Pandemic... but Star Wars!

We finally got Star Wars: The Clone Wars to the table last weekend. I was really hyped about it, because we love both the Pandemic-system and the Star Wars universe so it sounded like a match made in heaven.😌 But, to be honest, my excitement vanished at light speed and for me this is the weakest entry in the Pandemic series so far.
I think the root of it all is the new card system.

👉 In the original Pandemic you get city cards of 4 different colors at the end of your turn which you either use as airplane tickets to move, or collect sets of 5 same colored cards to find a cure for a disease type. This allows you to use your action points for slightly more interesting actions than drawing cards. As things escalate, more and more cities will become infected, but as you find some cures, certain diseases will be easier to cure. The game has a nice curve, with you barely winning it at the last minute if you played well enough.

👉 In Clone Wars you have 4 types of squad cards instead. A 12-sided die is used to resolve combat against droids (which act as the disease cubes here) and villains, and also to attempt missions. Combat is basically about rolling the die and checking if you have enough successes. If not, you can exhaust matching colored cards. You then take damage if you rolled any, that’s it. Cards are acting as your health: if you take damage, you discard one card. This means that one of the most important actions is drawing new cards to have the best chances.

A cool part of the game are the 4 villains to choose from. They have their own deck of cards that determines what they do after your turn, plus their own specific rules to spice up the game.

You have to complete a given amount of missions then defeat a villain to win, which is resolved similarly to combat. Pandemic: Fall of Rome and Wrath of the Lich King both use a die too, but here it feels less interesting.

💬 To end this on a positive note, I have to mention the minis which have nice looking sculpts. 🙂 I am especially a fan of the little droid figures that tend to gang up on every planet. Overall it’s a nice package but it lacks the magic that makes Pandemic so much fun to play.