X-Wing: Out with the Old?
8 Minute Read
Dec 9 2014
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Can the oldest X-Wing ships cut the mustard against today’s newcomers? Let’s find out!
In two relatively short years we’ve seen X-Wing transform from a miniatures games with two ships for two factions into nine (!) ships for each without counting huge ships, repaints, and the coming soon third faction. As FFG strives to keep making the game compelling without sweeping new edition changes to the core rules, are we finally starting to see some power creep between the new stuff and the old stuff? Let’s take a look!
Trying to come up with an idea to write about for today’s article in the wake of the new Wave 5 ships, the YT-2400 and the VT-49 Decimator, I was talking a bit about the new ships with my buddy Sean while playing Elder Sign last weekend and we both wondered aloud how these new ships would fly compared to the old ships. When I then pitched the idea of this article to Larry earlier, he said something to the effect of, “People will naturally be drawn to the new stuff, but if it’s a well designed game, the old stuff will still be viable.”
So that’s kind of the question isn’t it:
We all want the new stuff, but does the old stuff still work?
Going back to the halcyon days of Wave 1 where a guy could easily memorize all of the cards on both sides of the table, X-Wing Miniatures sure has changed- we’ve had the announcement of the third Faction, Huge ships and a new style of play to support them, and the addition of a whole bunch of pilots, upgrades, and ships to the game. Suddenly this game that drew many folks in with the benefits of relatively cheap buy-in and simple but deep rules looks a little different in 2014 than in 2012, huh?
Being an unapologetic Rebel sympathizer (hey, I have an Alliance symbol tattoo that’s old enough to drink legally- don’t mess with me), naturally I’ll start with the good guys first.
The “Old” Rebels
Despite the fact that Han Shoots First has largely given way to Fat Han on the tournament circuit, I doubt many people would call the ubiquitous X-Wing fighter outdated in the aftermath of Wave 5. While being a bit of an all-comer is usually not a good thing in a miniatures game, that’s pretty much what the X-Wing is- decent stats, fair price, bevy of upgrades from the cheap to the not so cheap, and more pilots than you can shake a stick at. Whether you’re paying 21 points for a guy seeing the firmament for the first time from behind a transparisteel canopy or a deadly veteran like Wedge Antilles, it’s tough to go wrong with an X-Wing.
Doing a direct stat compairson with the YT-2400, the X-Wing has better guns, same agility and unsurprisingly, less hull and shields than the freighter. Of course, comparing the two base models, the X-Wing is 9 points cheaper, which isn’t insignificant in this game.
I feel like the X-Wing is a blunt instrument and it’s use is pretty straightforward- after all, it’s a space superiority starfighter. To me, that means it’s got the guns to get into a fight and the durability to withstand some heat coming back it’s way and I think the stats reflect that. The dial is pretty respectable, and while you won’t find a lot of tricks up the X-Wing’s sleeves in the upgrade department, it does offer some interesting synergies with some of the named pilots. So does it hold up? Yeah, I’m comfortable saying I think so.
The Y-Wing of course was the other Wave 1 Rebel ship. Considered somewhat, er, less than useful by most folks early on, the Y-Wing started to come into it’s own as people realized it couldn’t be used the same way as the X-Wing.
While it’s cheaper than an X-Wing, many folks feel like Y-Wings aren’t functional without an Ion Cannon Turret which ups the points to more expensive than an X-Wing at the same relative Pilot Skill rating. While I’d love to be the guy who goes against the grain and tells you otherwise, I’ll admit I rarely fly Y-Wings without a turret. In the beginning, we were largely paying that five points just to get another attack die, but even folks who didn’t appreciate the 360 firing arc of a turreted Y-Wing initially came around if they were brave enough to stick with the Y-Wing for more than a game or two.
The Y-Wing and the YT-2400 share the same Attack value, but falls behind in all other statistical category. Again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing- the cost difference between the two base Pilot Skill pilots is an Academy Pilot. The main drawbacks of the Y-Wing are a fairly stinky maneuver dial and only a couple of named pilots to mix things up.
While the game designers saw fit to further buff up the already popular B-Wing with the Rebel Aces expansion pack, the Y-Wing has had to make do with picking up upgrade cards from the other expansions. That’s worked out in some advantageous ways for the Y-Wing since there’s several different kinds of torpedoes these days and the Y-Wing sports dual tubes. It can also take advantage of all the interesting Astromech droids available as well as the starfighter Modifications.
The problem with the Y-Wing is the problem with a couple other ships in the game- it’s not all that offensive inherently, it’s more of a very sturdy support ship than anything and unfortunately being a survivable ship doesn’t earn you much in X-Wing Miniatures currently. Is it still viable? Sure, but with Ion weapons coming in several different flavors now, the Y-Wing doesn’t quite have the claim to fame it once did. I’m not saying it doesn’t have its uses, I’m just saying you kinda have to really want to use one to justify it over other ships available currently, YT-2400 included.
The “Old” Imperials
When I was trying to sell folks at my FLGS on X-Wing back in the day, I’d liken the TIE Fighter to Guardsmen- individually, not much to write home about, but in groups firing on the same target? Pretty nasty.
While that isn’t really a great analogy, it got the point across.
The TIE Fighter is the absolute antithesis of the VT-49 Decimator- maneuverable, low cost, low stats. Of course, I think this is why the Decimator appeals to so many predominantly Imperial players- it’s just such a different kind of animal than the ships they’ve played with before. I mean yeah, there are those folks who run four Phantoms and stuff, but that’s still a four ship list, y’know? Sure, it seems like it’s a huge departure from a six or seven TIE Swarm, but at the end of the day, that’s still a decent amount of models to push around in this game.
Being as how the cheapest Decimator clocks in at 40 points completely stock, it’s not surprising that it completely and totally trumps the TIE Fighter in all statistical categories save for Agility. Like I said, these two ships couldn’t be more opposite from one another. As a mainly Rebel player, what scares me the most is the possibility of facing a Decimator along with a mini-swarm of four TIE Fighters, which would be very possible in a 100 point game. Is the TIE Figher still viable two years after it’s release? You better believe it, man. A TIE Fighter is like the mac and cheese of the Imperial list- it goes well with just about anything, and if you’re hungry enough you can eat it by itself as a meal too. Much like the X-Wing, these guys saw a TON of play (and still do, for that matter), so it’s not so much whether or not you can still use one, it’s more about are you tired of flying them.
The TIE Advanced is the fourth ship of Wave 1. At first, it saw quite a bit of use in no small part to Mr. Two Actions himself, the Dark Lord of the Sith, the Ayatollah of Rock n’ Rolla, Darth Vaaaaaader! After awhile though, a lot of folks decided to save the points and make their swarms bigger and even ol’ Ani got relegated to the sidelines.
I feel the Advanced is like the Y-Wing in some ways- what it does well just kind of isn’t really valued in X-Wing. It’s maneuverable, durable, and can carry missiles none of which are really all that handy in an Imperial list. Lots of people will point out it’s a point or two too expensive to boot. I’ve never completely bought into that theory, but I do feel like an Imperial Aces II with a Chardan Refit type card for an Advanced would definitely boost it’s popularity.
Also like the Y-Wing, not a lot of love on the named pilot front with only two guys to choose from, which is definitely a knock on a ship that can really only sport two classes of upgrades- Missiles and Modifications. That said, you might be able to sneak an Advanced with Proton Rockets past a few people at your FLGS if you’re brave enough to try it.
Compared to the Decimator, well, again- the Decimator does almost everything better than the Advanced from a stats perspective. The thing is, while you can get three TIE Fighters with a few points to spare for the cost of a base model Decimator, you’re getting less than two Advanced. Not being an all out attack kind of ride, and not being super cheap always put the Advanced behind the 8-ball in the Imperial fleet, and X-Wing Miniatures in general.
So to answer the original question/ comment at the start about the well designed game where old stuff hangs with the new stuff- I think largely the ships even as far back as Wave 1 still hold up much the same way they always have, regardless of ships that can fly through obstacles virtually unimpeded or large base battering rams plowing their way through the stars.
If you want to get into X-Wing Miniatures but don’t know your Evades from your Target Locks, by all means, stop on by the hippest pilot bar in the galaxy- TheMetalBikini.com. We serve all kinds (yeah, even droids- they’re the best tippers), and have a whole bunch of articles from breakdown summaries of every single card released so far, to tactics articles, to our Bikini Battle Basics new player guides- all served up with a heapin’ helpin’ of my own personal brand of slang and humor. Can you dig it?
Author: Clint Weisgerber
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