X-Wing: Am I In or Out?

 X-Wing: Am I In or Out?

The simple answer is that I'm in. But if you know anything about me, you know that I can't help but offer a more complicated perspective, too.

I knew about X-Wing for a long time, but wasn't looking to get into a miniatures game. It seemed expensive and time-consuming, and I didn't want to make room for it in my wallet or on my calendar. The possibility of playing it really only came up briefly in the wake of the Conquest LCG coming to an end. Biff and I were looking for a game to play competitively, and we momentarily considered giving X-Wing a shot. The consideration truly was momentary, though. We were happy with Armada anyway. But we watched a couple of games of X-Wing and it just looked like flying in circles on the board until one person's dice were better than the other person's dice.

To be fair, we recognize that a good player will almost always beat a bad player. But on an even playing field, it looked like it just came down to dice. And the game was played until one player destroyed another. In most competitive formats, there was a time limit, so whoever had the most points at the end of time was the winner. That didn't sound appealing to us at all. After all, one of the things we really enjoyed about Armada was the use of defense tokens instead of defense dice. That's a lot less random factoring into the game, which means defenses can be anticipated, which means we're talking about luck being much less of a determining factor overall.

That particular argument (I hate defense dice. Period. Full stop.) was enough for a very long time. I was never able to articulate the biggest problem I think I had with the game from the word go simply because I couldn't fully identify it until I had read Achievement Relocked (I talk about the book a little more here in my book recommendation post). The *real* problem I had with the game is that it followed in the steps of Monopoly and Risk: I don't win until my opponent is completely eliminated. And that generally betrays poor game design. Not least of which because it forces players to keep playing beyond the point at which the game has feasibly concluded. It forces players to play until one player has lost, literally, absolutely everything they brought to the table. That never feels good. Especially when it's inevitable, but the game won't end until the objective is achieved.

Yeah, that too. Neither feels like it'll ever be over.

That is, of course, mitigated somewhat in competitive settings in which there's a clock for which players must account. That brings it a little bit more in line with Armada, which only sees 6 rounds of play. Except in the case of Armada, I know exactly how long the game is; I know I've got 6 rounds, and thus, how and when tokens need to get distributed in order to be effective, as well as when my cards and defense tokens can be safely shed for maximum efficiency. After all, no point in spending an Engineering token for Shields to Maximum! at the beginning of the 6th round since I can just discard the card for the same effect, but then use my Engineering token later to maybe ensure my safety, right?

But back to X-Wing. I really didn't give X-Wing any thought until the pandemic. By the time it rolled around, I was play-testing the 11th wave of Armada product (11th overall, but my first time play-testing; I had the privilege of testing the Pelta and Venator for the Republic, the Recusant and Providence for the Separatists, and all of the accompanying upgrades) and so excited for the upcoming releases. I was really invested because I felt more a part of the game than ever before. Then the pandemic hit and all releases got pushed back. It took a little while, but one of my reactions to the pandemic and being home with a toddler ALL THE TIME was to cope via new game and game-related purchases. I bought new paints. I bought new Deathguard models to paint. I bought new games I could teach myself. And I bought the Servants of Strife kit, which is an introduction to Separatists in X-Wing.

So what happened? Well, I was so excited for Clone Wars in Armada that the excitement for Clone Wars factions overwhelmed me. I couldn't buy any CW stuff for Armada. But I could for X-Wing or Legion. I really didn't want to play Legion, so that left X-Wing. I was flying Republic in Armada, so decided to go a different route and fly Separatists in X-Wing. Plus, my very limited understanding is that Separatists are very difficult to fly well, so I figured if I could get a handle on them, I could switch factions in the future without a steep learning curve.

I talked to my buddy Josh and my friend Chris about it and ended up playing against both of them as they taught me the game. Honestly, the fact that they're both such good and friendly guys was a big reason I enjoyed playing. But ultimately, even as COVID slowed down and we were playing games in person again, I just wasn't playing enough X-Wing to keep improving and feel comfortable competing. What time I had, I found myself dedicating to Armada.

I've got a squadron I like right now, featuring Jango Fett, and I really want to get it to the table! But each time I plan it, either something comes up or another game (usually Armada) takes precedence. Truth be told, if this were any other game under any other circumstances, that would likely be enough evidence for me that I am, in fact, out of X-Wing, because I don't care enough to prioritize it.

How's that for a dated reference? Missed seeing this one absolutely everywhere, didn't you?

So why am I still insisting that I'm in on X-Wing? Because I have already invested enough time, energy, and money that I'd like to see how much time I dedicate to the game once the pandemic is well and truly over. I'm very attracted to the notion of attending cons so I can compete in both X-Wing and Armada. I like the game from what little I played (I may vastly prefer Armada, but I enjoy X-Wing). And while I'm not prioritizing the game now, I'm not sure, but that very well might change once my time and life (like so many other people) feels more like my own again in the wake of COVID. For now, I'm saying I'm in both because I'd like to be and because it costs me nothing (for now, anyway!) to stay in.