X-Wing is no more it seems, Armada no better off, but that is another story..
No big deal for me as I have more than I will ever need and a small, quite occasional and not tournament obsessed playing group who like where we are.
My journey started with a bulk buy of TFA 1e starter sets (5 for $100au I think). I thought I could keep it under control by limiting myself to TFA and 1e, so Heroes of the Resistance, a Silencer, some Tie/SF’s, a couple of Bombers and I had “the experience” of X Wing with some semblance of control.
Of course, I was soon hopelessly intrigued, mired in excellent Blogs, a thriving community, even one going through edition angst, a lot of history, a lot of love and several opinions on all of these. My thirst for more took me all over the place as I just narrowly caught all but the Starwing and arguably 2 ARC-170’s, Tie Aggressors and K-Wings (2) are under done, but at least I have some.
Two may limit possible builds, but it is still two more than many have.
I even bought foreign language Huge ships, Sabine’s Tie and others, then chased down English language cards and dials (usually from Big Orbit in the UK). I am also sure I got the very last Rebel Transport, original 1e starters and 1e Ghost in Australia, at least on line.
Three of these were near miraculous buys, one was so common it was almost sad.
2e was a push.
I bought in to 1e to avoid the trap of 2e (cost), but as it turned out my TFA collection perfectly fit the upgrade packs and just for completeness I bought the rest……
History now, some fraught, some fun, all memorable.
Around here we mostly play various forms of 1e “Bare Bones” X-Wing, limited to the original trilogy period (i.e no TFA). By “we” I mean me and a cast of drop-ins with mild to keen interest, but little taste for deep diving.
The Force Awakens period is now reserved for 2e, which is where it was completed. We see this as an old movies-old game/new movies-new game dynamic.
Bare Bones style or similar (see below) means usually, no EPT’s, Mods, generic Titles and sometimes no named Titles either. Basically everything that broke the later 1e game and was prioritised as tournament necessary, anything odd or irrational and anything leading to the bonkers action chains and gamesmanship at the expense of logical simulation, is out.
The 1e game was lovely and simple, but it broke easily. Early iconic ships aged badly and worse, the fixes were becoming even more problematic. The game was a world event, huge by game standards, especially considering it’s limited scope and theming, but it was ailing.
The X-Wing for example, the iconic namesake ship of the game ended up with Renegade Refit, to allow Integrated Astromech and S-Foils to make it cheaper and more viable, all effectively made redundant in the 2e fix.
Second edition is mostly sitting in a cupboard neglected (see above). The 2e game is far more even, cohesive and comprehensive, but feels like a very different beast, shielding the players from the power blow-out as much with convolution and compromise as it is with cleaner rules, leading to more situational abilities and wordiness.
It is just me I know, but I actually like the old formatting better to.
It is great how 2e has made the player favourites relevant again, but there are other ways.
The reality is, when I try to introduce players to 2e they are overwhelmed by options and game jargon.
If I show them one of our 1e “Bare Bones” cut down versions, they are much happier.
The guidelines.
Pilots and their ships are as printed, ordnance is more or less reduced and consolidated, with some weird, convoluted and useless stuff dropped, also some is made faction specific.
Ships start out as very faction iconic, then gradually even out.
In many forms either generic or named only pilots are used and there is no TFA era stuff (or Tech).
The first few forms only allow ships with the base 5 Actions.
We do use 2e dials in some forms of 1e, because older ships are better to fly with them, but that is about all we change or add.
Classic is a handling of the original trilogy only, with some ace pilots being assigned EPT’s that fit them ideally in pre-builds, but always with an eye to story consistency over gamesmanship. Luke for example gets “Deadeye”, arguably his card even with his picture on it. Rogue One is an optional expansion and there are thoughts to doing a Rebels kit.
Black Squadron in all it’s glory.
Skeleton Crew , an intro game or one for the jaded player, is 5 themed ships per faction. Everything you need to make a game is there, enough for a tournament and a way of giving new players a feeling of control. Upgrades are limited, but there are plenty to play smart and to theme, but more complicated mechanics like Ion and Actions outside the base five are absent. This also uses the more basic dice-only combat system (crits are direct hull hits, normals are normal, reducing shields first), which makes some elements obsolete as they apply to damage card mechanics (for example the TFA Chewbacca is used, not the earlier version that relies on cards). No names are duplicated, so no Pilot and Crew options of the same character, other Crew and Droids are generics (and faction aligned).
Bare Bones expands the ships to 7, still faction themed, some more ordnance and upgrades are added to include Ion and other more complicated mechanics, damage cards are reinstated, but it uses 2e dials, to help rationalise out old and new ships.
Legends is a favourite. More ships including those from Rebels, Solo and Rogue One, but only named Pilots, Titles, Crew and Droids, no generics (the lack of a named Droid assumes a generic “no frills” model). This is all about, as it suggests, Legends and names, the characters that make a difference. If something or someone is not named, they are excluded. Named Titles are assumed with relevant Pilots only, not optional. This one appeals to me when the inconsistency of Droids etc that only impart one ability annoy (if R2’s offer Green moves, then why does R2-D2 fix shields and not give green moves?). All ships are equal except for the named character differences.
Expanded. Expanded is getting close to full 1e (but with 2e dials). Still no EPT’s, generic Titles, Mods, but named Titles are allowed, ships with more than the base Actions are included (except TFA era). This even includes single card Huge ships.
Aces and Eights is different. All upgrades are allowed, but only for a select range of fighters. It started with the Kihraxz vs the Advanced vs the X Wing, all massively improved in the later game, but other versions have been tried. It works because it is limited in ships.
Everyday Heroes is a new game, but a logical one. Only generic pilots are used, all able to take (select) EPT’s up to their PS value (mostly capped at 4) for free as part of the Pilot cost (initiative is changed to be even, but random), Pilots with the EPT slot (Black or Green Sqdrn etc) may take another, but at normal cost. This can result in some action chains, but lacking ace Pilot abilities, which often lead to duplication and redundancy, it is clean and refreshing and nice to get neglected cards out.
I have lots of these, some 1e, some 2e, but dials enough to play either.
We have also tried scenario games like “Strike For Home” a scenario including all my TFA era ships with a heavily simplified combat system (see Skeleton Crew) and movement system using card activations and groups of ships to play 20+ ships a side (I have 13 T-70’s!) played in three stages over my 6x4 planet map then my my 4x4 Orbit mat and finally my Ocean mat with ground defences and the target, or “The Convoy” making the most of my Cartel 2x C-Roc and 3x YT 666 freighters and Cartel escort vs a Black Sun/Binayre Pirate raiding force (similar simplified rules), again 20+ ships a side.
Both these avoid the need for ship or damage cards.
TFA got proper treatment in 2e
The Tackle Box Experiment. This is also called Training Day, using no ships, just TFA cards etc not used from 1e and bases with dial counters on them. It is designed as a portable “training” or travel game, needing only a flat space and some time. It is also good with kids when mini damage is anticipated. You get the game experience, all packed int a small tackle box. The handy thing about TFA is both S-Loops and Talon Rolls are represented. My bases are weighted with stick-on rubber flooring tile, to make them both heavier and less slippery.
Maybe a Bare Bones 2e hack would liven up that space.