X-WING DELUXE MOVEMENT TOOLS / PUBLISHER: FANTASY FLIGHT GAMES / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
The X-Wing Miniatures game is a global phenomenon, with tournaments across the world. It’s a game of luck, skill and precision. A key element is being able to know where your ship will end up after you issued a manoeuvre. It’s a combination of skill and guesswork, and it’s one of the things that makes the game so tense.
Of course, you need the various movement templates to be as precise as possible and this is actually a point of pride within the game. The cardboard templates that come with the starter set are good enough, but it doesn’t stop there. Many players have earned plastic movement templates in various tournaments. These are rare bits of swag that mark individuals out as a skilled competitive player.
This has prompted a trend among the more casual (and far more numerous) players. There’s been a swift trade in rather gorgeous-looking movement tools provided by third parties. Each set promises 100% accuracy and there are great number of clever and very pretty designs. This has seemingly prompted Fantasy Flight Games to produce their own plastic movement tools. They’re “deluxe” in the sense that they aren’t made of cardboard. Anyone expecting a piece of pop art will be disappointed.
The chunky grey plastic pieces are, however, rather useful. They are robust and have “Deathstar detail” to them, making them look like bits of exploded spaceship. There’s also a slot together range ruler which has five increments. This is handy because although the core game only requires it to go up to three, we do know that different modes of play are coming soon. We assume that the forthcoming Huge Ships and Epic Battle modes will need more space, so longer range rulers make sense. The ruler clicks together quite nicely, and the extra segments can also be used to check shorter distances.
The actual movement pieces are perfectly cromulent for their role. Though the grey plastic is quite plain, it’s also very easy to paint and the detail is just fine enough to be interesting. A quick drybrush and your templates won’t get mixed up with another player’s.
This is an odd and surprising addition to the range. You don’t need these but, if you’re a completist, you’ll already have them on order.
