And we’re back! This month, we’re taking a look at the new releases for Shatterpoint, along with a game that has the card community all flustered at the moment – FABLED – the new core set for Ravensburger’s Lorcana CCG.
Oh, and yes, more giveaways, because we’re just extremely nice.
LORCANA: FABLED
(Starter RRP: £18.99, Booster RRP: £4.99)
Set aside any preconceptions about Disney: there is nothing cute and fluffy about this game. It’s a tight, highly competitive resource management CCG (collectible card game, customisable card game, trading card game, whatever) where you build your deck of 60 cards from 2 of 6 ink colours to play characters and quest to reach 20 Lore. It’s less directly aggressive than many card games, though there is definitely a combat element. It’s extremely accessible and intuitive, with very rapid back and forth action.
The new set, Fabled, is a revised core set / expansion for the game, and the perfect entry point for new players. The set is a mix of reprints and new cards, which can be the death knell of a game (7th Sea…) Fortunately, the balance, or rather rebalance that comes with this set is generally for the best. With older, meta dominant cards rotating out (especially from First Chapter), this is the perfect time to dive in.
The two starters are very different beasts (though not Beasts). The Powerline starter is Emerald/Ruby, historically the home of discard and direct damage respectively. Now, a conscious effort has been made to bring more Songs into Ruby (characters can sing songs based on their own cost), and using A Very Goofy Movie as the theme for the deck is a delightful way of celebrating an underrated Disney gem – as well as a way of packaging the majority of the new cards in readily accessible form. The Amber/Sapphire Princess starter is more of a “greatest hits” from sets 1-5, with a few new cards and some gorgeous rainbow foil versions of older ones. It squarely targets the core Disney market and is a very straightforward deck to play – perhaps not quite as strong out of the box as the other, but a great starting point. And of course, all starters come with a free booster to expand your game.
STAR WARS: SHATTERPOINT
Requesting your Surrender / Wisdom of the Council
(RRP: £49.99/39.99)
Bring two of the iconic alien jedi to the table, we get the wily Kit Fisto and wise Ki-Adi Mundi as leaders in these two sets, complementing one another as a potential jedi force (ahem).
Requesting Your Surrender is a really aggro pack. The dynamism of the Kit Fitso sculpt is exceptional; it’s always quite extraordinary how AMG manage to create seemingly impossible points of balance and connection. He’s no slouch on the battlefield either, with a free dash whenever a friendly Repbulic unit within R5 attacks, and his standard moves being Place also, meaning he can potentially cover the whole battlefield in a single activation… plus a solid combat tree that can do a whopping 9 dice attack.
Nahdar Vebb, the Mon Calamari Jedi Knight, offers a few interesting possibilities as a Secondary, quite apart from being a fun and evocative model. Although he’s a base 7 dice attack, for a single Force this increases by 1, 2 or 3 for attacking Support, Secondary or Primary. Couple that with double Recover and additional movement and this really is all about taking the going to your opponent.
The pose of Clone Commander Fil with his moulded rock base, is better than your average tactical rock, and clearly signals him as “different”. Fil himself is ok, but pricey: all of his abilities cost a Force. Giving a jedi an extra move when within R2 of an objective is potent, and turning allied conditions into a damage is good, AND he does have a lot of shove on his tree… but I don’t love him. Maybe he’s just a bit too circumstantial for my taste.
I’m never going to say no to more Clone Commandos, and Fil’s Clones are no exception. The sculpts are both sufficiently dynamic and generic enough, if that makes sense? It’s the classic combo of a running and a crouching; granted I’m not crazy about the running figs, but it’s still good. In game their most interesting ability is Supporting Fire, whereby they can Recover if an allied Republic character within R5 attacks. This synergises well with Fil but they are similarly a finesse piece.
As for Wisdom of the Council, whilst Ki-Adi Mundi’s sculpt is accurate, it to me feels a bit disappointing: as mentioned, I like a tactical rock as much as the next guy, but I would have liked something a bit more imposing, striding forth imperiously (I’m thinking some of the SWU art in particular). However, he’s a flexible piece on the board, granting double dash to fellow Jedi (or single to allied Republic characters). Also, he is an excellent mid game character, negating allied Jedi force costs within R3 of a wounded ally – a great way to keep, well, momentum.
Shaak Ti is grand and impressive, on the other hand. She also has the superb ability to grant a free dash to a friendly Republic or Mercenary unit AND take a free jump. This combined with an unrivalled level of variety in the paths on her combat tree mean she can adapt to any situation, with high damage output and excellent mobility. As is so often the case, Secondary units get the best toys.
The pair of Padawans are interesting: I love that you have a choice of heads to create different species/gender versions however you see fit. In game, they fulfil a role that is pretty lacking: dedicated Recovering. This is to ensure their survival, obviously, but the fact they can also use it at R3 gives a lot more coverage than most teams bring to the table.
Terror From Below
(RRP: £39.99)
Now as a Separatist player first and foremost, I am super excited for this set. I love the Clone Wars era, but more than that, it’s great to see it captured so evocatively. I have to point to the incredible scenic base on Riff Tamson, bursting through the ground vent. It’s so often the case that a base scenic lacks any logic from a game perspective, but this neatly gets round it and adds to the cinematic sculpt in the process. Also, his game design is strongly tied to his storyline, leaping forwards using a Force to place after an attack and/or a force to jump and do extra damage on the attack. More importantly, he can jump and make a free 5D attack when an allied Separatist or Scoundrel supporting unit attacks, and with a reactive Force recovery and damage paired to Recovers and Movement on his tree, he is a dangerously unpredictable foe, especially when paired with Bounty Hunting types – suddenly those newly-balanced Weequay pirates look pretty interesting. Watch your back, Mon Cala. A side note, on this: remember Bounty Hunters can add tags, so can be made Aquatic (or, if you’re like me, run Bossk as an Ewok); for example, Aurra Sing, post balance-update, is a very nasty pairing with him.
Nossor Ri, as a Secondary, is pretty decent, though I would really have liked him to have both Separatist and Republic tags to reflect his storyline overall (and provide some interesting tactical choices). He boosts allied Aquatic Units, and can Place himself or allied Separatist/Scoundrel units if they have any damage on them – so again, this really reinforces the idea of hypermobility. His passive allows him switch into reserve when revealed from the order deck, with the added bonus of being immune to ranged attacks if thus reserved. This is incredibly powerful BUT because you will have had to put a card in reserve, if played with Riff (who only has 2F) it limits your option with him – so I suspect I would be more inclined to run him with a Force User (*cough**cough*), which is not a deal-breaker but is somewhat irritating, thematically.
I was super jealous when Legion got Aqua Droids, too, so delighted that now we can bring them to the table as an option (come ON Crab Droids!) With the recent balance update dialling back Magnaguard (boo, I mean, yay, I suppose), it’s good to have some other options – and they are BIG, a hulking 5SP. On paper, they look just fine, but are better than they first appear. With 7D R5 and 6D in melee, they can put out a lot of damage along their tree, with movement at every step including an optional side track with extra – these buggers are fast. There is a definite sense of speed and action this wave in both the Jedi and Separatist releases, promising some quick and nasty action. Obviously, they’re designed to play off the bonus dice Nossor Ri chucks out (and likewise share have the passive reserve switcheroo); you’re almost certainly going to take them together, which accounts for the fact that they might otherwise feel a wee bit underpowered. Similarly, if you’re using them with Grievous (was my earlier hint too subtle?) you can benefit from his battle droid shenanigans – so that comes together as a solid squad overall. Adding them to Riff, Jango Fett and some Super Battle droids as your other squad and that’s a fierce and highly mobile list.
Delta Force Form Up
(RRP: £39.99)
Talking of Clones, getting another solid set of Clones is a Recoverthy reminder of why they were made and what they were designed to do. It’s great that we have a set that pairs so well with Clone Force 99, as well as the core box and other Clones post- balance update. As a side note, I really like the fact that players are actively encouraged to paint these up as they see fit, a bit of variety in the sea of clones: much like in the Mandalorian Covert, there’s more room for creativity.
Boss, as Primary (unsurprisingly), is high risk/reward. His variant of the the standard leader effect of free movement to allies is just a Dash, but it’s a Dash to all allied Delta Force. He himself can take damage to turn his Dashes into a Move, or double to turn it into a Place, and with double Recover on the 3rd step of his damage track (and Recover on his Defence Expertise) of his Rapid Fire stance that’s a risk worth taking – especially as step 4 on that track activates his active ability without the usual 2 Force required. But if you don’t want to rely on that, he has his own version of Maul’s extra dice when damaged/injured, and refreshes 2F when he wounds an enemy. The “Explosive Solution” allows friendly units to Dash away (or, I suppose towards) an objective and then deal double damage to anything within R2. Equally, his Wet Work stance is all about optimising massive damage output, so he can adapt and control the board as needed.
Fixer is in the highly-contested Secondary slot, but he is going to be a tempting buy for a lot of lists simply because none of his abilities require you to use Force to trigger. He can Recover and Dash an allied Clone, which is incredibly potent in any list. He wins ties on objective control, grants free hunker to any Clone within R3 that’s moved, and gives Clones +1D for each allied Delta Force member within R5. I mean… wow. He’s really good in any Clone army list, but combined with Bad Batch in particular and you have a massive amount of board control.
Sev & Scorch are extremely potent for Supporting, which is why their abilities are very dependent on using your Force, though they do get a free dash towards an enemy. Mobility, as ever, is key. After another unit within R3 makes an attack, they can make a 5D attack on the same target; also, again for a force, they can target a unit with R5 with 5D, and for every expertise rolled do a damage, plus inflict Strain if they do more than one damage. With Protection and Steadfast whilst contesting objectives, also, they’re tough to shift, and a good solid amount of damage with all the negative conditions on their stance.
Basically, as a team, stick the Clone Commandos with Bad Batch, and save the galaxy… or just say screw it and blow stuff up.
All The Way Squad Pack / This is Rogue One
(RRP: £39.99 each)
It’s impossible to overstate how much I, and so many others, loved Andor as a tv event. And Rogue One ranks amongst the best of the films, so it’s no surprise that I was beyond thrilled to see these two sets.
The Andor set is just a delight. The Cassian is all business, though maybe would’ve preferred a sneakier-looking version; after all, even K2S0 looks like he’s trying to be subtle. He packs a whopping 9 Squad Points, though, so you can build a truly elite team around him. Whilst he only has 2 Force, he doesn’t rely on it, and the rest of the squad only do so situationally. That being said, using Force for your free leader move is usually a deal breaker for me; however, his does give both him and another unit a free Dash and Hunker (if spies). Still means you really need to pair him with Jyn, though (I’ll get to her in a minute). His ruthlessness allows him to add 3D to an attack against an enemy engaged with an allied unit, at the cost of 2 Damage to your ally. Also, whenever a struggle is claimed by either player, he rolls 3D and enemies contesting objectives take damage on every positive result. Finally, his innate allows an allied unit to move (or place if a spy) when another of your units is Wounded and, perhaps more importantly, grants Impact 2 and Sharpshooter 2 to units activated with your Shatterpoint card.
K2S0 is a hefty 5SP, which puts him up at the top end of Secondary costs. Why? Well, he has a couple of good, if costly (Force) abilities: he can Dash towards a friendly and remove a condition from them, and if a friendly unit within R4 becomes Wounded he can Dash and do a 5D retaliatory attack. Generally, his attacks have lots of Shove and Damage, off 7D at both ranged and melee. So, very good, but not exceptional. However, he has 2 passive abilities that are top-notch. Lockdown means that, if not Wounded, your opponent cannot remove your control marker on objective K2S0 is contesting. That is really powerful, particularly if you activate him late in the turn. And if he is Wounded, he gets to activate is GOODBYE passive: the attacker gains Pinned, Strained, an Ally within R3 can Dash AND you can choose to spend up to 2 Momentum to move the Struggle that many spaces towards you, at the cost of Defeating him. That’s an unrivalled level of mid-game control that can flat out win you the game.
And, a moment for the rebel Pathfinders. Whilst they are not explicitly from the show, they very easily could be Vel and Melshi – now there’s a character arc we weren’t expecting – and I for one will certainly be painting them up as such (the female rebel in particular is spot on). They are super-sneaky in game, beginning Hunkered, and any Dash when Hunkered is instead a Move. For a Force, they Dash and Hunker; similarly, for a Force, the can add 3D to their attack roll, each Hit doubling against Primaries. For a cheap 3SP unit, they are damn sneaky and fast.
The Jyn sculpt is defiant and dynamic, and her stats don’t disappoint either. She can Dash after an attack for free, and she can do this twice a turn. But wait – characters can only attack once a turn in Shatterpoint?! Except Jyn’s Primary ability is either a free Dash or 5D attack (for herself or a character in an allied unit) – that’s mighty powerful. Indeed, Jyn’s only Force ability is to add 2D to a melee attack per enemy engaged with an allied character; her 3 Force are really there to balance out the rest of the squad.
The Bohdi sculpt is great, too, and I like the choice of giving him his cable backpack from the heroic moment on Scarif. He’s perfectly fine in game. He is a cheap, 3SP Secondary, who can gain Momentum if controlling an uncontested objective. It’s good, not great. He can double dash, which is not bad, and give Steadfast which is certainly useful and thematic. It’s part of a definite shift this wave, I suppose, towards more explicitly finesse or more explicitly aggro gameplay. This means your games can certainly be fully thematic but how balanced the finesse game is competitively against the increasingly vicious remains to be seen.
The Chirrut/Baze two-for continues the trend of double-sided Supporting units with both a dedicated melee and ranged side. Refreshing Force every activation is very potent, particularly as they can spend a force to rest control of a contested objective or gain a momentum. Their stances are appropriately enough named I Am One With the Force and The Force is With Me. Flipping stance grants a free Focus, and alternates between Cover & Sharpshooter or Steadfast & Impact, and for a Force can either Dash or Place. Whilst their stances are fairly generic, though good, the key is their expertise results which just chuck out crits like nobody’s business. They are a solid addition to the Rebel forces, and well worth your time.
Outer Rim Outpost Terrain Pack
(RRP: £49.99)
What would Shatterpoint be without more scenics? This is a great addition to the range – apart from anything else, the price point is fantastic for the quality and coverage. I always love the small scatter that comes with these, it adds so much to the vibe of the table, but I am really hoping we get some scenario rules or similar for the big honkin’ gun on the turret. What I really like, also, is that this could just as easily vibe as an imperial or other bunker in any era – such a versatile set.
GIVEAWAY TIME!
And this month’s giveaway is something differently cool again! It’s a double whammy, where you can win a Download code of the excellent MyScoreTracker app for your preferred platform PLUS your choice of either a fab Event Exclusive Darth Tyranus for Star Wars: Unlimited OR a Disney: Lorcana Starter set! We are very good, aren’t we?
Head over to @big_geekingout on Instagram to enter, but to bag five (yes, FIVE!) bonus entries, simply tell us which of those two prizes you fancy in the comments section below.
The Writer of this piece was: Sam Graven
Article Archive: Geeking Out
You can follow Sam on Instagram at @big_geekingout
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