Custom Short Campaign: Allies on Kashyyyk

In this our last post for this series (at least for a while), we’re going to have our first location-focused campaign centering around one of my favorite planets (and people groups) in the Star Wars universe: Kashyyyk. To play this campaign, you’ll need a copy of the Core Set AND the Chewbacca Ally Pack, the Wookie Warrior Ally Pack, and the Hired Gun Villain Pack.

Campaign Theme

Unlike the character-centric campaigns we’ve viewed already (Luke Skywalker and Han Solo) and the thematic campaigns we’ve looked at (sabotaging Imperial facilities, stealing exotic goods, smuggling one shipment), location-centric campaigns emphasize the beauty of one location. You can do with Tatooine in the Twin Shadows campaign or in Bespin with the Bespin Gambit campaign, but today, we’ll be traveling to the forest world of Kashyyyk. The Wookies have always been a strong and proud people, and for this reason, they were turned from allies of the Galactic Republic to slaves of the Empire very, VERY quickly.

Mission 1: Brute Force

As fun as heroes like Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, or Chewbacca are, let’s be honest: they’re kind of expensive. In this mission, the rebels are given the opportunity to gain the assistance of Wookie Warriors, some of the strongest allies in the game (and can be gained at a very manageable cost).

Pre-Mission Briefing: During the rise of the Galactic Empire, one of the first planets to be turned into an enslavement camp was the forest world of Kashyyyk. The proud race of Wookies were turned into hard-working slaves – and they’ve never forgiven the Empire for it. After their victory at the Battle of Yavin, the Rebel Alliance has earnestly sought to improve its relations with potential allies. Rebel High Command has commissioned a team of special operatives to visit Kashyyyk and assist with a rebellion starting there. . . .

Recommended Units for the IP:

·         6-cost group for double the threat level deployment

·         Imperial Officer (up to 2)

·         Jawa Scavenger                                     [Jawa Scavenger Villain Pack]

·         Elite Jawa Scavenger                            [Jawa Scavenger Villain Pack]

·         Probe Droid (up to 2)

·         Ugnaught Tinkerer (up to 2)                 [Bespin Gambit]

Post-Mission Briefing (on Victory): As the facility rises in flames, your Wookie allies rejoice in dealing a strong blow against their Imperial captors. Through an interpreter, they say that there are reports of one of their tribesmen who was captured recently by an Imperial scouting party. They owe this tribesman a life debt and request that you help them rescue their friend.

Post-Mission Briefing (on Defeat): Though you were unable to destroy the facility, your team melts into the forest and escapes capture by the Empire. One of the Wookies who assisted with the raid informs you (with the help of an interpreter) that there are reports of one of his tribesmen who was captured recently by an Imperial scouting party. He owes this tribesman a life debt and requests that you rescue his friend.

Mission 2: Indebted

While we could do Drokkatta’s mission (which would make the Heart of the Empire expansion required instead of the Core Set), we’ve chosen instead to do Gaarkhan’s mission. Though the official location is listed on the card as Bakura, the location looks similar enough to Kashyyyk (so that’s what we’re calling it). If Gaarkhan isn’t being used in the campaign, the Rebel players will need to pick a figure to stand in for Gaarkhan for game rule purposes.

Recommended Units for the IP:

·         8-cost group if the Rebels won the Wookie Warriors as an ally

·         8-cost group for double the threat level deployment

·         Clawdite Shapeshifter            [Heart of the Empire]

·         Hired Gun                              [Hired Gun Villain Pack]

·         Jet Trooper                             [Jabba’s Realm]

·         Nexu

Post-Mission Briefing (on Victory): As you escape from the prison complex, you are earnest to find some kind of shelter for the night. Your rescued captive directs you to a make-shift base of operations that the Wookiees have created for your temporary lodging. On seeing their tribesman returned to them, there is cause for a great celebration in your honor. As the party starts, your scanners indicate that some Imperial troops are approaching, probably intending to do more than crash the party. . . .

Post-Mission Briefing (on Defeat): Unable to rescue your quarry, you retreat into the forest and head to the coordinates provided to you by Rebel High Command for a make-shift base of operations that the Wookiees have created. As you arrive, you notice that the Wookiees have planned a special celebration to commemorate the change of seasons (as is their custom). As the party starts, your scanners indicate that some Imperial troops are approaching, probably intending to do more than crash the party. . . .

Mission 3: Celebration

Go to Kashyyyk they said. Have some fun they said. Make some friends they said. Now that the party is underway and friendships can be built, the Empire shows up. How typical. . . .

Recommended Units for the IP:

·         8-cost group if the Rebels won the Wookie Warriors as an ally

·         8-cost group for double the threat level deployment

·         Clawdite Shapeshifter            [Heart of the Empire]

·         Hired Gun                              [Hired Gun Villain Pack]

·         Jet Trooper (up to 2)              [Jabba’s Realm]

·         Nexu

Post-Mission Briefing (on Victory): The betrayal of the Wookiee base of operations indicates that there must be a strong information network here on Kashyyyk. Though you were able to repulse the attack, you know that the Imperial war machine will continue to attack the base until it falls. One of the Wookiees was clever enough to place a tracker on a retreating vehicle, which has given you the location of an Imperial facility that appears to be the Empire’s military headquarters on the planet. To protect your new allies, you prepare to infiltrate it and discover what’s really going on here. . . .

Post-Mission Briefing (on Defeat): The betrayal of the Wookiee base of operations indicates that there must be a strong information network here on Kashyyyk. As you escape from the base, you know that the surviving Wookiees will continue to be hounded by the Empire. One of the Wookiees was clever enough to place a tracker on one of the vehicles that required repairs, which has given you the location of an Imperial facility that appears to be the Empire’s military headquarters on the planet. To protect your new allies, you prepare to infiltrate it and discover what’s really going on here. . . .

Mission 4: Back-Room Bargains

In this finale, we get to see Imperial figures and Mercenary figures working together to enslave the local population. The Rebels will do their best to destroy this alliance – everything depends on it!

Recommended Units for the IP:

·         8-cost group if the Rebels won the Wookie Warriors as an ally

·         10-cost group for double the threat level deployment

·         Dewback Rider                      [Captain Terro Villain Pack]

·         Elite Imperial Officer

·         ISB Infiltrator                        [ISB Infiltrator Villain Pack]

·         Elite Probe Droid

·         Riot Trooper (up to 2)            [Heart of the Empire]

·         Elite Ugnaught Tinkerer        [Bespin Gambit]

·         Weequay Pirate                      [Jabba’s Realm]

Post-Mission Briefing (on Victory): As the Imperial forces flee from the base, you can’t help but feel proud that you’ve accomplished something: mercenary forces will be hesitant to assist the Empire on the planet and their current operations are stalled until a new headquarters can be set up. You’ve also secured the loyalty of the Wookiees of Kashyyyk who are eager to assist the Rebellion to defeat the Empire. As you prepare to leave Kashyyyk to return to the Rebel fleet, you look forward to what other planets you might see and people you might help as the support of the Rebellion spreads. . . .

Post-Mission Briefing (on Defeat): Unable to defeat the garrison in the base, you are captured by the joint task force of Imperial and Mercenary soldiers. You expect your fate to be no different than that of the Wookiees on this planet: slavery. As you look to the sky, you hope that other star systems will rally to the Rebellion and that the hope of the Wookiees on this planet will be strong enough to resist the Empire and perhaps free you . . . someday. . . .

I hope you get some great ideas for how to work these campaigns into your gaming sessions – until next time, happy gaming!

Character Review: Davith Elso

In the original Star Wars trilogy (and particularly in the prequel trilogy), being a Jedi is an iconic part of what makes Star Wars different from other Sci-Fi adventure films. With Luke Skywalker as an example, the ability to mindlessly hack at an enemy with a lightsaber is fun for little kids and big kids alike. In the prequel trilogy, we saw more elegant lightsaber skills and fights with such duelists as Qui-Gon Jinn and Count Dooku. Regardless of which you prefer, you get to run both sides of the spectrum with the amazing Rebel operative, Davith Elso.

Davith Elso: Staying Hidden

With the release of the Bespin Gambit, we got access to the beneficial condition “Hidden” – this ability is very straight-forward: make you harder to hit with ranged weapons and give you an extra Surge to your attack results. Hidden might not be as powerful as Focus (really depends on what you can do with a free Surge), but it does change the way the Imperial Player behaves – he’ll still shoot at you, but he’ll move closer. On offense, triggering your Surge abilities becomes easier, since you have one Surge result guaranteed. With Davith’s Cloak and Dagger ability, you can use the free Surge to retrigger Hide every time if you need it, though it does require that your opponent doesn’t get Evade results a-plenty. Since this ability requires the use of a Melee weapon, we’ll only be looking at those types of weapons today (and with that, here we go).

End-Game Weapon #1 – I Am A Jedi: Shrouded Lightsaber with High Impact Guard and Focusing Beam

As we hinted at in our previous post, Davith is the only character who is guaranteed to be able to use a lightsaber (we also talked about this in our post on Diala Passil). Davith’s Shrouded Lightsaber, like Shu Yen’s Lightsaber which is available to Diala, has a two-dice attack pool, but if you take the Falling Leaf upgrade as well, you can make it a three dice weapon with a Yellow-Yellow-Green attack pool (which is VERY good at surging). With just the original dice pool (assuming that you use your first surge results to trigger Cloak and Dagger and that you have the High Impact Guard equipped), you’re expected to get 2.63 damage past a Black die, while with three dice you’re expected to get 4.91 damage – that’s almost double the damage of the original attack pool!

Supplementing the High Impact Guard is the Focusing Beam, which you can tap for Pierce 1 (which can save you having to trigger Pierce 3 if your target only gets 1 Block), but it’s really present so that White die figures can’t escape your wrath. While managing Strain is important to Davith, getting attacks that do damage is far more important. The strain required to trigger this ability can also be offset by taking Elusive Agent, which you should be able to trigger if you begin Hidden (and we’ve taken Covert Operative to make it more likely to happens).

To top off this list, we’ve taken Fell Swoop, which is easily the coolest skill Davith has (though I don’t think it’s as useful as Falling Leaf). At the cost of two surge, you become hidden, gain a few movement points, and get to perform a free attack. The best thing about this upgrade, however, isn’t the free attack. Instead . . .

Fell Swoop is great because it can be triggered by surging, not by straining. 

Lots of other characters (Diala, Gaarkhan, Jyn, Mak, Biv, Verena, Shyla, and Jarrod) can perform extra attacks by spending Strain, while others allow other characters to perform free attacks on their turns by spending Strain (Gideon and Murne). Davith is the only hero who can perform an extra attack because he performed another attack, which allows him to save his strain for things like Force Speed (if he’s healthy). In addition, we don’t need to trigger Cloak and Dagger with our first Surge result, since Fell Swoop makes you Hidden. Since your first Surge is provided automatically, you just need a single surge on a Yellow-Green (or Yellow-Yellow-Green), which is pretty reliable.

Upgrades to purchase – 11 XP: Covert Operative (1), Elusive Agent (1), Falling Leaf (2), Shrouded Lightsaber (3), Fell Swoop (4)

End-Game Weapon #2 – Surge All Day Long: Force Pike with Weighted Head

Let’s face it: as great as running around with a Lightsaber is, it’s a lot of XP to spend on a weapon. Thanks to Falling Leaf, you can get a lot of surge with Davith. If you want to get maximum surge, there’s only one weapon for you: the Force Pike. The Force Pike is the only Tier 3 weapon available in the Core Set that’s designed for melee characters. With a Red-Yellow-Yellow attack pool, you can turn up to two of your surge into Damage 2, which is admittedly not that effective. With Falling Leaf, you have a Red-Yellow-Yellow-Yellow, and with a free Surge, you should have plenty of surge to spend on things. With this build, we’re going to focus on turning maximum surge into damage (of a kind) by taking the Weighted Head. Half the time with this weapon, you’ll get 0-2 surge off your dice (which will trigger both of the Damage abilities). The other half of the time, you’ll get 3-7 surge off your dice, and you can turn the first two of those surges (which accounts for over 90% of the possible results you’ll get) into Cleave damage, which is great for hacking apart someone that isn’t your attack. While we could get more precise damage out of the High Impact Guard, we can do more total damage this way.

Until you hit Tier 3, you can take the Gaffi Stick – the automatic Pierce 1 is welcome on the Red-Yellow, though you won’t be surging for very much with it. As soon as you hit Tier 2, be on the look-out for the Weighted Head (in Tier 1, you can pick up the Extended Haft to get used to having Reach if you like). This weapon does a little less damage than the Weighted Head, but does a decent amount for being a Tier 1 weapon.

To supplement either weapon, we’re taking Covert Operative, Elusive Agent, Falling Leaf, and Fell Swoop as we did in the previous build – you’ve got plenty of surge to become Hidden either with Cloak and Dagger or with Fell Swoop. Not buying the Lightsaber opens up a few more XP for Blindside, which is a great way to do damage to people without spending an action (and ignoring their defense), which queues them up nicely for some Cleave damage to finish them off. Like Fell Swoop, this also doesn’t cost Strain to use, which frees up your strain to help you move around (and save your actions for attacking).

Upgrades to purchase – 10 XP: Covert Operative (1), Elusive Agent (1), Blindside (2), Falling Leaf (2), Fell Swoop (4)

End-Game Weapon #3 – Rainbow Pinwheel: Electrostaff with High Impact Guard

Ok, we’ve talked about using a lightsaber and using a Force Pike to deal Cleave damage left and right. Now comes the big finish – let’s talk about the Electrostaff. Like the Force Pike, this is a Tier 3 weapon, so you’ll need something earlier to help you get through the majority of the missions (I recommend the BD-1 Vibro-Ax). With a great attack pool (Red-Green-Blue) and the ability to turn the first two surges from your dice into 2 Damage (thanks to the High Impact Guard), we’ve got the makings for a TON of damage. The Electrostaff also allows us to automatically Cleave 2, so that’s even more damage! By taking Falling Leaf, generating this kind of surge is easy, but our strategy changes a little bit with this build. . . .

We don’t want to end our activation Hidden.

Why not end Hidden you say? The reason is simple: with a Red-Green-Blue attack pool, you’re not that likely to surge, we’re going to look for another way to become Hidden (instead of attacking). If you’re attacking twice in a given round, you should use Falling Leaf in the first attack and use the first surge you get to trigger Cloak and Dagger as we have done previously. During the second attack, however, let yourself remain unhidden and benefit from that extra surge (more damage is awesome). We leave Fell Swoop at home this time and we take Force Illusion instead. The first time we’re attacked, we can Strain to become Hidden, so long as we can see the attacker (a given if a melee weapon is used, most likely to be true with ranged weapons). Remember how we said that Davith doesn’t strain for stuff? This means we should have Endurance to spare and can direct our very limited surge store to actually doing damage (like basically everyone else). Furthermore, if we take Elusive Agent, we can recover the strain we spend to become Hidden with Force Illusion, so you just need the Strain in the first place. We’re also taking Embody the Force, which not only gives Davith a great Health stat, but also increases his Endurance, allowing him to do the Force Illusion more reliably. Finally, we also take Covert Operative, which will give us the ability to start Hidden, turn our Hidden condition into Block (which supplements the High Impact Guard very well) and regain Hidden so long as we didn’t take any damage (possible with a Dodge result OR just getting enough Block from Covert Operative/High Impact Guard bonuses).

Upgrades to purchase – 11 XP: Covert Operative (1), Elusive Agent (1), Falling Leaf (2), Force Illusion (3), Embody the Force (4)

Davith in the Skirmish Game

Davith Elso is a Force User – he supplements a Jedi team well (see our post on Balance) with lots of attacks and has a decent amount of health for only 6 points. With a Fell Swoop ability, he can do multiple attacks each turn (though not with a great attack pool) and his unique Command Card Vanish is fantastic (especially if he’s surrounded by enemies). The weakness of Davith is the standard weakness for Force Users: he won’t stand up to concentrated fire from an opponent’s army. Keep Davith on the periphery, picking off units and supporting your other troops. Having other units around who can supplement his attacks (Luke Skywalker for example) or defense (the other Luke Skywalker for example) is fantastic, while having other figures who can attract damage away from him (like Ben Kenobi) is great too.

In our next post, we’ll be wrapping up our discussion of “Slashers” by looking at the famous bounty hunter Shyla Varad. Shyla can be run with a pure focus on melee damage OR with more tactical skills. However you choose to do it, Shyla is a powerful piece and can be very hard to kill. Until next time, happy gaming!

Custom Short Campaign: Valuable Supplies

Good morning gamers,

So far in our series of custom short campaigns, we’ve looked at character-centric stories that showcase heroes like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, as well as thematic campaigns centered around sabotage and smuggling. In today’s post, we’ll be looking at another themed campaign – delivering a particular shipment from one location to the other. To play this campaign, you’ll need a copy of the Core Set AND the Jabba’s Realm Expansion AND the Alliance Smuggler Aly Pack.

Campaign Theme

At first glance, this campaign looks similar to the Smuggler’s Life For Me campaign we showed last week. The key difference between this campaign and the last campaign is that in the previous campaign, three different kinds of supplies were being stolen (I mean, commandeered). In this campaign, a single set of goods will be acquired and the goal will be to handle the logistics for delivering the goods. The goal isn’t to make the heroes rich – the goal is to be helpful to someone else. With this in mind, let’s look at the campaign.

Mission 1: Precious Cargo

The Alliance Smuggler ally pack is currently the only campaign side mission where you can win the elite version of the generic ally instead of the regular version. This is a good thing because the regular version of the Alliance Smuggler is blissfully cheap but not very useful in the campaign game. J This mission is all about getting this particular smuggler’s stuff back.

Pre-Mission Briefing: In an attempt to spread its influence after the Battle of Yavin, Rebel High Command has begun recruiting smugglers across the galaxy to intercept Imperial medical supplies and weapons shipments and to redirect them to systems sympathetic to the Rebellion. One such smuggler, Jarl, was recently shot down over the planet Ryloth and his supplies were confiscated by the local Imperial garrison. Rebel High Command has tasked your team with retrieving the supplies and helping Jarl get his supplies back en route to the Rebel Fleet for dissemination.

Recommended Units for the IP:

·         6-cost group for double the threat level deployment

·         Imperial Officer (up to 2)

·         Jawa Scavenger                                    [Jawa Scavenger Villain Pack]

·         Elite Jawa Scavenger                            [Jawa Scavenger Villain Pack]

·         Probe Droid (up to 2)

·         Ugnaught Tinkerer (up to 2)                 [Bespin Gambit]

Post-Mission Briefing (on Victory): As you race out of the command depot, you hear soldiers swarming in behind you. Thanks to some quick turns down back alleys, you lose the Imperial soldiers in the press of townspeople. Jarl directs you to a safehouse and says, “Thanks for your help back there. If it’s all the same to you, I’m going to keep my head low for the next day or two while I take inventory of the supplies and try to find a new ship to complete my delivery. If you’d like something more interesting to do, I know a friend whose hometown could use a little help – he doesn’t live far from here and they’ve just had some supplies stolen from them.”

Post-Mission Briefing (on Defeat): You race out of the command depot with whatever you can carry. Though you weren’t able to acquire all of the supplies, you lose the Imperial soldiers in the press of townspeople. Jarl directs you to a safehouse and says, “Thanks for your help back there. If it’s all the same to you, I’m going to keep my head low for the next day or two while I take inventory of the supplies and try to find a new ship to complete my delivery. If you’d like something more interesting to do, I know a friend whose hometown could use a little help – he doesn’t live far from here and they’ve just had some supplies stolen from them.”

Mission 2: A Hero’s Welcome

This campaign is about getting stolen supplies back from the Empire. It seems only fitting that we hlep Vinto’s village that’s had some of its supplies stolen from it too. If Vinto Hreeda isn’t being used in the campaign, the Rebel players will need to pick a figure to stand in for Vinto Hreeda for game rule purposes.

Recommended Units for the IP:

·         4-cost group if the Rebels won the Alliance Smuggler as an ally

·         8-cost group for double the threat level deployment

·         Clawdite Shapeshifter            [Heart of the Empire]

·         Hired Gun                              [Hired Gun Villain Pack]

·         Jet Trooper                             [Jabba’s Realm]

·         Nexu

Post-Mission Briefing (on Victory): The locals are grateful for your assistance and you are pleased to see the elderly and the very young well provided for with medicine and food. As you make your way back to Ryloth, you contact Jarl. “I’ve found a ship,” he tells you, “though I’ll admit it’s not really for sale. It’s being prepared for a large luxury cruise in the next few days – fueled, supplied, and everything! If we can just get our hands on it while no one’s looking, we’re bound to make it out without a hitch.”

Post-Mission Briefing (on Defeat): You leave Rodia displeased with the way the mission went. As you make your way back to Ryloth, you contact Jarl. “I’ve found a ship,” he tells you, “though I’ll admit it’s not really for sale. It’s being prepared for a large luxury cruise in the next few days – fueled, supplied, and everything! If we can just get our hands on it while no one’s looking, we’re bound to make it out without a hitch.”

Mission 3: Luxury Cruise

We have the supplies, we’ve performed the inventory checks, but now we need a new ship (as the last one is impounded). So…let’s go get a ship, shall we?

Recommended Units for the IP:

·         4-cost group if the Rebels won the Alliance Smuggler as an ally

·         8-cost group for double the threat level deployment

·         Clawdite Shapeshifter            [Heart of the Empire]

·         Hired Gun                              [Hired Gun Villain Pack]

·         Jet Trooper                             [Jabba’s Realm]

·         Nexu

Post-Mission Briefing (on Victory): As you secure the ship from Imperial occupation, you fire up the engine and prepare to take off. “We seem to have a little problem,” Jarl says. “The engine is a custom make and it hasn’t been calibrated properly – apparently they hadn’t done that yet.” As you look at him in disbelief, he says “I know a guy who can fix this, but he’s . . . kind of being detained right now. If we can get him out and bring him to the ship, we’ll be ready to leave in no time – I promise.”

Post-Mission Briefing (on Defeat): You are unable to take full control of the ship, but you manage to get the supplies off as you retreat. As you regroup at the safehouse, Jarl says, “I knew taking over this ship might be a problem. Good news, though: I found another ship that we might be able to steal. The only problem is that it’s got custom-made controls and propulsion systems. I know the guy who built it, but he’s . . . kind of being detained right now. If we can get him out and bring him to the ship, we’ll be ready to leave in no time – I promise.”

Mission 4: Impounded

This is the thrilling finale: in only a handful of rounds, the team will be asked to rescue a prisoner from the cage of a ferocious animal, defeat Imperial guards stationed to protect a ship, and beat a hasty retreat out of the spaceport. Get ready for some high-stakes action!

Recommended Units for the IP:

·         4-cost group if the Rebels won the Alliance Smuggler as an ally

·         10-cost group for double the threat level deployment

·         Dewback Rider                     [Captain Terro Villain Pack]

·         Elite Imperial Officer

·         ISB Infiltrator                       [ISB Infiltrator Villain Pack]

·         Elite Probe Droid

·         Riot Trooper (up to 2)           [Heart of the Empire]

·         Tusken Raider                       [Twin Shadows]

·         Elite Ugnaught Tinkerer       [Bespin Gambit]

·         Weequay Pirate                     [Jabba’s Realm]

Post-Mission Briefing (on Victory): As you fire up the engines to the ship, you are anxious to escape Ryloth for good. When your ship finally breaks through the atmosphere and begins the jump into hyperspace, you begin to relax, knowing that your efforts have furthered the work of the Rebellion and dealt a blow to the supply lines of the Empire.

Post-Mission Briefing (on Defeat): Despite your best efforts, you can’t get the ship away from the Empire’s guards. As you melt back into the city, you wonder if a handful of supplies was worth it in the first place. . . .

I hope you get some great ideas for how to work these campaigns into your gaming sessions – until next time, happy gaming!

Character Review: Verena Talos

There are very, VERY few characters in the game of Imperial Assault who are rewarded for having more than one weapon. Many characters (such as Shyla Varad, Davith Elso, Diala Passil, and Gaarkhan) are rewarded for having melee weapons, but generate no bonuses from having ranged weapons (not that they can’t, of course). Other characters (such as Drokkatta, Jyn Odan, Mak Eshka’rey, or Biv Bodhrick) are rewarded for having blasters. Other characters (like Gideon Argus, Saska Teft, and Fenn Signis) can make do with melee weapons or blasters. Only one character, however, is rewarded for having weapons of different attack types and that character is Verena Talos.

Verena Talos: Managing Strain

The main questions we’ll be trying to answer today with regard to different builds is first, whether you want more than one weapon (or just get one really good weapon and focus on that), and whether you want to focus no your blaster damage or your melee damage. Ultimately, you want the ability to trigger Close Quarters regardless of which weapon you use to kill someone, but because of its high strain cost, the actual question at issue with Verena is this:

How do I manage my strain?

With the possible exception of Biv Bodhrick, the question of how to manage strain is perhaps the hardest to do with Verena: if you can recover enough strain (and if you have the right upgrades and plenty of low-Health bad guys around you), you can potentially perform a whopping eleven attacks in a single round (warning: this build requires at least 8 XP to pull off):

1.       Start of Activation: Verena is equipped with the Cybernetic Arm and has the Master Operative upgrade, giving her 7 Endurance (0/7 Strain);

2.       Action 1: Suffer 1 Strain to perform Combat Mastery, which allows her to perform two attacks (1/7 Strain);

a.       Melee attack: Verena recovers 1 strain during the attack. Assuming she kills her target, she suffers 2 Strain to perform Close Quarters - with Master Operative, she becomes Focused (2/7 Strain, Attack Count: 1).

                                                i.      Close Quarters Attack: Verena recovers 1 Strain while attacking. Assuming she kills her target, she suffers 2 Strain to perform Close Quarters again (3/7 Strain, Attack Count: 2).

1.       Close Quarters Attack: Verena recovers 1 Strain while attacking. Assuming she kills her target, she suffers 2 Strain to perform Close Quarters again (4/7 Strain, Attack Count: 3).

a.       Close Quarters Attack: Verena recovers 1 Strain while attacking. Assuming she kills her target, she suffers 2 Strain to perform Close Quarters again (5/7 Strain, Attack Count: 4).

                                                                                 i.      Close Quarters Attack: Verena recovers 1 Strain while attacking. Assuming she kills her target, she suffers 2 Strain to perform Close Quarters again (6/7 Strain, Attack Count: 5).

1.       Close Quarters Attack: Verena recovers 1 Strain while attacking. Assuming she kills her target, she suffers 2 Strain to perform Close Quarters again (7/7 Strain, Attack Count: 6).

a.    Close Quarters Attack: Verena recovers 1 Strain while attacking. (6/7 Strain, Attack Count: 7).

b.       Range attack: Verena recovers 1 strain during the attack. Assuming she kills her target, she suffers 2 Strain to perform Close Quarters again. (7/7 Strain, Attack Count: 8)

                                                i.      Close Quarters Attack: Verena recovers 1 Strain while attacking. (6/7 Strain, Attack Count: 9).

3.       Action 2: Verena performs an attack and recovers 1 strain while attacking. Assuming she kills her target, she suffers 2 Strain to perform Close Quarters one final time. (7/7 Strain, Attack Count: 10)

a.       Close Quarters Attack: Verena doesn’t have to recover Strain if she doesn’t want to (7/7 Strain, Attack Count: 11).

While I’ll admit this is basically impossible to do (in part because you need to have 11 people near each other that you can kill with whatever attack pool they have), it is possible – if you keep your Strain under control. While there is equipment you can take to supplement poor Strain recovery (the Bacta Pump, Emergency Injector, and the Supply Pack are great starts), the primary way you’re going to recover Strain is either by using an action to rest OR to recover 1 Strain during each attack. This is really hard to do. With this in mind, let’s think about how to recover Strain most effectively with the weapon pairings we’re examining below. . . .

End-Game Weapon #1 – Melee with Some Blaster On The Side: Military Blaster and Polearm with Extended Haft

At first blush, Verena’s skills focus heavily on using blasters. While a blaster is a perfectly sensible weapon, Verena doesn’t need to use them – she can focus on melee instead and use a blaster as a secondary weapon. In this build, we’ve chosen to keep Verena’s Military Blaster because it’s not bad – it’s like a DL-44 in many respects and can get a maximum of Damage 4 + Pierce 1 (which is as good as Gaarkhan’s Vibro-Ax or Biv’s Repeating Blaster).

The real focus of this build is on the Polearm: we’ve chosen to put the Extended Haft on it for a free Pierce 1, which supplements the fabulous Red-Red attack pool (and you have the potential to Cleave as well). The Red-Red can be unreliable, but generally speaking, it’s going to do 4-5 Damage (not including the auto Pierce 1) when you attack with it, which is enough to breach a normal Black die and go most of the way towards killing the target in a single blow. With Combat Mastery, Verena can attack with this weapon AND with the blaster, which should be able to finish off at least one figure, allowing you to trigger Close Quarters.

The other upgrades we’re taking complement this build: Combat Momentum is a great way to get free movement (and potentially the equivalent of a free move action). Create Opening allows you to strain once to apply -1 Block (basically like straining for Pierce 1), which further ensures that you do the damage you need to do in your attacks. Since we want to trigger Close Quarters, taking Student of Battle is an obvious choice (getting the Accuracy we need OR recovering damage). Finally, I’ve chosen Improvised Cover, not only because it boosts your defense (and so long as your healthy, you get a static +1 Evade from Duck and Weave too), but also because it does damage to other foes that are adjacent to you (which might kill them, triggering Close Quarters – which doesn’t have a stipulation that they need to die on your turn).

Upgrades to purchase - 11 XP: Combat Momentum (1), Create Opening (1), Student of Battle (2), Improvised Cover (3), Combat Mastery (4)

End-Game Weapon #2 – Just Shoot ‘Em: Disruptor Pistol with Plasma Cell

Let’s be honest: if we’re only taking one weapon, we’re TOTALLY taking a pistol. Verena has an amazing 3XP upgrade called Point Blank Shot, which allows you to swap a die from your attack pool for a Red die AND add an automatic Pierce 1 to your attack results IF you are attacking an adjacent figure. So what weapon could be better than the Disruptor Pistol?

When you’re looking at maximum damage output from pistols, three pistols stand out about the rest: the Hand Cannon (Tier 1), the 434 Deathhammer (Tier 2), and the Disruptor Pistol (Tier 3). Let’s view each of these in turn, with Point Blank Shot in mind:

·         The Hand Cannon already has a Red-Red attack pool, so it will benefit from the Pierce 1, but it won’t benefit from the Red-die-swap of Point Blank Shot;

·         The 434 Deathhammer starts with a Red-Blue attack pool, which would turn into a Red-Red attack pool. While this is generally a good thing, you don’t have the static accuracy that the Hand Cannon possesses, which means you need to get static accuracy from your mod slot (more on this in a bit).

·         The Disruptor Pistol begins with a Red-Green attack pool (which turns into a Red-Red) AND it has a static +2 Accuracy, which allows your mod slot to take something that improves your damage.

Thanks to the Plasma Cell working with Point Blank Shot, you get a static Pierce 2 to your attack results and you can use up to 2 surge (the maximum surge you’ll get on a Red-Red) to add Damage 4 to your attack total (making your maximum damage output a whopping Damage 8 + Pierce 2, while your expected damage output is closer to Damage 5 + Pierce 2 – which will still auto-kill just about any Regular deployment card in a single shot). It’s important to note that thanks to each of these weapons being in a different tier, you can actually cycle through all three of these weapons if you like – though the Hand Cannon doesn’t do too much more damage than you’re expected to see out of your Military Blaster.

To complement Point Blank Shot, we’re taking Master Operative (which not only boosts you to an impressive Endurance 6, but also allows you to be Focused once per activation when performing Close Quarters) and Student of Battle (which we’ve talked about already). We’ve also chosen to take K’tara Maneuver, which is a great way to get a little more movement on your turn, as well as line up a nice shot for your pistol. This build for Verena, however, requires you to rest a lot – you’re not going to be recovering Strain while attacking (you barely generate any Surge at all), so you’ll need to rest.

Upgrades to purchase - 11 XP: K’tara Maneuver (2), Student of Battle (2), Point Blank Shot (3), Master Operative (4)

End-Game Weapon #3 – Two Power Weapons: Gaffi Stick and 434 Deathhammer with Marksman Barrel

With our previous two builds, we’ve seen how you can do a lot of damage in melee or at range with Verena, but we haven’t seen a build that does both well. If you’re on a budget (I’m staying under 1200 credits for this build), you can’t do better than with the Gaffi Stick and the 434 Deathhammer. We’ve already talked about the Deathhammer, but let me just add this: the Deathhammer with the Marksman Barrel and Point Blank Shot does just barely less total damage than the Disruptor Pistol with the Plasma Cell (4.926 Damage past a Black die vs. 4.968 Damage past a Black die) – they’re basically the same weapon. The Accuracy you get is also just about the same (since you rarely get 2 Surge with the Deathhammer and both will get a static +2 Accuracy), so since the total cost of the Deathhammer is a bit less, buy this one!

For less than the price difference between the Deathhammer and the Disruptor Pistol, you can get the Gaffi Stick. On its own, it has a Red die and a free Pierce 1, so it’ll do good damage, and while the Yellow can generate an additional 1-2 Damage, you really have it for a different purpose: reliable strain recovery. While there are plenty of Tier 1 weapons that do more expected damage than the Gaffi Stick (the Armored Gauntlets aren’t bad), the Gaffi Stick doesn’t incentivize turning surge into damage (because it can’t). Instead, by choosing this weapon, we focus ourselves to do what we’re supposed to do with Verena:

We’re supposed to recover strain when we attack.

In a way, by taking the 434 Deathhammer with Marksman Barrel, we further incentivize this: you can only turn that beloved surge into a single point of Damage (instead of 3 with the Disruptor Pistol). By not surging for damage with the first surge, you fall from 4.926 Expected Damage to 4.690 Expected Damage (negligible), so you’re still doing plenty of damage while recovering 1 Strain (whenever it shows up).

Finally, we support this weapon build with Point Blank Shot and Combat Mastery (no duh – it’s why we took the weapons we did in the first place), as well as Master Operative (we’ll be triggering Close Quarters – we might as well get the most out of it AND increase our Endurance so we can do it a lot). Like we said with Jyn Odan, the key question is which of these upgrades to grab first: if you’re getting the Gaffi Stick early, Combat Mastery would be good. Point Blank Shot is expensive, but you want that by the time you get the Deathhammer if possible. Personally, I like this build the best not only because it allows Verena to recover strain pretty easily, but also because it uses three of her most expensive upgrades (and is the only build that can launch the eleven-attack-combo you saw at the start of this post.

Upgrades to purchase – 11 XP: Point Blank Shot (3), Combat Mastery (4), Master Operative (4)

Verena in the Skirmish Game

Verena Talos is a bit on the expensive side in the skirmish game, but she’s fantastic: double-digit health, a free Evade to support her Black die, three surge abilities that can do damage with a decent blaster attack pool, and the ability to borrow someone else’s attack type/pool if you like theirs better than yours. Perhaps what’s the best thing about her is the ability to synchronize with other characters. We’ve talked about how to use her with Leia (both of whom have the Spy attribute) in a past post, but you can also synergize with Wookies, Jedi, or Biv thanks to her Brawler attribute. Regardless of where you put her, she’ll do good damage so long as she’s adjacent to her targets.

In our next post, we’ll be continuing our discussion of “Slashers” by looking at the amazing Jedi operative, Davith Elso. While one could argue that he’s more offensive-focused than his Jedi counterpart Diala Passil (though Precise Strike with Force Adept is pretty irresistible), Davith is the only character who can guarantee the use of a lightsaber in any campaign. We’ll talk about his lightsaber (and whether it’s worth getting) next time. Until then, happy gaming!