Cheaper Second Edition

Just bought Star Wars X-Wing Second Edition on Amazon for just £12.99.

Fantasy Flight Games X-Wing Second Edition

The boxed set includes three models, two TIE Fighters and an X-Wing.

From the skies of scarif in Rogue one to the climactic clash above Endor in return of the Jedi, starfighter have played a pivotal role in almost every defining battle of the galactic civil War. During these confrontations, the brave members of the Rebel Alliance faced seemingly insurmountable odds, squaring off against the merciless forces of the galactic Empire in intense, ship-to-ship space combat. Since its release, x-wing miniatures game has invited you to enter the Star Wars galaxy and play out your own battles with some of the series’ most iconic starfighter. LEADING custom-built squadrons into fast-paced, high-stakes battles, you’ve flown with the galactic Empire, the Rebel Alliance, and the Scum and villainy of the galaxy in countless battles. You’ve modified your ships for every Scrap of speed, manoeuvrability, and firepower. Now, it’s time for a new chapter in your x-wing journey. X-Wing second edition puts you in command of your own Squadron of advanced starfighters locked in thrilling, tactical space combat. Following in the footsteps of the first edition, the second edition refines the intuitive and exciting core Formula of manoeuvring your ships into position by placing a central focus on the visceral thrill of flying Star ships in the Star Wars galaxy. With three fully assembled and beautifully pre-painted ships, and all the cards, movement tools, tokens, and dice that you need to get flying with the second edition, the x-wing second edition core set is the perfect way to introduce yourself to the new mechanics or experience x-wing for the first time.

In September last year I blogged about getting the first edition for this kind of price using Keepa. I forgot I had set up triggers for the second edition, so it was nice to get the alert to enable me to get it for the cheap price.

Buy it on Amazon.

May the Fourth be with you….

Today of course is Star Wars Day, it’s 4th May, as in May the Fourth be with you….

You can now buy the complete Star Wars Saga in UHD 4K as well as Blu-Ray and DVD.

I have a few sections and pages on the website for those who are interested in Star Wars.

We have a section on Star Wars: X-Wing.

X-Wing Boxed Set

X-Wing is a miniatures game from Fantasy Flight games that recreates the dogfights in the Star Wars universe between X-Wing fighters of the Rebel Alliance and the Imperial TIE Fighters.

Here are some blog posts about X-Wing.

Rebel Scum

Red Leader, Red Leader, Cheaper Leader

Red Leader, Red Leader, Still Cheaper Leader

Transports away…

I also have a section on Star Wars: Legion.

Star Wars Legion Boxed Set

Star Wars: Legion invites you to join the unsung battles of the Galactic Civil War as the commander of a unique army filled with troopers, powerful ground or repulsor vehicles, and iconic characters like Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker. While innovative mechanics simulate the fog of war and the chaos of battle, the unpainted, easily assembled miniatures give you a canvas to create the Star Wars army you’ve always wanted to lead into battle—whether you fight for the monolithic, oppressive Galactic Empire or the ragtag Rebel Alliance.

The boxed set contains thirty-three sculpted, easily assembled figures (including Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Rebel Troopers, Stormtroopers, an AT-RT, and 74-Z Speeder Bikes).

Star Wars Legion Workbench

First game of Star Wars: Legion

Battle of Scarif

Transports away…

Rebel Transport

I really like X-Wing for recreating the star fighter conflicts from the Star Wars universe. It’s a fun game and one that can be played with a few ships or a fair few.

In a previous blog posts I talked about how I used the Keepa service to find price reductions on the X-Wing Starter Set on Amazon and the C-ROC crusier.

Using Keepa I have managed to find the X-Wing starter boxed set on Amazon for just £8.99, the list price is £36.99. Using the same service I was able to find the C-ROC Cruiser for just £16.99 which has a list price of £55.98.

One model I wanted for a long time for X-Wing was the Rebel Transport.

Rebel Transport

I managed to get it for just £16.92 which is an amazing deal for a model which has a list price of £54.99 and includes an X-Wing fighter which is usually about £15 anyhow.

Star Wars X-Wing Rebel Transport Expansion Pack , FFGSWX11

I was well pleased.

Of course with Keepa, you ca keep track of prices of the Rebel Transport on Amazon. This is useful if you want to see the history of prices for the miniature. You can then trigger an e-mail alert when the price reaches a particular level.

Red Leader, Red Leader, Still Cheaper Leader

I really like X-Wing for recreating the star fighter conflicts from the Star Wars universe. It’s a fun game and one that can be played with a few ships or a fair few.

In a previous blog post

Red Leader, Red Leader, Cheaper Leader

I talked about how I used the Keepa service to find price reductions on the X-Wing Starter Set on Amazon.

Using Keepa I have managed to find the starter boxed set on Amazon for just £8.99, the list price is £36.99.

Using the service I was able to find the C-ROC Cruiser for just £16.99 which has a list price of £55.98.

Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game: C-ROC Cruiser Expansion Pack - First Edition

The C-ROC Cruiser Expansion Pack contains one C-ROC Cruiser miniature, one M3-A Interceptor miniature with an alternate paint scheme, seven ship cards, thirty upgrade cards, and all the manoeuvre dials, damage decks, tokens, and game pieces that you need to fly your C-ROC Cruiser and its escort to battle.

Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game: C-ROC Cruiser

C-ROCs first appeared in the Star Wars Rebels episode Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion.

The C-ROC Gozanti-class cruiser was a shipyard custom configuration for the Gozanti-class cruiser, manufactured by the Corellian Engineering Corporation.

C-ROC Gozanti-class cruiser

Initially offered to the Imperial Navy as an armed long-range transport, the Navy rejected the configuration as inappropriate to the order of battle, instead choosing the Imperial freighter configuration of Gozanti. Despite this setback, the C-ROC became popular with both legitimate cargo operations and criminal operations, becoming especially popular on the Outer Rim due to its combination of hauling capacity, rugged construction, and heavy armament.

So for roughly the price of a M3-A Interceptor miniature, I got that model and the huge C-ROC Cruiser miniature.

At the time of writing the model is £19.95 + £4.62 delivery which is still pretty good discount on the list price.

Of course with Keepa, you can keep track of prices of the C-ROC on Amazon. This is useful if you want to see the history of prices for the miniature. You can then trigger an e-mail alert when the price reaches a particular level.

Red Leader, Red Leader, Cheaper Leader

Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game

I really like X-Wing for recreating the star fighter conflicts from the Star Wars universe. It’s a fun game and one that can be played with a few ships or a fair few. I am sticking with the original rules, despite the fact that there is a new edition out now. The original boxed set comes with three models.

I wanted to get some reinforcements for both the Empire and the Rebel Alliance, but wanted to get some of the standard models, having already got specialist models such as the Millennium Falcon, B-Wings, A-Wings and fair few of the TIE specialist fighters.

So first on my list was the X-Wing. With a list price of £15, I have managed to get one on Amazon for £8.79, which I thought then was a bargain.

I had noticed that the original boxed set on Amazon was sometimes sold at a discount, but I don’t have the time to continually check Amazon for those price fluctuations.

Well just because you don’t have the time, doesn’t mean it can’t be done. I now use a service called Keepa which has an extension that can be installed on the Chrome browser. What Keepa does is keep track of prices of products on Amazon. This is useful if you want to see the history of prices for the product.. Has it been cheaper or expensive.

You can then trigger an e-mail alert when the price reaches a particular level.

Using Keepa I have managed to find the starter boxed set on Amazon for just £8.99, the list price is £36.99.

As the set contains an X-Wing fighter and two TIE fighters, that (for me) was amazing value. I also get an additional set of movement templates, counters and dice. So for the same price as a single model, I get three!

At the time of writing the price is £23.13, but it does go up and down.

Rebel Scum

Star Wars A Wing

Over Christmas I managed to get some reinforcements for the Rebel Alliance for the X Wing Miniatures game. Well I say reinforcements, I got a single starfighter, the A Wing.

I don’t have any A Wings, my current Rebel Alliance forces include X Wings, Y Wings, a B Wing and the U Wing. I also have the Millennium Falcon in reserve.

The RZ-1 A-wing interceptor was a wedge shaped starfighter manufactured by Kuat Systems Engineering, which took design inspiration from the Republic starfighters of the Clone Wars. They were used by the early rebellion against the Galactic Empire and the subsequent Rebel Alliance, seeing action during the Age of the Empire and the Galactic Civil War. It was still in use thirty years later during the conflict between the Resistance and the First Order.

It is a smaller craft compared to some of the other Rebel ships. As with other X Wing Miniatures you get a whole bunch of cards with the model as well as card tokens for use in the game.

AWing-components

The A Wing is supposed to be the fastest Rebel fighter, but there is a “5” speed limit in the game, which means it doesn’t go as fast as maybe it can in the films.

It will be interesting to see how it plays in a future game.

Cut the chatter, Red 2. Accelerate to attack speed!

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.

Star Wars 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…

X- Wing Miniatures Game B-Wing

…but this is what you actually get inside.

X- Wing Miniatures Game B-Wing

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.

STAR WARS: Armada

Fantasy Flight Games have announced their new miniatures game of Tactical Fleet Battles in the Star Wars Galaxy.

Star Wars: Armada

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the upcoming release of Star Wars™: Armada, a two-player miniatures game of epic fleet battles in the Star Wars galaxy!

Massive Star Destroyers fly to battle against Rebel corvettes and frigates. Banks of turbolasers unleash torrential volleys of fire against squadrons of X-wings and TIEs. Engineering teams race to route additional power to failing shields. Laser blasts and explosions flare across the battlefield. Even a single ship can change the tide of battle.

In Star Wars: Armada, you assume the role of fleet admiral, serving with either the Imperial Navy or Rebel Alliance. You assemble your fleet and engage the enemy. Using the game’s unique maneuver tool, you steer your capital ships across the battlefield, even while squadrons of starfighters buzz around them. Then, as these ships exchange fire, it’s your job to issue the tactical commands that will decide the course of battle and, perhaps, the fate of the galaxy.

I always liked the ideas behind their Star Wars: X-Wing game (though to be honest I never actually went out and bought a copy Update I did go and buy a copy…). Many years ago I played many games of Star Trek starship combat using the Full Thrust rules and I did play a few games using Full Thrust and some MicroMachines Star Wars models. This new game has quite a lot that appeals, includng some really nice looking pre-painted models.

STAR WARS: Armada

I think though (and this also applies to the X-Wing game) that the bases on the models, though obviously useful in game terms, do detract from the models and I would suspect when playing, the look and feel of the game. However that is a minor point.

As with X-Wing, and as indicated on the press release, we will see more models as expansion packs.

Looks good.