In August 2011, Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) made a huge announcement. They would be working on a “tactical miniatures game in the Star Wars universe,” called X-Wing!
After a year of waiting, the original X-Wing: Core Set and Wave 1 expansions were released at Gen Con 2012.
Wave Expansions
Wave Meta
I did not personally join the game until much later, but I was able to dig up some interesting things from the first wave.
Some comments from players in my home area:
- “During Wave 1 and 2 everyone was bitching that the TIE Swarm was a broken and cheesy squad and wishing that named pilots were competitive enough to not be a waste of points.” – Doug
- “There weren’t solid metas till after Worlds 2013 [post wave 3]…There was some variation, but not much.” – Glen, with emphasis that these are super massive generalities.
The Inaugural X-Wing Tournament
At Gen Con 2012, Fantasy Flight not only released the sets for the first time, but also held their very first tournament. It was a classic showdown, Vader vs Luke! Here is the full Rebel list:
First Final Table – Rebels (100)
Luke Skywalker — X-Wing 28
R2-D2 4
Ship Total: 32
Garven Dreis — X-Wing 26
R2 Astromech 1
Ship Total: 27
Rookie Pilot — X-Wing 21
R5 Astromech 1
Ship Total: 22
Gold Squadron Pilot — Y-Wing 18
R5 Astromech 1
Ship Total: 19
And here is the full Imperial list:
First Final Table – Imps (100)
Darth Vader — TIE Advanced 29
Cluster Missiles 4
Ship Total: 33
“Backstabber” — TIE Fighter 16
Ship Total: 16
“Night Beast” — TIE Fighter 15
Ship Total: 15
Academy Pilot — TIE Fighter 12
Ship Total: 12
Academy Pilot — TIE Fighter 12
Ship Total: 12
Academy Pilot — TIE Fighter 12
Ship Total: 12
For a new game, the match up was very interesting to watch. Also it is interesting to see how far the meta has and hasn’t changed. Basically the first lists were two swarms. The TIE swarm has changed, but remains one of the top threats in competitive play.
Here is the champion interview article by FFG – link
Also here is Team Covenant’s video of the first final table – link
The First X-Wing Worlds Championship
Beyond changes in game play, the number of players has also drastically changed. According to Doug Kinney, the very first world champion, in a YouTube interview (link), there were only 25 players at the first World Championship tournament. Mostly recently the largest event was the Yavin Open, in the United Kingdom, over the weekend of June 4th and 5th, which had 397 players sign up.
The meta for the 2012 World Championship was more refined, but resembled the first lists. It was a TIE Swarm vs a Rebel Swarm again. The runner up was flying:
Worlds 2012 Runner Up (100)
Wedge Antilles — X-Wing 29
R2-D2 4
Ship Total: 33
Gold Squadron Pilot — Y-Wing 18
Ion Cannon Turret 5
Ship Total: 23
Rookie Pilot — X-Wing 21
R2 Astromech 1
Ship Total: 22
Rookie Pilot — X-Wing 21
R2 Astromech 1
Ship Total: 22
The victor, Doug Kinney flew this Imperial swarm:
Worlds 2012 Champ (100)
Darth Vader — TIE Advanced 29
Swarm Tactics 2
Ship Total: 31
“Howlrunner” — TIE Fighter 18
Swarm Tactics 2
Ship Total: 20
Obsidian Squadron Pilot — TIE Fighter 13
Ship Total: 13
Academy Pilot — TIE Fighter 12
Ship Total: 12
Academy Pilot — TIE Fighter 12
Ship Total: 12
Academy Pilot — TIE Fighter 12
Ship Total: 12
Toby, on the Team Covenant website, mentions there were more common list designs and that the two finalists had their own spin on the common lists. This idea seems to hold some what true over the years. The world’s best fly similar but slightly unique lists when compared to the overall meta.
FFG also released an article that listed sample squads here.
Have any other comments about Wave 1? Share them below.
Images courtesy of: Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc. & Lucasfilm Ltd.
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