Guys,

The two cards * Devious Scheme and First Strike.

Can anybody explain what the use is for the player.

Greetings Hans

Devious Scheme - if there is a more preferable deployment on the map, you automatically claim it, at the small price of your opponent starting with initiative. OR you field an army that benefits from playing second on turn one, and you don't have to worry about getting initiative turn one.

First Strike - You are gambling that your mercenary deck can rush to more VP than your opponent, usually with the help of hunter command cards that earn you additional VP (Price on their heads, Celebration, Merciless)

I'm not claiming either are necessarily "good", I am merrily providing a use for the player.

Well, they do exactly what they say. Devious Scheme lets you choose where to set up but see how your opponent will set up before you deploy your figures, and it forces him to activate first in the first round. Depending on the map, the first round will involve a lot of getting into position, with combat/objectives really starting in earnest in the second round, when you will have initiative.

First Strike will mostly benefit squads that have trouble finishing off the last few victory points. If you build a squad that can rush out and grab objectives and/or assassinate squishy units quickly but doesn't have the staying power to go toe-to-toe with your opponents heavy hitters.