Gundam Assemble: four RX-78-2s in five months, and the boxes actually worth buying

The RX-78-2 in the Paint Pack is not the one in the Starter Set.

Same kit, same hex base, same Amuro printed on the card. But the Starter one is a brawler: 15 hit points, it starts on space 2 of the Timeline, and its heavy weapon is a beam saber rolling six dice up close. The Paint Pack one starts on space 1, takes 17 hit points, and shoots a rifle at three hexes. Two different units with opposite jobs, and an opponent who sees a Gundam on the table has no idea which one they are facing until he reads the card.

The Deluxe Set due in late November brings a third. Expansion Pack 09 in March, a fourth. This is not a catalogue glitch, it is how Bandai builds the game, and it is worth keeping in mind before looking at the rest of the releases.

In shops since 31 October

Three boxes came out the same day as the Starter Set. Prices below are what French shops charge.

Expansion Pack 01, about 40 euros. The Unicorn Gundam in Destroy Mode, the Delta Plus and a Torohachi.

Expansion Pack 02, same price. The Witch from Mercury trio: Gundam Aerial, Gundam Pharact and Darilbalde.

Paint Pack 01, about 50 euros. RX-78-2, Guncannon and Guntank, plus four pots of paint and a brush.

Each expansion holds three unpainted miniatures, three unit cards, nine Tactics cards and tokens. No board, no dice: you need the Starter to play.

The Unicorn has the biggest gun in the game, and it is a beautiful trap

The Unicorn's Beam Magnum rolls eight dice at four hexes. Only the Vidar's Burst Saber rolls as many, and the Vidar has to get into melee to do it. Hitting on a 4 or better on a D10, that averages a little over five damage in one shot, enough to melt half of Char's Zaku.

Then you pay: four spaces of Timeline. And the Unicorn starts the game on space 3, like the Wing Zero, the Epyon and the Darilbalde, the cards that hit hardest. If you have read our beginner's guide, you already know what that means. You act late, you hit hard, you vanish for a long time. Fire the Magnum in the wrong round and your best unit slips into the next phase while your opponent acts three times.

That is exactly what I wanted from this game: a powerful piece that asks you to count, not just to roll.

The Torohachi is the joke of the box, and a useful one. It is a construction machine from Gundam UC, 8 hit points and no real weapon, just an armoured frame rolling three dice up close. All three of its abilities are support: supply, material transfer, rescue manoeuvre. Above all, it only gives your opponent 5 victory points when it falls, against 10 for the Unicorn. In a game you win on points, a cheap unit that helps everyone else and costs little to lose is a real pick.

The Delta Plus rounds it out with a five-hex rifle. Nothing flashy, but it is the kind of unit that ends up in every squad.

The Mercury pack is the best built of the three

If I could only buy one, it would be this one.

The Aerial is an anchor: 16 hit points, starts on space 1, a four-hex rifle rolling six dice. It acts early and it holds. The Pharact is a shooter with five hexes of range, the longest so far, and the Hover ability that lets it float over the terrain. The Darilbalde is its exact opposite: a beam saber rolling seven dice for only three spaces of Timeline. Only the Starter's Epyon hits as hard for as little time.

One holds the line, one shoots from afar, one goes in close. Three roles that never step on each other, in a single 40-euro box. Expansion Pack 01 is flashier, this one is better designed.

The Paint Pack, an expansion dressed up as a paint kit

Ten euros more than a regular expansion, and it feels like you are paying for the paint. Except the three cards are real, playable units, and not minor ones.

The Guncannon and the Guntank bring area attacks, marked SP where the range would be. Until now, only the Wing Zero's Twin Buster Rifle had one. With these two, the Federation finally has real artillery. The Guntank rolls five dice in an area with its missiles, and the Guncannon also keeps a rifle rolling seven.

And then there is that second RX-78-2, the rifle one, which acts first. Next to the Starter version, it gives you a real squad choice as soon as you buy your second box.

The catch: 17 hit points and a space-1 start come at a price too. This Gundam is worth 10 victory points to whoever brings it down, against 8 for the Starter version. Tougher, faster, and more rewarding to kill.

Late November: A Baoa Qu, and the first ship on the table

Deluxe Set 01 is listed for 27 November in French shops, at about 108 euros, 100 dollars in the US. Bandai already pushed its release back once, this summer.

Thirteen kits, two boards, and the whole battle of A Baoa Qu, the end of the One Year War. Federation side: the Gundam (the third card), the Guncannon, the Guntank, a GM, Balls and the White Base. Zeon side: the Zeong, its detachable head counted as a separate unit, a Rick Dom, a mine-laying Zaku II, a bazooka Zaku I, an Oggo and a Musai cruiser.

Two ships, then, and the move to 5 against 5. That is the real change of the year's end: until now, Gundam Assemble was a duel of three Mobile Suits per side. With ships and two boards, it becomes a battle.

Two expansions land the same day. Expansion Pack 03 brings a Gouf and a Magella Attack split in two pieces, the tank and its flying turret, which makes three units. The Magella is a tank, not a Mobile Suit, and that is a sign: Bandai does not plan to stop at robots. Expansion Pack 04 gathers Wing Gundam, Deathscythe and Heavyarms, with ammo tokens that force you to manage what you fire. A Heavyarms that empties its magazines in two turns is so true to the show that anything else would have been a letdown.

December: SEED, and a fight that is lopsided on purpose

Deluxe Set 02 is due in December at 170 dollars in the US. No European price has been announced yet, and on Bandai's site the box still only shows up as silhouettes.

Fourteen kits from Gundam SEED: the Archangel, the Strike with its three packs (Aile, Sword, Launcher), and across the table the four Gundams stolen by ZAFT, Duel, Blitz, Buster and Aegis. The format is an asymmetric 5 against 3, and it is the most interesting idea in the whole range so far. One side has numbers, the other has a ship and a Strike that swaps equipment. It is the story of the show's first episodes, and above all a scenario you cannot play as a mirror match.

Expansion Pack 05, again from Wing, follows on 18 December. Its contents have not been revealed.

What bugs me a little

Nine boxes between late October and Christmas, four more already set from January to March: Expansion Packs 06 (Mighty Strike Freedom and Infinite Justice Type II), 07 (GQuuuuuuX, GFreD and the Red Gundam), 08 (Sazabi and Nu Gundam) and 09, then a Scenario Pack and a third Deluxe Set in March. That is the pace of a trading card game, not of a miniatures game that has just been born.

And Expansion Pack 09, precisely, is an RX-78-2, a GM and a Ball. The fourth original Gundam in five months. Every card is different, as I said, and it is actually rather well thought out. But you can also read it as the reflex of a manufacturer who knows this kit sells itself.

Where to start, concretely

You own nothing: the Starter Set at 36 euros and the Paint Pack at 50. Nine units, two Gundams with opposite roles, artillery, and something to learn painting on with the three Paint Pack kits rather than the ones you care about.

You have the Starter: Expansion Pack 02. It is the best ready-made squad right now.

You want big battles: wait for 27 November and Deluxe Set 01, which on its own doubles the size of the table.

You are a SEED fan: you stopped reading at the December section and you are already hunting for a preorder.

If you have already built the Unicorn and fired the Magnum at the wrong moment, tell us how it ended: the wargame channel on the InsertCoins Discord collects glorious defeats.