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Old 05-06-2017, 01:47 PM   #1
Loki
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Mega Dunsparce X-Wing Miniatures

X-Wing Minis is a miniatures tabletop game that simulates starfighter dogfights of the Star Wars (extended) universe.

Each ship has a pre-painted miniature, a set of pilot cards, and various equipment cards used to upgrade their actions and abilities. Players build squads based on various ships from a faction and their upgrades, typically maxing at a certain point value (typically 100 points in tournament play). This allows for a lot of variety of play based on which ships you decide to use from which faction.

There are three factions at the moment. Rebellion and the Resistance, with ships like the classic X-Wing and the T-70 X-Wing as well as the Millennium Falcon and even Legends ships like the E-Wing and the Outrider. Empire and First Order have the swarms of TIE Fighters and their multitude of variants including the TIE Bomber, TIE Interceptor, TIE Advanced and the TIE/fo and even more obscure ships like the Decimator and new ships like the Upsilon shuttle. The third faction is Scum & Villainy, which includes ships like the Slave I, but also has less known ships like the Jumpmaster 2000, Mandalorian Protectorate Starfighter, and even the Quadjumper from The Force Awakens.

Since I don't want to bloat this post with how to play and stuff, I'll just link to a video on Youtube:

BORKED
Link

I think the game is somewhat comparable to Magic in terms of preparing a squad and loadout is similar to deck building, but is very much a board game due to dice rolls, but obviously a tabletop miniatures with spatial awareness for movement, firing arcs, and range as well as general tactical play.

Everyone who I've shown the game to and have actually gotten to play at least a few times has ended up picking up the game themselves. The gameplay rewards smart plays, but dice rolls can be a big equalizer and keeps the game exciting. The fact that the game also has the Star Wars IP is a big attraction too, but the miniatures themselves are pretty good looking straight from the box.

Anyone else fly casual?
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Old 05-07-2017, 05:12 PM   #2
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This is my autism speaking, but the X-Wing wouldn't have the same firing arc as the Tie Fighter. X-Wing cannons were rigid and had a slight incline toward the ship's nose, so they could fire at a target directly in front of them. As a result, the X-Wing had the best range when it was modestly distant from the target (i.e., Range 2).



Yeah, the X-Wing could obliterate something at point blank range (as anything could) but the location of the laser cannons created some massive blind spots, not just on the horizontal plane but 360 degrees from top to bottom as well. It needed four cannons just to cover an area of three dimensional space in front of the spacecraft.

Tie Fighters, unlike Interceptors or Bombers, actually had the best laser system in that they could target ships on a different plane from the one they were traveling. Interceptors gave up this ability to pursue and lock on targets by allowing them to hit harder and faster. Bombers carried heavy rocket launchers, preventing them from using the Tie Fighter's laser system.

Vader's Tie Advanced X-1 used the Tie Fighter's laser system, but the later Tie Advanced opted for the Interceptor's model to accommodate concussion missle launchers. Only until the Tie Defender do you see the Tie Fighter's lasers return to a Sienar design, and in two sets along with a set of ion cannons.

...

Anyway, the miniature stuff looks interesting and I can see the D&D comparisons. Unfortunately, the dogfighting aspect of Star Wars is the least interesting part to me of the spaceship part of the IP. I mean, I would totally prefer dogfighting to Jedi v. Sith, but I would rather prefer the tactical capital ship/starfighter style commander gameplay, especially in 3D, to the dogfighting.
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Old 05-07-2017, 11:14 PM   #3
Loki
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Capital ships is Star Wars Armada, another game. That game is a bit too pricey for me =x

Also, I completely disagree with your 'autism'. Mythbuster proved that fixed mounted weapons on a car can still be aimed at small targets like another driver's head when chasing despite the guns not being locked at the driver's head level. With enough practice, Adam Savage was able to fairly accurately hit a driver and also the car's tires. When you take into account that you can't fly the car up and down like a space ship, that really shows how easily you can aim when you do have true vertical control.

The bonus at range one is because you're more easily able to see and keep track of your target. Your ship needs smaller turns to adjust aim and thus easier to shoot at targets and a pilot can more confidently pull the trigger more often.

In-game, secondary weapons like equipped Cannons, Turrets, Missiles, and Torpedoes have ranges 2-3, rather than 1-3 due to "optimal firing range" flavor.

And if the game was movie accurate, all TIE fighters would be made of wet tissue paper.

Today was actually the final day of the X-Wing Miniatures World Championships held at Fantasy Flight Games HQ in Minnesota. Very exciting games with this year's champion going completely undefeated the entire tournament and also defeating last year's champion at the finals. Both finalists ran some rather unconventional squads that crushed the meta. If you're vaguely interested in watching some of the games, they are on Twitch (starts around the 1 hour 40 minute mark).

Youtube has 2016 Worlds Championship. 2015 World Championships is also interesting. Albeit the games are a bit difficult to fully understand without knowing the game rules.
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