Spoilers! What 'The Last Jedi' Can Bring to the Tabletop

So I know that the word "spoilers" is in the title of this article, but because I'd hate to be the guy who leaks the plot of this movie for someone, know again that this article does indeed contain SPOILERS for The Last Jedi (cue Death Star klaxons).  So go watch it already!  Or, you know, at least before reading on.  I get it you're waiting to see it with your family over the holidays or whatever.

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Still with me?  Cool.  So, Star Wars: The Last Jedi has come, and it begs the question- what can we expect it to add to the pantheon of Star Wars Tabletop games?  

Well, first of all, it should be noted that we already have some items from TLJ for the X-Wing ?Miniatures Game: Kylo Ren's TIE Silencer and what appears to be a scaled down version of the Resistance bomber (you know, the ones that Poe decides are about as expendable as an army of gungans).  

Also, we know that some characters like Rose Tico are coming to the collectible card game Star Wars: Destiny.

But what else?  In this article, we'll examine existing Star Wars lines to see the possible potential of TLJ implementation, as well as loosely speculating on other possibilities for this new film to hit the tabletop.

Armada

Unlike how X-Wing incorporates some Sequel trilogy elements as well as prequel allusions (ARC-170 and the Wookie-Copter), Armada seems pretty firmly rooted in the Galactic Civil War.  Sure, there are elements from Rebels (the Chimera) and Rogue One (Profundity, Hammerhead Corvettes) but we still have never ventured outside the GCW.  And for that reason, I don't think Armada will get any new content from TLJ, at least not yet.

If Armada does ever expand to the sequel trilogy, though, I think we have a good degree of  new stuff to add: The Raddus, maybe Snoke's Supremacy, obviously the First Order Star Destroyers.  Also, I think the Resistance SF-17 bombers would be a much better fit in Armada than in X-Wing.  They just seem, from what I've seen, to be too small in X-Wing.  I know they've been compared to B-Wings and V-Wings (given they're made by the same company, apparently) but I see these things as scaled down Nebulon-B Frigates. 

The SF-17 has a legnth of almost 30 meters according to the wiki, while a T-70 Resistance X-Wing sits at around 12 meters.  A GR-75 transport stands at about 90 meters.  Maybe I'm being too critical, but I think the GR-75 could just be given more justice in Armada.  Plus, from what we see in the movie, it's far more of an anti-capital ship craft, not really suited for dogfighting.

Star Wars: Imperial Assault/ Star Wars Legion

Here's the thing- and one final warning for spoilers- by the end of the film, there are like twelve people left in the Resistance.  Maybe that's hyperbole, but if so, it's just barely, because the entire remnant of what was the Resistance can fit on the Millennium Falcon.  

To me, this just wouldn't work with Legion, at least not yet.  The Resistance can't really hold its own in a grand land battle. They sort of did this with Crait, but... even then, it was extremely one sided.  At least with the GCW, we had the implication that the conflict was wider and spread out- even though we didn't see a ton of land battles, we know that they happened.  So far at least, I don't feel the same can be said for the sequel trilogy.

I'd even go so far as to say this wouldn't work yet for Imperial Assault, either.  Considering how the entire resistance can fit on Han's old ship, I think even four heroes would be noticed to be missing- and that's just campaign, you can forget about skirmish.

Maybe this will change when Episode IX comes out- after all, Boyega said the final movie will be the "war to end all wars", but as for now I think we can count these two games out.  And such a shame- a Kylo Ren mini would be awesome!

Star Wars: Rebellion

Hear me out- I think that we could get a mini expansion for Star Wars: Rebellion.  I don't think it's likely, but I think it could work.

The key to this is the map.  I'll be honest in that I haven't worked out the details fully yet, and it would be drastically different (and shorter) than a standard game of Rebellion, but I see it as something like this: 

Gameplay opens with a space battle.  The Resistance have cards for each of their ships, face down.  Under each ships cards are the ground troops inside.  The Resistance can stall for as long as they can during the opening space battle- the more rounds they endure, the more fuel their fleet will have, and the longer they'll be able to travel, by spending one "Fuel Card" to move to a system.  However, if a Resistance capitol ship is destroyed in the combat, the Resistance player will need to try a saving roll.  If it succeeds, the ship is lost but the ground units aboard it are transported to another capitol ship.  If it fails, all ground units aboard it are destroyed.  Since the capitol ship cards don't aren't revealed to the First Order until they're defeated, the evil player won't know which ships to target to score the most hits, but will eventually be able to narrow it down as the survivors cram aboard less and less ships.

    Once the Resistance retreats, the move one system per turn, by spending one fuel card they've earned.  When they move, they're allowed to send one leader on a mission to a system adjacent to where the Resistance moved to.  

For instance, if the Resistance has moved to Naboo, they could attempt to send Finn out to Geonosis.  If they do, the First Order is allowed to break off part of its fleet to oppose it, by sending up to two Star Destroyers and a full contingent of TIEs for each to Geonosis as well.  Then, Finn draws a new "Planet" card from the Planet card deck that matches the region that he is in.  He reads and resolves the text matching Geonosis- if he has to roll an attribute test, count -1 successes for each fleet the First Order deployed.

Mission outcomes can have various effects.  If the Resistance is successful, they may grant more ships or ground units, or Fuel cards to the Resistance fleet.  They could also remove units from the First Order fleet.  Finally, some missions may award "loyalty points".  For each loyalty point on a planet, the Resistance would get a certain amount of ground units in the final land battle- but only if the battle takes place on that specific planet.  This can be useful in that the units are not vulnerable by being on a Resistance ship, but perhaps a mechanic could be added for the First Order to try to leave behind a contingent to oppress the population of the planet and decrease loyalty.

Now here's where it gets interesting.  Let's say in our above example that the Resistance Fleet is on Naboo, having left Utapau (where the FO fleet still is- they don't move until the very end of turn).  On the next turn, the Resistanc ecould move to Malastare, and the FO fleets that went to Geonosis would be left far behind.  On the other hand, if the Resistance had been on Sullust and had attempted a mission on Cato Nemoidia, the First Order units that went to oppose the mission could theoretically also be sent ahead to help cut off the Resistance at Malastare.  So, while the Resistance is trying not to run out of fuel, the First Order can also work to cut off their options.

Ultimately, the game would end when the Resistance declares a base via the planet that their fleet occupies- either because they've chosen to make a stand, or because they ran out of fuel.  The Resistance has until the end of the turn to reach them and initiate a land battle with whatever troops they have that can reach them.  Whoever wins the battle wins the game.

Anyway, this is just sort of a half-baked idea right now, but I think while possible, it's pretty unlikely.  If Rebellion gets another expansion this year, I fully expect it to be themed on the Rebels animation.

But feel free to discuss this idea further- it's definitely a game I'd play!

RPGs

I'm not very involved with the Star Wars RPGs, but I think The Last Jedi has a lot to offer in terms of world-building.  Like it or hate it, Canto Bight brings a lot to Star Wars lore.  So, I guess that's really all I have to say, seeing how little I know about these.

Porg-pocalypse

Honestly, I don't follow Hasbro much anymore, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a Porg game or two come out.  Hungry, Hungry Porgs, maybe?  That game where the elephant inexplicably blows butterflies out of his trunk like it's some Lovecraftian biological piñata, only its a porg?  I don't care- honestly, if it's something that gets kids into Star Wars, I support it.

Monopoly & Friends

Of course they're making a Monopoly of this.  Let's hope Rey is actually included this time...  

And don't think we won't get more Clue and Operation, because of course we will.  Somebody out there is super excited for all of these, for some reason.

Risk

For the same reasons that I don't think Legion or IA will get content, as well as why Rebellion needed a major overhaul to work, I don't see Risk working well with this movie either.  Now, does that mean that we won't get a new release?  I'm not sure we can say that with confidence.

In some cases, though, I could see this working and actually being good.  I think the weirdly named Risk: Star Wars Edition that came out two years ago and was effectively a reskin of The Queen's Gambit showed that someone with Hasbro actually has a ton of creativity and isn't afraid to step out of the box a bit.

Other Ideas?

I'd love to hear any other, even more outside the box ideas you guys have.  Personally, I loved The Last Jedi, but I think it's going to be a challenge to get it to the tabletop much.  Let me know what you think in the comments, and let me know your thoughts on the movie itself, too!


May the Force be with you!

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- Thomas