Star Wars X-Wing - You Rebel SCUM! A Review of Heroes of the Aturi Cluster for X-Wing

By now you've either heard or read about the exploits of 'Green Squadron', and their efforts to return peace to the Outer Rim Territories. Their relentless attacks on the Empire and their cohorts, are just a small part of 'Heroes of the Aturi Cluster'. It's a co-operative campaign using the X-Wing miniatures rule-set with a twist. You now have the ability to play with your friends on the same side, focusing on the same objectives to complete missions. Meanwhile, the Empire is completely controlled by a well written set of predetermined rules that control pilots, their ships and their actions during the course of this campaign.

Steve touched briefly on the overview and some of the cool aspects of this campaign for X-Wing. If you listened to the WWPD Podcast lately, then you know how jazzed Steve, Jon, Eric and the rest of the WWPD are about this campaign. There was a secret Rebel meeting a short time ago, where Green Squadron got together and played all *16 missions in an effort to secure victory against the empire. *17 Missions if you include the Introduction
Come along as we take a closer look at what you get with this FREE, fully downloadable campaign.

Since it comes in a PDF format, all you have to do is print it out. For less than $40, I had all this printed on quality paper and card stock at my local office supply store. The sheer amount of stuff you get in this campaign download is staggering. The nice thing about the files, is they are separated. Making them fast to download and making it easy to print more copies, such as your Player Scoresheets. Money well spent, but you can always print at home!

Behind any good game, there's a good rule book. At 79 pages, it includes all the backstory, campaign setting and special rules you can add to enhance your X-Wing experience. It also has, in detail the location of the rebel......sorry, got off track there. It has, in detail all the missions with full map layouts on how to setup your star charts (gaming area) before each mission. Spend the money for a good binding and a clear cover for the book. Mine has a spiral binding, clear cover and a heavier black vinyl backing to ensure it lasts.

This is only some of the terrain cards you get in the downloadable PDF. The resolution of each terrain printout is really nicely done, I had mine printed on a heavier card stock in order for it to stand up a little better than paper would. I left mine uncut to show you how it's setup when you get it, there will be some folding and cutting to do, but it's worth it! Of course you can use your own terrain if you have it and it fits the mission setup in the rule book.

Your scoresheet represents your ship and more importantly your pilot's call-sign and victories. Hopefully you'll fill in the column on the right long before you let the Empire get the better of you during your campaign. Right Porkins? You will also track your Experience Points, ship upgrades and more!

These 'AI Ship Stat Cards' are used by the Imperial pilots to control their fighters and other ships against your pitiful little band. These charts determine movement, attack options and other actions. They've been heavily tested and do not underestimate the power of the AI in this campaign. Your overconfidence may become a weakness, you have squadron members counting on you. Again I chose a heavier card stock for these cards. You could always shrink them down, but I think they're a great size and can easily be read during game-play. I plan on gluing mine to thicker posterboard for a little more durability. Finding sleeves for these cards may prove to be difficult.

These 'Mission Cards' contain basic information about the mission and allow you to randomize which missions are played. Once they are printed out, throw them into some protective sleeves, it makes them a little easier to shuffle and adds some durability to them. Pay attention when printing them out, the PDF file contains the fronts and backs, but not on the same file, so you'll have to make sure you don't mix up the MISSION and the REFERENCE decks.

These cards are from the 'Reference' deck and will help you and your squadron keep track of everything that's in the main rule book. They're very well laid out and again, you can see the quality and time it took to produce this project. The Ultra-Pro card sleeves are what I use for all my card games and will extend the life of your other X-Wing cards as well.

Oh, I'm afraid your campaign will be quite operational when your friends arrive. Everything that was shown here (plus printable terrain) is what you get when you visit DockingBay416 to download your copy. Hope you enjoyed this look at an exciting addition to your X-Wing gaming collection. For the exploits of 'Green Squadron', Judson's mustache and the rest of the gang during this campaign, stay tuned to the WWPD Network. Squadron Leader Steven 'Wrongway' MacLauchlan will be bringing you his after action reports and intel over the coming weeks. May the Force be with us.

*Miniatures shown are not included, buy your own, Rebel scum!

Matt MacKenzie loves the history of WW2 and many types of gaming. He enjoys regularly contributing articles to WWPD. Matt is retired on weekends and enjoys FoW, Kings of War, X-Wing and video games. He also hosts a gaming related podcast at DiceDevils.com.