Star Wars Miniatures: Rebel Storm

Overall score:

When I first heard about Wizards making a Star Wars miniature (SWM) game I laughed to myself. I had seen their previous work with the very first D&D miniature set and its horrible paint jobs and sculpts, and I don’t care for the D20 version of the RPG (WEG forever!). A few months later we got some D&D Giants of Legend figures and I was quite impressed with how much Wizards had improved the sculpts and painting (it’s better then HeroClix) in just 9 months. I decided I’d give the Star Wars minis a second chance. Frankly I was quite surprised on the final product, not only did the Stormtrooper look like a Stormtrooper, but the detail and painting on them looked like they weren’t a mass-produced quick jobs. And as HeroClix and D&D minnis the figures come in randomized boosters each containing 8 figures, with some figures more rare then others, making them harder to get.

The figures, like D&D minis, use a standard 1-inch base that’s the common for most tabletop miniature games (for reference sake, Wizkids figures use a 1 and a half-inch base). Though, like the D&D minis, there are figures that have smaller bases (Ewoks) and larger bases (Jabba) though all fit onto the provided map (more on this below). I’m not a huge wargamer, never having played Warhammer or any of the other popular miniature games before HeroClix, but when I was younger I collected and painted lead figures for fun, so I know a thing or two about paint jobs on figures. Rarely do the colors overlap so your Stormtroopers joints are all black, and the white armor around it is white with little of the black on it (if any), the faces are well done will few or no paint gaffs. And this doesn’t just apply to the rares, all the figures have the same level of quality. Wizards really puts Wizkids to shame with this, while the two have the same quality sculpts, the paint jobs on these figures are much better. Also some of the common figures have multiple sculpts, for example I have 3 different standard Stormtroopers, their stats are all the same.

While having nice figures is a very good perk we all know most people will be buying this game based off how it plays, which is really simple and fun. Like D&D minis (I sure say that a lot) each figure has a stat card that contains all the game rules for the figure, but unlike the D&D counterparts there are no RPG stats on the flip sides. This is a little disappointing since that was one of the big pluses of the D&D minis, yet you can still use them for the RPG. Each figure has a starting Hit points (HP), defense values, attack bonus and damage, those familiar with the D20 RPG will be familiar with all these. Also listed on the cards are the figures special abilities such as force powers, multiple attacks, or that they’re a cool bounty hunter. The range of special abilities is really limited in the game; while that makes it easy to learn and play it limits what you can do in game and the uniqueness of the figures. There is little difference between a standard Stormtrooper and Rebel Trooper, and even when it comes to the more rare figures the only difference might be a few more HPs or a slightly better attack value.

The game rules are basically D20 and are played on a map much like HeroClix sectioned off into 1-inch squares that you use to measure movement and range, I could probably explain all the rules in this review and only take up a couple of paragraphs, but I’ll just give you the gist of them. There are initiative rounds, attacks of opportunity, movement and standard actions -- basically the combat from D20 without the roleplaying part to get in the way. There are multiple rounds in game each pertaining all the figures taking a turn moving or attacking, until each has gone once, then you reroll initiative. Attacking is done much like D20, you roll a 20-sided die and add the attack value to the result: if it’s higher or equal to the defense you hit. There are no dice roles to determine damage only to hit and to save, in fact all HP and damage values are in multiples of 10. If a figure has 10 life and takes 10 or more damage it’s dead, no way to prevent damage or reduce it. There are things that can modify ones defense value, such as cover, and damage values, like Cunning Attack (which is like a sneak attack in D&D). Cover is handled much like it is in D20, but you either have cover or you don’t, there are no multiple steps like in the RPG.

When I first read the rules I didn’t think much of them, they where just something hastily thrown together from the D20 rules. However, after playing it a few times I found the game to be very fun and fast. While the lack of more complicated rules and powers do limit the scope somewhat, the upside to that is the game takes little to play. Those that like their complicated miniature games might be turned off by SWM’s lack of depth, yet the simpleness has a charm to it. The big downside to the game is it wasn’t designed to support the Star Wars RPG like the D&D minis were for D&D; more or less all the figures are ones from the movies or books. You’re not going to pull out random Jedi x, yet most gamers will have little problem using Luke or Obi-wan until more come out. And lucky for us there's an expansion due out in December as well as mission books that will have new maps and senarios. All and all Star Wars miniatures are not only fun and simple but manage to have the feel of the movies as well.

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Written by Spriggan on September 15th, 2004