Star Trek Attack Wing Preview!

Origins Related Posts:

• What I Played at Origins
• The Faces of Origins
• Origins Overview
• Out & About in Columbus
• VivaJava The Coffee Game: The Dice Game
• Angry Dice
• Pixel Lincoln
• Bruges
• Frog Flip
• Carnival
• Star Trek Attack Wing
• Origins Wrap-up Post

Star Trek Attack Wing!
The best game I played at Origins was the oversized version of WizKid’s Star Trek Attack Wing. The ships were nearly waist high and the ceramic dice were so huge that they needed to be handled with two hands. I got to play multiple matches and for over three hours. It was AWESOME!

Because I played the oversized version of the game, I can’t speak to the production quality of the retail ships and components however I was assured by the guys running the demo that the rules and gameplay were identical to real version and if that’s the case then you should stop reading this review and go pre-order the game now!

The elephant in the room is of course Fantasy Flight’s Star Wars X-Wing Miniature Game. Attack Wing is based on the Star Wars game and the rules are directly licensed from it. Nay sayers will say that Attack Wing is just a rip-off but keep in mind that Star Wars borrowed the Flight Path Maneuver System from Wings of War. Looking at it from that angle means that Attack Wing’s rules are twice refined from systems original rules. That’s a good thing. Flaws and problems have been fixed and tweaked, giving Star Trek a clean polished feeling.

The biggest difference Attack Wing has over X-Wing is that when playing it feels like you are controlling big capital ships instead instead of a fleet of tiny ships. It’s more of a huge space battle instead of a dogfight. Some other differences between Attack Wing and X-wing are:

• Ships have more upgrades than the Star Wars ships.
• Ships also have stronger hulls so even though there are less ships per battle it takes about the same time for a game to end.
• Instead of pilots, ships have captains and crew that you are able to swap around, making the game even more variable.
• There are more options for firing. Certain ships can now target vessels that are on their side or behind them.
• The ship movements are more varied. For example some can go backwards and others like the Klingon ship have a full turn about.

The best part is that Attack Wing feels like a Star Trek game instead of a miniatures game with a Star Trek skin. That’s partly because the captains and crew are equally important as the ships you are flying. Where as X-wing is all about fancy flying and maneuvers, Attack Wing is about putting together the best optimal team. Because the ships don’t move as quickly or as gracefully in Attack Wing, hits happen more often and crew abilities activate more frequently and can really change the tide of battle.

In the three games I played I was given pre set-up ships and upgrades. The first was in a massive match with ten people, where we each controlled a single ship. The second was a 2v2 match where we each had one ship and the final game I played was a full game where I was up against one other opponent and we each controlled two ships. No matter the level of players, the game played the same and felt consistent, though there was obviously more down time with a lot of people.

What was cool about the massive battle is that alliances quickly formed and they weren’t always with your own fraction. For example, there was an evil little thirteen year old girl flying the Enterprise-D who wanted to destroy everyone and she was terrorizing both the Klingons and Romulans. The Dominon quickly sided with her and it looked like they were going to win, until I snuck in as Kirk on the original Enterprise and blew her into bits. It was epic.

The second match was pretty straight forward. I got to try playing as a Romulan and use their cloaking abilities. I got my butt kicked, but that’s ok, it was more of a learning lesson. The cloaking abilities are pretty powerful, but they need to be used at just the right time, and I didn’t use them right.

The final match, which was representative of a real game, was by far my favorite. I got to play as the two Dominion ships and was up against Khan on the USS Reliant and Picard on his Enterprise. What was neat about the Dominion is that they had an energy weapon which when used right could disable a ship’s shields. When used just right it allowed me to tear through Khan’s shields, totally shredding him.

The initial release wave of the game is supposed to include the following:

• U.S.S. Enterprise-D
• I.K.S. Maht-H’a
• I.R.W. Khazara
• Kraxon
• Gor Portas
• I.K.S. Gr’oth
• I.K.S. Negh’Var
• U.S.S. Reliant
• U.S.S. Enterprise
• I.R.W. Valdore
• R.I.S. Apnex

I was also told that The Borg, Species 8472, Voyager, and Mirror Universe characters will be included in later expansions. Though none of which are listed for the October or December releases so it might be awhile before we see any of them.

In addition to the bits and pieces, the starter pack and each expansion in Attack Wing also comes with a mix of mission cards. For example, the original Enterprise comes with several cards including the Kobayashi Maru. Unfortunately I didn’t get to try any missions when I was at Origins, but from looking online, if you buy every ship, you end up with a massive deck of cards, which should help keep the game fresh and feeling unique.

All in all, Attack Wing was great and I fully endorse the game. After getting back from Origins, one of the first things I did was pre-order the starter set and a copy of every expansion ship.

Once I get my copy of the game I will follow-up this post with a real review and tons of awesome photos because not only am I excited to play but I’m already brewing up some neat photography shoots that I can do with the miniatures.