X-wing 2.0 Design Review - Position is King

Welcome back to another edition of the X-Wing 2.0 Design Review. Here we’re taking a look at the information available about X-Wing 2.0 and asking what the changes bring to the game and could they have been accomplished without a 2.0 version. Last time, we discussed the different philosophy going into Actions. This week we’re going to look at the greater emphasis position and maneuvering appear to play in 2.0.

Position is King

X-Wing is a game all about maneuvers. The superior pilot can outfly her opponent despite all odds. At least, that’s what it’s supposed to be about. Unfortunately, certain design elements crept into the game over the years that really shifted this emphasis.

So what’s changed?

Several things but the first one we’ll look at is the fact that turrets, as we knew them, are dead. Twin Laser Turrets (TLT) are completely gone and all other turrets, including Primary Weapon Turrets (PWT) are being converted to work similar to the Lancer’s Mobile arc. All ships that had a PWT will now have one to two mobile arcs and the Rotate Arc action. This means that even when you’re flying a big turret boat, you will have to pay attention to what direction you’re facing. While you can rotate your arc, it’s going to cost you an action to do so. As we saw on the Jumpmaster card last time, some turret ships will have the option to rotate their arc as part of their linked actions, but some do not.

Also changing with this is that turrets, and cannons, will now be able to take advantage of range combat bonuses. So all those turret upgrades that are only useful at range 1-2? Now they are more effective at range one, compensating for the loss of power. They also appear to add the Rotate Arc action to the ship equipping them. This allows FFG to throw a turret upgrade onto any ship they want in the future using the new app.

Okay, so turrets are harder to use. What else?

The developers appear to have embraced the idea that reposition abilities belong to everyone. From what we’ve seen so far, allmost all small base ships have a native reposition ability (Barrel Roll or Boost). Even the clunky Y-wing has a red barrel roll. With all ships having access, it reemphasizes the importance of maneuvering. Some ships are no longer just purely jousters and others arc dodgers. Some ships will be better at arc dodging, Interceptors have the ability to take a red boost/barrel roll after any other action compared to the Y-wings’ single red barrel roll, maintaining their position as the king of arc dodging. But no ship is left out.

In addition to the bases changing to accommodate mobile arcs, all ships will also now have bullseye arcs. Certain abilities (such as Crack Shot, Soontir Fel’s pilot ability) will be tied to this bullseye arc. This further reinforces the importance of good maneuvering. This allows for the most powerful abilities to be limited in function and makes thematic sense.

Finally, we have some fundamental changes to almost every ship’s maneuver dial. Segnor’s Loops (S-Loops), Talon Rolls (T-Rolls), and reverse maneuvers are being incorporated into more ships dials. These new maneuvers were added well into the games lifetime, leaving older ships out. The T-65 X-wing and TIE Advanced will have Talon Rolls and A-Wings and TIE Interceptors now have S-Loops. The Sheathipede as now has a reverse maneuver. And the Y-wing is finally getting some bank maneuvers that can clear stress.

So no more R2 Astromechs on all Y-wings?

No, in fact, the R2 Astromech no longer affects your maneuvers. Instead, that role has been filled by the new R4 Astromech. These little droids will reduce the difficulty of basic maneuvers. This change means ships with astromechs can have speed 1-2 T-rolls, S-loops and K-turns now. In 1.0, you could never do that because the R2 Astromech would make those powerful maneuvers green (which by the way, is another change as green maneuvers are becoming blue maneuvers to accommodate color blindness).

The devs had to go to great efforts to work around R2 and Unhinged Astromech. That even forced the Scurrg’s title to limit droids to named ones only to allow the ship to have a T-roll.

So what does this all mean?

We’re all going to have to step up our game. Turrets will no longer serve as a crutch. Planning your maneuvers is, once again, going to be the defining feature of the game. If you can’t get a ship into arc, you’re in trouble.

But unlike the early days of X-wing 1.0, no (small) ship is going to be screwed because of one bad maneuver. They will all have the option to reposition with a boost or barrel roll. This ends the classic trilogy of Jouster>Turret>Arc Dodger. Now, there are no pure turrets and everyone will want to try and arc dodge. Naturally, there will be ships that excel at arc dodging and ships that tank better, so can afford to joust.

Interceptors, A-Wings, and Protectorate fighters will all see a comeback. X-wings, Y-Wings, and Kihraxz that were just so boring to play without some reposition options gain a new life as well. Even our favorite turret ships aren’t dead, but are now more fun to play. It’s no longer just float around the edge of the board.

Did we really need a 2.0 for this?

For the turret changes, the bullseye arc, absolutely. All of the ship bases had to be completely redesigned to allow for these new lines to be in place on the cardboard. You couldn’t have these alternative arcs without arc lines to measure from. Similarly, you can’t fix a bad dial without releasing new cardboard. Those two changes alone justify the entire existence of the conversion pack. Above all others, these changes required a 2.0 version of the game in order to happen.