Star Wars: Shatterpoint — First Contact Mission Pack Review

Star Wars Shatterpoint games are all about playing the objective, so what better way to emphasize that than by requiring players to chase down those objectives! The First Contact Mission Pack adds the game’s fourth set of mission cards to the game, where players utilize a ‘Clever Ploy’ through each Struggle. Where things get a shakeup is that, during the second and third Struggles, players have chances to change out where the objective tokens are… mid-Struggle!

This definitely feels way more chaotic and random than previous missions. It shakes up some of the core mechanics and plays that can cause total steamrolling. Movement has always been important, and now it will be even more important for this mission. So, units and squads that can rapidly move into and through the map will be at a great advantage. These would be Iden Versio and Moff Gideon squads, but soon Cassian, Jyn, and the Pathfinders will be solid contenders.

Clever Ploys - When a player reveals their Shatterpoint Card, if they choose not to shuffle it back into the Order Deck, before that player chooses a Unit to activate, they resolve the Clever Ploy on the Active Struggle Card (starting with the active player). First Struggle is the same, but Second and Third Struggle cards each have their own Clever Ploy in addition to the active objective token location. During second and third Struggles, if the active player controls three or more Active objectives, the opposing player spends 1 momentum and then randomly reveals one of the set-aside Struggle cards of the same phase, choosing one of the maps on the card. Players then flip the corresponding objective tokens over. 

So, even though the cards are randomly revealed, there is a fair amount of strategy involved. A player can commit to getting the tokens, but at the cost of losing the location of those tokens, potentially to the greater benefit of their opponent. 

There may be circumstances where you won’t want to trigger the Ploy; it’s not necessarily an automatic decision. For example, a more mobile opponent would benefit from changing it to a more favorable layout. However, some of the Ploys favor teams that have healing, which means there could be intentional plays to change the Ploy. This mission could see Third Struggle encounters happening more often, as opponents may let the second mission go because they either can’t or don’t want to chase the objectives.

Compared to the other missions, I find this one to be really dynamic in terms of the requirements to move and be thoughtful about capturing objectives. It’s not so much about throwing as many bodies at the problem as it is about playing up strengths of units, including mobility, lethality, and defense. 

With the new expansion packs All the Way, featuring Cassian Andor and K-2SO, and Deploy the Garrison, featuring Director Krennic, I think this Mission Pack will see a lot of play casually and competitively. It may not necessarily shake up the meta, but it gives players more options for their teams and certainly requires a different mentality when playing it.Will you be utilizing First Contact for your teams? How will play against teams that are going to benefit greatly from it? Comment and let us know! Don’t forget Follow Gaming Trend for more Star Wars: Shatterpoint articles!