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!

Character review: Saska Teft

To wrap up our discussion of support heroes, we're going to view today my favorite character so far in Imperial Assault: Saska Teft. While Diala Passil can Focus friendly models and Gideon Argus can give them free actions (and other stuff), Saska can provide a variety of benefits to her teammates and give them the flexibility to choose how and when to use them.

Saska Teft: Something From Nothing

Saska Teft is like Q in the Bond films: she makes the cool gadgets and works her technical wizardry to turn ordinary weapons into high-powered tools of destruction (or an ordinary vest into a defensive fortress or a shorted-out explosive into an actual explosive). Saska does this by using her Battle Technician ability, which allows her to pass “device tokens” (DTs) to adjacent heroes. By default, this allows heroes who are attacking to add a Surge result to their results OR allow heroes who are performing an attribute test to reroll a die. This is very, VERY useful in the early game when your weapons are bad (and is still useful later in the campaign with weapons that don’t surge well).

Saska – more so than any other character – can provide benefits to other characters that make them better at what they already do. While Gideon makes other figures do “their thing” more often (and can remove Strain or make them Focused or add a Surge result), Gideon can’t make a bad weapon good. Saska can. Ko-Tun can pass out battle tokens, Diala can focus other people, Fenn can pass around some movement points, and several characters can provide one-time block/evade results. Saska can’t pass out battle tokens, but she can give friendly figures the ability to do all the rest via her DTs.
The most powerful upgrades in Saska’s arsenal are her 3 XP skills: Gadgeteer and Power Converter. Gadgeteer is a must-have – it allows Saska to use Battle Tactician twice each turn, which means she can help a friend nearby and help herself (or help two friends if you feel generous...or claim both tokens if she's feeling selfish). Since these don’t take actions, she can still rest and perform an attack OR move and perform an attack. Gadgeteer also opens up otherwise unavailable configurations for weapons by allowing her to add an additional mod slot to the weapons she’s using – which includes adding a mod to weapons that have no base mod slots (thank you for clearing that up, FAQ).

Power Converter requires a Strain to use, but it allows anyone using a DT on the attack to not only gain the free Surge result, but also change one of their die out for a different color die. If you start with this skill in a short campaign, you can allow characters like Gaarkhan to roll a Red-Red with his Vibro-Ax or Biv Bodhrick to roll a Red-Green with his Repeating Blaster. Characters who have terrible starter weapons (like Jyn Odan’s Vintage Blaster or Fenn Signis’s Infantry Rifle) suddenly have powerful Red-Green weapons that can roast their foes so long as they’re up close (Fenn could roll with Red-Blue if he needs the accuracy). Saska has the choice with her starter weapon of rolling a Red-Yellow or a Red-Green, both of which are incredibly powerful combos and with the ability to surge for Damage 1 and Pierce 1 (and Weaken if you plan on shooting twice) with a free Surge, you’re hard-pressed to not do damage.

Her vulnerability, though, is her relatively low Endurance for a support character. As opposed to both Diala and Gideon (who have 5 Endurance each), Saska has a standard 4 Endurance, making her run out of steam pretty fast and you’ll find that she constantly needs to rest. As a result, it’s best to only plan on attacking once per turn (and occasionally, you may need to sprint instead of fighting). The exchange though is that you don’t need to be the one using your DTs and straining to change die colors – you can pass that buck off to other people!
You can also get the Remote Distribution upgrade which not only brings you up to Endurance 5, but also allows you to toss DTs to a figure within 3 spaces (instead of being adjacent to friendly figures).

I will say this before we delve into the different builds for Saska – we’re going to focus only on the three upgrades listed above. Saska has other ones – and they’re good – but they require splitting synergies (do A or B or C or D with your DTs). While this toolkit approach to Saska is useful (and one of the reasons she’s my favorite), the builds we’re going to show below all work with the same upgrade tree – and it costs a lot of XP (because it’s so powerful). Know that there are other upgrades that are fantastic and very useful…but they distract from the overall firepower support that we’re choosing to focus on here. With this in mind, let’s look at several weapon builds for Saska.

End-Game Weapon #1 - Whirlwind Punch: Vibro-Knucklers with Balanced Hilt

Saska can turn any weapon into a great weapon with her Gadgeteer ability. From the melee perspective, it’s hard to do better than the Vibro-Kucklers. The Vibro-Knucklers are an upgraded version of the Tier 1 Armored Gauntlets, but they are way, WAY better. Where the Armored Gauntlets surge for Cleave 1, you gain Cleave 2. Want to surge for Stun and Pierce 1 separately? Try getting Pierce 2 and Bleed together – it’s not even a question which is better! For 400 (and only 100 credits more than the Armored Gauntlets), it’s a steal.

However, for most characters (except Gideon – see our last post for more info on that), if you get 3 Surge, that’s about all you get out of the weapon.

• In an ideal world: Damage 1 + Surge 1 + Damage 1 + Surge 2 = Damage 2 + Surge 3 = Damage 4 + Pierce 2 + Cleave 2 + Bleed. Of course, this only happens 5% of the time.
• Most of the time: Damage 2 + Surge 1 (or Damage 2 - doesn't matter) = Damage 2 + Surge 1 = Damage 4. 
• Worst possible result: Surge 1 + Damage 1 = Damage 1 + Surge 1 = Damage 3. This isn't TERRIBLE, but not great for a Tier 2 weapon (no matter how cheap it is). 

So, all that to say . . .

Against a Black die, you can expect to get 2-3 Damage past the defense results.

If Saska wields this weapon with the Gadgeteer and Power Converter upgrades, though, we have several advantages: first, we can add the Balanced Hilt. For 300 credits (a whopping 700 credits for your character), you get a free Damage 2 (or Pierce 2 and Bleed) – you’re not going to get that kind of benefit from any other modification! Sure the High Impact Guard is a fine upgrade – and could be triggered by this weapon pretty easily. But nothing beats reliably triggering all your surge abilities at the same time. The Balanced Hilt can be acquired early (perhaps on the Armored Gauntlets for a free Damage 2?) before you upgrade to the Vibro-Knucklers.

Second, we can swap the Yellow die for a Red die. While there isn’t generally much difference between Green and Red, the jump from Yellow to Red is huge since a) we have a free Surge from the Balanced Hilt (see above) and b) we have another free Surge from the DT. With 2 free Surge (if we need both of them), we only need a single Surge to trigger all three effects (which we should get ~65% of the time past a Black die) – and approximately half of the time, we won’t need the Balanced Hilt at all (though if you plan to attack and rest, it’s nice to use the Balanced Hilt anyway since you’ll only be attacking once). Instead of doing 2-3 Damage past a Black die, you’re averaging 4-5 Damage (plus Cleave 2) past that die – that’s close to three dead EliteStormtroopers if you double-attack in one turn! And all this for the cost of…700 credits. Worth it? I think so.

Upgrades to purchase - 10 XP: Power Converter (3), Gadgeteer (3), Remote Distribution (4)

End-Game Weapon #2 - That Big Dang Gun: T21 with Sniper Scope OR Spread Barrel

Okay, as fun as slashing things with Vibro-Knucklers is, Saska starts off with a gun. So what better gun to give her than one that she alone can turn into a truly formidable weapon? A T21! The T21 is the only Tier 2 weapon that has an attack pool with 3 dice in it. It’s surge abilities aren’t great (Stun and Pierce 2 are nice, to be sure), but it rolls a Green-Green-Yellow. Assuming the Power Converter upgrade has been purchased, you can convert that Yellow die (you don’t need the Surge coming off that Yellow) into a Red die (because it’s fun).

Now here’s the cool part: always make sure you are either 2 spaces away from your target or 5 spaces away from your target.

• If you are 2 spaces away, the two Green die will make sure you hit the target, allowing you to use the free Surge from the device token to gain Pierce 2. 
• If you’re 5 spaces away, you can use the free Surge from your device token to surge for 3 Accuracy which, combined with the 2+ Accuracy from your Green die makes sure you hit the target. You then have the Sniper Scope’s free Surge to use for Pierce 2. 
• Either way, you get the Accuracy you need and the Pierce 2 FOR FREE! All of the other die results can be free of Surge and you’re happy – 6-7 Damage with Pierce 2 and enough accuracy to hit the target, thank you very much. Any Surges that appear allow you to Stun the target or recover Strain – not bad all in all. 

If you’re concerned about the off-chance that you get 3 Surge results and can’t use them all, consider picking up Responsive Armor – if it keeps Saska alive, it’s good, right? This weapon is pricier than the previous set, but requires you to strain to move (or spend an action to move) less often – at just under 1200 credits, though, it’s still comparable in both damage output and utility as many Tier 3 weapons.
It’s important to note that the Sniper Scope isn’t strictly necessary for this build – you can instead rely on shooting things up close (or rely on recovering Strain less often) by going with the Spread Barrel. Assuming you only attack once per turn, you’ll get the same damage output from up-close as you do with the Sniper Scope (and you can get this at Tier 2 instead of Tier 3). Just a thought…

Upgrades to purchase - 10 XP: Power Converter (3), Gadgeteer (3), Remote Distribution (4)

End-Game Weapon #3 - Paint Everything Red: Valken-38 Carbine with Disruption Cell and Plasma Cell

We come now to the most surprising weapon for Saska to use – and by far the most expensive. Once you see it in action, though, I think you’ll agree there’s no other weapon quite like it. Enter the Valken-38 Carbine with the two most destructive blaster upgrades you can muster: the Disruption Cell and the Plasma Cell. It’s important to note that there are two different ways you can use the Valken: first, you can spend all your actions to become Focused and fire the darn thing (ignoring all bad guys in your path). Second, you can just shoot the thing without becoming Focused, which allows you to both move and shoot (with a small difference in the output of the weapon) OR you can shoot twice (which overall is likely to do more damage). There are reasons for both, but we’re going to focus on the latter right now and assume you want to save an action to rest (or shoot twice – whichever strikes your fancy).

Let’s review what we’ve said in the previous entry for our default bonuses:

• Thanks to the Power Converter upgrade, we can turn the Valken’s Red-Blue-Blue dice pool into a Red-Red-Blue dice pool. 
• We will also get an automatic Surge result from the DT, which can trigger the Damage 2 surge result.
• Thanks to the Disruption Cell, we get an automatic 2 Accuracy (we’ll need it) and we change the current Red-Red-Blue dice pool into a (WAIT FOR IT!) Red-Red-Red dice pool. 
• With three – I REPEAT THREE – Red dice and a free Surge for 2 Damage we add *dun dun dun* the Plasma Cell for a free Pierce 1 and the ability to Surge for 1 Damage.
• Each Red die is likely to provide 2-3 Damage to the result total. We will get (besides the free Surge we get from the device token) no more than 3 Surge results, which we can use to a) gain extra accuracy, b) recover strain, and c) add 1 more Damage. 

Depending on the circumstance, these are all good: you can always take a shot at someone who is more than 2 spaces away because you know you’re getting a free Surge from the device token. In the odd event that they get an Evade, you have a fair chance at getting a surge on one of your three Red die. Of course, all this becomes moot if just run up to the guy and blast his head off at close range, but in the end you’re looking at 8-10 Damage with an auto Pierce 1 – YOU CAN’T REALLY DUPLICATE THAT!!!! Alright, some characters can, but you certainly don’t expect it from Saska…or the Valken.
But this underscores yet again why Saska is my favorite character: compared to other Tier 3 weapons, the Valken is kind of weak – it has the requisite surge for Damage 2 ability, but it doesn’t surge very often and while the two Blue dice give you range, it doesn’t give you damage. Anyone can put the Disruption Cell on it to make it a Red-Red-Blue (which surges even less often) or the Sniper Scope (if you want that Damage 2 so badly), but nobody is going to be able to rival what Saska does with it. She is, once again, just that good.

Upgrades to purchase - 10 XP: Power Converter (3), Gadgeteer (3), Remote Distribution (4)

Saska in the Skirmish Game

Saska Teft in the Skirmish game is more expensive than many smuggler and is probably not as good as Diala or Gideon. However, she has the unique ability of not only being able to surge for 3 different Damage/Pierce options with her Yellow-Green (that’s pretty good for a Smuggler), but also she can add a single Mercenary Deployment Card to your army. This has excellent synergies with Jabba the Hutt and Vinto Hreeda, though you could also grab anyone you want (Smuggler, Hunter, Brawler, Creature…). While Saska doesn’t provide many other unique abilities, she’s got a good Health stat to back up her White die, and a great Command Card that can blow up a wounded figure who is trying to maintain control of a Terminal. All told, she’s nice to have (though a little pricey).

Saska is a wonderful hero and I highly recommend her. While her DTs can drain her Endurance pretty quickly, you can use her to either provide niche benefits to your team (again, most of which we didn’t cover here) OR provide self-bolstering offensive/defensive capabilities if you want to play more independently of the group. Don’t forget to rest and have lots of fun with her. We’re stepping away from Support class heroes and moving into fighter heroes and who better to view than the berserk Wookie Gaarkhan, the gunslinging reckless showoff, Vinto Hreeda, and the soldier who taught us to love the blaster-toting-warrior class, Fenn Signis. So until next time, happy gaming!

Skirmish upgrades: using On a Diplomatic Mission

Good morning gamers,

In our last two posts, we've looked at skirmish upgrades for Mercenary (Black Market) and Imperial (Advanced Com Systems) armies. Today, we're going to turn our attention to the Rebel faction and view the On a Diplomatic Mission skirmish upgrade. This upgrade must be attached to a Leader and requires that the Leader doesn't attack during his or her activation. Our qualifications for finalists today will be:

1. The model must be able to be included in a Rebel force;
2. The model doesn't need to attack on it's turn;
3. The bonus provided to the Leader adds to what they already provide the team.

While there are times when getting a free Evade is nice and getting some movement is handy, most of the time, I want that VP. We'll assume in this post that you'll be taking the VP, but we'll note if the other options might be better. Without further ado, let's get into it:

Bronze Medal: Murne Rin
Murne has one of the worst attack pools you can have and while she can surge for 2 damage, she isn't going to hurt too many people. Where she really shines is being able to co-op an enemy model (with a low figure cost) and use him to attack instead.

Since Murne isn't attacking, she can still trigger the free VP (though a free Evade will help her stay alive with that black die). For only 5 points, Murne Rin can be included in just about any force. But she only takes third place...

Silver Medal: Gideon Argus
As I said in a post last week, Gideon is one of the best figures you can take in any army. At 3 points, he's cheaper than Murne Rin and can give friendly models movement points or make them Focused. While he can shoot decently, Gideon can do a host of other actions and then benefit from movement, a free Evade, or a free VP.

Gideon has the ability to stand in one place (preferably in a safe place) and enhance his friends in combat. This is huge, since becoming Focused is hard in the skirmish game. Gideon not only hands out Focus at a far distance, but he's also inexpensive. But despite all this, he's not the best candidate...

Gold Medal: Jabba the Hutt

If you've been keeping up with the blog, Jabba has featured prominently in several posts. Unlike the last two contestants, Jabba is a Mercenary figure, not a Rebel figure. So why does he show up here?

The answer is that you can ally him in with Saska Teft. Saska allows you to include one Mercenary deployment card in your list, which enables Jabba (or your favorite bounty hunter) to join a predominantly Rebel force. While Jabba is by far more expensive than our last two choices, he already rewards you with VPs if you defeat enemy figures. This skirmish upgrade adds to the flow of VPs so that you win faster.

It's important to note that Jabba isn't as strong as he can be in Mercenary lists - two of his special rules require selecting a Mercenary figure (which will only be himself). Still, you can Bully, perform a move, and Scheme - all of which are useful and none of which count as attacks.

Are there heroes we could have chosen instead? Yeah - but most Leaders are encouraged (by their rules or by their attack pool) to do some attacking. Will our Leader be tempted to attack? Sure. Would attacking be bad? Not necessarily. If attacking during your activation defeats a figure, you'll get more VPs from that than you will from the skirmish upgrade, so just because you take the upgrade doesn't mean you can't attack.

In our next post, we'll be returning to Mercenary lists as we examine the Under Duress upgrade. Until next time, happy gaming!

Command cards: Urgency vs. Fleet-footed

Command Card Review: Fleet Footed and Urgency

As we continue in our discussion of Command cards and how to use them, two of first 0-cost Command cards that you will run into in the Core box are related to movement: Fleet-Footed and Urgency. In many ways, these two Command cards provide the same benefit, but their use and efficiency in your army list differ (recommending one to certain lists over the other). In today’s post, we’re going to look at what those differences are.

Movement in Imperial Assault

Before we get into the two cards, let’s take a quick moment to understand some of the finer points of movement in the Imperial Assault Skirmish game (though most of these rules apply to Campaign mode as well). In Imperial Assault, most models require a single movement point to move from one tile to an adjacent tile. This can be done vertically, horizontally, or diagonally as long as you don’t cross a line. Mobile/Massive figures ignore red solid/dashed lines which would normally obstruct movement because they’re cool that way. Certain spaces require 2 movement points to enter (either spaces with enemy models or with blue “difficult” terrain tiles), indicating resistance from the tile (either from the ground itself or from someone not wishing to be shoved). Mobile/Massive figures ignore these penalties as well. Third, non-Massive figures can’t end their movement in a space containing another figure unless they are allowed to “push” (which very few can do). Finally, some special rules allow models to move “X spaces,” which allows the model to move through difficult terrain and enemy figures for 1 movement point instead of 2 movement points. These four rules for movement will govern most of our discussion today and can be summarized in the following questions:

1.       Will 1 movement point get you anywhere further?

2.       Is your figure Mobile/Massive?

3.       Can your figure move X spaces (instead of using movement points normally)?

Fleet Footed: Value of a Movement Point

Fleet Footed has one key advantage over Urgency: it doesn’t require an action to use. True, you don’t go much farther as a free action, but still, if you have the other two actions planned out, it’s nice to not have to spend an action to perform a full move (or a move-and-then-some with Urgency). The need for slightly more movement (and not spending an action to do it) benefits three specific groups of units: first, you want to use Fleet Footed with models that can spend both of their actions doing damage to enemy figures. If you are an Elite Imperial Guard, you want to be within 2 spaces of a friendly model so he can interrupt to perform a move or an attack. Assuming you start within 3 spaces of the target, your choices are a) spend an action moving, b) use Urgency to get that movement and keep moving onward, or c) use Fleet Footed. In either of the first two cases, you can’t attack the same target – you need to choose which of your two models will be attacking this round (the Imperial Officer or the friendly figure). Getting that little nudge to help you use more of your rules is invaluable. This is also useful for models with Assault who want to be able to attack multiple models but can’t see anyone at the start of their turn.

The second kind of model that is helped are models that have the capacity for long range attacks but can’t surge for accuracy (or those that don’t surge very often if they can surge for accuracy). Some models (like Loku Kanoloa, Probe Droids, ad HK Assassin Droids) have the capability for hitting targets that are far away, but if you get a bad roll for Accuracy, you’re hosed. While Urgency might be nice for these figures, there’s usually a jump in the likelihood that you hit your target if you move just one step closer. Alternatively, you might be able to look around a corner and acquire a better target by moving a single step. This allows you to save your movement for getting away (or storming in if you clear the hallway of foes).

The third kind of model that should be using Fleet Footed are models with the Massive special rule. While any large figure benefits from getting additional movement points, part of the Massive special rules indicate that as soon as you stomp on a hostile figure, you need to stop your movement. While Urgency can give you a boost to moving (which is nice), Massive figures usually need on a little more movement. Being able to push yourself one more step often leads to less waste.

Urgency: Getting a Speed Boost

The first models that benefit the most from Urgency are models with the melee weapon type. There is nothing more frustrating than being a melee model and not being able to attack on a given round. Models with Reach (or Tusken Raiders who have the option of using a melee attack or a range attack) have life a little easier than the rest, but by and large, melee models need to run up to someone and still have an action left to hack away in order to be useful. Getting one extra movement point might be useful, but Urgency is more likely to help you.

You’ll also want to use Urgency if you have fast models that benefit from being in enemy deployment zones. For both Smugglers who have the Smuggler’s Run skirmish upgrade or Spies who are trying to use the Behind Enemy Lines Command card, getting that extra boost of speed could mean the difference between using a special ability/Command card or being shot in the head. When you need to get in and out, the boost from Urgency is unrivaled. Granted this is a niche case, but still…

The third group of models that benefit from Urgency are models that have to follow normal movement rules. I’ll admit that this recommendation is totally uninspired – anyone who follows the normal rules will like getting more movement than they normally get. Models like Onar Koma, Gaarkhan, or Mobile models however ignore most of the penalties associated with movement points. The majority of models in your collection, however, will not be able to rush through an enemy battle line or be able to move through difficult terrain. Urgency’s added movement point gives you the flexibility to go further than expected OR be able to move through terrain that otherwise would have eaten up too much of your movement.

Movement Command Cards: Is One Better?

As you can probably tell, there are benefits from using Fleet Footed in all of the Urgency cases, and benefits from Urgency in the Fleet Footed cases. In many ways this is because both provide extra movement and extra movement is nice. Ultimately the question of whether you should include one over the other comes down to whether your models need to both attack and perform a different special action. In all other respects, the two are very similar. In our next post, we’re turning away from the Core Box and looking at the top three Ally/Villain packs for giving you Command Cards that are useful for your armies. Until next time, happy gaming!