Just for fun, I re-arranged a table I use for Bare Bones ship selection, placing the ships not in factions, but by type and in rough order of power. I was stuck (again) by the inherent balance of the basic ships.
This is the first of a series of quick Head to Head comparisons of these ships, highlighting some things that are obvious and some things that, in this form of the game, and accounting for my relative inexperience, have since come to light. I think this helps to understand the solid building blocks that X Wing 1e was created with.
The X Wing (T 65) vs the Tie Advanced.
The original X Wing is the name-sake ship of the game and often one of the first two or three (> Falcon and Tie) thought of when you say Star Wars to anyone. The crying shame of it was the ships relevance led to it’s early demise as a competitive ship in X Wing 1e. About wave 4 or 14 the basic chassis was showing signs of over simplicity, when compared to newly introduced faster and stronger ships.
The Advanced suffered a worse fate. On top of being “that other ship, you know the one at the end of the movie that spun out of control”, it has only one really great pilot (Vader), lots of filler pilots (the rest) and an odd role in the faction. It was not the little dime a dozen Tie, but more like something the Rebels would fly (which is of course why it exists, to give Vader a decent ride, just not a better than one than the heroes of the story).
In Bare Bones format, lets see how both ships hold up.
Points;
XW 21 to 29 (39 max) vs 21 to 29 (34 max) Adv
All even here, so a level field of comparison. Both factions can field a strong 3 or 4 ship squad.
Base Stats;
XW 3 2 3 2 vs 2 3 3 2 Adv
Same total, but the factional differences can be summed up in this one line. The Rebels hit harder, the Empire are harder to hit.
Actions;
XW Focus, Lock vs Focus, Lock, Barrel Roll and Evade Adv
The Advanced has a clear advantage here with a repositioning and defensive boost. With Vader at the helm, any two can be applied (simulating his Force power). The Rebels tend to be a bit predictable with only two to pick from, but it fits with the “keep your eyes open” or “stay focussed on the attack” feel. Many Pilots and Droids do supplement this.
Upgrades (BB style);
XW Torpedoes, Droid vs Missiles Adv
The Droid upgrade effectively adds a pilot talent and this synergy defines the X Wing, making it versatile and helps apply the main Rebel edge, team work. The Rebel Torpedo vs Imperial Missile dynamic is a common thread. Missiles give the Imperials more variety, while Torps are just good honest damage dealers. Do Droids make up for extra actions? I feel the balance is still intact.
Moves;
XW 8 White, 6 Green vs 10 White, 4 Green Adv
XW Speed 4, 4/K-Turn vs Speed 5, 4/K-Turn Adv
A speed advantage for the Advanced, but a slight edge in stress recovery for the X Wing. This again suits the factions. The Rebels are more daring jousters, the Empire fasts strikers, using actions to manoeuvre.
Pilots (including Huge ship expansion options);
XW 10 vs 8 Adv
This one is interesting. The Rebels have several pilots with offensive bonuses, relying on Droids or talents for a defensive or re-positioning benefit or even more offence, while The Empire ship has more manoeuvre or action talents. This makes the stronger X Wing an even more lethal one-punch fighter and the weaker Tie, harder to kill again or an make up for the offensive short fall. In effect, the ships strengths and weaknesses are played to.
Overall;
The two ships look pretty even on paper. This of course has little to do with on table performance or player love, but I am happy that in the Bare Bones environment, they both have their role to play. The Rebels have several fighters to pick from, but are a little weak in lighter, faster ships (A Wing). The X Wing adds depth there as needed. The strength of the X Wing, both in story and game terms, is it’s versatility. With Luke and R2, you are tough to kill, or with Wedge and R7-T1 you have a repositioning killer.
The Empire are generally fragile, so the Advanced allows a player to switch out their usual low health for something more resilient, giving them a 1:1 jouster, an arc-dodger with grit.
Most importantly, both ships play as they did in the films. The Rebels can “load for bear”, trying to maximise their one shot chance, the Empire flit around, getting more shots off, but with less chance of a one-hit kill.
A beginner can feel safer in the slightly harder hitting X Wing, while a veteran player would likely enjoy the challenge of flying the Advanced well.
Which would I choose?
Surprisingly the Advanced. The option of Vader, with a few rarely seen wingmen (Juno, Tetran, Stromm), make a nice change from the usual X Wing builds and I like the challenge of arc dodging over hitting harder. There is also the lure of the unknown with these.