What If… X-Wing Development Continues?

10th March 2025

Barry

20 mins

I started playing X-Wing in 2013. It was my first miniatures game and I went all in right from the start. There was something great about the trickle of information of new products from FFG articles, and with the sequel trilogy kicking off there was also the allure of even more content coming.

The release of new product was curtailed with the transition to AMG - though this isn’t an article that’s meant to prosecute the game’s handling by AMG (that’s been done extensively elsewhere). This is about those FFG articles, the reason you would keep revisiting the FFG website every day in the hope you hadn’t missed anything.

With the game in the hands of XWA now they’ve demonstrated an interest in not just managing the points but also adding to quality-of-life changes for Epic Play and the introduction of new Standard Loadouts for Scum, Resistance and First Order to bring them in line with the other factions.

The addition of new ships is also something they’re having a red hot crack at with the introduction of Mando in an N1. I really hope that they’re successful at that (e.g. the Mouse lets it go) because in concert with their design and the resources that Rosco has previously described for card, cardboard and mini printing there’s some cool stuff that could be done still.

What’s Missing?

The sequel trilogy didn’t introduce a huge amount of new ships, they largely felt a bit derivative of what was already done – but I think there’s a few missed opportunities. The television series are something else entirely, yielding some interesting options though. So this is a long one because I’ve got a lot of ideas to go through because when I talked about this article Chiew and Ando just unloaded a huge amount of stuff they’d also like to see.

For this we’ll go through faction by faction, going through the pilots, the ship and the sources to draw on. Whether its standard loadout cards (SL) or otherwise I’m not really concerned about here that’s really a points management piece – though mostly I’d see these being SL’s for thematic purposes.

Rebels

The Rebel Alliance is pretty low on new ships in the new media released so far, with perhaps one exception which I’ve included. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to add or expand on.

Hera Syndulla - Sheathipede – Class Shuttle & VCX-100

Pulling from the Mandalorian and Ahsoka I think we can come up with a pilot card pack giving some fresh content, and I do think Hera SL would be cool to have it include Chopper and doing some kind of thread tracer ability as a nod to him lobbing a tracker out the starboard side of the Phantom II.

Chopper still suspects she went through his stuff…

Similarly, I think an SL version of her in the Ghost with Bucket and Jayden crew would give the opportunity to revise her ability to reflect a more coordinating role since she’s a General now.  Jayden offers an opportunity for the SL card to include a force token, and if you’ve been paying attention Chopper is a monster and so I’d expect to see him emulating BT-1’s level of droid aggression.

A stretch goal would be in an T-65 X-Wing, aligning with her Armada counterpart though that’s a lot of Hera…

Zeb Orrelios – BTL-A4 Y-Wing

Zeb seems like the odd one out as we never really get to see him in action, just hanging out at the bar ostensibly telling war stories. So perhaps he passes off his wisdom with a pseudo swarm tactics ability which he might spend a charge elevate a pilots initiative similar to the old Veteran Instincts – courtesy of that drunken wisdom back at the bar.

A stretch goal - pending additional context might be Zeb in the Razor Crest though need to see what is actually happening in The Mandalorian & Grogu when it comes out…

Adelphi Rangers – T-65 X-Wing

Speaking of those guys back at the bar, Carson Teva and the rest of the Adelphi Rangers often seem a bit outgunned while they try to maintain order in the Outer Rim though able to hold their own with what they have. So it would seem best that they have an ability that leverages off each other (and perhaps Hera and Zeb) to prevent any of them becoming an auto-include in every Rebel list.

Ahsoka & Sabine – T-6 Jedi Shuttle

Ahsoka and Sabine in the T-6 Jedi Shuttle is admittedly a bit of an edge case, because it doesn’t seem like a ship with much combat utility. But the ship could theoretically come with a variety of pilots since Ahsoka, Sabine and Huyang are all there working together. I think something that could be funny would be if you would overlap or move through the ship Ahsoka slaps you with her lightsaber which would make engaging it at close range perilous.

Iron Squadron – YT-2400

Alright! Throw the stinky butter at them!

Look this is just another YT-2400 SL, with Mart Mattin and team picking up cargo containers and flinging them into unsuspecting Imperial transports they mistakenly identify as Star Destroyers. This could easily be emulated in the game, by having them complete a speed 3 or more forward and then using the same template out the front and dropping a rigged cargo chute. It would be somewhat predictable but offers a good opportunity to block access to objectives or block up a lane with a reasonably low pilot skill YT-2400.

Imperials

Like Rebels, we haven’t seen a tonne of new ships so this is where we’ll need to jump into a bit of other sources for our content.

Maarek Steele – TIE/Ad Avenger

Whilst it looks like this is due to appear in Andor season two in some sort of flavour I’m not holding my breath that we’ll hear much about the pilot Cassion undoubtedly steals it from. So it seems fitting that we return to the ships roots in TIE Fighter from 1994 and its first pilot Maarek Steele. That game also had other potential options for generics such as test pilots, Harkov’s Sepan Civil War veterans,  and Zaarin’s fanatical. To set it apart from other TIEs, it should have a hardpoint to give it similar utility to what the original game provides. 

Doctor Aphra – VT-49 Decimator

Aphra, her murder droids and her boss.

Look I was sorely tempted to do a straight up conversion of the YV-666 Aphra and then thought this was the opportunity for her to be in a ship that can accommodate the whole crew; BT-1, 000 and of course Darth Vader. So in that sense I feel this becomes a SL only because I like the thematic synergy that exists between the team and I don’t want to intentionally create an NPE where someone puts Death Troopers on her.

Ninth Sister  - TIE/rp Reaper

Pulling this from the Jedi Fallen Order games this time, Ninth Sister is paired up with Second Sister in the game and so I feel like we need to create some synergy between not only them but the rest of the Inquisitors which seem to commit entirely to putting damage through. Ninth Sister would seem to be no different in the games, and I think in this context she needs to be really emphasising the Jedi hunting aspirations of the Inquisition. An SL to include Purge Troopers could further amplify this, giving players options to meet their own meta. Lots of opposing players using Force abilities? Bring that SL and lock that crap down – otherwise she could be a great support unit to the Inquisitors.

Resistance

Okay so this is where I think we can really have some fun with things. This is only a handful of suggestions, though it could mean a lot more ships available to the faction – but excluding the, “on your left” deus ex machina fleet that arrives in Rise of Skywalker.

Poe/Finn - TIE/sf

Come on this is funny and clearly a missed opportunity from The Force Awakens; this will probably be a SL card with Poe flying (“I can fly anything…”) and Finn in the gunners seat getting to grips with all the controls for the cannons and mag pulse missiles. So whilst it’s maybe not going to match the dice output with Finn instead of the Special Forces Gunners, I still think there should be the opportunity to double tap since Poe also has control of the front arc weapons – maybe need to build two charges up for Finn to get his bearings.

Colossus Racers

I’m honestly surprised these ships from Resistance series wasn’t a thing as it seems an obvious candidate fora pack with double sided SL cards for race and combat variants, and some obstacles/rule to help build create your own races around the Colossus.

I bet there’s a montage of the racers combining to form Voltron somewhere…

Since the Fireball is already out that leaves only the four other ships and their pilots. While they’re designed for racing and not combat, it would be a bold move to bring all of them in a squad without something to leverage against the opponent such as moderate to high pilot skills and abilities to disrupt the enemy.

B-Wings

Spotted very quickly so I don’t have any pilot names to suggest because - if I’m honest - I’m not entirely across all the supplementary characters from The Rise of Skywalker. It’s not exactly my favourite film in the franchise. But we’re not talking about that – we’re talking about B-Wings. And from the glimpse of the fighters you see in the film and then in the 709th Legion Ace card – I won’t pretend I don’t want that ship.

Rey - T-65 X-Wing

Similar to Poe and Finn in the TIE/sf this is just for fun putting Rey in Luke’s old and I assume water-logged X-Wing – but not as broken as putting her into Kylo’s (second) TIE whisper. No astromech droid to assist, just the Sith wayfinder and whatever is left working on the ship, she’ll need to rely on the force to get her through this.

Ben Solo - TIE/LN Fighter

Initially I was thinking this would be Kylo Ren in this, though at this point I think it’s likely he’s Ben. How did he get the TIE fighter to Exogol? Who knows. But it seems unlikely that he’s getting onto the surface without having to get into the massive fight above, and I don’t think he was shooting X-Wings…

First Order

Initially I didn’t think there was much here – especially since I moved the Kylo TIE/LN to Resistance – but again looking a little further abroad and there is something fun here.

TIE/dg Dagger

The TIE Dagger – also called the Sith TIE fighter - seems equally as obvious as the Resistance B-Wing. There’s not a lot of information available but it does look cool for the short glimpses of it we do get. Thematically they’re for dogfighting and their armament is a bit more than the usual two dice TIE’s are typically afforded. In this case I think a 3 die primary would be suitable – and for flavour Dead to Rights or something similar for the bullseye arc to make them distinctive from other TIEs.

TIE/rb Heavy

This one comes from a Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge ride, and thematically kind of makes sense the FO would keep running Imperial equipment. The TIE Heavy was originally designed for the sequel trilogy apparently but was put in the Han Solo movie instead. I like it’s inclusion to give the FO a more combat effective medium base, and could be pretty brutal with their specialist gunners.

TIE/wi Interceptor

“But Barry they already have that in the game!” I hear you say. No, that’s actually the modified version of it. This one is probably best considered as a really angry TIE/sf.  It comes with the gunner position, and forward cannons and turrets as well as a hyperdrive and enhanced stealth capabilities. I think marrying certain aspects of the SF with the current Whisper would make for an interesting ship to run.

Warbird Gang

We’ve arrived at something for epic play with the Kragan Gorr’s Galleon, an absolute kit-bash of a ship from the Resistance cartoon – which is in fact space faring (if that’s the right term). Obviously the Warbird Gang immediately looks like it should be included in Scum though in the series they are FO collaborators – and I think this is an important aspect to present about that time.

An actual pirate ship in space! What’s not to like?

The Galleon would be a complicated miniature to produce with its many wings and sails, though it would look awesome on the table. As a consolation prize there’s his heavily modified Lamda-shuttle and the gang’s fighters.

SCum & Villainy

Scum have a lot of ships already – more than any other faction and so the introduction of new ships beyond what was already mentioned with the Warbird Gang feels a bit of a stretch. There’s a couple of ships that could use some extra love to get back on that board more regularly – though I suspect XWA is already on top of this.

Bo Katan - Gauntlet

With XWA adding Mando in his modified N1, I think it should go without saying that Bo Katan’s inclusion in the Gauntlet goes without saying. Gauntlets are awkward across the factions and so getting this one on won’t necessarily fix that – but this is an easy add-on for Scum as a pilot or an SL to help enable another ship title.

Nite Owls – Fang Fighters

Like the inclusion of Bo, the Nite Owls is another easy pick to add to the current selection of Fang Fighters – especially to support their leader. As a point of distinction they could have a cannon like auto-blaster to incentivise getting in close range – but even putting something like  Heavy Laser Cannon provides a burden of execution in second edition so this wouldn’t be terrible. Also Fang fighters don’t have a illicit slot, so perhaps this could be another option to distinguish the Nite Owls.

What’s that in bottom corner here?!

Old Man Boba Fett - Firespray

Look I have no doubt that XWA is working on exactly this with their SL, so all I’m hoping for here is that it includes Fennec Shand as a crew member and Miggs Mayfield as the gunner because honestly I think Bill Burr’s character in that is on point. Really hope XWA do this.

Vane and his crew

Writing this it does feel that there’s a bit of overlap of intent between adding Vane et el. from The Mandalorian (and Skeleton Crew) and the Warbird gang. It strikes me as an opportunity to flesh out some additional pilots for the minor fighters like Z-95’s and M3A’s, and perhaps some medium ships like G1-A or Kimogila.

CIS

Separatists are missing some big ships, and there’s not exactly a huge amount to draw on without getting into some really obscure ships that probably don’t add much. So I’ve considered some that strike me as somewhat obvious.

Sheathipede-Class Shuttle

I think it’s almost criminal that CIS don’t have access to the ship, it appears constantly throughout the Clone Wars series and also as Grievous’ shuttle in Revenge of the Sith as he arrives at Utapau. Besides just being a ship for transporting VIPs – which thematically translates to crew slots - it could also be a tactical relay ship for coordinating drones en masse. More importantly, every time I see a bargain bin of first edition X-Wing it usually includes a pile of these in the form of the Phantom II pack. So this seems an easy pick.

 YV-666

Bossk! My Boy!

Another obvious choice to draw on from the Clone Wars again. Actually the episode sticks out to me most is the one with Moralo Eval escaping prison with Cad Bane and Obi-Wan masquerading as Rako Hadeen.

Moralo’s ability for Scum is entirely derived by that episode. Also up for inclusion should be Bossk and Latts Razzi, so there’s a lot of options here to introduce another large base ship to CIS.

Ginivex-class Starfighter

Look this one is a bit of stretch for me and would be difficult to do since the sails make the ship really kind of tall. However in saying that it’s a good opportunity to get Ventress in the game, but she kind of ends up being the only pilot. The only other pilots I could think of adding to flesh it out would be the Nightsisters, and maybe Savage Opress. Still, this ship seems like a tough inclusion.

Republic

Republic are a lot easier to find additional ships to add to the mix without having to go down too many rabbit holes, courtesy of the Clone Wars and Bad Batch cartoons recently. Ok so maybe like…one last rabbit hole. Just for fun.

The Bad Batch - The Marauder

 A contender to be multi use for Scum and maybe Empire. There’s plenty of pilots covering the whole of Clone Force 99, spread out across the factions to reflect how the team invariably splits up. Also would really love for Gonk to be stapled on to an SL for this just for fun. It’s also another opportunity to put commandos on the table.

Good soldiers follow orders…

Anakin & Ahsoka – G9 Rigger aka Twilight (turret can’t turn left)

Another opportunity for a large base ship for the Republic, Anakin and Ahsoka’s ship offers an interesting combination of potential upgrades, crew, gunner position, astromechs, cannons, turrets and missiles. The turret – like Derek Zoolander – is unable to turn and shoot left due to the main fuselage being in the way. Additionally the ship likely has bugger all ability to evade attacks (I mean look at it) but has the advantage of having a high pilot skill and force with Anakin flying.

Rhys Dallow & Captain Nym– Heroes of Naboo

Ah my early 2000’s rabbit hole – the Heroes of Naboo refers to the characters from the Star Wars Starfighter game on PS2 and PC (still). The game included Nym as one of the three main characters in his Scurrg H-6 bomber fighting off the initial Trade Federation invasion with the help of Rhys Dallow in his N1 and Vana Sage in …honestly something I think is a bit of tough ship to translate. But Rhys and Nym are easy pickings for adding to the faction with models already available.

And yet…

Like my article about the Scum faction in Armada, it’s easy to just sit here and come up with this stuff absent of having to consider balancing abilities, points and loadouts. I’m sure there’s plenty of things that I’ve missed, again we all consume different content and I’ve tried to go for things that are either already available in the game in some fashion or in the more recent content.

Again this isn’t any indication of what XWA is working on. I do hope that they get the opportunity to have some creative freedom to make new content. Let us know in the comments or on socials what you’d like to see on the table.

Stay salty!

- Barry