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X-Wing Miniature’s New Game Breaking Upgrade?

By Rob Baer | January 13th, 2016 | Categories: Tabletop Gaming Products, X-Wing 2.0

swx41 mist hunter

Fantasy Flight Games unveiled the new Tractor Beam Card for X-Wing miniatures and it’s HOT. Come see that and the newest Expansion for the game: The Mist Hunter!

The Mist Hunter $19.95

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The signature vessel of the bounty hunters Zuckuss and 4-LOM, the Mist Hunter from the Mist Hunter Expansion Pack makes its entrance to X-Wing™ as a pre-painted, small-base miniature G-1A starfighter with three attack, one agility, four hull, and four shields. Meanwhile, the expansion’s nine upgrades reflect the Scum and Villainy faction’s willingness to gain advantages with modifications of questionable legality. You’ll find an illicit cloaking device and a tractor beam among the upgrades, along with four ship cards, a maneuver dial, and all requisite tokens.

The new vessel is coming in hot with TWO great new pilots, and a very sturdy 4 hull and 4 shields for under 30 points base. Like the K-Wing the Mist Hunter is a large ship in little ship jacket!

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Plus it boasts 16 maneuvers that can really help it get into and out of tight spots!  Sure some of them are red, but read on to see how you can shred that stress at the end of the turn!

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Both pilot’s abilities come in handy depending on what task you have for them, however checkout how their crew cards complement each other when em barked in pairs.

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It looks like Fantasy Flight Games designed the crew cards to work with the opposite pilot card very well. All for a tiny cost as well these fellas may show up on other ships in the scum arsenal as well.

And the pièce de résistance of this expansion the new Tractor beam card:

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The idea of the tractor beam has made an indelible mark on the Star Wars™ galaxy ever since the Millennium Falcon was pulled into the Death Star during A New Hope. Bringing the tractor beam to X-Wing, however, required a bit of finesse, as the game is largely about maneuvering, and it could be harmed by introducing effects that detract too heavily from that focus.

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In the end, though, the Tractor Beam and the tractor beam token that it assigns to its target strike a nice balance between the weapon’s iconic utility and its implementation into the game as a powerfully disruptive, temporary effect. When the Tractor Beam successfully hits a target, it deals no damage, but the target loses a point of agility for each tractor beam token assigned to it.

Of course, the Tractor Beam works best when it is employed against a smaller ships, and if you assign a tractor beam token to your opponent’s small-base ship, you immediately get to choose one of the following effects:

  • Perform a barrel roll using the straight speed “1” maneuver template. You select the direction of the barrel roll and the final position of your opponent’s ship.

  • Perform a boost using the straight speed “1” maneuver template.

So basically this new card which takes up a cannon slot (and yes there are ships out there with two cannon slots too), can give you greater tactical flexibility to move your opponent from a commanding position to a much more vunerable one. Of course it’s just an added bonus that you can push them into obstacles or perhaps even off the board as well.

A higher pilot skill and a tractor beam may be the difference between winning and losing games of X-wing minatures soon.

– You would prefer another target, a military target?

Top 3 New 40k Formations – The Long War Podcast Episode 33

About the Author: Rob Baer

 rob avatar face

Rob Baer

Job Title: Managing Editor

Founded Spikey Bits in 2009

Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X

About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.

Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls. 

Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.

Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.

With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.

While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.