Wave 2 Articles Starting Monday, 25 Feb 13

With the Wave 2 Release announcement from FFG earlier in the week, I pushed up the schedule on my Wave 2 Listbuilding Articles from where I'd kind of originally penciled it in (uhhh.... later?).

Similar in style, content, and length to my Wave 1 Listbuilding articles, I'll be covering all of the Wave 2 Elite Pilot Skills, Modifications, Secondary Weapon Systems, Pilots, Crew Members, and everything else in the coming weeks!  

Like with Wave 1, with some of the shorter articles, I'll post multiples in the same day, but I guarantee you'll get at least one Wave 2 listbuilding article per day until we're through them. 

Articles will start showing up on Monday, 25 Feb 13 early in the A.M as always. 

See you then!

X-Wing Miniatures Game Storage

A topic that comes up fairly regularly on the FFG forums is how one stores his X-Wing Miniatures game. To my knowledge, there's really only one company making a specialized storage system (and it's currently only available for Wave 1 stuff), so there's a lot of re-tasked or homebrewed storage systems out there to choose from or be inspired by. 

(EDIT: Eagle-eyed Bikini Aficionado Frank has mentioned in the comments for this article that Battle Foam has a new tray insert system that will accommodate more ships and Wave 2 ships. It's a two-tray system where one tray holds a bunch of ships and the other hold your dice, cards, etc. Looks pretty sweet and he says it works well. Check it out here.)

(FURTHER EDIT: Bikini Aficionado Groznit Goregut brought to my attention via the comments on this article of a company called KR Multicase who also has an X-Wing storage product. Check it out here.

In a completely uncharacteristic moment of foresight, when I bought my first X-Wing Miniatures Core Set, I actually kept all the packaging, and by packaging, I mean all the little ziplock bags. I know, completely unlike me to save stuff like that, right? Oddly enough, while I pitched the clamshells the Expansion ships come in, I kept the bags out of those as well. And when I bought my second Core Set, yup, you guessed it, I kept those baggies too. 

I feel like I have a pretty average amount of X-Wing Miniatures stuff. I know a couple of folks who have more, I know a couple of folks who have less. In the end, if you want to try and use my storage idea, ideally you've got about the same amount of stuff that I do- much more and you're probably going to run out of room doing it my way. For a frame of reference, here's my current X-Wing Miniatures inventory- 

2 Core Sets (so 2 X-Wings and 4 TIEs)

2 X-Wing Expansions (2 more X-Wings)

1 TIE Fighter Expansion (1 more TIE)

2 TIE Advanced Expansions

1 Y-Wing Expansion

1 A-Wing Expansion (Yup! Got lucky at my Kessel Run Tournament!) 

Plus all the assorted tokens, movement wheels, do dads, and whatnots that come with all those ships. 

(And yes, I'll have to re-evaluate this system very soon upon the arrival of Wave 2. Until then though, here's some pictures of how I store and transport my X-Wing Miniatures. )

Everything that isn't ships, dice, the clear acrylic pegs, the Damage deck, the cardboard squares that go on the bases, and the upgrade cards goes back into the original Core Set box. I know not everyone's down with the Core Box, but it seemed really sturdy to me, so I wanted to continue using it if at all possible. I also dig the artwork. 

I keep the range ruler under the plastic insert. The movement templates except for the straight 4 and 5 go in the large baggie, then go into the front plastic well. The asteroids also go into a large baggie and the front well. The 4 and 5 straight go in the front well loose. All of the bases for my ships also end up in the front well. All of the other tokens go into bags separating them from each other and end up in the right side well. 

The left side well contains a baggie of my Rebel pilot cards, my Imperial pilot cards, and all the movement wheels for my ships. 

That big bag that's outside the box on the right is my "Everything" bag. I ended up with so many bags, I made a bag that has enough tokens and whatnots to cover a 100 point game with either faction- Evades, Shields, Paired Target Locks, Focuses, Stresses, you name it, it's in there. All the tokens inside are individually bagged still. I also have six sets of ship numbers in there. That Everything bag saves me a ton of time during setup. 

I can still fit the lid down on the Core Box when all this stuff is packed in, and yeah, I even put that plastic shell over the front well so nothing falls out the big hole in the front of the Core Set box. 

In addition to the Core Set box, I have a Plano-type box (I'm not sure if it's actually a Plano- it's just an old bait box I had floating around my 40k stuff for years that used to be a bitz box) that I store pretty much everything else in. 

It's not very big, but it holds all my stuff currently. Again, yes, I'll obviously need to come up with something else once Wave 2 drops and I pick up at least the Falcon (honestly, I'll probably just store and transport the Falcon and Slave I in the boxes they came in and just get a bigger Plano type box to hold all the starfighters). Although I forgot to stick it in there when I took the picture, I also keep my rulebook on top of the models in this plastic box. It keeps stuff from moving about too much and provides a little padding for when the models and stuff do move around. 

I don't carry everything from both Core Sets in the boxes. I have one Damage deck, one range ruler, and one set of movement templates that I leave at home most of the time. If I know I'm going to be teaching someone how to play, or one of my friends who hasn't bought-in yet is going to be playing, I'll stick them in. Generally though, I don't carry that stuff. 

The last bit of X-Wing kit that goes with those two things is the black piece of felt that acts as my playmat and appears in virtually all of the pictures here on TheMetalBikini.com. There's nothing particularly noteworthy about it, but it's held up quite nicely since I started using it back in October and is much better than playing on a wood-grained table top. 

Pepsi Cat not included

Folded up, it's just about the same size as the Core Set box, as you can see.

So there you have it. There are storage solutions out there that are much better and more expensive than mine, but I've been happy with how portable and sturdy everything in my system has turned out to be. It'll sound terribly dorky, but I take those three items to work with me nearly every day in a US Soccer Nike backpack along with my Samsung Chromebook and a ledger I jot down army list ideas, comedy bit dialogue, or whatever else happens to come to mind.

If I'm lucky, I manage to get some lunch hour games in here and there a couple times a month, and it's nice to actually be able to pull out models when I find somebody interested in the game who wants to know more. As it isn't that much to carry in a backpack I'm already taking to work, I figure why not, right? 

Maneuvering as a Formation, Part 3

This post is yet another installment in a series of articles called Maneuvering as a Formation. Here's a link to Part the First, and the Second Part. 

Yesterday and the day before were all about what moves to not make when it came to flying in a tight formation where upon examination we realized with the assistance of my wife's super-nice Canon DSLR that you can't make equal numbered Turns or Banks with ships that start out 100% adjacent to each other. Today we'll talk about what moves actually don't end in overlaps and therefore Action robbing collisions. 

So let's check out some more moves! First up- Turns. I want to get 3 Turns out of the way first and since we know what happens if we do double 3 Turns, let's look at what happens when the outside ship pulls a 2 Turn and the inside ship pulls a 3 Turn. 

Oh, that's right out. No good. 

Ok, moving on. Let's switch those templates and try the reverse- the outside ship pulling a 3 Turn and the inside ship pulling a 2 Turn. 

Friggin' finally! Now we're getting somewhere! In the first time of the history of this blog, two ships Turned and didn't crash into each other! Holy Mackerel!

So we've covered 3-2 and 2-3, let's try a ship on the outside Turning 3 and an inside ship Turning 1. Should be cool, right? 

Oh fo' sho'. No problem there at all either. Let's try a 1-3 and finish off the 3 Turn permutations. 

Smooth like Colt .45. 

At this point we can probably make some pretty valid assumptions about how to make Turns of differing values work, but since I went to the trouble to take all these pictures and upload them to Picasa, humor me and we'll see how this plays out. Next up, a 2-1. 

Ok, so a 2 Turn for the outside is cool with a 1 Turn for the inside. We already did a 2 Turn outside with a 3 Turn inside (wasn't cool- scroll back up if you already forgot that result and consider seeing a doctor about increasing your ADD meds), so let's switch them and see if a 1-2 nets the same results as a 2-3 did. 

Same results- overlap. 

Right. So that's it for turns. Here's a handy summary of the above- 

TURNS

(Where ships are adjacent and Turning Left)

2-3 Overlap

3-2 Safe

3-1 Safe

1-3 Safe

2-1 Safe

1-2 Overlap

Want to place any bets on Banks? 

Same deal- let's go through the various permutations starting with the 3 Banks. I'll go in the same order as I did with the turns so I don't go completely crazy here trying to keep this straight. 

First up we've got 2 Bank outside, 3 Bank inside. 

They're really, really, REALLY close, but it's a valid move- no overlap. 

Let's flip the templates. Now we're looking at a 3-2. 

Oh yeah! No problem there whatsoever! Two for Two! I spelled that out so nobody would think I was talking about a 2-2 which we already covered the other day. I'm serious. And by nobody I mean me, primarily, for when I go back over this and proofread it later. 

All right, next on the list is a 3 Bank outside, 1 Bank inside. 

Not a care in the world, those two. They're just rollin'. 

Switch templates to a 1-3. 

Ditto for these moves. All good. 

Last set of moves starts off with a 2 Bank on the outside and a 1 Bank on the inside. 

No problemo. Hasta la vista... baby. 

Switch templates to a 1-2. 

Damn right it was a good day.

Bank summary time- 

BANKS

(Where ships are adjacent and Turning Left)

2-3 Safe

3-2 Safe

3-1 Safe

1-3 Safe

2-1 Safe

1-2 Safe

I'll admit it- maybe it's the kids waking up in the middle of the night the past couple weeks and depriving me of sleep, maybe it's the fact that I kind of just decided to mitigate the whole formation thing all together in my own game by spreading my ships out and forget about playing adjacent or even close to it, but I thought a couple of the Banks would surely result in collisions. Color me surprised. 

And no. No, no, no. No way in hell am I gonna make a Color Me Badd joke and/ or link there. I never liked those guys. They always sounded flat as pancakes to me. Esepcially the one with the curly hair and the fivehead. I tripped out when I saw a picture of English Welsh National Treasure and Manchester United poster boy Ryan Giggs back in the day because they looked alike and it was around the same time (1991-ish). 

Giggs?

 Giggs.

Anyway, to summarize all three parts of this Maneuvering as a Formation business in a concise way, consult the following numbered list- 

1. You can make any Bank or Turn with two ships adjacent to you at the same number so long as you don't mind overlapping, colliding, and losing an Action. In other words, don't do that. It's bad and people will make fun of you. 

2. You do not talk about Fight Club.

3. Banks with adjacent ships, so long as they're not performed at the same number, are all good, all day. 

4. Turning adjacent ships is acceptable so long as you don't Turn at the same number or sequential numbers where the lower number is the outside ship and the higher number is the inside ship. 

5. Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother. 

In all seriousness, I'd been meaning to research this ever since the Kessel Run Tournament when I kept crashing my ships into my other ships but I watched Swarm after Swarm just casually maneuver three adjacent ships around the entire game. I was like George Costanza and they were like Jason Hanky: they were scattin' and beboppin' and I was losin' it.

I thought to myself, "Y'know, when I get home, I'm going to break out the templates and see if you really can make those moves, because I swear I'm making the same moves, but I'm crashing into myself left and right." 

Of course, then I forgot about it for what, two months? Ah well. Better late than never.  

Wave 2 Previews from FFG- A-Wing

Earlier today, and kind of lost in the shuffle by everyone (and by everyone, I of course mean me) reading to the end and going, "OHMAHGERD! WAVE 2 COMES OUT ON FEBRUARY 28!", was a little preview on the last remaining Wave 2 ship, the A-Wing starfighter. 

I was lucky and won one of these little guys at the Kessel Run Tournament my local club hosted back in December. It's a fun ship. I'm not going to get super deep on it here in this post- I'll soon be posting listbuilding articles for Wave 2 stuff just like I did for the Wave 1 stuff, so rest assured, it'll be covered in detail then. 

I'll say this though for those of y'all who don't already know everything there is to know about the A-Wing. Remember that part in Jedi when the A-Wing pilot that sorta looks like Denis Leary loses it and crashes through the bridge of the Executor?

There ain't no Arvel Crynyd disease, I'll tell ya that much.<Wheezing noises>

That dude's got an A-Wing Pilot card. And yeah, his ability has to do with crashing into stuff. 

I mean honestly, whoever is responsible for that masterstroke of genius at FFG deserves a promotion. I swear to God, man. If I'm that guy's boss, I just walk into his office and say, "Hey. You've got it, pal. And by "it", I mean it. What do we do next?" 

When I got home and started going through my cards and read that, I was all, "No effin' way. No way!" I mean how cool is that? 

Roll on the 28th, y'all. 

Wave 2 Status Update- Now Shipping!

UPDATE: FFG has stated in their A-Wing Preview that the Wave 2 ships should be at retailers on 28 February 2013!!!

Yup! For reals! Check out the screenshot- the Wave 2 stuff on the Upcoming Releases and Reprints section of the FFG site has had its status updated from "On The Boat" to "Now Shipping"!

From- http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_upcoming.asp

I gotta ramp up the schedule for the Wave 2 Listbuilding Articles! 

Awesome

Maneuvering as a Formation, Part 2

This article is a continuation of an article that ran yesterday called... Maneuvering as a Formation, Part 1. Uhhh, yeah. 

When we last left our heroes (or villains if you're partial to those Rebel terrorists), they were trying to turn adjacent TIE fighters without crashing into each other. We watched as two TIEs that started out right next to each other overlap when they both attempted a 3 Bank maneuver. The question now is will they overlap if they instead perform a 3 Turn maneuver? 

Ok, so here we go. Like yesterday, don't get freaked out that I now have three TIEs on the board. I'm just illustrating that I didn't move the ships from their origin points or the template inadvertently. 


I've got two Core Sets. Might as well use both my 3 Left Turn Templates, right?

 Uh oh...

Here's a close-up-

They don't overlap by much, pretty much just the template guides/ very, very front edge of the base, but they do overlap. 

So what do you think? Will Turns and Banks of lower numbers be any different than the 3's have been? Want to find out? 

Here's pics of the rest of the equal Bank outcomes- 

2 Bank has the same result as the 3 Bank...

...As does the 1 Bank. They plainly overlap.

2 Turn, top view

2 Turn from the side. Look familiar? 

1 Turn, same deal.

Aaaaaaand again. Same result. Overlap.

This is a spot I just hate to be in as the opposing player. On the Banks, it's pretty obvious that an overlap has occurred and I don't think anyone would actually argue with you about it or try and fudge their way out of it with a little table bumping, base sliding or honest-to-God mistakes. With the Turns though, as you saw, it's very slight, and well, let's be honest, a tiny bit of table movement, template misplacement, etc. could make that slight overlap disappear.

The thing is though, now that I've performed this little experiment, I know it's there. Even if the guy on the other side of the table inadvertently or on purpose manages to move his ships without overlapping in this context, I know that two ships right next to each other cannot perform any same number Bank or Turn without overlapping. 

Of course, now it's in your head now too- just like it is mine. So when you're in the second round of the Regionals and somebody has a couple of ships right next to each other and they both pull the same number Bank, do you call them on it even if their stuff doesn't actually appear to overlap? 

All that being said, formations can't just fly in a straight line the entire game; at this point I'm wondering what friggin' turns can you make legally if the ships are right next to each other? 

Find out tomorrow in Formation Movement and Maneuvering Part 3!

No spoiler alert this time- I'm honestly not sure! 

Ha, ha- just kidding. I already took the pictures. Some pretty interesting results, and perhaps not what you were thinking. Fooled me a couple of times anyway. 

Maneuvering as a Formation, Part 1

Although this article is ostensibly about moving ships in a formation, the main underlying concern at hand is moving those ships without collision. As such, let's just go ahead and get this out of the way and define what a collision is in X-Wing Miniatures and what happens as a result. 

From the X-Wing Rules of Play book page 17- 


Overlapping Other Ships
There are a few situations that may arise where ships overlap other ships, and they are explained below.

Plastic Bases Overlapping
If a ship executes a maneuver that would cause the final position of its base to physically overlap another ship’s base (even partially), follow these steps:
1. From the opposite end of the template, move the active ship backward along the top of the 
template until it no longer overlaps another ship. While moving the ship, adjust it so that the 
template remains centered between both sets of guides on the ship’s base. Place the ship so that the bases of both ships are touching.
2. Skip this ship’s “Perform Action” step. Ships whose bases are touching cannot declare each other as a target during the Combat phase while their bases remain touching. As soon as either of these ships moves away (so that the bases are no longer touching), this combat restriction no longer applies.

Important: If the active ship is executing a <Koigoran Turn Symbol> maneuver that causes it to overlap another ship, 
instead treat its maneuver as a <Straight Maneuver Symbol> maneuver with the same speed and color revealed on the dial.

Plastic Figures Overlapping
Some ship figures extend beyond the edge of their base. If this part of the figure would touch another figure or obstruct its movement, simply add or remove one peg from the base to prevent this situation and continue moving as normal.

Ok, so long story long, it doesn't matter if the models overlap, it matters if the model's bases overlap. Secondly, if you do manage to pull a maneuver that causes you to overlap another ship, you lose your Action for the round even if that ship later moves away from you and move your ship's base back along the template until you're no longer overlapping. Thirdly, if the ship you overlapped doesn't move away (you're still touching it when Combat begins, in other words), neither of you can shoot each other though you're free to shoot any other ships that fall into Range and Firing Arc. 

One of the inherent difficulties of using a formation where your ships need to stay close together (usually to benefit from Swarm Tactics, a "giveaway" ability like Garven Dreis, Dutch Vander, etc. or Squad Leader, or Howlrunner's area-of-effect reroll ability) is moving all the ships around so they don't run into each other. TIE Swarms are especially dependent on this.

(*Note that just because you lose the ability to Perform Action, doesn't necessarily mean you can't do any Actions during that game round. If someone has an ability that passes you an Action token, Squad Leader, etc., you can pull an Action even if you've been in a collision.) 

You may have played as or against a TIE Swarm player especially who tries to be courteous and simplify his movement by moving one ship with the template then moving the TIEs next to him by hand without using the template; holding his formation intact. 

Does that time-saver accurately depict what happens when moving using the templates though or is some error incurred in that process? What moves actually are permissible when moving as a formation besides just flying in straight lines? I decided to find out. 

Clones or just BFFs?

In the picture above I've got two TIEs right next to each other. Both want to pull an easy 3, or to put it in the proper terms, a Bank 3 maneuver. 

Will they overlap or will they stay right next to each other? Let's find out!

Wheeee! (Sorry, can't think of anything remotely funny about this picture)

So the TIE on the right has performed the maneuver. If you're confused as to why I now have three TIEs on the board, don't be- I'm just trying to illustrate that the template hasn't moved or been bumped or anything- it's right where it needs to be. 

Kudos to you if you get my next caption joke...

Here you can see I've removed the maneuver template from the right side, but didn't remove the moving TIE- everything is still in its original position and the post-move position, again to illustrate that no unintended accidental movement has occurred. Now the movement template is on the TIE on the left as he too wants to execute a Bank 3 maneuver. 

<RileyMartinVoice> Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

So the second TIE completes his move and everything's cool, right? Uh, oh! Hold on a second! Let's zoom in there...

... Huh? </RileyMartinVoice>

We've got an overlap!

So, to answer my two original questions, no- if a player declared an Bank 3 for both of these ships, moving one then placing the second right next to it by hand without the template would not be accurate, and no- this would not be a permissible, advisable move for two ships flying in formation because it results in overlap which incurs lost Action in the ship that moved second. 

Why does this happen? It's relatively simple if you stop and think about it for a moment, but not entirely obvious (at least it wasn't to me- I've seen player after player at my club move one ship and drop everyone else in the formation next that that first ship and never called them out on it)- because it's a curved, not straight shape the distance along the inside is shorter than the outside because the template ends in a square end. Don't believe me? Look closely at the pics. Click on them, zoom in. If you still don't believe me, pull your stuff out and try it yourself. 

But wait, maybe that's just some strange permutation of the Bank 3 template that I've decided to make a big deal out of because it's a slow day, right? If the number was different that wouldn't happen. Or maybe if I'd have picked a Turn instead of a Bank. Yeah. A 3 Turn and they definitely wouldn't collide, right? 

Stop by tomorrow for Maneuvering as a Formation, Part 2 and find out the answer to that question and more.

SPOILER ALERT! There probably wouldn't be a Part 2 if this was the only maneuver this happened with would it? :)

I Wanna Play X-Wing Miniatures! What Should I Buy?

UPDATED: 4 March 13 to reflect Wave 2 release

For the longest time, when a person would ask me what they should buy to get into X-Wing Miniatures, I'd say the same thing that folks on the FFG X-Wing Forums would suggest when a new player would indicate interest. Now that Wave 2 has dropped, I think the "What should I buy" response needs to be re-examined. 

In the interest of full disclosure, many people on the forums are still giving the stock answer plus a few Wave 2 Expansions. I think I'm about the only person that's not saying "Buy 2 Cores and one each of the Expansions, possibly an extra X-Wing, and at least 1 extra TIE Fighter", as a matter of fact. 

To be fair, the stock answer isn't a bad answer- it gives a tremendous amount of flexibility in ship list options and pilots, but it's a Wave 1-centric answer that doesn't fully take into account any of the Wave 2 stuff that people might be more interested in fielding. It also doesn't take into account the pre-meta of the new listbuilding trend of going with a few elite ships in lieu of a swarm, so it really isn't the best answer anymore for folks who are getting into X-Wing now. 

So what do you need to buy to play X-Wing Miniatures? 

While you can download the X-Wing Miniatures Rulebook from FFG, buy a set of X-Wing Miniatures Dice or download the FFG Star Wars Dice App (for iPhone or Android), and even purchase acrylic maneuver and range templates, you do still have to purchase a Core Set to play X-Wing Miniatures to at least get the Damage deck. Also note that you have to use all FFG made stuff if you plan on playing in any FFG Organized Event per the Tournament Rules. Again, yes- it's possible your store, perhaps even your preferred online store, is out of the Core Set. Your best bet (if you're in the States) is probably to check at your local Target or Target.com if your local store game store is sold out. In any case, you do still need at least one Core Set to play this game whether it's in a tournament, FFG organized event, or just a friendly with your buddies. 

After that, suggestions of what to buy get a little more complicated. You can play the game with only the stuff in the Core Set, but most people pick up a few more ships right off the bat or shortly thereafter. Here are some things to keep in mind before you buy anything: 

1. The Tournament Standard for X-Wing is 100 points.

Now, even if you don't plan on becoming a tourney player, this is still the level at which most folks play the game, and the level at which most of the scenarios are designed to be played. It can be played at lower or higher point totals of course, but 100 points is the number where the majority of pick-up games occur, so it's the number most folks shoot for. This post assumes you're doing the same. If you'd rather play less or more, adjust accordingly and bear in mind, just because you play at 100 points, you don't have to limit yourself to only having 100 points worth of models. It's nice to have a few extra ships so you can change up your lists to keep things interesting for your opponent. 

2. All Ships in X-Wing are Viable to Field. 

If you want to field a force of exclusively X-Wings or TIE Advanced or whatever, have at it. Caveat- some ships are definitely easier to play or more accessible than others, but the game and points are balanced enough that you can do it and still have a chance of winning the game against an opponent of similar experience and skill level if you know what you're doing with your list. Really, it just depends on whether or not you want to do some kind of themed force or if you particularly like (or dislike) a certain ship or model.  

If you want a general idea of how the ships and pilots match up as far as easy or difficult to use, check out some of my Listbuidling articles and you ought to get a pretty good idea of the ships and their capabilities and accessibility for a new player.

Taking Wave 2 into account, here's some ballpark figures on ships and how many points they're worth to give you an idea of how many of what ships you have to buy. I won't say how much it costs in money; it'll just depend on where you buy your stuff from. 

Rebel Ships

Falcon- 27-70 points

X-Wing- 21-40 points

Y-Wing- 18-35 points

A-Wing- 18-35 ponts

Imperial Ships

Slave 1- 33- 75 points

TIE Fighter- 12-20 points

TIE Advanced- 21- 35 points

TIE Interceptor 18- 35 points

Please keep in mind these are ballparks- I may be off a point or two in either direction and obviously the spread depends on named pilots, upgrades, modifications, etc. which may or may not be available to all ships/ multiple ships in the same list.

3. You Probably Need an Extra Set of Dice. 

Why they only gave you three Attack and three Defend dice with the Core is beyond me when four covers nearly any naturally occurring dice event in the game. Don't get me wrong, it's handy to have an extra set of maneuver templates to teach a friend how to play or whatever, but it shouldn't be the sole reason you buy another Core as you can buy an extra set of dice by themselves or if you have a iPhone or Android phone, pick up the app instead. The Star Wars Dice App also includes Edge of the Empire dice as well as the more standard RPG dice (d4, d6, d8, etc.). You can also set up presets to represent the dice for particular ships, but honestly, it's quicker to just add the dice you need manually unless you only ever use one type of ships in your lists.  

4. The Ships in the Core Set Don't Include All of the Available Pilot Cards for the X-Wing or TIE Fighter.

The Core Set comes with 1 X-Wing and 2 TIE miniatures. The pilots for the X-Wing are Rookie, Biggs, and Luke. If you want to get Wedge, Garven Dreis, and Red Squadron, you'll have to purchase the X-Wing Expansion model. Ditto for the TIE Fighter, but I'm embarrassed to admit I don't remember how exactly the shuffle falls for those pilots- I think Howlrunner, Winged Gundark, and Dark Curse are the named pilots that don't come in the Core, but I could be mistaken. If I remember right, the X-Wing and TIE Fighter expansions don't come with the guys in Core Set, but the Y-Wing and TIE Advanced come with all pilots available to them. If you're really super concerned, do some Googling before you buy. 

Of course, all the Wave 2 stuff comes with all the available pilots, but you might have to be selective if you want multiples of a particular upgrade card. 

5. Should I Buy Two Cores Then? 

Buying a Core Set is cheaper than the combined cost of buying a X-Wing Expansion, two TIE Fighter Expansions, and a set of X-Wing Dice.

Again though, it's only cheaper if you want to field more than two X-Wings and more than 3 TIE fighters (I say more than 2 X's and more than 3 TIEs because you're probably going to want to pick up those Expansions to get the rest of the Pilot cards, so you'll hit 2 X-Wings and 3 TIEs anyway). If you have no interest in fielding those models in those amounts, you should just buy a single Core, the Expansions you are interested in, and a second set of dice. If you do want to field three or four X-Wings or do a TIE Swarm, by all means, pick up more than one Core Set!

Last word about buying stuff- online retailers will of course be cheaper than brick-and-mortar stores, and frankly, if you don't utilize a B&M store's resources (tables, gathering space, readily available player base, etc.), there's little reason to buy from them if you're only going to play at your house or dorm room or something. If you do play at a store, please do the right thing and patronize them. 

Now shut down your browser and go buy stuff!

... or barring that, maybe check out some of the other New Player articles here on TheMetalBikini.com. Stuff like Pilot Ranking Explained, The Combat Phase Explained, or Why Do You Lose? are all great places to increase your knowledge of the game. 

2013 X-Wing Regionals Venues Announced!

Friday or Saturday, the dates and locations of the 2013 X-Wing Regionals were announced on the FFG site. If you've not seen the big list, click here.

Are you planning on going? Will you continue to roll Wave 1 stuff and go with what you know, throw it all out the window and play strictly Wave 2, or try and hybridize Wave 1 stuff with Wave 2 stuff? 

Not sure which one I'll be hitting yet as I'm hoping a few friends attend with me, but it'll almost certainly be one of the Indianapolis, IN regionals, but there's an outside chance I may hit Edwardsville, IL, Louisville, KY, or Cincinnati, OH if none of my buddies are down for going along. 

No idea what kind of list I'll be running, but probably a mix of Wave 1 and Wave 2 stuff, just to make it interesting. Most likely will run the Falcon on principle though I'm a Guard player at heart- I really, really, really have a hard time talking myself into the "few elite models" over "hordes of average to crappy models", so you just never know! :)