Think of your favorite fights in Star Wars, what comes to mind? Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader fighting for their lives in Cloud City? Ahsoka Tano tracking down Lord Maul on Coruscant? Anakin and Obi-Wan vs. Count Dooku? These climactic battles are small in scale, but incredibly important to the stories, struggles, and characters we love (and loathe) in the world of Star Wars, and they take center stage in Atomic Mass Games' hotly anticipated new skirmish battle game, Star Wars Shatterpoint. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of the Star Wars Shatterpoint starter set from Atomic Mass, and while a full review will be coming soon I wanted to give excited Star Wars fans a preview of what to expect!
We're lovers of all things Star Wars here at TechRaptor, so if you want to check out our coverage of some other Star Wars tabletop games, you can read our review of the Star Wars Deckbuilding Game, our coverage of the larger-scale miniature war game Star Wars Legion, and our review of the 2nd edition of Star Wars X-Wing, to name a few. Now let's dive into Star Wars Shatterpoint!
What Is Star Wars Shatterpoint?
Star Wars Shatterpoint is a two-player skirmish wargame from Atomic Mass Games, where players create "Strike Teams" and battle to score the most points toward a series of "Struggle Cards" throughout the game. To put it simply, in Star Wars Shatterpoint you build a team of characters from across the Star Wars universe, move them around the table using measurement templates as you attempt to secure objectives, battle with your opponent by rolling attack and defense dice, and use special abilities to help you gain the advantage.
What I really like about Star Wars Shatterpoint is the way you can mix and match your forces. The only true limitations on how you build your army is in what time period of Star Wars the leader of your army originated in. So you can have Darth Vader team up with Rebel Troopers (when those units come to the game), but you can't have Darth Vader team up with Clone Troopers because they're from different eras. That being said, those rules only apply to a single squad, so you could build a force that sees Luke and Anakin teaming up (as long as they each lead their own squad) for the father-son fight we've always dreamed of!
Gameplay seems, from my first read through the rules, to be fast-paced, but don't mistake this game for a simple skirmish game. The special abilities add a lot of depth to the game, and combat is varied and resolved via flow charts that serve as tech trees to advance your hits and damage (I'll explain this in more detail in my formal review).
What's Included In The Star Wars Shatterpoint Core Set?
Included in the Star Wars Shatterpoint Core Set are the following items:
- 16 Miniatures (Anakin Skywalker, Rex, 2x Clone Troopers, Ahsoka, Bo-Katan, 2x Clan Kryze Mandalorians, Lord Maul, Gar Saxon, 2x Super Commandos, Asajj Ventress, Kalani, 2x Super Battle Droids)
- 23 Terrain Pieces
- Movement and Range Measurement Tools
- 14 Dice
- 12 Unit Cards and 12 Stance Cards
- 1 Mission Card and 12 Struggle Cards
- 126 Punch Tokens
- Core Rulebook
What Do I Need To Do To Be Ready To Play Star Wars Shatterpoint?
In order to play Star Wars Shatterpoint, you'll have to at least build all of the miniatures included in the box and the terrain. So to do so you'll need modeling snippers and plastic glue, as these are models that come on sprues and need to be snipped and glued together. I've put together thousands of little plastic miniatures at this point in my career in Tabletop, and I can say that these are fairly easy to assemble. They're not as simple as push-fit models, but each piece very clearly and cleanly fits into the slot it's meant for.
The terrain is also fantastic to assemble, as it comes together quite quickly and doesn't require a lot of fussing around or unnecessary parts. The plastic on all these models is what I would call "sturdy but soft" and a little bit of plastic glue will go a long way toward joining your miniatures. It also should be noted, these models are gray plastic, so if you want to paint them up and get them ready for the table, you'll need proper modeling paints and brushes.
What Are Our Overall First Impressions Of Star Wars Shatterpoint?
From a quick once-over look at the rules and assembly of some of the miniatures - I've put together about twelve of the miniatures and half of the terrain (all in less than a day!) - I'm beginning to see the shape of this game, and I really like what I see.
While I haven't playtested it yet, I think the combat system seems both intuitive and dynamic, the movement (especially vertically up and down terrain) is extremely approachable, and I love the flexibility of army list building here. Asajj Ventress running point for a bunch of Clone Troopers? Sign me up!
Star Wars Shatterpoint will release in June, and MSRP for $164.99. Want to learn more about the game? Head over to Atomic Mass Games official Star Wars Shatterpoint site now!
The copy of Star Wars Shatterpoint used in the creation of this feature was provided by Atomic Mass Games.
Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net
Giaco Furino joined the TechRaptor team as a Staff Writer in 2019 after searching for a dedicated place to write and talk about Tabletop Games. In 2020, he… More about Giaco
