Databank Download: Never Tell Me The Odds

In today’s transmission, we’ll be showcasing the upcoming Never Tell Me the Odds Mission Pack for Star Wars™: Shatterpoint. A well-rounded mission that benefits multiple strategies and playstyles, Never Tell Me the Odds is sure to find its way onto your battlefield once it is available to the world.

Never Tell Me the Odds offers players another set of objective maps that spread the action across the entire battlefield and mission effects that emphasize making the most of every activation and setting up favorable attack vectors for specific Units to gain an edge on the Struggle Tracker. This mission allows players that enjoy fast-moving strike teams to show their battlefield finesse and rewards players who set up and execute big plays with specific Unit types called out on each Struggle Card.

The widespread objective layout in Never Tell Me the Odds allows strike teams that have a strong emphasis on mobility and objective control to leverage their strengths effectively, while more damage-focused teams can focus on Wounding enemies with their own Called to Action Units to give themselves an advantage in each Struggle and hopefully make up for what they lack in flexibility with surgical strikes at opportune moments. This mission provides tactical options to a myriad of strike teams and rewards players who adapt their strategies on the fly to meet the mission’s call to action.

To showcase the massive footprint that this mission gives objectives, we need look no further than the Phase 3 Struggle Card, No Such Thing as Luck. This particular Struggle Card splits the focus of the battlefield across two extreme points on the center line, forcing strike teams to cover a great distance quickly or risk forfeiting the Struggle and the game. Players who have consolidated their forces onto a hotly contested objective, or focused too strongly on a single flank over the course of the game, can find themselves struggling to control the far side when this card is revealed. Forward planning goes a long way in this Mission, even more so than in others, on account of these potentially drastic map changes.

Mission Packs for Shatterpoint add more layers of decision making to the game and to create new and exciting battlefields with unique loci of tension and control. They allow players to tell their own stories and recreate the drama of Star Wars on the tabletop. On a more mechanical level, missions emphasize the strengths and weaknesses of individual Units and put more or less emphasis on specific gameplay strategies, structuring how and where the action of a given battle unfolds. Never Tell Me the Odds really asks players to “zoom out” when they’re building their strike teams and determine the focus of each of their chosen Units. “Called to Action” provides reward for Wounding Units—a popular strategy across all missions—at the cost of Force, but the objective focus of Shatterpoint forces players to exert pressure on multiple spread-out objectives to maintain constant pressure and win the Struggle. A well-planned and executed score from “Called to Action” can spell victory for one side over the other, but laying those plans amidst chaos of battle and the whims of the Order Deck can be a real challenge.

The heart of Shatterpoint, though, is in the characters on the battlefield and the overarching theme of their struggles. The touchstone story point of this mission is that anyone can be the hero of the day— given the right circumstances. The courageous actions of a single clone trooper can turn the tide of battle and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. During each Struggle, a different type of Unit is Called to Action and their deeds of heroism can have greater impact on the battle at hand. Playing toward this goal, even when the chances of success are slim, can create nail-biting tension at critical moments and create memorable stories of bravery and valor (or the ignominy of defeat) to be recounted for years to come.

That’s all for today’s Databank Download! Be sure to check back for our next Shatterpoint Unit preview, where we give you a first look at how your favorite characters from the Star Wars galaxy translate into the gameplay of Shatterpoint. Pre-order your own copy of Star Wars: Shatterpoint at your local game store or through our webstore today.

Until next time, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!