In many fields, especially areas of Japanese influence, there is a term (or terms) for the “One Unique Thing” , “Unique Selling Proposition”, or “Point of Difference” that any product or service needs to bring to the table.

In X Wing Bare Bones, each ship has one or more of these, as holds true in full X Wing, but in BB, these subtle, or not so subtle differences often stand out as the very justification for a ships existence. Full X Wing then tends to dilute these “O.U.T’s”, through more upgrade layers.

Lets have a little look at what makes each ship type different.

Manoeuvres

In BB basic dials are important as the Action economy layering is missing compared to later X Wing 1e. With the new movies, new ships were rolled out (not used in BB), new manoeuvres were introduced and rules with them. These are mainly limited to TFA era ships, but a few Scum ships that were included later get them as well. On the whole this can be harmoniously accepted.

Ships that have K Turns that go further than their highest speed;

Kihraxz, Scyk, Kimogila. Scum pilots who would push their often less than cutting edge ships hard looking for any edge.
VCX-100, Bomber, Punisher, Aggressor, YV 666. We will call this momentum at work and ignore the science.

Ships with a white K-Turn;

The Defender. Those bizarre wings should do something special.

Ships with an S-Loop;

Star Viper. Designed like a butterfly for a reason.
Aggressor. Gnarly maintenance ship, flown by a Droid effectively immune to physics.
Jump Master. Shaped like a horse shoe and turns like one.

Limited to the slippery Scum, which is fine with me.

Ships with a Talon Roll;

Fang Fighter. The wings rotate around the body, so it makes sense.
Scurrg. Shaped the most like a kite, giving the most drag - again, science aside.

Again Scum only, which is still fine.

Ships with awesome repositioning/defence;

Tie Interceptor (7 Greens, Roll, Boost, Evade)
Phantom (Roll, Cloak + Adv Cloaking, Evade)
Aggressor (9 Greens, Roll, S-Loop, Evade)
A Wing (Boost, 8 Greens, Evade)

Speed 6;

A Wing (green 5 + boost = 6 and clearing stress)
K Wing (3 + SLAM = Potentially 6)
Interceptor, Fang (White 5 + Boost)

Combat Effects

Ships with multiple fire ARC’s;

YT-1300, YT 2400, Decimator (Turreted ships - nerfed in BB with Range 1-2)
Lancer (Rotating main weapon, not nerfed like full turrets which feels right)
ARC 170, Slave 1, Sheathipede (Dual Arc)

Ships with 4d Primary Attacks;

Phantom (the ultimate hit and run “Glass Cannon”).
Ghost (a lot of “front”).

Ships packing Ordnance;

Tie Aggressor (the only ship with a Turret and Unguided Rocket option).
K Wing, Punisher, Bomber, Scurrg (just lots).
Kimogila (reload which in BB is the only real Extra Munitions option. Explains the big belly).

Upgrades

Unique Upgrade Combo’s for their faction or the whole game;

E Wing (Droid + System + Torps).
B Wing, Punisher (System + Ordnance).
GA-1 (Crew + System + Illicit).
ARC-170 (Crew + Droid + Ordnance).
VCX-100 (Crew + System + Turret + Ordnance).
Lambda (Crew + System + Ordnance).
Jumpmaster (Crew + Illicit + S/Droid + Ordnance).
Y Wing (Turret + Droid + Ordnance).

Factional Unique Elements in the BB universe;

Rebels (Droids, the most and best team-work Crew and Pilots, Proton Rockets, Reinforce and Coordinate).
Scum (Illicit, Salvaged Droids, Harpoon Missiles, Flechette Torp/Cannon, Mangler Cannon, Bomblet Generator, Autoblaster Cannon, all S-Loops and Talon Rolls, Rotate and Re-load).
Imperial (Advanced and stable Cloaking, Unguided Rockets, Thread Tracers, highest percentage of Boost/Barrel Roll ships and Jam).

There are others, often in the form of individual Pilot abilities or factional ordnance lock-outs, but you get the idea.

Gallery

Kensho