Well, another Ministravaganza has come and gone! We got a lot of juicy previews for Shatterpoint, though unfortunately no firm dates yet. Apparently there will also be a number of interviews coming out over the next little while, so keep an eye out for those!
If you want to see the official article recapping the releases, you can do so here. The event was streamed as well, though as of writing I cannot see the VOD on AMG Twitch so I’ll be going purely off the article.
Secure the Future Squad Pack
As expected, we got some previews for the Baylan and Morgan boxes which were previously marked for Q2 2026. As hinted back at Adepticon, Baylan himself brings a lot of hunker synergy. Like General Kenobi, he allows allied units to keep hunkers while engaged. Beyond that, he also allows units to spend hunkers for expertise results while attacking and keep hunkers at the start of their turn (then lose all hunkers at the end of turn, so no holding onto one hunker forever). Strangely, he can’t keep his own hunkers to start the turn, but he does have many ways to generate them. Overall he looks like force hungry model but presumably packs a punch and defends well with all the hunkers.
Shin Hati combos well with her master. Instead of force she can spend hunkers and after a force user attacks she can do a follow-up. In exchange for never being pinned or disarmed, she can also never be reserved. She seems like a force to be reckoned with, but her Impatience might just lose you a game now and then.
Based on these two unit cards, I feel like Baylan might be a rebel staple. Up until now rebels have had a sneaky amount of hunker generation but not much synergy with it (and no way to reliably keep them without an awkward General Kenobi list). A squad such as Charming Leia, Chewie, and Rebel Commandos seems like a great fit with what we’ve seen of Baylan’s crew. Additionally, secondary Luke could be a good pick. His struggles to shove have me a bit low on him, but Luke does have a shove on 3 expertise. Combined with Baylan’s hunker-for-expertise scheme Luke should be a lot more reliable with his attacks. He’s also a force user which could trigger Shin. There is a bit of hunker synergy in Empire, too. Krennic and Shore Troopers might be an interesting play, though the director would miss his trusty Death Troopers (unless perhaps Shores can go with Baylan).
We obviously don’t have points, eras, or stances yet, but first impressions have me excited for this box!
My Loyalty, My Life Squad Pack
You know how Maul can take damage to pay for force and that’s really good? Imagine doing it for anyone at range 3. Well, that’s what Morgan does! She mimics Mother Talzin with the Manipulating Hand ability, and paying two damage for that seems like a great deal. Obviously that’s good for moving enemies off objectives, but it could also be handy to get enemies alone, triggering +2 dice for Morgan in melee. Unfortunately her card is cut off slightly, so we don’t know her tags or the second half of her identity. Something happens when she gets wounded, and it doesn’t matter how she gets wounded. Perhaps there will be some fun plays where you can wound her by spending “force” then get an extra bonus effect.
Enoch isn’t flashy, but he looks solid enough. Coordinated Fire: Strain is handy and Stormtroopers don’t mind passing out exposes in melee, though they generally don’t enjoy punching. He seems fairly support focused, but perhaps his combat stance is very strong?
Night Troopers, or Zombie Storms as I call them, look super interesting! Essentially they will always skip the wounded stage and have a chance to remove all injured tokens in the right circumstances. I can certainly see some risk here where they get removed from the board quickly, but they could also last forever. Many Empire effects target Stormtrooper supports and would love to always have a non-wounded unit to target. Eight health is pretty standard but still easy enough to chew through, though Unnatural Vigor is a strong defensive ability. One more thing that I haven’t seen commented on much – based on the pictures these guys seem to be on large bases. That can be a plus and a minus, but something interesting to note. Much like Baylan, I am very excited for the Morgan box!
Sequel Era
I’ve been expecting this for a while. Shatterpoint seems like just the right game for sequel content (compared to something like Legion at least) because it’s main-character focused and you don’t need to make that many boxes. We don’t have much information yet on these new units, or whether more sequel boxes are in the pipeline, so lots is up in the air. Given how limited the era would be, at least at first, it might be tough to make highly competitive lists, though that also depends on how well the First Order and Resistance synergize with the Empire and Rebellion, respectively.
I should note that the article mentions “Kylo Ren, FN-2199, and two Riot Control First Order Troopers in the I Will Finish What You Started Squad Pack” which is not pictured here.
The Negotiations Will Be Short Squad Pack
Episode 1 Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan have been some of the most requested units since the start of the game, I think. Personally I was expecting a duel pack with a new Maul, so that seems unlikely now. It seems here like we’ve got four units in the box. My best guess is that Captain Panaka is an alternate secondary option. We’ll see if this squad can give some new life to Padme’s box, though synergy with the Handmaiden tag seems unlikely.
Strategic Positions Mission Card Pack
Unfortunately, I feel like First Contact was a bit of a dud. As such, it’s been a we’ve had a major shake-up for missions. Heck, most people still play Shifting or Sabotage. Based on the three cards shown, I’m feeling optimistic for Strategic Positions. There are two twists with this mission: double priorities and “contesting” inactive objectives.
For the second and third struggles, scoring extra points is a bit harder than normal. Most existing missions feature three objectives with one worth double. For Strategic Positions, there are four objectives with two priorities each turn. A player must control both priorities to get an extra point. This opens up the possibility of 5 point turns if the starts align! I’d have to see it on the table, but it seems like scoring could be quite dynamic in the later struggles.
Each card also has a Tactical Advantage that triggers when a unit is within 2 of an inactive objective. We have seen three such effects, which might be all of them or might only be 3/9. Here’s some quick thoughts on each:
- Defensive Positions – Cover 1 is nice, but not super impactful. If I happen to get it then great, but I don’t feel like it would affect my positioning choices much.
- Calculated Strike – Extra movement is great, especially in struggle 2 where you might have some units still in their deployment zones. Units with tactic moves might especially enjoy this effect since the tactic happens first, allowing them to move to an inactive objective and then get another dash. Conversely, not moving and getting Impact 1 and Sharpshooter 1 would be very nice for anything with easy focus access (Mandalorians, Baze and Chirrut, Rebel Commandos, etc.). One thing to note: for multi-character units, only one character needs to be within range of the inactive objective to allow both to dash!
- Neutral Zone – Do you like force? I like force. Once we get to struggle 3, force can be scarce since we’re often paying extra for wounded/injured units. Extra force regen (that is easy to trigger) can be absolutely clutch.
Layout-wise, there seems to be quite a cluster of objectives near the middle of the board. I feel like units with auras could enjoy that quite a bit. Imagine getting Mace stuck in the middle and having his Protection/Steadfast bubble cover all three middle objectives on Establish a Perimeter? It should also be easy to move someone like Leia, Freedom Fighter up a bit to cover the middle with a Coordinated Fire: Expose bubble. We’ll have to see all the cards, but units with area effects seem like they might be quite potent here. Beyond that, it’s hard to draw anything too definitive without seeing all the Tactical Advantages and layouts.
Legendary Encounters
Finally, we have the release of Legendary Encounters. MCP players will be familiar with the format via Ultimate Encounters. Essentially it’s a three player mode where one player uses a souped up primary (and some minions) against two players that only bring some supports and secondaries. Presumably you could also do this with two players if desired, but I think the main niche this fills is making things work on a game night where there’s an odd number of players.
I don’t have too much to say about the mode, but you can find all the rules and cards available here for print and play. The legendary primaries available current are the four from the core set: Anakin, Ahsoka, Asajj, and Maul. There are also two different missions for a bit of variety.
Wrap-Up
Well, that’s all for me for this year’s Ministravaganza! There are some very exciting reveals in there and I imagine more will come at Adepticon. The cards I’ve seen thus far for Baylan, Morgan, and Strategic Positions all have my hyped, we can only hope the rest is just as fun and exciting!
