Howdy!
Great to hear more from you RunDummy!
There are a few forums and threads here discussing SW:AW/SW:XWing, though I suspect a lot more players will be into Armada...
(more affordable, allows larger ships and better combat resolution system)

I recommend if you've not come across it already, checking out B6R7's blog because you get snippets of some neat tactics there,
http://blacksixredseven.blogspot.com.au/
or visiting the FFG forums concurrently for quicker turnaround time and the content you quest for.

I play Star Trek: Attack Wing and Star Wars:Xwing (using Shapedways parts)
I use either straight up FFG stats, or 'GOBS" rules - Gratuitous Space Battles ruleset, which has enhanced physics. Collisions are modeled better, tactics are involved more.
I enjoy playing stock standard Xwing with friends, because it captures the Videogame well, and is a lot of fun.
When we have a few hours to play with, and want more tactics, we trundle out the GOBS rules.

so I play a few different factions - the Clone Wars factions (Rep v Seps) v19s, vWings, ARC170 Snaptite, Eta and Aethersprite jedee,
Hyena droid bomber, droid bomber, vultures, scarab droids, tri fighters and Asajj Ventress.
Fringe (Dianogas, Daggers, Morningstars and kitbashed uglies)
and Rebel (with Raven Claw/Moldy Crow mk 2, Ewings, Twings, Bwings, Awings, z95s) I've sworn off the Ywings and Xwings... they just didn't maneuver or weren't competitive.

Some WotC Starship Battles figures would be useful as 'counts as' figures. Others are far too small.
MircoMachines are mainly slightly too small, but a closer fit than Starship Battles figures (and comparable level of detail).

From a model/collector point of view,
If you're paying AUDs for those things, and have the means, collect if you'd like
the models are nicely painted, and come pre-assembled.
If you want better per-unit price point (ie, for swarms or rare ships), or if you prefer higher quality, but are prepared to paint and finish the minis, then go the 3D printed route. Especially for the early batch of Imperial Shuttles, and the larger ships (which have some 'box scale aberration')

In terms of gameplay and tactics,
you have a few play styles - the main game + side game, the all or nothing, the zippy strafer, the maneuverable hit-n-hide, the cloak, etc...
The Shuttle is fun for being a resilient damage sponge that can target lock with ion missiles on some builds, or on others, can regain 1 lost shield point and not push, depending on your pilot and ability/equipment cards... cloaked uber shuttles make for fun scenarios, so its fun.

The Decimator is a movement breaker, and is a heavy hitter... which lets the Imps go toe to toe with the Tantative. This is nasty if it can regain shield points, or move without being 'pushed'... Its a mid tier heavy hitter, or a 'flank distraction' for your cloaked ace...

The Rebel Transport is... usually its a damage sponge. I haven't seen tricky stuff with the Rebel Transport... its mostly just for scenarios and re-creation fun. But, its cheaper than many 3D printed freighter options...

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If you're buying local in AUD, its all overpriced lol. 80+USD for a 50USD RRP item? not worth it. 20-45USD for the 15USD fighters... *cough* ripoff *cough*.
Better to buy from NZ (before we hit parity that is) or elsewhere.
That, and there's always 3DHubs.com or similar, to get in touch with your local 3D printer scene.

That said, I do have a few Tie Defenders and E-Wings - perfect for exhibition sorties
Tie/in - A Wing,
Tie Defender - E-wing/B-wing,
Tie - Xwing,
Tie Bomber - YWing/Bwing

A few on FFG have done builds and looked at the kill-to-death ratio, and correlated tactics...
it seems the B-Wing (as many have suspected), is OverPowered. The Ywing is also pushing that boundary.
Z95s can be punishing glass cannons, as can the slightly better EWing.

Awings are nice, zippy.
Tie Phantoms see a lot of play,
as do the newish Scum/Fringe faction fighters.

You'd be surprised how many locals all kitbash for 'counts as' and make Tie Uglies etc.

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I have to also talk a little to Armada;
I prefer that personally, its just so easy to store and display, and would have invested more into it had I known I would have so much fun with it. Bak2Basix in SA do foamcore for your battle-transporting, I use mechwarrior cases plus Bak2Basix foam, and Gale Force 9 and glass display for instore or at home
The larger ships are nicely scaled, and allows much more for "Pirates of the Spanish Main" tactics and maneuvering strategy.
It feels much more like StarShip Battles could have been, and closer to what we saw on screen, pre-JJNuWars

I hope this helps, and I look forward to hearing what others think of XWing and Armada.

Also putting a plug in for AFewManeuvers.com...started and run by our old Star Wars Miniatures friend, Roy Scales. If you are on Facebook, try joining the NOVA (Northern Virginia) group, which Roy also had a hand in getting off of the ground. Note that Darph Nader's endorsement of AFewManeuvers has nothing to do with links to videos he's in on that site lol.

Whoa! Thanks guys! Especially kobayashimaru, though you totally lost me the first time through so I had to read it again! lol From what you are saying I gather that you are playing a fair bit of custom stats there. I am interested in the GOBS rules, where do I find them? I am hoping they'll eventually extend this into the prequels and all the great ships there but they haven't hinted at that yet but that would be awesome...though expensive I'm sure!

Are they pretty cheap in NZ? I haven't bought any here in Aus yet (except for the Tantive a local games shop guy was selling because he closed down which i got for $AU75-80). I have hit on to a pretty good site to buy from and a bit of an unknown too I think and that's bookdepository.com. They have most of the ships at really good prices ~$AU16 for the small fighters. Best price I've seen I think and they ship for free!! No worries, I don't mind sharing

They have a few board games on there including Armada and Imperial Assault as well as that SW Card Game. Armada hasn't caught my interest and I think I'll resist as X-Wing already takes a bit of $$ but I was thinking of getting the Imp Assault however I can see it's really going to be a lot of $$ with all those add on packs plus I have the SWM I am yet to get my money's worth out of so probably best not to start ay?...feel free to convince me otherwise

Apologies RunDummy,
as sometimes I write as I speak/think, and I do not always think in complete thoughts
apologies for any confusing turn of phrase: if you'd prefer to GoogleHangout, that's an option too heh.
extra apologies for writing a novella and not formatting well in Word before Ctl+C'ing it into the comment - I really need to increase my minimalist prose heh.

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3DHubs.com and local access to a 3D rapid prototype machine assist in printing miniatures, so making your own Clone Wars era XWing is not as difficult as it might otherwise be.

Cheers for the tipoff of an AUS plasticrack store with decent prices. They're alright.
Some things are cheaper in New Zealand than AUS, Most of NZ is cheaper than ACT or NSW gamestore prices even with Shipping... because of AUS's conversion problems and the 'postal tax' on items heavier than 450grams from overseas... which NZ to AUS items are exempt from... vice versa too, if we have cheaper stuff, we can ship into NZ without paying that 'internet postage fee' that Gerry Harvey and co was asking for back in the day
I think there's also a markup profiteering "Ozzie tax" element.
Items shipped via NZ are exempt from that, the one time the ANZAC/ANZUS' bilateral deals and TTIP come in handy (handy also if you have friends/family in Dunedin). Star Wars miniatures and 3D printing goods are an example of this. That, and candy. L&P is one of the best softdrinks ever, same with FreshUp.
I got a case of SWMinis Bounty Hunters just last year from NZ for $70AUD all told including p+h, no trade needed even, a bargain in anyones terms. (not a single VR at all though)
I've also had legitimate things like dremmel attachments, CNC parts and books, printer filament, all of that, for a 5-10% discount - and its a win-win, because it helps NZ out too.

What/Where is GOBS? delve into that rabbithole after the jump: be warned, toxic levels of fun might lay in wait...
http://www.thegobspage.com/aboutgobs.htm#What%20is%20GOBS
[:oops:]
It takes a little while to get used to, and then you can increase the unit sizes and understand/add "physics" into the game.

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Turning to the Imperial Assault stuff,
many of the cards and rulebook are available online at present, along with Youtube vids that show how to play.
reflecting on the playstyle, it plays a lot like Tannhauser, meets D&D 3.5 or Pathfinder Lite, so there's objects and items to target and a hybrid role-play element.
While I have the base set, I too don't think that 30+ Aud for a plastic unpainted figure, is going to be a good value proposition...
luckily, there'll be Gumtree and Ebay and Amazon and other options to acquire just the figures by themselves.
Thats why you'd want Imperial Assault - the figures are actually durable and quality, and scale well to WotC.

You can easily port SWMinis into Imperial Assault once you get how the game works, but...
the figures are in 30mm heroic, so are scaled a little larger I find than SWMinis, though only very slightly. Theres not as much of a problem as trying to play Star Wars Command figures with SWMinis... as Star Wars Command figures are 'green army men' sized. I also dislike the ATST that comes with the game, as its smaller than the WotC SWMinis ATSTs or the Action Fleet or MvM garage kit ATSTs... maybe it could be a 'Heavy ATRT"?
Having already 2 full sets of Star Wars: Trading Card Game (I had to do odd jobs and a paper route or two back in the day... worth it at the time, but a little less so now heh)... I could care less for Fantasy Flight Game' lame ripoff of Magic the Gathering with Star Wars - not at all a fan of that card game. Decipher and SWTCG were the best IMHO

Armada will be better for large scale combats and actions, and I feel has a more consistent scale and easier transportation/storage options... and it plays more like WotC/Wizkids "Pirates of the Spanish Maine" in my opinion; a very fun game.

Finally,
the list was supposed to go under the paragraph "some have looked into Kill-toDeath ratios during Playtesting..."
and are of rough equivalences and pairings for counterforces,
so Tie/In vs A Wing as an exhibition match,
or
Tie Defender vs a pair of E wings or A B-Wing,
Tie Regular vs X-Wing,
So, you can have more of skill and strategy as a factor, rather than biased forces.
The folks on AFewManeuvers.com have much better appraisals and tactics too.

these are also things I, in hindsight, bought too much into on release event day hehehe
was it an ad trying to sell them? not so much as "they might turn up on Gumtree etc".

@Kezzamachine,
So many have never heard of it! its like a best-kept secret, L&P is awesome. I was shocked to hear they were near bankrupt a while back - so hopefully the word gets out and even more find out about L&P.
L&P and Guarana was awesome-r,
as soon as that came out, it replaced V, RedBull Lite/Red Bull Shot,
Red Eye, Berocca Forte, and Mana Potion/Revive Potion (expensive potions). It almost replaced Pokka HyperCoffee-in-a-can even
I find it gives you the energy you need when you have to burn midnight oil, but not the shakes of coffee (think Fry from Futurama...) or 'increased irritability' etc from excessive energy drinks.

Theres just something about the Paeroa part (sweet turnip/yam?), it tastes awesome.
Its like 'Solo" but better, and cheaper so you can have more of it!
"Root Beer Float"/IceCream Soda with Lemon and Paeroa is a favorite dessert.
Do you mix L&P with anything, Kezzamachine?

What about FreshUp?
That thing is I'd say, better (and cheaper) than Golden Circle, but how much sugar and guarana is there?
FreshUp has a 'chalky' aftertaste, and 50-60g of Sugar, so its not good for the figure heh.

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Sorry for derailing into a tangent about beverages hehehe, I'll humbly withdraw if the OP would prefer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjpLaf9rngQ
If you want to see Armada reviewed by the awesome, Teri Litorco, (she's met Garett Wang, and is one of the few ardent from 'Geek & Sundry')
follow the above hyperlink
As you can see, its going to be a fun game - and there'll be larger scale vehicles easier to represent in Armada than in Xwing.

Teri often has a shout out for Bloomilk or All Scale Trek,
so it's great to see support for the wargamming community and someone who's voluntarily raising the profile via social media.
She also has excellent paint-guide tutorials and how-to's.

@rundummy...
hahahaha I might agree with that "this tastes the way Sunlight Liquid smells" for FreshUp, but not so much L&P... it must be the Paeroa heh
its just so danged cheap and tasty, and not too much sugary...