Star Wars Miniatures: Starter

Overall score:

First off is the new starter, which is an interesting change from previous starters (the last one was with Revenge of the Sith back in early 2005) which had started out with Rebel Storm and Clone Strike being simple boxes that were just bigger boosters in look. Then with Revenge of the Sith Wizards moved to making the starters like a board game in look with a very nice box (that I still have and use) and a map on a hard board much like Monopoly or any other board game.

With the new starter Wizard’s has used quite a different approach. Instead of having a set specific starter the new one is not tied to any set, nor is it a box like previous versions—it’s more like something you’d see action figures come in than a miniature game. While this change isn’t bad, I actually think disassociating the starter with any set, like Wizkids does with their Heroclix line, is a smart move since you can focus that product on introducing the game and it can have a longer shelf life if it’s not related to a set no one can buy anymore. That being said I don’t care much for the packaging just because the previous versions were actually nice for new players since they could double as a figure carrier, and this new style won't work, but I’m sure retailers will like it since it takes up much less retail space.

The Starter comes with a new Vader, Old Obi-Wan and some rebel and Stormtroopers, since this coincides with Alliance and Empire, which is supposed to be inspired by the original movie. I would have liked to see the two forces presented make up of all the named characters and have the total point costs lowered some so you could have seen Obi-Wan, Luke, Han and either Chewbacca or one of the droids against Vader and…well Stormtroopers I guess.

Not all of the main characters, or big-named ones, need to be powerhouses that take up ¾ of your team, and this starter would have been a nice place to do that—plus I think it would help the starter sell. The figures themselves are pretty standard for the figures they represent. The Obi-Wan is a buffed up version from Rebel Storm with most of the same powers and Vader is a mix of his from that same set and Revenge of the Sith, but nothing new. The best figure in the set is the Rebel Captain, which grants Rebel Troopers Twin Attack (they can make two ranged attacks).

The map that comes with the starter is a double-sided one which is a first for a starter, though not new to the game itself, which has a map a generic Imperial Base and a map of Korriban—which I can only assume comes from one of the comics or books and not from the movies. The Deathstar map is fairly generic for the game, lots of rooms, doors and long hallways. But the Korriban map is very new design nice for the game (at least I haven’t seen anything like it for the game) with a bunch of pillars and rubble (much like Karnak) that make for a lot of small open spaces as well as cover from ranged attacks--it’s something that melee squads will do quite well one and looks fun to play.

Alliance and Empire (not to be confused with Rebel and Imperial, which is a mini-set of 24 figures from previous releases that also came out this month), the first new set in a year for the game (I don’t count the starship battle game) since Bounty Hunters. My first reaction to this set upon opening was, “What happened to these figures?” The paint jobs are horrible, and the quality has really gone downhill from two years ago, especially on the humans.

I got one of the many Han Solos in the set (there are three, if you can believe it) and his face and head are a mess. Even the sculpt is bad--his head looks squished vertically. Obi-Wan from the new starter has some of the same problems; his hands also are only half painted. Fortunately not all the figures suffer from this. A lot of the aliens look quite good, better than in previous sets even.

I think Wizard's changed factories or changed painting methods, and for some figures it worked out well on, while others it didn’t, though hands are missing a decent amount of paint on a lot of my figures. They also tend to be using a darker shade of color on many figures (Ewoks, Ithorians) and that’s hit or miss too, it doesn’t look good on the Ewoks at all. Look for yourself at the figure gallery for this set. Check out the Solos, Leia, and several of the Ewoks. It’s pretty accurate on what you’ll get in your books with the exception of the Tusken Raider, which doesn’t look anything (paint job wise) like the one I have.

The rules are still simple and easy, though for over-all quality of the paint job I recommend one of the earlier sets, and I still think the Revenge of the Sith Starter is better then the new starter, if you can find it.

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Written by Spriggan on August 27th, 2007