What exactly are battle forces?
I'm confused as to what exactly battle forces entail. Are they just "starter kits" for each faction to give you an 800 point list in one box?
Posted Apr 1, 2023, 10:50 PM UTC
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All of the Battle Forces are themed armies. Blizzard Force and Echo Base Defenders are based off of the Battle of Hoth. The 501st is based off of the Battle of Umbara. The Separatist Invasion is based off of the Second Battle of Naboo. The Shadow Collective is based off of Maul's takeover of Mandalore during the Clone Wars. The Imperial Reminant is based off of Moff Gideon's forces during the Mandalorian. This battle force will not have a starter box. There are also going to be Ewok and Tempest Force battle forces based off of the Battle of Endor along with a Geonosian Battle Force based off of the Battle of Geonosis. Not all batlle forces will have unique command cards and starter sets.
The boxes all come with pretty much a full 800 point army. These are all good starting points if you only want one army but you would need to purchase an essentials kit for the battlefield cards, dice, and range/movement rulers. Blizzard Force does not include any Stormtrooper models so those need to be purchased separately. The 501st Legion only comes with 2 corps units so this box does not make a legal standard 800 point army if you do not use the 501st rules.
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Kind of... But in addition to that they are more thematic... Aka Echo base defenders being the Rebel forces on Hoth... But more specifically... BF have defined rules on what units, and number of, can be included in the army... They also have distinct command cards. But note, you can also use the units included in the BF boxes to make "regular" armies... Though there are a few exceptions to this... Rule... Like the HRUs included in Blizzard Force (Empire BF).
Look at the official docs for each HERE
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It’s like an army of renown from Warhammer, basically it puts restrictions on what units you can bring(usually with some sort of theme) in exchange for bonus rules/buffs.
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Its not as much a starter kit, as a ready to play army. Since its thematic army, it can be played normally or with special rules that limit you to a specific theme, but give you some special abilities to counter it.
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They're specific configurations or themes for factions.
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So they're supposed to be representative of specific battle throughout star wars. They have unique list building rules and restrictions that allow them to go outside the norm. For example, Blizzard Force is representative of the invasion force at the Battle of Hoth. So you can take Vader and General Veers, because they were both there, but you wouldn't be able to take Palpatine because he wasn't.
You can buy a battleforce and build with those restrictions in mind, but you're not forced to. You can buy a battleforce box and still be able to build a normal list, but you just wouldn't be able to use the cards specifically made for that force.
Seems like a weird way to do that, thanks for the info
From a new player perspective, it's a good way to get people into the game. You can recreate the battle of hoth and get a bunch of minis for cheap! Most of the bf are insane value compared to pricing out each unit individually.
Ya. It's main goal is to shrink down the game, so you don't get overwhelmed by the whole of empire options.