It would be putting it mildly to say that the X-Wing Miniatures Game from Fantasy Flight has been successful so far, but with The Force Awakens film set to release in December, everything Star Wars has gone into overdrive. One of the Force Friday (September 4, 2015) releases was a new Force Awakens version of the X-Wing Miniatures core set. It seems to be set for general release in a few weeks, but only available so far at Target, which is where I picked up a copy at one of their Share the Force Saturday events (the coupon for $25 off a Star Wars purchase of $100 or more made it an even easier decision to load up). Behold!

OK, OK, you say, that’s some pretty packaging, but what about those ships?

But, of course, these beauties have to come out of the box to be truly appreciated. Here’s the Resistance T-70 X-Wing:

And the First Order TIE Fighter:

The reversed paint scheme on the TIE is really a striking contrast to the old school TIEs.

There is, of course, more in the box than just those three ships – this is a game, after all, not just a display piece (I know some folks use them for that, but they are missing out):

That’s about four sheets of tokens, templates, and dials over there on the left, by the way – I just haven’t taken the time to punch them out just yet.

If you’ve played X-Wing before, you might be wondering if there’s enough in this set for you to pick it up. Those new paint jobs are pretty, after all, but do you really need another set of X-Wing and TIE Fighter models? Alas, you wallet is not safe – this is not just a reprint of the original core set with new paint and packaging.

As the sharp-eyed will note, the T-70 X-Wing is not the same ship as the standard X-Wing. The direct differences are easiest to pick out when comparing the Blue Squadron Novice to the Rookie Pilot from the original core set. The basic T-70 X-Wing costs 3 points more, but picks up an extra action option, an extra upgrade slot, and an extra point of shields.

To go with those four T-70 X-Wing pilot choices are six TIE/fo Fighter options, with two entries each from three squadrons:

Omega:

Epsilon:and Zeta:

Again, we have a straightforward comparison point, this time comparing Zeta Squadron Pilot to the Obsidian Squadron Pilot, the pilot skill 3 basic TIE Fighter pilot. Like the T-70 X-Wing, the TIE/fo clocks in at an extra three points, and against picks up an extra action option, an extra upgrade slot, and an extra point of shields.

In addition to the pilot/ship cards, there are a few upgrades included, leading off with everyone’s favorite rolling robot:

And he’s joined by some friends:

You can find out more about the Force Awakens core set for the X-Wing Miniatures game on the Fantasy Flight Games website.