top notch, and the flight/movement templates (including hard banks, and reverse maneuvers) really make the game play easy. In this game you command various ships from the Star Wars films such as Tie-Fighters, X-wings, and even the Millennium Falcon, in a tactical combat situation. All of the minis are pre-painted out of the box (big plus for me) and have a great amount of detail on them. The various cards are easy to read and interpret, thus eliminating a need to constantly cross reference charts and lists in a rule book. The other components like the defense and hit die (eight sided) are also well made.
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| This is not over Frodo! |
Each player then picks one of their ships and using a small cardboard dial, which comes with each craft, secretly chooses what maneuver that ship, will perform. Next they “activate” their ships to move by following the initiative order and implement the maneuver they chose on the dial. This is done by taking the appropriate template, fixing it to the front of the ship’s base, then while holding the template down with one hand they pick up the ship and move it to the front of the template.
To fire at your opponent you must first check to see if a target is in range (another measuring template is provided for this). If you are able to shoot then the attacker rolls some red attack die and the defender some green defense die. The attacker simply tries to roll more hits than the defender evades. The order in which movement and attack are determined is simply done by using your individual pilot’s initiative number which is printed on the ship card. Low initiative numbers always move first and attack last while high initiative is the opposite, move last but shoot first.
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| Take that Hippies! |
Overall, having played twice, I feel that this little Miniatures game is worth the price tag, in that larger games with more players and ships are much more fun than the simple head to head play of a base set alone. This past weekend we set up a game with six players and until the very end everyone was around the table watching, calculating and discussing events as they unfolded. This included even those of us who were knocked out early due to a cowardly and treacherous act by one of their team mates. (Anthony)
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| Brave Sir Robin in Slave-1 runs away. |
Cheers
AL
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