Fantasy Flight Games just gave us a preview of the new Guns for Hire expansion for Star Wars: X-Wing. This looks to be a much needed update for Scum fans.
The new Guns for Hire expansion is due to be released third quarter 2017, features the StarViper Mk. II and the Vaksai, as well as a new title upgrade for both. Let’s see what Fantasy Flight Games had to say about the new expansion.
Guns for Hire Expansion Pack $29.95
With its new paint schemes, ship cards, and upgrades, the Guns for Hire Expansion Pack ensures your Scum faction StarVipers and Kihraxz fighters will soon enjoy an all-new look on your table and in your X-Wing™ battles.
As we already learned from the expansion’s announcement, many of the changes owe to the introduction of two new Title upgrades, one for each ship—the StarViper Mk. II and the Vaksai .
By reducing the number of squad points you need to commit to your StarVipers and Kihraxz fighters, these Titles add to their versatility, affording you more space to upgrade them, select more powerful pilots, and pair them with a greater number of wingmates. But they don’t just increase your fighters’ versatility within your squadrons; they increase the versatility of the individual ships themselves.
Build a Better Starfighter
The Vaksai Title is something of a conundrum. Unlike the StarViper Mk. II Title, which applies a flat three-point reduction, the Vaksai Title starts at zero points and only gains squad-point value as you load your ship with upgrades. The more upgrades you add to your Kihraxz fighter, the greater the squad-point value your Vaksai Titleoffers.
Traditional wisdom, however, warns us against spending too much time—and too many squad points—loading our ships with upgrades.
At the end of the day, X-Wing is a game about lining up shots, aiming, and firing, and it behooves us to throw as many attack dice as we can reasonably modify toward success. At the same time, we want to defend against our opponents attacks with as many points of agility, hull, and shields as we can. Squad points spent on upgrades are traditionally less valuable than points spent on ships, then, because the attack and defense bonuses associated with upgrades tend to be more expensive than those associated with the ships themselves.
The Vaksai Title card can prove to be a very valuable 0 point cost upgrade, reducing every upgrade equipped by 1 point. They say don’t go too heavy on upgrades for one ship, but reducing the points of the upgrades you do take will open up more options for your other ships.
The real power of the Vaksai is not the discount it offers you, but the ability to better customize your fighter for the role you want it to play in your squadron.
Perhaps you want to transform Talonbane Cobra into a late-game arc-dodging ace like Soontir Fel or Corran Horn. The Vaksai Title makes this a viable option by allowing you to outfit Talonbane’s ship with Push the Limit , Ion Dischargers , Vectored Thrusters, Engine Upgrade, and PulsedRay Shield .
The fact that the Title grants you a five-point discount on the upgrades is secondary to the fact that the Title allows you to transform the way Talonbane can fly.
Customize Your Scum
With all the strange and creative freedoms afforded by the StarViper Mk. II and Vaksai Titles, the Guns for HireExpansion Pack promises to deliver an abundance of new ways to customize your Scum squadron. And the tremendous range of these options mean there’s a greater chance you’ll find exactly the ship—and exactly the squadron—that you want to fly.
All in all, the new Guns for Hire expansion looks like it’s going to be a meta changer for the Scum. They’ll now be able equip more upgrades for less on these two already dangerous ships. You can now pre-order it at your FLGS so make sure to get in and get a copy reserved for yourself.
What do you think about the latest expansion for Star Wars: X-Wing? Are you going to be getting a copy of the new Guns for Hire? Let us know in the comments below.
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About the Author: James Rodriguez
