Lock S-Foils in attack position!

Another Monday... a second chance to try out the X Wing rules that made such a good impression a few weeks ago.

This time Andrew and I swapped sides with the Rebel Scum now transforming into gallantly heroic freedom fighters in my hands.  We aimed for approx. 70 points per side: Andrew, ably assisted by Chris fielded Lord Vader himself in his Advanced TIE fighter accompanied by to bit part TIE fighter pilots.  In response I chose Luke Skywalker with R2 strapped to the X Wing and a Y Wing upgraded with an Ion Cannon.

The Empire began in pretty assertive style by flying straight at the Rebels which allowed me to concentrate on one fighter and cause several hits.  We quickly found ourselves in a massive tangle with lots of shots at point blank range.  Unfortunately Darth Vader then came into his own with a multitude of Actions [most people only get one] and all round high skills which were able to quickly wear down Luke's X Wing's shields.

A close range tangle... if only we had interstellar traffic lights!

Luckily the R2 unit proved its worth and was able to restore shields providing I didn't do anything too complex in manoeuvring and this bought Luke several turns. 

The TIE fighters struggled to bring their guns to bear on the Rebels and the Y Wing's Ion cannon began to prove particularly annoying: if it manages to hit it causes 1 point of damage but also slows the target ship to a short move... effectively pecking away at them and wearing them down.  Much to Andrew's frustration the TIE fighters couldn't get into an effective position and Luke was able to finish them off before facing off against his father [oops... hope that wasn't a spoiler!]


Here Darth Vader's superior skills proved very effective and Episodes 5 and 6 were cut off prematurely as Luke's ship exploded [...maybe he escaped in some implausible fashion...]

The rather cumbersome Y Wing was then left facing Vader and I suspected here that the game was up and the Advanced TIE fighter would make short work of the slower ship.  Again though the Ion cannon proved its worth, slowly wearing down the fighters shields and hull and negating the Empire ship's chances to get into an effective firing position.  The Y wing circled around Vader, slowly blasting away  until the last hull point was gone and Skywalker Senior was snuffed out.

Darth Vader and the Y Wing face off...

Another very successful outing for the X Wing rules.  We still haven't added in some of the other options such as asteroids etc and we'll have to try these next.  The next sets are due out in February next year and will include the Millennium Falcon... can't wait!