‘Star Wars: Shatterpoint’: Why We Are Excited
If you follow any number of gaming news sites or miniature content creators as of late, you have probably heard about Star Wars: Shatterpoint at this point. Atomic Mass Games’ next big title based on the beloved franchise is just under a month out. As with the impending release of any game feature a beloved and storied IP, the excitement can be palpable. With Star Wars: Shatterpoint that excitement is justified.
From gorgeous minis that span characters from various generations of the series to engaging missions and struggles to the engulfing cinematic game play, there is something here for everyone to love. There is one mechanic in particular that Atomic Mass Games have cultivated within the Star Wars: Shatterpoint system that elevates it to the next level, possibly inching it close to being one of our favorite miniature war games of all time.
In Shatterpoint, every character comes with a set of cards. The models will have a Unit Stat Card that breaks down the general stats of the character (Cost, Health, Special Abilities, etc) and a corresponding Order Card (used to determine the characters’ activation order). The third card, and the reason we are most excited for Star Wars: Shatterpoint, is the Stance Card.
While the Unit Stat Card tells you all special abilities that make a character special, the Stance Card tells you why that character is unique. These cards represent the character’s specific training or weapons mastery, and how that will affect them in battle. It will include all of their attack and defense stats, obviously, but the moment we started really drooling over the game was the inclusion of the Combat Tree.
After a combat step, when all the attack and dense rolls have been made, the attacking player looks to see how many attacks went through. If any did, they begin to move to the right of their Combat Tree. Each spot along the path will include a combination of damage and various effects. Using the Ahsoka card here as an example, if the attacking player had 3 successes, they would do 6 damage tokens and the Disarmed. If they had more than those, it gets really interesting!
Like with any good roleplaying video game, the Combat Tree can split into multiple paths like Skill Trees in the aforementioned video games. The Ahsoka player could choose to go down a path of 3 additional damage and the attacked unit gets the Strained condition or the path with 2 additional damage and the Pinned condition. Any additional success beyond the allotted points on the path are lost, unfortunately. “Overkill is Underrated” is a lost art, but helps relegate any horribly feel bad moments within the game.
Additionally, some models have double-sided Stance Cards. These characters have the added benefit of flipping back-and-forth between the two sides to represent their varied combat styles to aid them in whatever is thrown their way. Reversely, some units will only have a single-sided Stance Card. These will most likely be characters that are good at only one thing or programmed to be single-minded in their objectives.
This is an inventive way to solve two major problems (in our opinion) with miniature games. First, it allows you to alter your battle plans mid-game to add some variety and spice so that everything doesn’t constantly play out the same. Second, it allows Atomic Mass Games to make a figure serve multiple purposes without needing to double-dip into a second or third models for that character so quickly. We absolutely love Marvel Crisis Protocol. It has been one of our favorites of the last decade. That being said, while there are thousands of viable Marvel Comic characters to choose from, Atomic Mass Games have gone back to the same characters multiple times in the game’s short life thus far. This habit was one that contributed to our eventual dislike of WizKids’ HeroClix line.
Something that really intrigues us about Combat Trees, and Stance Cards in general, is about the opportunities they present for the game’s future. Since Stance Cards are not printed on a character’s Unit Stat Card, it would possible to give the existing character an updated or completely new Stance Card. Atomic Mass Games set a precedent in 2022 by releasing card packs of updated (re: errata’d) Character Cards and Team Tactic Cards for Marvel Crisis Protocol. Later this year they are releasing a new card pack with updated Crisis Cards, as well as brand-new Map Cards and a brand-new Crisis Card. Best of all, both of these card packs are available as a PDF so you don’t need to buy them if you don’t want to. You are free to simply print them out and use those.
We fully believe that of all of the Star Wars: Shatterpoint rules and mechanics, this will be the one that will have everyone talking the most. The ceiling is so high on what Stance Cards bring to the game’s future. Should Atomic Mass Games decide to implement this mechanic into any future games, we’ll certainly be lining up to preorder that one at our friendly local game store, too.