Games / October 31, 2004

Star Wars Miniature Gaming Part 2

The Star Wars Miniatures Game from ‘Wizards of the Coast’ is a combination of a typical card game systems (like previous Star Wars games, Magic the Gathering, etc) but has the added element of using collectible figures.

There are currently sixty different cards and characters, with more planned (depending on the success of the first Rebel Storm series). The characters range in height from about 22mm (Ewok) to over 40mm (Chewbacca), and the scale is well done. Like many card games, the characters are rated on rarity from Common, Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare. This is likely to have an impact on price if purchased singly or traded. Some interesting units include Jabba, Sandtrooper on Dewback, and the Wampa (all Very Rare). The figures are very well sculpted, considering their size, and potentially worth collecting even if gaming isn’t your thing. The figures are played on flat terrain templates which adds another dimension to the gaming. Certain attacks must be line of sight, others require the pieces to be adjacent. Like Warhammer, you create your army up to a certain number of points (the values are on the cards). A small army would be fifty points, a hundred point army would mean a longer game – either Galactic Empire, Rebels, or Fringe (which includes tuskens, bounty hunters, other miscellaneous species).

The Starter Set includes ten figures, two of which are always a Luke and a Vader (which means you really only want one start set as you can’t have two Lukes or Vaders (or any other named character) in the same army. There are two different Lukes, Leias, and Vaders, and four variations of Stormtrooper (with the same stats), two variations of Rebel Troopers. There are also an Elite Stormtrooper and a Stormtrooper Officer, so you can build a nice army if you like that sort of thing.

The Starter Set should have enough to build to small fifty point armies – it depends on the figures you get as to which teams will have the numbers. The starter Vader is 55 points (a one man army), Luke Rebel is 17, the average trooper is 5, an Ewok is 3. The Starter Set also includes a twenty sided die, templates and rules. The booster packs include seven figures and cards, which are entirely random (but never include the Starter Set Luke or Vader). The game requires a bit of reading before being able to play, it’s probably less complex than Magic, as the only cards are the character ones. Damage is recorded with damage counters which you place on the card (some systems have damage counters in the base of the figures, but these are too small for that).

Related article: Star Wars Miniature Gaming.