Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures buying guide

If you haven`t noticed, I have fallen pretty hard for the new Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures game from Fantasy Flight. I've been posting pictures of my games online, I've hosted a few events at my home and even run some Demo events at Windsor Gaming Resource board game events and at the FLGS. One of the recurring questions I get asked is "What's the best and most cost effective way to get into this game?"  I thought I would save some typing and put up this blog post so I can send people here the next time I'm asked.

Moe's X-Wing Buyers Guide:

First off buy the core set. Take it home. Actually try the game. I realize that it seems like half the net is talking about this game and almost all of them are going on about how awesome it is. That doesn't mean it's awesome for you and your group. Don't go buying a ton of stuff for a game you haven't played. Start with just the base game, and if you dig it then move on.

So now that you know you dig it, pick up a 2nd starter - this is cheaper than buying an expansion X-Wing and two Expansion TIE Fighters. It also has the bonus of giving you two sets of dice, extra counters, rulers etc. If you can, convince a friend to split on this, that way you can split the cost and each have a set for playing organized play which requires each player to have a core set.

From there buy 1 X-wing and 2 Tie Fighter Expansions - this gives you more than enough ships to play a legal 100 pt battle. It also gives you the expansion pilots and upgrade cards which you can apply to any of the ships.

At this point you could be done having 3 X's and 6 TIEs, well more than enough to play and enjoy the game and having enough variety with the different pilots and upgrades to keep up the replayability.

X-Wing Demo Day at Hugin & Munin

Now personally I have an awesome FLGS, Hugin & Munin, that does cool stuff like have Demo days, that let me try out games before I buy. So if you have something like this locally I strongly suggest supporting it. The time you spend playing at the store and having the chance to see the models and check them out before buying is worth the few extra bucks you will spend on the game.

If you don't have a FLGS or your local store seems to have lost the F part of that acronym, then I have no problem with people trying to get the best deal they can. If you are in The States, Target often has the core set on sale. In addition you can usually find it online for less than the MSRP. The same goes for the expansion ships. Do some shopping around and get the best deal you can, it only makes sense. Though again, I re-iterate: if you have a local shop that's letting you try the game or giving you a place to play, realize the value that is adding to your experience and reward them for it.

So now that you have a playable core game, assuming you are as addicted as I am, I suggest at least one Y-Wing and one Tie-Advanced. Buy the Tie-Advanced over the Y-Wing, if you can only afford one just because it adds Vader to the mix. After this, if you want, more I suggest one TIE Advanced per two regular TIEs in your games, so buy one more. I own three Y-Wings and three TIE Advanced and so far have only ever used one of the Ys and two Advanced in a game. Added to that I don't suggest more X-Wings or basic TIEs unless you are going to start playing 200pt games and even then there are cooler newer ships out.

I'm not sure I know anyone who would pass on these.

About those new ships: those are your call. I think the Millennium Falcon and Slave 1 are well worth it. They look awesome, and they each include a new scenario to play. Added to that they both include a new upgrade card that can be applied to any ship in the game. The A-Wing and Tie Interceptor are also very cool looking and take advantage of a new Boost action that really means they can move around the board. Both are great additions to the game that I would consider adding after having a base force of X-Wings and basic TIEs. Personally I would add them after the Y-Wing and TIE Advanced though just because of rules creep, these add new rules and with that a bit more complexity.

So there you have it. As is normal for any board game: your millage may vary. This what I have found works more me, after running multiple games at my home (I'm at over 10 games at least) and a variety of public play events. It may not be perfect for you but at least it gives a starting point for anyone thinking of getting into this awesome game.