Atomic Mass Games has been talking more about gameplay for their upcoming Star Wars miniatures game, Star Wars: Shatterpoint. We're still yet to see any gameplay videos but we do have some new articles looking at squad building and gameplay basics for this new game.

Star Wars: Shatterpoint // Atomic Mass Games

There have been articles over the last few weeks looking at the aforementioned Missions and Squad Building elements of the game but the one we're focusing on today is all about Gameplay.

At the heart of your games of Shatterpoint is the use of an Order Deck that determines which character can act during a turn during a Round. During Rounds, players will alternate back and forth between sides and draw from an Order Deck to see which character or unit gets to act. Everyone has two actions that they can do on a turn including the likes of Move or Combat but you can also use Abilities or Focus for extra boons.

Ahsoka Tano // Star Wars: Shatterpoint

But, what if you draw from your Order Deck and get Ahsoka Tano when you actually wanted to active Anakin? Well, you can (for a price) set aside that card into your reserve and draw a new one. That second Order Deck card has to be used and there is only space in your reserves for one card so you'll need to be able to adapt on the fly when it comes to Shatterpoint.

I like that we're getting a fluid turn sequence to the game and whilst I'm sure that some folks will be rather peeved that they have to work with the hand they're dealt by the Order Deck, I think it should make for some interesting gameplay moments. Didn't get the character you wanted? Well, now you have to come up with a different plan of action and work to make the best of your situation. There is also another card in your Order Deck to talk about though, the Shatterpoint Card. This allows you to activate whichever character or unit you like!

Mandalorians // Star Wars: Shatterpoint

We've not been told about attacking and defending yet but dice in Shatterpoint come in two flavours. Attack Dice are eight-sided and Defense Dice are six-sided. A future article is going to go into more detail about how all of that works.

The final morsel of information concerned The Force and how that works in-game. Characters will generate a pool of points during your games that can then be used to activate special abilities like Force Jump and more. I would assume we'll see the likes of Force Lightning, Push, Lightsaber Throw and more in the mix as well.

Anakin Skywalker // Star Wars: Shatterpoint

Whilst the information for Shatterpoint is coming out in drips and drabs, it does sound like it could be quite fun. The meat of the gameplay has yet to be revealed (namely how you beat stuff up!) but I actually quite like the Order Deck and the back-and-forth that you're going to be getting between characters.

I would like to see how this game works in its entirety before diving in and I would suggest that others do the same. Pre-orders are live for Shatterpoint but it's always a good idea to try and get a full picture of a product before you leap in!

What do you make of what we've learned about Shatterpoint so far?