Good morning gamers,
We're back in Rebel territory today, talking about the updated Cassian Andor profile! Cassian is a favorite of mine and he was one of the first models I purchased for the Rebel faction in Star Wars Legion. We'll be looking at the new operative profile he has and see what there is to like about the changes that he got in the new edition. Let's start with his "updated" profile.
Cassian Andor: The Profile
Cassian's profile is . . . basically what it was. He's still the stock-standard Speed 2/Courage 2 that you'd expect from a hero and has 6 wounds with the Rebel standard surging-white save. He surges to hit still, but with Marksman, he can turn any hit result into a crit result for every aim token he wishes to spend (though unless you're trying to get past Armor, turning your blanks into hits is probably a better use of Marksman). He still has the aforementioned Marksman and Tactical 1, which makes a move-shoot by Cassian really solid. He still has Danger Sense 3, which is . . . fine on defense (though it will often mean that he might be suppressed when it's his turn to activate.
Cassian lost Loadout and Covert Ops - everyone did - but he functionally got the Operative status/Infiltrate that Covert Ops used to give him, and pairing that with the new keyword of Field Commander, he's FAR more useful in Recon games (trying to use him in skirmish with his previous card was a non-starter - believe me, I tried). He also picked up Sharpshooter 1, which isn't phenomenal, but it is useful when you have small dice pools (which Cassian does). Finally, he gained Equip: A280 - which is still a free upgrade, so you were already stapling it to him every time anyway. The A280 configs haven't changed - and I'd keep it in the pistol configuration 90% of the time since you can get up to range 3 with Long Shot and it has Pierce 1 standard with 2 red/1 black dice (and with Marksman and a move-shoot, it's not hard to get 3-hits-Pierce-1 with Sharpshooter-1 if that matters).
Okay, let's take a look at the upgrades you should take!
Cassian picked up a few new slots, but with the loss of Loadout, you have both more and fewer choices for upgrades than you had before. In previous editions, Cassian wasn't usually a hero who rewarded you for piling on the upgrades, and I think that's still true today - so my recommendations in this section will be scant.
Armament
Let's get the easy one out of the way: you have to take the A280 and there's no reason not to want to use the A280 all the time. This gun doesn't exhaust when you use it, it gives you 2 red/1 black (with only 5 bad faces!) at range 1-2 (range 3 with Long Shot) and 1 red/1 black at range 4+ if you're playing a scenario like Shifting Priorities, Breakthrough, or Recover the Research and you have to shoot from an objective on one side of the board at someone contesting an objective on the other side of the board. Most of the time, however, I think Cassian wants to be at range 2-3 and shooting with the Pistol config, so our other recommended upgrades are going to have the pistol in mind.
Command
Operatives with Command upgrades are rare - but both the new Jyn and the new Cassian profiles have them! Rebels tend to have a mixed bag of order dice, so Improvised Orders is great to have on one of them (I'd go with Cassian - Jyn really wants Inspiring Presence so her Courage 3 can be used to keep troops from panicking) - and you could slap Underworld Connections on him if you were planning on running extra Ewok Slingers in your Special Forces slot. Other than these two, I don't think you really want a command upgrade - this one is pretty optional to me.
Training (2)
If you're going to pay actual points for an upgrade on Cassian, I think this is where it goes. Duck and Cover is still very useful for triggering Danger Sense and Endurance is still a good option for managing the suppression you get from Duck and Cover. Rebels don't usually have an issue getting Inspire in their lists, so the more you have Inspire in yours, the less you need Endurance. Cassian's 1-pip doesn't give him a standby anymore, so you don't need Overwatch. Seize the Initiative can be really good as well if you want to make sure Cassian has an order when another order-hungry character is in your list (or if you want order control on him on the first turn and you weren't going to issue an order to him).
You could consider taking Up Close and Personal with him - he can gain a dodge token after shooting with his pistol (2 dodge tokens on the turn he plays his 1-pip and gains Gunslinger), but this is very much a luxury upgrade (a good one, but a luxury all the same).
Gear
The only conceivable upgrade I'd consider taking here is Prepared Supplies - Cassian is going to take damage and a free dodge token when you need it is useful. Theoretically Environmental Gear is useful, but I think you're mostly looking for things to keep you alive, since you have Infiltrate to guarantee that you arrive where you want to be. Most of the time, though, I'd leave this blank.
Command Cards
Cassian's three Command Cards are fine - but honestly, depending on who you bring with him, they can all be left at home. His 1-pip (Crack Shot) gives him an aim token and Gunslinger (two shots at different units for a single attack action), which can be triggered with a free attack action (though the wording on this is different from the wording on Son of Skywalker, so I assume this means he can move-move-shoot on his turn (or move-shoot-recover). Either way, two shots from Cassian with Marksman and several aim tokens is gonna be good - 3-damage-pierce-1 is good for clipping units for sure - but it's also not very splashy, so if you have someone else in your list that really needs the 1-pip slot, consider leaving this one at home.
His 2-pip (Last Stand) allows Commanders and Operatives to gain Indomitable and can pick up an aim, dodge, or suppression token for each wound they've suffered (up to 3). This . . . is incredibly timing-sensitive, but it can make someone like Jyn a lot more survivable (or boost someone's damage before a big play). If Cassian is limping along, he could use this to get a mix of aim/dodge tokens that could allow him to deal solid damage while still getting behind some cover and having some resilience to the follow-up, but to get a decent amount of tokens out of this card, you kind of have to be near death. So . . . I usually leave this one at home.
His 3-pip (Volunteer Mission) does what it always did - Commanders, Operatives, and Special Forces can make a recover action, gain Danger Sense 1, and can gain 1 suppression token. The recover action would be nice on a Force User without Master of the Force (Ahsoka?), but it's probably better used for clearing suppression on characters that need to have their options open (like Cassian - and possibly also Han and Lando). Danger Sense isn't a great keyword, but it's better than having nothing to bolster a surging white save - so take it if you can. But again, if you have 3-pips that are "must-haves" for your characters, don't bother.
If we look at the generic command cards currently available to Rebel players, the ability to get Inspire 2 on each of your Support/Heavy vehicles from Turning the Tide is really good if you're taking AT-RTs or A-A5s (or Landspeeders, if you're me) in your list. Cassian wants to get suppression management if he can - and having 3-5 units with Inspire 2 gives him the ability to not have more suppression than he can handle.
There are a few characters who help Cassian out with their command cards. Jyn Erso's Trust Goes Both Ways is a great way to have Inspire on another character and you can do a very useful thing with Teamwork, since Jyn can generate dodge tokens for Cassian (and K-2SO if he's nearby) while Cassian generates aim tokens for Jyn (and K-2SO) with Tactical 1. K-2SO can help out with this happy union as well, but we'll get into that next time.
Jyn's updated Rebellions are Built on Hope card is also really good - Danger Sense 5 on Cassian without the ability to be suppressed/panicked during his activation is sweet, but if you pick up 5+ suppression, GOLLY you need to have some Inspire in your list or you're gonna need to make a recover action as one of your two actions to clear out some suppression (so you can score, if not actually do something on your next turn)! Still, this command card helps you with your survivability a lot.
Speaking of survivability, if Cassian is playing the close-range game, Sacrifice from K-2SO is looking pretty good. Guardian 4 with a non-surging red save is excellent (even though Armor 1 doesn't trigger on Guardian rolls) and helps Cassian be a lot less squishy. K-2 probably wants to be near Cassian anyway to benefit from his aim generation to make K-2's gun more reliable, but it should be noted that while there's an option to make Cassian (or someone else) invulnerable to shots by killing K-2 with this command card, I've never triggered it - Guardian units are going to die, but the goal of using Guardian is that while they will eventually die, they'll keep someone more important from dying first.
Finally, Ahsoka provides two command cards that are quite useful for Cassian. Her 2-pip (Swift Protector) is similar to Sacrifice - it allows Cassian to benefit from Ahsoka's Guardian 2 and if he is targeted, he also gets a dodge token (which means K-2 will pick up a dodge token as well). Her 3-pip (A New Beginning) gives Cassian an aim or dodge token (both good) and Ahsoka gains Inspire 2 (which is really good for Cassian, as we've said before), so depending on how you want to play it, there might be few characters who can help Cassian out with his suppression and damage intake. Of course, both Jyn and Ahsoka are competing for the other Operative slot in your list (K-2SO doesn't count because of Detachment), so picking either of these characters means you're not taking the likes of Operative Luke, Din Djarin, or the Bad Batch.
Our first list adds Cassian and K-2SO (more on him in two weeks) with Han Solo and Jedi Luke Skywalker - a "what if" scenario where Scarif didn't blow up and the dynamic duo of Cassian and K-2 made it to Endor (and you know, Luke didn't try to redeem his dad). This 13-activation list has a bunch of tricks from Luke and Han, but gains a little bit extra from Cassian and K-2:
- Han Solo with Underworld Connections and Up Close and Personal
- Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight with Force Push, Jedi Mind Trick, Burst of Speed, and Into the Fray
- Cassian Andor with Duck and Cover and A280-CFE
- K-2SO with Jyn's SE-14 Blaster
- 3x Rebel Troopers with SX-21 Troopers
- 1x Rebel Sleeper Cell with Astromech
- 2x Ewok Slingers with Forest Dwellers
- 3x AT-RTs with Laser Cannons
The list has Han to lead off with Change of Plans to scramble someone's Turn 1 play (which you can then follow up with Standing Orders if they have an important card and you want to deploy second OR you can swap into My Ally is the Force if you want to issue orders to units that you want to deploy late - like Han and Sleeper Cell - OR you can just stick with Change of Plans and issue orders to Han, Luke, and Sleeper Cell), Luke can dive-bomb with Son of Skywalker into someone big and then neuter any survivors with I Am a Jedi. If Luke's taken any damage, you have the option of generating tokens on him with Last Stand OR issuing a free attack action to Sleeper Cell (or an SX-21 squad if Sleeper Cell isn't around anymore), which will wrap up the game for you.
Cassian and K-2SO are doing something simple in this list: they're flying wingman to Luke and Han. K-2SO has always been a token battery for Cassian, but he's also a battery for other characters. If Luke wants an aim/dodge token (his Courage is high enough that he doesn't have to worry about the suppression he's taking), you can use Calculate Odds with K-2. Cassian can't give tokens to anyone (my how Exemplar would be great on him), but he can deal clip damage to finish off or soften units that Han's shooting into (or that Luke is going to hit with Son of Skywalker). Cassian deals reliable small piles of damage to people - and while we could have dropped him and K-2SO to get the Bad Batch and some extra upgrades, I think these guys are contributing a lot to making sure Luke does the work he wants to do.
Our next list is basically the same list, but it's 17-activations and we've swapped out the shenanigans of Han and Luke with an . . . interesting combo of Lando and Jyn:
- Lando Calrissian
- Cassian Andor with Duck and Cover, Seize the Initiative, and A280-CFE
- Jyn Erso with Inspiring Presence and Prepared Supplies
- K-2SO with Jyn's SE-14 Blaster
- 3x Rebel Veterans
- 3x Mark II Medium Blaster Troopers
- 1x Rebel Troopers with Astromech Droid
- 1x Rebel Sleeper Cell with Astromech
- 2x Ewok Slingers with Forest Dwellers
- 3x AT-RTs with Laser Cannons
K-2SO will be buffing Lando here (he's got Long Shot and mediocre defense, but no reliable way to get aim or dodge tokens - enter K-2) while Cassian and Jyn do supporting damage to the more impressive dice pools on Land and Sleeper Cell. There's a squad of healer Rebel Troopers in the list (with an Astromech to heal K-2) that can be Guidanced by Lando to move/pick up a dodge token - and if they don't really need the extra action, getting a move action on a Mark II outside of its turn sequence (or any Corps unit performing a recover to clear suppression) is pretty good.
Our Turn 1 command card will be a divulged Corellian Spike to give Lando Infiltrate/Incognito, which will hopefully allow him to deploy upwards where we want him. This does mean order control on everything else will be spotty, but we have 7 Corps tokens in the bag, Cassian can issue an order to himself with Seize the Initiative, and if we deploy him early, we can use either Independent: Move on Jyn to bring her onto the board from our board edge OR pass on Independent: Move and Infiltrate her as normal. We can deploy Cassian after Jyn activates (our first Operative token from the bag) and once Cassian is on the board, K-2SO can arrive and buff whatever unit needs help.
Our other command cards include Ace Up His Sleeve (so we can have Initiative on a turn that we want it - probably activating Lando first so he can do his support stuff and high-tail it out of harm's way), Crack Shot (double-damage from Cassian seemed like a better thing than double-damage from Jyn), Trust Goes Both Ways (for Jyn and Cassian to do some token sharing), Sacrifice (a great Turn 2 play, especially if K-2SO hasn't lost Incognito yet), and Rebellions are Built on Hope (which probably won't give Danger Sense 2 to Jyn, but is definitely a good addition for Cassian to keep him from be suppressed). Lots of shenanigans are being used here - and there should be enough activations in the list to keep your army in the fight for a long time!
Cassian Andor: Final Review
Cassian probably could be cheaper than he is, but I'm excited to play with him more this summer (I'm mixing in games with Rebels and Empire before the new Republic starter set takes over my life again). I'd give Cassian a 3.5/5 - he'd definitely be higher if he was 75-80pts instead of 90. The addition of Field Commander is nice, but I feel like he'd compete a lot less for slot time if he wasn't an Operative. Oh well, it's all good.
If you've used the new Cassian profile, let me know anything that I missed about him! Next time, we'll be looking at his friend, K-2SO, and the new place that the droid lives in with the current state of the game. Until next time, happy hobbying!
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