Ask the Dragon

 

Doors

 

This week’s email is the first of a two parter from HD:

 

Hey Sithdragon. I love reading your articles, As a new player who is still venturing into the world of SW Minis I find your articles very informative and always leave with something to strategize about, or research even further. Well done!
 
I must ask you a few questions.
I note that in your articles you mention several "meta-game" strategies these are often referred to by players with acronyms like B&B or some other whimsical anecdote. Would you be kind enough to cover what some of these meta games are and a brief description of what they entail? (I keep trying to refer to B&B as bed and breakfast for some odd reason)
 
I also read briefly about the use of doors and lobot/R2 causing doors to be considered open or closed. Of course with the recent release of Alliance/Empire(CotF actually), the Ugnaught just pretty much blows up doors rendering the door control tactic you referred to as useless. Now, I know that a mini can't go through an open door, but what does the character need to do to open a door, how long does it take.... etc.  Basically I guess I'm asking about the use of doors in relation to the strategy of door control.
 
Thanks for the read, and the great articles again.
 

Thanks for the complement.  It’s always nice to hear people are reading these and enjoying them.  Being a fairly one-sided media, sometimes I have to wonder if anyone is out there. J

 

I am going to tackle the second half of your letter about door control first, and come back to the first half in my next article.  Door control is a very key ingredient to playing the game.  Knowing how to open/close and manipulate doors can really give a key strategic advantage in a game.  How much door control affects the game really depends on the point total you are playing at and the maps you are using.  In the 100 and 150 point DCI tournaments there are several maps that have an abundance of doors that you have to worry about.  In the 200 point level, there isn’t a whole lot of door control until the new starter made the throne room map widely available. 

 

Let’s start with how the doors actually work first.  Doors cannot change status unless there is a character either next to or removed from besides the door at the end of any character activation.  Page 30 of the new rulebook (can also be downloaded form wizards.com under rules) has a very nice picture of what squares will open a door.  As in the example in the picture, if there is no one next to the door it is closed.  If Luke moves up to the door at the end of Luke’s turn, if he is next to the door it opens so Han can now go through.  Simple right?  Well here are a few weird scenarios for you:

 

-          Double attacks: Lets say a jawa is holding a door open with his allies behind the open door.  An opposing Boba Fett shoots said jawa, killing it.  Keep in mind that the door does not check until the end of a turn, so even though there is no one next to the door it is still open.  Boba may shoot another enemy through the door.  When Boba’s turn is over the door checks and will now shut since there is no one next to it.

 

-          End of turn movement:  There are characters like Gree and Leia, Senator that allow movement at the end of a turn.  When you involve a door check with this you get two things wanting to happen at the same time.  As the active player, you get to choose which one you use first.  If a player chooses the movement first and then the door check, nothing really happens.  Now if you choose the door check first and then the movement, you get a nice little quirk that can be beneficial.  By checking the door you can now declare it open.  Its status will not check again until the end of the next character’s turn.  You can then move your character up to two squares per the CEs.  Your end result is a door that is open with no one next to it.  At the end of the next character activation (presumably your second of the phase), the door will close again, assuming no one is next to it, creating a nice peek-a-boo effect.

 

All doors are checked at the beginning of the game. 

 

I hope that gives you a bit of help.  If you have any further questions let me know.  If anyone has any questions or topics you would like me to cover, drop me a line at sithdragon13@yahoo.com.  I will get to ALL emails, so if you have sent something be patient.  I know I have a few stacked up right now.  It’s coming ;) 

 

May the Force Be With You.