Often times the hardest part of a game is to know where to start, and with Star Wars Minis this can be especially so.  Many games you can 'cheat' in that you are allowed to throw different cards from different teams/types into a single unit, so if you have part of group A and part of group C you can mix them together for a functional deck/squad.  In SWM, this isn't the case, so building a squad can be a lot tougher.  This article will hopefully help those of you who are reading what you see on this site and are interested in getting started.

So you want to play SWM, but where do you go?  Do you go after older, power pieces?  Current boosters? Buy by the case, booster or figure?  All the figures in the world will do you little good if you have nothing to play on.  You need maps.  For maps you can go after the three starter sets (Rebel Storm, Clone Strike, or Revenge of the Sith) or the Attack on Endor scenario set.  You can also try to obtain Ultimate Mission books, but they are expensive and come with no figures.  The three starter sets each come with a map (a hard map in RotS) and one core figure with 2-3 small support pieces for each of the characters.  If you get the Attack on Endor scenario set, you will get an AT-ST plus three different stormtroopers.  All four will give you a good start with solid figures.  The AoE set may get you a bit faster start than the three starter sets.  It will also get you four maps instead of one that are all huge friendly (something that will become more important later).  The AoE set is the easiest to find, the same price as the others, and will get you the best squad the fastest as it is only one or two characters from being a solid tourney squad.

No matter your choice, once you have your map(s), you need to field a squad.  Where do you start with that?  It can be a big undertaking.  First you must figure out how much money you can devote to the game.  The smaller the amount of money, the more I would suggest buying individual characters over boosters so you do not spend lots of your money and end up with characters you do not need.  With a bit more money, you can buy boosters. 

But what set?  That really depends on what faction you want to run.  Every set has its strengths.  Here is a rough breakdown of what you want to go after depending on what squad you want to run:

Republic: The sets to go after here would be Clone Strike and Revenge of the Sith, but Clone Strike pieces and boosters will be very expensive to obtain.  It has been discontinued the longest of all the sets.  You can still get a very good Jedi/clone army form RotS.  You can get some lesser CS Jedi cheap enough if you look hard enough.

Separatist:  Here you can choose to buy Clone strike, Revenge of the Sith or Universe boosters.  Seps have pieces scattered throughout these three.  Each set has a core piece you will need, but don't fear.  The Battle Droid Officer from CS is usually cheap enough to get if you run droids.  Separatist/Sith will be expensive as most of the best pieces are from CS and extremely expensive.

Rebel:  Here there are two choices, but only one good one.  Both Rebel Storm and Universe have rebels, but Most every rebel from RS has been eclipsed by a better version in Universe.  The only two exceptions being R2 and Obi-Wan.

Empire:  Imperials can be found in Rebel Storm and Universe.  If you went with the AoE scenario pack you already have a powerful piece.  Either of these sets will be good.  The advantage to Universe is its diverse selection of other factions plus a fairly easy to draw beatstick in the form of Vader, Jedi Hunter.  There you will also stand a chance of pulling either Thrawn or another AT-ST.  Veers is a good piece to get from rebel storm, but most pieces you will need from rebel storm can be obtained for a very cheap price.

New Republic/Vong:  Your only choice for these is Universe.....for now! (I'll come back to this).

Fringe:  Do not buy boosters hoping to pull powerful fringe uniques.  Most all of them are very hard to pull.  Go after a faction and hope you get lucky.  Otherwise buy these individually.

Now as you may or may not have known, there is a new set coming in just about a month's time.  From here on out, it looks as if every new set will be a mix of all of the factions instead of just a couple.  The new set, Champions of the Force, will focus on Old Republic and Sith factions, but will have something for everybody.  Check out Wizards.com for previews of the some of the new figs.  So this may be another option for a place to start.  They have already shown there are going to be some powerful pieces for most every faction (sorry Vong -lovers. nothing coming in the foreseeable future).  The other nice thing is that this is a regular sized booster where Universe brings huges into play.  You are looking at roughly half the price for regular boosters, so that may be something to think about as well.

Comments and questions are welcomed at Sithdragon13@yahoo.com.  I love feedback and am more than happy to answer any questions.  Who knows....your question may be tomorrow's article!