[Yodaking]

Name of Map (Scarif Beach Assault)

Overall Look: Looks pretty great in real life. Really captures the feel for what we saw in Rouge One.

Stability: No issues at all. Not a very tall map and everything locks together tightly.

Build difficulty: Very easy to build.

Size: I’d say medium in size but long and narrow.

Unit types positively affected: A small pool of water next to each SZ and a glyph could help units with water based powers. The Rodian Thugs liked being able to negate the jungle bonus and I suspect the Imperial Probe Droid would like being useful too. Concrete & Asphalt tiles are well positioned for DST to get a useful bonus from.

Unit types negatively affected: The ‘walls’ of jungle plants can create LOS issues for aura powers and bonding mechanics that rely on clear sight.

Key areas on the Map: Each of the 5 glyphs were fought over at one point or another in my two games, both grassy hills were also put to good use and popular locations since they gave you high ground advantage on those who are fighting over the landing pad.

Areas not used much or at all: None really, I’d say the pools of water were the least used but even then I had the Speeder Biked flying over them and the Quarren Thugs also moved through them.

Game 1:
Units: Speeder Bike x6, General Veers, Stormtroopers x2 (500) vs. Rebel Troopers x3, Rebel Captain, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Atgar Cannon (500)

Spoiler Alert!

R1: Leia moved out 5 spaces adj. to the control point behind the jungle pieces and Chewbacca moved 6 spaces to end adj. to Leia and on the glyph. Stormtrooper was able to move 5 spaces and end up on the control point behind the jungle pieces on his side as well by moving up the outside edge and landing on the glyph 5 spaces away. At the end of the round both sides claimed the two control points closest to their start zone while the middle glyph was unoccupied.
R2: Rebels win initiative, place 1 Rebel Trooper next to right side control point adj. to Chewbacca, 2 adj. to left side control point. Empire places 1 Stormtrooper adj. to each control point & 1 Speeder Bike adj. to left control point. Rebel Capt. & Rebels move to take middle glyph and dig in. OM3 sees the Rebel Capt. jump on the glyph after the Stromtroopers killed the Rebel Trooper that was there. Round ends with Rebel Trooper on middle glyph, claiming the control point for the Rebels, the Empire put the 1W given on Veers.
R3: Empire wins initiative, 1 Speeder Bike placed adj. to each control point & 1 Stormtrooper placed adj. to left side control point. Rebels place 3 Rebel Troopers adj. and in front of the middle control point. Speeder Bike ends move on Rebel right side control point glyph, turning it neutral but risking ending up adj. to a Rebel Trooper, failed to kill that Rebel Trooper with SA. Rebel Capt. retreats back to deal with the Speeder Bike that just stole his control point, destroys the bike and has the Rebel Troops move, including one onto the Rebel right side glyph and one onto the middle glyph. Speeder Bike kills the Rebel Trooper that just moved onto the middle glyph so the Rebel Capt. moves back on top of that control point. At end of round Rebel Trooper reclaims Rebel right side control point, Empire assigns 1W received to Stromtrooper adj. to left side control point.
R4: Empire wins initiative, moves last ST in SZ up adj. to right side control point (within 3 spaces of Veers) & last two Speeder Bikes in SZ adj. to left side control point and jungle plants. Rebels have no one left in SZ to call up. Speeder Bike ends turn on Rebel right side control glyph after having killed the Rebel Trooper standing on it in the previous turn, returning that control point to neutral. Capt. moves off middle glyph and adj. to container, moves Rebel Trooper onto middle glyph in his place and moves Rebel Trooper adj. to the Empires left side control point. At the end of the round Leia moves adj. to the Speeder Bike on the Rebel right side glyph and destroys him, Chewie moves onto the glyph, round ends and control is returned to the Rebels, Empire assigns the 1W received to ST adj. to right side control glyph.
R5: Empire wins initiative. After the first Speeder Bike kills the Rebel Trooper on the middle glyph, a second Speeder Bike moves onto the glyph, returning it to neutral control. Rebel Capt. moves adj. to the Speeder Bike on middle glyph, rolls a 3 skull att., & gets blocked! A Rebel Trooper finished off Veers though on the same turn and cost the Empire their last OM. Leia moves back onto landing pad, att. Speeder Bike on middle glyph from range and destroys it! Chewie remains on Rebel right side control glyph. No one can claim the middle glyph so it is all tied up and no wounds are given.
R6: Rebels win initiative, Atgar Cannon targets Speeder Bike and adds 4 to attack roll, rolls a 5 on the d20 and fizzles out. Speeder Bike circles around attacking everyone on landing pad but never ends on glyph, forcing the Rebels to either claim the glyph or move adj. to attack but not both. Leia moves onto the middle glyph at the end of the round and destroys Speeder Bike at range anyway. Leia claims the middle glyph and the Empire assigns 1W received to ST on right side control point glyph.
R7: Rebels win initiative, Leia moves adj. to Speeder Bike & att. but gets blocked. Speeder Bike finishes off Rebel Capt. & kills Rebel Trooper on Rebel left side control point glyph. Leia shoots at ST from behind cover and HG, misses (5 shields rolled)! Speeder Bike moves onto Rebel right side control point glyph, turning it neutral, att. Atgar Cannon. Leia att. ST again, only 1 skull on 5 dice, blocked. ST moves adj. to Leia to negate some def. bonuses & att., blocked. Round ends with Speeder Bike claiming Rebel left side control point, 1W directed to the Rebels assigned to Atgar Cannon.
R8: Leia wins initiative and kills the last ST. Speeder Bike moves & att. Chewie from HG. Leia moves onto Empires left side control glyph and turns it neutral. Speeder Bike att. Chewie from HG again. Leia moves back onto landing pad. Speeder Bike moves onto middle glyph, turns it neutral, round ends and it is claimed by the Empire, Empire now holds 3 control points to the Rebels 1, 2Ws assigned to Atgar Cannon.
R9: Speeder Bike wins initiative, moves to HG & att. Chewie, blocked. Leia realizes she can’t collect control points faster than the Speeder Bike and so she just moves and shoots at it from LG, destroyed!

Who won and how many wounds did they have? Leia w/1W & Chewbacca w/3Ws. Also 1 container was destroyed in the fighting with 2 other containers taking 2W and 1 taking 1W.
Game 2:
Units: Death Star Troopers x3, Speeder Bike x3, E-Web Trooper (400) vs. Thugs x5, IG-88B (400)

Spoiler Alert!

R1: Both sides jump on the right side glyph in their opening move. Speeder bike zips across the water to end turn on left side glyph while a Quarren Thug grabs lands on their left side glyph. On the final turn of the round a Duros runs out and lands on the middle glyph, while the thug on the right side glyph starts moving up the grassy hill while getting replaced on the glyph by another thug. The criminals claim 3 control points, the Empire 2, Empire kills off a DST in the start zone.
R2: Criminals win initiative and place one Rodian Thug adj. to each of the 3 Control Points they control, Empire puts the E-Web & a DST adj. to the right side glyph along with a Speeder Bike adj. to the left side and some jungle plants. No change in control points, Empire kills off a DST in SZ.
R3: Empire wins initiative, places DST & Speeder Bike adj. to left side glyph, Criminals place IG-88B adj. to middle glyph. E-Web take out Duros on middle glyph, IG-88B takes the E-Web out with one att. from HG, Speeder Bike ends move on middle glyph, returning it to neutral control. Thug moves adj. to and destroys Speeder Bike on glyph. Control Points are tied.
R4: Criminals win initiative, no figures left in either SZ to call up, Thug moves onto middle glyph. Quarren Thug on HG att. & kills DST on right side glyph. IG-88B destroys Speeder Bike on left side glyph. Last Speeder Bike can’t stop the Thugs from ending their turn on at least 4 control points so this is the end for the Empire. Speeder Bike does kill the Thug on the middle glyph though. Thugs move onto all open glyphs, round ends with Criminals having control of all 5 glyphs, last DST & Speeder Bike are destroyed.

Who won and how many wounds did they have? 6 Thugs and IG-88B at full health won. Also 1 crate was destroyed in the fighting with 1 container taking 2W & 2 containers taking 1W.
Final Thoughts: Playing the Battlefront rules on this map were really, really fun IMO. I had a blast fighting over control of the glyphs and I don’t usually play with glyphs on maps. I think the reason this was so much more fun for me was that the glyphs didn’t give you some powerful buff like +1 att. or def. for your whole army and yet control of the glyphs was pretty important in terms of not taking a wound at the end of the round and being able to quickly deploy your forces into the battle.
From a balanced stand point, I’m a bit concerned that the first team to take the middle glyph won both games but since it was only two games that really isn’t a pattern yet, just something to keep an eye on. I really like the use of the Crate/Container/Canister DO’s here. They are really fun to use and give both sides a chance to hold their positions longer while in the middle of the action. A few things about the Battlefront rules to keep an eye on are the effectiveness of both the Thugs & the Rebel Capt. & Rebel troopers as they both can move 6 figures at a time. I did not use the Imperial Officer or Bib Fortuna but their ability to replenish your forces with figures that you didn’t start the game with might be an issue.