First game of X-Wing

Some of you might remember, that my better half was kind enough to gift me with the X-Wing game (twice) and some extra fighters for my birthday last year. 368 days later it was finally time to have a game and I met up with Martin and his son Max. We decided to play 100 points each side, with Martin and Max playing Rebels and me playing the Empire. We went for just the craft, without any bells and whistles like astro-droids, torpedoes and so on.
The Rebels had Luke Skywalker, a Y-Wing with a unique pilot as well X-Wing and an A-Wing with a non unique mid quality pilots. I had Darth Vader (simply because I wanted one pilot with a real high ability rating and felt that my only craft with shields would be a good choice), a Tie Interceptor with a basic pilot and four Tie Fighters (Backstabber, Black Squadron Pilot and two basic pilots).

X-Wing starting positions

Now this turned into a real proper dogfight, which took quiet a while, so I am not going to bother you with a detailed report, but just show some pictures and give the highlights.

X-Wing dog fight

Now what hurt me the most was my Interceptor receiving a critical hit on the first round, which prevented my from doing any complicated maneuvers for the rest of the game. Which was quiet a shame since this meant that I could not always bring the craft with the most firepower into the best firing position.

X-Wing mid-game positions

What really surprised me were the Tie Fighters. I assumed that they would die pretty fast with their low structure points and lack of shields. But their ability to do barrel rolls is great once the fighting gets close. More than once (I would guess over a dozen times) I was able to barrel roll them or one of the other models out of the Rebels arc of fire while they were still able to shoot. In the end I felt this was better than shields.

X-Wing Tie Fighters being chased by A-Wing

But this was also the deciding factor why the game took so long. The Rebels could rarely shoot and I had to work my way trough their shields. So after about eight rounds we decided that the game would not end when one side had been wiped out, but rather when Skywalker or Vader were shot down.
In the end I lost one of the Tie Fighters with a basic pilot while the other one was down to one structure point. The Interceptor still only had this one critical hit and the other craft were in mint condition. On this final round I shot down Skywalker and the A-Wing while the other two had no shields left and the X-Wing had a critical hit.

X-Wing positions at the end of the pan-ultimate round

I know this all sounds like it was a boring game, but actually it was just the opposite. Very tense and entertaining. So I am sure we will have another game soon. And since I am now sure I will play more, I will go and add some details to the craft I have.

X-Wing Imperial fighters