Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game Review

 |  November 1, 2017

The iconic thrum and crackling clash of lightsabers and the screeching sounds of TIE fighters as they swarm around a death star, have featured prominently in every episode of the world’s most successful space opera media franchise since the cinematic release of Star Wars in May 1977. From Luke Skywalker and the Rebel assault squadron unleashing wave after wave of courageous attacks on the planet-killing Death Star (Episode IV), to the rakish Poe Dameron spearheading a victorious low altitude battle in the skies of Takodana to rescue Han Solo, Chewbacca, Finn, and BB-8 (Episode VII: The Force Awakens), the prospect of some rag-tag fleet of versatile (but usually vastly outnumbered) X-Wing fighter-bombers facing off against vast swarms of unrelentingly nimble TIE fighters has never failed to thrill audiences.

The Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game takes those on-screen thrills and transfers them to the tabletop in a fast-paced, tactical but readily accessible battle game for two players. Each player takes control of the galaxy’s finest starfighters – either X-Wings or TIE fighters – and pits them against each other in a merciless melee for control of space (and, by extension, the galaxy).

Over the course of several game rounds – each divided into separate phases covering planning, activation (i.e. movement), combat, and resolution – players skillfully maneuver and unleash ordinance upon each other until all of one player’s ships are blown to smithereens. The ‘unpredictability’ arising from the selection of planned maneuvers in secret, and the tangibly different ‘feel’ of the various ships (based upon their maneuverability), are particularly successful aspects of the game.

Stoutly boxed, the Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game contains three miniature ships (one X-Wing and two TIE fighters) with corresponding maneuver dials, a range ruler with eleven maneuver templates, 84 tokens (covering aspects of play ranging from targeting, shields, critical hits, and evasion to asteroids, satellites, mines, and more), 51 cards (detailing ships, upgrades and types of damage), ‘Learn to Play’ and ‘Rules Reference’ guides plus a ‘Mission Guide’ and six dice. Although a multitude of expansion sets are available which allow you to populate the game with your favourite ships and characters from the Star Wars films (Y-Wings, A-Wings, Imperial shuttles, TIE fighter variants, and even the Millennium Falcon, for example), the Star Wars: X-Wing core set includes all the necessary components to get started battling the finest starfighters from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

Players: 2
Playing time: 30-45 minutes
Age: 14+ (although children aged 10+ could play, with a little guidance)
Lead Designer: Jason Little
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games

Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game is available in Chiang Mai from Golden Goblin Games
Mobile: +6684 901 7762 (JS) and +6681 802 4122 (Bow)
LINE: @Goblin
www.goldengoblingames.com