There was a News article for the Raider just on the home page, but FFG just took it down. It had Palpatine as the article image.

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/5/26/the-grand-design/

That's the link. It's listed on the main news page but not the X-Wing page currently.

Thanks Vandor!

News article is officially up, and wow.

8 points, two crew slots, but can change any friendly die to any facing once per round.

Guarenteed hit, guaranteed evade, guaranteed repair of that stupid weapon malfunction crit....

Emperor Palpatine 8 points 2 crew slots "Once per round, you may change a friendly ship’s die result to any other die result. That die result cannot be modified again."

Edited:

I guess I was beat to the punch

The whole article is really just about the Emperor and has little to do with the Raider itself.

The Emperor is nuts. He doesn't appear to have any timing or range restrictions.

He doesn't appear to have any timing or range restrictions.

He doesn't. He can change a single die roll anywhere on the board, anytime he wants, once per round.

So we know he is badass. Do we think he's worth 8 points in a 100 point game?

Edit: The fat turret haters are gonna hate hard on this one!

So we know he is badass. Do we think he's worth 8 points in a 100 point game?

Edit: The fat turret haters are gonna hate hard on this one!

Not at 8 points they won't.

For the record, Raider is still at the pinters. My excitement level is low.

An Omicron Group Pilot shuttle with Palpatine is 29 points. Worth it to change a die once per round? I dunno.

I guess you could put him on a Decimator, but then you're only taking one other crew ... Ysanne, I guess. But imagine Vader with Palpatine, haha

Wow, it's just like Timothy Zahn's interpretation of Palpatine influencing the battle through the Force! So cool!

(Later that ability got the name Battle Meditation, but I don't think Zahn ever used that name.)

An article for one card? Yup, a card worth a whole article by himself.

I like the design of double upgrade slots. I wonder if that will be used again in the future. It keeps him off fighters, thats for sure. And such a powerful ability. Should be interesting to see how this goes in the game.

So glad you can't fit him into a Spray.

I don't know if it is worth it to spend 8 points to make Saboteur not suck, but this might help with that.

Also. It's not a reroll. So the dice can already have been re-rolled already before it was modified.

I'm kind of surprised that a squad from an FFG preview article is something I'd consider flying.

An Omicron Group Pilot shuttle with Palpatine is 30 points. Worth it to change a die once per round? I dunno.

I guess you could put him on a Decimator, but then you're only taking one other crew ... Ysanne, I guess. But imagine Vader with Palpatine, haha

An OGP with Palpatine is 29 points. 21 for the ship, 8 for the Emperor.

He's someone you have to build around, but the fact that he has no range restrictions for his impact makes him brutal. As noted in the article, you can slow-play with your shuttle while your enhanced Aces fly out to do their dirty work.

I hope our next preview is of the boat.

So we know he is badass. Do we think he's worth 8 points in a 100 point game?

Edit: The fat turret haters are gonna hate hard on this one!

I think 8 points is probably the right number. He's not so cheap that you'll see him on every decimator/shuttle (a la C-3PO), but not so expensive that he'll never be played. Changing 1 dice result a round could have huge impact. I'd probably stick him on a shuttle over a decimator though.

The Imperial Raider Expansion Pack is on its way. Stay tuned for our final preview and news of the product's upcoming release!

...Soon....

He is a huge safety net. The question is, if he is on a shuttle by himself outside the combat, is he worth trying to kill first? He only works once per round, but when you have a Whisper or Fel on the board, and he is being used to fix their bad defense rolls, you may have to kill the Emperor first. In any other situation he may be worth ignoring early. He is really pretty expensive. The lack of timing restriction is what really really intrigues me. That could be seriously dastardly.

And we will all have to remember that your opponent rolls dice for Prox Mines, so I don't think he can help fix Prox Mine rolls.

And we will all have to remember that your opponent rolls dice for Prox Mines, so I don't think he can help fix Prox Mine rolls.

He can if you are the one driving over them.

amazing

**** you fickle dice!

I also love the two crew slot requirement. I mean, it makes sense. You need one for the emperor, and one for his chair.

also means fat decimators can go dunk their heads in a toilet bowl. Though P over here will essentially double as an 8 point 3cpo if they want it, they won't get him + 2 crew slots.

If you use his ability twice per game while defending he is essentially the same as 2 Shield Upgrades. I think on a shuttle, with high agi escorts he could be very playable. If they go at the shuttle you should get at least two uses out of him, if they don't he should easily be worth the cost with the number of dodges/Crits he is adding.

The list in the article is not bad, but I think there are similar, better lists using a similar strategy.

Not an auto-include, but I could definitely see him played at 100. People play/played Luke Crew at 7, and he was just Gunner+.

An article for one card? Yup, a card worth a whole article by himself.

I like the design of double upgrade slots. I wonder if that will be used again in the future. It keeps him off fighters, thats for sure. And such a powerful ability. Should be interesting to see how this goes in the game.

Yep, very cool design indeed for that card, and priced accordingly in my opinion. We might see that double upgrade use again I think. Maybe a Rebel equivalent for a Yoda card? :-)