Star Wars Shatterpoint Guide

There have been multiple Star Wars tabletop games over the years (for which you can see our coverage of by following the links), including card games, dice games, board games, and wargames. Fantasy Flight Games brought the world X-Wing, the incredible starship miniatures battle game, along with Star Wars Armada, which took the scale up to whole fleet battles, then Star Wars Legion, a squad combat game, and now Atomic Mass Games, who have taken the miniatures arm of Fantasy Flight Games on, have released Star Wars Shatterpoint, with a scale to match their Marvel tabletop wargame, Mavel Crisis Protocol.

In our Star Wars Shatterpoint Guide, we'll take a quick overview of what makes Shatterpoint unique, what you need to play, and what products are available.

What is Star Wars Shatterpoint?

Star Wars Shatterpoint is a tabletop wargame produced by Atomic Mass Games. Players create Strike Teams, of 2 squads. Each squad contains 3 units, a Primary, Secondary, and Support unit. The core of Shatterpoint's gameplay is the way missions are played out. Each mission contains 3 struggles, and to win the mission you need to win 2 of them. Each struggle activates different objective tokens, so you never know which tokens will be active in the upcoming turns. Activation is also randomized during the turn and players draw from an Order deck, which has a card for each unit in their Strike Team, along with a Shatterpoint card, which can be used to activate a unit of your choosing.

Combat in Shatterpoint uses a combat tree system, where after attack and defense dice have been rolled, the number of remaining successes allows you to pick actions along a path on that unit's combat tree, which gives each unit a unique thematic feel. Primary characters have dual-sided combat tree cards, allowing you to pick the one most suited for their activation.

What Do I Need To Play Star Wars Shatterpoint?

To play Star Wars Shatterpoint, you will need the following:

• Star Wars Shatterpoint physical rulebook or Free rules download
• A set of custom Shatterpoint dice (available separately or in the Core Set)
• A set of custom Shatterpoint range and measuring tools (available separately or in the Core Set)
• 1 strike team of 2 squads (4 squads come in the core set, or you can buy squads individually) along with their Stat, Stance, and Order card)
• A set of mission cards, tokens, and tracker (only currently available in the Core Set)
• A battlefield, which can be as simple as the floor with some books, or a printed gaming board filled with thematic scenery (the Core Set comes with scenery pieces, and other packs are available)

Where Do I Start With Star Wars Shatterpoint?

The obvious place to start with Star Wars Shatterpoint is the Shatterpoint Core Set. This is currently the only way to get all the components you need to play because although the rules are available for free online, and you can buy the dice, measuring tools, scenery, and squads individually, the mission cards and tokens are only currently available in the Core Set. If you're not picky about tokens, you can use anything to mark, but the mission cards are required to play, and at least one player needs to bring a set.

What Other Products Are Available For Star Wars Shatterpoint?

The following products are available for Star Wars Shatterpoint, divided into the sub-headings below:

Star Wars Shatterpoint Core Set

The Star Wars Shatterpoint Core Set contains everything 2 players need to play Shatterpoint and you can read our first impressions of the Core Set here.

The Core Set contains:

• Shatterpoint Rules
• Shatterpoint Dice, Range, and Measuring tools
• Shatterpoint Mission Cards, Tokens (currently only available in the Core Set)
• 2 Strike Forces (4 squads, 16 miniatures) plus their Stat, Stance, and Order cards (these 4 squads are unique to the Core Set and can't be purchased individually)
• 23 terrain items

The Shatterpoint Core Set is also the only way to get the Shatterpoint Order Card, but you could use any other card for a unit you don't have as your Shatterpoint card and let your opponent know.

Star Wars Shatterpoint Accessories

Currently, the only Shatterpoint accessories available are:

• Custom Shatterpoint Dice
• Custom Shatterpoint Range and Measuring Tools

The Core Set only comes with one set of each, so if you're looking to use the Core Set regularly with 2 players, having an extra dice of dice and measuring tools can be handy. It will also allow you to play without picking up the core set if you know someone with mission cards and tokens.

Star Wars Shatterpoint Squad Packs

The biggest range of Shatterpoint products are the Squad packs, which are consistently releasing at a fair rate since launch. Each Squad pack contains:

• 1 full squad (Primary miniature, Secondary miniature, and Support unit miniatures)
• 3 Unit stat cards, 3 stance cards, and 3 order cards

You can technically pick up 2 Squad packs, the dice, and measuring tools accessories and play with the free rules online, but you'll have to use something else as your Shatterpoint order card, and tokens and also borrow someone else's Mission cards to play.

Star Wars Shatterpoint Duel Packs

The duel packs are unique packs combining a terrain feature display and 2 units. The first duel pack available is the You Cannot Run duel pack, featuring Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi, along with their Stat, Stance, and Order cards. 

It's worth noting that these units are different from those you will find in other packs. The Obi-Wan in You Cannot Run, is Obi-Wan Kenobi, Out Of Hiding, and is a secondary unit whereas the General Obi-Wan Kenobi found in the Hello There squad pack is a primary unit. You can't include both Obi-Wan's in a strike team though, as you can only have one of each named character, even if they have a different sub-heading.

Star Wars Shatterpoint Terrain Packs

The Star Wars Shatterpoint terrain packs allow you to fill your battlefields with even more Star Wars-themed terrain. If you have the Core Set, then these extra sets will give you more cover and allow you to create narrative battles from your favorite parts of Star Wars media.

What Factions Are Available For Star Wars Shatterpoint?

Star Wars Shatterpoint Strike Team selection is a bit different from other wargames. Players pick 2 Primary Units for their Strike Team, and those units dictate what era the rest of the units in that squad are from (Currently the Fall of the Jedi, Reign of the Empire, Age of Rebellion, or the New Republic) and the number of points you get to pick the Secondary and Support Unit. Both Squads can come from different eras, and there's nothing stopping you from mixing and matching the units under each Primary unit. Some units do have keywords though, and offer synergies with certain keywords, so sometimes it does benefit taking units that work well together.

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The Star Wars Shatterpoint products used to produce this guide were provided by Asmodee UK.