Fantasy Flight Games has done second editions before. Most recently was the Game of Thrones LCG. However, last Tuesday they did something pretty new. X-Wing wasn’t just announced, it was trumpeted to the heavens. We got an hour long press conference, Youtube videos were immediately released with demos and interviews, and their twitch streamed four demo games with the devs themselves. The player base was handed a glut of information. A veritable mountain of facts, tidbits, teasers were thrown at us at near lightspeed velocity. The player base was handed so much information, it has been a daunting task to sort through it all. Typically, when FFG announces new product, we get an image of the box art and a grainy image of the card fan. We’ll spend the next few months, like archeologists digging for clues, pouring over the images. Pilot ability and upgrade card texts are hypothesized from half visible sentences and phrases. Ship stats and costs are theorized and debated over. Not this go round. FFG didn’t give us a teaser this time, they gave us the full monty.
So Dialed In is here dive into this cornucopia of 2.0 knowledge, to plumb its depths, reveal its treasures, and dispel its myths. Here’s the top 10 key points of what people seem to be getting the most confused on.
- X-wing will NOT require you to have a smartphone to play. The program will be available through a web browser or downloadable/printable pdf. If you can read this blog, you can access the new squad builder app. Squad points and upgrade bars can be adjusted as needed through these means. We do not know how often this will happen, but I’ve got a few theories I’ll cover in the future.
- Saw’s Renegades and the Tie Reaper expansions will have components for both 1.0 and 2.0. We still have a 1.0 store championship season left and the 1.0 components will still have value. Also, rebel players will be able to convert 4 x-wings to 2.0 immediately. 1 from the core, 2 from the conversion kit, and 1 from Saw’s renegades.
- All remaining 1.0 Organized Play events will have 2.0 prize support. We’ve yet to see what the Store Champ kits are, but the recently revealed Gencon article shows off some pretty snazzy double sided Vader cards.
- Existing players will not need to buy new blisters for any reason beyond the new sculpts and paint jobs. The new 2.0 blisters exist for brand new players to get into the game. The faction conversion kits have everything you will need. However, the Y-wing, X-wing, and Protectorate fighter totally got awesome new sculpts and paint jobs. The core set X-wing is specifically marked as Luke’s Red 5 and the blister is a generic Red Squadron. Both have movable S-foils. The protectorate now has wings that pivot. Y-wing has a brand new turret on the top of its cockpit and sturdier engine frames. They all look awesome.
Horton’s New Wip - Generic upgrade cards will be available in all faction conversion kits. No longer will anyone be forced to buy a ship in another faction just for the cards(looking at you 1.0 autothrusters).
- Horton has an EPT and the HWK-290 has a primary weapon value of 2. Rejoice! Ships now have abilities instead of titles to augment their chassis. I.E. Advanced targeting computers are baked into all Tie Advanced and all Protectorate fighters have the Concordia Face Off ability that works like the 1.0 title.
- Push the Limit, Veteran Instincts, Twin Laser Turret, Harpoon Missiles, Autothrusters, Primary Weapon Turrets, and action bombs are all GONE. Actions have been large reworked with a focus on piloting. Red actions are an action that grants a stress and linked actions replace the need for PTL on many ship action bars. IE all A-wings now can boost and focus for the cost of a stress.
- Lists are set at 200 points now, effectively doubling the cost of every ship. Squads should remain the same size, but this allows for a more granular costing approach. Academy Pilots now cost 24 points instead of 12.
- Epic is coming, but not soon. This is the most vague answer we got the whole weekend, sorry folks, but they did say it was coming.
- The street date is September 13. This never, ever happens. Ever. FFG is famous for their mysterious shipping routes and phantom cargo ships that take constantly variables amounts of time to arrive. Much like hyperspace travel in the films, the speed of FFG shipping never seems to move at a constant rate. To put this in perspective, we don’t even have a launch date for Saw’s Renegades or the Tie Reaper yet!
That completes our mini FAQ. I hope it was informative. I’m super excited for everything 2.0 as in store for us. Let me know if there’s other questions you may have and as always,
Cheers and Happy Hunting
DIALED IN 