Age of Strife

Played a 200 point epic game this afternoon as our introduction to the Tantive IV expansion. I have to admit I went a little overboard on it, loading it up to almost 120 points, leaving just enough for an escort of 2 Dagger Squadron Bwings, both with Fire Control, Heavy Laser Cannon and Engine Upgrade (I love me a boost manoeuvre).

It's a great ship to play, and expands on the support that the Transport provided with a whole host of more aggressive buffs as well as out and out firepower. The new range 5 attacks dont feel particularly overpowered - the extra defence dice do a lot to mitigate that, although being able to plough some extra energy in to the primary weapon (beefing it up to 5 attack dice) helps - especially when you roll 5 hits For anyone that played 2nd ed Epic, there are definite similarities to the Imperator Titan in the way that you build and allocate energy and spend it. A couple of times I felt like I'd overcommitted to offence, then had to pull back and play more conservatively the following turn - limiting my movement to make sure that the energy was there to regen shields etc. Splitting the actions between the fore (aggressive) and aft (defensive) ship cards is a nice touch. Again, the compromise between attack and defense made for some interesting tactical decisions. Being able to 'co-ordinate' twice effectively gave me a stress-less 'Push the Limit' on both of my BWIngs as long as they stayed within range 2 (and ran the gauntlet of being driven over! the huge ship movement template takes a bit of getting used to). It was surprising comparing the start position of the ship to where it ended up after the game. It felt surprisingly agile (and I only bumped one asteroid!)

All in, it's a positive addition to the game - nothing that I would say was 'mandatory', but definitely more choice.... C3PO in the falcon could be interesting, making at least one 'evade' a sure thing!

We're reversing factions for the next game, so I'll add some feedback on being on the receiving end after that one (bomber with escort, ST-231 and a mix of fighters is my first thought. Maybe with a Firespray in support).

i cant comment on how it plays, but i got a look at it on saturday

its a LOT bigger than id expected it to be! shame its painted, or i'd add it to my stockpile of ship models

I'm very tempted to do a repaint on it at some point as it's a really nice model. It's definitely bigger than I expected tho.

Just ordered the Tantive for £59.99, cheapest Ive seen so far.

So looks like I have to start playing my rebels for a change.

I've got mine but not read the rules yet. Drooled over it though

Rules are pretty similar to the Transport if you've played with that. The only big differences are the offensive weaponry (all can fire if you have the energy) and the multiple actions (one per ship section). It is a lovely model and the more I look at it, the more I want to repaint it.

Got the transport and not read the rules for that either All gaming and painting is at the back of the queue at the moment while I have writing to do for Mantic. Just a couple more weeks and then normality might return

"Oh mother of Skywalker" this ship is HUUUUUGGEE!

I hope it has reverse!!!

It's a monster! I was expecting it to be about the same size as the transport......

The 2 banks are surprisingly tight given the size of the ship, although I haven't tried it on a 3 by 3 board yet. Starting it off 'across' the deployment zone helped though, I think..

I have just got the Transport and thought that was big but the Tantive is even bigger.......Guess what is next on my X-Wing shopping list?

At the club I go to there was a game last week with 3 Tantives-truly EPIC!

I saw the Tantives model last night for the first time - it is Mahoosive! I was truly shocked at how large it is. And then I saw its' stats, and wondered if anyone had actually managed to take one down! As a model it's amazing. As a character ship, it is terrifying!

The more I look at pics of the X-Wing game the more I'm tempted by it. The Rebel Frigate looks awesome, and is even bigger than the Tantive The detail on the ships is incredible, I'm tempted to get a few just to add to my random Star Wars collection.

Theres a BIGGER ship? Good grief!

What Rebel Transport????