"X-Wing vs Star Warriors" Topic

I bit the bullet and got x-wing over Christmas because it was on sale at Target.

I played a few games from the base set. I liked the game where you attack/defend the shuttle. That was a blast, though the Empire won every time. (it was close though).

The game plays fast and fun. Relatively easy, but with some good strategic value.

It reminds me of an older game that I have – Star Warriors by West End Games. (when they had the Star Wars license)

Star Warriors plays at roughly the same scale as X-Wing. It was designed as a board game but easily transitions to a miniatures game.

X-wing is a little easier, but Star Warriors is still pretty easy. In Star Warriors you plan your moves in advance (like the dial in X-Wing) The big difference is that you can plan multiple maneuvers in Star Warriors. All maneuvers have a difficulty number based upon the ship that you are flying. Then you roll against your pilot skill, and if you roll over the combined difficulty number, then you can perform the maneuvers. If you fail, something bad happens to you or your ship.

The one difference that I really like in Star Warriors is that you don't have to plan the specific directions of your maneuvers. You can plan a bank, and you HAVE to perform the bank, but you get to decide which direction you bank when you are actually moving.

All in all, both games are great. X-wing is a better "pick up" game because you can learn it quicker, but I think that Star Warriors is better at the depth of tactics, and it also has some great options for campaign play.

BTW Star Warriors is long OOP, but they are often available on ebay.

I actually like the element of being forced to perform the maneuver you've chosen in the direction you've chosen. I think it captures the feel of the "instant decision" element of an actual dogfight, with the possibility that you might have been out-thought by your opponent (or you simply thought wrong). I've played two rounds now myself, and even going solo, I've been surprised at how my chosen maneuvers have produced unexpected results— I've out-thought myself without even trying!

Plus, as with Wings of War, it's just fun to find yourself haring off in a completely absurd direction based on your maneuver choice. There's less of that, of course, as you're not picking three moves in advance as with WoW, but it's still there. (I love that effect in WoW. It may not be entirely realistic, but it's fun and funny as all get out when a pilot goes "Crazy Eddy" all over the table… especially as that pilot is usually me.)

While I like Star Warriors, it's only problem is that it plays so much slower than X-Wing does. It definitely is a more detailed game that gives more options. I like them both for different reasons.

My thoughts exactly…

I always thought that if you taped a game of Star Warriors and played it back sped up, it would look like a Star Wars dogfight. It does play slowly and you lose the feel of a frenetic battle. But it is interesting tactically.

I have never played it. I am sure you could merge the two and still have a great game.

VR
James Mattes

Well, they are both very two-dimensional…. Just saying….
Star-Warriors was a well designed game, but was too slow for that 'StarWars' feel… I would probably rather play x-wing, if it wasn't for the ridiculous pricing… Also I feel that both games are rather component/chit heavy… too much record keeping for StarWars.

Price is not that bad, You can get a case of six core sets for $72.00 USD that is six X-Wings and 12 Tie fighters, enough to do about any good size battle.

VR
James Mattes

Star Warriors also had the advantage that it directly tied in to the RPG….you could have your Star Wars character jump into a Z-95 (or whatever) and battle it out with the enemy on the map, if your players wanted a more detailed battle system as opposed to the basic one in the RPG rules.

X-Wing, of course, is a simple beer&pretzels wargame that is simple and plays very quickly, which are its major strengths.

So, the 2 games were designed for different things, altho X-Wing makes me kick myself for not grabbing a copy of Star Warriors back in the day.