Special Report- New X-Wing Core Set Leaks

As some of you may know, Disney is preparing a major reveal event for all of their “Force Awakens” merchandise for September 4th. All material is supposed to be revealed and released simultaneously on that day. Normally, not something we at the Gamer Nation would be super interested in. Except this includes game products. Game products that would include things developed by Fantasy Flight Games, makers of the current version of the Star Wars RPG, X-wing Miniatures game, a LCG, Armada, Imperial Assault, etc.

We have big things planned for next week to lead up to that Friday in anticipation. With Disney in control, we assumed that would be all there would be to talk about; anticipation. But even Disney is not all powerful. It seems the tighter their grip, the more leaks slip through their fingers.

Last week leaks began to come out confirming the existence of a new Core set for the X-Wing Miniatures Game. This set featured the new style X-wing and TIE Fighter. Though this product wasn’t a very big surprise it was cool to have confirmed. However, since these images leaking out were clearly taken by someone who was in violation of some agreement we decided to not report on them.

And then last night more leaks came out spoiling the entire box. Apparently, a Target store in Montana got the old X-Wing Core box and the new one mixed up. They put the new one out on a Clearance shelf, presumably thinking it was the old one to clear it out of inventory before the new one launched next week. Well, that’s when the internet found it.

Some very lucky X-wing player picked up the box, rushed home and shared the news with Reddit and the internet. We won’t rehost the images (they belong to him now) but we will give you the breakdown of what’s about to change for X-Wing.

No New Factions but Subfactions

The X-wing Reddit was abuzz after the box reveal because of a few new symbols. The new pilots appeared to have faction symbols different than the standard Rebel and Imperial. The box copy also talked solely about the Resistance and First Order. Were we getting two new factions added to the game?

Fortunately, we are not. Instead FFG is introducing the concept of sub-factions. There is a Rebels primary faction which include the Resistance and the Rebel Alliance. There is also an Imperial subfaction that includes the Galactica Empire and the First Order. Scum just has Scum so far.

A collective sigh emerged at this news. Muddying the waters with two new distinct factions would really complicate the game. The release of Scum and Villiany was well done and brought them up to speed with the Rebels and Empire pretty quickly. Doing that again would be difficult and be a step to far.

New Damage Deck

The core set, naturally, includes a damage deck. However, instead of a reprint this one contains many new cards and drops some of the most annoying. Gone is Munitions Failure (causing you to discard your secondary weapon) replaced with weapons failure (roll one less attack dice, regardless of source). Also gone are most of the cards that required you to roll to remove them.

Instead we get a few new ones. Major Hull Breach makes all cards dealt to you be dealt face up. Not so bad for Chewie but for everyone else that will hurt. Fortunately, it just takes an action to flip and doesn’t take effect until the next round after you reveal it. Loose Stabilizer gives you a stress after a white maneuver. Also only an action to flip over but will telegraph you taking a green next turn.

The interesting thing about the new deck is it is now required but only if you own it. If you own it, you must use it. That’s going to be hard to enforce but the best compromise in getting a new deck into play without forcing people to buy the new core box. Overall I think I like the new damage deck better.

New Maneuver- Tallon Roll

We’ll get more into the new X-Wing maneuver dial later but one major thing is the introduction of a new move called the Tallon Roll. You take a hard left or right and instead of putting the ship facing 90 degrees off from where it started, you turn it another 90 degrees and face the way you came. Essentially it’s a K-turn but with some lateral movement.

A loved the addition of the Segnor’s Loop (S-Loop) so getting another way to flip around is pretty exciting. I don’t think it’s as game changing as the S-Loop, as you don’t change your angle of attack, just offset it. It should be very interesting to try out on the table though.

And I am officially calling it now, Tallon Roll will henceforth be known as Trolling (T-Roll) just like Segnor Loops are Slooping (S-Loop)

New Upgrades including a new card type (Tech)

The game comes with a mere four upgrade cards, one of which is the disappointing Proton Torpedo. But the others are quite cool. First, BB-8 shows up as an astromech droid. He gives a free barrel roll after making a green maneuver. This is incredible. While the green options on anything with an astromech slot aren’t the most fantastic (looking at you Y-wing) giving a barrel roll to ships that don’t have it, or free in the case of the E-Wing all for two points is going to be incredible. Wedge + Engine Upgrade + BB-8 anyone?

There is also a new disposable astromech, R5-X3 that allows you to ignore obstacles for the round. That’s a great insurance card for 1 point. Need to chase Dash into an asteroid field? Fear not. Now you can even fire on a rock and he can’t. And because it says “ignore obstacles until the end of the round” you should be able to land on them and then boost/barrel roll off if you wish.

The only Elite Pilot Talent contained in the box seems custom made for Tycho. Wired allows you to reroll a Focus result when attacking or defending if you are stressed. If Tycho is ever not stressed you’re not flying him right. And for only one point it’s a nice safety feature for any pilot get to some modification ability after a K-Turn, S-Loop or T-Roll.

The final card in the box is from the new upgrade type; Tech. Called Weapons Guidance it allows you to spend a focus to turn a blank into a hit. This will make Focusing even more of a no brainer, especially as the card is only two points. Take Calculation and you have a lot of options how best to spend that Focus token for maximize results.

The interesting thing about the Tech upgrade is both the T-70 X-wing and the First Order TIE have that slot. This seems to be custom made for the new subfactions. And this would be appropriate. As these ships are supposed to be 30+ years newer than the other ships in the game it makes sense that they would have some upgraded tech that gives them an edge.

Other Bits

The new box also comes with upgraded maneuver templates that include the symbol for S-Loops and T-Rolls. This is nice to see though I won’t be trading in my acrylic templates. Another nice thing in the box is a Rules Reference book just like Armada got. This is a nice addition that should help clarify some rules confusion for new players. Instead of needing to look up an obscure FAQ details are right there in the box.

First Order TIE Fighter

Now, the First Order TIE Fighter itself. This shiny new craft comes in six varieties, the bottom being Epsilon Squadron pilot at PS 1 and 15 points. That makes then three points more expensive than the old Academy Pilot workhorse. But oh what you get for those 3pts.

First, the new ship gains a Shield bringing it to a total of four HP, equivalent to an A-wing or Z-95. It still keeps two attack and three agility. It also gains a Target Lock in it’s action bar. So far those three points are already the equivalent of 6pts (Targeting Computer 2pts and Shield Upgrade 4pts). And then we get to the dial…

You ready for this? Speed two S-loops. You lose the speed 3 K-turn for them but that’s more than a fair trade. Not only do you gain S-loop, previously exclusive to the Scum faction, but you also get all your other two speed maneuvers as green, just like our good friend the Interceptor. This is an incredible dial.

As for the named pilots, they have come cool abilities

Zeta Ace– This guy allows you to do barrel rolls with the two speed template instead of the one. And yes, unlike Echo, that’s “may”.
Epsilon Leader- At the start of combat phase, remove one stress token from each friendly ship are range one. Since you are a friendly ship, it works on yourself. It’s like built in Wingman. Squads of TIE’s S-looping will be a big threat.
Omega Ace- Spend a Target Lock and a Focus token to turn all your results to Criticals. This is what everyone wants when they have a TL/Focus. But everyone else has to fear the rerolled blanks. Omega just doesn’t care. Give him PTL (with all green two’s he can clear that stress right up) and go to town.

T-70 X-Wing

Is this ship the wet dream of every X-Wing lover? It just might be. First off, the basic pilot, Blue Squadron Novice, clocks in at just 24 points, a mere three points more than a Rookie X-wing, same as the basic TIE. And like the TIE, those three points are well worth it.

First, the ship also gains a shield. This makes sense as shield tech probably improved over those thirty years. But you also gain the Boost action. Now X-Wings are joining the vast majority of other ships that have re-positioning capability.

The dial also sees some improvement. Your three straight becomes green which on a ship that lacks greens is very welcome. But it also gains the brand new Tallon Roll. Now you can really T-roll the Empire with your X-Wings.

As for the pilots, there are only two named but there is also Red Squadron Veteran at 26pts. This gives the X-Wing a generic pilot with an EPT.

Blue Ace- This guy can use the hard 1 template when boosting. That’s pretty epic. It’s kind of sad he can’t make that as his maneuver but we’ll take it. That’s essentially a built in Daredevil without the drawbacks.
Poe Dameron- This guy is really Focused. So much so that if you have a Focus token you can change one focus result to a Hit on attack and Evade on defense. And he doesn’t have to spend it. He can get shot at multiple times and still gain use out of that token. He is going to be great to pair with R5-P9 so he can spend the Focus at the end for a shield.

What does this ship mean for the poor old T-65 X-wing? We aren’t really sure yet. There are still two unknown products, likely the standalone expansion packs for the X-Wing and TIE. Will that include an upgrade for the T-65? Or will the old girl go fully into retirement? We’ll know more on Sept 4th.