Since the release of X-wing back in 2012, the game have evolved way beyond its starting point. Some for the better, some not so much. With the newly announced relaunch of X-Wing, it will hopefully benefit from this accumulated experience, to create a even better game and design. Here is The Academys predictions about X-Wing Second Edition prior to launch.

Turrets are gone! Well, they’re still there, but now they’re limited to one or two arcs and functions similarly to the mobile arc on the Shadow Caster from First Edition. Which means arc dodgers can finally fully live up to their moniker and completely avoid fire from turreted ships. And by the look of things, most ships will have one or more options for re-positioning, so the term “arc-dodger” may become a bit watered, but for both turreted ships and those wanting to avoid the multiply arcs and possibly get a shot their chosen maneuver becomes even more important than in First Edition. Especially considering that barrel rolls are more limited in their options, so you must carefully navigate obstacles and other ships to allow for pin-point positioning. And only a few ships (A-wings and TIE Interceptors) will have the option to both boost and barrel roll in one turn, which will then limit their dice modification.

With the removal of 360 degree shooting, a feature that really took hold with the introduction of wave 7 in First Edition, many new players (and forgetful veterans) will have to learn how to read their opponents to maneuver their ships into advantageous positions in order to block or fire at them. Not that this was ever not the case, but the care-free “auto-aim” nature of turrets will no longer reward a less optimal maneuver choice. However, a perfect shot will now (as it always is) feel satisfying, as you get a sensation of outsmarting your opponent. The new edition is bound to reward players who carefully plan ahead (not like yours truly, who is more of a “let’s do this and see what happens”-kinda guy) and don’t mind using a turn or two to set up that perfect kill-box. I think many – as myself – are looking forward to genuine skillful dog-fights, rather than two turret ships circling each other, with the player with most luck eventually coming out on top.

Many ships’ re-positioning actions can be linked to or are linked from another action or are simply red actions, making stress-clearing maneuvers (that are now blue) more regular, with many ships gaining one or two additional blue maneuvers. In most cases these are usually banks or straight and blue turns are featured primarily on interceptor-type ships. This gives players more opportunities from the get-go, without resorting to upgrades that improve maneuver difficulty and can save those slots for other interesting upgrades or leave the points for a… first player bid(?) or a better pilot. Combine this with Segnor’s Loop and Tallon Rolls for older ships and flying your fleet looks to a lot more fun in Second Edition.

AN entirely new concept in X-wing is the ability for a few pilots to use the Force. Force tokens (force) can be spent for a variety of purposes, such as changing a single focus result to a hit or evade result or to power a Force Talent. Some upgrades will be limited to Force sensitive pilots and there are Dark and Light side limitations as well. Some upgrades, like crew member Luke Skywalker, will add a Force token to the ship, which can be used for the effect on Luke’s card or for it’s regular effect. Force tokens regenerate by one each round if they have a small diamond next their value ensuring Force users to always have some sort of dice modification, which makes them rather powerful compared other pilots.

The introduction of regenerating Force points allow for some – along with Charges (energy) – once per round effects, with a very intuitive book-keeping mechaning of simply flipping a token to communicate t both players that the relevant effect has already been used. No need to place any more custom Palp tokens to clutter up the game board (although that is well within your rights, if you prefer it that way) and I doubt we will see any ability worded “once per round” anymore. “Once per game” ability works similarly, the token is simply not regenerated. I’m certain the developers have many more interesting mechanics in the idea drawer based on the use of the Force and I can easily imagine a very powerful one-off ability (similar to Iden Versio) based on a Force ability.

The game round in Second Edition features a new phase called “System Phase”, in which players activate effects such as de-cloaking and employ devices. “Device” is the upgrade slot for bombs and mines and may feature new upgrades in the future. Bombs and mines are all dropped in the System Phase, occurs between Planning and Activation, which means players have perfect knowledge of the placement of bombs and can attempt to avoid them with their ships. They otherwise functions as their First Edition counterparts, which mean you can still place a mine directly on a lower Initiative ship, you just have to think a round ahead and position your bomber accordingly.

Imperial Aces

Soontir Fel +

6

52

At the start of the Engagement Phase, if there is an enemy ship in your bullseye, gain 1 focus token.

“Howlrunner” +

5

40

While a friendly ship at range 0-1 performs a primary attack, that ship may reroll 1 attack die.

Iden Versio +

4

1

40

Before a friendly TIE/ln fighter at range 0-1 would suffer 1 or more damage, you may spend 1energy. If you do, prevent that damage.

“Wampa” +

1

1

30

While you perform an attack, you may spend 1 energy to roll 1 additional attack die.
After defending, lose 1 energy.

With bombs and mines being less unpredictable and secondary weapons like Twin Laser Turret and Harpoon Missiles out of the way, we might see a return of some of the ships partially being kept out of the game, due to those upgrades. Pilots like Soontir Fel, who was particularly weak to bombs (plus Sabine) could maneuver his way back into the game, especially now that turrets are fixed to mobile arcs. B-wings will no longer perish to 4x TLT and their dials have received a facelift, so some of the ships that makes X-wing a Star Wars game will possibly find their way back. And speaking of iconic Star Wars ships, there are none that fit that description as much as X-wings and TIE Fighters. The developers claim everything has been balanced in accordance to TIE Fighters, but as the X-wing has gotten another hull point, a far better dial and re-positioning options, I hardly see a fair fight between two TIEs and one X-wing as we were introduced to in the Quick Play rules of our First Edition Core Set. Hopefully the developers knows what they’re doing and TIEs aren’t as bad as they look on paper – especially with the re-work of Evade tokens – and the renowned TIE swarm will make it’s return to the competitive stage. The developers does seem to have put some effort into creating pilots, that will complement swarm tactics, with Howlrunner now working on herself and Iden Versio being able to negate the first killing blow, which could’ve well targeted Wampa as he will be stronger, as long as he hasn’t been targeted that round. There are other upgrades that could help out a swarm, but requires a different ships than a TIE Fighter. Admiral Sloane can discourage a ship from destroying one of her allies, as they would then be doubly stressed. Every friendly ship firing at that ship (or another stressed enemy) will then have an offensive advantage. With only a portion of the Imperial pilots and upgrades revealed, we can probably expect to see more pilots, that will work well flying in formation with their allies.

Two other important characters, who’ve been left out in the cold for a while as Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, who both seems to have received a boost to their power level. Mechanically Luke’s ability works exactly is it did in First Edition, in that he will always have at least one Force token to change one focus result into a evade result. The difference is, that the same resource can also be used offensively and he’s flying a much updated ship. Han’s ability is now situational, but a great player should be able to capitalize on his ability at any time. And it works on defense rolls as well, so both pilots’ action economy is now much better. And while the Millenium Falcon loses it’s 1 right turn, it gains a much needed 3 right turn, making it much faster, while balancing the powerful sharp 1 right turn.

Heroes and Villains (reader discretion)

Han Solo +

6

82

After you roll dice, if you are at range 0-1 of an obstacle, you may reroll all your dice. This does not count as rerolling for the purpose of other effects.

Luke Skywalker +

5

2

62

After you become the defencer (before dice are rolled), you may recover 1force.

Darth Vader +

6

3

65

After you perform an action, you may spend 1force to perform an action.

Boba Fett +

5

86

While you defend or perform an attack, you may reroll 1 of your dice for each enemy ship at range 0-1.

A perfect adversary to these two would of course be Darth Vader. His TIE Advanced now has a build in Advanced Targeting Computer, leaving the System slot open to Advanced Sensors or Fire Control System and his ability allows him to always be Focused and Locked onto an enemy, as long as he doesn’t use too many of his Force tokens on re-positioning. His large Force pool makes him rather versatile and his high Initiative can really augment the Sense Force Talent. The TIE Advanced also gains the 1 straight maneuver, which it sorely lacked in First Edition. With all these options, it could’ve been great to run him alongside Boba Fett, but that is no longer possible as Boba is Scum&Villainy only. He retains his S&V ability and can gain access to a more powerful version of his Empire ability through the Slave 1 title. With a better dial and a smaller base, boost and reinforce actions, the Firespray looks like much stronger ship and much more fun to fly.

Even if, after Second Edition is released, there are ships that are overpriced or too powerful, with upgrade combinations, that makes them ridiculously efficient, the whole point of the squad builder app is to rectify such blunders. And there most likely will be some blunders from FFG, because it is impossible to make a perfect game at the scale X-wing is now. Even with testing, it is difficult for the developers to predict the creativity of the X-wing community hive-mind, so now we players are the final test group and the developers can use our feedback to re-balance a new pilot or card dynamically. Gone are the days of inelegant cost reduction upgrades or fixes for one issue, that causes another issue and needs another fix. Well, it’s probably naive to think all these problems will disappear, but the ability to alter costs of pilots and upgrades and add or remove upgrade slots will make it easier to battle super-efficient pilots such as Miranda or Contracted Scout.

It is a very positive thing, though, as you don’t have to know every new entry in the FAQ (which can focus on rule clarification) but the changes will be apparent immediately when booting up the app for some list building. This makes the changes transition into the game much more smoothly. And with the re-balance of the dials, cost, upgrades etc. of ships, it’s more than likely that we will see the most diverse X-wing tournament scene ever. So far none of the upgrades in Second Edition seem game-breaking and a must-have like Push the Limit or Veteran Instincts, but add different flavor to pilots, so you can tailor a list to your play style.

Another exciting aspect to the official squad builder app is the options in creating different tournament formats, banning ships, upgrades or pilots or alter the default point cost. It will be interesting to see what this means for Organized Play, as the developers has said that quarter kits and season kits are longer longer supported, but there instead will be different themed events. Although pure speculation, it’s not hard to imagine that some of these tournament formats will include only the most recently released ships as a way to push sales of new expansions. We will see if this comes to pass eventually, but the positive will most likely out-weigh the negative of such a business model. In any case, this customization should make lives easier for tournament organizers, as they can create formats without having to write extensive lists of allowed ships or upgrades.