X-Wing Wave 4 has been revealed. The ships are the E-Wing, Z-95 Headhunter, TIE Defender and TIE Phantom. According to Fantasy Flight’s upcoming releases page X-Wing Wave 4 is expected to hit stores between April and June of this year.

X-Wing Wave 4

It’s official. Fantasy Flight has run out of ships from the movies. All four ships are from the Star Wars Extended Universe (EU). Fear not, these star-fighters are good looking and match the aesthetic of the movies. Some folks buy the ships just to display them.

I’m gonna need a bigger box…

–progressions, FFG Forums

Before we delve into the details of each ship, let’s take a look at the stats. You will notice something very unusual in the Attack column of the TIE Phantom. Yes, that is a 4. The TIE Phantom is the first ship to have 4 Attack.

Ship Attack Agility Hull Shields Points E-Wing 3 3 2 3 27+ Z-95 Headhunter 2 2 2 2 12-19 TIE Defender 3 3 3 3 30+ TIE Phantom 4 2 2 2 25+

I’m not sure how I feel about this. If you’re a gaming veteran you are aware of the tendency of game designers to make each expansion a little better than the last. This is known as power creep. Cynics say game designers do intentionally to ship more product. The problem with power creep is that the previous expansions become less than optimal and players stop using them. I hope that Fantasy Flight has thoroughly play tested Phantom.

Power creep may render the A-Wing and the TIE Advanced obsolete. The A-wing is used as a cheap missile delivery system, and now we have the Z-95 which is even cheaper. The TIE Advanced is considered to be underpowered, overcosted, and the Storm Squadron Pilot lacks an elite pilot talent upgrade. The TIE Defender is what the TIE Advanced should have been.

The E-Wing and TIE Defender both have 3 Attack and 3 Agility. Prior to X-Wing wave 4 the only ship to have this was the TIE Interceptor and it only had 3 hull. The E-Wing has 5 hits and the TIE Defender has 6 hits. Again, I hope that Fantasy Flight has done their homework and that these ships are properly costed. Since both of these ships cost over 25 points it is impossible to run 4 of them in a 100 point game. That’s a good sign.

Upgrades

X-Wing Wave 4 brings many new upgrades, but most of the details are still unknown. The E-Wing has two new droids, R7-T1 and R7 Astromech, and Flechette Missiles. The Z-95 Headhunter and TIE Defender have Ion Pulse Missiles, which are single shot Ion weapons. The TIE Phantom has stealth and cloaking upgrades. The text of the new elite pilot talents has yet to be deciphered.

The E-Wing and TIE Phantom both have a System Upgrade slot. It’s good to see the Imperials now have a starfighter with this slot. The E-Wing comes with Advanced Sensors which is a boon to anyone reluctant to shell out $20 or $30 for a Lambda shuttle. The TIE Phantom comes with Fire Control System.

E-Wing

The first ship of X-Wing Wave 4, the E-Wing has the attack power of an X-Wing and the durability of a TIE Advanced. It has 5 hits like the aforementioned craft, but the shield and hull values are reversed. 3 shields make more able to absorb critical hits. 2 hull leave it vulnerable to a Direct Hit from a Proton Bomb.

It has a droid slot, and comes with two new droids: R7-T1 and the R7 Astromech. If you’re inside a firing arc of an enemy ship, R7-T1 gives you a free lock and free boost to attempt to escape its arc.

A System Upgrade slot is available to the E-Wing and it comes with an Advanced Sensors card. It can be a “ninja knife-fighter” like B-Wing. I look forward to clever System Upgrade/Droid combinations. One combination is Push the Limit, Advanced Sensors, and an R2 Astromech. All 1 and 2 maneuvers become green, allowing PtL every turn and then shedding the stress. This makes for a highly agile ship with two actions. With 3 Agility, Sensor Jammer is worth taking.

The E-Wing may be equipped with Torpedoes and comes with Flechette Torpedoes that give the target a stress token. These torpedoes will also be released with the Rebel Transport.

The revealed pilot, Etahn A’baht, has a pilot ability that allows any friendly ship firing at a ship in your arc to convert one hit to a critical. Ten Numb will appreciate this.

Stats:

Attack: 3

Agility: 3

Hull: 2

Shields: 3

Actions: Focus, Target Lock, Barrel Roll, Evade

Upgrades: System Upgrade, Torpedoes, Droid

Cards:

Advanced Sensors

Outmaneuver

R7-T1 – Choose an enemy ship at range 1 or 2. If you are inside that ship’s firing arc you may acquire a target lock on that ship. Then you may perform a free boost action.

R7 Astromech

Flechette Torpedoes – Attack: 3, Range: 2-3. Discard this card and spend your target lock to perform this attack. After performing this attack, the defender receives 1 stress token if the hull value is ’4′ or lower.

Z-95 Headhunter

Half A-Wing, half TIE Fighter, the Z-95 is a low cost missile delivery platform. Its stats aren’t impressive, but coming in at 12 points this is to be expected. Watch out Academy pilot, say hello to my Rebel swarm!

Ion Pulse Missiles are Ion weapons, and work like the Ion Turret and Ion Cannon. However, these missile deliver two ion tokens instead of one. This makes it possible to ionize a large ship in one shot.

There’s three more upgrades, which are still a mystery: Munitions Failsafe, Decoy, and Wingman. Munitions Failsafe must have something to do with missiles. Could it grant rerolls like Captain Jonus’ pilot ability? Will it turn a hit into a blank? Perhaps if you die you’ll be able to fire your missiles. We’ll have to wait and find out.

Stats:

Attack: 2

Agility: 2

Hull: 2

Shields: 2

Actions: Focus, Target Lock

Upgrades: Missile

Cards:

Munitions Failsafe

Decoy

Wingman

Ion Pulse Missiles – If this attack hits, the defender suffers 1 damage and receives 2 ion tokens. Then cancel all dice results. NOTE: Doesn’t spend the target lock.

Assault Missiles

TIE Defender

The TIE Defender has great stats: three of everything, including shields. I’m re-considering my decision to purchase two Imperial Aces expansions. The primary weakness of the TIE Interceptor is lack of hits, and the TIE Defender has 6. If it were not for the high points value this would be an easy decision. It only possible to field three TIE Defenders in 100 point game. It worth mentioning that the TIE Defender lacks an an evade action. I guess we can’t have everything.

The TIE Defender features a mystery maneuver never before seen on a dial. Could it be a 1 K-turn or a banked K-turn? Let’s pray it’s not an Attack Wing inspired reverse. Regardless of the maneuver, it will be fast. The dial shows a 5 forward green.

Cannons can also be equipped on the TIE Defender. Sadly, there is no new cannon. It comes with an Ion Cannon. I’d have preferred a Heavy Laser Cannon. I suppose it makes sense, since it comes with an Ion Pulse Missiles card.

Stats:

Attack: 3

Agility: 3

Hull: 3

Shields: 3

Actions: Focus, Target Lock, Barrel Roll

Upgrades: Cannon, Missile

Cards:

Munitions Failsafe

Predator

Outmaneuver

Ion Cannon

Ion Pulse Missiles

TIE Phantom

The last ship of X-Wing Wave 4 is the TIE Phantom. With 4 Attack I’m worried this ship may be game breaking. Currently the only way to get a standard 4 dice attack is with secondary weapons, like the Heavy Laser Cannon. Secondary weapons aren’t affected by range. The TIE Phantom gets 5 dice at at range 1. All the dice can crit and it isn’t destroyed by Munitions Failure. Ouch. Fortunately it only has 2 agility and 4 hits. Is it enough of a weakness?

The TIE Phantom also introduces the Cloak action, which may be inspired by ST:Attack Wing. There’s no information on what Cloak does yet, except “slip off your opponents sensors.” Perhaps it removes a Target Lock or acts like Carnor Jax, not allowing focus or rerolls. No information on Advanced Cloaking Device yet. Stygium Particle Accelerator gives the TIE Phantom a free evade action when it cloaks or uncloaks.

It can use System Upgrades and Crew. It’s like a tiny Lambda Shuttle. Buzzsaw Junior? Gunner and Fire Control System will make this thing a monster. Although, with 4 Attack is Gunner still worth 5 points?

Stats:

Attack: 4

Agility: 2

Hull: 2

Shields: 2

Actions: Focus, Barrel Roll, Evade, Cloak

Upgrades: System Upgrade, Crew

Cards: