Skirmish upgrades: using On a Diplomatic Mission

Good morning gamers,

In our last two posts, we've looked at skirmish upgrades for Mercenary (Black Market) and Imperial (Advanced Com Systems) armies. Today, we're going to turn our attention to the Rebel faction and view the On a Diplomatic Mission skirmish upgrade. This upgrade must be attached to a Leader and requires that the Leader doesn't attack during his or her activation. Our qualifications for finalists today will be:

1. The model must be able to be included in a Rebel force;
2. The model doesn't need to attack on it's turn;
3. The bonus provided to the Leader adds to what they already provide the team.

While there are times when getting a free Evade is nice and getting some movement is handy, most of the time, I want that VP. We'll assume in this post that you'll be taking the VP, but we'll note if the other options might be better. Without further ado, let's get into it:

Bronze Medal: Murne Rin
Murne has one of the worst attack pools you can have and while she can surge for 2 damage, she isn't going to hurt too many people. Where she really shines is being able to co-op an enemy model (with a low figure cost) and use him to attack instead.

Since Murne isn't attacking, she can still trigger the free VP (though a free Evade will help her stay alive with that black die). For only 5 points, Murne Rin can be included in just about any force. But she only takes third place...

Silver Medal: Gideon Argus
As I said in a post last week, Gideon is one of the best figures you can take in any army. At 3 points, he's cheaper than Murne Rin and can give friendly models movement points or make them Focused. While he can shoot decently, Gideon can do a host of other actions and then benefit from movement, a free Evade, or a free VP.

Gideon has the ability to stand in one place (preferably in a safe place) and enhance his friends in combat. This is huge, since becoming Focused is hard in the skirmish game. Gideon not only hands out Focus at a far distance, but he's also inexpensive. But despite all this, he's not the best candidate...

Gold Medal: Jabba the Hutt

If you've been keeping up with the blog, Jabba has featured prominently in several posts. Unlike the last two contestants, Jabba is a Mercenary figure, not a Rebel figure. So why does he show up here?

The answer is that you can ally him in with Saska Teft. Saska allows you to include one Mercenary deployment card in your list, which enables Jabba (or your favorite bounty hunter) to join a predominantly Rebel force. While Jabba is by far more expensive than our last two choices, he already rewards you with VPs if you defeat enemy figures. This skirmish upgrade adds to the flow of VPs so that you win faster.

It's important to note that Jabba isn't as strong as he can be in Mercenary lists - two of his special rules require selecting a Mercenary figure (which will only be himself). Still, you can Bully, perform a move, and Scheme - all of which are useful and none of which count as attacks.

Are there heroes we could have chosen instead? Yeah - but most Leaders are encouraged (by their rules or by their attack pool) to do some attacking. Will our Leader be tempted to attack? Sure. Would attacking be bad? Not necessarily. If attacking during your activation defeats a figure, you'll get more VPs from that than you will from the skirmish upgrade, so just because you take the upgrade doesn't mean you can't attack.

In our next post, we'll be returning to Mercenary lists as we examine the Under Duress upgrade. Until next time, happy gaming!