Unboxing – Imperial Aces Expansion for X-Wing

The X-Wing Imperial Aces Expansion arrived (if you could get hold of one… ).

Expensive and fragile, TIE Interceptors are rarely the go-to choice for X-wing players, but they are a classic Star Wars design. I sure hope the Imperial Aces expansion, with two alternative-paint-job TIE Interceptors – gives the “squints” a bit more oompf on the table!

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#1 – Imperial Aces Miniatures & Tokens

The miniatures are … obviously … two fine TIE Interceptors in alternative colour-schemes.

• One with the signature red bloodstripes of the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing of Soontir Fell (who already appeared in the regular TIE Interceptor expansion.
• One in the red of the Royal (or Imperial) Guard of the Emperor himself.

There are of course the usual maneuver dials (though none are in red), stress, evade and focus tokens, etc.., though this expansion also provides you with two shield tokens (for the upgrades, see below) and a whole bunch of mission-specific tokens.

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#2 – Imperial Aces – The Mission

The Imperial Aces expansion comes in a large box, just like the box you get for the Millenium Falcon or Slave I. Like these  expansions, it also comes with a new mission to play.

I admit, I haven’t actually played this one yet. Looking at it, it seems a bit daft. There is a lot of set-up and detailed rules (complete with loads of custom tokens) about secret prototype facilities on the regular asteroids, which are meant to spice up the game.

However, the Rebels win, if they kill one Imperial ship, the “prototype”, while the Imperial player must kill all Rebels. Not a good set-up, even if the prototype gets the odd bonus.

I’ll definitely try to get some use out of those custom tokens, which look great. I did think this mission was a bit of a missed opportunity though. In fact, it would have been (I think) a great opportunity for FFG to showcase an Imperial vs. Imperial type mission, given this expansions includes the Crimson Empire arch-enemies Carnor Jax and Kir Kanos.

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#3 – Imperial Aces – Pilot Cards

There are 8 pilot cards (counting the doubles) in this expansion.

The unnamed Sabre Squadron pilot is already familiar, though the Royal Guard Pilot might well be one of the most useful unnamed pilots yet, as he can take both an elite talent and (!) the Royal Guard Tie ship title (see below), which allows him to take two different modifications.

The named pilots are:

• Carnor Jax & Kir Kanos, the two characters from The Crimson Empire. Both have abilities that emphasize damage, meaning both hit even harder than a regular TIE Interceptor.

• Tetran Cowall & Lieutnant Lorrir for the 181st, both with abilities that provide even more fancy maneuverability to the already nimble TIE Interceptors. Cowall’s variant K-turn sounds extremely powerful and Lorrir’s “Tokio Drift” Barrel Roll look fun (though gaining him a Stress token, possibly the lesser of the two abilities)

TIE Interceptors are very minimalist – “pure” dog-fighting – no secondary weapons, no crew, no advanced systems or similar tricks. That, in many ways, is the appeal of the TIE Interceptor.

I like how the new pilots build on this: The “red” Royal Pilots making the Interceptor hit even harder, and the “bloodstripes” 181st Pilots making it even more maneuverable. 

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4 – Imperial Aces – Upgrade Cards

The upgrade cards in the Imperial Aces expansions all come in pair: two of each. Makes sense (if you buy into this CCG-logic of the game), as there are two ships. Still, more variety would’ve been nicer IMO.

Still, there are lots of them, including very popular ones like Push the Limit (2x) and Shield Upgrade (2x). The latter, as said, is also supported by two shield tokens in this expansion.

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Do You Play X-Wing the Miniatures Game?

Once more, I think Fantasy Flight Games put out a very thematic expansion, and their effort to stay true to the (Expanded Universe – EU) background really shines through.

That said, the variant TIE Interceptors of the Imperial Aces expansions are clearly geared towards fans deeply invested into the Star Wars EU and the game (for the challenge of the “dog-fight-only” TIE Interceptors). You can play a lot of awesome X-Wing games without Imperial Aces. It hardly qualifies as an expansion people “must” have. It is fun, however.

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