Join me and together we will rule the galaxy
Star Wars: Shatterpoint is a tactical action figure game in which we place our troops on the map and try to gain an advantage over the opponent. To do this, we take control of the points – mission goals, shooting, jumping, using power and cunning in the meantime.
Obi-Wan? Of course I know him. It’s me
The forces we control are strike groups consisting of two units. Each unit consists of 3 units: main, additional and supporting. The main units are the heroes – the game box includes Anakin, Ahsoka, Dath Maul and Asajj Ventress. Their cards determine the limit of points that we can spend on selecting the remaining units – Mandalorians, clone troopers and battle droids. The box includes characters known from Star Wars – but more from the Clone Wars series than the movies. After determining the lineups, we can go into battle.
It’s a trap
Not so fast. Before playing the first battle, we need to prepare the figures and the terrain. Star Wars: Shatterpoint is a game that requires you to get into the modeling hobby. Everything comes in parts and we have to assemble, glue and, preferably, paint it ourselves. The figures are made on a slightly larger scale than those in similar systems, so assembling many of them will not be problematic. We will definitely pay a little more attention to the droids with their delicate limbs and a few very small details. I had concerns about the durability of plastic lightsabers, but it seems to be unfounded – they do not bend or break under normal use.
It’s over, Anakin. I’m standing on high ground
Figures are one thing, but there are plenty of areas in the box to diversify our fights. Here you will find buildings, platforms, ladders and chests. There are so many of them that we can easily build our battlefields in a variety of ways. Terrain with different heights is crucial to the gameplay – it will determine the difficulty of obtaining mission objectives, provide cover and make it difficult to move in a straight line. But again, before the first game, we have a lot of gluing and painting to do.
This is where the fun begins.
So let’s start the game – how do the mechanics work? Players alternately activate their units – but instead of freely choosing who moves, it is decided by a deck of order cards. This contains one card activating each figure and the title Shatterpoint card, which will allow us to choose who we will perform the actions with. This system means that each unit will be activated in an unknown order, but thanks to additional activation and the ability to put the card in reserve (to be used later), we can slightly bend this randomness in the direction that suits us.
By activating a unit, we can perform two actions with it. Most often, it will be one of the types of movement (marching, climbing, dashing or jumping), combat (melee or ranged) or a special skill of a given unit. We can also focus (better attack), hide (more effective defense) or heal damage or a negative condition.
Our goal is to be close to active mission objectives, so mobility and all skills that allow you to influence the enemy’s movement are key. Interestingly, simply inflicting damage on enemy units does not mean winning, although thanks to the marker system on the battle track, it is easier for us to win. Each weakening of the enemy unit lowers the requirements for how many more points we have to control. Here we still have a small element of “catching up”, because if the opponent has an advantage on the track, we will also get some help – which is why clashes are rarely one-sided.
Characters and their special skills are the heart of the game. Each unit has several tricks up its sleeve that affect movement, damage dealt and the state of the battlefield. The most powerful abilities require spending a Force point, of which you can never have too many. Some characters additionally know several fighting styles that modify their statistics during the game.
The fight itself is resolved in an interesting way. The attacking unit rolls dice and compares the result with the tree on its combat card. In this way, the number of successes obtained non-linearly translates into the number of damage dealt and other effects (fatigue, disarmament, threat, or pinning). Dice that did not result in successes but show a training symbol also provide additional effects.
The target then makes a similar throw, trying to block as much damage as possible. Here it may also turn out that the character will surprise us, e.g. by making an additional move or avoiding our shots.
All this makes the fight very dynamic and without many dice rolls.
I can’t stand sand, it’s rough and gets everywhere
The game’s creators aimed to simplify the combat model as much as possible to achieve the impression of constant movement. However, they went a step too far in the rules of line of sight and cover. To check whether the figures can shoot at each other, we always place the rulers in a top view, ignoring the height of the terrain. This can lead to unintuitive results when the enemy is shooting at us and we thought we were covered. We can encounter a similar situation when granting cover to units (when they decide to take cover and have a lurking token). All it takes is for two figures to stand on a raised area and they will have shields from each other. And the most bizarre situation is when the figures are standing on the ground and there is a bridge somewhere high between them. When measured from above, the line passes through some terrain, so the defender will have cover.
The second slightly problematic issue for me is the number of special rules and moments in which they can be activated. During the game, we must be constantly vigilant to use the right abilities at the right moment and not miss a reaction. It is also good to know the special rules of the opponent’s unit, so as not to fall into a trap due to inattention and ignorance of one interaction. After a few games, the rules of all the figures in the box become clear and the gameplay becomes more fluid, but I imagine that encountering units from one of the expansions is a learning experience all over again.
Here, too, a note about the game’s release model – there are already many additional characters available on the market, and there is only one mission available at all times, which involves collecting points arranged in an even arrangement: 3 rows and 3 columns. We could use some variety here.
Do or don’t do, there is no trying
Star Wars : Shatterpoint is not my dream come true for a tactical game (skirmish type), but it implements its assumptions very well. The gameplay is really dynamic – characters jump, push each other, jump back in response to an attack, and give additional actions to other units. The fight is resolved elegantly with one attack roll and one defense roll. The characters are unique and atmospheric – thanks to special rules, combat trees and keyword interactions, you can be transported to the world of Star Wars and see what a clash of famous heroes might look like.
I expect the game will be like shooting proton torpedoes into a Death Star vent for Star Wars fans who will appreciate the unique character and modeling aspect of Star Wars: Shatterpoint . For lovers of tactical games who expect clarity of rules and interactions, the game will be like a shot fired by a stormtrooper.
