The bad guys in Star Wars always seem to get the smartest looking stuff. The faceless horde of evil seem to have the monopoly on flat, grey and functional looking weapons of doom, and their spaceships are no exception. The TIE Fighter is instantly recognisable, and though there are plenty of different types of TIE, their motif is a strong one. The new fighter craft from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was the TIE Striker, and not only does it look different from all the other TIEs, it’s also pretty menacing.
Fantasy Flight Games have, of course, produced a model of the TIE Striker to fit in with their ever expanding range of pieces for the X-Wing Miniatures Game. This dart-like model is a small ship, which is exactly what you’d expect (the TIE fighter is also classed as small). It’s nicely produced, well painted and despite having thin pointy bits, is pretty resilient.
Rules wise, it’s not the fastest or toughest TIE. With an agility of only 2 and no shields, it’s quite vulnerable to Rebel proton torpedoes. If you can catch it, that is. Though it doesn’t move fast (its maximum speed is three), it’s all about the fancy moves. It can barrel roll and perform the ‘about face’ technique known as Segnor’s loop. It comes with a special card called “Adaptive Ailerons” which makes it even more nippy, giving it even more movement and the ability to easily move away from enemy firing arcs. The pilot card ‘Duchess’ makes this optional, adding to the Striker’s flexibility.
Cards included in the expansion make the ship even more adaptive. There’s a light-weight frame that makes it harder to hit, and the experienced players can easily ensure that the Striker has plenty of evade tokens. For such a small, fragile looking ship, it’s really hard to draw a bead on the thing and take it down. Or in others words, it behaves exactly like it did in the movie.
If you’re an Imperial player, get this TIE. It’ll frustrate your opponent in the most delightful fashion.
STAR WARS: X-WING MINIATURES GAME – TIE STRIKER EXPANSION PACK / DESIGNERS: STEVEN KIMBALL, JAMES KNIFFEN, COREY KONIECZKA / ARTISTS: MATT ALLSOPP, SACHA ANGEL, DIENER JON BOSCO, MATT BRADBURY / PUBLISHERS: FANTASY FLIGHT GAMES / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
