May the 4th and a new game

Saturday was May the 4^th, Star Wars Day, so I watched Episode IV. This is my favorite of all the films. Also I had picked up the Fantasy Flight X-Wing game last Thursday. What a great day to bust it out and try it!

This is a miniature space combat game based on all the ships from the original films. I imagine that if it continues to grow in popularity, there will be expansions for the “other” films. You get the rules for both quick play and regular. You have an X-Wing and two Tie Fighters for ships, 6 dice, various counters, flight paths and cards.

The actual miniatures are nicely detailed and painted. Especially when compared to other pre-painted figures. The counters, dials, flight paths and such are well made and seem very durable. The cards are nothing fancy, but the artwork is good and they are pretty durable.

We just threw everything together and ran the quick game. There is a lot more to the real game and I’ll get there, but I just wanted to wreck some ships. I was wanting to play the Empire because they are awesome, but we blind picked ships. Thankfully, I ended up with the Tie Fighters just like I wanted. We placed our ships and got going.

The game play is based on each player selecting a flight path for their ship/ships. This is done with a small selection dial and secretly. Then each player reveals their choice and then moves their ships. Movement is done by laying a small flight path on the table (or whatever playing surface) and sliding the ship along it. Then if you have range and a target inside your arc of fire, then you roll some dice and try to damage the opponent. This goes on until the opponent is destroyed or the mission is won/lost. These are the quick start rules and make for a good game.

Now each ship has stats: Attack, Agility, Hull and Shields. These all have associated numbers. Attack and Agility are tied to the number of dice you roll. Hull and Shields are the amount of damage your ship can handle. Pretty simple stuff. Now each ship has various pilot options that can increase the stats of the ship and give them abilities for the regular game version. Even better is the fact that the pilots range from made up people to known characters is pretty fantastic! In the starter box you get some made up Tie Fighter pilots, but you also get the ability to use Wedge and Luke for the X-Wing. That’s pretty boss!

After a quick read through and set-up we got to playing. We played two games and the Rebels were squashed both times. Victory for the Empire! The second game came down to one dice roll as the X-Wing and single remaining Tie Fighter both could only take one more hit.

Sure we only played the quick version, but it was still a good time. Having no idea what, where or how your opponent is going to move is really cool. Trying to devise some sort of attack/movement plan is cool especially when you have two ships against one. This sounds bad, but it is balanced well. The X-Wing has more life and a better attack value and the Tie Fighters are more agile, but have a lower attack number. I’ll happily keep playing this game and will grab some more ships, if I can find them. There seems to be a production issue with this game. I did manage to grab the Tie Advanced, Darth Vader’s ship, a Y-wing and another X-Wing. I know the Falcon and Slave 1 are out there as well. I would love to have those! Han and Chewie versus Bobba Fett in ship to ship combat. Yeah that is so awesome. The same goes for Luke vs. Vader the classic father and son confrontation.

Hopefully, Fantasy Flight gets their shit together when it comes to production and distribution. It is a fun game and it was only the quick start rules. The real rules involve more maneuvers, upgrades, missions and gods know what else. If you like the Star Wars universe, miniatures, fast game play and space combat then check this out! You’ll probably dig it.