Matthew BaileyAs promised, the second really good Star Wars game that I’ve played in the last week or so is the brand new, just released last Friday, Star Wars: Battle of Hoth.
Before we get started, it’s worth mentioning that Battle of Hoth is essentially based on the reasonably popular World War 2 game Memoir ’44, only based around the Star Wars licence and the incredibly popular battle scene from The Empire Strikes Back.
Memoir ’44 is quite an interesting battle game in that essentially, when you play the game, you choose a scenario and one player plays as the Rebels, the other plays as the Empire, and you set up the battle depending on how the book tells you to set it up. There are objectives that you need to complete in order to win.
As well as the many one-off scenarios you can play, there are also two different campaigns you can play that add extra things to the scenarios, and it’s a fun thing if you are a fan of legacy-style games. It’s not true legacy, but it does add an extra bit to the experience, and I really appreciate it being in the box. Equally, if Memoir ’44 is anything to go by, there will be lots of fan-made content and extra scenarios available online moving forward.
The game essentially is a 1v1 war game played on a hex grid. You take your deck, then choose your hero, shuffling three cards depending on which hero you have chosen to make your attack deck. You then choose four cards, and these four cards give orders to different units, potentially dependent on which section of the map they’re on, or alternatively, the type of unit that they are.
On your turn, you play an order card, move those units dependent on what unit you are moving, and then get to attack, which is decided by dice rolls. It’s an extremely simple game to play, but it’s really engaging, and it’s absolutely perfect for getting kids into this type of game. The fact that it seems to be marketed slightly more mainstrea,m I thin,k is an important reflection of this.
The game is very asymmetrical and both the Rebels and the Imperials play really differently. The infantry units are quite similar, but whereas the Rebels have mounted guns that can’t move and Snowspeeders that are fast and strong but fairly easy to take out, the Empire has scout droids and extremely powerful AT-ATs that are strong, lumbering, and hard to take down. But if you do manage to take one down, it’s really quite an exciting prospect.
The games aren’t terribly long, mostly taking about 20 minutes, and they really do give you a sense of a fun battle. Now, why did I say earlier in my review that the game was 1v1? Because to be honest, it really is. You can also play in two teams of two on either side, but it doesn’t make a massive amount of difference to the way the game plays.
If you particularly love the game, you can also order a second copy, as the reverse of the map is half of a board. You can join two copies together to make mega-sized battles, for which there are guides in the back. If you have access to two copies, this is a really nice touch.
From a component quality point of view, based on the fact this comes at a slightly reduced price to Memoir ’44, the components you’re getting inside are actually pretty decent. You’re getting loads of cool little miniatures, the Snowspeeders are nicely done, and the AT-ATs are really cool. There is also a promo out there for the Rebel Shields, which is a really nice little touch. And if the kids want to keep playing this more, which I suggest they might because they really like it, I might 3D print some of the terrain to make it that little bit more engaging.
I also love the card holders. This game comes with card holders so that you don’t have to hold your cards in your hand, and while this might seem like a small thing, these are the best card holders I’ve ever come into contact with. These card holders are going to be used going forward for other games that require holding cards, especially with Henry, as I’ve literally never come across card holders that are as good as these. They fit perfectly, they’re the perfect size, they hold everything really well, and they’re ever so slightly curved to make it that little bit easier to keep cards from being seen by other players. They’re brilliant. I cannot go on enough about how good the card holders are in this game. I would genuinely buy these card holders separately just for the card holders.
Everything is not absolutely perfect, and that’s fine, but it is worth mentioning. First and foremost, this is the Battle of Hoth over and over again, and for some peoplethat’s going to wear a little bit. There isn’t loads of unit variety — there are three units on either side. These don’t really change, and there are a few modifiers that happen in later scenarios to add a little bit extra, but it doesn’t really change the way they play. This game is said to be part of a brand new Galactic Battle series, so I’m hoping that further down the line we get things like the Battle of Endor, or a Clone Wars battle, and obviously some mix-and-match scenarios that might come with them.
Next, and this will seem like a small complaint to a lot of people, but for someone who collects and has a lot of board games, the shape of the box is a massive pain. There is a reason why most board games come in the same square-style box — because it tessellates relatively nicely on the shelf. Whereas this comes in a weird halfway between a normal square box and a 90s Monopoly board game-style box, and either way it’s an absolute pain to store on the shelf.
I knew I was going to enjoy Battle of Hoth, to be honest, because I am a big fan of Memoir ’44, and this is a simplified version of that game, obviously targeting younger players as well as non-board gamers, enticing them in with its extremely well-realised Star Wars theme. I am hoping that there will be either expansions or alternative versions set in other parts of Star Wars battle history, to either give new scenarios or, more importantly, new unit variety. At the moment, with only three units per side, it is a little bit samey, but there is a lot of potential here. If your kids are into Star Wars and are looking for a really approachable hex-based battle game, then you could do an awful lot worse than Star Wars: Battle of Hoth.
