The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Star Wars Epic Duels Game, is a board game from Milton Bradley, which is a division of Hasbro, I guess. It is a nice game with some roots in the d20 Star Wars RPG, with several advantages on it’s own, or for a Star Wars role-player.

I picked up my copy at Wal-Mart, in the big Clones toy display section, so I imagine this game can be found pretty much anywhere that this type of stuff is sold.

The game is designed for 2-6 players, ages 8 and up (although it will play best with just 2 players). This is really nice, if your looking for something (semi) simple to play with the kids (or girlfriend or whoever) that still has a RPG feel, or tactical miniatures feel.

Contents:

If your in the store, just look at the back of the box, and you’ll pick this one up! You get 31 plastic figures (a bit more on these later), 4 Battle scenes (2 doublesided cardstock 1 inch grid playing boards), 12 character cards (your character sheet (with nothing but a wound tracker) of your “main character” and his/her supporting characters, more on this later), 378 cards (a separate deck for each character (and again, his supporting characters), 1 die (special movement die for the game), and a simple concise instructions sheet.

How to Play:

First, the object of the game is to fight till the main character on one side is dead (they call it “destroyed”). In a multi-player game, your minor characters can keep fighting till all the main characters on one side are dead. Of course, you can change this if you want for fun, to just fighting till all characters (major and minor ) are dead.

This is a pretty fun (and simple) combination of d20 like combat, and a card game. You start by picking your “side” which will include a main character, and his supporting characters (for example, Darth Maul comes with 2 battle droids). It is recommended that one side plays the good side and one the bad, but this is a rule you will quickly toss into the wind, hence the title Epic Battles, where people we’ve never seen fight can fight (anyone for Darth Vader against Darth Maul!). You take their character sheet (wound trackers) and place the minis according to who rolls highest (this is also *ahem* initiative order).

On each turn (can you say, “combat round”?) you get to move one or all of your figures, as determined by the movement die. Then you get to take 2 “actions” from the following list: Draw a card (You start with 4, and can never hold more than 10), Play a card (your attacks, defenses, and special effects (Power Combat Cards, and special cards such as “jedi mind trick”)), or heal a character (If all your minor characters are destroyed, and you draw one of their cards you can use an action to discard these and heal damage to your main character). When you attack, your opponent can play defense cards to stop or reduce damage.

There are some additional rules for multi player games and “advanced” rules that aren’t much more that the variations you’ll want to try anyway (weird fights, and multiple characters, and such).

The HUGE bonus to SW RPG players:

Even though the miniatures included in this game are made of a flexible plastic, they are really pretty nice, and CAN be painted (don’t forget to prime!) although they don’t look bad, as-is, if your not a fan of mini painting. They look proportionate to both my 25mm and 32mm scale miniatures, so YOU CAN USE THEM IN YOUR SW RPG!! At 31 miniatures for under $20, that’s a price you can’t pass up! What a great way to get a collection going. I also have Avalon Hills, Queens Gambit, so that, along with all my metal minis, gives me a huge Star Wars collection, as well as a lot of new Clones minis that you probably wont see in metal for a while.

Minis you get...Han Solo, Chewie, Yoda, Obi-Wan (new school), Mace, 6 clone troopers, Luke, Leia, Count Dooku, 2 super battle droids, The Emperor, 2 royal Guard, Anakin (clones, incarnation complete with 2 light sabers), Padme (Clones version, with ripped white outfit, and strangely large breasts!), Boba, Greedo, Darth Maul, 2 battle droids, Dart Vader, 2 storm troopers, Jango, and Zam Wesell.

What a GREAT collection of minis to include. Think of the battles, Boba vs. Jango, The Emp. against Darth Vader!

Conclusion:

A really fun, Wargame/RPG combat like game you can play with anyone, including your young kids, and a crap-load of miniatures perfect for the SW RPG. What a deal!

P.S. You’ll see a lot of other games out for SW, so bring your paycheck! I picked up SW LIFE, and almost the (new) collectable card game, which looks pretty fun (and at Wal-Mart, no less!).

Star Wars Epic Duels Game
Star Wars Epic Duels Game Capsule Review by grubman on 26/05/02 Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty) A fun mainstream game that has obvious Star Wars RPG roots. With all the minis included, a SW role-player has to check this out! Product: Star Wars Epic Duels Game Author: Hasbro Staff Category: Board/Tactical Game Company/Publisher: Milton Bradley/Hasbro Line: Cost: $19.76 Page count: n/a Year published: 2002 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by grubman on 26/05/02 Genre tags: Science Fiction	Star Wars Epic Duels Game, is a board game from Milton Bradley, which is a division of Hasbro, I guess. It is a nice game with some roots in the d20 Star Wars RPG, with several advantages on it’s own, or for a Star Wars role-player. I picked up my copy at Wal-Mart, in the big Clones toy display section, so I imagine this game can be found pretty much anywhere that this type of stuff is sold. The game is designed for 2-6 players, ages 8 and up (although it will play best with just 2 players). This is really nice, if your looking for something (semi) simple to play with the kids (or girlfriend or whoever) that still has a RPG feel, or tactical miniatures feel. Contents: If your in the store, just look at the back of the box, and you’ll pick this one up! You get 31 plastic figures (a bit more on these later), 4 Battle scenes (2 doublesided cardstock 1 inch grid playing boards), 12 character cards (your character sheet (with nothing but a wound tracker) of your “main character” and his/her supporting characters, more on this later), 378 cards (a separate deck for each character (and again, his supporting characters), 1 die (special movement die for the game), and a simple concise instructions sheet. How to Play: First, the object of the game is to fight till the main character on one side is dead (they call it “destroyed”). In a multi-player game, your minor characters can keep fighting till all the main characters on one side are dead. Of course, you can change this if you want for fun, to just fighting till all characters (major and minor ) are dead. This is a pretty fun (and simple) combination of d20 like combat, and a card game. You start by picking your “side” which will include a main character, and his supporting characters (for example, Darth Maul comes with 2 battle droids). It is recommended that one side plays the good side and one the bad, but this is a rule you will quickly toss into the wind, hence the title Epic Battles, where people we’ve never seen fight can fight (anyone for Darth Vader against Darth Maul!). You take their character sheet (wound trackers) and place the minis according to who rolls highest (this is also ahem initiative order). On each turn (can you say, “combat round”?) you get to move one or all of your figures, as determined by the movement die. Then you get to take 2 “actions” from the following list: Draw a card (You start with 4, and can never hold more than 10), Play a card (your attacks, defenses, and special effects (Power Combat Cards, and special cards such as “jedi mind trick”)), or heal a character (If all your minor characters are destroyed, and you draw one of their cards you can use an action to discard these and heal damage to your main character). When you attack, your opponent can play defense cards to stop or reduce damage. There are some additional rules for multi player games and “advanced” rules that aren’t much more that the variations you’ll want to try anyway (weird fights, and multiple characters, and such). The HUGE bonus to SW RPG players: Even though the miniatures included in this game are made of a flexible plastic, they are really pretty nice, and CAN be painted (don’t forget to prime!) although they don’t look bad, as-is, if your not a fan of mini painting. They look proportionate to both my 25mm and 32mm scale miniatures, so YOU CAN USE THEM IN YOUR SW RPG!! At 31 miniatures for under $20, that’s a price you can’t pass up! What a great way to get a collection going. I also have Avalon Hills, Queens Gambit, so that, along with all my metal minis, gives me a huge Star Wars collection, as well as a lot of new Clones minis that you probably wont see in metal for a while. Minis you get...Han Solo, Chewie, Yoda, Obi-Wan (new school), Mace, 6 clone troopers, Luke, Leia, Count Dooku, 2 super battle droids, The Emperor, 2 royal Guard, Anakin (clones, incarnation complete with 2 light sabers), Padme (Clones version, with ripped white outfit, and strangely large breasts!), Boba, Greedo, Darth Maul, 2 battle droids, Dart Vader, 2 storm troopers, Jango, and Zam Wesell. What a GREAT collection of minis to include. Think of the battles, Boba vs. Jango, The Emp. against Darth Vader! Conclusion: A really fun, Wargame/RPG combat like game you can play with anyone, including your young kids, and a crap-load of miniatures perfect for the SW RPG. What a deal! P.S. You’ll see a lot of other games out for SW, so bring your paycheck! I picked up SW LIFE, and almost the (new) collectable card game, which looks pretty fun (and at Wal-Mart, no less!).