Attack of the Minis - X-Wing Miniatures Game Review

Me: (in regards to spending gift card at FLGS) I think I am going to with X-Wing Minis game
Mrs. Games with Two: You know, I'll never play that with you.
Me: I know, but it looks so awesome
Mrs. GwT: Miniatures is just a genre of gaming that I am not willing to go into
Me: I know.
Mrs. GwT: So, why are you buying this?
Me: Because it looks awesome and I'll get someone to play it with me.
Mrs. GwT: Okay (eyes rolling)

Fast Forward to New Year's Eve...
Mrs. GwT: I think I just want to stay in tonight, it's snowing and the kids are tired
Me: Ok, but only if you play games with me.
Mrs. GwT: Deal
Me: Okay, I'll give you 4 choices of games and you pick one.
Mrs. GwT: Okay
Me: 1. X-Wing Minis 2. X-Wing Minis 3. X-Wing Minis 4. X-Wing Minis
Mrs GwT: *Sigh* How long does it take to play?
Me: 45 minutes
Mrs. GwT: Oh, that isn't bad; I thought it was going to take 4 hours like those games those guys are playing at the game store.
Me: Nope, it's nothing like that...



Overview
X-Wing Miniatures Game is a 2-player miniatures games (as the title suggest) that was designed by Jason Little and published by Fantasy Flight Games. One player takes on the role of the Rebels and the other player is the Empire. Each player then takes a number of ships (this number is decided by the players). The players then engage in a dog fight between the ships. The players attempt to destroy all of the other player's ships. The player that does this first is the winner. The game takes place in the Star Wars universe, and takes place during the time of the original trilogy. Finally, the game takes 30-60 minutes to play, this depends on how many ships are in play and the size of your playing area.

Game Play
The big scare for us with this game was the word "miniature" in the title. So many of these games are fairly complex, and can be difficult to master, however, with X-Wing that is not the story. The rule book for this game is about 20 pages, and only about 12 pages of actual rules, the other pages being scenarios, and appendices. There is also a quick play book included that is only a few pages long.

Picture via gamerchris.com

The game play for X-wing takes place over a series of rounds and each round is broken down into 3 phases. The first phase is deciding where your ships are going to move. Each ship comes with a dial that is used to select movement. Players secretly decide their movements. In the second phase, players reveal their movements one ship at a time, based on the skill level of each ship/pilot. The lower skilled pilots move first, and ascend to the more skilled ships/pilots. After players reveal their movement, they take a corresponding template and move their ship along the template. Then, each ship/pilot, if they are able, can perform an action that their pilot/ship has on their stats card. After all ships have moved and done their actions, the final phase begins. Each player is able to fire upon other ships that are in range. During this phase, players take turns in descending order. If a ship has another ship in range (determined by the range ruler), the player can attempt to fire on the enemy ship. Attacks are resolved by rolling custom dice that come with the game. After attacks are resolved, any ships that were destroyed are removed. If one player has eliminated all the enemy ships, the game is over, otherwise you rise and repeat until this is the case.

Picture via gamerchris.com

Review
Components
I have a love/hate relationship with the components of this game. First, the love. They look absolutely beautiful, and the detail and scale is marvelous. The artwork on the cards and chips is also very nice. It really gives you the feel of being in the Star Wars universe. The custom dice are nice as well. The game comes with 6 dice, 3 attacking and 3 defending. They are a very nice touch. Finally, the rule book is laid out nicely, with a quick reference guide on the back. This rule book is also quick and to the point, far too often with Fantasy Flight Games there is 30+ page rule book that is just a daunting task to read and remember. X-Wing went the way of simplification, and it works.

As for what I hate, lets start with the box. For store display purposes, there is a hole in the lid, so pieces can easily escape. Second, once you get even a couple of the expansions, you have to throw out the insert to get everything to fit, and even then, the box no longer closes snugly. The only way to get everything to fit would be to get rid of the plastic cases the ships come in, but then they are no longer protected. A bigger box would have been a nice option. As for the ships, that is my next complaint. Although they look beautiful, the ships are very fragile. I feel like I could break them far too easily. Even when they fall over on the table I cringe a little. Going a couple of grades up on the plastic would have been a nice touch. Another problem is that the ships are held up on plastic stands with plastic rods. These rods are far too easy to misplace, and Fantasy Flight does not provide any extras. My last complaint is with the dice. As I mentioned above, you get 3 attacking and 3 defending dice. However, there are multiple times throughout a game where you need 4+ dice. This just makes things cumbersome, and then, they decide they are going to sell extra dice for the game, but that is going to cost you another $8. So, here is what I think. They should have included the extra dice, upgraded the plastics, included some extra rods, and made the box bigger, with the insert preset for the additional ships, and then charged $50 instead of $40. This would have made for a better experience, and the gamer doesn't feel like they are being shorted.

Game Play
We have played this a few times now, and I really think the game is growing on both of us. The game is fairly simple to learn and play, which is a plus. One of the reasons we haven't tried a minis game yet, is because of steep learning curves and long play times. This game is over in less than an hour (unless you are having a massive battle), which is a big plus. The game also offers lots of strategy, as you guess where your opponent is going to go next. Mrs. GwT loves that about this game. She is really good at reading people, and knowing what their next step is, and that is a great skill to have in a game such as X-Wing. There is a good deal of depth here as well. The game offers numerous pilots and ships, as well as add-ons for each.

The base game also has several scenarios. We haven't tried these yet, but they look like they add to the replay ability of the game. I wouldn't be surprised if Fantasy Flight doesn't publish a scenario guide to reenact scenes fro your favorite movies. Finally, you have additional ships coming out in waves right now. This will allow for the game to continue to stay fresh for sometime as players experiment with different ship combos. Personally, I am excited about the A-Wing and Tie Interceptors that are coming out soon (Slave 1 and Millennium Falcon are coming out as well).

Picture Via Let Eric Play Blog

Final Thoughts
Although we have enjoyed X-Wing as a couple, I can tell you right now, this is a game that is not going to be for everyone--especially the boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife combo. First, I think both you and your significant other have to love Star Wars; second, you have to have a love for games. Although this is available at Barnes and Noble and Target, this is not for novice gamers. My only exception would be that they are a huge Star Wars fan. Finally, this is not going to be a game to break out to play with small children. Yes, they are going to think the ships look awesome, but they are really fragile, and if they are not handled like fine China that is 200 years old, they may be taking a trip to your game repair table. Until they come out with some nice die-cast models (I haven't heard anything about this, I just think it would be cool), or you believe the little ones can handle it, I would use extreme caution when breaking this one out. Again, we loved X-Wing Miniatures Game, and I hope that you consider picking up a copy.

After Second Game of X-Wing...
Mrs. GwT: I think I really like this game
Me: I'm glad (with a smile on my face)
Mrs. GwT: I think one reason is because I always beat you
Me: (smile gone)

Note: My own pictures didn't turn out very well. So, I used some pictures from Gamer Chris and Let Eric Play. Please be sure to check out their blogs.