Friday night X Wing: Biggs Darklighter saves the day

X wings on patrol!

All of a sudden Fantasy Flight Games has launched a second edition of its massively popular X Wing science fiction space combat miniatures game. I've only played this once before, and already there is a second edition! X Wing has a large and vibrant community of players here in Sussex, however, with the centre of activity located in the new and sprawling Dice Saloon premises.

I had another opportunity to 'fly casual' last week and try out the new second edition rules. Those who are expecting a detailed analysis of the differences between the two will be disappointed sadly, as it has been so long since I last played, I'd have to go back to the first edition, play that again, and then let you know.

I played two X Wings, with Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles, against a trio of TIE fighters of varying levels of experience. I was not flying against generic mooks here - some of these guys were quite dangerous. Points-wise, I still had an edge, as Wedge had several additional abilities and was equipped with a couple of photon torpedoes.

The early part of the game was spent just trying to get some shots on each other. I scored an early success, destroying one of the TIEs, but he was the greenest flyer of the bunch. I tried this time to fly my X wings in close formation, as Biggs has an ability that lets him take a hit for another pilot if he is within short range of them. However, my opportunity to use my photon torpedoes quickly evaporated.

I have to confess I was rusty, and getting to grips with the rules meant I neglected my photons. By the time I decided it would be good to try them, Wedge had a TIE on his tail that refused to be shaken and both my X wings spent three turns being shot at without having any targets in their firing arcs! This is not a good situation and only my shields saved me from taking any serious damage.

Wedge Antilles faces an asteroid

I then took the decision to split the X wings, forcing the Imperial player to do the same. Wedge wrestled to get a shot on the TIE with his torpedoes, but my jammy opponent was not going to let me get there (they can't be fired at short range, and every time Wedge had a shot the TIE was right in his face). Eventually, he decided to detach his other TIE from Biggs and send it after Wedge, managing to bag Wedge.

At this point it was suggested we stop, as I now had only Biggs, with no shields, facing down two experienced TIE fighters. I chose to fight on, in the spirit of the Rebellion, and to avenge Alderaan. Within the next turn Biggs took out his second TIE with an amazing shot. Now it was Biggs, in a badly damaged X wing, against the last TIE, which was at this point unscratched and piloted by the most experienced of the three Imperial flyers.

The bad guys - TIEs!

By this point in the game I'd become more familiar with the maneuver matrix for the X wing. Although slower than the TIE it had the ability to execute a hard turn and then drop its speed to 1, which the TIEs could not emulate. I finally had a means of making sure the enemy was going to pop up fairly consistently in Biggs' sights. I knew Biggs' X wing would not hold together for much longer - one more hit and he was a goner - so the next time I had him, took full advantage of it. An amazing shot by Biggs inflicted three hits (jammy rolling on my part) and a botched defensive roll left the last TIE as a cloud of glowing radioactive dust.

Victory for the Rebellion! What a game, and an entertaining return to X wing. I'll have to see if I can get some more games in this autumn. The second edition seems to flow extremely well, although I'm told players will need the £40 upgrade box for each faction plus the core rules to really be able to convert their miniatures collections over to the new edition - e.g. new order dials and bases are required, not to mention card decks. All you are really keeping from first edition are the miniatures.