Both games have been discontinued with no hope that they will make a comeback, at least anytime soon. So why am I still buying ships and giving them to new players?
Growing up, I watched my dad buy and fix up old cars. I’m not talking about cars that were a little past their prime and needed some TLC. Nor am I referring to vintage, collector’s cars that could double or triple their value with a quality restoration. My dad loved esoteric stuff, weird little European cars from the 50s and 60s that had been left far behind by newer, sexier models. I think about my dad’s cars sometimes when I look at my collection of metal Warhammer minis, and it is what I thought about first when I sat down to write this article. And yet this is clearly not a perfect metaphor for X-Wing and Armada, both very popular games, who’s minis are retaining their value in the second hand market.
Just because a game is discontinued doesn’t make it suddenly unplayable, as any fan of Warhammer Fantasy will tell you. The commercial failure of these games has a lot more to do with the actions and decisions of the company in charge of them than it does with the games themselves. Don’t worry, I am not going to rehash the sordid history of X-Wing’s second edition rollout. Suffice to say it is a masterclass in how to destroy a game.
X-Wing was lightning in a bottle when it was first released, outselling even GW products for a time. The combination of pre-painted, no-assembly-required minis, easy to learn, fun rules and a fully contained game in a single box, with intuitive add-ons made it unbelievably accessible. With the added bonus of the highly recognizable and popular IP, this was true magic.
If X-Wing was a beer and pretzels game, then Armada was the crunchier, more cerebral, big brother. I realize I am pissing people off by saying that. This is not a slight, I love both games! Armada was tougher to get into, but the draw of large space battles is strong, and tournaments popped up for it in no time. There is something extremely compelling about recreating the Battle of Yavin and the Battle of Endor, and it had some really fun and unique principles, the DNA of which we still see in Legion.
But it doesn’t matter how good these games were, they could not generate the sales required to stay in production. Not enough new players were coming in and not enough money could be squeezed from the established players to keep it afloat, so they have gone the way of the dodo. So what am I doing buying “New Old Stock,” as my dad would call a factory sealed car part? Well, for one: accessibility is king. My kids can play these games; they are 6 and 7. For two: they rule. Armada and both editions of X-Wing are truly great games, and there was enough of them created at the time that you can still find “New Old Stock” starter sets in a lot of shops, including our own!
This holiday season I will give the gift of X-wing and Armada because I know it will be appreciated, not because I know it will appreciate. Maybe I’m giving a thimble of water to a person dying of thirst, but I think anyone is better for experiencing these games in any capacity instead of missing them entirely. But what do you think? Tell me how wrong I am in the comments!
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
