First Foray into Solo Play Open Alpha

 My sons and I played a cooperative game against the X-Wing Solo Play rules developed by FFG. Here is a link to the Open Alpha version of the rules.

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Tierfon Black Squadron sent three X-wings on a mission to harass a TIE squadron based on Geedon II. Rebel units on the ground required a distraction, and nothing gets the Imps attention like attacking X-wings!

Chosen for the mission were Flying Officers Athin Finn (human male, played by Nels), Satry Rudemo (human male, played by me), and Mowha Lokar (Duros male, played by Archer). 

The three heroes entered from the far side of the map, facing off against three TIEs, initially. In later turns, more TIEs and a pair of TIE Interceptors arrived to join the fray.

When all was said and done, the pilots from Black Squadron provided the distraction the Rebels needed, and then some. FO Finn shot down 2 TIE fighters and 1 TIE interceptor. FO Rudemo accounted for 2 more TIE fighter kills. FO Lokar killed a TIE interceptor, but was himself shot down by a different TIE interceptor.

Flying starfighters is a complicated profession, is it not?

Taking out six enemy fighters is a good thing; but losing a precious T-65B X-wing in the process stings. We assumed FO Lokar ejected into space and was retrieved by the clean up crew aboard the YT-1300. He suffered the usual bumps and bruises associated with such a rough outing, but will be returned to duty after some down time.

X-Wing Second Edition

Well, the Second Edition of the X-Wing Miniatures Game from FFG has been out for awhile now, and I have still not played a game under the new system.

I have, however, purchased a bunch of stuff and converted my collection over, more or less. I bought one copy of the new Core Set, one each of the Conversion Kits (Rebel Alliance, Galactic Empire, and Scum and Villainy), and a copy of the Lando's Millenium Falcon expansion.

The Good
I like the comprehensive approach they took to re-balancing the game. Over the course of 14 waves of expansions, many new mechanics and rules subsets came into being. Much of this additional material had the seeming effect of crowding out the earlier ships. Starting over with the whole lot of them at once can't help but be an improvement, to my mind.

I do mostly like the Conversion Kit concept. They attempted to help a person like me, with 100+ ships, convert as painlessly as possible. I was able to use most of the kit contents, and sell the rest on eBay. I came out very well, in the end.

The Force. I like that they built a new mechanic to allow the Force, a key element of Star Wars, to play a role in this game.

The variable points costs and upgrade bars. The new game does not have points values printed on the cards directly, nor do the ship cards have the upgrade icons printed on them. These are controlled in an app (or a series of downloads), which theoretically allows for the game designers to tweak the game, as needed, to achieve a sustainable balance moving forward. The game has a smartphone app; but you don't need to use it, as their are PDF versions of the points lists.

The Scum and Rebel astromechs now live in harmony, together. No more silly "Salvaged Astromech" distinction. Bad guy astromechs now say "Scum only", like they should (like Crew upgrades do to define their affiliation, if needed).

I think I might like the new movable firing arc idea added to some ships.


The Bad
The game has an app, but that app is bad. I need something that I can enter my entire collection into; including one-off eBay purchases of single upgrade cards, etc. I also want to configure a custom universe of just the ships and upgrades I own and not have to fuss about with the ships I do not. This isn't too terrible, as the app can be completely ignored.

Here they were, with a golden opportunity to do whatever they wanted, pilot-wise. The Conversion kits were a blank slate. They could fix the error of their ways, correct the mistakes of their youth. But NO! They still didn't create K-2SO as either a U-wing pilot or a crew card. Drop ball, much, FFG? (don't answer that; we know you do).

Speaking of that, they took one step forward in an area I've been advocating for, then two steps back, stylistically. That area? The Y-wing. I have long said that the Y-wing cried out for a way to make a two-seater version (the BTL-S3). Well, they did it, mostly. Instead of giving the Y-wing a Crew upgrade slot, they made a new upgrade type, called Gunner, and granted the Y-wing the ability to take it. Yahoo! Then they stepped on the touchdown call by labeling all Y-wing pilot cards "BTL-A4 Y-wing" (the one seater version). Boo! They still need to make the Y-wing pilot Wes Janson and the Gunner upgrade Hobbie Klivian. Or I'll quit.


The Ugly
The Conversion Kits were a good idea, mostly. But they skimped in silly areas. Not enough generic pilots. Not enough base tokens to run all the ships the kit said it would convert. I realize it would be difficult no matter what they did, but the kits are not ideally situated to actually convert large collections efficiently.


In Conclusion
As I have said before, FFG loves to sell "stuff". Plastic pieces, cardboard up the wazoo, custom dice, etc etc etc. I have been daydreaming about a way to jail break this game wide open. I don't want to be limited by their "stuff". The main issues are, of course, the maneuver dials (need 1 per ship) and the base tokens. I would like generic base tokens with just arcs printed on them. Not sure how to replicate a bunch of maneuver dials easily. I guess I can verify whether the 1st Edition dials are, in fact, different. I would guess so, because FFG wants to sell me new stuff while seeming like it wants to help me convert old stuff (inefficiently and expensively). I do suspect that, barring some few ships here and there, I am done purchasing for this game.

Now to actually play a few games sometime soon.


Oh, Nate!

Solo Falcon

Actually the Solo Lando's Falcon, with detached escape craft (also known as Maw Monster Bait). Excited for this ship to make it into my collection.

Bringing Balance to the Forces...Again

As you may know, a Second Edition of the X-Wing Miniatures Game is on the way (due in stores on September 13). Alongside re-designed, streamlined rules there are new model sculpts and a nice idea for veteran collectors, like me: conversion kits.

Each conversion kit is capable of bringing a set number of ships from a given faction up to Second Edition standards; with pilot cards and cardboard base tokens, etc. A nice gesture, when FFG might have not cared too much about the existing player base. All those First Edition plastic ships can be theoretically used in the new game, as long as you have the conversion pieces.

Of course, FFG will try hard to make you re-buy things you already own, like any good miniature game upon entering a new edition. In this case, they are doing it right: by making the new models flat out better. In the case of the X-wing, the S-foils actually open and close. That's OK with me, but not enough to make me want to part with all eight of my existing T-65s.

The new Y-wing sculpt, however, did make me recently clear the decks, selling my 4 Rebel Y-wings and 1 Scum Y-wing to make room for the new guy in town. First, the old (or current) Y-wing.

Then the Second Edition re-sculpt:

Oooh, la la! A longer, skinnier neck. More pronounced laser cannons on the front, and a much larger, more visible turret! I liked it so much that I sold all of my existing models to make room for these babies.

Another item on my mind has been my dis-satisfaction with the sequel trilogy; and when this craft flew onto my radar screens, I pulled the trigger on another sale:

That's right, Lando's Falcon from the Solo movie! Even I have my limits, so the prospect of owning three Falcons was a bit over the top...and I sold all things Sequel Trilogy: the Force Awakens Falcon, my five T-70 X-wings (including Poe's Black One), all four TIE/fo and both TIE/sf ships. I am no longer a Resistance or First Order player.

Note that Lando's Falcon is a Scum & Villainy ship. Intriguing... I also hear that the escape pod can detach from the front and fly as a separate ship. Cool.

Along the way, I had to trim down my number of standard TIE fighters as well. With a new Core set I will be getting two more...to go with the 16 I had. So I sold the four alternate paint job gray ones that I had collected (two of which came in the Gozanti-class cruiser epic expansion).

My X-wing collection is now at 82 ships, down from just over 100 not too long ago. I have only Original Trilogy stuff, and avoid both the Sequel Trilogy and Star Wars: Rebels cartoon.

When Second Edition hits, I will get one base set, Lando's Falcon, four Y-wings, and one X-wing in addition to one of each conversion pack. Depending on how they look, I may sell the TIEs that come with the base game, if they don't fit well with my existing full TIE squadron. Yes, that's too much.

Before that (tomorrow, in fact) I plan to pick up the TIE Reaper expansion (to go with my two TIE Strikers). This is an interesting one as it includes material for both First and Second edition of the game.

Meet the Fleet, part 26

   

Flashback to Wave IX. I was skeptical at first about wanting to include the ARC-170 in my collection, but FFG did a great job making them look believably beat-up and scrounged. The Rebels have no doubt been rough on these old warhorses, and it shows.

The ship is a beast, the down-turned nose reminds me a bit of a vulture somehow.

In an interesting design choice, they only have 4 unique pilots for this ship in the game...underlining the notion that this is not a widespread vehicle in the Rebel fleet. There aren't any full squadrons of ARC-170s, for instance, if the clues are to be believed. As to who those pilots are, its a bit surprising: Norra Wexley, Shara Bey, Thane Kyrell, and Braylen Stramm.

Norra Wexley, from the terrible Aftermath books, who flew a Y-wing into the second Death Star.

Shara Bey, from the Shattered Empire comics, who flew an A-wing at Endor.

Thane Kyrell, from the great Lost Stars book, a great early Empire TIE fighter pilot and then X-wing pilot, from Hoth to Endor to Jakku.

Braylen Stramm, from Star Wars Insider's Blade Squadron mini-series (the first new official canon fiction after the Disney Legends reboot!), who flew a B-wing at the Battle of Endor as a Deputy Wing Leader.

Why FFG choose to shoe-horn all of these pilots from different craft into this outdated vessel is unknown to me. I guess they have a list of pilots they'd like to include, and a list of ships they want to develop, and the two lists are independent of each other.

I hope that Bey, Kyrell, and Stramm find their way into their "regular" ships at some point in the future. I don't care what happens to Norra Wexley or Mr. Bones.

Preferred Canon, Miniature Edition

I am a big fan of the Galactic Civil War era of Star Wars and I am a stickler for my preferred aesthetics.

Over the last few months I have been culling my growing FFG Star Wars miniatures herd, weeding out those ships which annoyed me in one way or another.

It all started on the X-Wing side, I would say, with my purchase of the VCX-100, Ghost. It was so big! And so different. I have always thought that ship looks like a crude flying brick (and that's being generous). I like Hera a lot. I am OK with Kanan. The rest of the crew (especially Chopper) annoy me. The show started to bug me, too. I quit watching after season 2. I like Darth Maul...but he was cut in half. I don't care for retconned stories about B-wing origins, etc. Don't get me started with Wedge Antilles. Or the size of the A-wing. Or which capital ships Vader might be able to kill single-handedly.

At any rate, this humongous, lumpy brute of a ship never felt like one of the gang, sitting on my shelf beside the Falcon and Outrider. So I sold it. While I was at it, I also sold the Agent Kallus crew card that came with the otherwise awesome Imperial Gozanti-class Assault Carrier. For a clean sweep of Rebels material, I also sent the Inquisitor packing in his TIE Advanced Prototype. The solar panels are on the insides of the wings, for cripe's sake.

Then I turned my attention to the K-wing (a vessel of dubious heritage from 16 years after the Civil War period). Gone. Along with it went the Imperial monstrosity the TIE Punisher. Too weird looking.

My purge went to not buying some expansions, as well as selling those I mention. I am not interested in the Quad Jumper, the Protectorate Starfighter, the Upsilon-class shuttle (Kylo fleeping Ren doesn't actually fly his own shuttle, does he?), the Shadowcaster, the E-wing, or Sabine's TIE. Reasons: Rebels, Episode VII, or anachronisms (the E-wing is a New Republic era starfighter; also of dubious design lineage, in my mind). While I skip the ships, I use eBay extensively to get the cards and components I like from the sets I avoid, like the stuff from The Force Awakens core set (damage decks, upgrades, even maneuver templates, etc), astromechs, Smuggling Compartment, Rigged Cargo Chute, Burnout SLAM, BoShek, etc. The rest of my fleet cannot be expected to miss out on goodies packaged with some odious vessels, can it?

I am open to the Auzituck Gunship (who doesn't like Wookiees?) and the TIE Aggressor when they come out. Not the Scurrg H-6.

I have been similarly active on the Armada side, as well. Ships I have sold after owning for awhile (both due to "look and feel" issues) are the Rebel Assault Frigate Mk. II and the Imperial Gladiator-class Star Destroyer (from the 1980's cartoon Droids, no less!). What's next, FFG, Itchy, Lumpy, and Bea Arthur singing about Life Day?

I have not purchased (and will not) the flotillas. I don't like the idea of having a single mini represent the Falcon by itself, but a group of Gozanti-class cruisers has to stick together for some awful reason. Add in the incessant complaints people have about their rules and I say "No, thank you."

I wanted to get the Pelta-class frigate, in theory, but I don't care for both the strong Rebels tie-in and the strange rules wherein a small fry of a ship like that gets some kind of unique bonus ability to command a fleet. What? The admirals riding on the largest ships can't pull off the tricks of the low-lifes on a converted medical frigate from the Clone Wars? No.

Also not interested in Rebel Fighter Squadrons II, with E-wings, Ghosts, and Shadowcasters.

I have not purchased The Corellian Conflict campaign expansion yet, either. Not sure about that one. Almost wanted it just for the Rogue Squadron X-wing squadron card...but then I realized that most of the good pilots from Rogue Squadron already have their own squadron cards. Odd.

I am eagerly awaiting the upcoming Hammerhead Corvette two-pack and the Imperial Light Carrier. Even though the Light Carrier has a strong Rebels vibe, I like the theoretical ability to carry more non-hyperdrive-equipped squadrons into combat. I am working on home brew rules for Carriers. It seems too thematic to not worry about where the TIEs come from when the fighting begins.

I very much expect to see, and soon (and will definitely purchase), Admiral Raddus and his MC-75, Profundity. I hope they do the right thing and mount it on a large base.

Meet the Fleet, part 25

   

   

   

The other wonderful release tied directly to Rogue One: the Incom UT-60D U-wing. I quite like this ship. The wings even sweep back! Two things about this make me a bit sad: first, no K-2SO crew card (or pilot card!). Second, no Chirrut Îmwe crew card. They must be coming in a future expansion! We can't have Cassian Andor and Baze Malbus languishing without their partners in crime, can we? No. We cannot.

I do wish this vehicle had been the start of an integration into a ground combat add-on game. This is a strike team insertion vessel, built to be just like a military transport helicopter. Like the UH-60 Blackhawk, perhaps?

A handsome vessel at any rate.

Meet the Fleet, part 24

   

   

Heroes of the Resistance. Of course FFG could make me buy a second Millennium Falcon. Poe Dameron's orange and black Black One is pretty cool, too. Forget for a minute that Poe's call sign is "Black One" and he leads Blue and Red Squadrons.

One interesting note is that this is apparently a brand-new sculpt for the Falcon, not just change in the dish. You can tell the difference, if you look very closely. I like the mini, I like Rey and Finn. Fine, I'll buy a second Falcon.

Frankly, I'd buy a third, if they could think of a reason to sell me another.

Meet the Fleet, part 23

   

   

Two of the iconic TIE Strikers, as seen in Rogue One. I like the look of these craft; but FFG missed the boat in not making it a two seat light bomber, like the excellent Rogue One Ultimate Visual Guide describes. The wings even move up and down, to aid in atmospheric flight.

Meet the Fleet, part 22

   

   

The newest member in the Epic Play Club: the Scum & Villainy C-ROC Gozanti-class cruiser. A nice looking (appropriately Scum-y) ship. One of the best parts is that this vessel comes with the Jabba the Hutt crew card. Nice!

This vessel came with an alternate re-paint M-3A Scyk Interceptor. These two are the 96th and 97th ships in my fleet!

A-Wing Issues

I love the RZ-1 A-wing interceptor. A very small, very fast craft hand-built for speed. Some of these awesome starfighters incorporated actual wood furnishings. Very cramped cockpits assured that the tallest pilots in the Rebellion couldn't fly them.

This is a brief study to set the record straight, as I see it. Somebody at Lucasfilms made a mistake, back in the day, and we are now paying the price. The mistake? An incorrect quoted length for the A-wing of 9.6 meters. The price? Star Wars Rebels actually scaled their version of the A-wing to those dimensions (as did FFG) and it looks silly! Just look at the cartoon pilot swimming in his luxurious cockpit. You could fit three people in there, plus a Wookiee! That's just one of the latest attacks on Star Wars perpetrated by the Rebels people. More on that, later.

Many have tackled this subject before, some incorporating screen captures and relative size comparisons, etc. Here is one such discussion from FFG discussion boards, and one from BoardGameGeek (and another, for fun).

My argument relies on simply two variables. Observed cockpit width (inferred from some movie stills) and the ratio of that width to the overall length of the craft.

First, cockpit width. Here are some legitimate, actual A-wing pilots for you, taken from the original source: Return of the Jedi. Behind the scenes, they are probably being filmed in the same A-wing "set", I'd imagine. Arvel Crynyd, Jake Farrell, and Sila Kott.

I submit to you that these three are fairly cramped in the small A-wing cockpit. Measuring myself across the shoulders, I took a guess that this is something like 2 feet across. Modern jetfighters (more on that in a minute) agree very closely with this "shoulder width" measurement guess.

Here is a drawing of the A-wing where we can get the ratio between the shoulder width and the overall craft length. I drew a orange highlighter line across the area of the cockpit where I suspect the pilot's shoulders are located (halfway back in the "rear section" of the canopy). On this particular printout, that shoulder width measurement was 18mm. The overall craft length was found to be 185mm, for a craft length of ~10 times the shoulder room measurement. Ten times two feet is twenty feet, or ~6.1 meters.

Working backwards, if we actually think 9.6m is the correct ship length, we need to assume that the shoulder width allowed for the pilot is 3 feet. That is a very roomy cockpit, much like what Star Wars: Rebels illustrates incorrectly.

Just for a proof of this "shoulder width to length" concept, I applied the same technique to a real world aircraft: the F 16 Falcon.

The Falcon pilot is very cramped, too. The cockpit is barely wider than their shoulders, at something like the 2 feet I guessed for the A-wing.

Applying the same logic to another scale drawing suggests that, in the case of the F 16, the shoulder width to overall length multiplier is something like 23 times.

This suggests the overall length of an F 16, just based on the apparent shoulder room for the cramped pilot, is something like 46 feet (14.0m). The actual length of the plane is 49.4 feet (15.06m). Very close, especially for such a rough method of guessing, based simply on how cramped the pilot is while flying.

Long story short: the A-wing seen in Return of the Jedi is not 9.6m long. Rebels and FFG have incorrectly repeated this mistake, and made the vessel much different from its origins. In the case of the FFG miniature, it is a faithful 1/165 scale reproduction of the A-wing (not 1/270 they were shooting for). The A-wing made by WotC for their Star Wars miniatures game is much closer to being correctly scaled, and with the advent of the FFG spare bases and pegs accessories, I have made the switch to the more correctly sized craft. I will keep the beautiful, wrong scale FFG ships somewhere safe, off to the side.

The FFG models look better, but the size was really starting to bug me.

I can't resist a few more pictures to drive the point home. Note the size of the pilot in relation to the overall craft. This is not the annoying Rebels version of the A-wing. This is the original item (with a British Royal Family shot tucked in for good measure).

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To be complete and as fair as possible to the Star Wars Rebels depiction, here is the prototype (?) design by the great Ralph McQuarrie. I suppose it is among the first views of the fictitious craft, and it looks & feels larger than the ship that eventually appears in Return of the Jedi. I admire how Rebels often goes back to the old McQuarrie stuff for inspiration (it is the best part of the cartoon, in my mind), but don't do such a thing if it opens up a discrepancy with the OT films.

Meet the Fleet, part 21

   

   

The Imperial Raider-class corvette. FFG needed an Epic scale ship that reminded us of the wedge shaped Star Destroyers, but they also needed the craft to be smaller than most of the available canon ships. The elegant solution? Work with Lucasfilms to develop a brand-new ship from scratch.

The result is the Raider-class corvette, an anti-starfighter support ship in the Imperial Navy. Combines some key design elements of wedge shape and TIE fighter-like solar panels. Seems like a nice vessel, to me.

Until I pick up the Imperial Veterans expansion (in a day or two?) this is the last of my collection to be shown on Meet the Fleet. I did buy the Ghost expansion when it came out, but I just couldn't get to like the vessel. I have since sold it on eBay. I have seen every episode of Rebels so far, and have a love-hate relationship with the show. More on that in a future post.

Meet the Fleet, part 20

   

   

   

The CR90 Corellian corvette. The first ship to ever appear in Star Wars.

The awesome yellow planet of Tatooine emerges from a total eclipse, her two moons glowing against the darkness. A tiny silver spacecraft, a Rebel Blockade Runner firing lasers from the back of the ship, races through space. It is pursed by a giant Imperial Star Destroyer. Hundreds of deadly laserbolts streak from the Imperial Star Destroyer, causing the main solar fin of the Rebel craft to disintegrate.

INT. REBEL BLOCKADE RUNNER - MAIN PASSAGEWAY

An explosion rocks the ship as two robots, Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2) and See-Threepio (C-3PO) struggle to make their way through the shaking, bouncing passageway.  Both robots are old and battered.  Artoo is a short, claw-armed tripod. His face is a mass of computer lights surrounding a radar eye.  Threepio, on the other hand, is a tall, slender robot of human proportions. He has a gleaming bronze-like metallic surface of an Art Deco design. 

Another blast shakes them as they struggle along their way.

                    THREEPIO

          Did you hear that? They've shut down the main reactor.  We'll be destroyed for sure. This is madness!

Rebel troopers rush past the robots and take up positions in the main passageway. They aim their weapons toward the door.

                    THREEPIO

          We're doomed!

The little R2 unit makes a series of electronic sounds that only another robot could understand.

                    THREEPIO

          There'll be no escape for the Princess this time.

Artoo continues making beeping sounds. Tension mounts as loud metallic latches clank and the scream of heavy equipment are heard moving around the outside hull of the ship.

                    THREEPIO

          What's that?

EXT. SPACECRAFT IN SPACE

The Imperial craft has easily overtaken the Rebel Blockade Runner. The smaller Rebel ship is being drawn into the underside dock of the giant Imperial starship.

INT. REBEL BLOCKADE RUNNER

The nervous Rebel troopers aim their weapons.  Suddenly a tremendous blast opens up a hole in the main passageway and a score of fearsome armored spacesuited stormtroopers make their way into the smoke-filled corridor.  

I love how they did this ship, with one exception: I wish the scale could have been correct. The thing would probably have cost more than 10 times as much and not really fit on the table, so I am OK with the "sliding scale" used for the Epic ships.

A wonderful model, a great paint job (I'll need to add engine glow somehow). This feels properly imposing when on the table with starfighters. Have only played a couple of times with these Epic guys, but I like the ideas of alternate movement templates and energy, etc. It feels cool to loose a turbolaser shot.