Sabotage Showdown Preview Article

10/09/2023

SWP45Sabotage Showdown

Welcome! In today’s Transmission we are going to be talking about mission packs for Star Wars™: Shatterpoint and take a look at the first mission pack: Sabotage Showdown.

Arriving this November, Sabotage Showdown introduces the first of three mission packs designed and developed alongside the game’s first several waves of releases. Each mission pack in this original set plays off core concepts and ideas found across all three missions, ensuring players have a foundation of familiarity alongside the new tactical and strategic challenges each pack poses to their Strike Team construction and in game decisions. Additionally, this spacing allowed players time to learn and adapt to the unique gameplay of Shatterpoint, allowing us to introduce concepts in a way that didn’t overwhelm players with too much too soon, but instead, just like with the release schedule of squad packs, allowed them room to grow and explore the new experiences of Shatterpoint while still keeping the game fresh and exciting as new elements to explore are revealed with each new wave.

Sabotage Showdown throws players into a much tighter battle that is reminiscent of the battles we see fought amid a starcrusier’s reactor room, within the confines of a starship hanger, or around an enemy artillery emplacement. In addition to navigating the closer quarters and how that will impact the Units in their Strike Force, Sabotage Showdown also throws a new tactical layer on top of players Shatterpoint activations. Each Struggle card has a special Tactics ability listed beneath the Active Objective map. When a player chooses to activate a Unit with their Shatterpoint card, the chosen Unit gains the listed Tactic ability until the end of the turn.

With Tactic abilities that allow characters to Dash, refresh Force, or remove damage or conditions, Sabotage Showdown dramatically amps up the possibilities and power of each player’s Shatterpoint activation.

With the release of this new mission pack, players will now have another important choice to make when creating their Strike Teams. Choosing the right mission to go with your Units is no doubt a powerful advantage, but, as with all things in the Star Wars galaxy, there is no guarantee that your chosen mission will be the one you and your opponent will fight over. Do you construct a team that can perform well in each varied mission or simply build one to excel at your chosen mission and trust to your skill and the will of the Force to see you through suboptimal match ups?

The arrival of Sabotage Showdown will start you on your first steps to this larger journey. But don’t think that these packs are all that is in store to test your tactical prowess. There is plenty more to come beyond the standard mission packs that is sure to challenge what players can expect from their games of Star Wars: Shatterpoint. But that is a conversation for another time!

‘Til next time, see you on the battlefield!