Review: Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game

A long time ago in a Blog far, far away... I wrote an article about Fantasy Flight Games getting the Star Wars license. Three products were instantly announced, there was going to be an RPG, which for me personally was a bit 'meh'. I've never been a big fan of RPGs, I've given them a go but I've never really gotten into them, they're just not for me. Then there was a card game announced too, something that at the time I was starting to enjoy more and more, mainly as filler for when wargames or boardgames ended early. Indeed the card game was slated to be the first product out of the Fantasy Flight stables bearing the Star Wars branding... turns out there were some issues with it, and it still hasn't seen the light of day. I still have it on pre-order somewhere, I just can't remember where! Finally there was the X-Wing Miniatures Game, which lets be brutally honest here, probably got most geeks I know a trifle moist. However, I was a bit down on the announcement at the time because of the awful news that the miniatures would be pre-paints... Luke I am your father... Nooooooooooooooooo!!! OK, so I've had the game now for a short while, and I've played my allotted amount of games before I feel safe in making my judgements, as always there's no rush on my part to get a shallow knee jerk review out. So what do I think of Fantasy Flight Games Star Wars based dog fight simulator?

Product Description

It's a game in a box! It's a game in a box gurl!!! Except it is, and it isn't. In effect the core boxed set, which is what is being reviewed, is actually presented as a typical Fantasy Flight Games, game in a box. As a game in a box for RRP circa �30 it's not bad... but there are add ons to the game to help 'personalise' it. In the box you get two pre-painted TIE Fighters and an X-Wing, plus 3 swanky (but brittle) plastic flying stands to put them on. There are also six custom D8's, a shed load of card tokens, including a card range ruler and maneuver templates. As is always the case with Fantasy Flight products these come on a thick, good quality card. There are three ship Maneuver Dials, 51 cards for various game functions, a quick start set of rules and then there is the 28 page full colour rulebook. Again Fantasy Flight include a number of zip-lock bags to put your various bits into, which helps with storage and is a nice touch. As a quick point, the box comes with a cut out for shelf display purposes that shows off the aforementioned pre-painted miniatures. Great sales ploy, but if you throw away or lose the clear plastic cover for your mini's... well it becomes a bit of a design flaw because those pre-painted ships will no longer stay in the box. Consider yourselves well and truly warned!
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