Good morning gamers,
When Legion 2.6 dropped, my son Gorgowrath got frustrated with Separatists and started playing Republic - he's always liked elite troops that can hold their own against larger numbers of foes, so Republic seemed like a pretty good fit. After playing a single game with Anakin, he was hooked - and I think it's still true that there aren't many units in the game that punch quite as hard as Anakin Skywalker. With a stellar offensive kit, good command cards that augment his damage output, and some powerful special rules that help him hit even harder still, it's not hard to like Anakin . . . if you can keep him alive. :) Let's see what's up with this guy and how to use him.
Anakin Skywalker: The Profile
There are several special rules that really should be stapled to any Jedi character: Jump 1, Charge (or Relentless/Steady, I'm not picky), Immune: Pierce, Deflect, and Master of the Force 1. Together, these rules give you reliable resistance to shooting attacks (Deflect gives defensive surges and the potential for retributive damage, Immune: Pierce reduces the effectiveness of the hits they get), mobility (Jump 1 - or Jump 2 on some Jedi), and action efficiency (Charge allows you to attack as part of a move action, while Master of the Force 1 allows you to reset a previously-used exhausted Force upgrade). There are actually quite a few Jedi who are missing at least one of these keywords, but Anakin has them all - along with some other very useful tools.
Anakin is currently the only character in the game with Djem So Mastery, which allows Anakin to do 1 wound to an opponent who attacks him in melee if the attacker got at least 1 blank in his attack pool. This is going to be more effective against enemies with white attack dice (or those that don't have aim tokens to reroll dice - or special rules like Jar'Kai Mastery, Marksman, or Ram X that promote dice rolls from blanks to hits in various ways), but there's always the niggling feeling if you want to deal with Anakin in melee that he might just take a chunk out of you on the way in. He's also the only character in the game with Tempted, which allows Anakin once per round to perform a free speed-2 move action OR a free attack action when a friendly unit is destroyed within range 3 of him. While you can conceivably wait to destroy units until you can get a bunch in a single round, functionally this rule disincentivizes attacking Anakin.
Anakin's stats are incredibly good - 6 Wounds is good, Courage 3 is good, Speed-2 is normal (Jump 1 helps with this some), surge for crit on offense is great, and non-surging red saves are good. Anakin's certainly paying a bit for stats, but he's not going crazy on them (like you do for extra Wounds/infinite courage with Commander Vader or for defensive surges like you might on Dooku). Since Anakin is already one of the most expensive characters in the game, it's good that he's not going crazy. His lightsaber is fantastic, rolling 5 red dice with Impact 3/Pierce 3, so even if he only gets half of his attack dice to hit (more on that later), he's probably dealing 3 wounds into whatever he's hitting. That said, I find that Anakin is one of the worst characters to go up against an enemy Jedi/Sith because they will ignore that marvelous Pierce 3 . . . it's odd how that works out.
Anakin Skywalker: Recommended Upgrades and Command Cards
Anakin has two kinds of upgrades, but you'll find there's a lot of competition for his slots!
Force x2
There are a bunch of upgrades that might compete for these two slots. Because Anakin has Master of the Force 1 (and pays for it with his cost), you probably want to get one movement-related Force upgrade and one exhaustible Force upgrade. The good movement ones are Force Agility (which gives him Disengage once per game - very useful for getting out of a fight with a single enemy Trooper who would otherwise waste your time OR to get out of a fight with an enemy that has Immune: Pierce) and Burst of Speed (which gives Anakin Speed-3 for oneround in the game - but then makes him Speed-1 on the next round). These upgrades cost nearly the same number of points (8pts and 10pts respectively) and you probably don't want to leave home without one of them. For the exhaustible upgrades, you can buy Force Push (probably less necessary if you have Force Agility - but this will be usable every round and boy can it help you sometimes), Jedi Mind Trick (if you want to throw suppression on someone and maybe panic a unit that's contesting an objective near Anakin), or Force Guidance (which is clearly the hipster pick, but tokens are hard to get in Republic these days and Anakin certainly might want to use a surge token if he's defending in melee).
There's definitely an argument for Saber Throw (3 dice at range 2 is quite nice to have if you have to use Tempted on a turn that you're not Engaged and when you don't want the speed-2 move), Helping Hand if you want to give Jump 1 to a friend, and Annul if you want to ruin an enemy Force User's day, but choosing one of these probably replaces your exhaustible upgrade . . . and at that point, I wonder why you're not running a different Jedi (like Shaak Ti) who doesn't have to pay for Master of the Force 1?
Training x2
Anakin is perhaps the only Jedi who doesn't have a reason to take Battle Mind, which is good, because he needs his Training slots for other things. My son's go-to for Anakin is Tenacity, which brings Anakin up to his Darth Vader persona with 6 red dice in melee. Since Anakin doesn't surge on defense while in melee, he might benefit greatly from Into the Fray, which is likely to proc on anyone who ends up getting into melee with Anakin (though not everyone). When in doubt, Seize the Initiative is always good to have (especially if you have a command card that can't issue an order to Anakin - like most of Captain Rex's command cards). While I think the new Stuck In upgrade is a bit expensive to spam out, I certainly think that it's at least in the conversation on a character like Anakin who isn't just going to dive-bomb a POI, but also probably needs to shrug off some damage while he's there.
When it comes to Command Cards, you're probably taking all three of Anakin's cards - but certainly his 1-pip and his 3-pip. The 1-pip This Is Where the Fun Begins command card allows Anakin to attack twice in that turn and gives him a free Jump action, which means he can move-move-attack-move-attack if he's able to chew his way through one unit in melee (or move-move-attack-attack if he gets stuck). This card can be divulged in order to give Anakin Prepared Position, which doesn't seem to be the competitive play (it exposes him to attacks unless he's shielded from view . . . at which point he could just be off the table?), but divulging it doesn't require that to be your Turn 1 command card, so I won't say that it's bad.
His 3-pip (General Skywalker) issues orders to Anakin and two other units (so vehicles or infantry) and everyone who gets an order gets an Aim token. Additionally, Anakin gets Inspire 2, which matters more now that suppression has really been cranked up. Since the orders are probably going to Clone Trooper units, the aims can be shared among friends, which is pretty cool and potentially quite devastating.
His 2-pip (You Underestimate My Power) requires a lot of patience to use well and I think you could certainly leave it at home if you have contention from other command cards. This command card gives Anakin 6 white dice when he attacks if the unit he's attacking has a Facedown order token (aka, they need to have already activated). While 6 extra white dice with surge for crit is pretty good, it adds an expected 2.25 hits to your attack and the variance on that is HUGE. Personally, I think it's fine to take if you have nothing else to take (and it's not as good as the Lead from the Front 501st command card, which is a 1-pip in the 2-pip slot AND hands out 3 aim/dodge tokens to people near Anakin - or Rex/Ahsoka, depending on who gets the order).
While we're on the topic of the 501st, the Leaders of the 501st command card is a great 3-pip, issuing lots of orders and permanently giving any Clones near Anakin or Rex Indomitable (which, again, is much better now that courage values actually matter). I think Tactical Planning is a fine command card to take, but only if you plan to go first with your AT-RTs/BARCs or your ARC Troopers. From Anakin's perspective, I don't think he cares - but it is a command card that can't issue him an order, so consider that when figuring out what to take for your Training slots.
Anakin can benefit from other command cards - he can get Relentless from Yoda's There Is No Try command card, but to use that, he needs to have Saber Throw. The generic Republic 2-pip (Air Support) can give Anakin an end-of-activation attack that will benefit from his surge for crit, which isn't bad. Padme can give Anakin a free move or token with Aggressive Negotiations, which I still think is a great 2-pip in any list.
Anakin Skywalker: Sample Lists and Strategies
Our first list is an 11-act Republic list that sports a slightly lean Anakin build (Agility, Mind Trick, Tenacity), Padme with Fire Control, and a pile of Clone Trooper Infantry, ARC Troopers, and a Chewie-LAAT combo for more power hitters:
- Anakin Skywalker with Force Agility, Jedi Mind Trick, Tenacity
- Padme Amidala with Fire Control
- 1x Clone Trooper Infantry with Fives and DP-23 Clone Trooper
- 2x Clone Trooper Infantry with Mortar Clone Trooper
- 1x ARC Troopers
- 1x ARC Troopers with Plo Koon
- 1x Wookiee Warriors, Noble Fighters with Chewbacca and Tenacity
- 2x ARC Troopers, Strike Team with DC-15X ARC Trooper Sniper
- 1x LAAT/LE Patrol Transport with Clone Trooper Shock Trooper Pilot, Armor-Piercing Shells, and Door Gunners
The second list is a 12-act 501st list, which is something that I've been messing around with (despite generally not liking how aggressive you need to play with Anakin) and it feels pretty good with 4 ARC Troopers/Strike Teams - Anakin and the Ahsoka squad join almost everyone else in the list to have Scout-2 (which means you shouldn't give Anakin Prepared Position in this list):
- Anakin Skywalker with Force Agility, Jedi Mind Trick, Tenacity, and Seize the Initiative
- Clone Captain Rex with Recon Intel
- 1x Clone Trooper Infantry with Ahsoka Tano, DP-23 Clone Trooper, and Clone Trooper Infantry Squad
- 4x ARC Troopers
- 4x ARC Troopers, Strike Team with DC-15X ARC Trooper Sniper
- 1x AT-RT
Anakin Skywalker: Final Review
Anakin has long been a thorn in my side, but that's a testament to how good he is (and how tricky you have to be to keep him from doing what he wants to do). He's a monster on the board and can reward you for bringing a very aggressive list that will keep up with him and give him space to do what he wants to do.
Overall Unit Review: 5/5 stars. This guy is well designed and hits very hard . . . but can go down to dedicated attacks (especially in melee where a large dice pool takes precedent over Pierce). He's very fun to play, feels like he should, and rewards good play. There's definitely an argument that Jedi cost too much in a world where you can get similar/better combat profiles on generic Rebel Agents or squads of grunts, so I personally wouldn't mind a slight drop in price for Anakin and others but I think the unit is great.
Next time (and through the rest of the year), we'll be looking at the four new Jedi from the Jedi Council pack. Our first stop is the big man himself, Mace Windu. This guys has gotten a lot of critique for being too expensive (maybe that'll be changed soon?), but there's certainly a lot going on with this guy's profile (less so his "command cards"). Find out how you might be able to make this guy work next time - and until then, happy hobbying!
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