Separatist Alliance: X-WING Faction buying guide

• 11 Maneuver Templates
• 4 Range Ruler segments
• FFG

This pack contains plastic maneuver templates and a range ruler with segments to make your measurements quick and precise. You can paint, just don't forget to varnish it after!

• 3 Red dice
• 3 Green dice
• FFG

Dice Pack contains three red attack dice and three green defense dice, identical to the dice included in the Core Set.

• 33 Damage cards
• FFG

This deck contains a complete set of  damage cards that correspond to those in the standard damage deck. The text on the cards is the same as that of the standard Damage cards, only the card graphics are different.

• 15 obstacles
• FFG

You've read it right - you are getting obstacles, all of them! Well not all, excluding particular Gas Clouds from the Separatists and Republic Squadron Packs, Asteroids and Debris from the Pride of Mandalore Reinforcements Pack. But that's a lot of obstacles plus some upgrades.

Great little pack! It contains cards with special setups for you game to spice things up.

So you bought all necessary tools to play the game, or maybe this is not you first faction...

Ok, calm down! We hear you asking: Where are our ships? Give us ships!

One Servants of Strife pack is really not enough to make up a squad. You can keep on building up that Vulture swarm or add a bigger ship to the mix:

• 4 pilots exclusive to this box
• 1 ship
• easy to fly
• strong
• FFG

An old acquaintance, because the Scum also have the same ship at their disposal. You'll recognize her because she's in the Geonosis dogfight scene seen in Episode II – Attack of the Clones. The Separatist Firespray is identical in terms of stats to the Scum one. 

With the crew on board Count Dooku Firespray will have access to the powers of the force, and Jango Fett is a fearsome pilot with initiative 6.

Zam Wesell, both pilot and crew, is probably the most interesting card of the pack, because it  brings to the table the "minds game” typical of an exciting match. Zam has the ability to assign 2 different condition cards to perform very dangerous bonus attacks. Also, a new version of the title Slave I is absolutely welcome.

• 5 pilots (1 exclusive to this box)
• 1 ship
• hard to fly
• weak (strong in masses)
• FFG

The Trade Federation Vulture Droids are currently the cheapest ships in the entire game besides the Z-95 and the TIE-Fighter, which makes sense given that statistically they are also the worst ships in the game. That individual weakness is more than made up for by the number of droids you can put on the table in a match, though, and through their Network Calculations ability the swarm gets stronger as it grows.

They are not easy to fly, though. Their robotic nature means they have a Maneuvering Dial that likes to work with 90-degree “Left, Right, Forward!!!” turns. You need to plan ahead to minimize the impact of this weakness, as opponents will definitely try to exploit it. While surprisingly effective in a swarm, Droids explode very quickly once isolated, making them quite frustrating for new players. But taking into account the sheer number of cannons and red dice you will place on the table...

This pack also has Discord Missiles. Your enemies will love them!

These are all other ships, that you can add to your CIS fleet at the moment:

• 6 pilots exclusive to this box
• 1 ship
• difficult to fly
• medium strength
• FFG

The Hyena is the Vulture's big brother (or sister). In case the Separatists weren't messed up enough already, it has different upgrade slots on every single pilot. Some are bombers, some missile launchers, some support vessels. One even, a jouster who takes enemies head on.

This makes it versatile, but rather "strange" in the squadbuilding phase. However, equipped with DRK-1 Probe Droids and Proximity Mines they have proven to be a threat on the table. Fan favorite pilot DBS-404 is able to slam SIX dice into the opponent's face at Range 1. 

• 6 pilots exclusive to this box
• 1 ship
• very hard to fly
• strong
• FFG

At first glance, a Nantex starfighter is a flimsy little ship with a limited range of motion, but once the Nantex pilot starts moving the gravity fields around the fuselage, they drift around the battlefield in a very unexpected way.

They're fun and unique ships, given the unique mechanics they bring to the table. They do not fall into the classic "move and roll modified dice with infinite Calculation tokens" CIS strategies. 

We would suggest you to get at least one of them, to prove the skill of the unique pilots Chertek and Sun Fac! Recommendation is too equip Crackshot or Predator if you want "cheap" options. Ensnare - leave it for the "beer and chips" games.

• 6 pilots exclusive to this box
• 1 ship
• difficult to fly
• medium strength
• FFG

The HMP gunship – seen several times in the Clone Wars series – would be another mundane bomber/artillery carrier if it didn't have the Repulsorlift Stabilizers configuration to open the dial and make it unpredictable. It makes it both an important attacking ram for the Separatists and can knock out important targets and zig-zag around the battlefield.

Regardless of the many options available within the Pack, I recommend equipping it with DRK-1 Probe Droids or Diamond-Boron Missiles. But beware that after a few games it might become predictable, despite the dancers' movements.

• 6 pilots exclusive to this box
• 1 ship
• difficult to fly
• medium strength
• FFG

On paper, the Tri-Fighter is the Separatist equivalent of a TIE Interceptor, fast and heavily armed but can ignite in a very short time. Good, greedy and delicate like an ice cream in the sun. A good way tp play them is to play 1-2 Tri-Fighters as flankers in a dedicated squadron, rather than trying to force one into a swarm of droids to act as alternatives.

The high initiative Phlacc-Arphocc Prototypes pilots are the best pilots of the pack, because it's easier to implement the protocol "with the pipe you shoot at me, lillo". Don't leave home without a couple of copies of Predator in your purse, please.

• 6 pilots (10 for 2 factions exclusive to this box)
• 2 ship
• easy to fly
• medium strength
• FFG

The Rogue-class is a ship defined by its versatility. Lore wise this ship is closely associated with Grievous Magna guards – which are also pilots here. It also synergizes with droids. Fortunately all Separatist pilots are droids.

Having 2 red dice attacks doesn't look too impressive. However it has 2 cannons slot meaning that third dice can easily be upgraded with cannons like the Synced Laser cannon granting a 3 die on range 2-3.  In this pack also comes the Proton cannon, which while only working in bullseye is a 4 dice attack gun with dice modification built in.

Further boosting its flexibility is the title which gives a bomb and crew slot. All in all this a great self-sufficient all rounder ship for Separatists.

These packs do not contain any ship minis, but what they have is cardboard in abundance to further expand your fleet: new pilots, new upgrades, game tokens that you might not have: like bombs or new obstacles. The rule of thumb is to check for which ships are you getting the pilots and upgrades before getting one.

• 5 pilots (36 all factions exclusive to this box)
• AMG

Another pack, somewhat like a previous one, but only with new pilots. The Separatists get 5 new pilots:

• Volan Das (Droid Tri-Fighter)
• Aurra Sing (Firespray-class Patrol Craft)
• Durge (Rogue-class Starfighter)
• The Iron Assembler (Vulture-class Droid Fighter)
• Kelrodo-Ai Holdout (Vulture-class Droid Fighter)

It’s also worth noting these Hotshots and Aces have some odd printing choices  with different faction pilots being on opposite sides of the same token. So splitting it with friends from other factions might not be possible.

Also there are no SL cards, only ship cards, while being an AMG product.

• 0 pilots (7 for 3 factions exclusive to this box)
• FFG

A thematic pack dedicated to the Mandalorians provides upgrades for the CIS and new obstacles.

This is another pack you can split among friends from other factions.

• 15 obstacles
• FFG

We have already discussed this pack at the beginning of the guide.

• 15 bombs and mines
• FFG

Like a pack with obstacles, but instead - a bunch of mines and bombs: tokens and upgrade cards all in one package!

Another great little pack! It also contains cards with special setups for you game to spice things up.

• 10 pilots (20 for 2 factions exclusive to this box)
• AMG

Siege Of Coruscant Scenario Pack   is ultimately a scenario cardboard. It has only Standard Loadout (SL) pilots that fit a specific thematic scenario from the beginning of Episode III.

In this pack you will find pilots for the Vulture Droid, Hyena Bomber, Tri-Fighter and another version of Count Dooku in the Sith Infiltrator.

However this is recommended only with a larger selection since it doesn't come with any models and is 450/350 points per side, also the full Standard Loadout is only legal in Wild Space.

The scenario itself is fun and in the 2.0 version relatively open to experiment with different builds.

So you have reached the end of the Black Box guide wondering, what else it there beyond your magnificent collection of ships and starfighters? 

Two answers: 

• Huge Ships 
• Multiplayer fun

This expansion introduces a totally new way to play X-Wing, inviting 2 to 8 players to engage in epic multiplayer battles as they command massive fleets in large-scale games that evoke iconic Star Wars scenes.

It features 11 scenarios ranging from Free For All Deathmatch where each player controls only one ship to an Epic Battle where players fly coordinated wings of starfighters supporting huge ships. From desperate defensive actions to daring assaults on enemy fortifications, each scenario creates an exciting narrative. 

Within this expansion, you'll find five wing tools that ease and speed up the game letting you fly your fighters in wings and not separately.

• 1 pilot (2 for 2 factions exclusive to this box)
• 1 ship
• FFG

The Trident-class is a particular expansion, as it does not contain cards dedicated to the "standard" game but exclusively to the Epic format and for Huge Ships. The ship can be deployed by both Scum and Separatists.

Inside it has nice solo and multiplayer scenarios, including the hilarious "Leviathan Hunting", in which players hunt down a Trident class that moves and acts by a dedicated deck of cards.

A must buy if you love playing Epic mode! 

• 1 pilot (2 for 2 factions)
• 1 ship
• FFG

Don't let the Scum label on the box fool you - there is a CIS version of this ship inside too. Though the main content is for Scum - that is for sure. It's a multipurpose ship that you can upgrade almost anyway you want.

If you get you hands on the first edition C-ROC, you will need the Huge Ship Conversion Kit to use it. It comes with an additional M3-A model with an alternative paint scheme for the Scum. Getting the Black Box version instead might still be prudent, because the Huge Ship Conversion Kit has many components, but for only one CIS ship that is C-ROC.

Huge ship components from 1.0 are not used in epic 2.0, including the bases and pegs, but you can use those bases and pegs for any large ship in your collection.