X-Wing Wave 4 [Table Top Review]

Not too long ago, in a galaxy quite close to home, I reviewed Fantasy Flight Games' X-Wing Miniatures Game. Recently they released the fourth wave of ships.

E-Wing, Z-95 Headhunter, Tie Defender, Tie Phantom.

I will review each ship individually and give it a star rating.

Let's begin with the Rebel Alliance

E-Wing.

This is the new mainline fighter for the Rebel Alliance. Built with an impressive 3 Attack, 3 Defense, 2 Hull, and 3 Shields the base stats are very strong. Of course you pay for those stats. The cheapest E-Wing comes in at 27pts for a Skill 1 pilot, a whopping 6 points more than a Skill 2 X-Wing pilot.  The E-Wing is faster, and slightly more maneuverable, and has a Systems Upgrade slot over the X-Wing. It is an upgrade over the X-Wing, but it also eats far deeper into your total points.

3.5 stars out of 5

My personal favorite ship from this wave.

Z-95 Headhunter
Oh, now here is a true classic ship. This ship is the predecessor of the Incom T-65 X-Wing. In game terms, it brings 2 Attack, 2 Defense, 2 Hull, and 2 Shields for a mere 12 points! At last the Rebels have a true swarm ship. Its maneuver dial is just barely better than an X-wing's. A shorter length Kiogran turn, and improved green maneuvers do help it. The top pilot also comes in at less points than a Rookie in an X-Wing. It looks like an average ship, but it is secretly amazing. 

5 out of 5 stars

Now to discuss the new Imperial starfighters.

TIE Defender
Here is the big bad bruiser of the whole release. He brings a whopping 3 Attack, 3 Defense, 3 Hull, and 3 Shields. It is also the first ship to have a white Kiogran turn, which should make it amazing, but it is not. It only has straight green maneuvers, which really hurts its flexibility. It also has the highest base cost for any small ship to date. The skill 1 pilot costs 30pts! The Top pilot comes in at 37pts! If you equip this ship it can easy eat up half of your points right away. That is crazy. Sadly as amazing as the white K-turn is, the ship does not seem all that great. Maybe time will prove me wrong.

3 out of 5 stars

Tie Phantom - the most maneuverable ship in the game.

TIE Phantom
Here is the most insane ship released to date. It brings a mere 4 Attack(!), 2 Defense, 2 Hull, and 2 Shields to the battle field. However, in all honesty this ship only has one single pilot. Echo, the skill 6 pilot. He breaks the game. When his ship decloaks he gets to barrel roll using the 2 Bank template. He does this before moving and before preforming an action! It is impossible to predict where this ship can end up on the board. Mathematically I think he has over 1000 ending points possible from his initial placement. It is mind blowing. The other Phantoms are nice... but it is really all Echo all the time.

5 out of 5 stars

And that is it for this review. Look for my next X-Wing review when wave 5 hits.

Wave 5. All big ships, all the time.