6 comments on “Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game & Expansions

  1. Since this is your first miniatures game, I think you may be looking at the cost from a board gamers point of view.

    For a miniatures game this is probably less than average in price. The idea is that you don’t have to get everything (and even if you do it’s still cheaper than some miniatures games). You can decided on a squad you want and by the ships for that.

    $60 for a standard sized squad compared to $300 for a standard sized army in some miniatures games talks for itself.

    As for storage. If you just keep the plastic the expansions ships are in, not the outer plastic, you can use that outer plastic to cover up the hole in the lid of the core box, then get rid of the insert. All 4 of the expansions and the plastic storing the core ships will fit in the box with enough space for the bags of tokens and cards, etc.

    Glad to hear you liked the game though. I’m still waiting for mine here in the UK, should arrive next week, just in time for my Birthday!

  2. It’s not a bad idea, if one is venturing into miniatures type games – or any games, really) to shop around a little more. I got my core sets for $25.97 ea (much better than MSRP $40 and almost 25% less than what you found on Amazon). The expansions were $9.72 ea.

  3. Great review, thank you! Cost is always a factor in adopting a game. As JJ mentioned earlier, I shopped around and found good deals on the expansions, picking up the Y Wing, TIE Advanced and X Wing all together for US$20 total, through Amazon.

    Being a miniature games guy (and hopelessly addicted to Battle Fleet Gothic) I was drawn to this space game seemingly for the wrong reasons, despite it being Star Wars, which is an A++++ situation for me. If they sold Star Wars feminine hygiene products I’d probably buy them, even though I’m a guy. yes, that’s sad. But it also illustrates a point. I didn’t buy this game right away, since as a miniature gamer, I hesitated. I shouldn’t have.

    1. Pre-Painted models: I’m an OK miniature painter and have been so since 1986. That said, these pre-painted ships are AWESOME. While that doesn’t sell a game on its own, for a mini-gamer guy, it is incentive to get a game with no hobby-work required if painted quality is high, which it very much is. The visual appeal of the game on a table IS a big deal to all players, since it adds a visceral element that helps immerse you into the action. Coupled with the production quality of the tokens, cards and most importantly its game mechanic… it’s just very polished out of the box. I’ve played more expensive games with less “finish” than this. My opinion here is that this game is VERY well done for what it does. It seems to win over skeptical Star Wars fans AND skeptical miniature painters/gamers. That just isn’t easy to do. Yet, there is still room for casual players of all sorts. That’s a good deal for US$40.
    2. Scale: This game is best described as a skirmish game. It obviously isn’t a fleet action, due to low number of ships. The scale of the dogfights is very personal and “tie”d into the above, lends itself well for players who want an hour game or more, since in most cases I’ve seen with this game, you are actively fighting and hanging out/talking/eating/drinking/whatever. It is a very pro-social game, despite trying to shoot your opponent out into hard vacuum.

    While I don’t think this game has the legs that more expensive miniature games have in terms of support, room to grow, following or scalability, it also doesn’t need it. This is a dog fighting game between friends and outside of other expansions, it sits confidently in its niche with some room to grow.

    Best,

    Yeti

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