I am on record at various times, espousing the virtues of 1st edition X Wing in its various “reduced” formats.
One that constantly comes to the fore, especially for newer or casual players, is the very harmonious “Classic”.
Classic has only the ships from the movies, with all upgrades except EPT’s (pilot abilities rule) and Modifications, which just don’t feel right in this space. Crew is also limited to named crew and some small liberties have been taken expanding the Rogues into their after stories a little.
The Rebels get the;
X Wing as the base line fighter
A Wing as the fastest ship in the game with Green 5 and Boost
Y Wing as Ordnance carrier and Turret ship, with Optional Bombs
B Wing as the superiority fighter with Barrel Roll, Cannon and Systems
and the Falcon (title) as the Brute/Support/Command ship.
The Imperials have the;
Tie Fighter as bog standard swarmer, fast and furious
Tie Interceptor as a super swarmer with Boost
Tie Advanced as a true line fighter with TL & Shields
Tie Bomber for Ordnance
as well as the Lambda support/command ship.
The Scum are limited to the bounty hunters from the films, their likely extended universe additions with their actual (title) ships including;
Zuckuss and 4-Lom in the Mist Hunter, with stand outs of Systems, Roll and a Tractor Beam
Boba in Slave 1, with all Ordnance, Evade and dual arc primary.
Bossk in the Hound’s Tooth with the Pup, a wide arc Primary and lots of Crew
IG 88A in the IG-2000, sporting the most agile manoeuvre dial with S-loop, twin Cannons and IG88D for ability sharing (all but one other Scum ships has a crew slot).
Dengar in Punishing One with its 3d primary, S-Loop and lots of other upgrade options.
These are often squad defining, the cheapest of them coming in at 28 pts, the dearest at 47.
What makes this work should be obvious and is two fold.
1) The ships are the ones most people, even casual Star Wars watchers can identify with. Even the more obscure pilots are accepted into the fold as “extras” as long as the ships make sense.
2) The game is in a happy place, with balance and logical match ups. The Rebels are generally slower but tougher, the Imperials fast and fragile and the Mercs are tough and tricky.
Upgrades are pretty basic, nearly Bare Bones, with a few exceptions.
Titled ships are used, exclusively when relevant. Tractor Beams are available to a few, Illicit to all Scum and Systems are there, but rare.
Crew are basically limited to movie linked named characters and faction specific, like Rebel Captive, Nien Numb, Greedo etc. The mercs in particular are fun, with great combos of Pilot and Crew.
There are no TLT’s, Ion Turrets, Harpoon Missiles or Unguided Rockets, nor any of the Ordnance related Mods except Bomb Loadout.
Each faction gets at least one ship with Boost and 2 with Evade. They all have a flavour, and at least one manoeuvre champion.
The Mercs can be taken with either faction, or they can team up on their own into a Krayts Claw themed squad.
It just feels right and for casual games is well controlled.
This is basically the game as originally designed.