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.