EPIS ODE01: The Phantom Magazine

N E W Z E A L A N D ' s o w n S W M V- m a g : D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 1

Star Wars Miniatures Explained!

For New Players and Wives Alike...

Vsets: The Future of SWM

H o w do e s V i r t u a l S W M w o r k ?

We Start Our Very Own SWM Mag

Lets see how that works for us, shall we?!

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EDITOR: OM THE FR

... B e g i n n i n g silly as a e r y S a g a H So, were about to hit the barEv

dless work in eason, en s hat you do es (thats w bequ stmas r) and Chri NZ summe a rock into a ing... then sshopp bs, new pro year, new jo new nges - so new challe urpects, d to ask o , we decide why aking ot add in m e elves, why n s ine and se tual Magaz hell a Vir . Why the at happens wh not? sons, well for our rea rWell, as at length fu about that talk t for rther in, bu ler up and fu th rsonally we let me pe now ce of our little sli me you to co ont know M world. D exthe SW ome from re youve c whe is and erever that e ctly, but wh a f the gam ver level o whate njoy hope you e ure at we yo ffess to be e dont pro any this. W ffess to be erts or pro exp layouts, but t magazine er good a to be rath do proffess we WM, quisit for S ad. A prere m ink? dont you th read in and o, read on, dAnyho Save11 goo part of our be a ained u be entert ess. May yo n about the enlightened and utiful ll the bea tame we ca g - thats foo ... oh, wait game . ball, isnt it..

! mauri mate Mauri ora, g... erry/k-daw kez/kezza/k om @hotmail.c zzamachine ke

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Ne w s , News, Ne w s .. .

art by: Kerry Logan

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HweraCon is Over!

Well, as everything is new (as ...And big congratulations to weve never done it before), Graham who walked away this is where well try and lay the triple winner. Not only did down any interesting bits of he defend his HweraCon tinews that come to hand. It tle, and take back the Save11 could be local, it could be Sheild(s), but he also mannational, heck - it could even aged to leap up to #1 in the be international - but well rankings to his personal best do our best to keep you inscore of 247 ranking points. formed about things in the game. Cool? For those who may not The Renegades and Rogues Virtual Set (out of SWMgamers.com) was the second Vset released (more on that later), and know, HweraCon is one this artwork - done by our very own Save11 artists - was selected to represent the 60-piece set. Now, we are calling it of the two big Majors our news section... I on the Save11 circuit (the know thats rather controverother being LowerHuttaCon) sial. I can just hear some folk which we hold annually. Well saying isnt it in good Star give you a better run down Wars tradition to be called Thats right, Vset 3 - the tion/order and well contibute Well, to answer the first ques- moment about the location on the day further on in the the holonet or somethin?. 60-piece Vengeance and the as a group. The recommended tion in your head: a Regional and how we can host it, and mag, but for now - kudos Well, yes, but I have to show themed 12-piece set of the donation is $20US for Venge- is a region-wide SWM tourna- Ive had some conversations Graham. Kudos. this to my wife at some point Cantina Brawl - are hitting ance, $5US for Brawl and, of ment in the States. They usu- with the US guys over the last and holonet is just a touch the Virtual stores come Feb- course, $25US for both. Then, ally have about 15-20 Region- year about them supporting too geeky for that. One step ruary of 2012. As per the last when the sets are distributed, als in the US before the last us in any way they can - which at a time... two Vsets, funding informa- the NZ order gets sent to Kez- big tournament at GenCon means that we feel pretty con-

The Vsets are back with a Vengeance... A Ne w Z e a l a n d R e g i o n a l

tion is now up on both Gamers and Bloomilk, and as per our last efforts, Save11 will be collectively donating and getting in some of those awesome printed cards.

za and hell in turn get it to (the SWM Mecca). you. Uber-easy. Our aim is to tie into that procYes - you can wait for the ess and host for the first time download to become avail- ever a New Zealand SWM able and save yourself the tournament - a NZ Regional dollars, but once youve held of sorts. Were in talks at the How it works for us Save11 NZ those cards in your hands, folk is that you will now email youll think twice, let me tell kezzamachine@hotmail.com you... and hell add you to the donaContact kezza NOW!

fident that come mid-2012, well be rolling that d20.

The big challenge is letting NZ folk know! If you can help put us in contact with NZ SWMers, contact kezzamachine@hotmail.com. Do it!

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n, eRancor), Ia obin (Savag nd Danny. rron), R nko a Aaron (Sha Andrew, He (theHutts), raham (kneeling), 010: G achine rHuttaCon2 ev, kezzam up at Lowe Cs), Mike, B ob (KF The gro ind Dave), B e, Alan (beh Dav

WHAT IS SAVE11?
by kezzamachine
Well, the short answer is: up with the idea to compile youre looking at it. The long resources for our group in the answer is, well, longer. form of a flash looking .pdf (chiefly so I could practice my Save11 started out as a name Adobe InDesign skills). The that we used to signify our idea grew from there into a own local playgroups - that tool that we could use to grow is namely Lower Hutt and the game in NZ and entertain Hwera in New Zealand (and beyond that. the few stragglers that held on to us). The name - obvi- Heres our goals and priorities: ously taken from the SWM 1) Give SWM resources to our game - was then printed on own Save11 crew. That is, tips, a T-shirt that Holmes (one of rules, new characters/squad our American New Zealand- ideas, where to find stuff on ers) gave to Kezza for his the interweb (is that thing still birthday. It sounded so catch- around?!) and much more. 2) ey as a name, it stuck - and Grow the game in NZ. There weve been Save11 ever since. ARE other players out there we need to find them and let But what is it now? Well, a them know about Vsets, new coupla weeks ago (at the maps, how THIS GAME IS NOT date of writing this) we came DEAD. Can I get an amen? and 3) Entertain any outer-NZ folk that happen upon this slice of the NZ game. Good on you guys for attempting to understand NZ humour (notice how I spelt it with an extra u?) - its not that easy. I dont even understand it half the time. But, perhaps there are other reasons for that... Anyhoo - welcome to the world that is NZ SWM. Wherever you are and whatever your understanding of SWM is, come on in. If you want to contribute to what we do, fanbloody-tastic! As long as you can fit in wi the 3 goals we have in here, bring it. Mauri ora, mauri mate!

WHO IS SAVE11?
also by kezzamachine (honestly!)
So, now that you have a bit more of an understanding as to what exactly youre looking at, next is the who - who we are as a group. At this stage, Im just not sure how big the New Zealand game is. I know theres a 2025 person group in Wellington that play out of the Pulsar Max store there (good on ya, guys!) and I think theres a group in Auckland, and I know of a few folk scattered around... but APART from that 25-30 folk, we (Save11 NZ) are it in this country. We are divided into two main groups: Lower Hutt and Hwera, with a few scattered around about. Hwera (on the west coast, about half way up the North Island) currently has 4 players - although they are a very, very tough 4. Again, BlooMilk Lower Hutt (just north of the is graced by KFCs Waiting for capital Wellington) has about you. 15-20 folk on their books and were right in the middle After that we have Darth O in of our Hutt Regional league Napier, Rich is Hamilton and a (to find 2011s Hutt Champ) few folk scattered about planand that has 16 players in it et Earth. That is us! including myself, theHutts, Sharron and Savage Ran- Well, thats the what and cor (for those of you on the the who covered. That only leaves the how, when, BlooMilk boards). where and why...

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his shoulder, and leans closer across the table, speaking in a hushed voice) You know. The re-writes.

Jerk.

The Stormtroopers walk off, joking about the music and dancing with jazz hands. C: Raargh? Hans smile turns to a grimace. H: Ah cmon Chewie, dont act He clutches his head, and looks the big hairy coy wookie with despairingly at Chewie me on this! Everyone knows H: You see what I mean Chewwhat were talking about, but ie? Its all changed. 20 years no one wants to complain ago those punks wouldnt about it! have dared walked into this At the exact point of Hans out- place, let alone threaten me. burst, the band finishes a song, And its all because of the releaving Hans words ringing writes. around the bar. Several pairs of eyes glance over at the table, but most dip their heads into their drinks, as if nothing happened. Most that is, apart from two Stormtroopers, who wander over to the table. C: Raargh? H: You know what I mean. The constant tinkering that Lord Lucas is doing to this series! Its watering me down, watering the whole experience down!

ing the script for the new edits, and youll never believe whats in-store. You know that scene where Im about to get put in the carbonate, and Leia says I love you! And I say I know.

George got worried that me growling constantly would start to scare the children. So Ive been taking Rosetta Stone: English courses and practising with my good buddy, Hugh Jackman. In all honesty, I quite like this language! C: Raargh. Plus itll let me make a move H: Well Im shooting the re- on that hot dancer chick at write tomorrow, and I have to Jabbas Palace. replace I know with some lyrics from Coldplay! Something H: ???... about tears and waterfalls! C: Yep, this is something Ive Can you believe that banth- been looking forward to for a poodoo?! I dont care if Lu- very long time cass daughter is a big fan H: I bet you have C: Raargh!! With that, Han shoots Chewie with his blaster under the table. Chewie falls dead onto the table top, mopping up the spilt beers in the process. Han gets up to leave.

Stormtrooper 1: Is everything alright here? Nothing bothering you about this establishment? H: No sir, nothing wrong with this place. ST1: I hope not buddy. Cos if you got a problem with this music, you got a problem with me. I went down the aisle to this tune! On the Death Star! Sure, that aisle got blown to kriff when some pansy ass commanders let a bunch of girl scouts in X Wings destroy the Death Star

by Mark Weir The setting The Mos Eisley Cantina. Han Solo is sitting in a rather familiar booth, twirling his blaster between his fingers, looking lost in thought. Chewbacca sits opposite, picking the remnants of some boiled womp rat from between his teeth with his claws. Chewie moans suddenly, above the din of the cantina band playing that song. Han seems to snap out of his reverie, and looks at his wounded colleague.

Han: I know buddy, I know! Im sick of this tune as well. If I had a credit for every time I had to bob my head to its jazz theme, I could settle this divorce with Leia and fly my ass Han: again to the Bakura system. ST1: What did you say? Chewie: Raargh. H: What? No, its not the music thats getting me down. I can always block that out. Or blast it out. Its this other stuff thats going on. You know. The stuff that no one wants to talk about. (Han glances over Han: Nothing.

ST1: Thats what I thought. Any way. Where was I? Oh yeah. Keep your voice down. The next band are on soon. And theyre playing the same song till 2am. Its a jazz number. You might know it.

H: Chewie, calm down! I didnt know you were a big fan too! Look, if its any consolation, Im flying Coldplay to the royal palace for a gig next C: Raargh. week. Ill get their autographs H: Look. It was in this very for you. [Whispers] - If I dont H: Australian Chewbacca my seat that I introduced my- accidently crash into an aster- ass. Sorry old friend, but trust me. Its better this way. self to millions of people. oid first Remember? That bounty Han then turns, and begins to C: Raargh hunter Greedo had me dead push his way through the bar. to rights. I distract him with a H: But you see what I mean. When hes at the door, the bar little David Blaine hand move- What will Lucas change next? man yells out ment, and then blast a hole in No ewoks dying on Endor? Barman: What happened him the size of Jupiter. Darth Vader going from force here? choke to force hug? The inC: Raargh. famous gold bikini replaced Han: Nothing. But if anybody H: Exactly. I fired first and by jeans and Ugg boots? asks - I shot first. smoked that sucker, making me a man not to be messed C: Raaaaaaaaaaaaargh! with. But that stupid DVD ver- H: I know buddy, I know. Still, sion comes out, and Lord Lu- I need the work. But Im hopcas has Greedo shooting first. ing there are no more drastic Mark is one of our good friends So I fire in self-defence. Self- changes. defence isnt bad ass! Shoot- C: Actually, there is one and a wildly gifted writer (for ing first, being merciless and change I should let you know the love of all that is good, dont tell him we said that!) saying mean things to blonde about who does so professionally. farm boys is! And what the H: WHAT THECHEWIE!! He has never played SWM and hell was Greedo aiming at?! YOURE SPEAKING ENGLISH! thinks were a little bit weird... The cockroaches? -kez With a slight Australian acC: Raargh. cent!? H: And that aint all. Im read- Australian Chewie: Yep.

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Star Wars Miniatures:

An Introduction to the Game

collectible card games like (every miniature Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi- has a factionSPECIAL ABILIT I E S Oh!, or Pokemon. Rebel, Imperial, So, thats the nature of the etc, and game- now lets discuss the you cant mix most basic gameplay, to give them in your an idea of how these things squad. Your work. squad can consist only of First, you pick a squad. How? figures from Look at your miniatures; each your chosen figure has an associated sta- faction and tistics card, which lists its abil- Fringe figities, including uresthe the cost to field n e u t r a l that figure. characters), strategy youre So, you and employing, and your personyour opponent al preferences. agree upon the size of a squad After the squads are chobeforehand- common values sen, you and your opponent by Daniel Ryan (dvryan) (taken from BlooMilk.com) are 100, 150, or 200 points- agree on a map. The game Star Wars Miniatures is a Col- opposing squad(s) by using rules are neither altered, nor and then you build a squad has more than a dozen maps; lectible Miniatures Game. abilities described on an as- are the number of miniatures using your miniatures that all feature Star Wars locations What, exactly, is that? sociated statistics card (each increased, as time goes on. A add up to that value. More (like Hoth, Endor, and Tatoominiature has such a card). collectible game, on the other powerful miniatures generally ine). Maps consist of buildLets start with the easy part- There are many such minihand, is living. You cant purhave a higher cost- for ex- ings, rooms, pits, towers, etc, Star Wars is the theme of atures games- Dun"What's the big deal? ample, Boba Fett costs and have small squares suthe game. Everything about geons & Dragons, 50 points, but a storm- perimposed over these feait- characters, settings, etc.- is Axis & Allies, and Why are games like trooper costs only 5. You tures- squares in which you something that can be found Warhammer, to name this so popular?" pick a squad based on several place and move your figures. in the Star Wars universe, be a few- all have the same chase the entire game in one factors- figures that synergize The map you choose has it in the movies, TV, comics, basic premise. different room layouts and package. You need to buy well, the facvideo games, or books. Thus, leads to different options- for a starter pack (containing tion youre while the game can appeal to Finally- what makes it collectthe purposes of introduction rules, some miniatures to be- u s i n g all, it perhaps will be enjoyed ible? In a normal game, you thats all we need mention at gin, and maps/dice/counters more by those who hold a buy one package that conthis point. as necessary), and booster certain fondness for this par- tains all the pieces you need packs (containing random ticular universe. to play. Theres no need to buy Now that you have miniatures, m o r e squads and a map, you which are unMoving on- what are mini- and the both place characters known to you atures? As the name implies, g a m e on the map in squares of b e f o re h a n d ) . miniatures are scaled-down s t a y s your choosing (in accordYou build up your versions of the real thing- in s t a t ance with game rules), collection by purchasthis case, Star Wars charac- ic- the make sure you have their ing more of these packs. From ters, creatures, and vehicles. corresponding stat cards your collection of miniatures, You make a team of minianearby, and youre ready you then build a squad to tures- called a squad- and to begin! You alternate field against your opponent. place them on a map to batusing your figures (acIn this aspect, its similar to tle against miniatures on the tivating them) by movbaseball card collecting, or

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ing them and attacking, until every figure has activated in a given round. Then, a new round begins, and the characters may all activate again. This process continues until one squad is completely defeated. Characters can do damage to each other by attacking and using their abilities. Once a characters received damage exceeds its Hit Points, it is defeated and removed from the map. As this is an introduction, I wont discuss rules here- this was just intended to give you an overall feel for the game. One final point- if youre new to the game, or collectible games in general, you may be asking yourself whats the big deal? Why are games like this so popular? There are two main reasons: Strategic Depth. There are several aspects to this. The first aspect: collectible games are really two games in one.

The first game is to design the best squad you can with the resources you have. The second game is executing that squad- playing it to reach its fullest potential. If you fail, or are poor, at either, chances are youre going to lose. The second aspect: there are many successful strategies out there. The way to win is to defeat your opponents squad, but there are many ways to do so. Do you choose a team that of smaller characters that work well together, use average characters with some devious abilities to work in your favor, or choose strong, powerful characters to destroy your opponent? Chances are, youll use elements of all of these- and the possibilities are endless, which leads to the next reason.

the same pieces or cards, just at different times or in different combinations. Its still fun, of course, but collectible games have the advantage of introducing a great deal of variety. You pick the pieces; you pick the board. Each piece introduces twists to the rules that can significantly change strategies. And, since new expansions are released several times a year, theres a steady stream of more pieces available. All this means that no two games are ever the same; in fact, often theyre quite different. This fact alone gives the game quite an appeal.

duce twists you need to know if youre to remain competitive. Finally, its best to make sure you have players in your area with whom you can playthere are many good collectible games out there, but you cant enjoy them alone.

You can find the original article by Daniel on BlooMilk under their Article Section. Thanks Daniel for an excellent introduction to the game! -kez

Now, nothing is without drawbacks. If youre new to this type of gaming and thinking about becoming involved, know that collectible games are quite expensive if you plan to be seriously involved in them. Games of this sort also require a little more attention, as the Variety. Typical games (like new figures released introMonopoly, Risk, Solitaire, etc) are fun, but can be monotonous. Each game is going to go about the same- youll see

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vars and d squa rawn theme h &B T hat d In B ions on t .) Droi O K-3P t to iat us, pr o vo es ka, o com) Grie er IG-86 Pana find it b t figs Milk. al d r n loo ain cos Gene mma Capt enario I om B c on. en fr y low s possi- Army Co quads s k n iti a this n (ta ts s ma ppos on Brow e o reasons pick off a e as soon o advan portunis Cann th e p Sli t er bl gler y one I g main ntrol as possi e the tem Ugnaugh umb aron Smu e onl outn a few empo co by A olo, gat th ow eir othS l e ere le. N killing th d other Han s (this is efore the ns t b Th o ne ru b ad le. If an by .) tage litionists as possib ou, Squ t Kill Han possible e Dodsome ba-k someo uad. g th of n or a sq playi o Demo s as fast ctivate y ist migh vations if ct is are t a ti g Extinis an outlintehat can w ent in out ortun they control er ac ost fi elem n. es a- c y dont e to Opp swaps his uad T y q o gi tiv y d he s e pla trate temp low ac n- the itio od b the roun lay adsic s the gam compet hat T ay run dva y go e a p t f isa at sa t in well urnamen strategy es, m lp mitig tempo d ant to nd end o ate huge squads w e e m e a n r o s of t is no on your ga ses h n squad case you nna as can c or Thraw ive Conf that lo is do tio at re all . s th r iti Do The in you of do so vantage have In e. In ns o eral o ll w quad wi context e tag fter Gen n safely ls ce wi a s ca e ar ho a his s very tly in th ver there at go n as you ood in t heavy w l. e oppo g n h o nyour ffere ay. Howe entals t d soo nces are r figs are k off tr o di e a pl am po c ye Pic ry if ame asic fund ames pla n- Ch io the oth to kill. e very mma ing Tem reason. g u b a ar co In S s runn .B ard tg and t for some e in mos g these em n st and h ing fruit t over ent i s doing i control n th on co tru nin ang ng ear e big are is, d o ff as wh M. L anipulati ry. he lo doing th to their st trol h the temp gy. Kill o lity) t of SW and m r ul lf Mo victo top syne not qua in caref e yourse rocess. ts y to ep ke eir S eak his , c s p t th the early ntity br expo in the n be rotec (qua possible e who ca y o: sly p s ns man figs as . Tho he Temp t a squadr guayers jealou his ng gains unds per of t s ri a ro l of o p 2 te i one gallo first n th Coun playing al Dodonnanow Dodo. some fa- the d the good i n an n to Whe g Gener nerally k em very trafe easo e h in r r ontrol is ttacks s me are gt nn he u g t in ru yo po c her Ano st a is us - ga Hill ame uad ol. Anot o runs tem pportuni 86 Assas role. San etag on sq m O mp the ntr Gnly nt that mpo co ining te up cilitate one say I p mecha , curre se or re te ga ht ny wn wa e a ig S r ra for Som s that u re: (Can oid?) or l Th t stra d fo r mira etho is to jus ad m trol a squ sin D rand Ad o con trol G con Temp ics (

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afely for s lth, ies abilit Stea y, reat bit are g e ibilit Som g gam Invis ovC in h, eing ous hold tealt r s dvantage by b f a o Supe d, A ored ke is sc bit area plete mat. Cloa mbit e gam a com Diplo d Ga e any er, an in th end of yers have ive m mes g er with t the la h co r ov ease p a ter both p figs. Eac l e fo ts at ys pl ack that o disus ma lwa t at ho As a ll feedb tota d, af heir open se r gre e free s u can roun ed all t mulate a figs a o k othe very rove the t and d. Im An p to ta t. Often y n optivat ou accu ave any im is ac in . Jus your to m g ways to trategies me ride pponen ge on a ply score nd, y s if you h o it o rou s a n m u uts t ky at amb int cussi y other ne gave your me dam then si em locko 5 po ea. This g e score yo , ic tr of or an th es so . be Do eryo th h! gur ing ng figs and put s ar sing ge can if ev Id be ric ts fi preventi round. ward of n thi added to killing re. U i re nen oor nk t n thi po by nta co ber very ns d cents e tha adva is the reached ur total s all and reat num ll give eir 2 ck a urning fir ave mea t th lo s, o ug Win yh ret time are a g done. I have ermine y l score a t be t from are if the earby (an or a e Outs ds e u l arti Ther his can b to de your tot n s, w les, b f the Lock Frien quad igina unr re t Be a n doors amp squa lk the o s Door , Not ways quick ex terms o mKnow find n BlooMi . PM ope of in 6 g a ppod to an ith n es playin ur o xa s. e c n o n som o think i ot the e ply ht w time You Gam u are the e o ectio h e r aron naug r beam) n ap and y any doo by A Article S ou feel th e t re at r a matc t o d o sur cle If y verride, ave y atte ts an you can tance, al sc s, ir fo n o sh ep ap fin e h the O ilk if ins The tion tim winner. D all conc o that der with oes not of the m ow bit mpetition BlooM ck. ame our ops -kez la t d on N am a regu ines the kill em om ples to any g hen y him nent l, on a lo . Period. ing Gment co most imt m. feedb e fr he w to rm ren n ro Gamourna . e dete uck in th comes them e aware o apply t urge cont ould Wi aming (a , or of th me play t t sual t b a e e n sh In ga get s lity that med c bit and t is trying is on you is scr nt fu comm mbit actors of one ?) that is ed they ta s into en -ti Ga che d to k men g non to use ga tice pon f some lways Inde t deit rea aled off adde pure loc tant n r b a y. por it was prac playi . In orde se Gam , as they r friendl . I don nds nt must . time t can be override t o mb to preve es eing e Ga Any gam vely you ames nice, tally righ make fri fact om b n ec tha or as g ti to etitio tegies fr to be eff it oom ingle do simple n o i p ar effec in timed are a s ow t people, want n er tra as mb s a co it e you e h out ve. In ord ents ga ad. with g can b eir door ints with win scrib fluence oud m ti he am can h in o on y t fro re ad effec nd in last pers winn g rid of t minor p nto tourn e in your core, a away e the sco ime. a in i ing n t else on th he e s sb tive Runn if you hav end of getti aining a yourself . Im t e advice omeone . I lway know th e left e g g n tectst a s k e i k mu gam e near th then pro to trol, nd lockin bit to w e to nt of tim es. If to ta s I think that boo hav g a d ay e gam mou You l tim vanta g the lea great w ght lead Besid y wrote games. with the a e at al will find i a m in d n and m u Gain ur figs is re you m in a a roo alrea ou to wi e ga lapse yo matcho he y in th t this se ing y atches w eat them er. want le w g clo won. b you losin have win m able to of fire po ats self e h t your ou could not b t up tes g to say t you , in s, y gh up strai ne is go ly again so o d m e Som ir or frien ting the g. :) ea n fa not obably b eir whini r h are p o enjoy t t learn

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The 5th of November began like any other day in the small sleepy town of Hwera, New Zealand (population: 10,000 folk and whole lot more cows including a giant statue of one that greets you upon entering the town from the south), but little did this quiet hamlet know that descending upon it would be the heroes of geekdom coming to free the townspeople of its nongeekiness... Hwera is one of the two major centres in the NZ Save11 world, and as such, contributes one of the two major tournaments on the NZ calendar - that being HweraCon. Yes, it is in fact just Hwera (the towns name meaning breath of fire!... or firebreather?) with the suffix Con shoved on to make it all the

player who killed the most points in a night won. Bev pipped me by 6pts (scoring 283 to my 277) to take the Hwera crown after both of us went 4-1. (We disbanded the offensive points system after Aaron won the next Tournament despite being 2-3 while others were 4-1...)

to 5 rounds using our own variation of the Swiss system. Graham has written about it and describes the winners action rather well, so heres his take on the day: Its a four hour drive from Lower Hutt, where a lot of our playgroup lives, to Hwera, so we only had some of our Hutt players there, and we were missing luminaries like Sharron, our number one ranked player going into the tournament, and Savage_Rancor. We have one big annual 200 point tournament each year, and one big 150 point one, and this was the 150 point one.

HWERACON2011 How T h i s S a v e 1 1 Major Went Down

by kezzamachine and Graham (TheHutts) more geekier, but its importance on the Save11 calendar is huge. At the morment it is the only 150pt tournament all the others being 200s (save for a couple of 100pt blasts). It began a coupla years ago in 2009 with an unofficial tournament (back before we knew just how big this game would be for us). The tournament scene for us started in Hwera so we played Hwera Rules which meant that the

Wind forward to last year, 2010, and we had stepped things up a bit. HweraCon was now official - it had a trophy and everything! We played 150pts, 8 players, everyone plays everyone. We started at 2pm and finished at 2am, crowning Graham the first official Major title-holder, which cemented his place as I was actually fortunate that I had a chance to defend my one of our top tier players. title; were blessed with a ten This year we stepped up to 10 week old baby who sleeps replayers, as well as scaling back ally consistently at night, oth-

erwise I wouldnt have been able to go. After some playtesting with my wife the night before, I changed my mind from running a Bastila/Jaq Rand/Dash squad to giving the new Windu a run. Rex was just nailing everyone in playtesting, and Mace is a bunch of fun to play. My full squad was: 65: Mace Windu, Legacy of the Light Side 33: Captain Rex 27: Ferus Olin 9: R2-D2 Astromech Droid 9: Ugnaughts * 3 6: Mouse Droids * 2 (149pts, 9 activations) We had 10 players, with 5 rounds of Swiss, then a final. This is how it went down for me:

Geekdom reigns: Rich, Henko, Dave, Kezza, Bev, Andrew, Ian and HaweraCon champion Graham (TheHutts) and his trophies. Absent is Bob (kfcs waiting for you) and Kurt.
photo by: Viv

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my Mace. After he bought his Ferus adjacent to protect Mace, my doombot towed my Mace to take out his Ferus. Next round my Ferus survived three hits from his Mace, only taking 40 damage, then next round my Mace took his one down, so I had all my three attackers in good shape against his Dash. Ferus was adjacent to R2 at that point, so went Dash hunting, while Rex and Mace cleaned up the fodder. Playing against an unboosted Dash in almost every game, I was finding that hes just not that much of a threat against Mace - he needs 16 to hit an activated Mace in cover, and Mace normally has enough force points to try and deflect anything that gets through his high defence.

Round 3 - vs Republic

R2 and Rex hiding behind Windu. Jacen got a lightning off on R2, Rex, and Mace, then Jaina finished off Rex. From there, Mace, with some help from Ferus, somehow managed to fight through Dash, Jaina, and Jacen, finally finishing off Jacen with 10HP remaining. The game ended with Dodonna trying to snipe the last 10 HP off Mace, then creatively trying to kill my last Ugnaught; he needed a nine to hit. At this point he had a Camaasi and R7 in the turbo lift in Gambit, and was ahead on points, so if Dodonna had succeded in killing the Ugnaught he would have won. But the Ugnaught survived, and I got a completely undeserved win where I was outplayed but managed to still snatch victory.

photos by: Kezza except the photo of Kezza... ...that was by Dave

Round 1 - vs Sith

I started off against one of the weaker squads in the field. A newish player chucked together a bunch of random v-set Sith, including the Leviathan, Traya, and Bandon. He only had five activations, and no door control (!), so it was pretty easy to get a couple of rounds of free attacks off before he even engaged, and I won without even losing a piece. Im still trying to convince him that the Sith

Leviathan isnt a good piece, but at least he knows to bring some door control next time. This was the only game where I won map roll, and the only game where my opponent didnt run Dash.

Round 2 - vs Republic

I played the third Mace squad in the tournament - this one had Dash and Rex as support. On Rattatak Arena, Dash and Rex ended up both on the arena floor, trying to snipe Mace through the gaps in the rock. They were only two squares apart from each other, so R2 was able to tow Mace, Mace ran 8 squares with a force point, then got enough crits and flurries to finish them both off in a single activation. From there it was his Mace vs Ferus, Mace, and Rex, so they cleaned him up without too much fuss.

Round 5 - vs OR

Here are some pics of the action, even though SWM isnt actually the best sport of action-photography... (left) the first round, followed by Bob and I in action; (above) things get serious after dinner (thats Dave V Graham in Round 4); and (below) the last round is contested.

I played almost a mirror match - the other player had Dash instead of Rex, and no doombot. He out-activated me, but he had to chop his Mace though some mouse droids to get to

Round 4 - vs NR

This was easily the closest match I had, against a New Republic squad with Jacen, Jaina, and Dash. I forgot that Jacen had lightning, so I had

I ended up playing against the exact team that I was thinking of running; Old Republic with Bastila, Rand, a JBM, and Dash. I gambled by sending R2 and Mace after Atton Rand, who was the biggest threat to Mace - Mace obliged with a crit on his second attack, and although Atton made the avoid defeat save, he failed it on the flurry. With the biggest hitter gone, it was relatively straightforward for Rex, Mace, and Ferus to finish off the rest, although he did take down my doombot, which made it the second closest game of pool play.

Graham wraps it up on Page 25... see you there!

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so I was concerned about where we were going.) From there Vset production began and within time we saw set number one Destiny of the Force in December last year, followed by Renegades and Rogues, Battle of Theed and the Epic set (a full set, smaller theme set, and specialised set respectively) in August this year. February 2012 will see the release of Vengeance and Cantina Brawl. But this is not a history lesson were here to look at what they are and how they work.

May 2010 came along bringing us the event we all dreaded: Wizards of the Coast (WotC), the manufacturers of our beloved Star Wars Miniatures game was ending the line. We had known about it for a few months and May arrived leaving us a with a sour taste in our mouths... was Masters of the Force truely the end? It wasnt even that spectacular a set! We looked at the collection of minis we had amassed and wondered

Very simply. The Vsets consist of new characters to add more dynamics to the game, as well as including new versions of some of our existing characters. These new virtual characters are represented by a stat card which can be printed out which looks and feels much the same as the WotC cards. Because these new characters are made by volunteers from the community, they cant make new minis, so they have suggested proxy characters by kezzamachine that you can use to play the new character. how long it would be before began talking about how to the same pieces would get take the game forward and For example, I might want to old to us. those conversations resulted play the new Sora Bulq (Sepain what we now know as the ratist) character. I can obtain But that was not the end, nosi- Virtual Sets or Vsets. a copy of the card or print it ree... that as it turns out was out that gives me the stats just the beginning of an excit- That is the brief history of for him and a list of his abiliing new chapter in the SWM how they came about. I dont ties and Force powers. I then world. Within a short time profess to know the full story, choose a mini to represent of the WotC announcement, rather these are the things I him in the game. The sugthe folk at SWMgamers.com observed as they happened. gestion is the Weequay Lead(spearheaded at that time by (I had a growing group of er. I could use him, or the Dean Miller) put their hands players that had invested a Weequay thug... or even a jedi up to do something about lot of time and money into character with a lightsaber the game we all loved. They the game our Save11 group that represents his likeness in

How does it work?

The Vset artwork thus far (from top): the first Virtual set, Destiny of the Force (by armoredgear7); Vset2, Renegades and Rogues; the wildly unofficial Battle of Theed artwork (they didnt vote for it, but kez did art for it anyways) for the 10-piece theme-set; and the 12-piece EPIC set. (All the bottom three were done by kezza.)

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Are They Legal To Play?

some way. The most important things to consider in the choice of proxy are does it look like the character, can it be confused and does it have the same base size as the suggested mini? If it is clear who it is, then youre away. Once youve got your head around these simple steps, you are free to bring in as many Vset characters into your squad as you like. All you need is the card and a mini with the same base size that has been suggested. Piece of cake. But there inclusion in the post-WotC game has raised eyebrows and questions. If youve never seen them, or played them, you might be wondering about this weird Vset thing. Well, lemme answer a coupla questions and see where it goes from there.

This is the first consideration who says that these guys are legal and why should we listen? Well, the SWMgamers folk who created these virtual sets and maintain them are also the ones that were largely responsible for running the national tournaments in the US and maintaining the SWM rules not the WotC guys, who had handed it over some time before. Sure, WotC still were responsible for the game, but they had brought in experts to administer the game at that level. The game is still very much alive in the US and the national regional competitions that run every year are growing. The supposed death of the game hasnt hindered it at all! The same folk who maintained the rules before May last year are the same guys who run it now and who oversee the Vset production. Yep they are as

legal as any of the old pieces, as far as top level play is concerned. At the end of the day, whatever youre local group runs is what is legal for you. Still, it should be noted that these pieces are subjected to a high quality control process in fact, one more rigorous and thorough than anything WotC threw at it.

Does it take away from the old game?

Who Makes Them?

Here is the current process. A design team is formed, consisting of three or four top players who put their hand up. (It changes per set too.) They take a list of the characters, abilities and powers that the community want (lists are made on both the BlooMilk and SWMgamers websites) and select a set-list of characters from that list that mostly fit in with the theme of the set. Then comes a coupla months of heavy designing, before the characters are sent out to playtesters.

Heres the cool thing anyone can be a playtester! Weve done it a coupla times now and it is easy to be involved! You get sent a bunch of characters and then you report back on how they work. Where WotC playtested with three or four folk in the office using a few characters over a week or two, the Vset characters get hundreds of games, against myriads of different scenarios by heaps of players. Once this rigorous quality control has been done, the new pieces are changed to suit the feedback, perhaps even re-tested, and then sent off to be made into cards. To answer the who is quite simple: we all make them. Easy as Does that mean youll have to that. run these new pieces to win? No, not at all. The old pieces are still as good as theyve ever been. You might just see some things youve never seen before thats all.

No in fact, it enhances it. In the old game, pretty much only four factions (Republic, New Republic, Rebel and Empire) could win a major tournament, with the other factions scarcely getting a look-in. Now, however, the lesser factions have been brought into contention by new pieces which balances the factions. Now you can bring a Sith squad or any of the them to a tournament and have a chance to win. This also applies to lesser characters too ones that were okay but have been superseded and never saw play. Some of them have been revamped or accommodated in new characters the game is simply getting bigger.

Doesnt This Take Away From Buying Pieces?

If you are concerned about the market for minis, the introduction of Vsets as far as we have observed in our own playgroup does two things. Firstly, and I think most importantly, it gives some of our less serious collectors a chance to compete in the game. There are a few of us that can bring out the most expensive characters and run them, but for others of us, we dont have the money to buy the big characters and so, we must expect to lose week-in, week-out. Now, thats not the case. A modest collector doesnt have to get completely left behind (and therefore lose interest in the game). Secondly, however, it reinforces the market for the game. For a start, it keeps

how STEP 1 to u se vsets in 4 e asy steps

STEP 2

STEP 3

STEP 4

1. Take Vset card

2. Add Recommended Mini...

3. Add both to squad...

4. ...and enjoy!

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What is EPIC?
So then, weve mentioned EPIC in our Vset talks... and you might be thinking, what the heck-amonia is an EPIC? Good question.

us keen! Keen people buy product. People who think the game is dead dont. Plus, now that you can actually get a decent Darth Revan (if you havent seen the new Vset one, he is awesome!), theres actually a reason to buy him. Sure you can use a proxy but a lot of us cant resist having the real deal. Another interesting side-effect of Vsets is also customising. More and more collectors are now taking spare minis, hacking them apart and then piecing them back together with a dab of paint as a new mini. This dedication requires parts! As long as the Vsets continue, the need for product, whether for customs, proxies, or just for the continuing love of the game, will still be there.

What Does NZ Do?

Being the NZ pointman for the distribution of official Vset cards from the US, I am pretty sure I am aware of most folk in NZ who use the Vset characters, and they are by and large Save11 guys. And we swear by them! All our games use the pieces and we are fully behind the work of the SWMgamers and BlooMilk guys that continue to develop this exciting lifeline that SWM has been given. As for the rest of NZ, part of our goals for this mag is to promote Vsets and the modern game so that we can see this game grow here. I hope that you now understand Vsets! If not, ask any questions you can and Ill be happy to help! kezzamachine@hotmail.com

Apart from simply advancing the SWM game, the Gamers guys started thinking of different formats they could introduce to keep things fresh. The past coupla years have seen such great additions as Tile Wars and Mystery Map, but they wanted to go bigger. Tied to this was the wish from many players to have bigger, more powerful characters, Weve shown you the Vader and soon EPIC was born. example from the EPIC set and alongside of him you Essentially, the 12 EPIC char- have: Lord Hoth, Leader of acters (ranging in cost from the Army of Light (OR), Darth 126 to 154 pts across all 10 Bane in Orbalisk Armor (Sith), factions) are high-powered The Phantom Menace and characters that are considered Darth Maul, Shadow Hunter to be the truely epic character (Separatist), Mace Windu, from that faction. Their abili- Master of the Order and Yoda, ties and stats are such that if Legend of the Light Side (Reyou stand them up in a stand- public), Luke Skywalker, FIrst ard skirmish, theres virtually of the New Order (Rebel), no competition for these guys Tarentatek (Fringe), Mara Jade are uber! Skywalker, Galactic Hero (New Republic), Mandalore the First However, theyre not de- (Mandalorian) and Czulkang signed for the standard skir- Lah (Yuuzhan Vong). Downmish game, so you dont have load them and give em a to worry about the potential whirl - they are a blast!

also by kezza... to break the game. Currently they are legal for the Epic Duo format only which is: two characters, 1 being an epic, faction rules apply, which must be 200pts or under. From there it is the same as Dynamic Duos - move 1 character each phase, rinse and repeat. They also great for fun skirmishes, or such things like the Royal Rumble (read on in AGF) and there is plans on the horizon to include a new 500pt Epic format in the floor rules for 2012... keep a look out.

Where do I get em?

Go to www.swmgamers.com and on the front page you will see Gamers Downloads. In there are links to the pages and .pdf files you require. Ive also listed the specific links below so there can be no confusion! Download them today! Vset1: Destiny of the Force - http://www.swmgamers.com/page.php?35 Vset2: Renegades and Rogues (and Battle of Theed miniset) - http://www.swmgamers.com/page.php?76 EPIC - http://www.swmgamers.com/page.php?77

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Te n

ga me

by Mike by Dave The two reasons why Atris is a game changer are (1) she makes Echani Handmaidens very dangerous and (2) she has Force Meditation. The separatists acquired a couple of very good pieces and, although Sora Bulq is great especially with Whorm Loathsome, Poggle would be the most useful as he brings 2 important things to the table. by kez Pre-Vset, the Children of Yun Yuuzhan had to either travel up the map in big groups due to their ranged CEs and special abilities, or commit sacrilege and include Mouse Droids in Firstly cheap units, 2 point their squads (which couldnt Geonosian Drones equal lots help with the SAs anyway). of activations. For 39 points you get 16 characters. You Post Vset, however, the Yamget good tempo control and mosk brings them out of Tier it also is usually enough to 2 and into the competitive wait out Bastila. Secondly realms as it makes not only you get bombs, bombs that CEs, but also those juicy SAs can do at least do 20 damage unlimited range. That, my when they blow up so that 39 friends, is a spicy meatball. points, in characters, is rough- It gives the Yuuzhan Vong a power theyve needed for ly 300 damage. some time. Poggle does extremely well in low point games, where the It doesnt end there: the Yamdamage output of explod- mosk can take a commander ing drones and their activa- effect from your opponent tion count really shines, but is and replicate it for you. Imagjust as effective in high point ine Yuuzhan Vong with swap, or Evade... salivate now. games.

by Oli With the introduction of c hange r s the new Bastila Shan to the So, weve talked about what Old Republic, Star Wars Minithe Vset has done for the atures had a new way of dealAtris is usually played in game... what then are some ing with broken squads. Echani Handmaiden squads. pieces you might expect to Her Advanced Battle Medita- She gives them good bosee? tion not only cancels all en- nuses to attack and damage, Out of the 130 new figures emy commander effects for a and makes them cheaper. over the three sets, we have round but also gives all allies These squads will often feapicked a kind of Top 10 that +10 damage for the same pe- ture someone like Bastila JM, we think have changed the riod. Both effects are amazing Thrawn or Jabba CL to pump game for the better. This, how- by themselves, but she can the Echanis up even more. ever, is a very fluid Top 10 as also hold her own as a mid- You can potentially have them people will have their favour- point jedi. So many squads hitting for Double-Twin 30s at ites and, well, some pieces are are completely dependent +15 attack. still waiting to be unearthed on commander effects these as game changers - thats part days that Bastila can destroy Force Meditation is also exof the excitement! Anyhoo, if most builds with just the 3 tremely useful. It increases you play the modern game, force points for Advanced your ability to hurt your oppothese are some of the puppies Battle Meditation. Shes also nent and decreases their abila follower! For 33 points you ity to hurt you. If shes given youll see roaming around. simply HAVE to use her in any Renewal, you can have this in Old Republic build! Enjoy, effect for the entire skirmish.

also by kez When the fringe get a meaty character, all the other 9 factions potentially benefit from it. Celeste is an out-an-out monster of a piece. By herself she has decent base stats and the combo of Triple Attack, Jedi Hunter, Lightsaber Duelist and Ambush make her a frightning prospect for any opponent. Add to this Force Cloak - the ability to virtually disappear - and she is one tough cookie. But were only just starting to get good. The new ability of Sith Alchemy changes the ballgame. Using this force power allows you in some situations to actually replace an opponent piece with a Rakghoul (a fiendish savage beast which in turn creates more Rakghouls) which then immediately benefit from her awesome CE. Ive lost to her and I know just how scary she is...

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by Ian Atton Jaq Rand is a decent in-faction shooter for the OR. He always performs well if you protect him. Atton lifts OR and Sith into far more equal competition with the stronger factions. He plays completely differently in OR and Sith. Punching well above his weight in terms of cost and HP. Fun combos can be had with Exile, OR Senator, Bastila in OR and Exar Ghostie in Sith. He goes nicely with at least two commanders from R&R, one being the Klatoonian Captain. Attons similar to Captain Rex in cost and damage output, but subject to more CEs as a follower, and he has Force Points for rerolls. Bastilla can stop the Rebels and NR from evading his attacks.

One of the aims of the Vsets is to boost existing piecesto make them playable. The Klaatoinian Captain excels at this, giving Speed 8 and Evade to Pilot followers (ie pieces without a Commander Effect who either have the Pilot special The Shaper +10 special ability ability or Pilot in their name). is her most essential characteristic to provide all Vong al- Previously the Republic piece lies within six squares an extra Saesee Tinn, Jedi Master was a 10 damage, creating a much competent anti-melee piece, more powerful squad. Nen with Lightsaber Block and Yim also has Master Shaper, Djem So Style Mastery, but one ally gains +4 attack, +10 with no ranged defence he damage and gains the De- quickly became a pin-cushion molish special ability. against shooters. With the Klatooinian Captain, he gains How about a Voxyn double Evade, now making him a reaattacking for potential 60 sonable option for a competidamage each on a jedi at +23 tive game. attack! Disruptive or Bastilla cant ruin these affects either The Klatooinian Captain also as neither are commander ef- synergises well with the Twilek fects. The introduction of Nen Black Sun Vigo,meaning the Yim has become almost com- pilots he gives evade to can pulsory to all Vong squads, gain access to Greater Mobile understandable! Attack. Wookieepedia says that Nen Yim was a visionary scientist who played a pivotal role in the Yuuzhan Vong War. This is exactly how she is represented in Star Wars minis.

by Bev

by Graham

Dee just kept writing and blew Being a sith character can be out my 120 word limit... so he pretty bad for ones health as gets two columns! -kez very few sith have any defensive abilitys but with his nice Once Thrawns right hand twenty two defence, Lightsab- man, then eventually Supreme er Defence and Master of the Commander of the Imperial Force two, Darth Revan, Sith Fleet, Gilad Pellaeon was a Lord is a hard man to hit. leader through and through. His Star Wars Miniatures card As for offence this guy has the adequately reflects this with ability to move twelve squares a potent Commander Effect and unleash a tidy 20 points enabling the player to swap damage with base fourteen out an allied Imperial Comattack twice (if using light- mander on your squad with saber assault) or 30 points an Imperial character of equal damage with 18 attack twice or lesser cost. if the target is un activated, and with master tactician this He is rightly considered a game will be pretty easy to pull off. changer of the V-set due to Then after all that you have this effect, plus Ysalamiri and the choice to swap him out of all for a low 16 points. Being harms way and let one of the able to customise your squad lackeys take the damage. to that of your opponents, is a huge factor in its success, All up Revan sith lord brings and can greatly increase your a lot of much needed love to chances of getting the upper one of the most over costed hand and that all important factions around and for only victory. With Bastila Shan, sixty two points. Jedi Master becoming more

by Robin

by Dee

and more popular amongst tournament winning squads, being able to remove a commander (which may have very limited benefits due to her Force ability) and replace it with a more suitable piece, is like gold to an Imperial faction player. Also, as Bastilas ability is a Force Power, Ysalamiri provides another huge disruption to Bastilla squads! There are quite a few outstanding combinations to be had when using Admiral Gilad Pellaeon. My favourite use of his Commander Effect is using Emperor Palpatine, Sith Lord to bring in Order 66 clones, and then swapping him out for a more beneficial Commander Effect piece. All up Pellaeon can be a very versatile addition to any Imperial squad and will have your opponents crying into their Jawa Juice, cursing his name.

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Welcome to Know Your Enemy. In this section, we plan to examine each of Star War Miniatures ten factions in Turn. This issue we take a look at the Republic, the faction that recently won the Save11 tounament HweraCon. The Republic has also been a strong force in official tournaments in the USA in this years GenCon National Championship, three of the top 8 squads were Republic. A lot of the discussion below applies to top level competitive play, but if you attend one of Save11's major tournaments, you will find that a lot of the players use squads that are in fact top tier, and that to compete youll have to know how to deal with issues like door control and tempo control. his Ysalamiri force bubble, so Adding to the Republics theyre not affected by force movement breaking capapowers. bilities is Captain Panaka, who in conjunction with Mas So What Gives the Republic Amedda, can swap two meits Flavour? dium-based allies from anywhere in the board. Often R2D2, Captain Panaka, and Mas Speed and Mobility The characteristics that most Amedda are found together strongly define the Repub- in Republic squads, and for lic in the game of Star Wars 40 points, the three of them Miniatures are speed and enable Republic squads opmobility. With R2-D2 Astro- tions to hit and run all over mech Droid, they have argu- the board. ably the most cost-effective piece in the game for 9 points, R2-D2 has the tow cable ability, where he can move 12 squares while enabling an adjacent ally to move simultaneously with him. This enables tactics such as towing a Republic piece in behind the enemy lines in order to attack a key commander on the other team. If you plan to play Republic squads, hes simply an essential piece. In the words of one Bloomilk poster, there is literally no reason that anyone who is sane should build a Republic squad without that little SOB.

KNOW YOUR ENEMY

What the Republic Doesnt Have

Why Choose A Faction?

By Graham (theHutts)

I had a conversation with another player recently, where he asked about the viability of running an all-Fringe squad. While the fringe has some great pieces, and its possible to run a squad thats mostly comprised of fringe pieces, each faction has some powerful options, which will make your otherwise fringe squad even stronger, and give it a specific flavour in the way that it plays. For instance, you could use the Imperial piece, Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, in your otherwise fringe squad, to give your pieces access to force immunity with

Most other factions in the game have a piece that either allows or suppresses tempo control; the ability to activate less than the standard two pieces at a time. For instance, the Rebel and New Republic piece General Dodonna allows the player to choose between activating one or two pieces at the start of each phase, while countering this, the Mandalorian Counter Intelligence Officer suppresses all Commander Effects that affect activations. The advantage of tempo control is that you can shuffle a few Ugnaughts and Mouse Droids until your opponent has finished moving all their pieces, then use all your attacking pieces to make unreciprocated attacks.

Galloping Attack and Strafe

This lack of tempo control would normally hurt the Republic, but they compensate for this by having several pieces that can kill multiple pieces in one turn, evening the activation count. Yoda on Kybuck is able to gallop 20 squares, and make an attack against each piece that he passes on the way, while Anakin Skywalker on STAP is able to twin attack each piece that he flies over. Yoda on Kybuck (also known as Yobuck) has generally been the key piece, as hes strong without commander effects, but Anakin Skywalker on STAP (also known as AniStap) has gradually gained strong support pieces, like Qui-Gon Jinn, Jedi Trainer (who increases his attack by +4) and the Klatooinian Captain (who increases his speed).

Recent Pieces

Before the introduction of the recent v-sets, most of Republics most competitive squads were based around Yoda on Kybuck. Yoda on Kybuck squads are still probably the Republics strongest options, but other squads without Yobuck have been gradually gaining in strength. Most controversial has been the intimidating beat stick Mace Windu, Legacy of the Light Side, wholl we discuss in more detail below, but theyve also gained some strong mid-level Jedi and some cheap non-uniques like the Spaarti Demolitionist and the Naboo Trooper.

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image from: Genndy Tartakovskys Star Wars: Clone Wars

Mid-Level Jedi

Top Republic Squads: Yoda on Kybuck

The dominant Republic squads over the last few years have been based around Yoda on Kybuck. The most popular build is known as Skybuck, using General Skywalkers commander effect of momentum (+4 attack and +10 damage against adjacent enemies) to boost Yoda on Kybuck and the fringe piece Dash Rendar, Renegade Smuggler, into deadly attacking weapons. 51 Yoda on Kybuck 47 General Skywalker 28 Dash Rendar, Renegade Smuggler 27 Lobot 23 Captain Panaka 9 R2-D2, Astromech Droid 8 Mas Amedda 4 Gran Raider 3 Ugnaught Demolitionist

There are other squads that also build around Yoda on Kybuck; this is another strong squad with Yoda on Kybuck and swap, with completely different secondary attackers, known as Ki-Blast. 51 Yoda on Kybuck 34 Ki-Adi-Mundi, Jedi Master 33 Captain Rex 27 Ferus Olin 23 Captain Panaka 9 R2-D2, Astromech Droid 8 Mas Amedda 9 Rodian Brute x3 6 Ugnaught Demolitionist x2

KNOW YOUR ENEMY cont.

In a competitive scene where the Old Republics Bastila Shan is cancelling Commander Effects, and Yoda on Kybuck and the Separatist Lancer can easily kill low hit point pieces, the Republics Jedi are its strongest pieces, as theyre more self-sufficient without Commander Effects and can The Republic also has a bunch stand up to a few strafes from of great pieces around the 30 the Lancer. point mark; such squads are often built around Qui-Gon The Republic do, however, Jinn, Jedi Trainers Command- have some strong commander Effect of +4 Attack to allies ers for low cost non-uniques. with a force rating. This squad These commanders include features several new pieces, Queen Amidala, who gives and won a recent tournament; out rapport and mobile atits known as Dont STAP tack, Mon Mothma, who alBelievin, and like the above lows pieces to make an attack squad it was published by the when they are defeated, and Admiral Yularen, who gives Bloomilk poster Weeks: shooters opportunist (+4 attack and +10 damage against 36 Bardan Jusik 35 Anakin Skywalker on STAP enemy pieces that have activated). 33 Captain Rex 30 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Some strong pieces to build Padawan 24 Qui-Gon Jinn, Jedi Trainer around include Gungan Artillerists with Captain Tarpals, 18 Klatooinian Captain Senate Commandos with Cap9 R2-D2, Astromech Droid tain Argyus, Naboo Troop6 Mouse Droid x2 ers and Pilots with Captain 6 Rodian Brute x2 Panaka of Theed, and Spaarti 3 Ugnaught Demolitionist Clone Trooper Demolitionists with Plo Koon, Jedi Master. A lot of the most successful squads in Star Wars Miniatures are built around a group of medium threats for example the GenCon winning squad this year was an Old Republic squad where the main attackers are all around 30 points.

Non-Uniques

Despite all of their powerful Jedi in the movies, the Republic have never had an effective beat-stick piece before Mace Windu, Legacy on the Light Side, released in the recent v-set Renegades and Rogues. The piece has created controversy, with its ability to inflict 60 damage and gain an extra attack on a critical hit. As well as his damage output, with greater mobile and triple attack, Mace also has Lightsaber Riposte, so he can hit back any melee piece that hits it, and Force Absorb, which helps him against other big beat sticks; if, for example, Lord Vader Lightsaber Assaults him, Mace can Force Absorb the assault and negate the damage. These abilities mean that Mace is great against another melee pieces, but hes weak against shooters he needs to spend 2 force points to have a 50/50 chance of rolling a save to avoid damage against ranged attacks, so good shooters can rip through his force points quickly.

The Mace Windu Issue

Squad Building with Mace Windu

Because Mace has only recently been released, players are still working out the best squads to build around him. While its an option to play him with Yoda on Kybuck in a swap squad, it doesnt leave many points for a strong backup shooter and enough filler pieces like Ugnaughts and Rodian Brutes. Other options that have been suggested include a tank squad; forgoing swap, and instead using Ferus Olin as a bodyguard, a Gungan Shieldbearer to help avoid ranged attacks, and Captain Rex and Republic Commando Darman as backup shooters.

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POWERS

out, Mace can only kill one a time, and theyve got a good chance of shooting him to pieces before he can take out every time he wants to make a all of them. lightsaber reflect or two force ii. Bringing in a Jawa Scav- points whenever he wants to enger with Lobot. The Jawa try to reroll a hit.

Is the new Mace Windu Too Strong?

Mace Windu, Legacy of the Light Side gave the Republic something they didnt have previously, a big beatstick capable of moving and putting out 120 damage in a round.

Until recently, the only top tier pieces capable of this were Mara Jade, Jedi, for New Republic, and Lord Vader for the Imperials. While the new Mace is strong, its debatable whether hes as strong as Lord Vader and Mara Jade. Lord Vader, with Overwhelming Force, and Mara Jade with her non-melee attack, have ways of getting around melee defences like lightsaber block and parry. Also, while Lord Vader and Mara Jade Jedi can output 120 points of damage relatively reliably, Windus damage output is reliant on rolling 17s, 18s, 19s, and 20s Counters to Mace for the big damage critical If Mace is dominating your lohits. cal play scene, here are some suggestions to try that should Additionally, the Republic be able to beat him: doesnt have access to the tempo control and initiative i. A bunch of low cost shootcontrol that other factions ers. A good build could be a have. For instance, Lord Vader bunch of Twilek Black Sun Viwith the help of Admiral Ozzel gos in an Imperial build with can wait until the other player Xizor and Imperial Governor has finished moving all his Tarkin. If you spread them

pieces, then swap in and pile masses of damage on a piece. Thrawn, with Master Tactician, should win initiative, and Vader can either swap to safety or keep attacking. Because the Republic doesnt have a tempo control piece or an initiative control piece, Windu doesnt have these advantages that help some of the other major beat-sticks. Although he can utilise R2-D2 to deep strike and take out a key enemy shooter or commander, hes by and large a piece that you throw into the fray, cross your fingers, and hope for the best. On his day he can rip a strong squad to pieces, but on a bad day he can go a whole game without rolling a critical hit or get ripped apart quickly by shooters.

Scavenger, with accurate shot and ion gun, can take out R2- vii. Direct Damage unless D2, and take away a lot of youre adjacent to him, Mace cant do anything about force Maces mobility. lightning, flame thrower, force iii. Vong a bunch of Yu- push, or other forms of direct uzhan Vong Jedi Hunters damage. A Rebel force push or an amped up Warmaster squad, for instance, could Nas Choka, should be able cause him a lot of problems. to clean up Mace most of the time. Because theyre Force Mace at HweraCon Immune, he cant reroll his at- Mace squads performed very tacks against them or riposte well at HweraCon 2011, with the three Mace squads finishtheir attacks. ing 1st, 3rd, and 5th. In my iv. Droids are immune to his opinion, Mace is an extremely critical hits, so are able to sur- strong piece at 150 points, as vive better against him. Du- his base stats and force powrge, Jedi Hunter and Saesee ers are strong enough that Tiin Jedi Master are also im- he can function well without any support. Additionally, a mune to critical hits. lot of the counter squads listv. Ysalamiri an imperial ed above work better at 200 squad with Admiral Pallaeon points than at 150 points, so I or Grand Admiral Thrawn can expect hell be a force at next get Mace inside a force bub- years HweraCon too. I think, ble, taking away his ability to however, there are plenty Riposte, roll Lightsaber Re- of ways to beat him at 200 points itll be interesting to flect saves, or reroll hits. see how he goes in Save11s vi. Force Suppression two upcoming 200 point games pieces are coming out in and in the big tournaments the upcoming v-set with the in the United States next year. new force ability Force Sup- Hes a blast to play, as its fun pression which reads Enemy trying to roll 60 point critical characters within 6 squares hits. But most experts are still must spend one extra Force picking that Yoda on Kybuck, point each time they spend Captain Panaka, Mas Amedda, Force points. This will cramp and R2-D2 Astromech Droid Maces style, as he will have will continue to be the key to spend three force points pieces for the Republic.

The Vset Mace: His stat card (thats a spicy meatball!) and the recommended mini. Dont mess wi Samue-L...

The Mace Windu Issue

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SWM Essentials
by Aaron (Sharron) Okay, so the discussion came up lately about what fringe pieces are KEY for when a player is just starting out our magical world of SWM, and there was some mighty intense discussion (a post was made on Bloomilk) which produced some considerable feedback to be used by yours truly. So, in the Star Wars world, which pieces are key? Which are great fun? Lets start with the essentials, pieces you will ALWAYS use. When you are playing, you should think of these, as soon as you start. Mouse Droid Ugnaught Demolitionist R7 Astromech Droid Rodian Brute Lobot Caamasi Noble Jarael All of these characters are cheap, easy to pick up, and you will use all the time. As a young player, the best thing you could ever have in this game is OPTIONS. Lobot gives you options with reinforcements, you can have lots of little Mouse Droids or Ugnaughts or Rodian Brutes running around giving you options, Caamasi lets you have cover wherever you are, nice option to have. Jarael can be in about any squad, which is good to have also. Options let you play the game lots of different ways, and figure out how you like to play the game. Defensively, offensively, mix of both, take games odd ways, looking for counterattack, etc, are all ways of playing, plus others if you can think of them. Every player has different playing styles that they enjoy. These characters are essential, and you need them when you start out so you can run them, and you run them just because you can. Czerka gives twin attack to characters with 10 damage, so Whipid, Kel Dor, Jawa, Twilek, all have 10 damage. It is so enjoyable trying to hide a Czerka whilst shooting people with twin. Its a great synergy teacher, as you get twin within 6 squares, and movement teacher also, as you have to keep the Czerka safe to gain twin. I like to throw out the $30 Challenge whenever I can. What that means is youve got $30NZ to spend on minis - what do you buy? I am a firm believer that you can get yourself a decent lil army for as little as that... and thats only made easier now that Vsets are on the scene!

by kezzamachine If we start with Aarons must haves, the Mice are at $3.99, Ugnaughts $0.69, R7s $1.75 and the Rodian Brutes weigh in at $0.49. Caamasis arent in stock at the mo but I remember them to be about $0.35 - cheap as chips - and that leaves us wi Jarael for $4.99 and Lobot at $1.49. *Phew!* The second lot are cheaper Anyhoo, $30NZ in todays so thats a good place to start. exchange rate equals about Id weigh that all up looking $23US. Take off about $3 something like this: for freight and I have about $20US to spend at Cool- Mouse Droid x2 = $7.98 StuffInc (one of our favourite Rodian Brute x4 = $1.96 online SWM stores). $20US R7 Astromech x2 = $3.50 you will find is not a great TwilekBlackSunVigo= 0.89 deal to spend on minis and it Czerka Scientist = $0.69 evaporates before you even Caamasi Noble x2 $0.70 really get going. However, to- KelDorBountyHunter=$0.35 days challenge is to buy from Uggie Demolition x3= $2.07 Aarons list next door. Lets do Lobot = $1.49 it. Jawa Scavenger = $0.49 Total = $20.12 That puts us a fraction over our $20 but I think is the best mix from Aarons list for the dollars. Its not stellar and many folk have far more than this (10 Mouse Droids anyone?) but this is a great starting point. The only glaring omission is our good friend Jarael and it breaks my heart not to have her there, especially since she gives you so much for five bucks. However, youll see championship squads without her, but not many that wont include Mouse Droids, R7s and Uggies. This also gives you Lobot and good reinforcements. As an option, if you wanted to get Jarael and go offensive, you could go for this instead: Mouse Droid x2 = $7.98 Rodian Brute x4 = $1.96 Caamasi Noble x2 $0.70 Uggie Demolition x3= $2.07 Echani Handmaiden x2 $2.50 Jarael = $4.99 Total = $20.20 Yeah... Aaron forgot the Echani! Shes inexpensive and goes nicely wi Atris, plus you get Jarael and the must haves of the Mice and Uggies although you miss out on the R7s and Lobot n friends. Oh well, what can ya do.

All of these characters are key for a new player of Star Wars Minis, just for them to enjoy themselves, if not for anything else. SWM is created for that very purpose, and these characters do a great Some other characters that job. CHASE ME are key when starting your SWM journey, are these: Im thinking that Im buying for someone who has vir Czerka Scientist tually nothing - hence why Jawa Scavenger they need this stuff - or that Whipid Tracker theyve started collecting Kel Dor Bounty Hunter and have a few pieces from Twilek Black Sun Vigo a given faction and need to bolster that with this lot of Fringe extras.

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S Q U A D
By Oliver (Darth O)
Hello and welcome to the first squad article for the first magazine dedicated to our beautiful game, Star Wars Miniatures, in our perhaps even more beautiful country, NEW ZEALAND! My name is Oliver, and I go by Darth O on Bloomilk. Im sure youll find out more about me later on if you feel like stalking me enough. Anyway, better get on with the article. The Felcors That Just Dont Die

M A G I C
104 Felucian Warrior on Rancor (x2) 20 Yoda, Force Spirit 19 Princess Leia, Hoth Commander 15 Jabba, Crime Lord 14 General Rieekan 12 Anakin Skywalker, Force Spirit 8 R7 Astromech Droid 5 Jawa 3 Mouse Droid

My personal favourite trick is that Anakin gives them Mettle. This means that each time a Rancor fails a save, if it rerolls with a force point it gains +4 to that roll. To top it all off, Jabba gives them Cunning Attack to improve their damage output and attack. Essentially, you are looking at two big beats that have a very long life expectancy who also have Regeneration! Every round they dont move, you can remove 10 damage from them. Choice. There are some changes you can make to this squad to suit the situation. For example, if you feel you need more mobility you can take out Jabba and the Jawa and put in a Twilek Black Sun Vigo. He gives them Greater Mobile Attack so the Rancors can use their Triple Attack and still move up to 8 squares. You can also take out the R7 and youd have space for another mouse droid and two Ugnaught Demolitionists. If youre blessed with having three Felcors, you could play them all together with just Leia and Anakin with filler and have a ball! Alternatively you can play with just one Felcor and use the remaining 52 points for more activations. You could add commandos, jedi, door control, or just about anything else! Its really up to you.

This is the most recent photo we have of Darth O... here seen taking the local public transport option into the Napier (NZ) township...

The squad Ive got here seems to be innovative; people on (200pts. 10 activations) Bloomilk thought so anyway. If you just cant see the synHeres the original squad from ergy here, prepare to be when I created it in May 2010: amazed/confused! The main point of the squad is that Leia gives the Rancors a save of 16 to return to play with all damage removed from them. Yoda is simply a force battery, giving them access to his force points if theirs run out. Rieekan gives them Evade to go with their Parry, which means they can avoid both melee and ranged attacks.

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The

Roya l R u m b l e
By Dave
Otherwise known simply as a Rumble, this is one of the many whacky alternative game formats we play here in Hwera. These nonstandard games have helped the Hwera group maintain enough Momentum to play Star Wars minis every week for around 3 years now. I dont know whether its something in the water, the product of an over-active mind or the fact theres not much else to do in Hwera, but it seems every few weeks Bevan (the head of the Hwera group) turns up with another idea that we manage to turn into a workable and fun game. It also helps that we consistently have four players (no more... no less), giving us an incentive to invent group games that we play around a single map while we eat junk food, talk trash and have a great time with Star Wars minis... the other beautiful game. As a matter of fact, interest in the Rumble has even spread as far as the United States after Kez introduced them to it in SWMiniverse Podcast 38, which was later reviewed in Podcast 42. (Over there its being called Battle Royale)

ALTERNATIVE

Game Format

total for each persons squad. This can vary depending on the number of players (more players = fewer points) or the time available (less time = fewer points). As a rule of thumb, 200 points makes for a decent game. Our minis nights start at 7 pm and usually finish around 10 pm. Once you take out time for catching up on things at the start of the night, deciding which game to play, selecting squads and discussing the game at the end of the night, we have a little over 2 hours of solid playing time. So this is how much time you should allow for if you have 4 people playing a 200-point Rumble.

be) IF she was in the ring at we all trust each other, right? the same time as Vader (which In countless Royal Rumble she may or may not be). games, I have never seen a card damaged, lost, burned, The ruling about Unique char- ripped or cunningly altered to acters does not apply in this include the Tactician -4 ability. game, either. This means for example that you could have Once the dealer has everytwo Darth Vaders in your ones cards, then without squad. looking at them they place the

The game is designed to be Squad Selection reminiscent of the Royal Rum- There is no limit on the number of characters a player can have in their squad. There are no faction rules either. Commander effects, however, do not cross factions. They only affect characters within their own faction and Fringe characters. So you can run Darth Vader, Legacy of the Force in the same squad as Luke Skywalker of Dagobah to see if they really could have ruled the ble from the old skool WWF galaxy as father and son. But wrestling competition. It is you cannot use Vaders CE to played on a 7 x 7 square grid. give Luke an extra attack. You We usually use the custom could, however have included map which Bobby (refer pg.28 an Imperial character such as for more) made to look just Arica in the same squad, uslike a wrestling ring. ing Vader to give her an extra attack while within 6 squares First, players agree on a points (which she probably would

Nek minnit...
art by: Dave We have not used Epic characters in a Rumble yet, but if you wanted to include them you could make a ruling that each player is allowed one Epic character in their squad. You probably wouldnt be able to fit more than one Epic character in a squad and still have a reasonable points limit. Once you have selected your squad, pass your cards to the nominated dealer without showing anyone what they are. When they played the Rumble for the first time in the United States, this part of the game caused some consternation (see SWMiniverse Podcast 42). People were reluctant to hand their cards over to someone else. Fortunately, weve never had that problem here. Hey, cards in a pile under a piece of paper. They then shuffle them as best they can, usually by mixing them around on the table underneath the paper before gathering them all back up into a pile. The cards stay in that pile, underneath the paper, until they are drawn out.

AGF

FORMATS

GAME

Gameplay

The dealer takes the first card from the top of the pile and reveals it. It is then given to whoever owns it. Occasionally there will be two players with the same character in their squad. When this happens, it is often possible to identify whose card it is (for example, if one player has their cards

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acter in the ring, they roll for Initiative and play begins as it would for a standard game. At the end of the round the next card is drawn, and so on and so on.

prised how much of a mental game this is (in more ways than one). Also, the luck of the draw has a huge part to play in a Rumble. It may initially seem like a good thing to have a couple of your characters come out first before anyone else is in the ring. It means that you can despatch whoever comes in against you more easily. But because the winner is the last character standing, it is usually more of an advantage to hearted. Consider it a break have your characters drawn from all the planning, strate- later in the game. gising and deliberating which goes into a standard game. I hope youve enjoyed reading You will find out for yourself this. I look forward to hearwhat works in the ring and ing stories about your own Rumbles. Remember, this is a what doesnt. great go-to game if you have Being a group game and a more than 2 people wanting free-for-all, there are a lot to play, or if you want a fullof possibilities for alliances. on scrap without too much We gravitate towards a Kill- strategy, synergies or CEs. the-Leader kind of gameplay. This means that if one person In the issues to come Ill be is seen as having a really big filling you in on some of our lead, the rest of us will gen- other alternative game forerally gang up on them! This mats, including Lightning, Gas evens things out a bit, and Chamber, Random Rooms also means that the players and more. Watch this space who are not doing so well on (lane)! the night will have a better chance, so we all stay in the game together longer. Keep in mind, though, that these alliances tend to be very tenuous. Dont be surprised if your buddy in one round wins Initiative and Double-Twins you in the next. All part of the fun... youd be sur-

Winning

Quite simple, really. The last character standing once all cards have been drawn and all opponents have been defeated wins the game. There is no gambit, and there is no time limit. If you are short on time, pick a low points total before you begin! Ties are possible if two or more characters are defeated at the same time (for example as a result of Djem So Style or Thought Bomb).

Hints on Squad Selection

photos by: Dave

from several factions means that CEs are not very effective. So if General Rieekan turns up in the ring, he better have his blaster charged and his life insurance up to date. The Rumble is a great way to test out big pieces you are not familiar with, or ones you would never use in a standard game. Are you the kind of player who always walks on the Light Side of the Force? Try Lumiya, the Dark Lady and see how much fun Melee Reach 3 can be! Are you the kind of player who runs GGDAC and 20 droids? Try out Darth Maul, Sith Infiltrator and see if you want to fit him into your competitive squads. With the advent of V-Sets, we all have access to some really good characters from factions we may not even own, which can be a lot of fun in a Rumble.

in sleeves and the other does not). If it cannot be identified, each of the players concerned rolls a D20. The card is then used by the player with the lowest roll. The player who owns the card places the appropriate figure on the map, adjacent to at least one edge. It has just entered the ring. That character is alone in the ring for the first round, during which the player may move it as well as using Force Renewal or anything else the character may do. For example, they could use the Force Weapon ability

if they have it. Obviously there is no need to roll for Initiative yet, because there is only one player with a character in the ring. At the end of the first round another card is drawn. The player who owns this character places it as described above. If one lucky player now has two characters in the ring simultaneously, they proceed as described above. They have another chance to move into position, and perhaps gain another valuable Force Point from Force Renewal. If two players each have a char-

Choose characters that will be able to survive on their own, because chances are they will have to do so for at least a round or two. Melee pieces feature heavily in our Rumbles. Shooters can have a big impact on the game, but they need to have a decent amount of hit points. Echani Handmaiden? Probably not. IG-88, Assassin Droid? Oh, yes. You should not build a Rumble squad which is based around Commander Effects. You would be very lucky indeed to have your commander come out at the right moment to help the rest of your squad. There are some characters that can survive a Rumble and also have helpful CEs (such as Kyle Katarn, Combat Instructor). But the fact that most squads contain characters

Hints on Gameplay

The most important hint I have on gameplay is to have fun! This game is something a little different, and a lot light-

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TEXT

How

many

pieces

do you own?

I dont actually have that many compared to most ofthe other high ranked NZ players - less than 200.
How many you run factions could competitively?

Six. Im not so interested in the fragile, shooty-type factions. Lets take the opportunity to meet one of those wacky Save11 folks, eh? Well kick it off wi the current Save11 #1, Graham!
I nt roduc i ng whAT IS YOUR F AVOURITE FACTION?

Bloom i lk / S W M g a m e r s TheHutts handle Where i s h o m e ? Nae Nae, Lower Hutt

Graham

Republic was my first faction, and still my favourite. I like how you can often control a game from start to finish with all the swapping, towing, and body guarding options.
How obsessed are you with SWM? (10 being kezza and 0 being not interested):

Tell us about Male, 32 years old y ou i n 20 words W h a t d o y o u d o I look after my wife and my w h e n y o u r e N O T baby daughter, I work for p l a y i n g S W M ? a non-profit organisation,

and I'm involved in my local Church.

W h e n d i d y o u I started playing casually withs t a r t p l a y i n g kezzamachine a few years ago. S W M ( a n d h o w ) ? About a year and a half ago I

got sick of losing all the time to Kerry, Aaron, and Robin my best piece at the time was Rebel Storm Obi-Wan Kenobi - and I won a FlObi at a tournament, so I started trackingdown some Republic pieces to go with him. Rexs matchcritical hit on Lukes Snowspeeder at the HaweraCon 2010 final was exciting.

Maybe 6 or 7. Im not so into the collecting part, as it interferes with another hobby of mine (paying off the mortgage), but Im generally a competitive person and like the tournaments and the ranking system. When it comes down to it, Star Wars Miniatures is based around calculating statistics and probabilities, and figuring out what beats what (like a giant game of rock, scissors, and paper), and I really enjoy figuring these things out. I also like hanging out in a male environment, as I work in a very female environment - sometimes I can go an entire Monday-Friday without seeing another man..
What are your SWM tips to other players?

As well as asking Graham about himself, the Save11 guys pitched in to turn him into a Virtual piece. So, here it is! Dave, who came up with most of Graham, Republic General, had this to say: I see Graham as the tactical, thinking General who directs his troops to where they can cause the most damage and win the battle, even if it means losing a few of them in the process. We all know he loves to use Doombot, Rex and Yobuck so I have given him Synergy for Rex (giving Graham a really good attack) and what I think is a cool ability in Kybuck Wrangler to enable Yobuck to get out of tricky situations. I thought Rapport would have been a bit much... lets not make it too easy for him! Board-wide swapping in the Republic is a scary concept for those coming up against it, but I thought it would complement Grahams style of play. I have suggested making him 41 points (although I really have no idea) to make it expensive enough to get the swapping in there. At least we wouldnt see a Yobuck swap squad in a 100 point game. Bob also chipped in: It should be: Name: Graham, Confused about Metal and Alternative... hahaha sorry bro I couldn't resist. I also gave him Tenacious G, referring to his ability on a basketball court to tear towards an opponent and scare the living daylights out of him. -kez

F a v o u r i t e S W M Captain m o m e n t ? winning

Favouri t e F avouri t e

M i n i ? General Skywalker. M a p ? Rhen Var Ice Citadel.

Use door control. Even including just one Ugnaught Demolitionist can help you avoid one-sided games where you have no chance. Also, until you know what youre doing, use Bloomilk to look up what squads and combinations of pieces work together, rather than just chucking random pieces together as a squad five minutes before a game.

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TEXT
New Republic matchups were the only games where I lost any of my three attackers. There are plenty of counters to him, like direct damage, a black and blue squad that outactivates him then uses force bubble to block his ripostes, Vong, Seperatist droids that are immune to crits, or a Mon Mothma death shot squad, but I didn't play any of those in the weekend and perhaps some of them are less feasible at 150. He's really strong against a conventional 150 point squad - a couple of jedi with shooter support.

T h e

HaweraCon2011

Ta l e

o f

t h e

Ta p e

date: 5 November 2011 location: Hawera (Bev's Place) points: 150 points winner: Graham (Republic: Mace LotLS/Ferus/Rex) runner-up: Dave (NR: Jaina/Jacen/Dash) game 1: Graham beat Henko 155-20 scoring 3-0 game 2: Kezza beat Andrew 151-10 scoring 3-0 game 3: Bob beat Ian 104-73 scoring 2-0 game 4: Bevan beat Dave 53-28 scoring 2-0 game 5: Graham beat Rich 155-24 scoring 3-0 game 6: Bevan beat Kezza 50-17 scoring 2-0 game 7: Dave beat Bob 138-109 scoring 2-1 game 8: Ian beat Andrew 151-20 scoring 3-0 game 9: Dave beat Henko 170-58 scoring 3-0 game 10: Graham beat Bevan 150-6 scoring 3-0 game 11: Kezza beat Ian 40-12 scoring 2-0 game 12: Bob beat Rich 138-17 scoring 2-0 game 13: Graham beat Dave 120-107 scoring 3-1 game 14: Rich beat Henko 155-0 scoring 3-0 game 15: Bob beat Kezza 83-57 scoring 2-0 game 16: Andrew beat Kurt 90-61 scoring 2-0 game 17: Bevan beat Ian 150-75 scoring 3-1 game 18: Dave beat Kezza 67-5 scoring 3-0 game 19: Graham beat Bob 150-25 scoring 3-0 game 20: Andrew beat Henko 175-68 scoring 3-0 game 21: Rich beat Bevan 150-30 scoring 3-0 game 22: Ian beat Kurt 71-67 scoring 2-0 game Final: Graham beat Dave 150-109 scoring 3-1 Squads: Graham: MaceLotLS/Rex/Ferus/R2/Ugx3/MDx2 Dave: JainaSotJ/JacenJK/Dash/Dod/R7/Caa/MD/Ugx2 Bevan: MaceLotLS/Dash/Rex/R2/R7/Ugx2 Bob: Bastilla/Jaq/Dash/JBM/R7x2/Ugx3 Rich: MaceLotLS/Dash/Ferus/Lobot/MD Ian: MaulSI/RevanSL/Lobot/MD Andrew: DurgeJH/EG05x2/B2SBDx2/BDO/Droideka Kez: BobaMC/Scout/Gunsmithx2/CIO/Lobot/MD Kurt: squad unrecorded Henko: Bandon/Traya/Leviathan/DarkJediAss/Caamasi

Graham finishes up from page11...

Final - vs New Republic

I had to replay the toughest matchup of pool play. This time, Jaina charged in and put 60 on my Rex. On a won initiative, she took out Rex and Doombot, but problematically for her, she took 80 points of AoOs from Mace getting to Rex, so she had to retreat back to gambit. This time, I based Jacen with Mace so he couldn't lightning me, plus I also remembered to force absorb parry rerolls on crits. Dash and Jacen took down Ferus, but the game ended with a full health Mace finishing off Dash and Jaina.

...and back to kez to wrap up... In the end, our big end o year Major was a great success with the exception that I failed to win (bah!) - and everyone had a blast. Sure, it is a whole bag of fun to play 5/6 competitive games of SWM for like the greater part of a day, but it is a real blast to get to hang out with people you like (despite them beating me) for In conclusion, I do think that a whole day, playing games Mace is very strong at 150, and having fun. and the build I used was an efficient use of him, plus I had a Bring on LowerHuttaCon2012! pretty good day with the dice - he wasn't rolling wall-to-wall Final Group Standings: crits, but he generally got one 1st: Graham (15pts/5-0) when I really wanted it. The 2nd: Dave (9pts/3-2) squad with Dodonna, Jacen, 3rd: Bevan (7pts/3-2) and Jaina caused him some 4th: Bob (7pts/3-2) problems by outactivating 5th: Rich (6pts/2-2) him, lightning him, parrying 6th: Ian (6pts/2-3) some of his attacks, and us- 7th: Andrew (5pts/2-2) ing Jaina's speed to nail Rex, 8th: Kezza (5pts/2-3) but apart from that he cruised 9th: Kurt (0pts/0-2) through pool play easily. The 10th: Henko (0pts/0-4)

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TEXT

For your (possible?) enjoyment - here is some of the Renegades and Rogues alternative designs, as well as the full Battle of Theed design (which was not officially used) - all by our own Kerry Logan.

Our NZ Ranking System that sorts the pecking order We have developed our own way of ranking our games and players. I wont go into the specifics of it here (although it is covered in Episode 38 of the
# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Player Rnk.Pts

Save11 Rankings
Star Wars Miniverse podcast), suffice to say its scored out of 300. Here then is our Save11 Rankings as of December 1st, 2011.
GP 13 10 10 16 12 6 10 12 12 11 10 5 11 7 4 6 10 8 6 2 2 2 2 1 3m Change last

W-L

Graham Aaron Mike Kezza Bevan Dee Alan Bob Ian Dave Robin Rich Andrew Dan Matt Kurt Danny Henko Lloyd Neil IanF Jack Jordan Oli

249 241 205 200 188 183 181 171 133 132 128 120 108 105 96 67 55 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

11-2 8-2 7-3 12-4 9-3 4-2 6-4 9-3 6-6 5-6 4-6 2-3 4-7 2-5 2-2 1-5 2-8 0-8 0-6 0-2 0-2 0-2 0-2 0-1

1 1 3 1 1 4 3 1 3 2 4 1 2 4 1 2

36 12 43 -9 -19 83 31 -19 -6 43 3 103 30 13

26 11 42 26 26 57 42 26 26 26 11 26 26 57 64 26 42 26 37 40 57 42 293 144

51 -10

3 3

Note: Rnk.Pts is the Ranking Points out of 300. Win-Loss and Games Played (GP) are the official games counted. 3m Change is the position/ points change from Sept. 1st, and last is days since the last game that the player played.

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T E X T
Wellington The guys at PulsarMax in Wellington central have been playing and supporting this game for ever! Their SWM night is Thursdays so bowl in around 6ish if youre in town for a blast!

If all things go according to plan, youll see us again in February of 2012. Heres what we think we might cover:

Next Issue...

VENGEANCE! Early Feb sees the release

...AND

WE OUT...

Trades

At the tail-end of this interwebubble-magazine extravaganza, well have some space for feedback and notice-y things. As to what kind of things, they could change dependant on what noise people make back at us, or the weather, so well play this bit by ear, shall we?

Playgroups

This is the best magazine Ive ever created! Im keen to put up here if any kezzamachine of our guys have pieces they want to get or get rid of - but This isnt a real quote... for now we dont have any- Bevan thing (as most of our guys are still getting our heads around Ysee, we might have some actually having a mag. Alter- things that crop up that need natively, you might be outside discussing or someone wants our group and want to see if to rant about something we we have what you need. It all said, like this example below: works here. Presumably. Dear Editor,

Quotes/Letters to the Editor

of Vset3 so its likely well be able to look at some of it - or at least tell you how excited we are about it.

Maps Weve looked at the virtual sets, so Podcasts

the logical follow-on is how the community has responded to the map issue. You really need to know about where to hear about this game, if you dont already know!

More Tips and Goodness We look to

continue talking up basic strategy for the game to grow YOU as a SWM player ...and much more. Hopefully. Until then, mauri ora, mauri mate - and if your pie is too hot, may the sauce be with you.

Hutt One thing we are keen to try and do is setup some more kind of regular nights for us in the Hutt and how that might work. Currently, we meet adhoc and thats not as awesome as how they do it elsewhere. In terms of the Hutt, were still nutting this one out, but by all means email me at kezzamachine@ hotmail.com and we can let you know when we do things! Hawera Well, these guys have it sorted and they meet every Wednesday at one of four different locations. If youre in the Taranaki area, email me (again at kezzamachine@ hotmail.com) and I can put them in contact with you.

Upcoming Events

This EPIC banner, designed by our own kezza, was used at GenCon2011

I am over 200 years old and would like to read an article about two people playing Star If we have any dates that need Wars Miniatures as though saving, theyll go here! How- they were underwater. That ever, the only dates that I can would make a good read! forsee are a New Zealand Tournament (and we have no Signed, concrete plans on that - but Dr. E. Henry Thripshaw lookout for a possible June/ Editor: A good point, Doctor July date) and: Ill get Graham right on it! LowerHuttaCon! Our first Major of 2012 will be the Lower See? Should work well, eh? Hutt tournament which this year featured 14 combatants and was ultimately swallowed up by Aaron. Well, save the Anyhoo, we hope youve endate of Saturday March 10, joyed this little jaunt into the 2012. Well confirm this date .pdf magazine world. If were in the Feb. issue of Save11, not dead by February, well but Im pretty confident on see you again. Oh, and the final word is: jandal. this one.

Cheif Editor: kezzamachine Layout: kez (using Abode InDesign, Illustrator & Photoshop) Edited/ Checked by: kez, Mark, Tim, Graham, Dave, Kirsty, Robin Photos By: kez, Viv, Dave Miniatures pictures: taken from BlooMilk Contributors: kez, Mark Weir, Daniel Ryan, Aaron Brown, Graham, Oli, Dave, Mike, Ian, Bev, Robin, Dee, Aaron Artwork by: kez, Armorgear7, Les Eller, Dave, Bob

Full Credit to...

The Final Word

Save11 New Zealand is not affiliated with Lucasfilm Ltd. or Wizards of the Coast LLC. Star Wars and all parts of the Star Wars Universe are trademarked and copyrighted Lucasfilm Ltd., all rights reserved. Star Wars Miniatures are copyrighted Wizards of the Coast LLC., a subsidiary of Hasbro, all rights reserved. The word Plosion is copyrighted by Bev, payments made out to Central Amazon Spiritual Healers, or C.A.S.H. for short.

Disclaimer?

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