X-Wing - Where Does It Go From Here?

[DrBored]

Honestly, I think that FFG's biggest mistake was in calling the game 'X-Wing'. I think it'll come back to bite them when they'll find themselves pidgeonholed into the latter 3 episodes of Star Wars and the expanded universe.

That said, let's see what we've got and what couple of ships might be popular enough to see their own little models in potential Wave 4 and beyond...

On the Rebel Alliance side we've got...
A-Wing
Y-Wing
X-Wing
B-Wing
Millenium Falcon
HWK-290

On the Imperial side, we've got...
Tie Fighter
Tie Advanced
Tie Bomber
Tie Interceptor
Slave 1
Lambda Shuttle

And what sorts of ships might we be able to expect in the future?

As you may or may not know, the Star Wars universe has expanded hugely, quite a ways beyond the typical movies, and I have a good feeling that as well as X-Wing has been doing, I think we'll see Wave 4 well before the next Star Wars movie actually comes out.

That said, there are many star ships in the expanded universe that are incredibly obscure. Just take a look at: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Starfighter There's tons of variants on the Tie Fighters and even the X-wings! There's even the super-ugly Tie-X, and many ships that look like they don't even belong in the Star Wars universe, mostly because they made short appearances in a single book or line of comics.

However, I think that we can look to a few ships in particular as possibly making the cut. Let's start with...

Tie Defender:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/TIE/D_Defender

It's unique shape, even among Tie Fighters will make a model that can be easily recognized on the field, and in the fluff it's listed as being quite the elite ship, with its own shields and hyperdrive. Shields would be something the Imperial side doesn't get to use very often, so it would be a unique addition to the Imperial side.

Tie Phantom:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/TIE_Phantom

Another Tie Fighter with a unique shape and profile. Unique shapes will be important moving forward for the Imperial side, as most Tie Fighters will start looking the same very quickly, while Rebel fighters tend to be quite different. This particular starfighter is known for its cloaking device, a potent upgrade.

Tie Oppressor:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/TIE_Oppressor

Quite the intimidating fighter, this, like the Phantom, was introduced after the Battle of Yavin, which is an ideal time frame for the X-Wing license. It's a beefcake of a fighter, made to counter the Y-Wing in weapon ability and bombing potential. This fighter will probably be less likely than the others, since the Tie Bomber already fits this particular role.

There are many other Tie variants, like the Scimitar, the Interdictor, the Vanguard, and a few others, though for the most part they fill a lot of the same roles as fighters that have already been made, with little difference. I think that X-Wing may have to stretch into new territory on the imperial side if they want to keep expanding the game. Let's take a look at the Rebel side of things though!

E-Wing:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/E-wing_escort_starfighter

Much like the Tie Defender, the E-Wing was a late development for the Rebels, and has a shape reminiscent of the X-Wing, but unique in its own right. It never replaced the X-Wing, but fills a role similar to the Tie Defender, in that it was made to be bigger, better, faster, and stronger. Put simply, it would make a great counter to the Tie Defender if released in a wave.

K-Wing:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/BTL-S8_K-wing_assault_starfighter

I know I'm stretching here, but this ship is unique, and it fits the Rebel aesthetic. Trouble is... it wasn't developed under the rebel alliance, but afterwards, when the Galactic Alliance was formed! It's a big bomber boat, slow moving, tank-like, which might make a good ship, but in terms of scale it's a bit bigger than many of the other starfighters.

Z-95 Headhunter:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Z-95_Headhunter

If you want a ship that'll make the beardies happy, it'll be the Z-95 Headhunter. This ship predates the X-Wing, and it's easy to see where much of the X-Wing's design could have been developed off of this ship. It could fill a role as a cheap ship, with little in the way of actual power, but with a lower point cost to make it easy to take more of them.

Like the Imperial side, there are many fighters that the Rebel Alliance went through, but most of their development came AFTER the war, when there wasn't much Empire left to fight. The Rebels started off by stealing Tie Fighters and painting Rebel symbols across their wings, that's just the way a rebellion goes!

There are many other ships in the Star Wars universe that aren't starfighters that could fit in quite well. Various Bounty Hunter ships, smuggler ships, and many other freighters, shuttles, and larger craft could find their way into the game.

I think the trouble will be when X-Wing has really nowhere else to go. I wouldn't be surprised if FFG simply completed their line of starfighters and ships and simply closed the book on the game. I would *like* to see the game expand farther into the universe, to include things like the V-Wing, ARC-190, Droid Fighters, Tri-Droid, even General Greivous's hotrod-esque starfighter. Trouble is, the game is called X-Wing!

What do you guys think? Any ships I missed? Any you'd like to see included, or do you think that X-Wing's waves are going to come to a close sooner than later?

[gwensdad]

Imperial Side could also have the Assault Gunboat and Missile Boat from the old Tie Fighter game.

No idea what to do with the "light side" forces.

[DrBored]

I do see the Imperials getting ships like that, but the trouble is going to be in the strategy of those kinds of heavy-hitters. Even the Millenium Falcon doesn't have huge attack power when you look at it, even though in reality it's brimming with guns!

There's a certain point in the game where if the ship has too much offensive capability at range, then you could potentially be downing a ship a turn, and a ship a turn means the game is over very, very quickly. Things like missile boats and gunships have the potential to be skewed in that direction, and nobody wants to lose a ship a turn, it's just not fun.

That said, it seems like the makers of X-Wing are motivated to keep the game balanced and fun, so ships like that may be a template for new rules, expanded features, and other things without inherently breaking the game.

Really, on the Imperial Side you've got a lot of Bounty Hunters, gun boats, and other offensive ships.

On the Rebel Side, you're going to be stretching, and I think X-Wing may have to continue pulling from the expanded universe, just as they did with the HWK-290. Mercenaries, Bothans, stolen ships, and others may end up showing up in the Rebel arsenal.

At a certain point though, like I said before, I do hope that they go back and start picking up ships from the lore between episodes 1-3. I will never say that they were great movies or shows, but there is a LOT more lore in that period of time than there is in episode 4-6, especially when it comes to the development of starships, freighters, and other weapons.

And as a complete fanboi aside, I would LOVE to see the Ebon Hawk made into a miniature of this scale.

[Houghten]

Pirate faction!

With various Uglies and Clone-Wars-era junkers.

---

Also, not the TIE Oppressor, please! It was introduced for SWG seemingly because they wanted to pretend the Missile Boat didn't exist, but I'd rather pretend SWG didn't exist.

[dreadnoughtguy]

You also have the x-wing advanced or the post rebelion revamp that they made where the astro mec was removed and a hyperdrive computer was hard wired in. The Stealth-x use in the much later periods whith its stealth capability and shadow bombs. The game could also easily move into the corvettes and capitol ship side using things like the lancer frigate. Even just on the fighter side you have the unique like the "death seeds" of the twileks the DIE wings the other "uglies" used by pirates. the clone wars era ships up through the z-95 headhunter and the chiss fighters. There is more than you can even imagine the biggest issue is stat vs cost considerations. Chiss ships with their connor nets and shield penetrating blasters would function vastly differently and would not work on the same scale. Nor would any of the Bio ships or the sith training spheers etc...

[eldargal]

I read somewhere that they hinted at a new faction. Not sure if that was a proper rumour or wishlisting though.

We still haven't seen the 'large/big surprise' they mentioned in the manual or some other documentation.

[DrBored]

I read somewhere that they hinted at a new faction. Not sure if that was a proper rumour or wishlisting though.

We still haven't seen the 'large/big surprise' they mentioned in the manual or some other documentation.

The only other major faction that was seen during the X-Wing starfighter's career was the Yuuzhan Vong, a group of extra-galactic aliens that used living ships and weapons, and had no presence in the Force. In terms of the expanded universe, they featured in a few comics, but mostly only in books.

I guess we'll have to see what the big surprise is :P

[eldargal]

I think pirates would be a more likely faction.

[Brakkart]

I know my housemate who plays this is hoping for a nice model of Dash Rendar's Outrider at some point in the future, he's a bit upset that it's not in Wave 3 actually, not at all a fan of The Moldy Crow model.

[Zeshin]

I don't know how well it would fit the fluff (I stopped at the extra galactic alien bs) but a mercenary deck release could be cool. Provide mercenary squadrons and pilots allowing a mix of imperial and rebel equipment. Could be fun to have a squadron of X-wings flying escort for some tie bombers. Or a YT-1300 backing up a tie squadron.

[DrBored]

Oh man, I forgot about the Outrider...
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Outrider

Talk about a cool ship! It'd be great to see it in the game, but it'd be on a scale similar to the Millenium Falcon, which might make it a hard sell.

And yes, pirates could be quite awesome. Tie Fighters with rebel symbols on them, or the TIE-X, a horrible amalgam of X-Wing and Tie Fighter parts, as well as any number of other smaller or lesser-known ships...