Review: Star Wars Miniatures:: The Definitive Star Wars Miniatures Review

Review: Star Wars Miniatures:: The Definitive Star Wars Miniatures Review: "

by russdogg99

At first, I was NOT a miniatures gamer. Let's get that straight. Mage Knight was useless in my humble opinion. I was not impressed by that game, being that it was a chopped down version of Warhammer fantasy battles. I also did not play much of the West End Games version of Star Wars. As much as I like the 6-sided die, I liked the d20 better, because it gave me a better chance of actually getting a hit! In all seriousness, I didn't want to spend tons of money or time painting miniatures or actually getting tons of booster packs in hopes of getting good figures to battle with. Also, until Mage Knight Dungeons, there were no terrain rules for MK. Then, in 2004, came an awesome sight. Star Wars miniatures, Rebel Storm Set.



This set revolutionized the genre. It came with a Luke, Vader, and random miniatures. It also featured stat cards for easy reference of rules and HP, Defense, etc. And it had a full color map that you could play on, and easily reference things like pits, walls, doors, etc as well. All in all, the figures were well detailed for 25mm plastic, and the lightsabers were clear, so when light shone behind them, they 'glowed'. Also, you could use the miniatures for the RPG instead of buying hundreds of action figures, like Hasbro wanted you to (WoTC is a subsidiary of Hasbro, INC.).



Now, instead of painting tons of miniatures, or buying huge amounts of boosters hoping to get something good, you had a balanced miniatures game that many people loved to play. It was simple, direct and fun to play. But don't let this fool you, People still bought huge numbers of packs!



And now, the review...



Gameplay-

10/10

This is the best aspect of the game. It is very simple. You either move 6 square and attack, or attack and move 6 squares, or move 12 squares with no attacks. There are certain figures with the 'mobile attack' ability, which allows them to move before and after attacking (i.e.-move 3 squares, attack, move 3 squares). Also, if a character has a 'force rating' (i.e.-Force 3), they can move an extra 2 squares or re-roll an attack or save by spending a Force Point. The game also comes with easy to use rules that illustrate movement, attacks, walls, low cover and the like. A game with complete newbies lasts around 1 hour to 1 and a half hours, where a game featuring veteran players could probably last around 30-45 minutes, depending on strategy. Oh, and let me mention, this game is BALANCED. There are powerful figures, yes, but they also cost huge points to play. If you are only playing 100 point squads, you might be in for a surprise, as you put Yoda (64-odd points) in your squad, and are left with a few 'cruddy' figures in the back. Don't be surprised if Yoda is the first to die. This game also has a TON of strategy, not only in squad-building (which I will get to in a moment) but in gameplay as well. You can take many figures with 'ranged attacks' (i.e.-a person with a blaster or no melee attack ability) and put them in 'low cover'. Their defense gets a +4 boost, and if they have 'stealth' they can't be attacked unless they are the closest figure to your opponent's figure firing the shot. It is very good to use a mix of 'high-powered' characters, and 'peons'. Look at your map as well. I always choose the map first, then build an army around my strategy. Also, this game is awesome with 4 players as it is with 2. 3 players has the effect of 2 players killing each other while the third picks off the 'winner.' If you are going to play with 3 players, try going to 150 or 200 points, that way you might have a chance 'splitting' your forces to deal with the other 2 players simultaneously.



Squad-Building-

9/10

This universe of figures is HUGE. There are so many to chose from, the possibilities are almost endless. I have about 200-300 figures, and I still have trouble getting the squad just right. Also, I love to teach the game, as people don't realize just how much strategy there is in building your squad, making them effective in combat, and getting abilities that match. And, there are different factions. Rebels, Imperials, Sepratists, Republic, New Republic, Mandalorians, Sith, Old Republic, Fring, Yuuzan Vong, just to name a few. They are discontinuing the line of miniatures, but I wish they would re-release many of the old sets. Some of us that got into the game late might need some of them older figures darnnit. Anyway, usually games are made up by points. A good game might have 100-150 points. I try to do this. If you want to have melees, you can go for 200, but anything higher than that will just be too long. Once I played a 300 point game, and it took us about two and a half hours to play. After a while, you might just want to give up. Pick good figures, and you can't lose. Also, you might try 'peon' squads. This is a squad made up of all non-unique characters. It is fun to play sometimes, and you will most likely win, considering your sheer numbers. Once again, this game is balanced, and no one figure is all-powerful. Except for Master Luke (Universe). He just rocks.



Rules-

8/10

There are a lot of abilities, but the core rules are very basic. Usually, if I have a rules argument, it is over LOS. Line of Sight is the hardest thing to get in the game, considering that you need to try to establish LOS over 20-40 squares. I have found that using a string works the best, as you can take the string from your square to the opponent's square and then you know if you have LOS. This probably should have been mentioned by WoTC, or even had a string with 'Star Wars' printed on it in the starters. Oh well, if wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets (and if you can guess that line's origin, you win a gold star. Post in the comments). Also, many of the figures have 'commander' effects, which affect the area immediately around them. Usually 6 squares. Some figures extend the range, and others don't have range. Probably the best figure in the game for this is Mas Ameeda, the chancellor's senate advisor. He extends all commander effects to unlimited range. Awesome.



Game/the actual game-

9/10

This game is simple to play. Once you have chosen your squad, you place your figures on the map. You then roll for initiative. After this is done, you then decide which to characters you are going to move. After moving 2 characters, then your opponent moves 2 characters. You alternate like this (unless you have more than 2) until you have moved and/or attacked with all characters in your squad. Then you roll initiative again and repeat. It is very simple to play. Combat is rolling a d20 (20-sided die) and adding your Attack modifier. If you hit, you deal a set damage number. If you miss, nothing happens. If you roll a 1 on the die, you miss (even if your attack is higher than the target's defense) and if you roll a 20 on the die, you get a critical hit. If you get a critical hit, you multiply your damage number by 2. Droids cannot be hit like this, since they have no constitution score (similar to undead in DnD).



Overall-

9/10

This game is downright FUN. The strategy is awesome, the figures are balanced and the rules are simple, easy to learn and strategy is hard to master. You will have tons of fun just playing over and over. I know I have. In fact, I could probably make a decent Warhammer 40k army just using stormtroopers, vader, and some other characters. I hope that you have enjoyed this particular review of Star Wars Miniatures. Maybe some renewed interest will persuade WoTC to continue producing this awesome game. Let me know what you think of this review."