Point of order: This entry might seem a bit doom and gloom at the beginning. It gets better, honestly. No really. Wait, come back…!

Anyway, I can’t believe I haven’t written anything since Nerf Herder, I only realised this the other day. Pull your finger out, Saunders! Admittedly I’ve not been playing as much X-wing of late, for various reasons: dabbling with other games (Keyforge, Transformers TCG) for one, but also the format divide now within the game. I’ve still been playing casually with our midweek group at Atlantic Games in Stroud, where I can happily trot out my favourite Scum extended lists. But finding events I can get to has been extra tricky, not withstanding the fact I play hockey on Saturdays which also rules things out from time to time.

Alas, I am one of those people who are not overly fond of the hyperspace format. I understand why it’s a thing and the potential benefits of doing so. But from a personal point of view (and so being purely subjective), I absolutely loathe restriction. In any game for that matter, not just X-wing. As someone who spent a lot of time list building in first edition, probably more so than actually playing (and I played a lot), working from a limited pool can be immensely frustrating. Half the fun for me is trying to find those interactions that are not immediately obvious, or finding a way to use a particular ship I might have a soft spot for but is seldom played (one of the main reasons this blog started in the first place). So when you constrict what is available, both from a ship and upgrade pool, there is likely less to be found. With the initial availability in Hyperspace, there is a distinct lack of ships I like that are allowed in most factions, thus restricting me even further. And as a result I’m less likely to travel a long distance to play if I’m going to spend the day having to use things I’m not totally invested in.

However, before this comes across as nothing but negativity, the saving grace of the format for me has been the release of the Resistance faction. I have owned the Resistance Bomber (BSF/Star Fortress/whatever it’s called next week) since its release, but had never put it on the table until recently. I tried the Super Vennie build doing the rounds and quite liked it. I also tried out Chewbacca in the Falcon, and Poe seemed decent too. But it’s all about the A-wings man. Good lord are those things fun to play! The ability to zoom all over the board and point your guns in different directions is awesome. I’ve had several incredibly fun games that have come down to the wire where the A-wing in the list has been the hero. When FFG spoiled the images of the miniature, I wanted one straight away; I just needed a viable excuse to buy one, and so jumping to the Resistance for Hyperspace validated that need. What I also quite liked after playing a few games is that my favourite list so far is very movie-thematic – Poe, Chewbacca (with Rey Gunner), and Tallie. If only I could find a few more points to switch Poe’s R4 astromech for BB-8…

So after several months of being a bit down on the game, I think I’ve managed to find my happy medium – Scum for Extended, Resistance for Hyperspace. And with the System Open coming up next month I’m almost certainly going to need both over the course of the weekend. Hopefully I will get to catch up with lots of you there!

I did also (finally) manage to get to a small 8-player tournament at Proud Lion in Cheltenham just over a week ago, the first time I’ve played competitively since Nerf Herder. Ended up 2nd, going 2-1 with the latest iteration of 4-ship Scum, narrowly losing game 2 to the eventual winner by 14 MOV with his Ten Numb one point of health above half-points. So close, and yet so far! Maybe next time. 😉

Happy hunting!