The Jar Jar Cup, Part 4

Good morning gamers,

This is it - whoever wins this round of the tournament gets all the bananas and the "Jar Jar Jar" (it's a cup, but come on - you know we're not calling it the Jar Jar Cup, since that's the event name). It's been a four-month journey of meeting up once a month to play games together and while I've enjoyed it, I'll also be happy to change up the lists I'm playing to experiment with other factions before the new starter sets arrive. I've been playing with Rebels this whole time, so while there was a Kenobi/Commando list that I liked, I opted to stick with the Rebels for one last go before I start pivoting to experimenting with Empire lists. Let's dig in and see what the lists are for this last round of the tournament!

List #1: 12-activation Rebel Alliance

This is my list - I have been telling the guys that Commander Luke is not trash and now it's time to back that up by taking him a third time. This list is basically my 650-king-of-the-hill-list from Round 2, but with the Bad Batch, Din, and Sleeper Cell added. I've still got five Armor 2 vehicles that are great at pounding the snot out of things from a distance, Sleeper Cell and the Bad Batch for pummelling up close, Luke and Din for interesting Alpha Strike options, and three token Rebel Trooper squads. I'm also happy that we waited until after the points update, so I could get some Smoke Grenades on my Rebel Troopers thanks to a small points reduction on Din's Flame Projector:

• Luke Skywalker with Burst of Speed, Underworld Connections, Offensive Push, and Recon Intel
• The Bad Batch with Hunter, Echo, Tech, and Wrecker
• Din Djarin with Din's Flame Projector, Beskar Spear, and Grogu
• 1x Rebel Troopers with Smoke Grenades
• 2x Rebel Troopers
• 1x Rebel Sleeper Cell
• 3x AT-RTs with AT-RT Laser Cannons
• 2x X-34 Landspeeders with RPS-6 Rocket Gunners, Unstable Astromechs, and Mark II Medium Blasters

Truly competitive players will have questions about some of the elements of this list, but I'll make an important note: this is a King of the Hill game - decisions were made about what to include not based on whether I can control POIs, but whether I can keep units alive with NO POIs on the board. I'd never take a Rebel Sleeper Cell without the 5pt Astromech, but since there will be no POIs to end near, he's giving me an extra wound, but that's it. Similarly, I've opted for all Rebel Troopers instead of any of the other Rebel Corps options because they can be run cheaply and tucked away in a corner to deny points until I have an advantage on one side and they can plink a hit or two at range 3. The Landspeeders are AMAZING and super useful at getting suppression on things, if not killing them. Finally, I've left Omega at home in favor of Grogu because I don't need additional range to contest POIs, because Din can use the health, and because a LOT of things can benefit from "The Hand Thing."

I also know my opponent for this match - and I'm gonna need all the tricks I can muster to beat him. We're playing on the top table (both of us sitting nicely on 3-0 this tournament), so I've tried to pack in as many options as I can to beat his hyper-efficient list (though discovering the night before that my two favorite Luke command cards - I Am a Jedi and You Serve Your Master Well - both got nixed from my list because I don't have Operative Luke REALLY hurt). Now on to see what Centaur is bringing.

List #2: 9-activation Echo Base Defenders

This is Centaur's list - and it's the same EBD list he's been running, but with four super-sized Vets to help him out:

• Leia Organa with Improvised Orders, Strict Orders, On the Hunt, and Prepared Supplies
• 4x Rebel Veterans with CM-0/93 Troopers, Rebel Veteran Squads, Situational Awareness, and Prepared Supplies
• 1x Mark II Medium Blaster with Linked Targeting Array
• 2x 1.4 FD Laser Cannon Teams with Linked Targeting Arrays and Barrage Generators
• 1x T-47 Airspeeder with Wedge Antillies and Mo/Dk Power Harpoon

I'd like to begin by saluting the use of the Harpoon - it's free and good at throwing out suppression/dealing plink damage. Also, I assume the use of Situational Awareness on the Vets was to make sure that their cached dodge tokens can be used against crits that make it through Cover/Low Profile and with 10 dudes in each squad, a dodge token on the first turn for Prepared Positions, and a cached dodge token with Prepared Supplies, there's quite a bit of beef here. Centaur has also taken his Laser Cannons and abandoned the 'tauns for an Airspeeder, all three of which have great dice pools and nowhere to be since there are no POIs to worry about. Bottom table opponent, beware - this list hits hard!

List #3: 10-activation Republic

This is Gorgoroth's list - and it's the one I have to play against. He took my Kenobi/Commando strategy and did his usual thing of adding Anakin to it and making it better. This list packs a punch and is SUPER hard to clear activations from if you're not focused on what you're doing (and a little lucky). We'll see how he does - but I'm not confident I can beat it:

• Obi-Wan Kenobi with Force Barrier and Defensive Stance
• Anakin Skywalker with Burst of Speed, Force Guidance, and Seize the Initiative
• 1x Clone Trooper Infantry with Clone Medic
• 2x Clone Trooper Infantry
• 2x ARC Troopers with Jedi Guardians
• Clone Commandos, Delta Squad with Katarn Pattern Armor and DC-17M ICWS Config
• 2x Clone Commandos with Katarn Pattern Armor and DC-17M ICWS Config

For King of the Hill games, this is a gnarly list to have to fight - three squads of Clone Commandos with Kenobi to Guardian hits off and a Medic to restore one guy that falls - oh, and Anakin with two ARC squads that have Jedi in them for lots of Pierce, aim tokens, and red saves against the counter attacks. I'm kind of hoping I get lucky fighting these guys - we'll see (I'm not confident).

List #4: 10-activation Wookiee Defenders

Oh look, it's a triple-flutter Yoda-Chewie list! It has the perfunctory single ARC squad (with a Jedi in it, of course) and four squads of beefy Wookiees with shields to slog towards the enemy and hopefully dice them up fine. Yoda previously had Battle Meditation, but when the update removed it, he switched to Barrier (and dropped Protector on Chewie):

• Yoda with Force Barrier, Burst of Speed, and Force Guidance
• Chewbacca
• 1x ARC Troopers with Jedi Guardian
• 4x Wookiee Warriors, Noble Fighters with Battle Shield Wookiees and Recon Intel
• 3x Raddaugh Gnasp Fluttercraft with Gnasp Gunner

Ten acts, a lot of power, we'll see how they do! I might have downgraded the Jedi Guardian for a Medic and some Smoke Grenades, but the Jedi Guardian does make the ARC squad more wookiee-like, so that's a thing. He'll be playing against his brother, who brought . . .

List #5: 9-activation Separatist Alliance

After taking Vader in Round 1 and the Shadow Collective (or Shadow-Collective-ish) in Rounds 2-3, my opponent from the last round is taking a "Separatist Saber" list, featuring Dooku, Grievous, Maul, and Cad Bane (as a cheaper alternative to Asajj Ventress) - and a few Super Battle Droids/Droidekas to round things out:

• Count Dooku with Force Reflexes, Force Choke, and Burst of Speed
• General Grievous with Tenacity and Prepared Supplies
• Maul with Burst of Speed, Saber Throw, Tenacity, and On the Hunt
• Cad Bane with Up Close and Personal, Situational Awareness, Emergency Transponder, Prepared Supplies, and Electro Gauntlets
• 3x B2 Super Battle Droids with B2 Super Battle Droids
• 2x Droidekas with Linked Targeting Arrays

The guys in my group really like their upgrades - more to come on that point. There are a few things I'd change in this list (like dropping Prepared Supplies on Grievous and Situational Awareness on Cad Bane so Grievious can take Recon Intel), but on the whole, the list is solid. I am happy that my advice about Burst of Speed has been taken, though the LTAs on the 'dekas and a few of the other upgrades could have turned the "extra guys" in the B2 squads into ACMs - and that would be helpful in his match up, I think.

The only real critique I have (and it's minor) is the choice of Command Cards. This kind of list is always going to struggle with which command cards to leave at home and which ones to take. The breakdown is like this:

• 1-pips:
• Fear, Surprise, Intimidation (Count Dooku)
• Trained in Your Jedi Arts (General Grievous)
• 2-pips:
• I'm in Control (Cad Bane)
• The Sith Will Rule (Count Dooku)
• 3-pips:
• I Make the Rules Now (Cad Bane)
• You Disappoint Me (Count Dooku)

As you can see, Dooku has featured prominently - and his 1-pip is essential to running him, since it's the only way he gets a free attack action (Relentless). Similarly, if you're going to run Cad Bane, I think I Make the Rules Now is close to an essential - if you're not going to take it as your first-round play, however, the presence of Maul in the list makes The Phantom Menace a good choice, since it allows you to Infiltrate Maul onto the board, pop Burst of Speed on the first turn, and get a good use out of Charge once you know where your opponent is (and you can issue orders to Maul, Dooku, and any other Trooper unit you want . . . probably Cad or Grievous in this list). This would replace The Sith Will Rule in my book, since Asajj isn't in the list anymore and all it's doing is issuing an order to Dooku and giving him an aim/dodge token (at the cost of an additional order being issued and the pip count going up from 2 to 3).

I also think that Duel of the Fates is an underrated command card - Disengage on Maul is a great way to make sure he doesn't get tied down OR allows him to move from a unit he almost killed to a unit he ALMOST killed. Preventing said unit from spending aim/dodge/surge/standby tokens is also really clutch if he's tackling a unit that really wants to use token they have (or that was planning to aim/punch or shoot/dodge) on their turn. I'm not sure if this is better than the dodge/Disengage that Grievous gets with his splash attack from Trained in Your Jedi Arts, but the discussion is certainly there.

Finally, since this version of Maul doesn't have the Wound keyword, I feel like At Last is a really good take - Tenacity has been bought and Juyo doesn't kick in until you've taken damage, so if your opponent just leaves Maul alone, he can be locked into having two actions and never getting to use Tenacity or Juyo for the game. At Last not only gives you a third 1-pip card in place of a 3-pip, but also triggers Tenacity/Juyo (as well as giving him an aim token and the ability to surge that round against Jedi). You can also trigger this with Grievious's Supreme Commander card (thanks to the addition of Ruthless), which I hold to be better than either of the two-pips currently on our docket.

An updated command card list that I'd recommend (that's admittedly Maul-heavy and not Cad-Bane heavy, which I feel is fine since he has Independent: Dodge 2) would be as follows:

• 1-pips:
• Fear, Surprise, Intimidation (Count Dooku)
• Trained in Your Jedi Arts OR Duel of the Fates (General Grievous OR Maul)
• 2-pips:
• Supreme Commander (General Grievous)
• The Phantom Menace (Maul)
• 3-pips:
• At Last (Maul)
• You Disappoint Me (Count Dooku)

All that said, I don't have to face this guy, so more power to him - I hope he can kill all the Wookiees he faces.

List #6: 11-activation Separatist Alliance

Our tournament director is back on the Separatist train and he's brought Poggle and a spam of Corps, thematically building a Geonosis arena list:

• Poggle the Lesser with Lead by Example and Prepared Supplies
• 1x B2 Super Battle Droids with B2-ACM Battle Droid and B2 Super Battle Droid Squad
• 2x Geonosian Warriors with Sonic Cannon Warrior and Geonosian Warrior Squad
• 1x B1 Battle Droids with E-5C B1 Battle Droid and B1 Battle Droid Squad
• 3x B1 Battle Droids with B1 Battle Droid Squads
• 3x Droidekas

This list has a lot of guys in it, to be sure, but I think the 50pts spent on the Sonic Cannons could have been used to either get 3 E-5Cs for the other B1 squads OR be used to upgrade the E-5C squad into a B2 squad with an ACM and a PK droid. We'll see how it does against . . .

List #7: 7-activation Republic 

This list is the same 7-activation all-supersized-clone list that Gorgoroth faced in Round 3, except this time it has a bunch of heavy weapons in it . . . and everyone's got scopes and frag grenades:

• Clone Commander with Lead by Example, Tenacity, and Targeting Scopes
• 1x Clone Trooper Infantry with Clone Trooper Infantry Squad, Situational Awareness, Targeting Scopes, and Fragmentation Grenades
• 2x Clone Trooper Infantry with RPS-6 Clone Troopers, Clone Trooper Infantry Squads, Situational Awareness, Targeting Scopes, and Fragmentation Grenades
• 3x Clone Trooper Infantry with Clone Medics, DP-23 Clone Troopers, Clone Trooper Infantry Squads, Situational Awareness, Targeting Scopes, and Fragmentation Grenades

I'm going to say this for the list: triple Medics and triple DP-23s are going to do a lot of damage. I assume that the addition of Tenacity to the Commander means he's piling into melee as well. Since everyone has scopes, I assume the idea is also to get into melee/up close and then aim/shoot the rest of the game. If that's the plan great.

What I don't see is the need for Situational Awareness on everything - one of those squads has no heavy/squad leader and by dropping all six Situational Awareness upgrades, you can get an extra heavy/squad leader that's under 25pts . . . that seems like a worthwhile trade to me. Even if it's just a Clone Captain to lend Defend 1 to his squad (and Outmaneuver, so it's like that squad still had Situational Awareness), you'd be in a good place - to say nothing of taking another DP-23 for close-range damage, another RPS-6 for long-range damage, or a Medic to keep your basic troops alive longer. This list has a lot of Clones in it - and the upgrades piled on just seems like a bit of a missed opportunity. I will make a passing comment that similar upgrades could have been purchased for other units by leaving the Targeting Scopes at home (which will only be useful if the units take Aim actions, since they don't have Tactical and don't have any way of being handed aim tokens) and possibly also the Frag Grenades. I'm not playing this guy, so whatever - but I'd make some changes.

List #8: 8-activation Republic

Our ringer player has a very similar list, but he decided to forego the Heavy Weapon/Squad Leader upgrades and upgrade the Clone Commander into Cody and Rex:

• Clone Commander Cody with Vigilance, Endurance, and Portable Scanner
• Clone Captain Rex with Vigilance, Endurance, Recon Intel, Targeting Scopes, and Smoke Grenades
• 6x Clone Trooper Infantry with Clone Trooper Infantry Squad, Tenacity, and Fragmentation Grenades

I have . . . concerns about how well this will do into an EBD matchup - especially one that has also super-sized things and can probably win a range-3 shoot-out. Also, there are no AT-RTs in this list for Cody to help out and as a result, most of his command cards stayed home. Large dice pools and potentially Impact from Cody's 1-pip will have to be the answer to the Airspeeder, but I have a feeling that Centaur isn't going to let that thing get baited or park in front of a still-to-activate Clone gunline. Still, this is the style of list that this guy likes to bring - we'll see how he does!

Currently we have the following standings:

• 10-act Republic (3-0)
• 12-act Rebels (3-0)
• 9-act Separatists (2-1)
• 8-act Wookiee Defenders (2-1)
• 7-act Republic (1-2)
• 11-act Separatists (1-2)
• 10-act Echo Base Defenders (0-3)
• 8-act Republic (0-3)

With the pairings pretty clear, let's see how everyone did (starting from the bottom table)!

Table 1: Echo Base Defenders vs. Republic 

I hear that the Republic player (our ringer player) was able to kill a few of the Rebel units - specifically the T-47 Airspeeder (which Centaur intentionally baited the Clones with so they'd get shot by the Vets for a turn - I was wrong there), a Mark II Medium Blaster, and Leia. However, Centaur was able to play Defend At All Costs on the turn that the Clones were trying to close on him and was able to get a ton of Standby tokens that led to a bunch of free shots into the Clones. And as a result . . . just about everyone died on the other side. Apparently the Clones spread out a bit too so they couldn't borrow tokens efficiently - and while this happens a lot in Standard games, there's no reason to do that in King of the Hill games. Victory to the Rebels!

Table 2: Separatists vs. Republic

From what I understand, the Republic player spent a lot of the early game plinking at the B2 squad, knowing that it packs a punch at close range and hoping to get it knocked down to size before they arrived. What he didn't know, however, is that Geonosians are much easier to kill than B2s and hit about as hard. So, when the Separatists actually arrived, the Geonosians began eating Clone units. They called it early because the game was rolling far too quickly, giving victory to the Separatists.

Table 3: Wookiee Defenders vs. Separatists 

The Separatist player was sick on the day of the event, so he and his brother were going to play on their own time. I don't know if the game has been played or how it went.

Table 4: Rebel Alliance vs. Republic 

My game was . . . hard. It was incredibly hard. In part, it was hard because on the first turn Obi-Wan handed out 18 surge tokens to two Clone units that could share them with all their buddies. It was also hard because we forgot to deploy the Commando tokens until AFTER I had guys on the board. It was also hard because after being able to do minimal damage on Turn 1, Obi-Wan generated 9 dodge tokens on himself with Knowledge and Defense because everyone deployed within range 1 of him (because King of the Hill works like that). As a result, after Turn 2, I had killed a few models from various squads, but had not done any serious damage. After that, Anakin and the ARCs began racing into action and chewing through things. I did manage by the end of the game to kill off a full ARC squad with Luke (Son of Skywalker turn), two squads of Clone Commandos with repeated shots from my AT-RTs, Rebel Troopers, and Luke's blaster, one four-man squad of Clone Trooper Infantry with Sleeper Cell, and I got 4 wounds on Obi-Wan and all but one member of Delta Squad.

But everything I had sans one AT-RT died - all of it. Sleeper Cell got to get their first attack on Turn 4 and then promptly got Anakin'd to the face. Impact 4 from Clone Commandos is super good into Landspeeders. My Rebel Troopers got hunted by long-range shots from Clone Commandos or range-3 shots from Clone Trooper Infantry. Lightsabers against AT-RTs are nasty. Din and the Bad Batch got pegs knocked out of them by ARC Trooper squads - and Luke died to Anakin (boy do I wish I had been able to play I Am a Jedi this game). It was brutal and it was hard - but honestly, I did a lot better than I thought I would. 

And so with that, my son won the Jar Jar Cup (and the Jar Jar Jar that came with it)! I had a great time (despite the thrashing I received - my son was a gracious winner) and really enjoyed playing Rebels this season. I'm off to brush up on my Empire skills now, until the Republic Starter Set drops this Fall - I can't wait!

Conclusion

Hopefully you enjoyed this series - we'll try to provide coverage for future events as they happen (either just my games or the whole thing). We're still very much learning here at Wretched Hive, so hopefully there has been stuff that you found interesting (or you've seen what not to do). Until next time, happy hobbying!