As I guess many X Wing players are, I am in a bit of a state of flux with 2e conversions.
My original (and likely) direction, is to do 1e in a variety of forms, sticking with Rebel, Empire and Scum fleets and do 2e with Resistance, First Order and Scum for variety.
Why?
Several reasons.
First Edition
1) Feel. I am looking to capture the feel of the original movies and early extended universe. I like the duality of sticking to storyline and to the original game design concepts. The core game, with basic ships and limited upgrades is a sublimely interesting and balanced game. The ships feel right. Building a squad is about choosing one or more ship types, sprinkled with built in pilot talents and loading on ordinance.
2) Look. I like the “grungy” ships, original rules/upgrade cards and feel of this dynamic. I played this game a few times in it’s early days and quite enjoyed it. What I really enjoyed was the feel of the early game. It is not without it’s flaws, but there are fixes, many of which are a matter of less, not more. The points on cards shine here also. I get why they changed this in 2e, but it makes things less about the game table and more about quick builds or apps.
One of the big advantages of filling out my 1e collection, then converting; unique ships, that may or may not be coming in 2e.
3) Conversion. The conversion kits for the Rebel and Empire truly suck. Switching to 2e exclusively would mean side-lining a large chunk of my fleet (keep in mind, most of this is less than 6 months old and not yet heavily used). You get large amounts of ships you do not need and far too few of the ones you do (2 Ghosts and only 2 Y Wings? Seriously?). I do have the conversion kits just in case they disappear, but I have not even unboxed them yet.
Maybe when the second hand dial market is better filled out, I will fix this, but at the moment it looks like most other players are in the same boat. Don’t even get me started on the wisdom of changing some ship models (Y Wing, B Wing, Silencer), so that mixing old and new is even less appealing.
4) Relevance. The First Order and Resistance were to me a “wedged” in to 1e as a late compromise. They just fit the game mechanically, but not thematically (more important to me than tournament play allowances). They also add another level of complication with tech upgrades, that create inconsistencies. I started my journey with 5x TFA core sets bought very cheap, so my commitment to Resistance and F.O. was solid, but the choice of only 7 types of ship sucked.
5) Utility. The back to basics “Bare Bones” style of play that most of my 1e stuff will be used with, has gone a long way to re-balancing the field again. It allows all the included ships (and pilots) to be relevant. Sure the Punisher is a slow, ticking time bomb, but without most of the re-positioning and action economy options that mods and EPT’s allow, not many ships have the ability to dodge even that lumbering whale forever. The Interceptor has the best action bar, but without certain EPT and pilot combinations it is killable. Adding mods (Basic), deepens the experience , but still avoids multilayered layered clutter and even adding EPT’s to 60 point squads (Classic), lets you stretch the game, but not too seriously.
Second Edition
1) Feel. 2e is the dawn of a new game with much better support for the later movies. To me, the Resistance and First Order factions are a perfect match for this game especially with the added ships and clear faction identification. The later ships also benefit from less edition stress as they are similar to what we already know, playing to their strengths, not breaking the older game. The Resistance Bomber is a good example of a ship able to breathe in 2e, rather than being stifled in 1e.
2) Look. The ships look different. The paint jobs are cleaner and more consistent, fitting in well with the look of the new game components and movies. The Tie/ba is a brighter red than the original Tie Interceptor, the Resistance ships are more uniform (Matching Transport, A and X wings!) and the washes are toned down. 2e is the “shiny new” game, 1e the grungy old friend.
The new kids on the block. Nicely uniform and some are not even available in 1e.
3) Relevance. The new mechanics, availability of all upgrade types including Tech upgrades for this period (either edition) and the expanded game (Huge + Epic options) are a good fit for these more robust and flexible ships and my fleets. The Tie/fo and XT 70’s are just better ships than the earlier ones (although points balance this out head to head) and they have more options available to them, which means the “pick and play” dynamic of 2e is more about piloting than exhaustive ship choices. With a few XT 70’s you can field a couple of light missile platforms supported by canon toting escorts and Tie/fo’s can come with several different tech upgrade themes, which the older Tie Fighters lack.
4) Conversion. Last and certainly not least, the cheaper conversion kits fit what I have much better. This was of course easier with only a few ships to cover and a friendlier second hand market. After picking up some extra dials, I can field 12 Tie/fo and 9 XT-70’s, with little other wastage (2 Silencers, a YT1300 and 1 Tie/sf). The only foil to this is the Silencer is now a smaller model, but I may pick up another old one cheap, or not. I undid some of the value of this by buying the Reb/Emp kits, but for a while it was a sweet deal. In hind-sight, the conversion kits probably suck as much for most as the Rebel and Empire did for me. Too many XT-70’s and Tie/fo for most players needs, fattening up the second hand market.
Scum?
Scum add variety and character to both games. Being able to use the “Solo” YT 1300 or the Xisor Star Viper as wanted really adds a lot to both games. They are also a little more timeline ambiguous, so quite flexible. The conversion kit is not perfect, but considering the mix of options and factions, it is perfectly serviceable. The Scum faction has also seen a lot of 2e changes, so it is easy to play them where you like them best. In 1e for example, I like the pre-nerf Punishing One (used with care), but really do not like the Lancer as I find the mechanics hard to reconcile with the original mechanics. The opposite is true in 2e.
Nobody told the pilot of this unlucky GA-1. In 2e the Scyk interceptors got faster!
FFG had a nearly impossible task, reconciling an old game with a new one. This was made all the more difficult by their own older game getting out of control, then balanced better with 2e, but with little to reconcile the two. Everyone will have cause to complain, especially if you hate waste, but as time goes on, the second hand suppliers will fill the holes. I do wish FFG would look at the obvious holes in 2e upgrades, making small grab sets of certain “swarmy” ships more available, but it is probably not viable.
My solution suits me both thematically and mechanically, but each of us will find our own happy place I guess.