How to Start: Star Wars Shatterpoint - what to buy and which squads will fit you the most
Today I want to talk about the system that has its premiere in June 2023 and rapidly conquers the hearts of many players. Ladies and Gentlemans, I want to present you Star Wars: Shatterpoint!
Pros and Cons of the System
Pros (that might interest you):
- Low entry threshold (in just a core set you will have one meta list)
- System allows you to have a good control around the board
- Innovative mechanics (Struggles, Struggle Tracker – tug of war system)
- Low amount of miniatures – it’s easy to pack&carry
- Huge Core Set – 4 squads, all cards, dice and measurement tools as well as terrain pieces
- Flexibility of Primary Units
Cons (that might discourage you):
- Pretty Expensive Core Set (165 USD)
- Miniatures nearly won’t leave the board – in my opinion it’s not really a neg and brings a breath of fresh air to the Wargaming
- Low amount of miniatures – if you like epic battles with 50-100 pieces per side the system may not be for you, but I still recommend to try it
- Only one scenario by now – amount of scenarios will be expanded in future and that one we have now have 27 different options for objective placing through the course of game
What's inside the Core Set?
So, as I now introduced you to some of the pros and cons of the system, I will introduce you to the contents of the Core Set:
- Modular terrain pieces – it’s enough to set up one table for the game of Shatterpoint, including different elevations and various terrains
- All cards you need at the beginning, dice, measurement tools, tokens and Struggle Tracker
- 16 Units – whole four squads (including one high tier Strike Team and 2 squads that are perfect fit in the meta after expanding them with expansions)
Core Set Squads
Okay, okay, but you should know something about the squads that are available in the Shatterpoint Core Set, sure?
You can click the members to go to separate articles about each squad.
Anakin benefits from aggressive play style – every time he wounds Primary or Secondary units you will push struggle token 1 space to your side of Struggle Tracker. On the other hand Rex is a phenomenal Secondary Unit for any Republic Army!
Ahsoka is a highly reactive Primary unit that can change the situation on the board pretty quickly even during your opponent’s turn. Pair this squad with Maul Mandalorians (Mauldalorians xD) to get a high tier, aggressive meta list.
Units from this squad are essential in every Droid lists alongside the meta (especially Kalani). Asajj is a highly mobile primary unit that can quickly move through the table.
Maul is able to roll a huge amount of dice as well as he is designed for chasing your opponent units. Pair this squad with Ahsoka Mandalorians to get a high tier, aggressive meta list.
Expansions Squads
Obi-Wan makes your Republic units tougher and Cody makes your Clone Troopers shots more consistent. Lack of defense? This expansion is a perfect choice!
One of the Separatists leaders himself is quite a tough unit to play against. He has good defense and is pretty tanky due to his abilities. Supported by MagnaGuards he’s hard to stop. In addition you have one of the best standalone Secondary Units in the game in this box.
Luminara and her Padawan adds a huge amount of healing to every Republic list. In addition Luminara gives you more control of your activations. Except that you get Clone Commandos here, which are one of the best Clone Troopers for your GAR squad. If you want to improve your clones strategy, this box is your go to!
Aggressive squad that gives you heavy hitters in form of B2 Battle Droids and GG, as well as Kraken with another Tactical Network ability for your Droid Strike Team. General Grievous is a good choice if you want to implement your agressive strategies in Droid army. Annihilate your opponent’ units quickly with this box!
Inquisitors are interesting due to the fact that in this box are 2 separate 1-piece Supporting Units. They are designed to counter Force Users but are overall a strong list when paired with Vader due to the Grand Inqui & Vader combo.
Mother Talzin is a good supporting piece for aggressive strategies, and this box provides you with super aggressive Savage Opress. Acolytes also can do massive amount of damage, especially when paired with characters such as Maul and Savage. If you like aggro playstyle then this box is a must have!
Definitely one of the most interesting expansion if you want to dramatically boost your Grand Republic Strike Team. ARF Troopers is one of the best supporting units in entire game, tossing Exposed condition around the board and having not-that-bad Combat Tree. Mace Windu is a first character in the game that provide you with only 6 Squad Points, but he have decent abilites that are perfectly balanced between agression, utility and supporting your units with useful keywords and healing. He also have an interesting mechanic around built around Shatterpoint card as well. It’s worth to mention that in this box you can find one-and-only secondary unit that have 3 Point Cost and open new ways in building your Squads. Definitely worth to buy, especially for Republic Players!
This box provides you with a highly aggressive support Primary Unit in form of Padme Amidala. She also offers your Galactic Republic strike team an interesting ability to contest objectives even when wounded! Supported by her loyal Bodyguard and Handmaidens she is pretty tough character with kinda big firepower.
Bounty Hunters definitely should be a part of Star Wars: Shatterpoint and there they are! It’s worth noting that Cad Bane is a first Primary character that offers you 9 Squad Points, so he can be considered when you want to max out your entire squad with powerful units. Supporting Unit offers you an interesting new ability that allows you to give them a tag of your choice at the start of any of your activations.
Plo Koon, Wolffe, 104th Wolfpack & Padawan Ahsoka
This squad gives us new utility and control tools for each Galactic Republic Strike Team (especially those Clone-centered ones). Wolfpack Clones and Wolffe himself are able to make your opponent unit useless, giving them a lot of different condition tokens. It is also a way to get Ahsoka Tano Padawan miniature for all of you that don’t have it yet from the pre-order campaign.
EWOOOKS!
Is there anything better than an Ewok? Yes, a ton of them! And within these two boxes you will find a Strike Team full of Ewoks! Don’t be misled by their fluffy appearance, they’re known in the whole Empire as Endor’s Serial Killers! High synergy between each unit is gorgeous. And don’t worry if you want to include other Rebel Alliance units, Leia Organa will make them Ewoks too due to her ability. Icing on the cake is a brand new mechanic of “Traps” that you will shuffle into your Order Deck and resolve as soon as you draw them, punishing your opponent for standing near the Active objective.
This squad opens up your path to the Galactic Empire lists. New version of Vader is relentless in his goal to vanish your opponent’s unit from the table with not only a huge amount of damage but also an ability to activate constantly until he wounds at least 1 of the opposing characters. Stormtroopers, I hope, will be a huge part of many Imperial Strike Teams in the future.
And here is the beginning of the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars: Shatterpoint (if we don’t count Ewoks presented earlier). Although each Unit in this particular box doesn’t synergize with the Rebel Alliance keyword on their own, each character in this expansion is strong enough on its own to be a good addition in your list.
Other Characters Expansions
This expansion is a diorama that contains two damn good characters. Darth Vader as I said above, is a perfect fit for the Inquisitors (but also can be used in Republic lists due to his Galactic Republic keyword) and Obi-Wan may be a defensive wild card in your lists.
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