In 1977 I queued around the market square in Cambridge to go and see this new film at the Victoria Cinema, which was called Star Wars.
There was something about that quiet start, the Lucasfilm logo, the text, “a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away” and then BANG, the John Williams main theme hits you right away.
I remember thinking what a wonderful film. I never really did Star Wars as others did at that time, I didn’t buy the action figures, but that memory of the lost droids, the princess, the massive ships, the little fighters and, no it’s not a moon…. has stayed with me.
Speed up to 2015 and the release of The Force Awakens, there was some trepidation (I had seen the three prequels) but that same style of beginning gave me a little shiver and reminded what it was like nearly forty years earlier!
I guess like a lot of people, even if you don’t think you are, I am pretty much a Star Wars fan!
So this year, after much thought, I did get the starter boxed set for the Fantasy Flight Games X-Wing Miniatures game.
It’s a great way to start playing the game, you get all the counters and three lovely pre-painted ships.
This has been out for a while now, originally released back in 2012, but I didn’t get it for nearly four years. Some of my hesitation was that I have always loved the simplicity of GZG’s Full Thrust and had once used the mechanics to create a Star Wars fighter version. I had used Full Thrust for games involving Star Trek ships and then the simple rules worked really well.
Another part of me was conscious of the cost of the game, the boxed set’s retail price was nearly £40 and the ships were all about £15. It felt like you needed to spend a lot of money for a decent game. Having said that I did quite like the idea of getting a game complete with painted models.
So I was pleased to receive the game as a present and started playing games with the single X-Wing and the two TIE fighters.
The first few games I had were with the quick play rules, which were easy to pick up, fast to play and fun.
Then it was time for the full rules, which were a lot easier and simpler to pick up than I thought they would be. The main difference was actions. This made the game much more strategic and required you to really plan what you were going to do.
Having enjoyed a few games with the full rules I decided it was time to get some more ships. What I found was that the models on Amazon were cheaper than other stores and of course with Amazon Prime they arrived the next day!
The first reinforcements I got were a B-Wing for the Rebel Alliance and a TIE Bomber for the Imperials. The packs were also rather misleading, as you get quite a bit in them. The B-Wing pack looks like this…
…but this is what you actually get inside.
There are lots of cards and punched card counters as well as the model and the base.
These were very different ships to those included in the starter set, slower, less manoeuvrable, however they packed a much heavier punch and could take a lot more damage than say the flimsy TIE Fighters.
I did pop into my local branch of Forbidden Planet and was not surprised to find the range there, somewhat limited, but virtually everything was full price, except the lowly TIE fighter which was on special, so I got another, to boost the Imperial forces.
Overall I really like the game, I like how you can keep it very simple, or you can add more complex elements such as actions, cards and asteroids! Looking to expand my forces with more models over 2017.
