Star Wars Epic Duels
Encyclopedia
The Star Wars Epic Duels board game was released by Hasbro in 2002. It was designed for ages 8 and up, and for 2-6 players. "In Epic Duels, you create hundreds of never-before-seen battles or relive classic duels. Stage your battle in 1 of 4 different locations - a landing platform on Kamino, the Execution Arena on Geonosis, the Carbon-Freeze Room or The Emperor's Throne Room. Attack & eliminate your opponents one by one, until you're the last one standing" (from the game box). The game comes with "31 decorated Star Wars
figures, 2 double-sided gameboards, 12 character cards, 28 wound markers, 378 cards, 1 die, label sheet and Instructions" (from the gamebox). The main designer of the game was Craig Van Ness, with assistance from Rob Daviau. It is out of print.
, Darth Maul
with two Battle Droid
s, Obi-Wan Kenobi
with two Clone Trooper
s, Yoda
with two Clone Troopers, Luke Skywalker
with Princess Leia, Mace Windu
with two Clone Troopers, Darth Vader
with two Stormtrooper
s, Count Dooku
with two Super Battle Droids, Boba Fett
with Greedo, Emperor Palpatine with two Royal Guard
s, Jango Fett
with Zam Wesell, and Han Solo
with Chewbacca
.
Each character card displays how much damage the major and minor characters can take before they are destroyed. Each character uses a wound marker to track the damage on their character card. The object of the game is to destroy your opponent's major character(s).
During gameplay players alternate turns rolling the die, moving their characters, and then performing 2 "actions". An action is defined in the rulebook as "Drawing a Card, Playing a Card, and Healing a Character." A character is healed by discarding a card of a destroyed major or minor character. There are several different ways to play the game from 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, 3-6 player free-for-all, and even a special "masterplay" variant. Gameplay with 6-12 players is possible, however, it is more easily accomplished if two boards are used adjacent to each other.
called Star Wars Miniatures
, has provided many fans with figurines of similar scale to use with the hundreds of custom decks that can be found on the internet. Several Facebook fan groups exist as well. There is also a devoted Yahoo!
group to playing Epic Duels online through the VASSAL Engine
. .
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
figures, 2 double-sided gameboards, 12 character cards, 28 wound markers, 378 cards, 1 die, label sheet and Instructions" (from the gamebox). The main designer of the game was Craig Van Ness, with assistance from Rob Daviau. It is out of print.
Characters
There are 12 major characters in the game, and each major character is accompanied by one or two minor characters. The character combinations are: Anakin Skywalker with Padmé AmidalaPadmé Amidala
Padmé Amidala is a fictional character in the Star Wars science fiction franchise. She first appeared on film in the 1999 feature film, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, as the young queen of the planet Naboo. In subsequent prequel trilogy films, Padmé represents Naboo in the Galactic Senate...
, Darth Maul
Darth Maul
Darth Maul is a fictional character in the science fiction saga Star Wars. He is one of the main antagonists of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, portrayed by martial artist Ray Park and voiced by Peter Serafinowicz....
with two Battle Droid
Battle droid
Battle Droids are a fictional, robotic combat unit used in the Star Wars Universe. Though developed earlier, battle droids served as frontline units in the Trade Federation Army and for the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars era. They were mass produced on Confederate planets...
s, Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He is one of several primary characters in the Star Wars series. Along with Darth Vader, R2-D2, and C-3PO, he is one of the few major characters to appear in all six Star Wars films...
with two Clone Trooper
Clone trooper
The clone troopers of the Army of the Republic are soldiers in the fictional Star Wars universe, cloned from Jango Fett, a Mandalorian bounty hunter. They first appeared in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and returned in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith where they were played...
s, Yoda
Yoda
Yoda is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, appearing in the second and third original films, as well as all three prequel trilogy films. A renowned Jedi master, Yoda made his first on-screen appearance in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where he is responsible for...
with two Clone Troopers, Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, where he is portrayed by Mark Hamill. He is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which he is forced to leave home, and finds himself apprenticed to the Jedi master...
with Princess Leia, Mace Windu
Mace Windu
Mace Windu is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, most famously portrayed by actor Samuel L. Jackson in the prequel films. However, Windu has also been voiced by other actors in assorted video game and animated projects....
with two Clone Troopers, Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
with two Stormtrooper
Imperial stormtrooper
The Imperial Stormtroopers are fictional soldiers from George Lucas' Star Wars universe. Stormtroopers are the soldiers of the imperial army under the leadership of the evil Sith Lord and Emperor Palpatine and his commanders, most notably Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin.They are shown in...
s, Count Dooku
Count Dooku
Count Dooku is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe. Dooku is one of the main antagonists of both Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and the events of the Clone Wars and is a supporting villain in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Count Dooku plays a substantial role...
with two Super Battle Droids, Boba Fett
Boba Fett
Boba Fett is a character in Star Wars. A bounty hunter hired by Darth Vader to find the Millennium Falcon, he is a minor villain in both Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi....
with Greedo, Emperor Palpatine with two Royal Guard
Emperor's Royal Guard
Royal Guards are soldiers who protect Emperor Palpatine in the fictional Star Wars universe. They appear in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and in the third prequel film, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith...
s, Jango Fett
Jango Fett
Jango Fett is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He first appeared as one of the main antagonists in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and later served as the protagonist of the LucasArts video game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, played by Temuera Morrison.Jango Fett serves as...
with Zam Wesell, and Han Solo
Han Solo
Han Solo is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise played by Harrison Ford. Introduced in the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope , Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot, Chewbacca , become involved in the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire...
with Chewbacca
Chewbacca
Chewbacca, also known as Chewie, is a character in the Star Wars franchise, portrayed by Peter Mayhew. In the series' narrative chronology, he appears in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi...
.
Game play
Game play is based on a card-centered combat system. Each set of characters has its own deck of 31 cards. There are three types of cards in the deck, Basic Combat Cards, Power Combat Cards and Special cards. Basic Combat cards have two values, one for attacking and one for defending. Power Combat cards have combat values and additional effects that give the characters special abilities. There are also "Special" cards that allow the characters to do unique things such as extra movement, drawing/discarding cards, and additional damage. Each player maintains a hand of cards from their respective decks that are used during the game.Each character card displays how much damage the major and minor characters can take before they are destroyed. Each character uses a wound marker to track the damage on their character card. The object of the game is to destroy your opponent's major character(s).
During gameplay players alternate turns rolling the die, moving their characters, and then performing 2 "actions". An action is defined in the rulebook as "Drawing a Card, Playing a Card, and Healing a Character." A character is healed by discarding a card of a destroyed major or minor character. There are several different ways to play the game from 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, 3-6 player free-for-all, and even a special "masterplay" variant. Gameplay with 6-12 players is possible, however, it is more easily accomplished if two boards are used adjacent to each other.
Epic Duels Community
Despite the fact that the game was out of print by 2004, there is large internet following for the short-lived game. There are numerous fan-sites ("epic_duels_online_league"), forums and groups that still continue to discuss and analyze it. As Hasbro has not announced plans for an expansion to the game, many fans took it upon themselves to create custom decks to be used with the game. A similar Star Wars board game released by Wizards of the CoastWizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
called Star Wars Miniatures
Star Wars Miniatures
Star Wars Miniatures was a 34mm scale collectible miniatures tabletop game based on the Star Wars fictional universe that was produced by Wizards of the Coast. The game was originally released in September 2004 and continued production until May 2010...
, has provided many fans with figurines of similar scale to use with the hundreds of custom decks that can be found on the internet. Several Facebook fan groups exist as well. There is also a devoted Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
group to playing Epic Duels online through the VASSAL Engine
VASSAL Engine
The VASSAL Engine is a game engine for building and playing online adaptations of board games, tabletop games and card games. It allows users to play in real time over a live Internet connection, and also by email . It runs on all platforms, and is free, open-source software...
. .