Imperials and Mercenaries from Jabba’s Realm Spoiler Discussion

By nickv2002, in Imperial Assault Skirmish

The rest of the Imperials and Mercenaries from Jabba's Realm were spoiled today. Let's take a look at the skirmish stuff!
swi32_weequay-pirate.png swi32_weequay-pirate_elite.png swi32_gamorrean-guard.png swi32_gamorrean-guard_elite.png
swi32_jet-trooper.png swi32_jet-trooper_elite.png swi32_rancor_skirmish.png

Pretty awesome stuff!

  • I like the Pirates as flex midrange units for the Mercs. They're a big improvement over Tuskens which were the previous best units in this point range. The re-rolls that can choose any die seems pretty useful as the Green die they roll are fairly consistent. The Prowl, Health, and Accuracy bonus for the elites are really solid too; you can count on pretty consistent 6-8 range shots if you're Hidden.
  • The Regular Gamorreans are kind of junk because -1 Damage is very significant and I don't want to be paying to re-roll, but the Elite seem solid with a Targeting Computer-esqe re-roll and significant defense upgrade. Reach + Cleave is a great combo if you do surge. These guys make the Wampas look awful (as they are) and seem like harder-hitting Royal Guards without the 5 speed and buddy defense.
  • We knew about the regular Jet Troopers from the first spoiler back in August and I discussed them in my podcast (timestamped link) ; basically, they seem okay but not great. Mobile and Vehicle type are interesting for Skirmish. The Elite ones cost a lot more points but don't hit much harder unless you're close. Without a re-roll to balance the number of surges I'm not really a fan of their high cost (remember that this puts them above the point threshold for Reinforcements).
  • The Rancor is a beast that deserves a longer (podcast) discussion but I think he seems amazing. Remember you're always going to run him with Beast Tamer so he has a huge threat range when you add that to Reach & Massive. Then once you're in the thick you can Train him to turtle up with a second defense die. Of course any 3 die attack is great with Jabba's Order ability too!

Hope to talk about all of of these, and the Jabba set as a whole on a future episode of my New Orders Podcast .

Edited by nickv2002

Dear God. I love all of it!

Elite Jets look pretty good. That extra dice ability is fantastic!Especially if that 2 points gets you out of range of return fire.

Blue, blue, green, green with focus ... Thats extremely legit for a first strike, especially with that tasty +2 damage surge

Elite Jets look pretty good. That extra dice ability is fantastic!Especially if that 2 points gets you out of range of return fire.

Blue, blue, green, green with focus ... Thats extremely legit for a first strike, especially with that tasty +2 damage surge

Maybe the Jet Troopers will fit into some sort of Sorin (with Advanced Comm) list. That gives them a lot more surges to play with.

I can't wait for the elite jet troopers! going to throw vader's finest on them and have them shoot and scoot all day long. And don't forget about fuel upgrade as well, the extra speed and surge defense will be great.

Edited by MadFuhrer

Elite Jets look pretty good. That extra dice ability is fantastic!Especially if that 2 points gets you out of range of return fire.

Blue, blue, green, green with focus ... Thats extremely legit for a first strike, especially with that tasty +2 damage surge

On the Elite Jets I worry about getting too many surges. For an up-close attack you're always going to make range so you only need 1 surge; the rest are wasted (unless you loose them on defense). No reroll to help mitigate that either. So vs Black or White you only have a 24% or 30% chance of 5+ damage. It's okay but remember they're expensive units.

Yeah, same cost as Dengar, but infinitely better.

Maybe the Jet Troopers will fit into some sort of Sorin (with Advanced Comm) list. That gives them a lot more surges to play with.

Yes, the Vehicle keyword has potential there.

Yeah, same cost as Dengar, but infinitely better.

Everything is better than Dengar. :P

Maybe the Jet Troopers will fit into some sort of Sorin (with Advanced Comm) list. That gives them a lot more surges to play with.

Yes, the Vehicle keyword has potential there.

Yeah, same cost as Dengar, but infinitely better.

Everything is better than Dengar. :P

Sadly, yes. Goddammit, I love Dengar, why won't they faq him? :-)

Maybe the Jet Troopers will fit into some sort of Sorin (with Advanced Comm) list. That gives them a lot more surges to play with.

Nickv2002 and Jen was talking about that in their podcast. I think they're convinced after seeing the red card :-)

I'm not convinced the jet troopers will help a sorin list that much. It's been pointed out that they want to be close to attack. And you want sorin far away as possible from enemies. I really think the play style for jet troopers doesn't lend itself to synergy with sorin. The reason a sorin list with HK's and probes works is because they all attack at range very well.

Now that I've said that and bought some more jet troopers can work with sorin with their surge for three accuracy and focusing early on doors to then go on their own and wreak havoc. I guess the main thing is they will have a harder time staying close to sorin but could still gain some charge up power early and go out and do guerila warfare.

It's ultimately a three point rebate to take two elite jet troopers instead of two elite HK's and temp alliance with the sorin list. Or find a way to do both (drop some probes to put in jet troopers)

Yea those elite jets are going straight into my Sorin list, they look great at 7pts for 14 health with those abilities. I think possibly targeting computer as well but will have to test it.

I'm not convinced the jet troopers will help a sorin list that much. It's been pointed out that they want to be close to attack. And you want sorin far away as possible from enemies. I really think the play style for jet troopers doesn't lend itself to synergy with sorin. The reason a sorin list with HK's and probes works is because they all attack at range very well.

Now that I've said that and bought some more jet troopers can work with sorin with their surge for three accuracy and focusing early on doors to then go on their own and wreak havoc. I guess the main thing is they will have a harder time staying close to sorin but could still gain some charge up power early and go out and do guerila warfare.

It's ultimately a three point rebate to take two elite jet troopers instead of two elite HK's and temp alliance with the sorin list. Or find a way to do both (drop some probes to put in jet troopers)

In theory you want to fight at range, but in practice that sadly doesn't seem to work out often enough for me

(Having said that I prefer Sorin with probe droids instead of HK so what do I know :) )

Rich

Edited by RoyalRich

Yea those elite jets are going straight into my Sorin list, they look great at 7pts for 14 health with those abilities. I think possibly targeting computer as well but will have to test it.

Would be good on eJets, but alas… the Targeting Computer Skirmish Upgrade only goes on Droids and Heavy Weapons (so you can't put it on Jet Troopers).

Edit: yes you can I'm an idiot.

Edited by nickv2002

Yea those elite jets are going straight into my Sorin list, they look great at 7pts for 14 health with those abilities. I think possibly targeting computer as well but will have to test it.

Would be good on eJets, but alas… the Targeting Computer Skirmish Upgrade only goes on Droids and Heavy Weapons (so you can't put it on Jet Troopers).

I Could be wrong, but I think that the 'vehicles' keyword is in there too.

Yea those elite jets are going straight into my Sorin list, they look great at 7pts for 14 health with those abilities. I think possibly targeting computer as well but will have to test it.

Would be good on eJets, but alas… the Targeting Computer Skirmish Upgrade only goes on Droids and Heavy Weapons (so you can't put it on Jet Troopers).

I Could be wrong, but I think that the 'vehicles' keyword is in there too.

-ryanjamal

Targeting computer is for vehicles as well.

Edit: typing as Ryanjamal posted

Edited by Masterchiefspiff

My first thoughts are that Vader's Finest elite Jet troopers have great potential and will definitely be trying them soon. Can't wait to use overrun with jet troopers too.

Forgot about the vehicle keyword for targeting computer. Thanks all for the correction.

My first thoughts are that Vader's Finest elite Jet troopers have great potential and will definitely be trying them soon. Can't wait to use overrun with jet troopers too.

I quite like the idea but not sure I can justify 2pts on it, be interested in seeing how you get on though

I like the elites much more than the regulars in all deployment cards. Cant see me using any of the regulars at all. They all look like fun cards that will make the game more interesting.

Regulars are for the campaign, elites are for the skirmish.

Think of heroes with 2 XP and 800 credits. Any of the early missions in the campaign could not use the new groups as initial groups without there being regulars (and even less as open groups without there being relatively cheap groups with abilities to match). And that would mightily suck for the campaign players.

At first glance:

The regular Gamorreans are really bad.

The elite Gamorreans seem to be close to pre-nerf Royal Guards, just one step slower but dealing even more damage. I think, we'll see them played quite often.

The Weequays are good. good range, good damage good health (for the points). Not outstanding in any way, but absolutely playable. The reroll is the cherry on the cake.

The regular Jet Troopers are mobile 2 point figures. I like to use 2 point figures for picking up mission objectives and for controlling terminals. I often play regular Stormtroopers to fit that role (or regular Hired Guns for Mercs). The regular Jet Troopers deal a little less damage than regular Stormtroopers (no reroll), but are a little bit faster (mobile) and live a little bit longer (Agile). I would have preffered a 3 figure unit, but I still like them a lot.

The elite Jet Troopers are mobile and have a lot of health with Agile. Their normal attack deals a little less damage than that of elite Stormtroopers (no reroll). They are vehicles so Targeting Computers will compensate that. Their Fly-By attack puts them over the edge. It's sad, that they cannot be reinforced and that they are not a 3 figure group. But with their mobility and high damage output, they will be great to get that hostile last Stormtrooper of a group, that is hiding behind other figures, to score those 9 Points, you wouldn't get otherwise.

Here are my thoughts.

Weequays - Regular
Not bad. Well pointed and a solid attack. I dunno If I'd ever bother using them though. Wing Guard or Stormtoopers do the same role and you're paying 1 more point for an extra body.

There's a reason you don't see regular troopers much in skirmish. These guys are no different.

Weequays - Elite
Very solid. Great attack, Ok health good range. They are a good long to medium range support unit, and can stay somewhat safe with hidden.
My only issue with these is why you wouldn't just take 2 HKs for 1 more point.
Just like the regular versions... there's simply other units that do the same job better.
I'd have to do the math to see which one does more damage but I think the HKs are probably a better range but slightly worse damage.
Otherwise, both have very similar abilities. Maybe these guys will become the new HKs, maybe they'll never get used.

Gamorrean Guards - Regular

Garbage. Not sure what the point is. I guess they are cheap tanking units but they just don't do enough damage.

Maybe if we get some more brawler or guardian cards. I'll have to think about how these guys could fit into a squad but I don't see it right now.

Gamorrean Guards - Elite

These guys on the other hand are great. They are better royal guard. Similar toughness much better attack. Also heaps better than Tuskens (though they only get a go because of jungland terror).

Jet Troopers - Regular

Not bad as a hired gun equivilent I guess. Lack of speed 5 is a bit annoying but I guess that would make them too much like Hired Guns.

Basically these could be used to grab objectives and terminals. Are they better than 2 officers? I dunno.

Jet Troopers - Elite

Not worth it. They are a slightly tougher elite storm trooper that can't be reinforced. The extra blue dice at short range is useless. They don't need the extra surge or range and no rerolls.

They could be an OK hit and run unit against melee characters but in general they are just too weak to get close and too weak at range to bother using over other troopers.
Maybe they (and the regulars) will be good on maps with lots of blocking terrain but we don't have those in the current rotation.

Rancor

Seems solid. Pretty cheap for what you get. I like how flexible it is. Sentient and more defence or brutality. Very scary when combined with Beast Tamer.

There's nothing here to not like. Having 2 of these would be quite interesting.