Attack Wing & Armada

 “Size matters not.”

— Yoda

My son and I have been playing some Star Trek: Attack Wing scenarios recently, part of his exploration of the wide-ranging Star Trek franchise. In our past gaming endeavors we’ve indulged in Star Wars gaming, too (yet another franchise we love), including the X-wing Miniatures Game and Star Wars: Armada. Over the years we’ve managed to acquire fleets for those games to play engagements that catered to our interests as fans. While X-wing deals with fighter squadrons, Attack Wing and Armada feature massive capital ships. Although based on the foundations of the “FligthPath” system used in X-wing (and licensed for Attack Wing), the capital ships games play very differently from each other. While Attack Wing sticks closer to X-wing, Armada makes many adaptations to accommodate the larger ships, becoming a different game with similarities to its forebear. They’re both enjoyable games with solid systems for commanding capital ships in their respective fictional universes. After playing each for a while — and more recently enjoying our exploits with Attack Wing — I find, in the long term, I like Attack Wing more.

Attack Wing

Star Trek: Attack Wing licensed the “FlightPath” system from Fantasy Flight Games, rhe original publisher of the X-wing Miniatures Game...hence it relies heavily on those game mechanics, though it treats capital ships much as X-wing does fighter craft. This works considering how nimble ships in the Stat Trek universe seem, especially compared to the often lumbering capital ships seen in Star Wars. Each ship model stands on clear plastic pegs on a 1.5-inch square base, with a cardstock template on it indicating ship stats: primary weapon attack, agility (for evading hits), hull, and shields. Players use a dial to choose maneuvers, listed as speed and course (straight, the gradual bank, and a 90-degree turn), with each dial reflecting different vessels’ capabilities. After moving, each ship can take one action, sometimes tied to the ship, other times associated with an upgrade like crew or secondary weapons. These often aid in movement, attacking, or defending. A range ruler determines whether targets are close enough to attack and in a ship’s field of fire. Special eight-sided dice determine success in attacking and evading, with hits taken off shields and then damage dealt to the hull using cards; critical hits use special instructions on cards for more complicated results imparing a vessel.

Kirk and Khan face off in the
Mutara Nebula.

Overall Attack Wing plays very much like X-wing but with larger ships. The similarity certainly helps learning the game and adjudicating the many tactical exceptions caused by upgrade cards, which help customize effects and associate them with in-universe elements. The game plays on the same 3x3-foot surface, though each side needs some extra room in the margins to manage maneuver templates, dice, damage cards, and cards/tokens representing their ships and upgrades. Each turn presents players with many choices: where and how to move; what actions to take to optimize attacking and defending; and which targets to attack in which ways. At first glance the system isn’t overly complex, but when you layer in all the exceptions to the rules allowed by upgrades (weapons, systems, and personnel), the gameplay gains a reasonable amount of depth. Our Attack Wing games have rarely seemed one-sided. More often each side has some solid hits and lucky defenses as they circle each other after the initial broadsides. After choosing ships and upgrades for set-up, we can easily play a game in 30-45 minutes...and often reset and replay to try new tactics in the same scenario. Attack Wing offers a great Star Trek experience commanding capital ships that simulates numerous different scenarios immersing players in the Trek universe.

The game has a few drawbacks. The ships aren’t always to scale compared with each other, though for some like me, this isn’t a huge issue. (The models look nice regardless of their size.) As with X-wing compounded upgrade effects can sometimes lead to confusion; I tend to lose track of them, forgetting when they’re best used in the game. It’s also difficult to find in the distribution chain, having only limited support after it’s popularity in earlier years. WizKids currently releases “faction packs” of multiple ships (though they still require the starter set to play) and previously released ships without paint so players can customize them. Not terribly ideal for those seeking to find the starter set and try the game. Some single-ship expansions have passed into the realm of expensive collectibles. Aftermarket sources like eBay and Noble Knight Games remain useful platforms for finding expansions.

Armada

Although I’ve dabbled in Star Trek most of my life, I’m a longtime, and at times a hardcore, Star Wars fan. We enjoyed the X-wing Miniatures Game for years (and still do on occasion). My son was extremely fortunate when Armada released to win a copy at a wargame convention raffle, considering the $100 price tag to get started was more than I’d normally pay to buy into even a Star Wars game at the time. That Rebellion-era starter came with three ships — the Rebel Corellian corvette and Nebulon-B frigate and an Imperial Victory-class Star Destroyer — so one could play battles right out of the box. We gave it a try, enjoyed it, and bought a few more ships. It sat for a while until my son noticed Clone Wars-era ships released for the game a few years later. At this point, however, the sales strategy changed: we bought a Separatist starter set and a Republic starter box, with each requiring quite an outlay of cash, but it was the beginning of summer and my son loves the Clone Wars. We spent the summer playing frequent games, trying different combinations of capital ships and upgrades. We bought a few additional ships.

Although Armada operates on some shared principles of X-wing and Attack Wing — using tokens to track actions/conditions, ships on template bases, custom dice to determine hits — it adds layers of complexity to account for capital ship elements: independent fighter squadrons, attack and defense quadrants for each ship, and a different method of charting speed and maneuvers. Those familiar with X-wing will have an easier time comprehending the rules and redesigned systems, though it still requires some focus with the layered multitude of additional rules (and the nuances they bring to the game table). Each turn players assign “commands” to their ship, a version of the “actions” phase in other games, to give them benefits on future rounds (larger ships must plan farther ahead). Then each player activates ships to reveal the command action, attack up to two targets from different fire arcs, and move using a flexible movement template and instructions on their ship card. They roll custom dice for attacks, using shields and command actions to mitigate damage. Fighter squadrons move and attack last. Armada’s great fun, especially if you can absorb and apply the numerous levels of systems at work.

The game looks most impressive on the table. The ship models look gorgeous as they lumber across the table, with smaller ships zooming about to take advantage of their speed. We played several games in the Rebellion era when we first got the game, then even more later with the Clone Wars ships. Obviously the more ships on the field the more elements one must manage (much like X-wing). If you can keep track of all the rules it’s quite a fun game.

All that said, Armada seems to bring more drawbacks than the other games. It takes a bit more understanding than the other games. It’s greater tactical depth and higher component count requires a bit more time to set up and play. It is not cheap to buy into, especially given the high-quality models and all the tokens, squadron stands, cards, dials, and dice. But that’s assuming you can find it. Fantasy Flight’s licensee, Atomic Mass Games, doesn’t seem to support the game anymore — with core starter sets “Currently Unavailable” on their website — though, as usual, starter sets and ships still move through the distribution chain from first-line retailers to secondary markets.

Although many products remain in the distribution chain, they’re often listed as out of stock, with seemingly no apparent plans to produce more. This poses serious challenges for fans seeking to dive into the games after “discovering” them well after their heyday. I’ve discussed the ephemeral nature of games before, how they release as the “new hotness,” enjoy popularity for a while, then fade from production, the market, and ultimately the game table (where, thankfully, they have the best chance of persisting). X-wing, Attack Wing, and Armada demonstrate how games can remain inaccessible through their high price point and unavailability after their window of excitement and prime market have passed. The popularity of their foundational franchises of Star Wars and Star Trek persists; these excellent games, alas, do not.

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

— Mark Twain