When I first started to dive into X-Wing a bit more seriously (which still isn’t that serious in all honesty!) I found that many posts in Facebook groups were using terms and acronyms that I had no idea about.
Some I Googled but most were so X-Wing specific that I basically just had to wait until someone commented in such a way that I could deduce what it meant. For me this was a barrier that prevented me from going deeper and, despite relative internet anonymity, I was embarrassed to ask since it seemed like it should be obvious. In truth, not everybody knows every pilot or upgrade, what it does and how it’s abbreviated. Least of all me!
With all that in mind, I decided I would try and put together a glossary of X-Wing terms to help newer players (and also more experienced players with poor memories – like me!) get to grips with some of the terms and have a port of call for reference without having to publicly ask for help.
This list will grow over time and any time I find myself referring to terms in a blog I will post up a link to this page with it.
So feel free to just scroll down and take it in but if you’re looking for a particular term just do a search (on a PC it’s Crtl+F for search, on a Mac it’s Command+F, on mobile/tablet devices use the browser’s search function)
If you are looking for a particular term or you notice there’s something missing from this page please let me know and I’ll get it added. (Credits at the bottom of the page)
General Gaming & X-Wing Terms
Ace – a high initiative pilot (primarily initiative 6 but can also include initiative 5’s)
AMG – Atomic Mass Games, current curator of the game
Arc – the area that a ship can target
Ban List – Pilot and upgrades that are not allowed in the Standard format of play.
Batrep – short for Battle Report. An in depth summary of a game
Big Orange – high initiative, usually referring to i5 and i6
Blank Crit – When a crit damage card has no practical effect on the ship. For example, it’s most commonly used when a ship gets a fuel leak but only has one health, because the ship would be dead before the extra damage is dealt.
Blank Out – when all rolled dice have blank results
Blocker – A ship (normally low initiative) that is strategically moved to force another ship to bump into it
BOY – an acronym meaning Battle of Yavin. Referring to the battle scenario pack.
Broken/busted – an unfavourable and/or extraordinary list/manoeuvre/action
Buff – to improve the ability or effectiveness of something (primarily by reducing points cost)
Bumping – when a ship’s manoeuvre ends up touching another ship, ending it’s turn with no action. Offical term is overlapping.
Cloud – a gas cloud obstacle
Diced – to have won or lost a game more on dice results than skill. ‘I got diced in thatast game’
Double Modded – Being able to modify dice results twice, typically meaning that the ship has both a Focus and a Lock available for that attack.
Double Tap – being able to shoot twice in one turn with the same ship (i.e with Veteran Turret Gunner, Bistan gunner or Corran Horn’s pilot ability)
End game – the closing stages of the game. Normally used while discussing which ships in your list you would prefer to have remaining at that point.
Fat – a ship with all or most upgrade slots filled
FLGS – Friendly Local Gaming Store
Flip the light switch – claiming an objective in scramble the transmissions
Filler – A pilot used to get a list up to 20 points. Often a cheap ship, with limited usability
Floor/Ceiling – terms used to describe the power or potential power of a list. Here’s a description by Marcel Manzano of the Gold Squadron Podcast:
“Floor and ceiling basically represents how much range there is between being amazing and being god-awful terrible based on certain criteria, usually player skill.
High floor means it is very forgiving and will do ok in most scenarios even if flown by a newer player.
Low floor means it has the potential to be terrible.
Low ceiling means it has a cap on how good it can be regardless of player skill.
High ceiling means that under the right conditions it could be almost unbeatable.”
Fluff – a combination of pilots/upgrades that have been chosen for thematic reasons over effectiveness (i.e. T-65 X-Wing pilots that made the Death Star trench run)
Force Starved – When a pilot with forces charges has to spend many of the charges over consecutive turns and can’t recover the charges back up to full
Game state – current state of the board.
Initial Engagement – the turn where most, if not all, ships are shooting, usually turn 2 or 3
Initiative-kill – to destroy a lower-initiative ship before it can fire, thus saving your squad from having to suffer its shots.
i# – a lowercase i with a number next to it. This means the initiative level of the pilot
Jank – anything odd, unusual, weird, terrible, ineffective, or really annoying to fly against.
Joust/Jousting – flying ships directly at your opponent
Killbox – positions where multiple ships have arc on a single target. ‘I put my X-Wing right into a killbox’.
Knife Fighter – a pilot or player which prefers to engage at close range (range 1)
Meta – A term used to summarise what is popular in a particular scene, whether locally within a club or internationally or any range in between. This thread on the FFG forum expands this a bit more.
Mods – The ability to modify your dice roll results, primarily by use of a Focus token or a Lock (although some pilot/ship/upgrades will also allow this).
Naked – a ship with no upgrades
Natties – any dice roll with all matching results (usually evades or hits/crits)
Net-list – an adjusted term taken from a phrase coined in card game systems (like Magic and Pokemon) of ‘net-decking’. This is to find a popular or high performing list from a blog or website (such as List Fortress) and use it. Some people frown on this practice but it is a genuinely solid practice for learning the game and learning to understand best practice for list building.
Nerf – to reduce the ability or effectiveness of something (i.e. limit an ability or increase the points cost).
NPE – Negative Play Experience
Nubs – the guides on the plastic base
Objective Monkey – a ship whose job is to cover objectives and not shooting enemies.
OP – widely means over power. In X-Wing it also means organized play
Passive Mods – A mod for your dice that doesn’t require an action. Force is the easiest example of a passive mod
Potshot – a long-range shot that probably won’t do any damage
Proc – mentioned on some podcasts, Proc is an abbreviation of “programmed random occurrence”. It is a computer gaming term that rhymes with’dock’. Proc is used as both a noun and a verb to describe whenever a random gaming item activates or a random gaming event occurs. It is normally used in the context of ‘getting an ability to proc’.
Push the button – claiming an objective in scramble the transmissions
RAI – Rules as intended
RAW – Rules as written
Regen – Shield regeneration. Typically by Astromech upgrades such as R2 Astromech or R2-D2, allowing a ship to regain a shield token.
Re-position (Double Re-position) – moving a ship after it’s movement by using boost and/or barrel roll (double re-position dependant on pilot ability/upgrade)
Revenge of the Swiss – In a tournament setting, when you play someone in the cut that you have already played in a swiss round
Rock – an asteroid obstacle, but may be used for all obstacle
Roll Paint – rolling dice which are not blank (i.e. have a hit/evade or focus which can be modified)
RPO – random player order. A system where first/second player is determined by random dice roll rather than by points bid. A variation on this is ROAD – Random Order After Dials
Rule of 11 – a theory/technique where ships deployed directly opposite each other at the Range 1 line must close a total of 11 base lengths to end their movement within Range 3 of each other. Detailed explanation here
Salty – According the insight of Urban Dictionary, “salty,” when used as a slang term, can be used to describe someone who is “angry, agitated, or upset,” as well as someone who is “mean, annoying, and repulsive.”
Savage Mission – when a player ignores the objective tokens in favor of killing ships. Mostly used while playing salvage mission.
Skinny – a ship built with a minimum of upgrades. Contrast with “naked” (no upgrades) and “fat/thick” (many upgrades).
SOC – an acronym meaning Siege of Coruscant.
SOS – Strength of Schedule. A tie breaker in tournaments is based on how well your opponents did in the tournament.
Spaghetti factory – where evades come from. Used in the expressions like “he needs to take a trip to the spaghetti factory” when the player doesn’t roll any evade results
Squiggle – an evade result on a green die
Strip tokens – forcing an opponent to spend or lose their tokens
Tabled – having all of your ships destroyed but destroying none in return. Or at least having all your ships destroyed.
Tanky – A ship that has high health and is hard to take out
Target priority – Ships that you want to focus on to kill
Tilted – Gambling term describing an angry or reeling state of mind usually caused by a big or unlucky loss.
Tier – used as a system to rank or grade lists with S being highest followed by A, B, etc. Based on Japanese grading system
TO – Tournament Organizer, someone who plans, hosts, and runs tournaments. Also called EO, Event Organizer
Toilet bowl – when a ship’s flight path is circles around the center of the board. Also called Dosey Doe
Token stack – add more than one token to your ship
Trigger – The condition an ability needs to occur. Or the act of using an ability.
TTS – Table Top Simulator. Most popular server for playing X-Wing online.
Turn 0 – Setup. From the first objective token to the last ship placed.
Tyranny of Three Agility – When a ship with three agility takes little to no damage over multiple attacks because they roll evades every time
Unmodded – The ship has no dice modifications available (typically Focus and/or Lock), normally making it a less reliable ship to shoot with but also a vulnerable target to attack.
Variance – The difference between expected dice results and actual dice results. For example, rolling four attack dice, expecting two hits, and getting none would be “bad variance”. A common, if typically incorrect, way to explain away defeats.
Vomiting – rolling dice in a manner where the dice end up hitting ships and/or obstacles or roll all over the board which may alter the game state.
Whiff – roll all dice that are not in your favour (all blanks, or focuses when you are not focused)
XWS – A copy-and-paste code for X-Wing lists. Used for sharing lists, tournament registration, TTS, etc.
Zombie – A ship with an ability that lets it live a little longer after they’ve been destroyed. Or a ship that is destroyed but continues to participate in the engagement phase until it is removed at the end of the given initiative
Pilot/Upgrade Abbreviations
Afters – Afterburners
A modification upgrade for small ships only.
Baby Ani – Anakin Skywalker
Anakin in the N-1 starfighter
Baby Wedge – Wedge Antilles
Wedge in the A-Wing
The Boys – Mauler and Backstabber
The tie fighter pilots, from the Battle of Yavin pack.
CLT – Calibrated Laser Targeting
An upgrade for the Republic Aethersprite using the Configuration and Modification slots
Deci – VT-49 Decimator
A large base ship in the imperial faction
DefenderVader – Darth Vader
Vader in the tie defender
EH – Expert Handling
An upgrade using the Talent slot
ESC – Engery Shell Charges
An ordnance upgrade specific to the CIS (Separatist Alliance) faction
Etakin – Anakin Skywalker
Anakin in the Eta-2 Actis
FCS – Fire Control System
An upgrade using the Sensor slot
HLC – Heavy Laser Cannon
An upgrade using the cannon slot
OGP – Omicron Group Pilot
Imperial pilot in the Lambda-class T-4a Shuttle
Party Bus – YV-666 Light Freighter
A ship in the scum faction, the Party Bus typically refers to Bossk pilot with crew slots filled by 2 out of 4-LOM, Zuckuss and Boba Fett.
PerCop – Perceptive Copilot
A crew upgrade
PLT – Push the Limit
A talent upgrade found on battle over Endor colonel jendon’s sl card. Also an elite pilot talent from 1.0.
Prockets – Proton Rockets
An upgrade using the rockets slot
QD – Quickdraw
First Order pilot in TIE/SF
RAC – Rear Admiral Chiraneau
Imperial pilot in VT-49 Decimator
Roomba – HMP Droid Gunship
A nickname for the HMP chassis
TAP – TIE Advanced Prototype
Previous-edition name of the TIE Advanced V1.
VTG – Veteran Turret Gunner
A gunner upgrade. Could also be Veteran Tail Gunner (but this is less commonly used)
Whylo – Kylo Ren
Kylo in the tie whisper
Movement
S-loop (or sloop) – Segnor Loop
A non-basic manoeuvre using a bank template but ending with the ship facing back the way it came
K-Turn – Koiogran Turn
A straight manoeuvre ending with the ship facing back the way it came. Different ships have different speeds available for this, for example a Vulture droid has a 1-K while a TIE/ln fighter has both a 3-k and a 4-k on it’s dial.
T-roll (or troll) – Talon Roll
A non-basic manoeuvre using a hard turn template but with the ship facing back the way it came.
List Archetypes
Alpha Strike
A squad whose primary focus is to hit really hard on the first engagement, usually with ordnance (torpedoes/missiles/rockets).
Aces
A list made up of high initiative pilots (typically Initiative 5 or 6) which have good re position ability, namely boost and barrel roll, and can use these to move to a better position both offensively and defensively (arc dodging)
Beef
Usually a rebel or reupblic squad made up of 4 ships of generally high health. A rebel variant would typically be made up of a U-Wing, B-Wing, X-Wing and 1 other (commonly another B-Wing).
Heavy Swarm
Typically 5 or more ships with a lot of health and/or 3 dice attacks (i.e. 5 x Cartel Marauders in Kihraxz Fighter or 5 x Saber Squadron Aces in TIE/in Interceptor)
Mini Swarm
A smaller swarm but often with another different ship added (i.e. a Vader mini swarm would be Darth Vader in the TIE Advanced x/1 and 3/4/5 low initiative TIE/ln’s)
Swarm
A squad of many ships (6/7 or more) of the same type. Normally low points cost, low initiative, low health, high agility ships such as TIE Fighters (TIE/ln), Z-95s (Z-95-AF4 Headhunter) or Vulture-class Droid Fighters.
Popular Lists
The Fun Police
A FO aces list featuring Major Vonreg, Holo, Whylo, and Wrath.
Vader and the Boys
Darth Vader with mauler and backstabber from the battle of Yavin pack.
Game Modes
There are several formats and ways to play the game now. Here’s what they all mean!
Aces High
An alternative format released in the Epic Battles pack, Aces High is a game where up to 8 players bring a single ship of pre-determined points value (typically 75-80) and shoot at each other to score points. If your ships is destroyed it respawns, allowing you to continue in the game.
Epic
In 1.0 Epic meant play with what are now called Huge ships (Imperial Raider, Tantive IV, etc) but is now expanded to mean different play modes as supplied in the Epic Battles pack.
Extended
The Extended format includes every pilot and upgrade available in the game.
Furball
Homebrew versions of Aces High. Also used to describe general homebrew epic and non-standard formats.
Heroes of the Aturi Cluster (HotAC)
A fully cooperative rebel campaign for X-Wing.
Scenarios
A format, for Standard, uses objective tokens to score points outside of damaging and killing ships. There are four scenarios, assault at the satellite array, chance engagement, salvage mission, and scramble the transmissions.
Assault – assault at the satellite array
Chance – chance engagement
Salvage or crates – salvage mission
Scramble – scramble the transmissions
Standard
The Standard format includes pilots and upgrades that are not on the ban list.
Previous Edition Terms
From the first (1.0) and second (2.0) editions of the game, as the game is currently in edition 2.5
Bid (or initiative bid) – intentionally building a list to not use all 100 or 200 points to be able to decide whether to take or give initiative (to move/shoot first/second). A 1.0 and 2.0 term.
Brobots
Scum and Villainy squad build using multiple IG-88 droids that share abilities. 1.0
Drea-d Loks
Scum list with Drea Renthal (Y-Wing) and 3 Lok Revenants (Scurrg H-6 Bomber). 1.0
EPT – Elite Pilot Talent
An upgrade card using the Talent slot (on some pilots) A 1.0 term.
FFG – Fantasy Flight Games, creators of the game
The FOcho
A list simply made up of 8 TIE/fo fighters with no upgrades. 2.0
Fortress/Fortressing – flying ships in a tight formation and/or intentionally bumping your ships to keep them where they are. Tournament rules state that it is not legal to purposely bump your ships over several turns. Also called Castling
Green Maneuver – blue maneuvers were colored green in the 1.0 edition
Hatchet Man
A list based around Major Vynder (in the Alpha-class Star Wing) with lots of ordnance, normally with Colonel Jendon (Lambda-class Shuttle) and Darth Vader (TIE Advanced x1). 2.0
HST – Hyperspace Trial, a competitive format of playing using the Hyperspace list-building rules (rather than the extended format)
Hyperspace
This is a highly curated format, limiting which ships and pilots are available to use. In 2.0 this has been exclusively made up of re-released ships and does NOT include ships which, while they have 2.0 content from Conversion kits, have not been re-released in 2.0 packaging.
Loopin Chewie – A Star Wars remake of a children’s board game, called Loopin Louie. A term used as a joke, that players would settle draws by playing it.
MoV – Margin of Victory. A scoring method used in X-Wing
PS – Pilot Skill. Now referred to as Initiative, this is the skill of the pilot (as shown on the pilot card) which dictates the order in which ships can move and shoot
Spam-tex
A nantex swarm list.
TLT – A first edition upgrade, Twin Laser Turret. An overpowered upgrade that is often used as evidence of the level of power creep in the first edition. Quick over of the combo, the turrets were full 360-degree arcs. TLT was 3 red dice, range 2-3, and only did one damage if the attack hit. List was able to field multiple ships with this upgrade and the ability to fire twice per engagement.
200-6
The standard dogfight mode of X-Wing indicates the use of a 200-point list and a total of 6 obstacles on the board. For 2.0.
Credits
Cai Jones, Kris Mitchell ,Ian Franklin, Olly Gibson, Guy Wilson, Andy King, Philip Montgomery, Will Sheard, Jason Seagram, Phil Kirby, Andrew Twa, Sam Durbin, Nicholas Brandt, Luc Craven, Scott Forster, Mark Stump