Skirmish upgrades: Vader's Finest

Good morning gamers,

Last time we looked at Imperial skirmish upgrades, we examined Advanced Com Systems. Today, looking at one of the Empire's first skirmish upgrades: Vader's Finest. This upgrade must be attached to a Trooper and provides special actions for that Trooper squad. To determine our finalists today, we will be asking the following questions:

1. How much does the model benefit from being Focused?
2. How does gaining movement points after attacking synergize with the existing abilities on the deployment card?

I'll mention this about Vader's Finest before we begin: no matter who you attach this upgrade to, you want to bring To The Limit in your Command deck. We've discussed the card at length in a past post, here's what you can do:
-Spend two actions becoming Focused and removing a harmful condition;
-Play To The Limit to gain an additional action;
-Spend one action to perform an attack and gain two movement points;
-Become Stunned;
-Next turn; spend two actions becoming Focused and removing the Stun.
You could also choose to remove the Stun normally, which would allow you to attack with your normal attack pool and gain two movement points. Either way, you don't suffer for using To The Limit. Without further ado, let's get into it:

Bronze Medal: Stormtrooper
This card comes in the Stormtrooper Villain pack, so there might be a little obligation on my part to include it. On a purely merit-based level, Stormtroopers have a distinct advantage over other Imperial Troopers: they come in sets of three.

While numbers aren't everything, it often means the difference between keeping the card alive and losing a whole deployment card before it can activate. Stormtroopers can also force damage-heavy units (Jedi Luke, Maul, Vader) to waste damage that would have killed a more expensive Trooper - this makes little difference in the long run, but feels good for you (especially if you have the Reinforcements Command card.

The reason these guys get third prize today is because there are already ways for the Elite version to become Focused and there aren't any other synergies being utilized. It's nice to be able to become Focused without having a squad mate die, but that's all they have going for them.

Silver Medal: Heavy Stormtrooper
I'll come out and say this up front: for the longest time, Heavy Stormtroopers were my favorite Imperial Trooper choice (and I still favor them when choosing open groups). Heavy Stormtroopers have a good health-to-cost ratio, a red-blue attack pool with two static accuracy, and the ability to Surge for Blast. Let's just say that they're awesome.

They're also slow. With only 3 Speed, they have problems keeping up with your other figures, but this is easily compensated but the free movement points provided by Vader's Finest. In addition, the Focus adds damage to the Heavy Stormtroopers' already impressive attack pool AND makes them more likely to get Surge results (Blast is nice when you actually get it). While it seems like the Heavy Stormtroopers might have this one in the bag, they fall today to my favorite Imperial Trooper...

Gold Medal: Elite Jet Trooper

Jet Troopers are basically the same cost as your standard vanilla Stormtrooper EXCEPT that they come in squads of two instead of squads of three (which makes the deployment cards a tad cheaper). Jet Troopers aren't as obviously lethal as Heavy Stormtroopers, but the elite version is probably the highest damage-for-cost unit available to the Empire (and certainly amongst its Trooper choices). With a green-blue-blue and the ability to surge for Damage 2 (recall what we said last week in our post on Gaarkhan about the difference in damage between dice when you can surge for Damage 2) these guys are where it's at if you ask me.

With their Fly-By rule, the Elite Jet Troopers not only get a free blue attack die, but they also get two free movement points (giving you four total with Vader's Finest). Since these guys are mobile, you get a free move out of the deal, allowing you to move, attack, and move again.

It's important to note that this free-move benefit applies to regular Jet Troopers too - while their damage output isn't as high as their elite brothers' output, it's still a decent amount of damage and you can start any skirmish mission becoming Focused to help boost your Damage even higher.

In our next post, we'll be returning to Rebel lists as we examine the Smuggler's Run upgrade. Until next time, happy gaming!

Command cards: Strength in Numbers and Squad Swarm

Command Card Review: Strength in Numbers and Squad Swarm

In a normal skirmish game, you need to choose a single deployment card to activate on your turn. In many cases, you’ll find yourself torn between two figures that you want to activate (e.g. fighting on two fronts, saving one unit while sniping an enemy figure, getting a great combo). While this will mostly be the case, there are two skirmish cards that allow you to break the normal tempo and steal an additional activation (opening up many, MANY opportunities). We’ll be talking about both of these today: Strength in Numbers and Squad Swarm.

Requirements For Candidates – Strength in Numbers

Strength in Numbers is the more generic of the two cards: after you resolve one deployment card’s activation, you choose another card to activate that one. The only restriction is that the sum of the two deployment cards’ costs is 12. This means that certain figures (Darth Vader or Chewbacca) will never be able to use this card and you’ll need to have some low-cost cards to include it in your list. For the purposes of this post, our objective will be to find units that complement each other well and benefit you greatly by having them activate back-to-back. I’ll admit that there will be situations where you need to get two units out of harm’s way at the same time (and you should use Strength in Numbers in those cases too), but we’re only looking to synergistic lists today.

Bronze Medal: Elite Jet Trooper and Regular Riot Trooper

While Stormtroopers have always been decent, some of the recent Imperial Trooper choices have been very good. Two of these are the Elite Jet Troopers and the Regular Riot Troopers (not to say anything negative about the Elite Riot Troopers – they’re fabulous too). Jet Troopers have several advantages over other Stormtroopers: first, they’re mobile, granting their commanders incredible deployment flexibility and the ability to quickly hide behind impassible terrain (or cross hindering terrain to escape pursuit by melee models). All Jet Troopers are also able to convert a Block result into an Evade result, which is perfect for keeping that annoying “Surge for Pierce 3” from completely negating your Black die. Third, Jet Troopers can gain movement points after attacking so long as they were within 2 spaces of their target. Elite Jet Troopers come into a field all their own above their regular cousins by giving you a free Blue attack die as well, increasing their damage and guaranteeing damage against Hidden foes nearby.

Once these guys perform an attack and retreat a few spaces, the Riot Troopers are able to march in and assume defensive positions OR attack the targets of the Jet Troopers’ attacks (if they started close enough to reach them in melee). Riot Troopers have the happy ability to turn all of their Surge results into 1 damage and will tack on 1 Strain result if their attack does damage (which is all but guaranteed). Then, they’ll each claim a Block token to throw an extra Block into any attacks that target them before their next turn. This not only allows them to provide excellent cover for the Elite Jet Troopers, but also allows you to clear out some room for your next activation (if you can finish a figure or two).

Silver Medal: Onar Koma and Elite Clawdite Shapeshifter

There are a few Deployment cards that cost 6 or less points and have three attack die. For Mercenary lists, they’re basically non-existent. However, Onar and the Elite Clawdite Shapeshifter are two of them. Because of the nature of the Clawdites, their synchronicity is heavily dependent on the form they choose. For today’s post, we’re going to be focusing on the Streetrat (though we’ll briefly talk about both the Senator and Scout forms).

Onar is pretty straight forward: use Rush to move towards someone (and deal some damage on the way), then shoot when you’re really close. Onar requires Accuracy beyond the required total in order to use his Surge abilities, so shooting people really close to you is a must. As a Hunter, he can use cards like Assassinate or Tools for the Job to further boost his damage profile, while on Defense, don’t underestimate the power of Take Cover or Camouflage (which not only protects him from being shot, but also makes surging more likely).

The Clawdite is also a Hunter, so she (just assuming it’s a girl – play along) can use all of the same Command cards that Onar does in addition to those with the Spy attribute (my favorites are ??? and ???). With the Streetrat form, she can turn a single Surge into a red die attack after the attack resolves that ignores defense bonuses – great for taking down a multi-defense figure that you don’t want to have to crack with a normal attack. In addition, you can get this surge result pretty easily, since you roll a red-yellow-green on attack (though you’ll want to be close to your target to make sure you don’t miss (guaranteed 1 Accuracy, maximum of 5 Accuracy).

The plan for using these two is simple: make sure that when they end their activations they are adjacent (or within 1 space) of each other. Onar activates first the following turn and uses Rush, pushing his target one space closer to where he started. The Streetrat Clawdite then gets 2 movement points at the start of her turn, getting her close to the target (potentially within 2 Accuracy of the target). You can then declare a Move action if you’re not adjacent to get adjacent to the target and perform your attack – surging for the Assassin’s Blade to do even more damage than you do on your attack. Between Onar’s Red-Green-Blue, the shove damage he caused, the Red-Yellow-Green attack from the Clawdite, and the Red die that deals unblockable damage afterwards, even double-digit health figures (like Gaarkhan or the Emperor) will have a rough time staying alive.

If you’re using other Forms for your Clawdite, the strategy changes a little: your damage output will be lower with the Senator form, but you can skip moving and instead pass out tokens to yourself, Onar, and other figures nearby. When you shoot you can Recover damage (which is rare in the skirmish game) and makes this unit more like an E-Web Engineer and less like a melee brawler. Since you can’t surge for Accuracy, I highly recommend taking the Deadeye Command card just to give you the extra oomph you need to hit the target (though you can Recover and gain a token even if you don’t hit).

The Scout is a little different – you basically have a Pulse Cannon, except that your accuracy is outrageously good – with a Yellow-Green-Blue and static 2 Accuracy (and the ability to surge for 2 Accuracy + 1 Damage), you’re guaranteed to get 6 Accuracy (though the average expected Accuracy is around 10 Accuracy) AND you can ignore figures in your line of sight. This means you don’t need to keep up with Onar – you just let him go ahead of you and you shoot around him. It’s pretty sick. Your damage output does drop a bit, but if you can keep 5-6 spaces between you and your target, there are precious few melee figures that will be able to move and attack you (and if you rely on the 9-10 Accuracy you should get, even range-attack figures will have problems hitting you).

Gold Medal: Gideon Argus + Fenn Signis

I’ve mentioned in a previous post that Gideon Argus is one of the best characters available in the skirmish game. Part of this is because he’s so cheap, but it’s also due to the strategic benefits he provides to his teammates. So long as he doesn’t need to move, you can spend both of your actions granting a friendly figure 2 movement points and making that figure Focused. This is particularly good if the figure can’t Focus themselves normally (making a character who can become Focused on their own is nice, but it’s not necessary for Gideon to do it unless that character happens to go next). For today’s post, we’re pairing Gideon Argus with Fenn Signis.

Fenn is one of a handful of characters who has Assault (allowing him to attack multiple times in an activation). Normally figures can only attack once, but Fenn is able to rapid-fire with his blaster and Blast 1 into whoever steps in his way. With a Red-Blue-Green (and the ability to surge for a little Accuracy), he can hit targets a few spaces away from him without much worry, but this range is increased a bit for the first attack thanks to the Focus die. If you have Fenn in your list, you don’t want him moving, so gaining a little extra speed from Gideon is a must-have, while the Focus die just makes your already impressive attack that much more powerful (and your probability of Blasting that much more likely).

I will say that you can also use this strategy with the likes of Gaarkhan, Diala, or Davith – all of whom have the ability to attack multiple times in an activation AND move. Fenn, however, doesn’t have the ability to move and attack twice, so I chose him (greatest benefit).

Requirements For Candidates – Squad Swarm

The Squad Swarm card works in a similar way with two exceptions: first, the deployment cost limit is increased to 15 (instead of 12). Second, the two deployment cards need to share the same name. This means you can use an Elite/Regular pairing, but they need to be the same unit. All of the previous combos won’t work with this upgrade. Hence, we’re going to create a new list of front-runners…

Bronze Medal: Elite Jet Trooper and Elite Jet Trooper

This particular Command card comes in an Imperial Villain pack, so I figured I’d include some bucketheads. J We’ve already talked about Elite Jet Troopers, but one of the advantages of using these guys is that they cost less than 8 points, allowing you to activate two elite squads at the same time. While you won’t be able to move up the Riot Troopers to shield these guys from attack, you will be able to rush in a number of troopers to triple-attack-dice-smash enemy figures and then back up a bit to gain some protection. It’s not fancy, it’s not flashy, but it is definitely effective.

Silver Medal: Trandoshan Hunter + Trandoshan Hunter

If you’ve ever started out with Imperial Assault by playing the Core campaign, you’ve met a Trandoshan or two. If your experience with Trandos is anything like mine, you don’t like to face them. Sure, they can’t surge for damage (and they occasionally waste their surges), but they hurt. A lot. And so when I was thinking about what pairings happen to fall at or under 15 points, it was an easy choice to add two regular Trandoshan Hunter squads. It’s important to note that while you have the models to run two regular squads, you don’t start with two copies of the card from the Core box so you’ll either need to borrow someone else’s deployment card OR just have a reasonable opponent who knows you don’t want to drop another $80-100 to get a core box just to get some of the models.

While using Trandos on different parts of the board is useful for dealing lots of damage on both sides, I find them to be a bit fragile – 6 health each with a Black die doesn’t last very long – especially if you’re facing three-figure deployment cards (Rebel Troopers or Stormtroopers in particular). While you can eat these guys for lunch if you want, if you’re not the one striking first, you might find yourself outclassed. As a result, I tend to run my Trandoshans together, so my opponent never escapes the pain they bring on one side of the battlefield. You can use other units to hold ground if the scenario requires, but don’t break the power of your offensive tools by splitting them up.

Gold Medal: Elite Tusken Raider + Elite Tusken Raider

Now I know I just got through talking about regular Trandoshans…these guys one-up Trandos. Trandoshans have the ability to “Surge for Pierce 2,” which is useful in making sure your attack does maximum damage. Trandos also have the ability to apply a Strain result before the attack if they’re attacking figures within 3 spaces (which is awesome – especially with Under Duress, which we posted on earlier this week). Tuskens, however, add a static Damage result to their attacks and they trade in that finicky Blue die with a  slightly-less-finicky Red die. Their surge options change from hurting their attacker to hurting nearby foes, making them more useful for splashing damage against low-health enemies nearby. Activating four at the same time is a HUGE game changer (especially if they’re together – their health is roughly the same as the Trandos we just viewed). If you can’t get in melee range, their Tusken Cyclers allow them to shoot at figures with a Red-Blue, which will probably do about the same damage as the Green-Blue that you’re going to see from Trandos who aren’t adjacent to their foes. All told, Tuskens are more reliable and more menacing than their Trandoshan cohorts and if you have the option of taking two of these Elites (see notes above on what to do with only having one deployment card above).

Is it cheating to talk about both Trandoshans and Tuskens as two of the entries? Maybe. Shouldn’t we have some Rebel figures in this section instead of all these bad guys? Perhaps. There are many combos you can use and most generic figures do fit the bill, but when you’re looking at pure offensive firepower, it’s hard to rival all three of these combos. It’s painful if these combos come against you and you really, REALLY love it if you can pull it off. In our next post, we’ll be looking at the Endless Ranks Command card and what Troopers to include in your list alongside General Weiss. Until then, happy gaming!

Character Review: Gaarkhan

When I first started out in Imperial Assault, in my first practice game I used the big walking carpet named Gaarkhan. He’s healthier than most other figures that have been released so far, giving him some incredible staying power (especially if he can get his furry paws on some Laminate Armor). With two 1 XP upgrades that can recover damage and remove harmful conditions, Gaarkhan can stand up to a TON of punishment.

But let’s face it: most of us don’t want to play the Wookie to take all the fire for the team (let Biv/Fenn do that). No, we want to go axe-gleaming into the middle of a sea of enemies and smash them all into teeny-tiny little bits. And Gaarkhan does that very, VERY effectively. In today’s post, we begin a new series on “splash” fighters – guys who do off-hand damage to those nearby. In Imperial Assault, there are three different ways that this happens (and three characters who do it very, VERY well):

·         Cleave: melee weapon attack bonus that allows you to do damage to a figure you can also attack (generally Cleave 1 or Cleave 2) – exemplified by Gaarkhan;

·         Blast: range weapon attack bonus that allows you to do damage to all adjacent figures (friendly and hostile) to the figure you are attacking (generally Blast 1, Blast 2, or Blast 3) – exemplified by Fenn Signis; and

·         Special Rules: a special rule (usually tied to successfully damaging an enemy target or exhausting an upgrade card) that allows you to do damage to an enemy figure that you didn’t attack – exemplified by Vinto Hreeda.

Just because these guys can do splash damage this way doesn’t meant that’s all they can do. In our post today, we’ll be looking at the Cleave-oriented Gaarkhan and see some of the ways you can run him (some of which have little to nothing to do with Cleave). Before we do, let’s look at some of the benefits of doing splash damage versus precision damage.

Gaarkhan: Precision or Splash?

Generally speaking, units in Imperial Assault do precision damage: you pick a target, roll your dice, and see if you can break through your opponent’s defenses. One of the benefits of focusing on precision damage is that in order to do splash damage, you need to actually damage the target. Gaarkhan’s Vibro-Ax (which we’ll talk about shortly) is the only starter weapon that can Cleave – and if you put an upgrade like the Weighted Head on it, you can get up to Cleave 4 in a single attack (which can outright kill many basic IP units and mostly kills a bunch more). As great as that is, you’ll be hard-pressed to get any damage against the initial target with that much surge being dedicated to Cleaving, so you may never get that beautiful maneuver. Instead, many players choose to focus on just doing the damage required to break the target hostile figure’s defense and ignore Cleave/Blast entirely.

But against certain units, Cleave/Blast is invaluable. There’s nothing quite so hard as trying to break through a double-Black dice defense pool (complements of Darth Vader or an AT-ST). It’s difficult. And tedious. And you might not be able to do it. But…if Darth Vader (or an AT-ST) is standing near someone more vulnerable (a Stormtrooper or Probe Droid perhaps), you can walk up so that you can reach the great Sith Lord (or armored mech) and bring your weapon down hard on the little guy and deal some off-hand damage to the figure that’s much, MUCH hard to hurt. All of the rerolled defense die in the world can’t shield Darth Vader from a good Blast or Cleave assault.

While double-Black dice foes are difficult to damage, it can also be really annoying to try to attack White die opponents (that pesky dodge that seems to only come up when it’s the most critical for me to thwack someone) or even worse: Black-White die opponents. Damaging these units – especially if they have Cower – can be really, REALLY tough. So…off-hand hit them. It works.

Blast/Cleave are tricky and over-emphasizing your ability to Blast/Cleave is a liability. However, it has its uses and it behooves any Rebel squad to include someone who can do it (because you never know when you’ll need it). There are a great assortment of weapons (or upgrades) that allow models to Cleave (though Blast/special abilities are pretty rare), so in today’s post we’re only going to touch on a few. No matter which Cleave weapon you choose, though, Gaarkhan can put it to good use. With that, let’s look at some builds you can run…

End-Game Weapon #1 - My Ax Is Awesome: Vibro-Ax with High Impact Guard

There are a handful of heroes who have good starter weapons – some you can run with for a while (either because they’re so-so or because the figure doesn’t need to attack very often), but Gaarkhan’s weapon is particularly good. Red-Yellow attack dice pools are very strong, though occasionally unreliable: the Yellow will trigger those surge abilities you want (often supplying you with Surge in excess of your opponent’s Evade results), while the Red does straight-up damage. To supplement Gaarkhan’s base weapon are his two 4 XP skills which are easily the best skills he has: Unstoppable boosts his Endurance and his Speed (increasing the potency of his Charge skill and reducing the impact of the constant Straining). In addition, should you be reckless with him, Gaarkhan can become even stronger on the attack when he gets wounded (take that Bucketheads)!

Paired with Unstoppable is Brutal Cleave, which is a simple way of turning an attack action into two attacks – very useful for either a precision weapon focus OR for attacking someone you almost killed with Cleave (two birds for the price of one action). A Brutal Cleave used right after a Charge action will result in basically two free actions – a free move and a free attack. All for the low-low price of 3 Strain…totally worth it.

While Gaarkhan’s base weapon allows him to Cleave/Pierce 1, it doesn’t do precision that effectively (nor does it Cleave particularly well). To supplement the precision problem, we’ve chosen to take the High Impact Guard (in large part because of the surge for Damage 2, but also because that free Block you can get can help you take exactly 3 damage from an enemy attack so that you just barely become Focused. If you’re blessed and come across some Laminate Armor, you can make this even better. You can also add Wookie Fortitude to tap for an additional Block at the cost of 1 XP…

Those who own the Twin Shadows expansion will know that there is little difference between the Vibro-Ax and the Gaffi Stick, which is better at the precision thanks to an automatic Pierce 1, but lacks any Cleave ability. It’s your choice as to whether this weapon will be a better fit for you – you’ll find it in Tier 1, so you don’t have to wait very long in the campaign AND it will be cheap.

Upgrades to purchase - 8 XP: Unstoppable (4), Brutal Cleave (4)

End-Game Weapon #2 - Maximum Cleave: Double Vibrosword with Balanced Hilt

While the Vibro-Ax can deal some Cleave damage, it’s primarily a precision weapon. The Double Vibrosword, however, is a very different kind of weapon – it’s emphasis is on Cleave. With a surge for Cleave 2 option, it’s pretty easy to see that you’ll do a bunch of damage to those nearby if you can just get a surge off.

In the hands of Gaarkhan, though, you can get a TON of damage out by using the Double Vibrosword’s strain ability (which you can activate even if you didn’t damage your opponent). Add that to Gaarkhan’s Rampage upgrade and you can do lots of damage to more than the usual one person that a Cleave targets.

With Brutal Cleave as well, you can easily perform 2 attacks each round, dealing a total of 3 splash damage (Rampage + Charge Attack + Brutal Cleave attack) at the cost of 5 Strain (2 for Charge, 2 for the Double Vibrosword special rule, 1 for Brutal Cleave). With Unstoppable you happen to have 5 Endurance (so I’m assuming that your second action will be resting so you can do that again the following turn). The Balanced Hilt (along with the Green die) gives you a reliable Cleave 2 on each of those attacks you’re doing – and every now and again you might get away with not resting during a particular round and getting a third attack against your foes (if you’re able to recover 1 Strain during one of your attacks).

While you can make this build work pretty well without any additional purchases, I highly recommend the purchase of the Cybernetic Arm to push that Endurance up even higher. It would also be good to play with Gideon or Murne (who we’ll talk about in a post a LONG time from now) to relieve your Strain generation (if you don’t want to rest). This build has a very high XP cost, so you won’t see power-plays like this until the end of the campaign…but the finale will be epic!

Upgrades to purchase - 11 XP: Rampage (3), Brutal Cleave (4), Unstoppable (4)

End-Game Weapon #3 - Press A Little Harder: Vibrosword with Focusing Beam and Extended Haft

While you can run your base weapon for the entire game, precision damage is pretty good off the Vibrosword as well. When I first saw this weapon, I was unimpressed – Blue-Green on a melee weapon? Really?!?!? But that’s when it hit me…

For all their faults, Blue/Green combos are reliable.

Red die – for all their offensive power – don’t do that much more damage than Blue/Green die (especially if you can surge for Damage 2…like you can with this weapon). Blue die will deal 1-3 damage if you can surge for 2 Damage, while a Green will deal 2-3 damage – both of which are about what you expect from a Red. For all you statisticians out there, here’s a table:

Die Color	Surge: Damage 1	Surge: Damage 2
Red	2.33	2.50
Green	1.83	2.33
Blue	1.50	1.83

Even if you compare the Blue die to the Red die, you’re looking at occasionally doing 1 less Damage off this weapon. And that is certainly outweighed by the fact that you can Strain for Pierce 1 as many times as you like. I thought of this weapon because of Gaarkhan’s Vicious Strike ability, which allows you to Strain as many times as you like to add Damage to the attack results. I don’t like the card – I think it’s too expensive to be worth it – but the idea is simple: let me just muscle my way past my opponent’s defenses. In this case, you can use your remaining Strain to remove his defense die (1-2 will do the trick), turning everything else you do into raw damage.

Your surge will be spent on getting Damage 2 and recover Strain (if they don’t get any Evades). Recovering that Strain in your first attack allows you to Pierce more on your second attack (OR remove a dodge result with that Focusing Beam). Speaking of the Focusing Beam, it plays to this strategy well, providing you with the ability to Pierce 1 at the cost of an exhaust (instead of a Strain). 

To top off this build is the Extended Haft which saves you from having to Strain to get to an adjacent space. Since we’re not purchasing Rampage, you don’t need to end adjacent to anyone (even to use your Charge ability). Reach saves you that Strain (either to Pierce 1 or issue Brutal Cleave) which can often make the difference between a decent turn and a great turn.

Upgrades to purchase – 8 XP: Brutal Cleave (4), Unstoppable (4)

Gaarkhan in the Skirmish Game

Obviously Gaarkhan works well with Wookiees – the free block on Defense and multiple attacks while damaged on Offense puts you in a huge position to mess up your enemies (plus the Charge special action is great for action economy). Gaarkhan is the only Wookie who can Focus himself so far, which can turn this Red-Yellow power figure into a Red-Yellow-Green warrior (perfect for dealing lots of damage). Since he can both Pierce 1 and Bleed on the same surge, he can also spread the love by handing out very annoying harmful conditions that have to be dealt with quickly in the skirmish game (health is a prized commodity for most figures).

While Gaarkhan at the head of four squads of regular Wookiee Warriors is enough to turn any Stormtrooper’s armor from white to yellow, don’t underestimate the helpfulness of Gaarkhan in a team of Jedi – as a Guardian, he can give Jedi figures rerolls to their White dice on defense via Guardian Stance (which is very helpful in keeping them alive). Most Jedi can also only attack once (though a pair of Pummel Command cards is often nice), so Gaarkhan’s multi-attack capability is especially welcome.

In whatever list you choose, Gaarkhan’s Furious Charge Command card is a must-have – anytime you can get two activations from Gaarkhan is a good day. With Guardian-Brawler synergies too, you can focus Gaarkhan on dealing damage (Brawler cards) OR on protecting those around him (Guardian cards). Take your pick – it’s great.

In our next post, we’ll be changing gears to talk about Gaarkhan’s stalwart companion from the core set: Fenn Signis. In that post, we’ll talk about Blast (instead of Cleave) and some of the great work you can do with this trained soldier of the Rebellion. Until then, happy gaming!

Skirmish upgrades: Under Duress

Good morning gamers,

You find us on this marvelous Monday addressing Skirmish Upgrades again and today we have a marvelous card courtesy of the Bespin Gambit expansion: Under Duress. While most Mercenary figures are all about that offense, ‘bout that offense (no defense), the Bespin Gambit expansion introduced the Wing Guard, who are predominantly focused on protecting nearby figures – and one of the ways they do this is the threat of dealing a Strain to the attacker if you shoot someone adjacent to them. While they are limited to only one retaliatory shot against the attacker (even if there are more than one adjacent to the target), it’s still enough to make any low-health figure wonder if it’s worth it. With the release of Under Duress (which was clearly designed for these units to use), let’s begin our post today by looking at the power of the “Strain Game.”

Under Duress: The Power of the Strain Game

Strain in the Campaign mode and the Skirmish mode are two very different beasts. Heroes take strain up on themselves to perform special abilities, though some Imperial/Mercenary Deployment cards – or Imperial Class deck cards – might have ways of inflicting Strain. Once you’re maxed out on Strain, heroes can’t voluntarily Strain themselves (though Imperial applications of Strain get converted to damage – ouch). Strain is therefore the first damage to be healed in the Campaign mode when resting, so every few turns you tend to find yourself resting just to be able to do special things (or you need to attack a lot if you use your surge results to recover a Strain).

In the Skirmish mode, however, Strain works differently: Strain automatically becomes damage to the target UNLESS he discards a Command card from the top of his Command deck. With only 15 cards in a Command deck (and a starting hand of 3 cards), there aren’t that many Command cards to discard. Still, if you only need to discard 1 card each time you suffer a Strain, you could conceivably block 2-3 Strain from becoming damage without losing too much from your beloved Command deck. But this begs the question…what happens if you build a deck that focuses heavily on doing Strain?

The short answer is: your opponent will be taking a lot of damage. Even if your opponent blocks every Strain that comes at his figures with a Command card, eventually you’ll run out of Command cards. Since the first turn is usually spent maneuvering, someone who is playing against an army that focuses on Straining their opponents probably has ~10 Command cards in his deck. If you have to suffer multiple Strain results each round, you’re looking at running out of your Command card deck in 2-4 turns…that’s about half-way through most Skirmish games. While your Command deck isn’t necessary for victory, you will lose the element of surprise that Command cards provide (not to mention cool things you can do to get more out of your figures).

This is what we mean in this post by the “Strain Game:” Strain can ultimately be thought of as damage, but it has a tactical element as well: in most cases, your opponent won’t be served by choosing to discard an unknown card to block a single point of damage from being scored (unless it means the life or death of an important piece). However, by using cards like Under Duress, you can effectively force your opponent to take the Strain as damage because he will run out of his Command deck much, MUCH faster if he doesn’t take it as damage. This makes it not only more likely that you defeat figures faster, but also makes your units that have only marginal offensive capability more potent (which has psychological advantages if not actual ones).

With that, as we did with the Black Market skirmish upgrade, let’s look at a sample list for getting the most out of this card…

Under Duress: Sample List

·         Jabba the Hutt

·         Wing Guard x2

·         Trandoshan Hunter

·         Elite Trandoshan Hunter

·         Jawa Scavenger

·         Under Duress

·         Black Market

Command Cards:

·         Assassinate

·         Blood Feud

·         Dirty Trick

·         Guardian Stance

·         Merciless x2

·         Of No Importance

·         Pickpocket

·         Planning

·         Price on their Heads

·         Shoot The Messenger

·         Strength In Numbers

·         To The Limit

·         Tools for the Job

·         Toxic Dart

Let’s start with a quick overview of the Command cards: many of the cards focus on providing Strain (Toxic Dart, Dirty Trick) or making/allowing your opponent to discard Command Cards (Merciless, Shoot the Messenger) or you drawing Command cards faster (Planning). Other cards play to the VP-generating part of this list (Merciless, Of No Importance, Pickpocket, Price on their Heads). Still others are more fun and give you better offensive power (Assassinate, Blood Feud, Tools for the Job).

I’ve also included two of my favorite Command cards that just feel good in any list to help you get more out of your characters: To The Limit and Strength In Numbers – since many of your models have options (either on their Deployment cards or via Command cards) to perform special actions, To The Limit can allow you to move, shoot, and gain VPs with Trandos or allow you to draw a Command card and activate a friendly figure with Jabba the Hutt. You can also run any number of combinations with Strength in Numbers since most of your Deployment cards cost 6, so you can sneak an activation in if you’re very careful.

I will say the following though: while all of the Command cards have their use to this list and provide benefits to the team as a whole, there is another use for these cards: many of them are expensive (2-3 points) and can be turned into quick cash if you need them to via Black Market. I’ve already talked about some of these cards in the Black Market post I put up last month, so read there for more info, but as a commander, you’ll want to identify if it’s worth you giving up the ability to deal 3 Strain with Dirty Trick to gain 2 VPs (which will pay for Order Hit) OR if it’s worth getting 3 Damage added to an attack in order to gain 3 VPs. Some of these choices are hard, but one of the greater benefits of Black Market is that you can “buy” 0-cost Command cards for free, effectively drawing a Command card at the cost of 1 Strain.

Ok, character evaluation time. You might have noticed something about this team…

All the characters in this list use Strain as a tool for dealing additional damage.

It’s important to note that we might do better to take two squads of regular Trandoshans and a pair of regular and elite Wing Guard (vs. two squads of regular Wing Guard and the regular/elite pairing of Trandoshans). The more defensive-oriented players will see the advantage to having healthier units who can Recover regardless of whether they do damage to their targets, vs. the marginally better damage output of the Elite Trandos. Either way, you’ll see the benefits of keeping your figures alive and running your opponent scared.

The heart of this list is actually the Wing Guard: these troopers – similar to Stormtroopers in many respects – provide you with the ability to suffer Strain (which you can take as damage – you can Recover it, after all) to deal Strain to an enemy figure who is attacking a non-Guardian figure adjacent to you. As we have taken six Wing Guard figures, it seemed like a good idea to me to also bring along six non-Wing Guard figures for them to escort.

Marching off in pairs can be difficult to do, since you activate one deployment card at a time, but your goal is simple: make sure the Wing Guard are around whenever someone attacks your figures. If your opponent targets the non-Wing Guard, you can deal damage to him before the attack begins (which is really hard to recover in the skirmish game). Once the attack is underway, you can use the Guardian Stance Command card to reroll offensive/defensive die, making it less likely that you’ll take quite the punishment your opponent intends. If your foe wearies of the Wing Guard and targets them instead, your more important units (Trandos are painful and Jabba and the Jawa are annoying as anything you’ll find) effectively gain additional health because their armed escort is being attacked instead.

Unlike the Wing Guard, the Trandoshan Hunters and the Jawa Scavenger are more straight-forward in their use of Strain: attack people who are near you. Trandos have been go-to Mercenary units since the Core game was released and are undoubtedly some of the strongest offensive units you can acquire – 2-3 free damage each time they attack so long as they’re in your face is basically like getting a free Red die added to their attack profile. With the Assassinate and Tools for the Job cards, you can add additional damage to these guys, but if you don’t feel like moving (aka, you started adjacent or very near to your target), you can get additional mileage out of these guys thanks to Merciless and Toxic Dart – Merciless allows you to drain your opponent’s deck faster OR give you VPs (but requires you to be adjacent and spend an action), while Toxic Dart allows you to Strain and Weaken a target figure within 3 spaces of you without spending an action. These little bonuses can add up in the end game – don’t underestimate them.

The Jawa is different: he’s the only Smuggler who’s likely to be adjacent to anyone (Jabba is the only other Smuggler), so Pickpocket is all his. This is a great way to gain a little extra cash (at the expense of your opponent) and it complements cards like Merciless and Price On Their Heads quite well. If your opponent singles out the Jawa as the weak link in the army (he is), you can laugh very, VERY hard if you can play Of No Importance when he’s defeated – no VPs for you for killing this guy! Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!

Yeah, on a less sinister note, the Jawa is cheap and efficient – allowing you to Strain your opponent even if you don’t do damage. Like the Trandoshans, this is an “automatic” thing that your opponent can’t deal with very well. Should he choose to discard 2 cards instead of taking this damage, he’ll quickly run out of cards in his deck, leaving you to only have to worry about what’s on the board. For 2 points, that’s a pretty good model.

Finally, we have Jabba the Hutt – I’m not going to write too much here on him mostly because he’s been covered so much already on this blog. We’ve included To The Limit for him – because he’s awesome at it. We’ve also included Planning because why not draw more Command cards…it doesn’t hurt, right? Blood Feud is on the more expensive side for unique cards but is well-worth it – and most handy when trying to take out a two-dice defense pool figure (like Darth Vader or an AT-ST). As both a Hunter and a Smuggler, Jabba can use almost all of the Command Cards and can Bully anyone who rushes towards him – don’t underestimate the power of dealing 3 Strain when it runs the risk of discarding half of a Command card deck! If you’re concerned about taking damage from Black Market (and yes, you want to take it on Jabba because your only other option is the Jawa…), you might consider dropping Guardian Stance and picking up Smuggled Supplies – it’s a bit of a niche Command card since you only have 2 Smugglers, but given how quickly you’ll be drawing cards, you’ll probably get it in time to use it. While it can be used to heal Jabba (or the Jawa), it can also give the Jawa an automatic Surge result (which might be overkill given the double-yellow, but you never know).

One caution about using this list: it will make some players very, VERY angry. Don’t take this the wrong way – it’s not cheating. This list (like some others I will post in the future) allows you to focus on one element of the game – the Strain game – and maximize its benefits. Many players will take Strain as damage anyway, but when you’re dealing Strain left and right and you’ve effectively neutralized one option of dealing with it, it can make an opponent mad. I don’t say this to dissuade anyone from running this list or to make them change the way they play – I say all this to drive home something much bigger:

Be nice about it.

While I don’t think this can be said enough to gamers, smack-talk with this list is a really, REALLY bad idea. Anytime you run a list that’s going to take away an escape option for your opponent, don’t talk up your army. It’s just not cool. Instead, be matter-of-fact about it (though don’t rub it in). Apologizing for how much this is going to hurt – but not that you’re doing it, of course -  can help too.

In our next post, we’ll be looking at the Vader’s Finest skirmish upgrade and the applications it has for Troopers in an Imperial list. Until then, happy gaming!

Command cards: best ally/villain packs to get

Good morning gamers,

As more and more Ally/Villain packs are released for the Imperial Assault game, it’s hard for newer collectors to determine what packs to prioritize getting. I’ve been playing this game since mid-2015 but only started seriously collecting for a little over a year. I own some of the Ally/Villain packs, but as new packs are released, I identify which packs of the new lot I want and which ones I don’t. I’ve also spent quite a while determining which of the older packs I want (or don’t want). If you also are trying to determine which Imperial Assault Ally/Villain packs you want, this post is for you.

What Makes a Good Ally/Villain Pack?

Let’s begin by getting the following caveat taken care of up-front:

We’re only evaluating Ally/Villain packs here based on their Command cards.

Are there other factors that contribute to whether or not an Ally/Villain pack are good besides its Command Card makeup? Of course. Are Ally/Villain packs not mentioned here worthless? Not at all. When it all comes down to it, while most of the content in the Ally/Villain pack are exclusive content, if you only want the character, you can usually get the token for the character in the core box or an expansion box.

While having the actual model is nice, the Command cards provided are the bulk of the new content provided by the pack…so that’s why we’re using it as the standard. Furthermore, you’ll usually get Command cards that support more than just the character purchased – even cards that are neutral in affiliation and may not cost any Command card points (allowing you to include more expensive cards in your deck that favor a particular class of characters). Command cards make a big difference and should not play a small role in determining the priority of getting Ally/Villain packs for your collection. That all said, if you don’t see your favorite listed here, it’s not because I don’t like it…it’s because the overall utility of their Command cards is not as good as the packs listed here.

Honorable Mentions: Chewbacca, Bantha Rider, Grand Inquisitor, and Maul

I used a simple qualitative assessment to determine the utility of each Command card provided in each pack and found the weighted average of their utility scores. The following packs all ended with an average score of 0.750 – their cards (on average) are not needed by their users, but are helpful and above-average in value. Let’s take a look at these honorable mentions by affiliation:

·         REBELS: Chewbacca: These packs provide valuable allies in the campaign game, but in the Skirmish game, their cards are incredible. Chewbacca’s deck is more useful to Wookie decks than the Wookie Warrior pack – with two copies of Wookie Rage that allow Wookies to deal damage to nearby foes based on the damage they’ve already taken (not based on a die roll) and the Debts Repaid card that allows Chewie to ready his deployment card when a friendly figure is defeated. You also get cards like Roar and Adrenaline, which are more situational but still quite valuable (applying Stun en masse is great as is getting a temporary boost to your health).

·         IMPERIAL: The Grand Inquisitor: If you like Force Users (especially the Imperial kind), you want this ally pack – both DeadlyPrecision and Force Rush are 0-cost Command cards and they provide the ability to ignore a Dodge result in each attack you make this round and the ability to gain a little more movement – invaluable if you’re running someone like Darth Vader. Hunt Them Down is great too (though at 2-cost, it’s a bit pricey along with all the other Imperial Force User cards you’ll include in your deck).

·         MERCENARY: Bantha Rider: Let’s face it: Banthas are fun to run – they’re big and nasty and squish stuff. Cards like Crush and Jundland Terror (two copies!) are great for getting the most out of Bantha rules (though you can use Crush with your Imperial Walkers and Jundland Terror with your Tusken Raiders too). Add to that the Opportunistic card, which can give any Mercenary figure additional movement after you deal damage (either making a big escape or furthering the advance). Keep in mind, though, that if you stomp on someone (let’s say as a move action before an attack action) that you can’t move anymore that turn – so coordinating this if you’re planning on stepping on stuff is tricky.

·         MERCENARY: Maul: Maul’s pack provides excellent cards for Brawlers instead of Force Users. Melee characters will get a great boost from Deathblow, while your favorite Brawlers (I like Trandoshans, Tuskens, and of course Maul) will get free movement out of Face to Face and Looking for a Fight. While many figures have expensive unique Command cards, Maul’s Wreak Vengeance card comes in at 1 point and allows him to be Focused AND use Reach AND Cleave 2. All told, Maul is fantastic.

These packs are fantastic – they have some cards that provide huge benefits to your skirmish squads and make for brutal teams. But now, we get into the real power players – characters whose Command cards really shine!

Bronze Medal: Jabba the Hutt

Jabba’s already gotten lots of press on this blog, both as an excellent candidate for using To The Limit and as a user of On a Diplomatic Mission. Included in this incredible Villain pack are three Command cards that are very helpful to your skirmish lists (he scored a 0.833 on our rating scale). First, the Assassinate card allows you to just add 3 damage to an attack performed by a Hunter. While this will generally be done by a Mercenary army, you can also use the card to beef up the first attack of Close and Personal by Biv Bodhrick (for you Rebel players out there). Hunter units who already dominate the damage output (IG-88, Trandoshans, and Shyla) become even more dominant when you (essentially) add a red die to the attack results. It’s very, VERY brutal.

Blood Feud is a relatively cheap unique Command card, but don’t underestimate its power: being able to add a static 1 damage to your attacks against a particular deployment card is HUGE. If your opponent has static block on that figure, forget about it. Can the figure heal himself? Mob him with attacks. Perhaps the best thing about it is that you can use units with relatively low damage ceilings (Weequay and Hired Guns for example) and it gives them the edge they need to really cut through their opponent’s defenses.

Finally, Jabba’s Villain pack gives you Shoot the Messenger, which is one of the most painful ways to burn through your opponent’s Command deck. If you also include two copies of Merciless (credit due to the IG-88 Villain pack), you’ll find that you can rake through your opponent’s cards (or force him to give you victory points). All told, life is good.

Silver Medal: Stormtrooper and Alliance Smuggler

Tying for second with a score of 0.875 are the Stormtrooper and Alliance Smuggler packs. While Mercenary lists got a huge boost with Jabba the Hutt, these packs include a lot of neutral cards that can be worked into Imperial, Rebel, or Mercenary lists. Let’s look at the contents.

In the Stormtrooper pack, you get two copies of Reinforcements. These cards (also available in the Rebel Trooper pack) are a must-have if you’re running a Trooper list – you need to be able to regrow your Troopers if you’re going to get the most out of them. If you’re running Elite Stormtroopers or regular Heavy Stormtroopers, this is a definite must (though it also applies to Elite Wing Guard and Elite Rebel Troopers…and regular Echo Base Troopers…and regular Alliance Rangers…you get the picture). The Stealth Tactics card is also really good – being able to just add a White die to your defense results is HUGE (even if you don’t get the Dodge result). The pack also comes with Set for Stun, which I don’t find to be as useful as the others, but Stun results require the target to remove them, which does limit actions, so…

The Alliance Smuggler pack also provides good bonuses: Without a doubt, the best two cards provided in it are the Heart of Freedom card and the Smuggled Supplies card. Heart of Freedom is a must-have for any Rebel list – you get movement points, healing, condition removal – it’s fantastic. Smuggled Supplies works much the same way (and can be found in the Hired Guns pack), except you get healing OR extra Surge OR extra Evades (all of which are very useful) so long as you’re a Smuggler. The pack also includes Self-Defense – a neat little 0-cost Command card that allows you to just do a damage to someone who moves next to you – and Smuggler’s Tricks – a niche card that allows you to make sure enemy figures don’t control terminals or don’t have units on map tiles that are important to the scenario objectives. Everyone should have a copy of this pack – it’s just really, REALLY necessary.

But for all the benefits that you get from the Smuggler and the Stormtrooper packs, there is one that beats all, and that is…

Gold Medal: LukeSkywalker, Jedi Knight

Ok, let’s get one thing straight: I don’t like this pack for Jedi Luke. Luke is great – he does a lot of damage and he can attack twice each turn (and one of those doesn’t count as an action). But the reason Luke wins this contest is because his cards help basically anyone and they provide things that make normal units in the skirmish game better than they should be. Want a free Surge? Here’s Blitz. Want a free damage? Here’s Positioning Advantage. If you’re a Guardian/Brawler (very popular classes across all three affiliations), try getting a free Block with Parry. Total Command cost for all three of these cards? 1 point. ONE POINT! Yeah, the cards aren’t earth-shattering. Yeah, they’re lame and they aren’t flashy. Yeah, they’re not as powerful as pretty much any of the other cards that we talked about. But this is why it’s the best pack to get:

It doesn’t matter what your favorite affiliation is – you can use it NOW.

Do you like running bounty hunters that hack through things? All three cards will help your deck. Like running Wookies? Here are three more cards. What about those Royal Guard-Imperial Officer swarms that were so popular when the Core game came out? Yep, all three of these help them too. No matter what you run, two of the cards will help you and quite possibly all three will help you. And that, dear children, is why it’s the best.

And it comes with Jedi Luke. There, I said it. Happy?

In our next post, we’ll be looking at two Command cards and examining some great combos to use with them: Strength in Numbers and Squad Swarm. Until then, happy gaming!