The minis are very well done, though a couple of the sculpts are a little out of scale (the rebel pilot and the tusken raider are slightly but noticeably larger than their other human sized counterparts). Overall the sculpts very accurately portray the characters and the paint jobs are exceptionally nice when compared to other pre-painted games including D&D minis. I did notice a tendency for the rarer pieces to be better painted than, say, those with common availability---but this is almost to be expected considering how many commons have to be painted. On that note, even the Commons were well done for the most part.
For re-painters, these minis appear to hold paint well (I repainted a rebel pilot I got in a booster pack so my duplicate one would be more identifiable). The collectible aspect is present so if you hate collectible games because they’re collectible, be warned. Still, troops like storm troopers and others that you would want a lot of to build an army are mercifully common (I got 3 storm troopers in the starter pack).
Booster packs include only minis (no rules, maps or terrain included) but allow you to get rares and very rares (the Rares in the starter set are Luke and Vader as noted). I’ve also been told---don’t quote this---that every booster pack has at least a Rare (usually a character like Han Solo or R2-D2) or even a Very Rare. Very Rare minis tend to be the larger minis like Wampa, speeder bikes, Jabba J
The play map is a large fold out paper deal with square and pre-printed terrain depicting space station deck plating, doors and walls. It’s two sided, so you can use either side you want---one side being the Death Star and the other side more open terrain that is customized using the tiles. The included terrain tiles can be used to make the game more interesting by varying the location of terrain on the map. I would also recommend trying to pick up the free D&D maps that many LGS’s have lying around on their give-away stacks as these can be used just as well for Star Wars.
The 37-page rule booklet is logically set out with lots of diagrams and examples. Stat cards are explained for the minis as follows: Cost tells you how many points it takes to field a miniature. Hit points represents how much damage a mini can take before being removed from play. Defense measures how hard it is to hit a character (the higher the Defense, the harder it is to hit the character). Attack is the number you modify d20 attack rolls by (e.g. if you have a mini with a +3, when you attack you roll a d20 and add +3 to the result). Damage measures how many hit points your mini deals to an opponent if you succeed on an attack.
Some characters have special abilities, which are explained on their cards. The name of the special ability is used AND a definition is provided (also available in the glossary if you don’t have a character with a certain ability yet and are curious). One important ‘special ability’ is called “Melee Attack”. A mini with this ‘ability’ is limited to attacking minis adjacent to it on the map. If a mini does not have Melee Attack, then it is assumed to have a blaster or other ranged weapon.
Commander Effects are available to certain leader type miniatures. These command effects can be used to make troops more deadly in combat or to provide another specific benefit. Like special abilities, Commander Effects are spelled out plainly right on the character card. The remaining items on the card are Force Powers and the collector number/rarity/set---which tell you how rare your mini is, what release wave it’s part of and which number in the wave it was and faction.
Force powers are spelled out on the stat card, just like special abilities, only if a character has the Force available. Some characters like the Luke Skywalker included with the starter set have Force points available (e.g. Force 2) but no powers. Minis with Force points can either use enough of them to activate a Force power OR they can use one Force point to re-roll an attack or save or to move an additional 2 spaces during its activation.
To play a game, each player builds a squad up to an agreed upon limit. There are three factions in the game: Imperial, Rebel, and Fringe. Imperials and Rebels don’t mix but Fringe can join either force or form their own squad if preferred. In two player games, one player should play Empire and the other Rebel forces.
The book recommends 100-point squads, but bigger battles are possible if the players prefer. Players construct their squads in secret to help make the games fairer and more varied. Once the players have chosen their forces and built their squads, they can place them on the map (either in agreed upon starting areas or the ones marked on the map). Rebels set up first in a two-player game, with Empire going second.
After the minis are all on the map, it’s time to roll for initiative using a d20. The high roller decides whether to go first or second. Here’s some terminology for game sequence. A Round is the time it takes for all players to activate all of their minis. A Phase is the time it takes for all players to activate two miniatures. A Turn refers to the activation of a single miniature. Once a mini has activated, it many not normally be activated again this round. Putting a counter on activated minis cards or turning the cards a certain way (like tapping) can help you track which minis have moved this round.
Here’s a typical round with each player fielding four minis: Player 1 activates two minis. Player 2 activates two minis. This process repeats until both players have activated all their minis. Once all players’ minis have been activated, the round ends.
Activated characters can: Move twice OR Move once and Attack OR Attack and Move once. Each Move counts as 6 spaces, regardless of the mini. So, a mini that is moved twice can move up to 12 spaces (or up to 14 if it has Force and has a Force point to spend for additional movement). Larger miniatures (like El Wampa) have special considerations like ‘squeezing’ through passages and so forth. These exceptions are well-explained using diagrams and are rare to run into because of the rarity of the larger models.
Movement on the map is complicated by terrain. Certain objects like walls are impassible while doors can be either impassible or open depending on whether the door is closed or not. Spaces with ‘low objects’ in them count as two spaces for movement as does moving diagonally; these penalties stack, so moving diagonally through a space with low objects costs four spaces from a mini’s movement.
Attacks are fairly straightforward. Attacks require line of sight in order to have a chance of success. Low objects and other characters count as cover (adding +4 to the defending model‘s Defense) for ranged attacks. Melee and ranged attacks are resolved basically the same, rolling a d20 and adding the Attack modifier on the stat card. Natural 20’s are always successful (and double the damage dealt) while 1’s are always a failure---fortunately, blasters don‘t explode when this happens. Some special abilities or Force abilities take the place of an attack and this will be stated on the stat card, if applicable.
If an attack connects (ranged or melee), you subtract the attacker’s Damage value from the defender’s hit points, applying any special ability stuff that may be appropriate. Certain Force attacks use the Damage value listed on the attack. The best part is that everything is listed right on the card, so it’s easier to keep up with things. Play continues until one player remains or until a player achieves their mission objectives (if the players have agreed to playing a scenario).
This is basically the game in a nutshell. There are some more details on terrain and line of sight peculiarities but I don’t want to copy the booklet verbatim. Overall, the rules are very simple and easy to understand. I had to reread some of the line of sight/cover rules because I’m not used to playing on maps---but everything is pretty consistent. The minis are well done with extremely minor quibbles on the scale for just a couple of the minis (I’ve seen other players’ minis up close and have seen how probably 95% of this release scales perfectly with itself).
High Points: Excellent quality minis. Decent lite game mechanics. Pretty decent out of the box playability (Luke and Darth are included with the starter so you have a couple of named characters off the bat). Rarity scheme ensures you get a rare or a very rare in every booster.
Low Points: Collectible game makes some popular characters/minis hard to get or more expensive on the secondary market. Rarer characters are often more powerful. Low power ‘troop’ types seem to be easily overpowered by the named characters of equivalent points value.
All in all, the game is good, clean, light Star Wars fun. There’s blasters and light sabers and Vader choking people---what more could a Star Wars geek want? The minis themselves are worth the admission price as they can be used for RPGs or as minis for other games if these rules don’t suit your fancy.
That said, I know that some will be turned off by the collectible aspect and the uber-powered named characters (e.g. Vader, Emperor, Boba Fett, etc.). I normally would dislike that myself, but I like the minis so much that I guess I’m biased. It’s not the deepest game in the world, but it’s all together pretty neat. Beware, if you get some of these minis in your mitts, you might be turned to the Dark Side, too.
NOTE: I am scheduled to get a review copy of this game from RPG.Net but I couldn't wait. I went out and bought a copy for myself and have played several games at home and at the LGS.
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