Ever since the Wave 3 previews, I have been trying to figure out how best to use Cracken, and it seems like he keeps replacing Mon Mothma in my lists. Not only does he cost less, but he potentially removes more dice and frees up Evades for use offensively. He seems like the perfect commander for an MSU swarm anchored around a pair of MC30s.

I am curious, though, what you all think?

Being somewhat of a Mon Mothma fanboy, I can see the line of thinking here, but with the existence of Screed I personally still really like to be able to force rerolls on black dice. But I can see Cracken being a nice compromise. I guess it's more of a preference thing. He is super awesome, and I think I will use him with many CR90s and some boosted comms flotillas, since obstruction + long range evade is REALLY good. Better than a brace if you can stay at range.

Being somewhat of a Mon Mothma fanboy, I can see the line of thinking here, but with the existence of Screed I personally still really like to be able to force rerolls on black dice. But I can see Cracken being a nice compromise. I guess it's more of a preference thing. He is super awesome, and I think I will use him with many CR90s and some boosted comms flotillas, since obstruction + long range evade is REALLY good. Better than a brace if you can stay at range.

Well, the main difference is WHO gets to choose the Dice that is gone...

THAT, and Mon Mothma's "weakness" is Close range, whereas Cracken's is Tractor Beams.

How about the crit effect that prevents you from firing at obstructed ships? Slap that on an ISD and suddenly it can't shoot at your entire fleet, muahahaha

How about the crit effect that prevents you from firing at obstructed ships? Slap that on an ISD and suddenly it can't shoot at your entire fleet, muahahaha

Then it Tractor beams you down to Speed 2 and Vapourises you.

How about the crit effect that prevents you from firing at obstructed ships? Slap that on an ISD and suddenly it can't shoot at your entire fleet, muahahaha

Then it Tractor beams you down to Speed 2 and Vapourises you.

well the problem is still you have to BRING tractor beams

and they are not exactly "competitive"

How about the crit effect that prevents you from firing at obstructed ships? Slap that on an ISD and suddenly it can't shoot at your entire fleet, muahahaha

Then it Tractor beams you down to Speed 2 and Vapourises you.

well the problem is still you have to BRING tractor beams

and they are not exactly "competitive"

At the Moment

How about the crit effect that prevents you from firing at obstructed ships? Slap that on an ISD and suddenly it can't shoot at your entire fleet, muahahaha

Then it Tractor beams you down to Speed 2 and Vapourises you.

well the problem is still you have to BRING tractor beams

and they are not exactly "competitive"

They could become so if the Cracken TRC90 swarm becomes a thing, though.

Gah, could you imagine a Cracken-on-Cracken TRC90 swarm? Sounds like it would be a slapfight.

At the Moment

Dun dun DUNNNNNNN!!!!!

Seriously, though, this could bring them in. And given how popular swarms are now (CR90 and DeMSU), I've toyed with the idea of some tractor beam action already. The annoying thing is that it would't stop an Ozzel list. Tractor Demolisher down to speed one, then it uses the Nav it had prepared anyway, boosts back up to three and Engine Techs into your face.

But with that guy, well, if he gets super popular it would make sense.

At the Moment

Dun dun DUNNNNNNN!!!!!

Can I mother-effin' Foreshadow or WHAT?!

I love tractor beams. Probably my favorite "Gotcha" card to run. Because it isn't "competitive", it can often throw people who are used to spamming squad commands and such for a loop.

That said, I can't wait to give the new card a try. The question is will it be good enough to replace Reekan, which I am still unsure about.

Gah, could you imagine a Cracken-on-Cracken TRC90 swarm? Sounds like it would be a slapfight.

Not sure but I suspect it compare to a Mon Mothma TRC90 mirror match. In which it basically becomes a contest of who can bring the most evades to bear at once.

I think Cracken will have his place primarily with the CR90As and Scout MC30s. Perhaps even Nebulon-Bs set to FULL TILT joust mode, but I'm not entirely convinced there. Flotillas too, obviously (at the very least as a great commander chariot for the Cracker McCracken cracks the Kraken fleet).

Anyways, the idea being that with Mon Mothma it can be iffy using Turbolaser Reroute Circuits as much as you'd like due to the fact that you're exhausting the very tokens that you're buffing. At the moment, Mon Mothma is generally the best commander for that kind of fleet but there's that uncomfortable disjunction you need to play around. Cracken offers you a way to keep your Turbolaser Reroute buddies rocking out doing their thing without as much distress.

My own prediction is moreso that Rieekan is going to be the primary "why not X?" when compared to Cracken. If you're running that recklessly fast, Rieekan can help absorb some of the inevitable mistakes/forced errors that come your way and isn't as dependent on certain conditions being met (and not as weak to Tractor Beams). I guess we'll see, though.

I'm going to be giving Cracken a shot with Assault Frigates, at least...

I've been practicing previously at running them full tilt at Speed 3 for most of the game, and getting my best Maneuver out of them... Of course, it'll be tricky, but it could pay off... The hardest part has been evolving a Squadron Game to go with it, without devolving to Rogues all the time...

I wonder if Cracken will work well with an AF2 carrier fleet pushing fast bombers (Y-wings, H-6's, BCC Y-wings). Would require a little different approach than I'd generally take (i tend to run them slow), but might pair well with the evade you're not using for TRC anyway and the long range you want to keep anyway.

Edit: dammit, Dras, even outside the Rules Forum you be ninjaing me!

I took 4 hours off this morning to take my Kiddo to Speech Therapy across town on Public Transport...

Plenty of time for people to get ahead of me in the Posts....

But now I'm back, and he's resting, so I'm undistracted...

I'm sure, very soon, people will be able to get in words without me, as he takes my attention away form here again

I haven't tried him yet, but Cracken strikes me as a defensive terror at long range. Getting to block two dice with an evade is huge. Staying at long range is also much easier than hitting MM's medium range sweet spot consistently. I think there are reasons to take MM, but I'm definitely in the Cracken camp

How about the crit effect that prevents you from firing at obstructed ships? Slap that on an ISD and suddenly it can't shoot at your entire fleet, muahahaha

Then it Tractor beams you down to Speed 2 and Vapourises you.

Tractor beams? Sounds like you found...

(•_•)

( •_•)>⌐■-■

(⌐■_■)

the Cracken his armor...

Mon Mothma works against squadrons.

Cracken does not.

Hereth lies the difference. Mothma allows you to go without a heavy escort force, which will be really important in the new bomber command centre meta thats coming.

I think Cracken works well with fast moving ships that like to stay at range, otherwise Mothma makes as much sense....

So basically Cracken has minimal use...

Assault Frigate carrier fleet driving at full speed sideways...

I think Cracken works well with fast moving ships that like to stay at range, otherwise Mothma makes as much sense....

Yet Cracken is just as effective at close range versus enemy Ships as he is at Long Range...

Mon Mothma Be Not.

I think Cracken works well with fast moving ships that like to stay at range, otherwise Mothma makes as much sense....

Yet Cracken is just as effective at close range versus enemy Ships as he is at Long Range...

Mon Mothma Be Not.

Sort of. Evade becomes more powerful as dice pools shrink; brace becomes less powerful. Which means Cracken benefits evade more than brace. Which is useless at close range, meaning he's less useful there. Not a lot less, but some.

I don't think it is fair to compare the two, really. Mon Mothma, aside from Admonition, is the only thing in the game that has a chance at mitigating black crit effects, which are the nastiest effects in the game (so far). Until another card or mechanic is introduced that is capable of avoiding black crits, Mon Mothma is still the way to go with MC30 torps in my opinion. Or Rieekan.

Cracken will be sweet, but for longer range ships. What I like about him most is that, like Dodonna, if he dies you're like, meh, oh well. Not the end of the world. Whereas if Rieekan, Mothma, or Ackbar dies, the fleet crumbles with it most of the time.

I think Cracken works well with fast moving ships that like to stay at range, otherwise Mothma makes as much sense....

Yet Cracken is just as effective at close range versus enemy Ships as he is at Long Range...

Mon Mothma Be Not.

Just to add my humble opinion... Mon Mothma works at Speed 1, 2 and 4, Cracken doesnt. For me that us super important, adds protection and flexibility,

I'm not following the wording of that, Ginkapo...

One Die at Long Range, vs One Die at Medium Range, vs One Die at Short Range.... Cracken always reduces by 1 Die, regardless of Range....

Mon Mothma... No Difference at Long range... Better at medium Range and Short Range... With Diminishing Benefit...

Cracken is Universally Useful, regardless of Range.

Mon Mothma is better at Close Range.

I would not infer from that, that Cracken is best at Long Range... I infer that Cracken is useful at all Ranges, whereas Mon Mothma is only useful at close....