Fantasy Flight Games To Release Star Wars: The Card Game

During the  fourth quarter of 2012 (which is fast approaching) Fantasy Flight Games will release Star Wars: The Card Game. The company has recently met success with their latest X-Wing miniatures Star Wars game, and this new announcement will no doubt keep fans excited.

Staw Wars: The Card Game provides head-to-head gameplay centered on tactical and strategic planning that has players waging cinematic battles between the most iconic and memorable characters and ships from both the light and dark sides of the Force. This is the complete redesign of Fantasy Flight’s original idea, and Eric M. Lang has been able to breathe new life into the model.

In the game players will be in control of memorable characters throughout the Star Wars saga. You can incite epic wars between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, ambush Han Solo on Endor’s moon with tons of Imperial troops, or launch an entire fleet of Star Destroyers to take out anything in their path across the stars. With this Living Card Game and the ability to control famous characters the possibilities are endless.

The basic premise of Star Wars: The Card Game pits players on either the light side or the dark side of the Force as they duel for the fate of the galaxy. The light side player fights to make tactical strikes against dark side objectives while the dark side player focuses on reinforcing his position of command.

The dark side player will constantly attempt to erase all of his opposition and secure total control of the galaxy. This objective is tracked by advancing the game’s Death Star dial. The dark side advances the dial at the beginning of each of its player’s turns and can push its advancement by making successful attacks against the light player. If the dial ever makes it to 12 the dark side wins.

With that in play the light side must race to find the means of thwarting the dark side’s plans. Time is running out, so you must act quickly. The light side player will win once three dark side objectives have been destroyed. These objectives are cards that represent the dark side’s missions and strategies. Cracking an objective requires a lot of firepower to get past Imperial defenses.

Each battle that takes place in the game allows both attackers and defenders to coordinate units, including characters, creatures, vehicles, and starfighters to try and turn your opponent’s strategy on its head. The attacker targets and enemy objective and commits units to assault it, then the defender assigns units to the objective’s defense. As both teams clash players fight for control with the game’s coveted “edge battle.”

In edge battles players will fight for initiative by bidding cards from their hand facedown, one at a time. Once each player has passed or run out of cards to bit they compare the number of Force icons on the cards they’ve bid. These cards are then discarded and the winner gains the edge, being the right to strike first in the assault.

All cards are useful in the game and no cards in a player’s hand are without value. Certain Fate cards can trigger specific abilities when bid in edge battles that can either damage objectives or inflict wounds on units. Each edge battle lets players test their wits, and their guts, as they decide their own destinies.

Deck building is very important in Star Wars: The Card Game. Each player will choose an affiliation card and a group of ten or more objective sets, each that includes six cards: one objective and five cards that go into the player’s command deck. Command decks are automatically built and determined by the objectives the player chooses. Separate your objectives from your command deck, shuffle both, and you’re all ready to play. This new approach to the game makes deck building much more accessible to new players, allowing more versatility and playability.

Star Wars: The Card Game will be releasing soon, and I’m already riddled with lightning fingers in anticipation. The X-Wing miniatures game is a whole lot of fun, and this new Living Card Game will definitely be something a fan needs for their collection. Look forward to the game during the fourth quarter of 2012!