Atomic Mass Games (makers of Marvel: Crisis Protocol and now SW Legion, etc) has announced that they'll be releasing a new Star Wars miniatures game: Star Wars Shatterpoint.

Whereas all of FFG's SW releases have focused on the Galactic Civil War era (X-Wing, Imperial Assault, Armada, Legion), SW Shatterpoint will focus on the Clone Wars era. The teaser video on their website features Darth Maul, Ahsoka, Rex, Anakin, Cody, Obiwan, Grievous, Dooku, etc, with no Vader or Luke or Stormtroopers in sight.

From everything I've seen so far, this looks like Star Wars: Crisis Protocol...yep, just a re-skin of MCP with a Star Wars flavor. (Both games are made at the 40mm scale...for comparison, Legion is 32mm, and SWM is 25mm.) MCP had caught my eye earlier this year, so I can give a quick summary here which might help to foster a discussion about SW Shatterpoint.

In MCP you bring a team of 10 unique characters and usually draft 4-6 of them using a point-buy system in response to your opponent's squad and also the mission scenario and objective cards that are selected. I think this is a really cool mechanic. Different mission scenarios have different squad points, usually ranging from 17-22. Therefore, a big part of the strategy in building your team is being ready with viable options for the various scenario points totals and also for the different objectives that you'll be playing for (ie, control an area, retrieve-and-return, etc)...all of this in addition to the combat considerations that we're familiar with in SWM. In these ways MCP seems to have a really solid foundation.

Additionally, each character is designed with multiple unique powers and traits and abilities, not unlike SWM characters. So Hulk is a big (and expensive!) bruiser who just won't die, while Black Widow is a nimble (and inexpensive) character that is superb at retrieving mission objectives but won't last long in combat without some help. Again, after some initial exploration it seems like this is also a very strong element of the game.

Things I personally don't like about MCP after watching some gameplay videos:
--Piles of dice tend to be quite swingy. I initially enjoyed X-Wing but eventually stopped playing precisely because of the dice...they were far too swingy for my tastes (only 4 successes on a d8 attack die if you don't spend Focus). Then, after playing SW Imperial Assault for a while, I returned to SWM at least in part because I prefer the simplicity and reliability of a d20. But MCP (and presumably SW Shatterpoint too) uses piles of dice. It seems that you're often rolling 4-6 dice (or more) for attacks and 2-3 for defense...the difference between sums is how much damage is done.
--Painting. Ugh! I've painted approx half of my Imperial Assault collection, and it's just too much work. While the end result is nice, painting is really not enjoyable for me. And honestly, the paint jobs in my SWM collection are just fine for me...I'm more interested in a game than an art collection!
--Movement rulers/templates. The puzzle of maneuver templates in X-Wing was pretty cool, but in Legion and MCP it just looks tedious. Movement and terrain considerations are some of the biggest factors that have kept me out of Legion and MCP...there's just not enough terrain in these games to affect gameplay. I prefer BY FAR the grid movement system we have in SWM, where walls and pits and doors are a key part of the strategy.

Here's the thing: while I've tried Legion (my first game was so boring that I never even finished it), I haven't actually played MCP. While Legion is mostly squad-based (Vader commanding 3-4 squads of Stormtroopers), it looks like SW Shatterpoint will be more like MCP, with multiple heroes contesting certain objectives in a certain scenario. There are only a few generic Clones or Battle Droids in the SW Shatterpoint video.


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All of that is background for what I want to say here: Many of us will be able to play SW Shatterpoint (almost) for free. Anyone with a complete SWM collection already has ALL of the characters that we could expect to see in that game for several years.
...And they're pre-painted.
...And you don't have to worry about those minis breaking or chipping during travel.
...And since we already own them, they're FREE! All we'll need to do is buy the core set for the dice and other gameplay components, and then print off the various character cards, and voila! A new game.

Of course, if we wanted to get into the SW Shatterpoint tournament scene then we'd need to pour in the (piles of) money for the official products...but that's to be expected.

So what are your thoughts? Are you interested in seeing if SW Shatterpoint is an enjoyable game? I'm intrigued and I may give it a shot.

I was excited when I first heard about it.

Are we sure they come unpainted? That is a big minus for me.

I also HATE non-grid systems. too cumbersome, fidgety, and loose subjective interpretations. Another big minus.

+1 to literally everything you said here.

Even outside of intentional cheating, there's just too much subjectivity. The tiniest of little accidental bumps to a piece could make a huge swing in results.

It would be fine as a very casual play for fun once in awhile thing - but to put even close to as much time, money and focus as we've put into SWM - not a chance.

Terrain wise... I already have trouble finding space for all the minis. Storing terrain would be a nightmare. And while terrain can look good, it's a lot of work and doesn't cover basically every conceivable Star Wars location the way the maps do.

For what it's worth, as someone who buys Crisis Protocol minis just to paint them and hasn't even played the game (did own the core set but just painted it and then sold it), if these are the same level of quality they'll be pretty nice. Crisis Protocol minis come on a little sprue and some have some minor customization options like different heads or clutter to add to the bases. I really enjoy the level of detail they have. It's not overly complicated like Warhammer character models but having the pieces sculpted separately is nice.

Obviously, this is only helpful for those of us who enjoy the modelling aspect and is pure negative for anyone who doesn't want to paint. As someone who got into SWM as an excuse to paint more star wars models, I can see myself picking up a few characters on sale as a ceneterpiece even if the game system doesn't appeal to me.