Making a 2 Faction, 2e X Wing Collection

As I do, I have put together a ship comparison table of for my First Order and Resistance 2e fleets, just to see how they stack up and reassure myself that I have not overlooked anything.

The first thing that struck me is how small the table is compared to my 1e Bare Bones one. Two factions and small ones at that only supplies 16 ship types, including a fudged CR-90 (Rebel with generic crew, because well, you saw it, there was one in the final movie’s battle).

All of the types are covered, from the light fighter to huge combat ship, through support, wild card and specialist ships, but there is no denying, ship choices are retty limited.

Looking deeper though a few things have become evident.

The ships are really versatile and well rounded.

• The T-70 for example, can play the role of the X, E, B Wings and Z 95, thanks to it’s better dial, Tech upgrade and multi role Hard Point (Cannon or Torpedo or Missile).

• The “B-17” like MG-100 has depth and interest value, thanks to much better upgrade options than in 1e and is the only bomber in either faction.

• The RZ-2 is better than the original A Wing and is the perfect foil to the T-70.

• The Tie/sf is a better Ordnance carrying multi-role ship than the sluggish bomber, almost like an evil ARC-170.

• Even the Tie/fo has a Tech slot and single shield, making it much more robust and interesting than the ordinary Tie.

• There are no really weak or worse still, boring ships in either faction.

Deep pilot support for the supplied ships.

The Resistance for example have 39 combat pilots over just 4 ships (X, A wing, MG and Fireball). In 1e BB, the Rebels have 42 over 8 ships.

This means that the deeper level of play in 2e comes from more moving parts, more unique pilots, a wider upgrade selection (EPT, Mod, Tech, Title) and different play styles (Epic/Huge) that can be tackled with fewer ship options. Learn to play the basic ships, and then look at the huge variety within them. A bit like Chess really, easy core ideas, near infinite play options.

The factions are very different.

There are almost no like for like pairs between the factions. The Tie/sf and XT-70 are roughly equal, but no other two ships line up closely. This is good, because it means every ship is a new experience. In 1e, especially bare Bones, as I have shown in some recent articles, does manage to have the Rebel, Imperial or Scum equivalent of many ships, meaning there is a feeling of equivalence, rather than difference between factions.

Finally, everything in 2e play is covered.

Between the two factions there is a complete, if sometimes thin coverage of every facet of the 2e game.

All of the manoeuvres are represented, from reverse to pivot to S-Loops, K Turns and Talon Rolls. There are tight turning, fast straight line and painfully slow and predictable ships, all generally better (offering more) move choices than the earlier factions or 1e game.

All Actions are covered and all Upgrade types are represented (some specific ones are faction restrticted) .

Calculate Action only has 2 pilot options (but Crew aplenty), Force users 4, Illicit only 3 ships (5 slots, but some can be shared), 3 Titles and Turrets a mere 1, but these are all proportionately represented in the new meta.

I also have plenty of ships for full Epic play, with or without Huge ships.

Adding the Scum faction does deepen many of the weaker areas of this form of the game, but I am keen to stick to time line with these again.

X Wing 2e. A Brave New World

As a relative newcomer to X Wing, I guess I may have a different outlook on the changes made in second edition to many.

I have been aware of X Wing since it’s introduction, played the odd game with friends, but was never really a Star Wars nut. A strong start with the original movies awoke in me a genuine love of Sci Fi and Fantasy in all it’s forms, from books, comics, games TV shows and Movies, but Star Wars itself waned into the category of “A Legendary story, done and dusted”.

I guess the variety and tension (reality to fiction) in Sci Fi, from hard/real to more fanciful simply allowed Star Wars to be “placed” in it’s niche more specifically, making it less important to the Genre over all as time moved on.

For some reason Trek moved ahead, likely due to infinite re-runs of the TV shows and the “big ship” vibe, but again, it was only one of many flavours. My gaming, especially role playing falls more squarely in the Fantasy or real-fantasy sweet spot. Call of Cthulhu for example far outweighed Traveller back in the day. For those of us not science minded, the relative ease of Fantasy and Sci-Fantasy took a softer and more approachable form, letting the game get out of the way of the story.

1e X Wing grew (hugely) from a spur of the moment impulse buy of some TFA core sets. The idea was to stay within the TFA time line (some ringers allowed), representing enough ship type to play scenario or casual games well enough (certainly considering the huge number of other pre-painted jousting games I have).

This of course grew. I wedged Saws Renegades in to represent a hypothetical post-Empire renegade faction (T-65’s and S-Foils), added plenty of Scum, some Imperial Lambdas etc., but the inevitable flood gates opened when an old red core set popped up cheaply, out of nowhere.

The rest is (expensive) history. The tension between TFA and “old” period is not something I can deal with. I automatically separated the time lines, enforcing a soft apartheid.

When 2e was released, it did a lot of good. I had no interest in it. I was happy. Then a couple of things happened.

A supplier sent me a 2e core set instead of another cheap red core set (and let me keep it at the reduced price), then FFG released some new ships for the Resistance and First Order and promised more to come.

A plan was hatched. If I could separate (to a degree I found acceptable), the older movie/game segments from the newer, I would have effectively two games.

To me nothing says Star Wars more than the original ships as presented in the first core set and the movies. Bare Bones has, for me, balanced the original game and removed many of the “gamey” elements, giving me a true old school Star Wars junkie simulation.

2e on the other hand has allowed for a re-invention of the rules, driven in no small part by the ever changing Star Wars universe, that had outgrown the old game. The TFA ships were better in 1e, but balanced by being dearer, so from a game perspective, they made sense, but you cannot deny, they do not fit in time-line wise.

*

For me, the clean break of the new game, new movies and FFG ships and now defined factions fit together perfectly, just as the old 1e game and old movie ships do.

The deeper gaming experience, with all of those “tacked on” additions that unbalanced later 1e now integrated fully, deeper, but stream-lined rules, with more upgrade slots (than BB) with Tech and Force (making all upgrade types available to these two factions), and the generally more robust and modifiable ships makes for a game that just feels complete in it’s own right.

Add in the Scum faction and you have a full spread of flying and gaming options, that allow all facets of 2e to be accessed.

The added benefits (for me) are the almost perfect fit of the conversion kits to my fleets, the size of my fleets (5 TFA core sets +), allowing a truly Epic game to be played and the better application of the (now allowed) Huge ships for these factions.

Looking at the factions more closely;

The Resistance offer the work horse T-70 (a better and deeper X Wing), the super fast RZ-2 (a stronger A Wing), the massive MG-100 (covering all of the bomber types, but with a real “Memphis Belle” feel), The Huge GR-75 and Resistance Transport+Pod, which cover the support ship roles. The Falcon, being the Falcon, with the Fireball, are the factions wild cards. Enough to give this faction not only all types of fleet builds you could want, but in each case a deeper and more flexible platform than previously offered in either the Rebel fleets or 1e. Each ship is noticeably improved and deeper than it’s 1e version or simply not available in 1e.

The fleet;

• 13 T70’s (8 Blue, 2 Green, 2 Orange, 1 Black)

• 6 RZ-2’s (4 Blue, 2 Green)

• 3 MG-100’s

• Transport and Pod

• GR-75 Transport

• Fireball

• Scavenged YT1300

• optional CR-90 (rebel generic used as proxy)

The First Order are much the same. Lacking the highs and lows of some factions, they are solid across the range, but nuanced within that. The Tie/fo is better than the Tie/ln, the ba/Interceptors and Silencers are a cleaner representation of the many different forms of “better” Tie, the Upsilon, Xi and Raider add support backbone and the Tie/sf is the multi role ship that does not suffer from slow “bomber-itis” like the Imperials. The Xi also fills the role of the wildcard, offering Illicit unpredictability.

The fleet;

• 12 Tie/fo

• 4 Tie/sf

• 4 Tie/ba

• 2 Tie/vn

• 2 Xi shuttles

• Upsilon

• Raider

With the last few rafts of releases, FFG have filled the necessary holes in both ranges and stayed true to the feel of the factions. The Resistance are a hard core of veterans, dedicated to their legendary leader with versatility and consistency as their hallmarks. The First Order are again, the hardened remnants of a fallen empire, sharper and more refined than their predecessors.

The addition this month of more pilots and ships gives the Resistance (and First Order) even more of a same ships-many different builds vibe, quite different to the Imperials and Rebels, who offer fewer pilots but a huge range of ships.

This again suits the 2e experience, allowing casual/occasional players to get familiar with a small range of strong, easy to fly ships, each offering a different flying style and generally more upgrades for a huge range of easy (and safe) squad builds. Combined with extra rules depth, each game can be new and exciting within these limitations (remembering also there are other games in the closet).

1e as a Bare Bones game is more about ship synergies in larger squads, with simplified rules and faster builds.

There will likely be more ships to come for both factions (maybe a CR-90 upgrade kit ;) ), but my gaming needs are filled for now.

The Scum faction, much as they do in 1e, offer the variety and bag of tricks builds that befit them. Illicit upgrades and Turrets are both a little blunted, but the sheer variety of ships and sub-factions allows for all of the variety you could want. For me the Scum fit better in their correct time line, fleshing out the thin* 2e Imperials and Rebels (we allow a 60% max mixed squad build option with limited Scum mercs, allies and Bounty Hunters with Empire and Rebels, but not so much with FO and Resistance).

*I do have the conversion kits for the Empire and Rebels, but they do not cover all the ships I have, so the experience is lacking a little until the second hand market coughs up some more dials.

Class Groupings in BB; Heavy Combat Ships

Many of the Heavy ships are legends in the Star Wars universe, associated with the most heroic or villainous types. They are the toughest fighters, but often the dearest builds.

Heavy ships are more accustomed to fighting on their own than acting in support roles. Unlike true support ships, they are often heavy in Ordnance, but can also offer plenty of Crew or other non-combat upgrades.

Heavy ships can usually act as both a support to a squad of smaller ships and as front line combat ships in their own right. Two of these can be as powerful as any squad in the game.

Rebel (YT 1300, YT 2400, VCX 100)

The Millenium Falcon, Outrider and Ghost are the spine of the Rebel legend. All three are potent, even without their Titles, and are still capable of decent upgrade synergy.

The YT’s can move better than their size would have you believe, the 2400 has 2 agility and a Barrel Roll and the VCX can Evade, but compared to the Scum ships in this class they are pretty vanilla.

Offensively both YT’s offer a Turret, the VCX a 4 Primary and Turret upgrade option and the 2400 a second Cannon. Each also has at least 1 or more Crew and one a System slot, so they can also be good support ships.

Some of the better, and definitely most famous Rebel Pilots can be found here. Strongly aggressive, defensive or supportive as needed and often synergise well with the various Crew they can host.

Scum (Aggressor, Firespray, Lancer, Jumpmaster);

A totally different vibe here with 4 stone-killer ships, all different, but equally potent. The Jump Master is an elusive Ordnance platform, the Aggressor a slow but very agile, relentless knife fighter, the Lancer strangely fast and agile for a big bird, with a semi-turret primary and the Fire-spray is a tough, dual arc bag of Ordnance tricks.

All of these ships have dangerous Pilots and lots of upgrades, offering an enormous range of options. Not strong as support ships generally, they can still offer some choices. The Aggressor can link to another through IG-88D (assumed rather than Title in BB), the Lancer can Tractor, The Firespray can take many forms, especially with Ordnance and Crew and Manaroo is a genuine supporter with an appropriate Attanni Mind link-like token sharing talent.

Three have evade, one has 3 agility, which some fighters do not share, two have Barrel Rolls and one has white 5 speed. These things can move. The lack of mods hampers them slightly, but here again is a good example of BB letting the core concept of a ship shine, without either over doing it or allowing other ships to blunt their uniqueness. Until I directly compared them, I had not noticed just how each offers a better feature or features than any other ship in this class.

Without Titles, Mods and EPT’s, they are as blunted as the rest of the BB ships, but even in their simplified forms they are fundamentally strong and the ship to ship tactical synergies are nearly endless. Every ship but the Aggressor has a Crew slot, 1 or more Illicit and the JM a Droid. The Aggressor offers Systems, that fits into it’s robotic theme. I have to come to respect the relentlessness of the Aggressor. Very robotic.

Imperial (Decimator, Raider);

A small offering for the Empire, the Decimator is still one of the toughest and most useful Large ships in BB and the Raider fills the role of the genuine “Big Bad” in 200+ point, scenario driven games.

The Turret, with 2 other Ordnance options makes it stronger than the YT’s before builds, 16 health is equal to the VCX and 3 Crew slots make it intimidating, versatile and it adds a lot to Imperial build options. Not even the two huge ships in BB can feel safe with it on the table.

The Raider is the only two card Huge ship in the game. Including this at the expense of the CR-90 Corvette is as much by design as by necessity. I missed the last of the 1e CR-90’s and have not yet been able to get a full set of 1e parts for my 2e one (latest purchase). This is not really a problem for me though as the Raider was originally bought as a scenario driver for the game, offering the nasty end point for a campaign or the big Imperial intimidator that the rag tag Rebel forces had to combat (mini Death Star scenario if you will).

It also adds all of the missing facets of the Huge ship, 1e experience (a two card ship, multiple hard points and teams). Without it, the C-Roc has to carry much of the Huge ship weight.

The main reason the Raider is in the combat, not support ship group is it’s emphasis on Teams and Hard Point upgrades and lack of support actions (Coordinate only). This ship goes up front, it does not not hang back. Costing more than half of a 200 point squad and being very forward arc biased, generally means it carries the weight of the attack, with it’s escorts defending it’s soft rear. Fully tooled up, there is generally only room for a 4 Tie escort out of 200 points.

Coming in at 100 points for the base ship, this can only be played either as a match the build scenario (build the Raider and match it with opponent points), or a full 2-300 point game, which is generally easier in BB as the builds are simpler. You can actually get 4 X Wing, 3 B Wing and 3 Y or A Wings up against it and some escorts for a mini battle. I am also experimenting with the basic “Epic” template rules from 2e.

As a rule, if we include the Raider, Palpatine can also get a go.

Head to Head: Tie Aggressor vs Y Wing

Probably not many people think of these two as equivalents. Possible, a lot of people in the 1e world don’t think of them much at all, especially the Aggressor. I will look at both the Rebel and Scum Y Wings, because they are very similar.

In BB the base ship’s are pretty ordinary, but as with most ships in the format, again become more relevant, maybe even competitive. The available options are fewer, both in ships and upgrades, allowing their native strengths (such as they are) to float back to the surface.

Full 1e offered some decent buffs late in the game for the YW, thanks to the Most Wanted Scum expansion, but even then, the golden era of choosing the ; AW > fast, XW > versatile and YW > tough were long gone. In BB however, they are essentially back!

Points;

YW 18 to 24 Sc/25 Re (47 max) vs 17 to 22 (38 max) TA

Capable of forming solid five ship squads, this pair can be loaded to the teeth, or flown pretty much standard to some effect. The Turret upgrade is usually mandator and other Ordnance can take many forms. The reality is though the YW would never be maxed out to 47 points, because Advanced Proton Torps are a bad fit for them (too slow, cant turn).

Base Stats;

YW 2 1 5 3 vs 2 2 4 1 TAG

The usual Rebel/Scum vs Empire dynamic. The YW is tougher than many, the Aggressor less so but more agile. 1 extra shield would even the Aggressor out a bit, but it is the weaker ship up to here.

Actions;

YW Focus, Lock vs Focus, Lock, Roll TAG

Being weaker (toughness 5 vs 8), the Aggressor needs the Roll option, although Turreted ships do not need or benefit from re-positioning much, Ordnance do.

Upgrades (BB style);

YW 2 Torpedo, Turret, Droid/S-Droid vs 2 Missiles, Turret TAG

The Aggressor was well served with upgrades when launched. Possibly too well as it’s cards usually found themselves in other squads. Twin Laser Turret in particular was so good it was dropped from 2e and Unguided Rockets, well liked in 1e, are actually the only way you can have multiple launch-able Ordnance in the game (no Munitions Fail Safe or Extra Ammo). The Empire only has one ship with a Turret upgrade, so the Aggressor has a solid role to play. The common Missiles for Empire, Torps for Rebel, dynamic is also present.

The Y Wing has plenty of competition in both factions, but having a Turret does allow them to chose a different Droid, other than the near mandatory manoeuvre options (R2/Unhinged).

Moves;

YW 9 White, 2 Green, 3 Red vs 9 White, 5 Green TAG

YW Speed Red 4, 4 K-Turn vs Speed 4, 4 K-Turn TAG

The Y Wing is plagued by a lack of green move options and poor speed (hence the common Droid/S-Droid upgrades). If used as a stand off Turret sniper, this is less of an issue, but if delivery of Ordnance is important, they are best used as finishers with other ships for support. The Aggressor on the other hand show it’s Tie roots with a solid dial. Flying YW’s well in a squad is often the main consideration. The TAG can be attached to most Imperial Squads without holding them back.

Pilots;

YW 4 Sc (1 Elite) /4 Re (no Elite) vs 4 (2 Elite) TAG

Rebel YW’s tend to come in two squad formats. The Ordnance platform or The Sniper with two good leaders for either option. Their Droid upgrade is also important allowing for some mitigation of any short-falls. The Scum are similar in dynamic, offering again two solid attacking aces and a few interesting re-takes on the Rebel Droids. A lack of EPT’s in Y Wings (Kavil only), makes the Aggressor feel like a real fighter.

The Aggressor boasts a pair of Pilots that serve their applications well, one offensive and one universal. Pretty even here.

Summary;

One of the things so attractive about BB is the re-emergence of some much maligned, or at least regularly ignored ships. Some of these ships are crucial to the Star Wars legend (YW), others come from the less known Extended universe (TAG), but either way, if you own them and don’t use them, well, they are wasted.

BB allows the YW to take on it’s dual roles with some old fashioned balance and relevance. A 5 ship YW “scout” squad with Auto-blaster Turrets is tough and annoying to fight, while a pair added to an X Wing squad can add variety, fire support or a cheap Ordnance platform.

The Aggressor can punch hard, over and over, like a light weight Punisher, adding cheap Ordnance fire power to a fast moving squad. It also allows the Imperial player to play “out of character”, which after dozens of games with the usual arc dodging swarm, can be refreshing (and confuse a regular opponent).

Artificially similar, these two ships are very different in application. The iImperials gain the most, having a Turret support ship option, the Rebels and Scum get an old friend back, warts and all.

Which would I like to fly in BB? The unlimited supply of Rockets the Aggressors can mount is tempting, but 4 Y Wings with R2/Unhinged Droids and TLT’s is easy to fly (boooring!) and deep (always causing damage, with 32 health).

Head To Head: Jumpmaster 5000 vs YT 2400

I have always found these two ships intriguing and similarly placed in their factions, but lets see just how close they really are.

Points;

YT 30 to 36 (53 max) vs 25 to 30 (53 max) JM

The Punishing One Title boosts the (un-nerfed) JM to a staggering 65 points, but in BB the (assumed to be pre modified?) ship still ties with the non Title YT. Half a squad of points is an expensive ship, but realistically, a fully loaded out example of either ship, with more realistic upgrades would come in at about 45 points. A 25 point JM is tempting though.

Base Stats;

YT 2 2 5 5 vs 2 2 5 4 JM

Both surprisingly agile for big ships and very close in stats.

Actions;

YT Focus, Lock, Roll vs Focus, Lock, Roll JM

So far they are much the same.

Upgrades (BB style);

YT Missile, Cannon, Crew vs 2 Torpedo, Crew, Illicit, Salv. Droid JM

Now we are starting to see some real factional differences. The Cannon, not replacing the Turret on the non Title YT is not accurate to the Outrider story, but any turret is strong in 1e and the option of a different Cannon can be useful. The single Missile slot vs 2 Torpedo slots, 1 Crew vs 1 Crew and an S/Droid and Illicit give the JM an edge here. It starts as a cheaper ship, with more options to go as dear. Very Scum.

Moves;

YT 12 White, 4 Green vs 8 White, 6 Green (left heavy) JM

YT Speed 4, 4 K-Turn vs Speed 4, 4 K-Turn, Red S-Loop (right) and White S-Loop (left) JM

One of the most unique dials in 1e, the lopsided Jump Master dial is a thing of odd beauty. Left side green turns and a White S-Loop, but white and red on the right side make an opponent seriously undecided. The unevenness of the dial simulates the odd U-shape of the ship. The YT on the other hand has a very conventional dial, nearly identical to the YT1300. Flying the JM is an art form, flying the YT is generally easy, if a little unexciting. Or is it?

Pilots;

YT 4 (2 Elite) vs 4 (all Elite) JM

The Pilot and crew options fro the YT include Dash Rendar, a (not a real) clone of Han Solo. His talent is ignoring obstacles, which for a big ship is pretty cool. Not many big ships will be bought undone by asteroids, but we all have a healthy enough respect for them to be maybe overly keen to avoid them. Each ship has a generic, offensive, defensive, and manoeuvre or support Pilot option. Oddly the Scum ship has the support Pilot skill, so this ship provides another option for that faction. All of the JM Pilots having elite slots makes choice hard.

Summary;

They are pretty similar in core specs, but the on table play with these two will be very different. Dengar, loaded with Torps, S-Looping around the table counter-attacking anyone he can vs Dash careening around in the asteroid belt firing his Turret feel very different. If built and played conservatively, they would likely feel a lot closer, but there is no denying their differences.

From a faction perspective, the YT gives the Rebels a “mini” Falcon-gunship option, where the JM is, as is often the case, another unique Scum ship option either “lite” or as a “full noise” squad primary.

What to fly in BB?

The Turreted YT is strong, but I do not find the Pilots or other facets of the ship as interesting as the JM. Dengar in the JM with a variety of crew, some Torps, the Illicit slot and S-Loops are just too unpredictable and fun. In a squad dynamic, the YT is a better support ship, so maybe with that in mind, but then again, a Firespray, or Aggressor or even as a merc in an Imperial force? Too much fun to be had here.

Class Groupings in BB; Support Ships

This is the important, but often neglected support role that many good squads need. These are the ships that are not designed to work alone and often do not fit in any other category, but boost or protect others.

The Rebels in particular thrive in a support role with team work high in their tactical doctrine. The Empire and Scum on the other hand offer plenty of stress or offensive boosts to their fleets.

Some ships may seem a little odd at first, but the criteria is plenty of Crew and other support slots, a few Ordnance and some pretty different, even unique Actions.

Rebel (GR-75, Auzituck, HWK-290, Sheathipede & Attack Shuttles);

A very important category for the Rebels, many successful squads have been build around a seemingly weak support ship.

Unique or rare capabilities for the Rebels are; Coordinate (2), Reinforce (2), Jam (1), Recharge (1) Cargo (3) and a Huge ship. They ave lots of Crew (7), a Droid and 2 Turret slots, with a Bomb for good measure. The Turrets are especially useful, allowing a pedestrian ship to lend a hand in combat without having to keep a target in arc or nearby.

The GR adds Cargo and some good support options as well as a large table presence. It may seem odd to have a ship with no obvious offensive capability, but some Cargo and Crew upgrades can turn a game while it takes the brunt of the damage and regenerate it’s shields.

In base terms, the ships are a real mixed bag from small and agile to huge and cumbersome. The Primary attacks range from 0 to 3, agility 0 to 2, health 4 to 12 and they have a wide variety of Actions, manoeuvres and speeds.

The common thread is Crew synergies, where the Rebels are strong (the most Crew), mixed with some independently capable ships.

Empire (Phantom, Lambda);

With only two options, the Empire may look weak here, but lets look at the ships first.

The Phantom can cloak natively (there is a less efficient Illicit option), has a brutal 4 Primary, Crew + Systems, which is an upgrade efficiency rare for the Empire, can Barrel Roll and Evade and has some tricky Pilots. It’s support role comes in the from of being a dangerous, stealthy nuisance. It lacks some efficiency without Title or Mods, but is still a dangerous ship.

The Lambda has a long history of transporting Vader or the Emperor (not available in BB) as an attacking support ship. Ysanne and Mara, Tactical Officer and Rebel Captive also make good options and some of the Pilots are good at support.

Scum (C-Roc, G-A1, HWK-290, YV 666);

Similar in dynamic to the Rebel offerings, the Scum also have a Huge ship, which unlike the GR can mount a variety of weapons and a Team upgrade. They also have a variation on the HWK with a bonus Illicit slot.

Crew are generally meaner types, less about aiding, more about hindering others, but still have some strong synergies.

The G-A1, even without the Mist Hunter Title, has a unique Illicit + Crew + Systems combination, giving it many possible faces. Often called the Scum B Wing because it has a nearly identical dial and core stats, the G-A1 is quite different in reality, offering no Ordnance options, but several utilities.

The YV is a tough one. It could easily (and originally did) fit into the Heavy ship category, but the “Party Bus” is really more about support. In the Extended universe, it is the ship the mercenary Bossk uses, but in BB the role it serves is less front line and more rear support with it’s poor dial, 180 decree arc and 3 Crew slots.

Support ships have one thing in common, more passive than active options. Whether they are in the form of Crew, ranged weaponry, Cargo or simply blocking, the support ship is a squad build linch-pin, rarely a strong loner.

Class Groupings in BB; Multi Role

Multi role or heavy fighters are the workhorse bombers and Ordnance platforms of the Star Wars universe.

The first thing you notice on collating list or tables on these ships, is the quantity of upgrades, Ordnance or not. All have Target Lock, but very few other Actions.

Rebels (Y & B Wing, ARC-170);

Ordnance first, because that is what these guys are about. 12 Torp/Missile/Bomb (heavy lean towards Torps), Turret and a Cannon slot give the Rebels lots of strike power. To support this they can be supplemented with Droids (2), Crew, and Systems (1) upgrades.

On the surface, the four ships can look a bit same-ish, but they are very different beasts.

• The ARC has a dual arc primary attack with the Crew + Droid combination.

• The B Wing sports a Cannon, 3 Primary and Systems slot as well as the only 2 K-turn on the game. It is closest to a heavy fighter than ordnance carrier.

• The Y Wing is a Turreted Torpedo platform with Droid

They are sluggish agility one, all natively slow with red 4 max speed, have plenty of red moves between them and limited manoeuvres (only 1 Roll Action between the 4), but are generally solid (averaging 8.5 health) and have good Pilot options.

Imperial (Punisher, Bomber, Aggressor);

The Empire has a very poor showing in this class. The three ships offered have all had a bumpy ride through 1e and are in fact three ships that BB highlights as being more solid in the reduced environment.

All move well enough. Two have Rolls, one a Boost and some Pilots offer more. They are marginally faster than the Rebel equivalents with black maximums rather than red ones, can all K-turn have only a few red moves between them.

Although they all have decent hull, they are low on shields and there are no evades, so they can crumple more easily than you would think, but they also offer the only two ships with better than 1 Agility.

Ordnance is of course why they are here. The Punisher has 6 slots, the most in the BB game (and remember no Failsafe or Extra Munitions options), and supports these with System, that offers great options for Ordnance.

The Aggressor also has the only Imperial Turret option other than the Decimator.

Scum (Y Wing, Scurrg, Kimogila);

The Scum do not have a defined style here, but do have possibly the strongest options.

They have three of the four 3 Primary attack ships in the class, the only speed 5 ship (and with Talon roll) and two Barrel Roll Actions, but are a mixed bag moves wise.

They tend to be close to the Rebels in resilience (8.3 avg).

Ordnance wise, the Scum offer 2 Turreted ships, and 8 other Ordnance slots. Reload gives the Kimogila effectively double slots for free, and the Scurrg pilots and Crew are Bomb experts.

Two ships have S-Droid slots also for added variety, but none have Illicit (without Title).

The factional differences are kept pretty much intact from what we saw in the fighter class. The Rebels have versatility and synergy, the Empire speed and action efficiency and the Scum, better 1 to 1 killers with tricks.

Class Groupings In BB; Fighters

While the head to heads are interesting, another pattern emerged when I looked at the classes of ships and how their factions defined them.

Fighters (front line and interceptors).

This is where you find the bulk of the Boost, Barrel Roll and Evade actions (45 actions in total including Focus, averaging over three a ship). All but two ships have Target Locks (both Imperial), but very few have any non-Ordnance upgrades (5).

The Rebels ( Z95, A, X & E wings);

Although the Rebels tend lean towards Torpedoes over Missiles, in the fighters, they are split 2 and 2. They also hog the lions share of the sparse utility upgrades with 2 Droid and one Systems slot (2 on the E Wing alone).

A mixed bag in manoeuvres, the Rebels have the fastest ship (AW), but are pretty pedestrian otherwise.

The Empire (Tie, Defender, Interceptor, Prototype, Advanced);

Lots of speed (all 5’s) and plenty of manoeuvres, both in actions or on dial, but not a lot of health and generally low attack values, which fits with the Imperial tactical doctrine of light weight and fast swarms.

Only three upgrades (all Missiles) and the only two ships without Target Locks, makes them less offensive overall, further defining their dodge-strike-dodge feel. They also have the only non Torp or Missile Ordnance option* with Cannons for the Defender.

Scum (Scyk, Viper, Kihraxz, Fang, Headhunter);

Variety is the hallmark of Scum and their Fighters offer plenty.

The solid Kihraxz, slippery Viper, swarmy Scyk, lethal Fang and plentiful Z95 are all very different beasts.

Like the Rebels, they can lack some speed, with a single 5 option, but really shine in manoeuvre options (S-Loop, Talon Roll and plenty of K-Turns).

Illicit, found on two ships, are the Scum Droid equivalent for their fighters often offering a tactical edge, but as often a one hit or sacrificial option. The Z95 is basically better than the Rebel one, because it has Illicit.

They are, like the Rebels, split between Torpedo and Missile Ordnance* and all have Locks. The Scum also have exclusive access to Harpoon Missiles.

*In BB we let the Binayre Pirates mount Cannons instead of Misslies on their Z95, sticking to canon,

Head to Head: E Wing vs Tie Defender

This time we will look at what is considered the future direction for front line fighters in the BB (extended universe) world, the Tie Defender and the E Wing

Points;

EW 27 to 35 (49 max) vs 30 to 37 (49 max) Def

First up, theses ships were both thought to be too expensive in the 1e meta. In BB they can hope to prove themselves by offering several unique (i.e. advanced) features, but in the unrestricted game, they need help to be points effective. A squad of only two fully loaded ships is probably a bit thin, but three stripped down ones can be effective.

Base Stats;

EW 3 3 2 3 vs 3 3 3 3 Def

Well rounded, although the 2 hull EW does tend to make the player lean towards defensive benefits, often telegraphing their build.

Actions;

EW Focus, Lock, Roll, Evade vs Focus, Lock, Roll Def

The E Wing is the only Rebel fighter in BB with Evade, which makes up some for the weak hull (I like this dynamic in BB. It shows the designers intent). The Rebs do have a couple of other Evade options, but they are unique and/or large ships that need the help. Otherwise, the two are even.

Upgrades (BB style);

EW Torpedo, System, Droid vs Missiles, Cannon Def

Again, the Rebel Torpedo vs Imperial Missile dynamic. This really became evident to me when in BB Ordnance became a major upgrade option. The E Wing has a varied suite of combinations with the unique Droid + System slots and actually has the best upgrade choice of any fighter, while the Defender only has some extra muscle in Ordnance upgrades. Clear divergence here.

Moves;

EW 10 White, 5 Green vs 8 White, 4 Green 4 Red Def

EW Speed 5, 4 & 3/K-Turn vs Speed Green 5, White 4 K-Turn Def

Quite different personalities show through here, as befits exaggerated, envelope pushing super fighters. The white K turn, the only one in 1e, gives the Defender a weapon more potent than a Talon roll or S-Loop, but otherwise the ship is punished by tight turns. The E Wing’s more conservative dial is quite well rounded.

Pilots;

EW 4 (2 Elite) vs 7 (5 Elite) Def

Hampered by smaller choice the E Wing can offer two very strong, attack minded pilots, while the Defender is relatively spoilt by offensive, defensive or manoeuvring choices. The EW Pilot short-fall is helped to an extend by upgrade slots, allowing for some interesting combinations.

Summary;

They look similar in points and core spec totals, but not actual performance and they are very different in build choices.

The Defender can be tactically predictable, relying on Pilot’s alone (and only one with manoeuvre options, but 5 with talents). It is fast and offers a white K-Turn for “fly through and turn” attacks, but struggles to turn otherwise and the weapon options, powerful as they are, tend to make the ship a points sink.

The E Wing is much more like a faster X Wing to build. The Droid and Systems slots are pretty much mandatory fills, giving the ship many options, but again can to make the ship expensive.

Compared to regular interceptor types, they can seem like expensive and needy, but in BB that is a role to be filled, without fear of a lesser ship being “pimped” out to match them. BB tends to hero special ship and pilot abilities, giving them their rightful place as bespoke advantages.

Sick of worrying about your fragile, plain label Interceptors, upgrade to a Defender. Feel the need for speed, with a Droid and Systems slot for that winning edge*? The E Wing is your option.

*In BB, the Droid and Systems slots in particular stand out as game changers, because their equivalent abilities found in EPT, Tech, Title or Mod upgrades are just not available.

What would I pick?

The Defender has always had a place in my gaming heart. Three of these with well thought out upgrades is potentially brutal in BB.

Head too Head: Tie Prototype vs A Wing

This is an odd one. The A Wing did not seem to have an equal-opposite until I placed it next to the Prototype (a ship I only recently purchased). Up until now I saw the AW as either an interceptor with quirks or a light front line fighter.

Points;

AW 17 to 26 (31 max) vs 16 to 25 (30 max) Pro

Similarly cheap at the bottom end, these can swarm or be used as elite interceptors (I do both with the A Wing, but only have one Prototype).

Base Stats;

AW 2 3 2 2 vs 2 3 2 2 Pro

Same, same. Nothing to see here.

Actions;

AW Focus, Lock, Boost vs Focus, Lock, Boost, Evade and Roll Pro

The A Wing is the fastest ship in the Rebel fleet and technically the game (Green 5 + Boost). The Prototype is very close with a white 5 and boost. It also has the almost mandatory Imperial Barrel Roll and unlike the standard Interceptor, a Lock option. Again, too close to split.

Upgrades (BB style);

AW Missiles vs Missiles Pro

Both have the useful Missile upgrade. The reason Missiles are so good on both these ships, is because of the two powerful (and cheap) agility/speed based options, Proton Rockets and Cruise Missiles. These two ships are good at maximising that payload.

Moves;

AW 6 White, 8 Green vs 9 White, 7 Green Pro

AW Speed Green 5, 5 & 3/K-Turn vs Speed 5, 4/K-Turn Pro

A bit of real difference finally. The A Wing has an open invitation to manoeuvre at speed like their is no tomorrow, while the Prototype is better than most at very close quarters.

Pilots;

AW 6 (2 Elite) vs 4 (2 Elite) Pro

Both ships show their penchant for avoiding the enemy, and/or making the most of getting close. The A Wing has a couple of manoeuvring dynamos, the only two with EPT’s (no Test Pilot fleeces them of that double EPT, but that is BB), the Prototype only has two pilots with talents, one defensive, one offensive, but both with EPT’s. I only have one ship with 2 pilots, bought second hand to fly a 2e ship.

Summary;

In my fleet, direct comparison is a little pointless. The single Prototype I have has 5 A Wing’s to deal with, but the similarities are clear. FFG has provided the true “crazy-Rebel” A Wing experience and a sinister close quarters killer in the Prototype. The A Wing stands out in Rebel circles as the fastest they can field by far and technically the fastest in the game (except the K Wing with SLAM). The Prototype, is more like a Tie Advanced with a twist.

Which appeals to me?

The A Wing has always been a sentimental favourite and my only option for a full squad. The single Prototype I have though does have an “X” factor that cannot be ignored, making an Interceptor or Tie Fighter squad stronger, like an Advanced but subtly different.

Still the A Wing I think (sooo much speed).

Head to Head: Fang Fighter vs Tie Interceptor

This has been fun and enlightening (for me) so far. The next two ships are personal favourites, but can suffer from short table life in full X Wing. Both can have very strong, tactically biased builds (the ultimate arc dodger and the in-your-face alpha striker), which tends to make them quite different in that form of the game.

In BB, things calm down a little. Ironically, the simpler format tends to make both craft more generic, so less possibly less predictable.

Points;

FF 20 to 28 (34 max) vs 18 to 27 (27 max) Int

Immediately a point of divergence. The Interceptor is cheap enough to field 5, still with an ace pilot or a strong 4 ace build. The Fang is either a 3 ship squad with torps or no ordnance and a support ship (three Concord Dawn pilots and a Firespray-31 Mandalorian Merc are a strong squad).

Base Stats;

FF 3 3 4 0 vs 3 3 3 0 Int

Very similar. The extra hull of the Fang, considering the Interceptor has no Ordnance option, nor many offensive biased pilots, almost guarantees them single shot survival.

Actions;

FF Focus, Lock, Boost, Roll vs Focus, Boost, Roll, Evade Int

Again a divergence. The Fang can lock, prioritising their Torpedo attack, the Interceptor has the best action arc dodging bar in BB, being the only ship with all three manoeuvre actions.

Upgrades (BB style);

FF Torpedoes vs nada Int

The Fang is an intercepting alpha striker, the Interceptor is an arc dodger. The Fang is the best ship in BB for Advanced Proton Torps, due to Pilot options and dial, in BB (even more exaggerated in full 1e).

Moves;

FF 8 White, 6 Green vs 7 White, 7 Green Int

FF Speed 5, 4/K-Turn vs Speed 5, 5 & 3/K-Turn Int

The Fang is a more conventional ship, with more white than green moves and a single K-Turn. The Interceptor is making up some for it’s lack of upgrades, with 2 K-Turns and 2 more green moves. The Interceptor is meant to arc dodge and the extra greens help with that.

Pilots;

FF 6 (5 Elite) vs 11 (6 Elite) Int

The secret of the Interceptor lies in it’s pilot options. Various abilities from extra manoeuvres to stripping enemy ships of tokens etc make it a fun squad to build, even without upgrades in BB. The Fang has some good pilots (3 without talents), but tends to fall into the same tactical paradigm of range one attacks. When kitted out with title and EPT’s this tends to go berserk, emphasising head on range 1 clashes, but in BB it is more of a strong lean towards close fighting.

The Fang pilots, all but one sporting an EPT slot are all spoiling for “Fearless”, which further emphasises their up close and personal feel. Mix it up a bit though.

Summary;

Very similar on paper, but quite different in application. The swarm of 4-5 Interceptors, buzzing around like angry Hornets is a very different dynamic to the close in, knife fighting alpha striker. The Fang is crucial to the Scum faction offering the only true interceptor option. The Interceptor is more of an elite Tie Fighter.

A favourite?

I cannot split these two. Fenn vs Soontir? Too hard. The Interceptor makes the most sense (1 or 2 more ships), but the lure of the perfect Advanced Proton strike is also strong.

Head to Head: Kihraxz vs X Wing

Comparing the Advanced and X Wing showed us two ships with fairly balanced but quite different personalities. Now we can look at the Scum Khiraxz against it’s Rebel peer the X Wing.

Points;

XW 21 to 29 (39 max) vs 20 to 28 (36 max) Kxz

The Kihraxz is sightly cheaper. Both factions can field a solid 3-4 ship squad, or the Scum a 5 ship “expendables” squad.

Base Stats;

XW 3 2 3 2 vs 3 2 4 1 Kxz

Same total, but again the factional differences can again be summed up in this one line. They both hit equally hard, but the Scum trade off shields for hull (a common thread). Shields are slightly better than hull, so the Rebels have a very slight edge here.

Actions;

XW Focus, Lock vs Focus, Lock Kxz

The Kihraxz is again living up to it’s reputation as the Scum X Wing.

Upgrades (BB style);

XW Torpedoes, Droid vs Missiles, Illicit Kxz

Same but very different. The Droid vs Illicit slots really highlight the difference in the factions. The Scum go for dirty tricks over team work. Illicit does not directly benefit the Missile upgrade, but does add some re-positioning benefits. In BB only Scum can have the nasty Harpoon Missile, so they tend to gravitate towards Kihraxz fit-outs.

Moves;

XW 8 White, 6 Green vs 8 White, 5 Green Kxz

XW Speed 4, 4/K-Turn vs Speed 4, 5 & 4/K-Turn Kxz

Fitting with the slippery feel of Scum, two K-Turns, in exchange for one less green move is a good trade off, especially with some Illicit tricks like Inertial Dampeners or Contraband Cybernetics. Both ships can be a bit boring to fly, but the Kihraxz less so and it can be quite unpredictable. This fits in well with some of it’s better pilot’s also.

Pilots (including Huge ship expansion options);

XW 10 (4 Elite) vs 6 (5 Elite) Kxz

Fewer pilots for the Scum, with a strong emphasis on offence and more EPT’s. Talonbane is very strong, Hel and Graz tricky and Jostero good in a pack. The X Wing on the other hand has as many as any other ship, but not many EPT’s in the mix. Without EPT’s the Rebels are strong, without the Scum have unpredictable options opened up to them. Again, factional differences are emphasised.

Summary;

The Kihraxz and X Wing have much in common, but their differences are where the gaming magic lies.

Facing off against each other, they would be well matched, but as a player, you would have to switch hats (a worn dirty white to a slimy green), which makes these two ships just as different as the Advanced is to either of them.

Three factions, three takes on the same thing, three very different experiences.

Which one for me?

Sentimental favourite and the new lease of life it has in BB makes the X Wing the one. It also has more variety, so from a gaming perspective, it is the head choice. Flying Khiraxz for a change has it’s appeal though, especially with Talonbane.

A Final (?) Word On The Bare Bones Concept

Lots has been written about the how and what of Bare Bones, but let’s revisit, as a point of finality, the reasoning behind Bare Bones option for X Wing 1st Edition.

This is very much based on my personal take and the results of sharing that perspective with others, The other stakeholders in BB share my philosophy, but to a certain extent, are following my lead due to a much weaker understanding of the game, it’s history and it’s problems.

After throwing myself into X Wing at the beginning of the year, reading all the blogs, reviews and playing enough to confirm what I read, a few things floated to the top as the primary strengths and weaknesses of first edition X Wing;

Balance

The game tended to swing with each new wave of releases. “Prime” squad builds ruled for a wave or two, but were often nerfed (weakened) later, just to restore some balance, but this was rarely enough to make some older ships even slightly appealing on the tournament circuit. Worse, often the nerfs applied were at odds with the purity of the game, sometimes, even to Star Wars as a whole. Upgrades that allowed things with no precedent, models (titles) of ship that may have been canon (at a stretch), but felt wedged in simply to make the game more coherent and even removal of printed on-card features (JM 5000), seemed all about the players comfort in the game space, not Star Wars relevance.

By the end of 1e, the name-sake X Wing had several “optional” upgrades to make it enticing. Looking like a Christmas tree with too many decorations, it went from a pretty simple (in the core set), Pilot-Ship-Droid-Ordnance dynamic to a far more powerful, but effectively mandatory set of title and droid cards. Where was Luke, with R2 and some Photon torps? Lost under Integrated S-Foil, Renegade Refit and Flight Assist Astro-mech upgrades. 2e has smoothed this out, integrating these into the core ship as needed.

This also led to some suspension of belief;

I like my story telling aspect intact. The line between the inspiration (Movie, book, TV) and the game, is for me, pretty straight and short. If the game makes it less pleasurable or even unhealthy to try to play to the story, then I loose interest pretty quickly. Not only is the lack of connection to story disappointing, but the inability to accurately replay scenes from it is doubly frustrating.

Accuracy

Making a game must be pretty tough. I have tried it a few times and the rewards are seldom enough to balance the hard graft and time involved. FFG has made a great game, based on a famous franchise. They have been true to the (extended) universe and accurate in their portrayal, to a point. Obviously the game comes first, so sometimes accuracy must take a back seat. When people start talking about the game in purely min/max terms, with little regard to it’s simulation-ist opportunity, I lose interest.

So what did we identify as the main game killing culprits and what could be achieved by changing or removing them.

Squad Logic

Making a squad, if taking the above into account, should make some sense. Few tournament successful squads do. Usually made up of too many of the same unlikely ships, weird combos or ships that simply do not share the same time line, winning 1e X Wing squads rarely make much sense. I want to field a squad that can tell a story, the story. One that feels and looks right, then plays on a level playing field. 2x X Wings guarding a pair of Y or B wings on a mission? 4x Tie Fighters escorting a Lambda? Why not? In the current meta, only scenario obsessed players would go there (and likely lose).

We wanted a game where any squad could be viable, as long as the player played to the strengths of their ships.

What is Dropped and Why?

What is dropped are the upgrades that affect all of the above. All of the things that have been identified as real or potential game killers.

Elite Pilot Talents. Each elite pilot comes with their “one unique thing”. These are thematic and fit well with their pilot (well done FFG). Most of these however are duplicated in the EPT meta, meaning that the pilot you pick for their special talent, can often be exaggerated, nullified or duplicated by your or your opponent’s choice of EPT. It just feels wrong to me that the pure and logical feel of each pilot is made redundant by EPT choice. To make things worse, some EPT’s are used almost universally, while others are seen as effectively useless.

The power and the pain of the EPT is a known thing. EPT’s layer levels of synergy into builds that seasoned players salivate over, but to me, they are the most common game breaking culprit. Also, the effect doubles down on pilots with no built in talent, who cannot buy one either.

I would have preferred a “tactics” upgrade, with a squad alignment rather than pilot one. I would have also liked it if pilots were separate from ships (but still limited), like Captains in Attack wing.

Modifications. Mods are like EPT’s in that they can change the very nature of a ship. Why is this bad? It is not really except on the scale and with the logic they are applied. When the Imperial Interceptor stands out as the best arc dodger, I feel a sense of rightness. When another ship can add a mod (or sometimes up to three), making the Interceptor a less special little snow flake, the game’s purity of purpose is (I feel) weakened. There is little mention in Star Wars of mods used with many, especially base ships. From a game perspective it adds another layer of synergy (complication) and again like EPT’s there are just some that always need to go on certain ships, while others are rarely played.

Titles. This one is a little problematic. We play BB two slightly different ways. The first is as indicated with no Title upgrades. The second allows specific, named ship Titles, but not generic ones. The Punishing One, Hound’s Tooth, Falcon, Mist Hunter, Havoc etc. sometimes need their title to fit their story. This can add an artificial benefit (+1 Evade), other times it is baked in (Tractor Beam), but either way, the exclusion of generic class titles feels right.

Most, if not all are game balancing nerfs. Mark 2’s, Refits, Special editions, “Brands” are all used to fix past mistakes or bring ships that have been forgotten in the mists of time up to date. Annoyingly, some of these were seeded into Huge ship upgrades, making these expensive packs almost mandatory for serious players ($100 upgrade card anyone?).

The Tie Advanced for example is a balanced ship compared to its equivalent X Wing and Khiraxz fighters. It almost immediately became a no-go option in the game due to a weak 2 attack and some mediocre pilots when most of it’s benefits became muted. This is fixed to some extent by the Title upgrade available in the Raider set (2 only), but that was a long time coming and only a balancer.

Most of these have been built into 2e ships, in a logical and balanced way and in that edition they make sense. In 1e it all feels a little desperate. Removing them simplifies all of the ships equally, making the game just as balanced as 2e, with less bells on.

Out of Timeline ships. The TFA period is separate. To confirm this 2e has split it cleanly. 1e had to include a part of it, but pickings were slim until the last trilogy played out, so a handful of ships were added into existing factions and regularly played with unlikely allies (Darth Vader with Kylo Ren or Young Luke and Poe in the same squad, not on my watch?). This also removes Tech slots.

Removing them does two things. The first is obvious, story consistency. The second, dropping Tech upgrades, further reduces the layering of certain ships and rids us of a faux-Systems upgrade. My large Resistance and First Order fleets are now the core of 2e, where they fit thematically and make sense systemically.

Limiting Bare Bones to the early movies and extended universe ships only, fits into the feel of the older game.

*

Is there enough to explore?

Looking at it from our perspective (casual players new to both editions), it is plenty. The fleets are almost comprehensive, so there are hundreds of pilots in dozens of ships with thousands of upgrade combinations to try. By reducing the clutter, the game feels more approachable for a group who play a lot of different things and do not have infinite time.

Without the format, the better practiced players gain too much advantage over less familiar players, reducing the fun for all. 2e has taken the role of “advanced” X Wing, with deeper play, more comprehensive ships and better integration of Huge ships and Epic games, but for us, 1e Bare Bones fits the role as the original perfectly.

Head To Head: Tie Advanced vs X Wing

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.

Bare Bones Sample Squads (Empire)

Finally, lets loot at some Empire lists. Again, not the true definition of competition lists, but true to the story and balanced with each other.

Black Squadron (100 points)

• Darth Vader (Advanced) Plasma Missiles Squad leader

• Mauler Mithiel (Tie) Calculation or Crack Shot

• Back Stabber, Dark Curse, Black Sqdrn Pilot (Tie Fighters).

The classic enemy from the first movie trench run scene. Vader is tough and with his PTL like skill gets two actons, his backups are also good with flanking, closing or evading benefits. Backstabber was his actual wingman in the movie.

Obsidian Squadron (100)

• Howlrunner (Tie) Swarm Tactics

• Night Beast, Winged Gundark (Tie Fighters).

• 2x Obsidian Squadron Pilots (Tie Fighters).

• 2x Academy Pilot

A true swarm, with the best Tie leader (Howl) and some other good pilots, it can be varied by adding another Obsidian Pilot and Scourge (Wingman) instead of Beast and Gundark or keeping one and downgrading two pilots to Academy. Any way you play it, this is the classic swarm, that went out of fashion in later X Wing, but is hopefully more competitive again now in BB (and 2e). Fly this if you want to brush up on your flight skills, intimidate an unsuspecting opponent with a wall of ships or just want the “stuff-up protection” it offers.

181st Fighter Wing Sabre Squadron (100)

• Soontir Fel (Interceptors) Push the Limit

• Turr Phennir (Interceptor) Crack Shot

• 2x Sabre Sqdrn Pilots (Interceptors) Lightning Reflexes

The infamous Soontir with classic PTL and three Ace wingmen. A lethal force if flown well and fun to fly, but tend to wither under intense Turret fire.

181st Fighter Wing Alpha Squadron (100)

• Fels Wrath, Lt Lorrir (Tie Interceptors)

• 3x Alpha Sq Pilots (Tie Interceptors)

The super swarm, 5 Interceptors has plenty of fire power, but lacks depth in elite pilots. Flown as the “revenge for Soontir’s fall” squad, it is more about numbers and determination than the previous squad’s quality.

Delta Squadron (100)

• Maarek Stele, Colonel Vassery, Delta Sq Pilot (Tie Defender)

The bare bones 3 Defender squad. The raw power of the ships is plenty vs other three ship fleets, but needs to be flown well/aggressively as it has limited health.

Onyx Squadron (97)

• Rexler Brath (Defender) Heavy Laser Cannon Assault Missile Expertise

• Onyx Sq Pilot (Defender) Heavy Laser Cannon Assault Missile

A different slant to Delta Sq, Onyx squadron is loaded to the hilt, but wafer thin (it has the same health as 4 Interceptors, but only offers two targets). It gets a massive initiative bid, as it cannot (in BB) be loaded up any more with points. The white K turn allows this squad to “fly through”, turn, and shoot in one move, so going second is huge. If canon is thrown out the window, Colonel Vassery replacing the Onyx Sq Pilot is stronger, still with a 5 point bid.

Royal Envoy (100)

• The Inquisitor (Tie Prototype)

• Princess Ryad (Defender) Cruise Missiles Tractor Beam

• Glaive Sq Pilot (Defender) Cruise Missiles

All about manoeuvre and speed, this list is like Onyx squadron, but with a twist. The main advantage of the Prototype, is it’s rarity in our circles.

Imperial Guard Escort (100)

• Princess Ryad (Defender) Heavy Laser Cannon Assault Missiles Outmanoeuvre

• Royal Guard Pilot (Interceptor) Wingman

• Carnor Jax (Interceptor) Swarm Tactics

The love child of the Interceptor and Defender list, this one offers jab-jab-hook. Too good to be ignored, the Interceptors can act as flankers, while the Defender stands off and lines up the killer blow.

Cluster Pluckers (100)

• Maarek Stele (Advanced) Cluster Missiles Determination

• Juno Eclipse (Advanced) Cluster Missiles Adrenaline Rush

• Deathrain (Punisher) Cluster Mines Seismic Charges Trajectory Simulator Unguided Rockets

All about area damage, this squad is heavy on Ordnance with collateral damage, but is also reasonably strong in it’s own right. Tie Advanced have not had much of a go in 1e X Wing, with Vader being the only popular pilot and then only after the Raider expansion bought upgrades. The Punisher is also unloved, so lets see if these guys can get it together in the less stressful environment of BB.

Whispers in the Dark (100)

• Cmdr Chiraneau (Decimator) Ysanne Visard Agent Kallus Cluster Missiles Cluster Mines Ruthlessness

• Whisper (Phantom) Collision Detector Mara Jade

Always strong if used well, the Brute+Ambusher combo is a crew heavy Imperial list. Unlike the Rebels, who gain support rom crew, the Imperials dole out stress. This is especially powerful against squads that need to avoid stress to be effective.

Scimitar Squadron (100)

• Major Rhymer (Tie Bomber) Unguided Rockets 2x Plasma Torpedoes Marksmanship

• Captain Jonus (Bomber) Unguided Rockets Plasma Torpedoes

• 2x Scimitar Sq Pilots (Bomber) Unguided Rockets

Fun to try for a change, this Ordnance heavy wall of rockets and missiles can be a surprise to an opponent expecting the usual arc dodging Imperial squad. With 24 toughness, the ability to fire Rockets and Torpedoes at R4 (or Plasma Torps at Range 1), there is a lot to be afraid of, if you are in front of it. Spread your ships wide though, because they are near useless from the rear, but don’t lose Jonus’s ability. The Bomblet Gen can be used to screen the flanks and rear, if you live long enough for it to matter.

The Elastic Band (100)

• Major Rhymer (Bomber) 2x Homing Missiles Plasma Torpedoes Expertise

• Juno Eclipse (Advanced) Cruise Missiles Daredevil

• Tetran Cowell (Interceptor) Adrenaline Rush

All three of these Pilots have abilities that change the core concepts of the game, making them tricky to get a handle on. Cowell can K turn at three different speeds, Juno can increase or decrease speed allowing him to use his Missiles or not with more freedom and Rhymer can change the range of Ordnance. Fun. Optionally swap out Tetran for Lt Lorrir (Barrel roll options) and gain a point or Tur Phennir for a 100 pt list.

Sacrificial Lambda (100)

Captain Kagi (Lambda) Systems Officer Reinforced Deflectors Intelligence Agent Ion Cannon

Lt Kestal (Aggressor) Twin Laser Turret Unguided Rockets Opportunist

Double Edge (Aggressor) Twin Laser Turret Unguided Rockets Saturation Salvo

Giving a little love to the Aggressor in the form of it’s two packaged upgrades, this list is annoying to it’s enemies. The Lambda draws target locks, takes heavy damage blows well, causes stress, shares TL’s has some up front punch, while the Aggressors wear your opponent down with TLT’s and loads of rockets. The slightly comical sight of the Lambda pursuing your enemies around the table like a mad space cow, while the Aggressors act like mosquitoes is highly appealing.

Bare Bones Sample Squads (Rebel)

Now some Rebel lists. Remember, these lists are no necessarily competitive, but are designed to promote story friendly, casual play. Most important, they are roughly balanced to each other, devoid of clever meta-game tricks.

Gold Squadron Scouts (100 points)

• Dutch Vander (Y Wing) R2 Droid

• 4x Gold Squadron Pilots (Y Wing) R2 Droid

A very simple but effective list, 5 Y wings offers a massive 40 Health, but still allows room for an R2 on each ship, addressing to some extent the Y Wings greatest weakness, manoeuvring. Not hugely fun to fly, the Y Wing usually relies on Ordnance, especially a Turret to be viable, but this 5 ship unit instead allows the squad to “layer” their attacks, with each wave supporting the previous. Dutch brings the ability to share target locks, making close formation flying more appealing and is well deployed in the second row, making them more efficient.

Grey Squadron Snipers (100 points)

Horton Salm (Y Wing) R5 Droid Twin Laser Turret

Grey Sqdrn Pilot (Y Wing) R5 Droid Twin Laser Turret

2x Grey Sqdrn Pilots (Y Wing) R5 Droid Auto-blaster Turret

If your ship is a dog to fly, then ignore manoeuvring and go with the 1e specialty, 360 degree turrets! The Twin Laser Turrets gives this squad a ranged option that will wear down any target. The two ships with Auto-blaster Turrets can either use their primary weapon up close or if out manoeuvred, switch to the Turret. The R5 droid makes the ships tougher as manoeuvre is less important, replaced the usual R2.

A Wing and a Prayer (99 Points)

• Jake Farrell (A Wing) Proton Rockets Daredevil

• Tycho Chelchu (A Wing) Proton Rockets Push the Limit

• Prototype Pilot (A Wing) Cluster Misslie

• Prototype Pilot (A Wing)

Not for the feint of heart, especially if facing a similar Imperial list, the 5 A Wing list is fun to fly, but crumples easily. Tycho loves stress, and Farrell can be a manoeuvre monster, but neither offers much in the way of support for their comrades. Fly this as a practice run for fast ship lists. If you are lucky and face off against some slow, arc limited opposition, you will enjoy the flip side of this brittle list.

Legends of the Rebellion (96 points)

• Han Solo (YT 1300) Chewbacca, C-3PO, Concussion Missiles Expose

• Luke Skywalker (X Wing) R2-D2, Advanced Proton Torpedoes Deadeye

Really only flown because everyone wants to at least once, the list is basically Fat Han on a diet (no Title), with Luke as a , but is still fun to fly. The Falcon is a tough bird to bring down, allowing Luke to wait for an opening to strike. Deadeye allows Luke to pick his target as he goes and Expose works well on a big tough turreted ship with C-3PO.

Blue Squadron at Endor (100)

• Ibitsam (B Wing) Autoblaster Cannon Fire Control System

• Ten Numb (B Wing) Autoblaster Cannon Fire Control System

• Blue Sqdrn Pilot (B Wing) Autoblaster Cannon Fire Control System

Tougher than a Y Wing (Shields are better than Hull), and slightly more enjoyable to fly, especially in close, the B wing offers Systems linked to Ordnance. FCS is the popular choice. Ibitsam is ok with stress and Numb can be hard hitting upgrading one of the un-cancellable hits from the close quarters Auto-blaster. Get in tight and keep firing!

Death Star Destroyers Endor (100 Points)

• Lando Calrissian (YT 1300) Nein Numb Gunner Assault Missiles

• Keyan Farlander (B Wing) Heavy Laser Cannon Fire Control System Proton Torpedoes Plasma Torpedoes

Probably a more resilient and balanced list than the “Rebel Legends”, this has a similar dynamic, except the B Wing is more important to the list. The ability to retain target locks with 2 Torpedoes and a brutal Cannon attack is great, but Lando has to play blocker and supporter. Adding an action with a green move and Numb adding more of those, makes the B Wing stronger.

The Rebels (100 points)

• Hyra Syndulla (VCX-100) Reinforced Deflectors, Chopper, Zeb Orrelios Plasma Torpedoes Dorsal Turret

• Ezra Bridger (Attack Shuttle) Maul Autoblaster Turret

• Fenn Rau (Sheathipede) Sabine Wren Cluster Mines

Taking a few timeline liberties, but sticking to squadron ethos, the Rebels list is a bit of a mix-n-match really. The synergies between the characters are so flexible, there are few bad options. The Ghost, the toughest ship in BB, is also one of the hardest hitting, making it the intimidating primary target for most enemy squads (Fancy taking this monster list on with three Star Vipers?). This leaves the two smaller ships to wreak destruction around it. Rau in the shuttle is both a premium taxi for Wren’s massive bomb attack and a useful support act with coordinate. Ezra, with Maul is also very toothy, loving stress and giving out punishment. The Ghost is simply a tough nut to crack with a variety of powerful offensive options. If this is too strong or you are simply up for a change, AP-5 and other options abound.

Ace Killers (100 Points)

• Roark Garnet (HWK 290) Twin Laser Turret Intelligence Agent

• 3x Red Squadron Pilots (X Wing) with R4-D6, R5-X3 and R2-F2 or any other 4 point combo.

An odd looking list at first, this list is a revolving door of PS 12 X wings, thanks to Roark’s ability. Keep him close and protected and there will be a multitude of choices for him to boost. The TLT armed HWK can also be a pain.

Green Squadron Endor (100 points)

• Arvel Crynyd (A Wing) Cluster Missiles

• 2x Green Sqdrn Pilots (A Wing) Cluster Missiles Wingman

• Green Sqdrn Pilot (A Wing) Cluster Missiles Expert Handling

A wings with Missiles are dangerous. Hit first and…well that’s it, hit first. The Cluster Missiles are range 1-2 , not the usual R1 Prockets, which allows the A’s a little wiggle room.

Training Day (100 points)

Garvin Dreiss (X Wing) R3 Droid

Red Sqdrn Pilot (X Wing) R5-P9 Droid

2x Red Sqdrn Rookies (X Wing) R3 Droid

Garvin in his natural role as Squadron leader and protector. The emphasis is on using the rookies without loosing the rookies. 4 X Wings is quite strong, but the Rookies burn easily. R3 allows Garvin to bolster other Pilots by activating his evade and sharing a focus, that they can use to evade, while the Red pilot can force enemy re-rolls as able.

What Is Wrong With Attack Wing

I am a Trekkie.

My first exposure to serious Sci Fi came in the form of the first Star Wars movie at the theatre on release. I was aware of Sci Fi before that, but Star Wars made it an obsession for my 10 year old mind. For years I worshipped the movie (mostly the first, the others slightly less), appreciating the “reality grunge”, accessible characters and overall “fun” factor. This led to a love of several book series, both Sci Fi and Fantasy (The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison, The Mote in Gods Eye by Jerry Pournelle, The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and of course Tolkien etc), then comics and TV shows which were as different to each other as they were from mainstream entertainment.

The Prequels did nothing at all for me. I remember not even being interested in them at the time or really up until recently for completeness sake, so I must have been distracted by other things that better fit my idea of Sci Fi/Fantasy.

Star Trek just happened at some point. Between endless TV series and movie re-runs and a strong presence in the gaming world, it took the mantle as number one in the race of the two big guns. Federation Commander and Star Fleet Battles (coming from the alternate Star Trek universe path of The Amarillo Design Bureau), offered the best, and for a while only decent space ship combat games for either franchise, but even before it FASA and others, had been strong. The only area Star Wars seemed to have a gaming presence was in the computer game arena with their excellent fighter simulator, X Wing or in non game specific toys.

The new Trek movies then fully cemented me in as a Trekkie, so what happened? Why am I now a dedicated X Wing tragic? I have little background with much of the expanded universe, no interest in the three prequels (own them, watched them several times, appreciate their story relevance, but still nothing, possibly due to a wooden Obi wan, whiney Anakin and so-so effects).

I even own an exhaustive Attack Wing fleet, equally huge Federation Commander/ACTA Starfleet/Starmada collection, that are all now playing second fiddle to X Wing.

So what has Attack Wing in particular done to allow the usurper to elbow it’s way into my life?

Game Play

AW is arguably a better or equal game to X Wing. The core mechanics are nearly identical, with even more build variety possible, due to Captains being separate upgrades rather than the pilots baked in to the ship. The X wing move system and sequence of play are similar, but AW has managed to update with a mild 1.1 upgrade, where X Wing needed a full 2.0.

AW is a “softer”, more forging game. A beginner may be out classed, but still feel part of the game, especially if a scenario is being played. I have often given new players a slightly stronger fleet, which seem to balance things out nicely. An unbalanced squad dynamic in X Wing effectively hands a game to the stronger team. In a lot of ways AW is a better casual game. Arguably, AW is the more stable game compared to 1e especially.

You can also do more with less in AW. A couple of ships each from 2-3 factions, gives a huge amount of re-playability and depth. The base set alone offers three factions with lots of upgrades (and you could swap them inter-factionally if you must). The X Wing core has a single X Wing vs 2 Tie Fighters with a handful of upgrades. I remember an epic struggle between the Scimitar, Enterprise E and a Romulan War Bird, that really felt like the movie battle, with the Enterprise winning in a nail biter after a good 40 mins of play.

Problem;

X Wing is just more compelling. Nicer ships, the tighter story telling envelope and limited squad building or the lack of factional variety that just make me (and others) want to play it? Possibly the scale helps. Our desire to pilot an X Wing fighter may just be more exciting than captaining a larger ship? The characters are also more familiar and more overtly martial and lets face it, most Trek stories are about brain power over muscle, where Star Wars is an action adventure story, built for combat situations. A possible final consideration is a lack of a defined Star Trek story line covering several periods, series and crew dynamics that make it harder to define your period. Star Wars has this to, but in a seamless and connected way.

Squad Building

The upgrade dynamic is different between the two games.

Crew, ordnance and special features in AW seem less severe than X Wing. The naked ships are fine, crew added give you options during a fight, but do not feel as formulaic as X Wing, allowing you to field canon ships and crew with the correct ordnance without feeling like you turned up to a gunfight toting a bread knife.

You have more chances to turn the tide in the more attritional AW. It has an ebb and flow rather than the sudden death feel of X Wing. This does not mean there is any mercy from some players, especially those who will mix their upgrades into any combinations, but AW seems to fit scenario play and squad building better and if you enforce some house rules regarding faction and timeline limits, the strengths and weaknesses of each factional and period seem to balance out well enough.

The weapons available in AW are fewer and more predictable and the ships generally more robust*, allowing you to settle in to a game without it ending abruptly. The almost mandatory Photon torps will rarely take out a capitol ship, but may cripple it, forcing the owning player to rely on their crew to repair stuff, just like in the shows. Sometimes that game seems to be played on two levels; ship vs ship and upgrade vs upgrade. In X Wing, there are several alpha attack options, making 3-8 ship swarms common, which fits the small ship feel better, but changes game play.

Playing X Wing in a “Bare Bones” format (upgrade reduced), is quite different to playing it “full noise” with all upgrades included. X Wing punishes weak squads, celebrates game maximisers, all while staying within defined factional limits. I wish Star Wars separated their pilots from their craft. This would have made squad building more interesting (Luke in an E Wing, Y Wing or at the controls of the Falcon or maybe even a Tie?). Attack Wing allows any Captain and ship combination.

The ships move the same way, but feel different. X Wing huge ships are clumsy, their small ships zippy but can feel cramped for room to manoeuvre, where AW tends to cover more table and look less crowded by perceived scale, which to me seems to fit a space combat game better. Ships in AW can also move at speed 6, which is faster than most X Wing ships and there are very few large base ships crowding the table.

The Problem;

Attack wing, in it’s most open form (competition), usually allows ridiculous combinations that span all factions and time lines. Kirk in a Borg Cube with later Romulan crew vs Kirk (again!?) on a Xindi Orassin, with Deep Space 9 and Hirogen crew? Total suspension of belief in the name of gamesmanship for maxing out squads. It is just a game, but what is the point in having any form of franchise represented if it means nothing to the players? X Wing stays within faction, with the exception of the late 1e Force Awakens timeline cross over, which is now corrected in 2e. This one factor often gives X Wing players a feeling of superiority over AW players, citing their “out of control” squad building and inherently unbalanced game.

Look and Feel

AW has an issue with presentation. The counters and rules etc are fine, but the cards are dull and the ships are lacking (sorry, no point in pretending otherwise).

The Enterprise for example has major scaling issues.

The NX (Enterprise) is fine in it’s own time line, with a few exceptions (the Xindi are all over the place).

The Original one (TOS) can look fine against the bigger Romulan’s and Klingon’s from the same series and is actually perfectly scaled against the TNG ships, but don’t go comparing this Constitution class cruiser to a relatively small Klingon War Bird, which dwarfs it. I

The re-fit A is well sized, but have a warped warp engine moulding issue and is at least twice the size of the TOS one (hell of a refit).

The Enterprise B (Excelsior) is a nice ship, both bigger than the A and smaller than the D, which is good and one of my favourite ships.

The D, which I consider to be the base line of their ships, coming in the original base set, is a good size. It’s opposition however are all over the place, The Romulan in the same set is a lot too small, the Klingon also to lesser extent. This is a common problem with the whole TNG series timeline. The Voyager is the same size, when it should be half or less, the Scimitar should be double it’s size, but is only a little bigger, the Dauntless is too big, the Robinson/Patrol ship, is way too big, the Dominion generally too small, etc. Relative size is sometimes ok, so if you take the ships as purely representative tokens of a ships location (like a screen graphic), then fine, but if not, be prepared to suspend your belief a little, or a lot. We stick to faction and timeline “groupings” like X Wing, which helps a bit (The Enterprise, Original and Voyager series are quite do-able, as are the TOS movies). For the TNG era, I have split the ships into smaller “skirmish” (DS9 and Voyager, for small Dominion, Fed, Marquis, Bajoran etc) and larger Fleet action scale.

Paint jobs.

This one really pisses me off. You pay the same (roughly) per expansion as X Wing, for decent enough sculpts, but the paint jobs are often poor and more often inconsistent.

• Enterprise A (TOS) silver or off white

• Enterprise A (Movies) silver, off white, unpainted (deep cut) to replace broken ones.

• Enterprise A (new movies) look great, but like they come from a different game.

• Enterprise B (Movies) silver or blue-white

• Enterprise D (TNG) silver-2 finishes, off-white, blue-white (F%*K me)

• Enterprise E silver and later re-paint.

Hard to get excited

Ooooh Yeahhh….

Added to this, re-releases are often touted as “repaints”, which just make the older ones look like they need a re-paint and most of the newer boxed sets break with previous schemes. This has been enough to put me off getting some of these as the ships will either need a re-paint or just end up being unused, reducing the expensive sets to a hefty outlay for few cards. It is like there is no one in their QC with any interest. It does not bother some, but as a gamer of many years, they fall well below my own basic standards, which are about where X Wing happily sits.

Problem; Just not as nice a game to own. The ships can be very good (Voyager and Enterprise series) or just plain poor (TNG). There are fixes, like proxy ships from other manufacturers, but it all adds up to overpriced and wasteful, especially compared to the X Wing offering. The cards are also bland, lacking the original and consistent art of X Wing. As the franchise less likely to get many excited, it is on a hiding to nothing. If I show a potential newcomer, my X Wing ships, they engage immediately. AW not so much, even though the actual gaming experience may be better!

Support

Take it from me, the support for X Wing, through it’s community and Fandom etc is way better, but can be a bit obsessive and “rail-roady”. I learned all I needed from the many blogs, the Wiki and FFG site which did lead to some pre-conceptions. The information is there for AW, just not as well presented, nor is it as comprehensive. The community is generally less active. Wizkids are also a little patchy with their support of the game in both releases and projections for the health of the game. It is testament to the resilient nature of the Trekkie nerd as an individual, and the soundness of the system that there is any support for the game at all.

*

So again, what is wrong with Attack Wing?

Nothing in isolation. If it was the first and only, it would have a solid place in the gaming world. It’s problems stem from comparisons to it’s elder sibling. The X Wing experience is as cynical in it’s collect or die dynamic, even more so in 1e with whole ships being bought en-masse for a single upgrade card, but this forced collecting is a more pleasant experience, even a desirable one and in all fairness, they have changed this a lot in 2e.

XW will survive a full edition re-boot, AW seems to be withering on the vine. Even a half hearted foray into the new movies will not save them. Wizkids seem to straddle the fence between apathy and stubborn adherence to the path, leaving us with a very personal choice whether to support them or save our money.

I have spent mine and am happy enough with that choice, but as a new comer to X Wing, I feel if I had gone their way first, even the Trekkie in me would likely not be enough to get me interested.

Now….Armada?

*The Tie Fighter and NX Enterprise have the same base stats, but the Tie has no upgrade depth, where the Title Enterprise has several crew and combat upgrades available to it.

Bare Bones Sample Squads (Scum)

OK.

We have looked at the why, the how and the what of BB, now lets have a look at the end product, the squad build. Now with added Talents!

The builds below are the simplest of simple. They are faction and squadron consistent, adding to the players engagement with the Star Wars story, have limited upgrades, so are simple and fun to fly, but are still strong. They are only suggestions and some have only been used on paper, not the table, so please us them only as guides for BB squad ideas.

First a few Scum Lists.

Easy pickings or a wolf in wait?

Skull Squadron (100 points)

• Fenn Rau (Fang Fighter) Advanced Proton Torps, Fearlessness

• Old Teroch (Fang Fighter) Advanced Proton Torps. Fearlessness

• Kad Solus (Fang Fighter) Advanced Proton Torps. Wired

This list has a strong tactical theme; get close. The advanced Proton torpedo is a range 1 5d devastating secondary attack, that tends to be hard to deliver. The Fang fighters are a good platform, offering Boost and Barrel Roll, a Talon Roll and speed 5 with some strong pilots, but the real strength of the squad is the pilot theme. All three have something to offer at close range. Rau gets bonus attack and defence dice, Teroch strips a target of tokens and Solus likes Talon Rolls and K Turns to trigger free Focus. If the squad has a weakness, it’s a reliance on predictable tactics, but even without the range 1 gambit, they are agile and slippery 3 attack ships. With possible points maxed out, you end up with a 3 point initiative bid.

Concord Dawn Protectorate (100 points)

• Mandalorian Merc (Firespray-31)

• Protectorate Ace (Fang Fighter)

• Protectorate Veteran (Fang Fighter)

• Zealous Recruit (Fang Fighter)

Much simpler even than the Skull Squadron build, this one is devoid of any upgrades, relying fully on inherent ship strength. The lower pilot skills of the Fang pilots force them to think ahead and use their actions wisely, The Firespray as rear support or as a vanguard, splitting/blocking enemy squads and providing rear arc support adds 10 health and 3 fire power with dual arcs. Optionally, one or two of the Fang pilots could be down graded, freeing up some points for upgrades.

Black Sun Enforcers (100)

• Talonbane Cobra (Khiraxz) Harpoon Missiles Inertial Dampeners Predator

• Black Sun Ace (Khiraxz) EMP Device Veteran Instincts

• Black Sun Soldier (Z 95) Cruise Missiles Deadman’s Switch

• Black Sun Soldier (Z 95) Cruise Missiles Deadman’s Switch

This list is a platform for Talonbane to operate. His ability (doubling range effects) makes him lethal close, but more defensive at range. The Harpoon missile is a nasty Ordnance, limited to Scum in BB, making the augmented Ace hard to ignore, allowing the squad to attack on multiple flanks. With Dampeners and EMP device the squad can be hard to pin down, so go for confusion, possibly taking a few hits, until the time is right for Talonbane to strike.

Black Sun Blockers (100 points)

• 7x Black Sun Soldiers (Z 95) with 9 points of Illicit or Missiles spread amongst them.

Could not be simpler, a Scum swarm. The Z 95 is slower than a Tie swarmer, but tougher and can pack some options. The strength of this squad is opponent confusion. Which one has the missiles, the Illicit upgrade or nothing at all? We keep upgrades a secret in our games, revealed as played, making the guessing game all the more fun.

Black Sun Royalty (100 points)

• Xisor (Star Viper) Plasma Torpedo Veteran Instincts

• Guri (Star Viper) Plasma Torpedo Bodyguard

• Black Sun Vigo (Star Viper) Plasma Torpedo

A 3 Star Viper list is fragile and heavily reliant on close manoeuvres. Without the Virago title, Guri takes the knife fighter role, with the Vigo acting as blocker/wingman absorbing Xisor’s hits. Like a lot of 3 ship fighter lists, this one will have great success against some lists, but will fold quickly against others, but it will be fun to fly and gorgeous to look at.

Lok Revenants (100)

• Captan Nym (Scurrg) Bomblet Generator Bombardier Autoblaster Turret

• Sol Sixxa (Scurrg) Bomblet Generator Bombardier Autoblaster Turret

• Lok Revenant (Scurrg) Bomblet Generator Autoblaster Turret Wingman

The Scurrg os a great ship. One of only a few with a Talon roll and packing plenty of upgrade options, there a many ways to fly it. Without Title, the Nym ship is not canon (pre Genius), but still tough. Unlimited bombs, a Turret if the enemy gets too close, Nyms immunity to friendly bomb effects and Sols extra move options after dropping bombs makes the squad close quarters “scrappy”, so fly boldly.

Binayre Pirates (100 Points)

• Kath Scarlett (Firespray-31) Mangler Cannon Tail Gunner

• 4x Z 95 with 8 points of Cannon (not missile-look it up) or illicit upgrades.

A simple list with tricks, based in the actual Binayre fleet, the swapping out of Missiles for Cannons (easier to supply for a poor pirate faction), means more and unexpected options. Tractor Beams, or a single Heavy Cannon and the usual Illicit options make for plenty of tactical ploys, with Scarletts Firespray adding a spine (with a tail) for them to fly around.

Collateral Damage (100 points)

• Captain Jospero (Khiraxz) Harpoon Missiles Calculation

• Hired Gun (Y Wing) Unhinged Droid Flechette Torpedo Autoblaster Turret

• (ex-Binayre) Pirate (Z 95) Deadman’s Switch

• (ex-Karthakk) Pirate (Scurrg) Seismic Charge Assault Missile

Jospero likes to let the others to the heavy lifting and prey on the scraps, so this list is all about area effects and collateral damage. Hit hard and fast, but make sure each attack has Jospero lurking, to make the most of it.

Cartel Smugglers (100)

Moral Eval (YV-666) Tractor Beam Ketsu Onyo Intelligence Agent Maul

Cartel Executioner (Kimogila) 2xFlechette Torpedoes Unhinged Mech Inertial Dampeners Deadeye

Cartel Brute (Kimogila) Unhinged Mech Flechette Torpedoes Ion Pulse Missiles

The big YV tends to be a table hog and easy target. The extra wide frontal arc is great, except most ships can get behind it, so Moral’s rear arc Cannon option is golden. The choice of Tractor Beam with Onyo, makes the YV a fly-trap, the Kimogila’s the jaws.

These two have not been tried, but look like fun;

Kraits Claw #1 (100)

• IG-88B (IG-2000) Heavy Laser Cannon Auto Blaster Advanced Sensors Ion Bombs Inertial Dampeners

• Bossk (YT-666) IG-88D Heavy Laser Cannon Jaba The Hutt Hotshot Blaster Predator

Using it’s Crew edge the YV-666 has, IG-88D (allows shared Pilot ability with IG-88B), means either ship can use a Cannon attack if they miss with their first, or either can cancel rolled hits for 2 guaranteed. The IG has a close and ranged Cannon option, the YV a front and rear choice.

Kraits Claw #2 (100)

• Dengar (Jump master) 2x Adv Photon Torps Burnout SLAM R4 Agro Mech Intelligence Agent.

• Boba Fett (Firespray) Gunner Harpoon Missiles Mangler Cannon Ion Bombs

Boba and Dengar shared a mutual respect and membership in Krayts Claw. They compliment each other here with two strong ships, lacking any obvious synergies other than neither can be ignored for the sake of the other. Another awesome combo is Dengar and IG-88B.

Bare Bones a Tactical Overview.

So, what effect does the Bare Bones format have on tactics and squad building in 1e X Wing?

Squads tend to be bigger and simpler.

Many people play high quantity, low complication lists competitively in X Wing, but in BB, that is the norm. Overall, attacks are less lethal, defences are equally less multi dimensional and manoeuvres are less tweak-able. The player has less fear of the brutal, lopsided match up, which is balanced by the limits/frustration of only one or two layer modifier options. The removal of Titles has also made some ships naturally less expensive and reduced the number of super ships. The house rule of sticking to squadrons also tends to employ more low level pilots.

Squads tend to be tactically more defined and inter-dependant.

Ships with limited upgrades are, by definition less inclined to be dependent on 4-5 layers of synergy deep. Their tactics will rely more on player skill and ship to ship rather than internal synergies. Isn’t this more like Star Wars?

Fleets and squads can be larger.

Simpler squads, made up of an Ace or two, then filled up with basic pilots can be bigger or more numerous as the complicating factors of EPT(s)+Mod(s)+Title+Pilot+Crew etc is avoided. Using the core mechanics of the 2e Epic rules works well for BB. The squad of 5-6 ships will often have 1 or 2 Ace Pilots than need to be watched, the rest are straight forward BB ships.

Pilots are much more important, as their innate abilities are the EPT slot (we read the medal icon as meaning they have a built-in ability). This means that action economy, attack and defence mods and special manoeuvres, more often than not, come down to the pilot. Ships in BB are equalised through simplification, their pilots ability, the ship and player skill are the key (much like the 2e philosophy). Without EPT’s Pilot abilities literally become twice as powerful.

Crew are equally, much more important in BB. Crew open up layers of synergy for the BB player especially in the support role or as attack enhancers. Crewed ships tend to be bigger, slower and more expensive, but Crew (in BB) have much higher stock, often making their inclusion super-additive to their squad.

Systems, often seen as one of the weaker upgrades, they are are now the only “High Tech” edge that a few ships can access (8 in total), replacing both Tech and Mods. The advantage of a System slot cannot be overestimated. With a couple of layers of synergy gone, the System mod can often make a ship’s combat mods 30-50% more powerful. Systems are often aligned with ships that can have their special effect boosted (Advanced Cloaking, Gyro Stabilisers), but this can be a trap, blinding the squad builder to other options.

Ships with Systems + Ordnance are particularly strong as there are several upgrades that make them (Bombs especially), more viable. A stand out upgrade, Advanced Sensors sort of becomes the “Push the Limit” of BB, imparting a rare and powerful action economy.

Droids/Salvaged Droids. Action economy, which is one of the key things to master in the game, combat mods, recoveries and manoeuvres are the realm of the Iconic Droid. Having a Droid is a little like having a double Pilot ability. Some ships (Y Wing) are set up to need a Droid to avoid their obvious short comings, but the ships with more freedom can use Droids to create attack, defence or manoeuvre strong squads.

Illicit upgrades are the Scum edge, like a black market Systems slot. Some Scum ships have both, making them doubly powerful. Upgrades like Cloaking Device, EMP emitter, Deadman’s Switch are iconic and powerful, making the Scum squad a prickly nest of surprises.

Ordnance. Missiles, Torpedoes, Turrets, Bombs, are all part of Star Wars legend. In BB they are a strength or a liability in equal measure, but feel ever so slightly better than in regular X Wing, where the ships that carry them are often a liability. Spend the points and obsess over that miss that could have turned the game, or save the points, possibly to buy another whole ship, but forego have that brutal, ship killing attack?

Without EPT’s especially, Ordnance is the best way to hammer an opponent who, again without access to EPT’s, Titles and Mods, has fewer ways of dodging the attack. Losing Extra Ammunition and Failsafe, makes Ordnance a more hit-or-lose proposition, but again, bigger squads equal more chances to land that killer blow. Turrets are probably the most over powered upgrade in BB, making the ships that can mount them disproportionately powerful, but they are few and often have problems of their own.

Huge Ship Only

Team. Teams are a Crew-like upgrade that in BB only the C-Roc cruiser can take (but there are two of them).

Cargo. Another Huge ship only option, the Cargo slot is the most utilitarian and generic upgrade for a Huge ship, adding power, resilience, defensive, occasionally offensive and general enhancements. The GR-75 in particular can reduce it’s passiveness with cargo load-outs or become even harder to kill.

Hard Point. The Hard Point is the primary weapon option for the C-Roc. Each is oly allowed one, but again there are two. The energy mechanic makes the Hard Point even more dangerous, allowing the cruiser to fire more than once with powerful weapons that even sport a Range 5 option (House rule that the Gozanti weapon can be fitted to the Gozanti C-Roc).

Again, without Titles or Mods, the builds are simpler and more generic, but there are plenty of ways to customise the two classes of ship included.

For the beginner or the jaded long term player, the limit on upgrades is a take it or leave it proposition. The tactical clarity of the game is intact, if a little less nuanced, which does not make it less of a game. 2e provides a much smoother “advanced” version of the game, integrating most of the omitted elements seamlessly into the game or dropping them all together.

Bare Bones Tactics (Scum)

First up, a house rule adhered to fairly strictly is the keep ships in squadrons and sub-factions. This means for Imperial and Rebel squads, either no squadron mixing, especially for the same ship type, or balanced mixing as relevant, but for Scum it includes added sub-factional limits.

The rules are;

• Empire and Rebel squads may have a single Scum faction as an ally or mercenary, at up to half their squad points. This must be declared before squad building or random selection takes place.

• Scum may mix any number of mercenaries in with a single faction, but may not mix factions together as they are natural enemies. This must be declared before squad building or random selection takes place.

Variety is the spice (runner) of life.

The Factions;

Cartel (Hutt, Broken Horn or similar): C-Roc, M12’s, M3’s, HWK 290 (Spice Runner), Y Wing (Thug).

Black Sun: Khiraxz, Z95, Star Viper.

Binayre Pirates: Firespray (Scarlett), Z95, C-Roc.

Lok Revenant: Scurrg Bombers.

Concord Dawn: Fang Fighters.

Tansarii: M3’s.

Mercs, Villains, Hired Guns: All the rest including the C-Roc.

*

The Cartels are known for using Mercs regularly, but also have some in-house muscle. With ships ranging from the C-Roc down to little M3’s they can field anything from a swarm to a 2 ship power team.

Black Sun are represented by an even mix of swarm and Ace fighters. The slippery Star Viper or solid Khiraxz squad is a possible core, but a few Z95’s with dirty tricks loaded (EMP, Deadman’s Switch etc) always offer cheap fire power and control. Their best squad is likely a little of everything supporting a strong ace.

Binayre Pirates are almost a set list. 4 cheap Z95’s (all they actually had) and Kath Scarlett’s Firespray, The Marauder are a solid if predictable squad, with the C-Roc and hired mercs/thugs as their options.

The Lok Revenants (Karthakk Pirates) are as much freedom fighters as villains. Their monopoly on Scurrg Bombers makes them a strong faction to ally with or they can be viable on their own. Strong on a ship by ship basis, they can definitely benefit from a little variety.

Concord Dawn are similar to Lok in both squad dynamic and philosophy, they are a brutal single faction option, but leave room for a merc or two (especially a Mandalorian) to add variety to an already lethal team. As one-off or paired hit men, they also strengthen slow or predictable squads.

Tansarii. The M3 became famous at the hands of the defenders of Tansarii Station and most of the available pilots trace their roots back there. They have a Rebel/Tie swarm team-work vibe. This does not mean they cannot have options though. Backed up by a strong merc or a team of Khiraxz only makes their swarm more viable.

Freelancers. The sheer variety of mercs and villains is what makes the Scum so unpredictable. The Mercs can add muscle, unique tricks and traps, and the dynamic a faction is lacking, so become aware of what each ship and Pilot offers.

*

The Scum faction has variety and faction exclusive upgrades as their edge in BB (and X Wing). Salvaged Mechs, Illicit and more Crew than any other faction, added to the many-faced dynamic of their ships, gives the Scum player more options (headaches) than either of the other factions. The trick is to create strong squads that keep that unpredictable edge, but avoid the cluster of ineffectiveness than can result.

Half a dozen one-off effects or too much complication will force you to rely too much on luck or superior flying. Trying to build conservatively will hand the stronger core synergies of the Empire and Rebel factions a free game.

Build to a theme (trap). Strong main line fighters, huge swarms, or muscle ships to start with, then add in some of what makes them renown in dirty tricks.