I Am A Heretic (No Burning At The Stake Please)

Let me just say this..I don not give a shit about the Star Wars Universe. There. I said it. No, I'm not apologetic, remorseful or embarassed.


That said, let the vitriol start. Go ahead and say your worst. Are you offended? I don't care. You see, for me, its all about the game. I could care that its based on Star Wars. I love the mechanics. I love the fact that as a grown man with a real job and family obligations and responsibilities out the hoo-ha, I no longer had the time or the energy for long, involved RPG games. Miniatures cut to the chase. Its like the reader's digest version of gaming. All the good stuff without that tedious trekking to town to buy arrows and a new shield.


To be fair. I'm not a Star Wars hater. I have nothing at all against it. I've seen all the movies numerous times, enjoy The Clone Wars series, and have even read some of the books. I just don't revere it, you know. Leia in the slave outfit doesn't get mer particularly horny, I do not dream of being Luke Skywalker, and I don't hate Darth Vader or Governor Tarkin. (Hint: Their fictional. Let the whole Alderan thing go.) I am a fan, just not rabid, and I don't play the game because its Star Wars. I play the game because I love the mechanics, I like the rules, I enjoy the flexibility, and it happens to be Star Wars.


Perhaps that is why I was so disappointed with Imperial Entanglements and view Jedi Academy with such trepidation. As a gamer first, I look for sets that set new standards, offer new strategies, change the playing field and generally improve the experience. The Clone Wars set did just that, offering Republican and Separatist resources that made for all kinds of new and interesting combos. Then came Imperial Entanglements. Yawn. Now I look at the previews for Jedi Academy and think WTF!


You see, I expected Imperial Entanglements to do for the Empire and the Rebel factions what The Clone Wars did for The Republic and Separatist factions. It didn't. The pieces were lackluster, retreads and generally useless. Perhaps 2 or 3 standouts, a half dozen useful pieces and the rest Dross. The online spoilers indicate that Jedi Academy is not that bad, but its not a slam dunk either. The unofficial sneak peaks reveal a balanced set covering every faction with some very useful pieces. Take a look at these pics (apparently originating on E-Bay)...

front: Jedi Exile (?), Darth Maul Sith Apprentice(?) (since Sidious is Master), K'Kruhk, Vodo-Siosk Baas
back: Darth Plagueis, Dark Woman, Naga Sadow, Kol Skywalker

front: Cade Skywalker Padawan(?), Yoda ???, Darth Sidious Sith Master, Kyle Katarn Combat Instructor
back: Qui-Gon Jinn (strange get-up though), Anakin or Jacen Solo, Jaina Solo ???, Grand Master Luke Skywalker

front: Old Republic Jedi(?), Sith(?), female Farghul(?), female Jedi Padawan(?), Yuuzhan Vong ???
middle: Felucian, HK-50, Jedi Battlemaster, Sith Lord(?), Praetorite Vong Priest
back: Jensaarai ???, Imperial Sentinel

front: Clone Shocktrooper(?), Rocket Battle Droid(?), R4 Agromech, Jedi Youngling, Krath War Droid, Stormtrooper Officer(?)
middle: Yuuzhan Vong ???, Sith Cultist, male human ???, Death Watch ???
back: Antarian Ranger, Reborn

The best collection of stats for the set that I have found so far is on Bloo Milk. Select the characters toolbar, and then select the browse categories option.

The set to follow is called Galaxy At War, and my hope is that the set will be balanced across the factions like Jedi Academy is, but that the pieces will be more for gamers, and less like collector pieces. I'm also hoping that the title implies alot more military style figures and alot less jedi-centric. Especially those mid-cost jedis, which quite frankly, youn't swing a dead cat without hitting one.

So at the end I findthat I started saying one thing and wound up in another place. Originally I meant this piece to convey my disappointment with figures that pandered to the rabid fans, but offered little playability, and ended up doing a kind of pre-review of the new set. Once all the stats are out and I've had some time to explore the set, I'll be sure to do a proper review.

Two's Company, Four's A Rumble

I just finished playing my first round of duos yesterday, and it was interesting to say the least. If you are not familiar with the format, duos are quads comprised of just 2 units, 100 points max (although some people play that it must be 100 points exactly) with normal faction rules in effect. This certainly leads to a different kind of game altogether. For one thing there is no such thing as an expendable piece. For another, there's the one activation per turn rule which means that your opponent will get to respond to everything you do, and deciding whether to go fist or second when you win initiative becomes much more important. This is especially true if you are using pieces with Opportunist or Cunning Attack.

Anyway, we played six games, and I had a good day winning three, losing 2, and the last was all but a tie, though I did lose that one as well. I learned that the relation between map and squad is much more vital, choosing moves carefully is paramount, and recklessness is doom. Below I'm going to list the duos I used and what I discovered about them.

1. General Obi Wan Kenobi & Zam Wessel: This team up worked great, especially given that the map was a completely interior one with tones of rooms, corridors and doors. Narrow terrain like that allowed Zam to use her Kohoun Infestation to good measure everytime an opponent got close, and all the cover let General Obi Wan move in for the kill without taking too much damage.

2. Master Kota & Zam Wessel: Another great tandem, working similarly to the first. Master Kota's commander effect gave Zam the extra oomph she needed. I let her close in, do as much damage as possible and let Master Kota build Force Points until he moved in for a Force Repulse 5. Zam was already heavily damaged, so I din't feel to bad about finishing her off especially since she had damaged the enemy so severly that the Force Repulse crippled my opponent and allowed for an easy victory.

3. Garm Bel Iblis & Felucian Warrior on Rancor: This squad might have fared better against another opponent, utilizing the reinforcement ability to add an Elite Rebel Commando and a Wookie Freedom Fighter to the squad. The idea was to have the two reinforceing troops draw some fire and do some damage so that the Felucian on Rancor could finish them off. In this case, though, my opponent's Kazdan Parratus' ability to bring in droid reinforcements (which was being triggered with obscene regularity) along with his initiative control dealt me a fatal blow. He was adding destroyer droids as fast as I could nail them with the Rancor, but in the end he just overwhelmed me.

4. Lord Vader & Dash Rendar Renegade Smuggler: This combo worked awesomely. The shear brute force of Lord Vader combined with the new Dash Rendar's nimbleness and multiple attacks made for a very short game. Once Vader cornered my opponents troops he simplu used his force powers to beat them down mercilessly. He eventually died, leaving my opponent with one badly damaged Jedi. Dash Rendar has some fairly sad attack stats, but getting four shots at a time while still being able to move, and the Opportunist ability finished him off nicely.

5. Darth Sion & Calo Nord: Not much to say other than disaster. Darth Sion performed well, even managing to utilize Sith Hatred to twice return to full hit points, but Calo Nord was useless, died fast and pointlessly, and left Sionb to fend for himself, which he didn't.

6. Boba Fett & IG-88: This was an interesting match as I was faced with a squad including Boba Fett on the other side. My opponent had teamed Boba up with Nom Anor and had made it decidedly difficult to do damage without moving in for face to face combat. I was able to defeat Nom Anor, but in the end it came down to Boba vs. Boba, both without enough hit points to survive a single successful hit. My opponent got the initiative, I failed to evade, and that was that. Like I said earlier, kind of a tie, but I doubt my opponent sees it that way. (can't really blame him).




What I learned from all of this is that your second piece is just as important as that power piece you're building around, the three most important words are Synergy, Synergy and Synergy, and that I hate Kazdan Paratus with a passion.

Timmy, Johnny and Spike F@#& with The Force

Anyone who plays Magic: The Gathering and regularly reads the articles on the officila MTG site knows who Timmy, Johnny and Spike are. They are the archtype player profiles develioped by R&D and describe the majority of people who play the game. (You can read an article about the player types from the R&D people who developed the profiles here). Players of Star Wars Miniature may not be as familiar with those three names, but trust me, they are alive, and well, and roaming the galaxy even as we speak. Lets take a little time to discuss what type of mayhem these three can get up to among the stars.

We'll start with Timmy. I confess he's somewhat near and dear to my heart becuse I'm mostly Timmy myself. Timmy loves to win big sweeping victories. Nothing makes him happier than to disintegrate Darth Revan with his Boba Fett. That's not just a hit, that's a Boo-Yah, in-your-face, smack down hit. The funny thing about Timmy is that he can lose seven or eight out of ten games and he doesn't care. He likes a big win now and again, but its a lot more important to hang with his friends, socialize with a group of people who are like minded, and play a fun game.

Timmy's favorite figures are Boba Fett, Darth Revan, Felucian Warrior on Rancor, and, well you get the point. He likes big, bold squads full of troops that strike fear into the hearts of his opponents. Sure his proclivities mean that the more subtle and devious player blow his ass away on a regular basis, but when his plans work out, it iis spectacular.

Next there's Johnny. Johnny revels in building unique squads full of bizarre combos and synnergy you would have never thought of in a billion years. He's the kind of guy who leaves his opponent scratching his head and wondering how he got beat with a squad of Pol Massa Medics and Varactyl Wranglers. For Johnny its about cunning and creativity. He's not content to recreate someone elses squad idea, he wants to put his own stamp on the game. Unlike Timmy, its the quantiity of the win trhat matters most. Johnny wants to win not becuse of some lucky rolls or because he stole last year's national champion's squad, but because he was smarter than his opponent, and he wants to win every time.

Johnny tends to layered commander effects and special abilities that boost activations, allow for stunnig moves. Its all about Synnergy with this guy, and the bigger the squad, the more arcane and convoluted his strategy becomes. I think Johnny is one of the hardest players to beat because it isn't overwhelming brawn or rules trickery that drives his game, its serious strategy and superior tactical thiinking.

Finally there's Spike. Mr. Competition. Spike knows every rule, has committed the tournament regulations to memory, and has no problem arguing endlessly over the interpretation of the most trivial abiltiy. Spike is all about his DCI standings. Spike will copy any squad, use any technicality, and exploit any gray area in the rules because winning is what its all about.

Spike likes to play figures that have vaguely worded abilities, or ones that butt heads with other rules. Thyat way there's guaranteed to be some dispute and he will gladly whip out his encyclopedic, and particularly annoying, command of the rules. He tends to be snide, overbearing and is alwatys a poor sport. Spikes are the worst to play against and the best way to beat them is to not play with them at all.

That's not the end of it either. There are hybrids. That's right hybrids. You have Timmy/Johnny, Johnny/Spike, and Timmy/Spike. Finally there's the hat trick, the Timmy/Johnny/Spike hybrid. That's where I come in. The hat trick is the least targeted player by R&D, and yet, in my opinion, I think we are the best group of players in the game.

Now if you recognized yourself as one of three basic types you might be a little pissed by that last statement, but hear me out. Like Timmy, we hat tricks have a love of the game and enjoy socializing with our friends. We have a reasonable dose of creativity ala-Johnny, but have no problem giving props to other peoples ideas. Like Spike, we love the rules because the rules define what we can and can't do, but we aren't rules lawyers and we have no trouble compromising on house rules. As a result of all of this, I think Hat Tricks are among the most balanced players and the most pleasant to game with.

To bring all this to a close, since you may be asking what any of this has to do with anything, is that knowing player types (not only yours, but your opponent's as well) can help you organize your group better. The overwhelming majority of us are casual players, so we're not talking tournaments which pair you up with players randomly. In our personal circles, its easier and considerably more fun by finding the types of players we fit with socially as well as strategically. That way your gaming sessions are win-win regardless of the outcome.