So with the announcement of the new Wave 5 ships (see my post in the "News and Rumors" section), I wanted to see if any of you out there on MBS have opinions on these larger ships in the X-Wing game.
Here's my $0.02:
On the one hand, the larger ships introduced thus far have added a new flavor to the game. Some ships, like the YT-1300 and the Firespray-31, are straight-up combat ships; but the Imperial shuttle is much more of a support ship, assisting the surrounding friendly starfighters in various ways. The inclusion of more larger ships will, I think, give the heavy starfighters on both sides something to do (and here I'm talking mostly about the Rebel B- and Y-Wings, and the Imperial TIE Bomber). I can already think of interesting scenarios with these new ships where they have to be escorted across the board, as the heavy fighters try to bring various missile and torpedo ordnance to bear. As I've stated in other posts, variety is the spice of wargaming.
On the other hand, I do have some issues and reservations with these newly announced ships (and really, with all of the large ships introduced thus far). At its core, X-Wing is a starfighter game. While these are not capital ships, they are certainly not one-man fighters, and having them on the board changes the way the game is physically played, simply due to their size. Short maneuvers that ordinarily would get you right past your opponent's fighters don't work with these larger ships, because their bases are at least twice the size of a regular starfighter. I always have way more collisions in games with these ships than without them. Additionally, these ships give players the ability to (in my opinion) "game the system". In one of the local tournaments at our game store, one guy brought two YT-1300s, and basically just ran them back and forth, edge to edge, on the board. These ships have 360-degree fire, and a ton of hull and shield points. Which means you cannot approach them from a blind spot, and you have to hit them a LOT to bring them down. With that firing arc and the range measurement used in the game, the player was able to engage enemy ships nearly anywhere on the board.
Maybe these are just pet peeves of mine. But I pose the question to you all--what do YOU think of these larger ships in the X-Wing game?
