Imperial Aces

X-Wing is still doing pretty well around here (Ann Arbor and beyond), as there's a regular communication network from a FB group that I created. I haven't been participating much lately, but am trying to scrape time together. There has been a lot of talk about Attack Wing, though. I think FFG simply lacks the deep pockets that WizKids/Hasbro has in order to support organized play. The real explosion of their LCGs has been through ancillary effects (the fans of GoT's books and then the HBO series; Netrunner's base of players of the original game) and not through concentrated support by FFG. But you're absolutely right that having regular players can often mean the continuance of a game. If I'd been able to find regular players for CoC, I might still own it, because I loved the game. Some regular tournaments probably would have helped create that player pool, but them's the breaks, I guess.

And, as I speak, FFG's website breaks out with multiple links to organized play promotion, including for a "non-tournament" game like Descent.

That Descent kit looks pretty awesome and I'll need to see if I can get my local store to order one in.

Regarding the XWing Game Night Kits, I think FFG's self-imposed restriction of not offering exclusives and only component upgrades has made these go largely unnoticed. In the Attack Wing forums OP Events are talked about all the time, AARs and planning for them. No one talks about the XWing Game Night Kits.

Oh, a little off topic, but has anyone else noticed the preview for the 4th Division Battleship for the Dominion? They're finally getting that Umph with the last two releases they've needed.

Michael Barnes wrote: If there's one thing I've learned about selling games, it's that if you can ensure to the customer that they're going to have someone else to play with then you're halfway to closing the sale. That's the strength of in-store play and the importance of tournament support for any kind of CCG/LCG/collectible/a la carte/serial release product. You've got to have that momentum to keep people assured of continuance and of something new always about to come out or happen.

Attack Wing also has the advantage of several factions to work with. X-Wing suffers because there's only two factions and I imagine there's a lot of folks who think playing rebel vs rebel in a tournament is wierd. I certainly do. Could it be that they are going to try and address this by promoting big team style games with the upcoming epic/cinematic mode?

Regardless, I think EU waves are a certainty because repaints and a few new cards are not going to carry the game forward. HWK is pretty good evidence they're coming and since they're going to promote epic play then it's in FFG's best interests to produce new ships. Nobody is going to be happy only having the option of buying Y-Wings over and over. I just can't believe they'd let their biggest money maker stagnate. Repaints are definately a great idea but only if they space them out.

My buddy and I started playing X-wing right before the Kessel Run event. Yep, the chance of winning free models was enough to shell out for a core set and a couple of expansions.

I do not know anyone who plays Attack Wing (the models look like the come from a gumball machine by the way). This might very well prove the point, There were three people buying X-wing stuff at my FLGS and once they started doing bi-weekly tournament games (using the kits by the way), it has jumped to 10 or 12 people. As no one is running Attack Wing, there are no new players.

So the point of having good support/prizes and knowing that there are other people to play with is important, especially in a minatures game. You lose one week and think how if you only had one more of this card or model your squad would be able to beat Dave next time.

I almost bit on Attack Wing at my FLGS a couple weeks ago. My main gaming opponent has all the X Wing stuff, so no need to buy that . And certainly from what I've heard about the game play, it sounds appealing. That said,I balked. The model quality vs X Wing definitely appears to be a step down, not to mention the scaling issues between some ships. But more than that - and I think this is why X Wing appears to be losing steam - is that the Star Trek canon has WAY more ships for Whiz Kids to choose from than Star Wars. There is plenty of IP/canon for them to mine . And I don't want to get sucked into buying it.

I think if FFG wound back the clock, they would have slowed the release of new ships and interspersed new sculpts with scenario packs, terrain, etc . Based on all the pimping you see on TOS, there is clearly demand for it.

My favorite store is sending people to their competitor for X-Wing expansion ships because the haven't been able to get them from the distributor. This was prior to christmas and I think they didn't want to leave kids in the lurch. I'd be curious to see if they're still doing that now, which seems like a very bad idea.

S.

FFG strikes me as a company that maxmizes cash flow by minimizing inventory . For a lot of things, this a smart way to do business. But well over a year after launching the system, I wonder if in this case, they should have been more aggressive in terms of production of the product. I fully realize its impossible to peg demand every time, but sometimes you just need to see how high high is.

Yeah, and being in an industry where everything is produced in round lots in Asia doesn't help. I get the feeling that the time between the inventory alarm going off and new product entering distribution is three months even when everything goes as planned.

S.

Well I still love X-Wing. I'm not sure how many new waves I will support, we'll see how that goes but the game is fucking amazing and I'm holding onto it forever (as of now). Those new ships look great and the pilot abilities are very cool. I have a hard time imagining playing Attack Wing as much, it's cool, but I just don't care about ST ship battles nearly as much... even if I do prefer the ST universe to SW. I need more Tie Interceptors anyway so these are perfect for me. I even bought the big ships, I'm really excited to get them actually, they look cool and I love the scenario idea's that pop into my mind when I see them.

If FFG wants my money moving forward their best bet is terrain and, most importantly, a scenario book like what ToI got. Not just a little thing on a card like in Attack Wing I want a huge book with detail, cool pics, write ups and new rules or pilots specific to the scenario. That will get my money for sure.

A scenario book would indeed be awesome. I have a friend buying the big ships so I'll get to try them out, but right now I do not plan to buy them. I will pick up imperial aces, that guy who can K-turn 1-3-5, pretty neat.

I doubt there will be a rebel ace pack- seems like the transport and all its special pilots (Porkins, et. al.) will cover that.