Twenty years ago in 2003, Matthew Stover released the first Star Wars novel for The Clone Wars project that spanned books, comics, games, and television. The book focused on Mace Windu and introduced fandom to Windu’s special ability: to be able to see shatterpoints. It was the first time the phrase was uttered and has since stuck to the character. In The Clone Wars, Dave Filoni showed audiences how this might look and kept it in the reformed canon. The game that we have all been playing for several months takes its name from this unique ability. Now, with the Mace Windu expansion released to add him and several clones to your squads, I had high expectations as to what this set would bring to the game.
Before opening the box, let’s not overlook the clones. In this set you get Commander Ponds and two ARF troopers. These are most noticeably from the Clone Wars episodes set on Ryloth, where Dave Filoni shows us visually the Shatterpoint ability. This isn’t the first time and won’t be the last, but I adore every time we see a release featuring those from the universe outside of the movies. We’ve had Rex and Cody, the most famous of the Clone Commanders. Ponds is a less well-known Commander but has been released early on. Same for the ARF troopers. It gives players a lot of choices for clones and rather than being bored with it, I love it!
In the box we have the four bases, the sprue with the models and the cards. Although there are multiple order cards (which multiples aren’t needed no matter which language), Atomic Mass have said that they are going to investigate it, which would be better for the environment; a great thing for them to sort. Once you’ve followed the QR code to their website for assembly instructions, you can begin assembling the squad. The first is Master Windu himself. I have played Marvel Crisis Protocol for several years now and assembled many a model. One thing that can sometimes be frustrating is the number of pieces used to assemble a model. We’ve had the tops of hair, arm pads and (even in the Shatterpoint core set) tiny pouches that fit onto belts. Many fans have looked in bewilderment at the choices. Yet that certainly cannot be said for Mace. Five parts, that’s it! I think I can safely say this is the quickest model I’ve ever put together. This is a great model for newer or younger players to put together as it is literally, put the body together, add the arms and head and glue it to the base. Oh, if only all the models were so easy to put together. And the pose? It looks great, very Windu. You can almost see the weight to the saber that he is swinging and the facial expression with it works to just add to the effect.
Next up is Commander Ponds. Remember I said those annoying pouches on belts? That grenade holder is back! I do hate these things! It’s an easy build up to that point. For the holder, you will find that the part that actually is inserted into the body of Ponds has a slight bend. That part should be bending towards the left-hand side and fit perfectly. I know I said I loved the range of clones, the holders – not so much! Once the arms are attached, it’s onto the head. Like the other clone leaders, you have a choice of helmet on or helmet off. Now, I am always choosing the helmet versions as I can’t imagine a clone taking their helmet off in battle. However, Atomic Mass don’t make this an easy decision. The faces look fantastic, and I’m always so tempted to do a helmetless one. Once the legs are assembled, they literally snap into the body, there’s not even any need for glue! I thought this was great if you need to remove the body from the legs to paint them – there is that option. Yet the scale and the pose of the model means I don’t even think you’ll need to; everything is in easy reach for a brush. Just a note on the scenic base with the battle droid. I always love detailed bases that add a bit extra. Once you’ve glued it onto the base, it usually helps to blend in some sand or textured paint to make it look like you haven’t just glued it on. For this I usually use Astrogranite from Citadel Paints. It doesn’t need much but will make the base look better.
Next, it’s the ARF A model (the one holding his blaster with both hands). This is a very enjoyable build: easy to fit together, the arms and hands come together flawlessly, and the helmet position lines up with the aim of the gun just right. Then… there’s another grenade holder. Thankfully, this one was the most straightforward one I’ve done so far. The part that attaches bends towards the right and it instantly went in. That was a relief! The pose itself is just perfection. The stance, the aim, the way the body is held is so in keeping with what we see of the clones on screen. For just a ‘standard’ clone, I’m really impressed.
The final model is the ARF B model (blaster in one hand standing on a battle droid). The build is again straight forward until the grenade holder. This didn’t go quite as easy as the first ARF trooper. The join bends to the left for this one, but I’d probably attach it before gluing the left arm in, just to make things a bit easier. Other than that, another great pose and I love the fact that he is stepping on a battle droid. Also, Atomic Mass gives you an extra piece of droid for you to add to the base or that you can use on another character’s base. It’s a little extra touch that just allows you a bit more flexibility with your bases.
Onto the cards themselves and let’s start with Windu. As always for a primary there are two sides to his stance card: A Jedi Master side and the other side form seven, Vaapad. This form was also introduced in the novel Shatterpoint and although it is now in established canon, I still get a thrill seeing it here as well. On a very good roll, Mace can do eleven damage to a foe, which seems incredible, although very in keeping with the character. His tactic is ‘rush to action’ that sees Mace and another unit advance. A very handy tactic to have for your squads. He also has a reactive ability that allows Mace to spend force to reroll dice, a deadly ability when used correctly. Then we get to Shatterpoint, which allows Mace to do extra things if he is the one chosen to activate by using the Shatterpoint card. I adore this and the fact that Mace gets a bonus if you choose to activate him seems very thematic and in keeping with the character. In a squad containing Mace, you’d have to have a very good reason for not activating him with the card. With such a strong character it should come as no surprise that you only have six points to spend on the rest of your squad.
Ponds has the tactic advance and the innate forward scout. If you run him with Mace, your squads are going to be moving very quickly across the board. Along with the ARFs these are your typical units of clones but at three points each they are able to fit into lots of different squad builds. ‘Lay low’ for the ARFs that provide them with better defense if they are hunkered, could prove very useful in battle, and see them being able to survive longer in battle. The whole squad is built around maneuverability. It’s easy to see the cards but how do they perform in battle?
Even before battle commences there are two things that I love about this squad. The ‘forward scout’ allows you to place your squad a lot further into the board before you even begin. It allows your troops to be much closer to the objective points than normal. This is a huge advantage. The other thing that gave much pause was Mace’s stance card. You never know what order things are going to occur in and so a Shatterpoint card could come up before the Mace Windu order card. Which side of the stance card did I want? Every time I activated Mace, there was this constant question, trying to think ahead in the game to what I would most need. I really like this aspect of Mace.
As we got into the game, Mace quickly came out. His tactic to move himself and another unit was huge, particularly early on in the game. I was able to push him and my other primary (Luminara in this case) forward, meaning that my primaries weren’t being left behind in comparison to the rest of the squads. And in battle? Mace can pack a punch. One shot would maybe be too much to state, but he certainly gets there, particularly with non-primary characters. He may seem all powerful, but I did find he was very balanced. Yes, he can throw a huge amount of damage, yes, he can block a high number of attacks, but just having an exposed or disarmed token on him really stops him in his tracks. He relies very heavily on using his expertise to push his success. Without it, he starts to show some cracks. For me, this is very thematic to the character but also means that using him isn’t just a simple case of throwing him into battle and succeeding.
Ponds and the ARFs did fantastic. The ARFs seem to be a better version of the 501st and I think they’ll be my go-to unit now. I was able to use their coordinated fire several times, giving my opponent exposed. When Mace was near them and the commandos I was running, damage and conditions soon started mounting up. Just for his start of game ability, Ponds is a great secondary to have. He doesn’t do lots of damage, but he does allow you to get conditions onto your opponents. I do want to try these two in several other squads as I think they’ll do very well. The fact both cost three, allows for much more flexibility in squad building.
If you are a Galactic Republic player, this set is an obvious purchase. I love the thematic nature of the squad, which really comes through with the abilities. Mace is like a tank if used correctly and therein is the reason I really like him as a character. You need to think. Just like the Jedi Master himself, you need to pause and think about what you’re doing with him. Conditions need sorting out and not just left if you want the best out of him. Equally, his stance card requires more thinking than with other primaries. It adds another dimension to the game that we haven’t seen too much focus on yet. If this is the sign of things to come, it’s a very welcome one. The rest of the squad cost three points each, allowing more flexibility in squad building. Although they’re not all singing and dancing like Mace, they have really interesting touches that I think will see many players fielding them. This is – again – another very strong release from Atomic Mass and one that I think many players will enjoy playing and many will curse fighting against.
