Skirmish Upgrades: Heroic Effort

Good morning gamers,

In the past few Rebel posts, we’ve focused on attachment Rebel skirmish upgrades (namely, On A Diplomatic Mission and Smuggler’sRun), but today’s post will be a little different (and more in line with our Black Market, Under Duress, and Zillo Technique posts): we’ll be looking at the Heroic Effort skirmish upgrade and one of the possible lists you can run with it.

Heroic Effort: Getting More Use Out Of Your Characters

Heroic Effort is simple: you must run deployment cards that are unique (all of them) and whenever someone dies, you can draw a Command card and place a Command card beneath your Command deck. This is a great way to get rid of a unique Command card (temporarily) that you can’t use anymore (because the guy who it belongs to has been defeated) OR a great way to get a better card now and delay use of a different card until later. Since this upgrade is only triggered when figures are killed, you’ll be better served by having a large team versus a small team. To maximize the utilities of this card, I propose the following list:

Heroic Effort: Sample List

• Gideon Argus with On A Diplomatic Mission
• Jarrod Kelvin with J4X-7 “Jax”
• Leia Organa
• Loku Kanoloa
• Mak Eshkarey
• MHD-19
• R2-D2
• Verena Talos
• Heroic Effort

Command Cards:

• Collect Intel x2 (2)
• Coordinated Attack (2)
• Deadeye
• Droid Mastery
• Heart of Freedom (2)
• Master Operative (2)
• Miracle Worker (2)
• Take Cover
• Take It Down (3)
• Terminal Network (2)
• To The Limit
• Recovery
• Fleet Footed
• Planning

There are three basic parts to this list:

• Card management characters,
• Augmenting characters, and 
• Offensive characters

On the card management side, we have the incredible team of Leia Organa and R2-D2. We’ve talked about Leia and R2-D2 in a previous post – R2 is a self-healer who lets you draw an extra Command card each turn (and turns into mega-Command-card-drawing-mode since we included Terminal Network). Leia lets you take Command cards from your discard pile and put them back in your deck, expanding the life of your Command deck dramatically. Taken with Heroic Effort, it allows you to find these cards faster (since you're placing a card you don't want from your hand at the bottom of your Command deck and picking a replacement card). I will admit I was tempted to drop Verena Talos, Mak Eshkarey, and the On a Diplomatic Mission upgrade to include Saska Teft and Jabba the Hutt (see our post on the Black Market upgrade for more info on the power of drawing cards with Jabba AND R2 AND Leia). Thematically, I’ve left him out to focus on the Rebel commander feel (though I love Jabba), but note that you could push the card-drawing envelope more by including him. You also get good card drawing from Planning - best used with one of the many leaders in the list (Gideon, Jarrod, or Leia).

On the augment side, you’ve got the powerful trio of Gideon Argus, MHD-19, and Jax – the companion droid of Jarrod Kelvin. We’ve talked about Gideon a lot in the On A Diplomatic Mission post in this series and gave some other ideas in our Strength inNumbers post. Gideon’s greatest contribution to this team is that he can Focus your figures, but don’t underestimate the power of giving 2 movement points to some of your figures. MHD-19 is a team healer who can self-heal and Focus himself when he attacks. While MHD is best employed running behind your power hitters, don’t underestimate his ability to deal damage to his foes (either with his gun or by performing an Improper Procedure). As we mentioned with Jabba in the To The Limit post, both MHD-19 and Gideon Argus can benefit phenomenally from the To The Limit Command card, as they can both enter "trance mode" and still use their special abilities to assist their team. MHD's ability to do this is much more limited (as Improper Procedure requires adjacent foes), but it's still there (and would allow you to heal yourself, perform an Improper Procedure, and then attack (hopefully while Focused?) before becoming Stunned.
Jax has problems killing figures due to a single Blue die (though the automatic Pierce 1 helps), so if he’s going to shoot at people, you want him to target White die figures (where he’s not that likely to mess up). The primary benefit he brings your team is an automatic Pierce 1 to one attack results against hostile figures adjacent to Jax each activation. This can turn a mediocre attack (even from figures like MHD or Gideon) into a decent attack OR turn a good attack (like Verena’s Close Quarters attack or the Fighting Knife special ability). You also get great augments from some of your command cards: healing cards like Recovery, Heart of Freedom, and Miracle Worker are fantastic, as well as movement cards (Fleet Footed and Heart of Freedom) and defense cards (Take Cover).

Then we have our damage team: Jarrod, Loku, Mak, and Verena. Jarrod and Verena are up-close-and-personal killers, while Loku and Mak provide fire from further away. Jarrod Kelvin’s Yellow-Yellow attack pool triggers some amazing surge abilities (Damage 2 and Pierce 2 is awesome), supported by a static Damage 1. Jarrod on defense is also great: a black die with an automatic Evade result – great at stopping most regular deployment cards from doing any damage at all! Verena Talos has a decent attack pool with decent surge abilities (she basically has a better version of the E-11 from campaign mode), but she really shines from borrowing other people’s weapons and using them against her foes (my favorites are Probe Droids and Elite Clawdite Shapeshifters). Loku Kanoloa has the Set Your Sights special ability that gives him bonus accuracy, ignoring figures in the way (so protect him!), and the ability to become Focused after he defeats a figure. Loku can’t perform any other actions when he uses this ability, so consider pushing him with Gideon to get the movement you need OR using Fleet Footed if you need just a little nudge in the right direction. Mak Eshkarey on the other hand can also ignore figures, but can move and shoot in a turn (and can clean out your opponent’s Command deck if he kills someone). Mak is probably the least reliable for damage out of the group, but if he can get a surge result, he's pretty good. Between these four guys, you can put a lot of fire on the board.

Supplementing the raw offense of these characters are some excellent Command cards: cards like Coordinated Attack and Take It Down increase the damage output of your turn. Master Operative relies on Verena's innate killing ability, but the addition of the Focus die as well as the free surge (guaranteeing the free Fighting Knife attack unless your opponent gets an Evade) makes her particularly deadly. While not as grand as the previous Command cards, Deadeye is very useful for characters like Verena (in case your Close Quarters attack doesn't get the range you wanted) or Loku (who gets only one Blue die to determine his range). 

This post closes out (at least for now) our series on skirmish upgrades. With this series ending, we’re going to turn our attention to the Campaign game and review Imperial Class Decks and different things you can do with them (and favored Imperial/Mercenary deployment cards to go along with them). Until then, happy gaming!

Custom Campaign: Balance of the Force

Good morning gamers,

As we begin our series of custom short campaigns, we begin today with two of the most iconic characters in Star Wars: Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. The “Balance of the Force” short campaign can be played simply by owning the Core Set and helps you enjoy some of the missions that involve the famous father and son.

Campaign Theme

This campaign is a character-centered campaign (see our previous post for a few ideas on themes you can use): in it, we’re going to be using Luke Skywalker in most of the missions and Darth Vader will feature prominently on the opposing side. Both Luke and Vader are powerful figures in Imperial Assault and in these missions, you get all the joys of using them and often avoid paying the high cost of fielding them. With this in mind, let’s get into the action.

Mission 1: Homecoming

Since the short campaigns begin with a Green mission, we begin with a journey to Tatooine (where Luke and Anikan both called home). This mission involves a lot of moving, but otherwise is a focus on killing lots of stuff (which, let’s face it, makes for a fun start to any campaign).

Pre-Mission Briefing: As the Rebellion continues its fight against the dreaded Empire, Commander Luke Skywalker has headed to Tatooine to recruit promising pilots for the Rebellion. After arriving at Tatooine, Skywalker’s communication trail ended, leaving many to wonder what became of the famed pilot who won the Battle of Yavin. In response to the threat of harm to the Rebellion’s greatest hero, a Rebel strike team has been sent to Tatooine to assist Skywalker in returning to the Rebel Fleet safely.

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 jump to hyperspace to rejoin the Rebel Fleet, Luke turns to you and says, “Thanks for helping me out back there. The Imperial garrison here is stronger than I originally thought, so I didn’t want to send an emergency signal for fear of it being intercepted. I’m grateful for your help today and could use your help on a different task: I’ve felt a great disturbance in the force back on Yavin. I would check it out myself, but … well … I have a bad feeling about it. Do you think you could check it out in my stead?”

Post-Mission Briefing (on Defeat): You are kept from reaching the transport and escaping, but Luke Skywalker takes you and your team down a back alley. After a few turns this way and that, you lose your pursuers. “They’ll be back – you’re not safe with me. I’ll find my own way back to the Rebellion, but I have another task for you: I’ve felt a great disturbance in the force back on Yavin. I would check it out myself, but … well … I have a bad feeling about it – and I doubt I’ll get out of here without being closely followed. Do you think you could check it out in my stead?”

Mission 2: Temptation

This is a “Force” campaign, so which mission would be better to do than Diala Passil’s reward mission? If Diala isn’t being used in the campaign, the Rebel players will need to pick a figure to stand in for Diala Passil for game rule purposes.

Recommended Units for the IP:

·         10-cost group if the Rebels won Luke Skywalker 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): With the vision of Darth Vader defeated, the dark haze around the ruins clears. After caring for Shu Yen’s body, you prepare your preparations to return to the Rebel Fleet. On route, you are contacted by Rebel High Command, informing you that Commander Skywalker has made his report and believes there are valuable recruits to be gained on Tatooine. Apparently, word has spread amongst the locals of a team of Rebel Operatives who fought against the Empire to aid Skywalker in his escape – Rebel High Command would like to use your recent notoriety to gain some valuable new soldiers and pilots to the cause.

Post-Mission Briefing (on Defeat): The power of the Dark Side and the ambush of the Empire proves to be too strong for your team to withstand. Your team beats a hasty retreat to return to the Rebel Fleet. On route, you are contacted by Rebel High Command, informing you that Commander Skywalker has made his report and believes there are valuable recruits to be gained on Tatooine. Apparently, word has spread amongst the locals of a team of Rebel Operatives who fought against the Empire to aid Skywalker in his escape – Rebel High Command would like to use your recent notoriety to gain some valuable new soldiers and pilots to the cause.

Mission 3: Sympathy For The Rebellion

This mission is the first mission so far where attribute tests will be required of the team to ensure mission victory. As such, while there will be plenty of fighting involved, it has a very different feel to other missions in this campaign (which are mostly roast-all-the-bad-guys).

Recommended Units for the IP:

·         10-cost group if the Rebels won Luke Skywalker 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): You quickly bring the recruits out of the Cantina bar and rush them and Luke Skywalker to a transport nearby. As the transport’s engines rev up and the ship begins to take off, you head to a different transport to leave Tatooine. As you exit the atmosphere and plot the coordinate for the jump to hyperspace, your scanners pick up an Imperial Star Destroyer approaching. Before you can make the jump, you are caught in the Destroyer’s tractor beam and are being steadily pulled towards the belly of the massive vessel. You only have a few minutes before you’re boarded and you know what they’re after: the location of Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Fleet. You quickly execute a code to wipe the computer’s communications’ log, but you’ll need time for the computer’s memory to be wiped clean – time you may not have as you hear Imperial boarding crews begin their work…

Post-Mission Briefing (on Defeat): You quickly bring the recruits you could convince to join the Rebellion out of the Cantina bar and rush them and Luke Skywalker to a transport nearby. As the transport’s engines rev up and the ship begins to take off, you head to a different transport to leave Tatooine. As you exit the atmosphere and plot the coordinate for the jump to hyperspace, your scanners pick up an Imperial Star Destroyer approaching. Before you can make the jump, you are caught in the Destroyer’s tractor beam and are being steadily pulled towards the belly of the massive vessel. You only have a few minutes before you’re boarded and you know what they’re after: the location of Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Fleet. You quickly execute a code to wipe the computer’s communications’ log, but you’ll need time for the computer’s memory to be wiped clean – time you may not have as you hear Imperial boarding crews begin their work…

Mission 4: Dark Obsession

This is the finale – and what a finale it will be! Darth Vader will be trying to fight his way down a hallway surrounded by some allied troops, seeking to reach a computer console that will give him the location of Luke Skywalker! The Rebel’s objective is simply to stop him; the Imperial’s objective should be to get the doors open and to have Vader move as much as possible (though slashing occasionally can be really useful and fun).

Recommended Units for the IP:

·         10-cost group if the Rebels won Luke Skywalker as an ally (thematically, you shouldn't have Luke in the story, though)

·         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): Though you find yourselves hard-pressed by your foes, you have bought enough time for the computer command to finish wiping the memory of your ship’s communications and navigation log. You duck into a side-corridor and jump into a small scout shuttle which has a hyperspace jump capability (much to your surprise). As you blast free from the captured ship and plot the jump to hyperspace, you are all intensely aware of how close you were to capture by the Empire. Thankfully, that experience will have to wait for another day. . . .

Post-Mission Briefing (on Defeat): Despite your best efforts, Lord Vader walks confidently into the control room and begins pulling up navigation data and call records. Using his arcane knowledge of the Force, he pulls up the origin of your trip from Rebel High Command to assist Luke Skywalker in recruiting space pilots from Tatooine. As the information is forwarded to the Star Destroyer’s Command Bridge, you are painfully aware of the surprise attack that is being planned for the Rebel Fleet and the likely torment you will face to gain additional information about Rebel High Command and their current operations. . . .

I hope you get some great ideas for how to work these campaigns into your gaming sessions. In our next post in this series, we'll be looking at "The Solo Story" - a short campaign centered around the famous smuggler Han Solo. Until next time, happy gaming!

Character Review: Jyn Odan

As an avid fan of Han Solo, the iconic "rogue smuggler" has always been the defining picture of Star Wars (even above a Jedi/Sith wielding a lightsaber or ranks upon ranks of clean, white Stormtrooeprs). In the Core Set, we were given a smuggler and she is - in so many ways - everything you could ever want in a smuggler. Jyn Odan is fast, tech-savvy, and wields pistols like no one else. All told, she's fun to play as and we'll be diving into some of her options today.

Jyn Odan: One Pistol Or Two

Let’s get something out of the way from the get-go (I’ve said this in previous posts, but it bears repeating): Jyn’s starter weapon is one of the worst starter weapons in the game. Jyn’s Vintage Blaster gives you a Green-Green combo (which admittedly has good, reliable damage at short range), and while it can be trusted to get 4 Damage, the ability to surge for only 1 Damage makes it hard to do more than 1-2 Damage (which admittedly will trigger Opportunist) against your average Black die defense. Compared to other starter pistols, Jyn’s weapon is decent (getting more expected Damage than Vinto’s Hair-Trigger Pistol, MHD-17's Sidearm Blaster, and Murne’s Diplomat’s Blaster but less expected Damage than Gideon’s Holdout Blaster, Saska’s Modified Blaster, and Verena’s Military Blaster). If we're honest, none of the starter pistols hold a candle to other starter weapons (Gaarkhan's Vibro-Ax, Biv's Repeating Blaster, Shyla's Duelist's Blade, or Drokkatta's MGL-9 "Boomer"). For more info on Gaarkhan's weapon and Drokkatta's weapon, view our posts on them.

The Vintage Blaster could be better, but since Jyn requires a pistol for her Quick Draw ability, the main question you need to answer is this: do I use one pistol or two? Thanks to her Gunslinger upgrade, you can have two pistols and you choose one of them for any attack you declare (but can use the surge abilities from both). Since there are many pistols available in the game, here’s a quick run-down of their utilities for Gunslinger:

Pistol Name (Set Required)	Tier - Cost	Attack Pool	Surge for Damage 2?
DH-17 (Core)	1 – 200	Yellow-Green	Yes*
Charge Pistol (HotE)	1 – 350	Green-Green	No
Hand Cannon (JR)	1 - 400	Red-Red	No
DL-44 (Core)	1 – 500	Yellow-Blue	Yes
DDC Defender (RtH)	1 – 500	Yellow-Green	No
DT-12 Heavy Blaster Pistol (Greedo)	2 - 600	Green-Green	No
434 Deathhammer (Core)	2 - 600	Red-Blue + Damage 1	No
Disruptor Pistol (BG)	3 – 700	Red-Green	Yes**
Sporting Blaster (Core)	3 – 900	Yellow-Yellow-Blue	Yes***

*Actually, it's Damage 1 + Pierce 1                      ** Actually, it’s Damage 3                      *** Actually, it's Pierce 2

The weapons that can surge for Damage 2 are excellent to have when you’re using Gunslinger – often as the non-primary weapon. We’ll show a few of these options in our post today, but before you judge too harshly, remember that all of these pistols are better than the one you start with and all have their merits as excellent weapons (so don’t get tied up with one particular weapon build that’s “best” for Jyn).

One final note I’ll say about these weapons: pistols are (generally speaking) short-range weapons (1-4 spaces away). While some (like the DL-44) have incredible range potential, most pistols are intended to be used up-close. This can make Jyn very vulnerable to attacks and she’s also one of only a few characters (Diala and MHD-17 unless he gets his class card) who can’t increase either her Health or her Endurance with upgrades. I don’t recommend running off on your own with Jyn – she needs to stay healthy to keep her Endurance up, so don’t get wounded! With that, let’s get into it. . . .

End-Game Weapon #1 – Quick Draw: DH-17 with Spread Barrel and DT-12 Heavy Blaster Pistol

One of the great things about Jyn Odan is that she can interrupt a hostile figure’s activation and perform an attack against him. With this power comes the responsibility to position Jyn in the right place at the right time (next to someone she can kill). Jyn’s Cheap Shot upgrade makes her Quick Draw slightly more potent by adding a static Damage 1 to the attack results. But this got me to thinking: what if you could interrupt to perform a free attack with your weapon after being shot at as well? Enter the DT-12 Heavy Blaster Pistol. This gun (available in the Greedo Villain Pack) is remarkably similar to Jyn’s beloved Vintage Blaster, but is better in two key ways: first, instead of surging for +1 Accuracy, you can surge for +2 Accuracy AND Pierce 1 (making it more likely that you do the equivalent of 4 damage whenever you attack and guarantees at least Damage 1 + Pierce 1 at Accuracy 4). The second reason it’s better is because at the cost of 2 Strain (the same as Quick Draw), you can interrupt after someone shoots at you to make an attack of your own!

To supplement the DT-12, we’re taking Gunslinger and the DH-17 (which I actually think is the better primary blaster): this weapon is dirt cheap (makes up for the 600 credits you’ll need to spend on the DT-12) and can hold two mods – I’ve chosen the Spread Barrel (tap that for that extra damage that you need at close range) though if you have the cash, you should also look into the Overcharger (for when you run up against a figure with multiple defense die OR who is rolling a white die and you want to guarantee they die). The DH-17 is more likely to surge and since you can turn up to 3 surge into Damage 2 + Pierce 2 + Accuracy 2, it’s better to use than the Green-Green alternative. Surge priority is:

1.       Damage 1 + Pierce 1;

2.       Accuracy 2 + Pierce 1; and

3.       Damage 1.

Besides Gunslinger and Cheap Shot, we’ve chosen the Quick As A Whip upgrade – giving you the ability to scoot one space (not movement point) after being shot at (perfect for getting closer before unloading with the DT-12). With all the strain going around, I also recommend Get Cocky – you can choose to become Focused if you want to up your damage profile, but I prefer to remove the 2 Strain – guarantees that if you use Quick Draw to finish someone off, you can remove the Strain from that interrupt to trigger the DT-12 when his compadre activates and takes his vengeance on you. Finally, we cap it all off with Smuggler’s Luck. Jyn should always take Smuggler's Luck FIRST. There is nothing worse than opening a crate and getting something you don’t like (or not drawing the pistol that you want in the Rebel Upgrade stage) – for 1 XP, getting a re-do on the crate reward you drew AND getting an extra equipment choice is fantastic (and let’s face it, rerolls on attribute tests are awesome too).

Upgrades to purchase - 10 XP: Quick As A Whip (1), Smuggler’s Luck (1), Cheap Shot (2), Get Cocky (3), Gunslinger (3)

End-Game Weapon #2 – Concentrated Fire: Disruptor Pistol with Plasma Cell

If you’re looking at all the expansions thus far and you want maximum damage from a pistol, you need to get the Disruptor Pistol with the Plasma Cell. Coming in at over 1000 credits, you’re looking at an automatic 2 Accuracy with a Green die supporting it (so Accuracy 3-5) and TONS of damage. Thanks to the Plasma Cell, any surge you get turns into damage and the first surge turns into 3 Damage! Against a Black die, you’re expected to do 3-4 damage (that’s 5 damage with Cheap Shot on your Quick Draw), which is painful for any figure to have to endure. With this weapon build, Jyn does a TON of damage.

The “concentrated fire” build for Jyn is pretty simple: give her the strongest, loudest gun you can find and have her shoot holes through the enemy as fast as you can. To maximize on all this damage, we’re taking BOTH of Jyn’s 4 XP upgrades: Trick Shot and Sidewinder. Since you can do an overwhelming amount of damage, you want to be able to pick whatever target you want. With Trick Shot, you can choose a space within 3 spaces (but it doesn’t have to be within line of sight) to use as your point of view – this is a great way to hit figures who are standing behind another figure OR are hiding behind impassible/blocking terrain. Your accuracy is still drawn from you, so be sure to pick someone close by that you can’t see if you want to use this ability (comes at the cost of 1 Strain, so you don’t NEED it). Sidewinder is (in my estimation) the better skill: after you attack, you may move up to 2 spaces (not 2 movement points), which becomes 3 spaces if you are healthy thanks to Opportunist. This gives you (almost) a free movement action every time you attack – allowing you to shoot twice on your turn AND once during a hostile figure’s activation and move 6-9 spaces (depending on whether you did damage with each of your attacks)! Jyn is a Speed 5 character, but with this build, you can basically perform the equivalent of a double move WITHOUT USING A MOVE ACTION!

If you want to get some power out of your weapons before reaching Tier 3, I recommend the DL-44 or the 434 Deathhammer – they’re fantastic weapons (and the Deathhammer comes in just slightly below the Disruptor Pistol for overall damage, so if you never see the Disruptor Pistol, that's okay). The Charge Pistol is a good Tier 1 option too if you don’t get the DL-44 (and of course the DH-17 – but we’ve already covered that one).

Upgrades to purchase – 11 XP: Smuggler’s Luck (1), Cheap Shot (2), Trick shot (4), Sidewinder (4)

End-Game Weapon #3 – Shoot All The Things: DH-17 and DDC Defender with Charged Ammo Pack

If you recall our post two weeks ago on Vinto Hreeda, you’ll remember that there’s a build for him that allows you to perform many attacks a turn, thanks to the DDC Defender. As a Tier 1 weapon, it’s really good – 3 attacks in 2 actions anyone? Well, today we present the same option with Jyn, except this time we’ll be pairing this weapon with the DH-17 (which we’ve already looked at above) and tacking on the Charged Ammo Pack. With your 3 attacks each turn from the DDC Defender, you’ve got the following surge priority:

1.       Damage 1 + Pierce 1;

2.       Damage 1; and

3.       Damage Power Token (which you can use first if you aren’t going to be able to crack your opponent’s armor).

While the DL-44 provides better damage than the DH-17, it costs more than the DH-17 AND the Charged Ammo Pack. Yes, getting Damage 4 from 3 surge is probably better than Damage 2 + Pierce 1 + Damage Power Token, but the Damage Power Token allows you to bank a token when you’re already killing your target (which the DL-44 doesn’t give you). Unlike the last case, you’re expecting to get 2-3 Damage past a Black die (only 1 point less than the previous), but you can get this build at Tier 1 (early in the campaign) versus at Tier 3 (at the end of the campaign). You can also do 3 attacks with it (four with Quick Draw), giving you roughly the same damage output.

For upgrades, we’re taking Cheap Shot and Smuggler’s Luck (duh – they’re just nice to have), as well as Gunslinger and Sidewinder (duh – we’re taking two pistols and we can get 8-12 spaces of movement without using movement actions). While this is an incredibly powerful build, there is a key question that you'll need to answer: 

Which upgrades do I get first? 

Sidewinder is great for action conservation, but it’s expensive and will keep you from using Gunslinger early. Cheap Shot is probably your least necessary upgrade, so in a short campaign, you might want to take Sidewinder and Smuggler’s Luck early and save up for Gunslinger and Cheap Shot later (talk someone else into holding the DH-17 for you until you can Gunslinger with it).

Upgrades to purchase - 10 XP: Smuggler’s Luck (1), Cheap Shot (2), Gunslinger (3), Sidewinder (4)

Jyn in the Skirmish Game

Jyn Odan has come up in one of our Skirmish Upgrade posts already (Smuggler’s Run). For only 5 deployment points, she's fast, decently healthy, and has Cunning (to get more Block out of that White die). Her surge abilities are good, allowing her to turn any surge she gets on her Green-Green combo into Damage (and she gets both Stun or Accuracy out of it too). True to her campaign version, she can interrupt once per round to attack someone with Hair Trigger (works basically like Quick Draw) - great for cleaning the clock of someone you almost killed (or taking out a perfectly healthy Regular Stormtrooper). She's a great addition to any Smuggler list (be they Rebel or Mercenary) and I highly recommend her.

In our next post, we’ll be changing from our short-range sharpshooter to the first of our long-range sharpshooters with Mak Eshkarey. While his fellow sharpshooter Loku Kanoloa can gain more Accuracy than any other figure in the game (we’ll talk about him in two weeks), Mak is the only character who gains special bonuses from being far away from his targets (and this leads to some interesting weapon and upgrade choices). Until next time, happy gaming!

Skirmish Upgrades: Zillo Technique

Good morning gamers,

To date, we’ve looked at two Imperial skirmish upgrades: Advanced Com Systems and Vader’s Finest. Both of these cards are Attachments – you pick one person to use them and that’s all they benefit. Today’s post is different: we’ll be looking at a team-beneficial upgrade: Zillo Technique. While the Empire has several units that are hard to crack, no army is more resilient than those with Zillo Technique. J

Requirements for Finalists:

While we’re not going to pick three finalists like we normally do, there are certain requirements for units that will benefit from this the most:

• The ability to draw Command cards (so you can discard them for additional Block);
• Favor double-Black-dice defense pools (basically resilient to all damage if they can ignore most/all of the attacker’s Pierce value); and
• Units with static defense results (since a little extra defense allows you to save the extra Block provided by Zillo Technique less often).

Obviously not all of the figures we’re going to include will rate on all three of these areas, but we’re looking for these kinds of elements to be visible in the army. Without further ado, let’s look at what we have to work with today:

Deployment Cards:

• Darth Vader with Driven By Hatred
• Riot Trooper
• Riot Trooper
• Jabba the Hutt
• Elite Gamorrean Guard
• Temporary Alliance
• Zillo Technique
• Unshakable

Command Cards:

• Blood Feud
• Close the Gap
• Deadly Precision
• Deathblow
• Fleet Footed
• Force Rush
• Lord of the Sith
• Planning
• Price On Their Heads
• Pummel x2
• Recovery
• Reinforcements x2
• To The Limit

This list fields 8 figures (kinda small), but they’re very hard to kill: your defense begins with two squads of regular Riot Troopers. With a free Block token, these Riot Troopers are pretty hard to hurt with two-dice attack pools (and even certain three-dice attack pools). They can be escorted by the Elite Gamorrean Guards - these guys not only have an impressive amount of health, but also have a free Block against blaster attacks (which makes them more resilient than Heavy Stormtroopers). Both the Gamorreans and the Riot Troopers are painful in melee - you want to close quickly and batter down your opponents quickly.

Leading the charge, of course, is Darth Vader – he’s nasty and tough as nails with his Double-Black-dice defense pool (and one of those is rerollable) – makes it pretty hard to break through him. While you can use Zillo Technique to protect him, he shouldn’t need it. With Force Choke (which he can activate during his activation or at the end of the round thanks to Driven By Hatred), Vader has some “range damage” capability to provide cover for your squad. Generally speaking, your opponent will probably not stay to fight Vader and his goons if they’re advancing quickly.

Presiding over your army (for that’s all he can do) is Jabba the Hutt. While Agent Blaise would save us 1 point and give us some ability to draw cards, Jabba does this more reliably. As we’ve discussed in several posts already (To The Limit, Best Ally/Villain packs, On A Diplomatic Mission, Black Market, Smuggler’s Run, Under Duress - I like Jabba, what can I say?), you can draw cards AND do Strain damage against nearby opponents if you want (or Focus your Gamorreans). Jabba can be left behind (guarding a Terminal perhaps?), providing benefits to your team without being present. With cards like Blood Feud and Price On Their Heads (to say nothing of Planning), you can make life easier for your team and smash through your opponent’s figures quickly.

Finally, the team is supplemented by Zillo Technique and Unshakable: Unshakable only applies to Vader (you could substitute this out for Motivation on Jabba the Hutt OR upgrade one of your Riot Trooper squads to a Heavy Stormtrooper squad), but ensures that any harmful conditions don’t slow him down from slashing through people. With a free reroll on offense (and a free attack at the end of the round), you want to be able to rush into your foes quickly (and 1 Strain is not that big a deal…most of the time…see our Under Duress post for the exception to the rule).

For Command cards, we’ve chosen a few Force User cards, but most are melee-character-oriented (or tactically beneficial). Vader alone benefits from Lord of the Sith, Force Rush, and Deadly Precision – see our post on Force User Command cards for more info on these. Jabba is required to play Blood Feud and Price On Their Heads – both of which you can chuck with Zillo Technique if you happen to lose Jabba before you get to play them (you can do the same with the Force User cards if you lose Vader…not very likely to happen, but just in case). Since both of these figures have special actions on their cards, you can use To The Limit with either of them to get more out of them – Unshakable will clear this on their next turn.

All of your figures (sans Jabba) benefit from Close the Gap (nice little movement pip to get them in position), and since all your figures are melee, they all benefit from Pummel and Deathblow too. Since we’re running a low figure count list, taking two copies of Reinforcements will keep our Troopers on the map (though watch out for people spreading their damage against you – retreat to keep one of the figures in each group alive if you need to). Finally, all of your figures benefit from Fleet Footed, Urgency, and Recovery – use these as you need to (and view our post on the nuances between the Fleet Footed and Urgency).

In our next post, we'll be wrapping up our series on skirmish upgrades look at the Rebel upgrade Heroic Effort. If you like running heroes and get frustrated when you can't use their command cards, this card is for you. Should be fun - until then, happy gaming!