Posts like this give me confidence that X-Wing can keep going for quite a while! There’s so much stuff yet to release!

I’m super glad that huge ships are being folded into “main,” and that Epic gets to go be its own thing. I don’t play main near enough as it is; I never got to play with my Epic ships. But SOON...

And to think, people used to be like, “Eww, Clone Wars.” And Anakin be all like, “How do ya like me now?!” 😝 (To be clear, I don’t know if you yourself were; not intending to target individuals here!)

I’d ask what their favorite parts of the Star Wars universe are, and then talk through what I know about the squad building & playstyle aspects of the corresponding two or three factions. Hopefully that would help point the way toward a faction that both captures their interest and plays the way they want to play. Seems like most people enter with an interest in either Rebels or Empire, which is both understandable and helps justify getting the core. But I’d also challenge them to think about the prequels & sequels to see if something there strikes a chord. The OT factions have a lot more options, but IMO it’s nice having smaller factions, too. It might let a new player get a feeling of having a complete collection much more easily.

I definitely appreciate the responses here! So as a first-time Pod user, I guess what I’m hearing is that Heroic Finn might still have his place, but I might be better off running him light at 30 points rather than loading him up to 41+, because it’s less certain that he’s going to recoup those. I think I can live with that.

Today’s rules update lets some air out of the Finn Pod’s tires. Question is, is he still worth his space-salt under the New Rules Order? I ask in part because I’ve been looking at some Transport + Pod lists. It’s cool that Cova/R4 is now decidedly a thing, but I’m honestly starting to eye BB-8 instead of Finn in the Pod.

Ah, I didn’t make the question specific enough. What I mean is more like: what if, while stressed, she reveals a maneuver that R4 can’t influence, such as a red 0 stop. In that case she would get stuck executing the white 2 straight. But then does R4 turn that into a blue 2 straight?

So wait, I just thought of another weird Cova + R4 interaction. Let’s say that she starts the turn stressed and reveals a red maneuver. This causes her to execute a white 2 straight. But her “revealed maneuver” is still red for purposes of her effect, right? And in this situation, does R4 cause the maneuver she executes to become blue, this clearing her stress?

Much as I agree, I wouldn’t want to dogpile a true 1.0 holdout. I didn’t make the point very well in my original post, but the feel of certain ships is definitely different in 2.0. At the same time, it takes a very different approach to upgrades and card interactions—I’d argue it’s a better one overall, but it’s certainly different. There are moments when I genuinely miss some of the wombo-combo BS of late 1.0. But then my goals as a player are probably different than some people’s. My only “meta” is me and my buddy. I never make it to tournaments, and I only get out to the game store maybe once per year. So in that sense, I had little objection to the game of buying the newest wave and ride herd on each other with the latest broken crap until the next wave came out. I do think it’s ultimately better for the game to be more balanced and diverse, though. And I think that 2.0 is great for that. I guess the one thing that still genuinely bugs me is that the Z-95 doesn’t feel fun anymore in 2.0. Not that it was a powerhouse in 1.0, but I used to fly a lot of ‘em, and the thing just sucks now.

cash.”

First of all, welcome back! I just got back in about 5 months ago myself, and the game is in truly good shape. I’ll jump on this quoted section a bit because there’s one definite pitfall of 2.0 that I’ve run into: not all ships from 1.0 ended up flying or performing the same way in 2.0. In some cases, this is unambiguously good; if you liked the Firespray in 1.0, then 2.0 will make you wish you’d bought at least one more. But sometimes ships that were okay in 1.0 feel weirdly different—and not better—in 2.0. Here I’m looking at the Z-95, which was never stellar, but which feels like it’s definitely come down a few pegs. Overall though, I’d say dive in and have fun! Don’t worry about playing combo-wing; just get some ships on the board and make pew pew noises. The king of 2.0 is time on target, not tricksy shenanigans—and in the end that makes for a better game.

Midichlorians

FOUR. DEADMAN. FREIGHTERS! ...with apologies to @FTS Gecko

Gentle reader, before this chapter of our tale begins, I must warn you of the peril that lies ahead. For just as on the path of love there are innumerable pitfalls and temptations, so too in the saga of our lovers has misfortune come to call. Both eyes and hearts shall wander before our time today is over, and you may yet leave wondering if this tale is doomed to tragedy. I urge you to take courage, for what you are about to see is dark indeed—but as they say, ’tis always darkest before dawn. Let us begin as so many conversions have over the years: by gathering and taking stock of likely conversion fodder. This humble grist was drawn from my entirely-too-huge stock of Warhammer 40,000 bitz, which was both daunting and exciting as I considered how much I could get away with using. In the end I found a few things that looked Pod-like, and a few things that looked engine-like, along with one or two things that seemed like they might fit nicely onto the peg coming off the Transport’s hull: “Y’know, I wonder if that ammo box just fits on there,” I said aloud. Hee hee hee. Success! So much for having to scratchbuild some kind of mounting point; I already had one. Giddy with this revelation, and perhaps feeling a bit of hubris, I began to fly closer to the proverbial sun. “Maybe I don’t need the HWK body at all,” I uttered, as the glamour of Slaanesh charmed my eyes. “Maybe I could build the whole thing out of bitz!” And so I proceeded too build... a thing. A thing indeed: Yeah. Nope. It’s pretty ugly, ain’t it? I had to leave it for a couple hours at this point, and boy did I end up feeling glad that I did. It was actually @Captain Lackwit‘s comment in the interim that helped make me realize how the aesthetic of the little thing I’d cobbled together fell short of my original plan. And really, the bottom-line aspect of my plan was that I wanted to give my first X-Wing ship a chance to live on and be useful instead of going purely to the scrapheap. So I needed to change things. Fortunately, even with all the other junk I’d added, I still had a functioning mount point. I just needed to make sure it wouldn’t look too bad merging that onto the HWK body: Yeah, all right; seems legit. So then it’s time to cut things down to size... ... and make a huge mistake. Hobbyists with fragile constitutions should look away now, because the next picture shows a train wreck right about to happen: Do you see the problem? It’s like fingernails on a chalkboard to look at it again. The knife is lined up, the angle’s perfect... ...if the cut didn’t need to go in the opposite direction! *insert musical sting from Psycho* Fair readers, I must leave you at this place of peril, for the forum tells me that I’m not allowed to add more pictures to this post. But again, take courage as we head into the darkness, for this tale is far from over. I leave you with a hearty thanks for reading thus far, and with a special shout-out to @Minaith!

regal

Kylo

died.

disco

huskily.

juxtaposes

Kylo

groovetacular

Preach brother!!

And we’re back! Let the bloodletting begin!! ...a sentiment that would soon become all too literal, as I discovered just how tough these X-Wing Minis ships really are. I have a couple decades of Warhammer 40,000 experience under my belt, so I felt absolute confidence as I grabbed my hobby knife and started cutting away the underslung turret mount. ...which didn’t cut away. I put a new blade in the X-Acto #2, went at it again... and DANG but the mount was not cutting. See, I was trying to preserve not just the gun, but the circular point where it connects up to the hull, as that would make it easier to repurpose for this or other projects. But it WOULD NOT CUT. One of the back fins snapped off while I was fussing with it. I shrugged and snapped the other one off, figuring maybe it’d be easier to grip if I could get rid of the other extraneous pieces. So then I went to cut the engine mounts off... THE DANG THINGS WOULD NOT CUT EITHER Nearing the end of my rope, I just used brute strength and snapped them off without clean cuts. Then after a few more minutes of frustration with trying to cut off the gun mount, I just grabbed the stupid turret and started twisting until it too came off. Here was my pile of shame and frustration: I figured things had to get better from there, though. Surely now that everything was off the hull, I’d just be able to cut right through and get the basic shape this thing figured out. Frickin’ nope, it just stuck on the knife but would not cut through. Never in my 20+ years of hobby gaming have I encountered a tougher model to cut through. Not even the metal ones. FFG should consider repurposing old HWK models for the bulletproof vest market, because I think I might actually trust my life with this thing. It was not cutting, no matter how much force or other dirty tricks I used. I did, however, have a happy accident as one particular bit of wrestling snapped off something at the back that I didn’t realize was a separate piece: Oh yeah, check out that engine grille! I can use that. But first I have to actually cut this stupid hull. Time to give up on the knife and turn to a nastier tool: WAAAAAAAGH!!! (Sorry, wrong game) It was after this point that I started shaving down the grille section... and made my sacrifice to Lord Khorne. It’s been a while since I last stuck a hobby knife in my finger, and it was a weirdly familiar experience, even though I could’ve lived without it. But when all was said and done, I got things cut down to these two pieces: And here we must pause, gentle readers, as I did not have superglue enough to continue. Suffice it to say that these two pieces will form the core of it, but I’m also looking at options for how to mount this onto the side of the Transport. I think it’s ultimately not going to look amazing, but I don’t need it to; I can live with this bucket of bolts looking quirky.

Thanks @Minaith and @Force Majeure! Since there’s an easy way to put pics right into forum posts, let’s get this party started. First, let’s meet our prospective lovers. He’s a tough old bird who’s ready to make a connection and hopefully lose some weight along the way: She’s vibrant and young, but all too accustomed to getting the short (and we do mean short) end of the stick with her “Big Deal” of a boyfriend who she’d like to cut loose: Now, you wouldn’t think these two would pair well together. It’s not just that they’re from different eras, or even different sides of the tracks; it’s that he’s got this massive—dare I say hawkish—nose. Whereas while she’s no petite princess, she’s at least got a pretty face. Or does she? Take a look at this side-by-side: As it turns out, when you factor in her big antenna (no judgment here, folks; just observing a fact), these guys aren’t such a mismatch after all. It’s really just a matter of getting him to lose that junk in his trunk. Tune in next time as the extreme weight-loss program begins...