(Part 2) Best products from r/XWingTMG

TL;DR: Get him a Y-wing.

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You can't go wrong with the second core set. It comes with three different ships and an extra set of dice, maneuver templates, etc. It's cheaper than buying any three individual ships, and you get more with it. It's the fastest, cheapest way to get more ships and more parts (e.g. dice, templates) that make two-player games easier. Almost every semi-serious X-wing player eventually gets two core sets.

The only "downside" (if you could call it that) with getting the second, newer core set is that it mixes the "old Star Wars" (original trilogy) with the "new Star Wars" (J.J. Abrams' movie from last year). There's nothing wrong with that, and if your friend is a bigger fan of the new movie than he is of the original movies then maybe it's a better buy.

But if your friend grew up with classic Star Wars, I'd recommend the following (in order):

• Y-wing
  
• TIE-Advanced
  
• A-wing
  
• TIE-Interceptor
  
• B-wing
  
• TIE-Bomber
  
  These are all the earliest released ships, they all fit well thematically since they are from the same era in the Star Wars universe, and they gradually introduce new concepts to the player very well.
  
  If you don't know how much of a fan your friend is, the ships I listed above are "safe". Many of the other ships for the miniatures game come from video games, comics, etc. with which your friend might not be familiar (and, thus, might not feel "Star Warsy" to him)
  
  If you're only buying one ship, get a Y-wing. It's the next most thematically appropriate ship to buy after getting the old core set, and it immediately allows two ships per player since it pairs with the X-wing against the two TIEs your friend already has.
  
  If you're buying two ships, the following pairs go well together:
  
  
• Y-wing and TIE Advanced
  
• A-wing and TIE Interceptor
  
• B-wing and TIE Bomber
  
  If you're buying three, then, as I said above, the newer Core Set is by far the best value for your money.
  
  You could get the Millenium Falcon, too. The Falcon is the ultimate in continuing the Star Wars theme, but it will make game play a little lopsided for your friend at the moment if all he has is a core set.
  
  In terms of game mechanics, the Falcon is "worth" four TIE fighters. The X-wing is already "worth" two TIE fighters (which is why there is only one X-wing and two TIE fighters in the core set), and a Falcon plus an X-wing totally outclass the best two TIE fighter combinations you can come up with. Games with all four ships will be "seven TIE Fighters worth" of ships on one side against two actual TIE Fighters on the other side. So, I'd hold off on the Falcon until your friend gets more Imperial ships.
  

My solution is the Plano angled tackle box: http://amzn.to/2iGo49J that holds 72 small-base ships. It is out of stock online, but nearly every Walmart carries it for 59.99. Additionally, it has two smaller containers that are perfect for tokens and additional storage.

This is my set-up, and the Plano kit is essential for my concise storage and lack of jostling during transport: http://imgur.com/gallery/Syn5K

For the Epic ships, I bought Stanley toolboxes because they are cheap lock well and could be used for tools in the future if I discover alternative storage.

I do not display anything, as I do not feel possessing these toys is something that merits commemoration or observation. I don't place the cars and family pegs from LIFE on a shelf, so it seems silly to me to exalt pieces from a board game regardless of how intricate the pieces or rules are. I enjoy it, but my shelves are filled with personal items and commemorations of lost family members. An A-wing would feel disrespectful.

Anyway, I now have to make a purchase of more storage, and while I think the Plano cases are brilliant, I am now looking at Feldherr foam kits on Amazon for basic storage. They have several generic kits that hold a large number of small-base ships while still affording specialized storage (through pick'n'pluck foam) for large-based ships.

In the end, it will come down to bang-for-buck, and the WalMart plano cases look to be able to hold their own very easily.

Happy Hunting!

I am a fan of the Harbor Freight storage boxes, the off brand of the Stanley organizer box, both for storage and as a game-day box. A pic of my collection (not incl my game-day boxes). Compared to the stanley brand, the bins have the same width/depth but are slightly taller which make a difference for several ships. They're also cheaper, and come in "half size" for a compact tourney-day box. The removable bins make life easier than with fixed bins or removable dividers.

HF links for the standard size which I also use as my main game-day transport, and the half size. There is also a deep size and this one is good for dials.

This set of 1-regular/1-deep/2-half from amazon looks just like the HF ones and is available with free 1-day shipping.

These containers receive the most third party support as far as I can tell. You can get token trays like this and ship holders like these. Still using this great 1.0 tray while waiting for more 2.0 options.

Depends on how many things you have.

I started with this Plano 3700, but out grew it pretty fast. I have several additional pro-latch boxes of various layouts to hold the added content.

But thats just for storing at home, or (when i play HotAC) allows me to pick the 4 trays i need, put them in, with all the large ships in the top section (with pluck foam to hold them), and carry that.

Now if im just taking a couple built lists to my FLGS to play for a day, i put my play stuff in this Frabill Softbag that holds plano 3600 size trays.

In that, this tournament tray fits to hold my range rulers/maneuver templates and such. (They also make the tray to fit in the 3700 size as well)

The plano trys are good because the compartments can be adjusted to fit the size of the ship to reduce the amount of space thats wasted. I also go a bit further and add some cotton in to protect the ships paint and so they dont rattle around too much.

Here are some (rather old) pics of my collection in it.

The Plano 5231 is where I would start. I have several that I keep mine in (my collection is rather large). The top section will accommodate all the ship tokens, the gameplay tokens and templates & obstacles. The inside will easily fit all that you have along with the dials and damage deck with plenty of room to spare. I am storing complete conversion kit cardboard and a majority of the small ships in the boxes. Adding a bunch of large ships to the collection may present an issue eventually, but you can fit a YT-1300 + another large ship without issues. The Ghost does not fit in the box unfortunately.


Edit: The prices on Amazon for the red plano are not great right now though.



The HDX interlocking series is pretty great, too. The containers lock together making it easy to add to the collection as needed and they are easy to carry. These can accommodate the bigger ships like the Ghost, too. maybe go with this. The price is good, too.

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Thanks!

I have a Lulzbot Mini, which runs $1250 US. Basically toward the lower end of the middle of the range for home printers. I would definitely recommend it, and any of the similar Lulzbot Taz printers. The big thing for me is that it was super straightforward to get going, and has been very reliable. I just plugged it in and literally right away was able to print cool terrain pieces for 40k. I've also been beating on it printing a ton of stuff this summer---at two different points it was running for 2 weeks almost continuously printing campaign pieces for events (LibertyHammer and NOVA)---and it hasn't needed any meaningful maintenance. It's also comparatively quick to print.

You could get a printer for much cheaper though. The M3D Micro, for example, can often be had for $200--$300 US (they run sales often, either marking down price directly or including filament, etc; list price is $500 US). I don't have personal experience with it, but the listed resolution is the same as the Mini. Big tradeoffs from the specs are that it prints slower, can't print as big of a piece, and from the factory is set up to use a less common style of filament spool that's a bit more expensive (though I assume you can rig it to use standard spools). But this is probably the one I would look at first for a very cost conscious purchase that's still useful for miniatures.

There's a couple sites around that conduct periodic reviews. I've found the Tom's Hardware Guide review very informative. They also currently recommend both the M3D and Lulzbot Mini as top purchases in their category.

There's a lot of variance in the cost of materials. Price varies by filament, who you buy it from, brand, etc.. The material I've been using is currently $25 US on Amazon for a kilogram spool. That's enough to print a lot of miniatures. On my current spool I've printed 6 tanks, 3 flyers, ~12 objective markers, and 18 shipping containers for 40k, a pile of terrain bits, and 5 Senator's Shuttles as well as a pile of these cargo pods for X-Wing, plus a bunch of testing parts, and the spool's not quite done yet.

Hope that's helpful!

This isn't much of a sale.

25% off is good for the Autothrusters, and everyone should likely have Autothrusters, but $15 has kind of become the defacto price on this.Please check this CamelCamelCamel check to get an idea of how the price has changed over time. The StarViper expansion has been around $15 for a long time on Amazon and it's the recent spice at $20 that was the abnormality. That being said it doesn't mean the price won't spike again.

Personally I always use CamelCamelCamel to see if a deal on Amazon is actually a deal or if that's just become their standard price over time. You can also set up alerts and CamelCamelCamel will inform you when the price falls below a certain threshold. I set my alerts to $1-2 less than the average price and that pretty much catches all sales I might care about.

You can put a matte varnish on if you'd like. I don't usually because the paint holds up pretty good if you treat it well. If you do a varnish for the whole model definitely go matte to maintain the look. Only use a rattle can version. I've used the tester's one a lot:
https://www.amazon.com/Testors-Aerosol-Spray-Lacquer-Paint/dp/B009FF6DN4

I swear by these: HDX 320034 Interlocking Black Small Parts Organizer for Fasteners and Crafts w/ Removable Dividers (2 Pack) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GYQXRS6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_T3MFDbE0WQCE2

You can find them at Home Depot for like $12 and they come in a two pack. I have four total and they carry literally my whole collection of about 60 ships. This includes medium and large base ships plus all tokens, templates, other items.

I keep all my cards in a zippered binder with trading card sleeves.

When I go out to play I simply throw the cards and ships I need into my top box which has all of the tokens and templates and jet. It makes things super streamlined and I love it. Doesn’t take up much space either.

I don't use this for X-Wing exclusively, but I have 3 differently sized collapsible carrying totes. I think I got one at Costco and the other 2 from somewhere like Aldi's. They're pretty nice for gaming in general.

Edit: This isn't exactly what I have, but you get the general idea.

https://www.amazon.com/Piece-Collapsible-Shopping-Planet-Eco-Stream/dp/B019EGP57I

Sorry for the too-late update, but (as of January-ish) Ultra-Pro and BCW both make 16-pocket pages that fit perfectly now.
http://www.amazon.com/Un/dp/B018C2ZX3Q

What did you just do, buy 4 starter sets and the 2 big ships from wave 2?

If purchased new from Amazon, that would only be 158.94 before tax, but would include free shipping if purchased with Amazon Prime. You're STARTING the bidding for your used set $40 higher than the retail price, and then charging an additional $15 dollars for shipping on top of that.

Amazon.com Listings, (if you don't believe me):

• Starter Set $29.65 x 4 = $118.60
  
• Millennium Falcon $20.48
  
• Slave 1 $19.86
  
  ==================================
  
  
• Pre-Tax Total, brand new from Amazon: $158.94
  
  -----------------------------------
  Your asking price for used pieces should at least be somewhat lower than the price they could be purchased brand new.
  
  
  

This is my favorite solution. After trying many of the other items here, I really appreciate the depth that this box offers. I can get 6-8 fully-kitted squads in here (all on the bottom) with all the dice and tokens and cards in the top.

Stanley Tools and Consumer Storage STST14028 MultiLevel Organizer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AWLBNK2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_2ej.BbSBG7N4T

Usually, they are labelled. But as well, the all black boxes. For instance https://www.amazon.ca/Fantasy-Flight-Games-SWX14-Star/dp/1616616768/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=b-wing&qid=1574976900&rnid=5264023011&s=toys&sr=1-9 This is a 1.0 b-wing

https://www.amazon.ca/Fantasy-Flight-Publishing-X-Wing-B-Wing/dp/B07NRFRVKQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=y-wing+2.0&qid=1574976888&sr=8-1 This is the 2.0 one.

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As you can see, the packaging overall is much different. Look for the black boxes instead of the grey ones. Hope that helps

for the full size cards? I use KMC perfect fit sleeves + Dragon Shield sleeves.


https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Barrier-Sleeves-Piece-Clear/dp/B0007N7PB2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1536991219&sr=8-4&keywords=kmc+perfect+fit

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https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Shield-Protective-Sleeves-100-Pack/dp/B000P0SY44/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1536991242&sr=1-1&keywords=dragon+shield+clear

These are the ones I use. They are PERFECT. Just barely clear the base so it dont rock. Got the link from a past reddit thread.

For this video we are using a single articulated arm attatched to a table using this clamp. it works, but you can see the shaking of the table pretty easily.

There's a couple of options, like the Bosch ones:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BD5G61S/ref=psdc_15709201_t1_B00BD5G622

https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-i-Boxx72-10-Click-Storage-System/dp/B00BD5G622


or Stanley:
https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Fatmax-FMST14820-FatMax-Organizer/dp/B008J2IQ34/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1501065568&sr=1-2&keywords=stanley+deep+cup

https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-25-Removable-Compartment-Professional-Organizer/dp/B00005QWYF/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1501065696&sr=8-3&keywords=screw+box

The OP's example seems to be from B&Q (google's amazing some times)

http://www.diy.com/departments/20-compartment-tool-organiser/1345784_BQ.prd

I've been using a clear coat from Testors.

Seems to do the job just fine. I'll use a gloss medium on things like canopies after the clear coat is full cured.

I have this stupid monstrosity (Plano 1374) for my whole collection. One tray per faction, and can fit all my small ships, dials, cardboard ship tokens, plus both YT's, a Decimator and Shuttle, a Hound's Tooth, two Firesprays, and three Jumpmasters in three of the four trays (organized by faction). Maneuver templates, bases and pegs, bombs, and other non-faction stuff goes in the fourth.

Ghost goes in the top bin, of course. Nothing even remotely reasonable holds that business.

If I only need to take one squadron with me, like for a tournament, I can pack it all in a "Stanley Fatmax FMST14820 FatMax Deep Pro Organizer".

Edit: oh, repainted. Yeah, my suggestion has them rattling around a touch in the tournament box. I'm thinking simple bubble wrap bags, combined with generous dullcoat as a last painting step, for once I finish some repaints.

Bumpons - They work great, they add weight, and are very reliable

http://www.amazon.com/Self-adhesive-Clear-Rubber-Feet-Bumpons/dp/B001JASGH4

I've been using this clamp - http://amzn.to/1S7oTqS - in addition to this arm - http://amzn.to/1S7oWD2 - to do a lot of my videos. It's very flexible and strong.

I also once built a rig using PVC that I attached to the ceiling that I could swing out of the way when I wasn't using it. It wasn't as solid as the clamp and arm, though.

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-X-Wing-Resistance-Conversion/dp/B07G8Q418K/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1538241788&sr=8-4&keywords=first+order+conversion+kit

Looks like Amazon doesn't have its own offering yet, but a third party seller (with outrageous shipping) is saying January 31st. I hope they're just putting a cautious estimate.

Going rate for Autothrusters on UK ebay is £6.99+£1.00 P&P
or grab the viper from Amazon its better to get a cheap Viper as you get two of said cards
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/1616619384/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1475083137&sr=8-1&keywords=x+wing+starviper&condition=new

Well, thats that. Almost out of stock though, be quick guys ;)

Edit: The Resistance Kit is also out. Couldn't find it at first: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07G8Q418K/ref=sr_1_1?s=kids&ie=UTF8&qid=1543432580&sr=1-1&keywords=x-wing+resistance+conversion+kit

Sorry, I was thinking of a different box. I was thinking of this.

This is what I use, and I love it. You can get it for $40 at Wal-Mart. I'm actually going to be posting my storage setup tonight. I don't know if it actually gets you too much more space than what you have though. The one other piece of advice I do have is to not be afraid to cut some plastic.

The Starviper is under $14 on amazon right now, it's actually cheaper than buying autothrusters on eBay for $9 each.

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-X-Wing-StarViper-Expansion/dp/1616619384

Also at lower prices (Deal of the day):

$16.80 (Millennium Falcon) https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-X-Wing-Millennium-Expansion/dp/1616615354

$18.99 (TFA core set) https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Awakens-X-Wing-Miniatures/dp/B014TKHEPA

$8.98 (Tie Advanced)https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-X-Wing-Advanced-Expansion/dp/1616613807/

$11.29 (HWK-290) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1616617047/

Not deal of the day

$13.37 (Proctectorate Star Fighter) https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-X-Wing-Protectorate-Starfighter/dp/B01GPELASU/

$24.98 (Original Core Set)https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-X-Wing-Miniatures-Game/dp/1616613769/