Good morning gamers,
We’re back with another Imperial class deck review and today, we’re back in Return to Hoth to view the Precision Training class deck. This deck has Snowtroopers on the front of it, which I find funny because . . . they’re not that precise. Still, the deck is interesting, though I’m not sure it rises to the caliber of other class decks (as we’ll see in a moment, that doesn’t mean it has nothing to offer). Let’s see what this deck does well.
Precision Training: The Power of Compounding (and Feeding Threat)
Like most Imperial class decks, Precision Training only has a few attachment cards – most of its cards are available for the Imperial Player (IP) to use whenever they wish. Most of THOSE cards have an Exhaust requirement (or a deplete requirement on one card), so the deck can provide you with some pretty awesome buffs once per round. There are some exceptions to this: the Sharpshooters and Find the Weakness upgrades apply to all Imperial units and once purchased, they’ll give your units +1 Accuracy and Pierce 1 . . . that’s pretty handy. Since much of your campaign is likely to involve running away from the heroes, the ability to pop a quick hit on them and retreat is excellent – and it’s something this deck enables you to do pretty well.
Many of their other cards can be Exhausted to do really useful things on offense for a small fee – Versatile Attack allows one figure to add a yellow die and three new surge abilities (Damage 1, Pierce 2, and Weaken) for the low-low cost of 1 Threat, Exacting Strike allows one figure remove a defense die from their target (for the not-as-low cost of 2 Threat), and Single-Minded allows one figure to set a die to any face they want when they would reroll it (and they can ready this card for the low-low cost of 1 Threat). In case you didn’t notice, these cards are pretty threat-hungry. On the non-offensive side of the house, Knowledge of Attack allows an Imperial figure to apply -1 surge to a hero when being attacked (this one doesn’t cost you Threat . . . thank goodness).
Finally, there are two attachments and one deplete card that are quite useful, but their applicability isn’t going to be army-wide. Strike Force is your starting card and it’s an attachment that gives its bearer a reroll on offense – which is awesome. Assassins is a 3XP attachment that gives its bearer the ability to ignore figures when making attacks (potentially useful) and it can be exhausted to reroll any number of dice they want. This is particularly useful if you also have Single-Minded. Finally, Pinpoint Accuracy is a 1XP card that can be depleted to remove a dodge result – this is best used to make sure a big attack actually makes it past a white die defense roll and like anything else in the game, having an answer for dodge results is really good.
The nature of this deck is pretty clear: if you save Threat, you can get some pretty killer combos with one particular unit. This “compounding” of force can be as devastating as the Hutt Mercenaries builds we looked at last month – a free Accuracy 1/Pierce 1 with +1 Yellow die (with the ability to surge for Damage 1 and Pierce 2), bundled with -1 defense die for the target (which means they probably have no die to throw), and potentially the option to reroll one or more dice . . . yeah, that’s gonna hurt. If you don’t have the Threat to remove a defense die entirely, you might have the option to use Pinpoint Accuracy to blow away that pesky Dodge result and just absorb the block and/or evade that comes up. This will be grand once each round, but only once each round . . . unless you lean into Sharpshooters and Find the Weakness, as we’ll see in our first build . . .
End-Game Build #1 – Static, Global Buffs: Strike Force, Sharpshooters, Pinpoint Accuracy, Knowledge of Attack, Find the Weakness
This upgrade tree is only 8XP, so in any campaign, you can probably extend it (though you might want to wait to get Pinpoint Accuracy until right before the last mission, in case you end up with 9XP and would have to waste some of it (Versatile Attack is a nice alternative). This configuration has the required reroll-oriented attachment (Strike Force to reroll 1 die), two global buffs (+1 Accuracy from Sharpshooters, Pierce 1 from Find the Weakness), and options to remove a dodge result when you attack (once) and remove a surge result when you defend (once per round). This is a very balanced approach that gives you options for all of the units on the board (Strike Force can only be used by whatever unit it’s attached to; Knowledge of Attack can only be used by one unit each round). The best kinds of units for this build are going to be ones that are generally good value so that any model can put itself in a good position to use the one-time buffs (and all will ideally benefit from a free Accuracy and Pierce).
Best IP Units:
- Tusken Raiders (Twin Shadows) – I generally think that Tuskens are the best offensive unit for cost in the game, with good options for both melee and range damage. Since the Cycler only has a blue die, guaranteeing at least 3 Accuracy (and more likely 4-5 Accuracy) is really good – and Pierce 1 tacked onto a Red-Blue or Red-Green Melee pool is awesome (especially if these are Elites and they have a static 1 Damage as well). Tuskens also won’t turn down a reroll if you want to give them the attachment. If you have at least one desert tile, pick these guys for one of your open groups.
- Heavy Stromtroopers (Twin Shadows) – If you can’t get Tuskens, consider taking Heavy Stormtroopers, who want their opponents to be shooting at them from 4+ spaces away, so one of the best ways to guarantee that it’s even possible is to give them at least 5 Accuracy on their attacks! Red-Blue ranged attacks with a static Pierce 1 and 3 Accuracy (before rolling the blue die) is awesome and while they don’t NEED the reroll, the fickleness of Red and Blue dice are undeniable. Since many heroes might need to surge to get the accuracy needed to hit these guys, Knowledge of Attack isn’t a bad option for them either.
- Elite Hired Guns (Hired Gun Villain Pack) – Hired Guns are almost required to be short-range fighters, thanks to their Green-Yellow dice pool, but with Sharpshooters and Find the Weakness alone, they become slightly better at popping around a corner, taking a shot, doing some damage, and running away. While they can certainly benefit from the other cards, they really don’t need them – and if you get shot by a hero and need to shoot back, having +1 Accuracy and Pierce 1 might be all you need to get some tasty revenge!
- Death Troopers (Heart of the Empire) – We talked about these guys last time – and they’re just solid troops! A Red-Yellow attack pool with a static 3-4 Accuracy is good and all, but if you can extend that range and increase the Pierce they’re doing, more of that Red die damage is going to break through the defenses of the enemy (and since you can surge for 1-2 more damage, depending on whether the unit is Elite or not, that yellow may be coming in clutch for you too).
- Jet Troopers (Jabba’s Realm) – I like Jet Troopers a lot, but their damage output isn’t good. While they certainly don’t need the Accuracy from Sharpshooters (they want to be shooting from up close, after all), they’ll take the Pierce 1 – and their ability to turn Blocks into Evades pairs nicely with Knowledge of Attack. The Elites can also really benefit from the reroll you get from Strike Force.
End-Game Build #2 – One Hit Wonder: Strike Force, Sharpshooters, Versatile Attack, Exacting Strike, Single-Minded
This is a 10XP build that really won’t be complete until the finale, but once you have it, you’re ready to empower one unit (who will be equipped with the Strike Force Attachment) to become the ultimate beat-stick. If you’re willing to pay 4 Threat on one turn, you can add a yellow attack die to your attack pool, add 3 surge abilities to your surge menu, set one of your attack dice to any side you want, remove a defense die from an opponent, AND reset your set-any-reroll card so someone else can use it. If you don’t have anyone else who can reroll dice (check out the list for the third build for what units are good to take if that’s your aim), you really only need to spend 3 Threat. Obviously, 3 Threat is a lot, so this plan is very Threat-consuming, but if you plan to run units that won’t die easily, then you don’t need your Threat for regrowing units – so let’s look at our options for tough units to include in your list.
Best IP Units:
- Snowtroopers (Return to Hoth) – These guys aren’t particularly tough (and you certainly don’t want them as your beat-stick), but I can tell you that regrowing health on friendly troopers is no joke – especially if they’re really healthy guys, like Heavy Stromtroopers or Riot Troopers. While someone else is clubbing the enemy or blasting holes in them, these guys can be running around keeping the chip damage off of your more expensive trooper units. I didn’t think these guys would have much of a place in this post (and honestly, I don’t know that they really fit the bill), but they have some utility here.
- AT-DP (Heart of the Empire) – This unit can attack twice until it’s suffered more than half of its health, which makes it an excellent candidate for your beat-stick! On the first attack, it can use Single-Minded with its innate reroll of an attack die (which it retains while it still has half of its health) to set a die to whatever side it wants, pay 1 Threat to reset the card, and then do the reroll-and-set AGAIN on the second attack! One of those attacks can have 1 fewer defense die being rolled if you pay 2 Threat, and if you want to lay in on the damage train, you can pay 1 more Threat to turn your attack pool into a Red-Yellow-Yellow-Blue with a set and surge for Damage 1, Damage 1, Pierce 2, Pierce 2, and Weaken . . . yikes. I would use Versatile Attack and Exacting Strike on different attacks, since your need for Pierce 4 is not very likely if your opponent is down 1 defense die.
- Bantha Rider (Bantha Rider Villain Pack) – Assuming you have access to Desert tiles, a Bantha is a great one-hit wonder figure: with the ability to Trample nearby units before shooting one of them, it’s not hard for a Bantha to really rack up the damage. This is much easier to do in a skirmish game, but getting long-range hits in with your Cycler is much easier if you’re rolling a Red-Yellow-Blue with a reroll-and-set to make the Blue die get Accuracy 4/Damage 2 side or the Yellow get the Damage 1/Surge 2 side (which would become Accuracy 2/Damage 1/Pierce 2). Sharpshooter makes either of these rolls at LEAST Accuracy 5, which means if you just move-and-shoot (which might trigger Stampede as well), you can get in a fair bit of damage from really far away.
- Rancor (Jabba’s Realm) – I don’t know if there’s a bigger beat-stick in the game (that isn’t a unique hero) than the Rancor. In his campaign version, he’s got 15 Health with a Black die and a free block on defense with the ability to eat a friendly model within 2 spaces of him to recover health . . . that’s pretty difficult to deal with. On offense, he can yank a figure up to 2 spaces away from him closer to him (you can move them anywhere, but you probably want them to be closer since you have Cleave 2) and then you have a Red-Green-Green with the ability to surge for Damage 3 and Cleave 2 . . . I mean, this guy isn’t going to turn down an extra Yellow die with Pierce 2, and Damage 1, now will he? With a reroll-and-set at his command, this guy isn’t going to flub a roll . . . and late in the campaign, he’s going to draw a lot of aggro and buy the rest of your guys some time. He’ll definitely live longer if he has help from . . .
- Royal Guards (Core) – If you’re playing a game earlier in the campaign, these guys are excellent choices. Royal Guards are hard to kill, welcome ways to deal extra damage, want that reroll to make sure either their Red or Yellow dice don’t go errant on them, and they can make OTHER units (non-Guardians) harder to kill with Sentinel. They’re pretty cheap at 8 points for 2 models, so regrowing one of them isn’t that costly, even early in the campaign.
End-Game Build #3 – Maximizing Rerolls: Strike Force, Assassins, Single-Minded
Our final build is a blank slate and it assumes that you want to lean hard into the reroll mechanic. There are actually quite a number of units in Imperial Assault who have rerolls baked into their profiles, so if you want to make Single-Minded work really well, investing in lots of units who can get rerolls is probably a good way to go. Single-Minded does require Threat in order to ready it, so it would be good if some of these units were pretty healthy and resilient so we didn’t have to keep regrowing them. Still, the recommended upgrades only cost 7XP (and really, you just need Single-Minded, which is 4XP), so you have LOTS of room to grow with this one, depending on the campaign you’re in.
Best IP Units:
- Stormtroopers (Core) – If you want cheap units that can be easily regrown, it’s hard to go wrong with Stormtroopers. If they get a critical look and have Squad Training active (adjacent to a friendly Trooper unit), then you can set their die with Single-Minded. This works a lot better with Elite Stormtroopers than regular Stormtroopers, but the principles are the same.
- Weequay Pirates (Jabba’s Realm) – These guys get a reroll on offense and have reliable dice (Green-Green), so being able to ensure that you don’t get two single-surge icons is a great way to make sure they’re doing maximum damage. They’re also 5pts for the squad, so they’re pretty easy to bring back in full late in the campaign (but they’ll want to shoot-and-run if they can).
- Sentry Droids (Heart of the Empire) – Golly, I love these guys – they may be my favorite Imperial unit. Healthy they are not (5 health each isn’t bad, but also not great), but with a Green-Green pool, targeting computers to reroll a die each time they shoot, and Multi-Fire to perform 2 attacks each (targeting different people with each attack), they’re pretty hard to go wrong with. As the campaign goes on, you can jump for the elites – those guys aren’t very healthy either (8 health each for 10pts), but the Yellow-Green-Green is amazing, especially if you have a reroll-and-set available to you.
- Elite Gamorrean Guards (Jabba’s Realm) – I mean, if you have 8 points to spend, these guys are probably your best option in virtually ANY Imperial class deck, but rolling a Red-Red with a reroll from Professional is gonna make you pretty reliable at dealing damage. If you have the XP for Versatile Attack (and have the Threat to trigger it), giving these guys a yellow die and access to Damage 1/Pierce 2 is really nice (since they can only surge for Cleave).
- Elite Riot Troopers (Heart of the Empire) – These guys are basically Gamorreans, but they can apply one of the damage they do as Strain to the defending Hero, which is pretty great. They too have Professional, so getting a set on their red die is really good (and occasionally their blue die). They’re also very healthy (7 health each with a free block token each turn if they don’t have one), so they can stay alive while under fire (especially early in the campaign).
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