Played Lately: Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Games

• We drove up to my parents' house for Thanksgiving this year. That night, after the feast was put away, after the football was over, after everyone else had gone to bed, my brother and I broke out the Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Games from Fantasy Flight Games to relive some of the Star Wars battle from our youth.


• Game 1 - For our first game, we played with the Quick Start rules. I took the Rookie Pilot and he played the Academy Pilot and Obsidian Squadron Pilot. The rules call for a 2x2 play area. I didn't bother to measure. We just set the ships up closer to one another. The Quick Start rules are pretty stripped down. There are no actions, no upgrades. Just turning and shooting. There is one other difference between these and the real rules: if your ship can complete a move, it doesn't move at all. My brother misjudged his third move with the Academy Pilot, put him in front of his superior, and locked out his move for the round. My brother does not handle frustration well. This was not the last time Academy Pilot would do something stupid during the night. The match ended with TIEs gunned down and the X-Wing limping away with three hits.


• Game 2 - It was an easy choice to move up the standard Rules for our next game. We set up the default scenario again, my Luke Skywalker versus his Night Beast and Obsidian Squadron Pilot. I decided to see if the superior shields and firepower of the X-Wing would allow me to fly headlong into the TIEs and pulverize them. The dice told me know. I came away with my shields down and a hull hit without inflicting any appreciable damage on my brother's team. I tried to put up a fight afterward, but it was a forgone conclusion at that point.


• Game 3 - It was getting late at this point, but there so much in the rules and in the box he did hadn't played with, we had one last go. This time with the Advanced Rules. We set up four asteroids to make the flying more interesting, though they ended up in a straight diagonal across the field. And built our own squads. The rules suggest 31 points if you are playing out of the box. But my brother wanted to take Luke Skywalker and R2-D2, so we bumped it to 32. I went for Mauler Mithel with Marksmanship and an Academy Pilot. I should have known he would be my undoing. To surprise the X-Wing, I turned the Academy Pilot across an asteroid and opened fire. It was sure a surprise and put my brother on the defensive, but I was trying maneuver Mauler more carefully and the Academy Pilot got chewed up before I could get him in position. It was a tight battle at the end. R2 got the chance to restore shields twice as I continued to pour fire into the X-Wing, which I think saved him. Scratch off two TIEs.


• I didn't end victorious, but it was fun. I don't know when I'll next have a chance to play, but I'm definitely putting more ships on my Christmas wish list.

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© 2012 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.