I may well have been talked into taking the plunge with Imperial Assault, and looking at the figures and past previews the Royal Guard Champion caught my eye.

Im a big fan of the Kir Kanos storyline, love the model and from the sound of it he's a combat monster in the game - chasing hapless rebel troopers around with a sharp stick sounds like endless fun.

However, I'd like the opinion of old sweats in the game before investing - is he a good character to build my skirmish team on?

Great news on you taking the plunge Gammon and I'm sure you won't regret it.

I don't think he's generally seen as a top tier competitive option in Skirmish however he's definitely usable if you work around him. He's fast, has 2 good strong attacks with Brutality so you can punish any bad positioning from the opponent, and he's pretty tough with B W defence dice.

If you think he's cool and you want to build around him you can absolutely build a list with him that'll compete. As an example something like the following:

[15] Royal Guard Champion

[9] Elite Storm Troopers

[9] Elite Storm Troopers

[5] Elite Probe Droid

[2] Imperial Officer

That list can be improved upon with things like Zillo Technique (highly recommended - comes with the Agent Blaise villain pack who's also very good) however the benefit of this version is you can run it using just the core box and the RGC Villain expansion

All the best and let us know how you get on

Rich

Cheers Rich, and thanks for talking me through the game last night! Reckon ill start with the RGC and evolve tactics from there. Just got to sell some organs to pay for IA + Armada wave 5 now!

ahh, sorry mate I didn't realise it was you!

haha ****, shouldn't have given you those tips ey, might come back to bite me!

*edit* if you can find the core cheap and get the RGC pack from Kirton that's a good start, you're welcome to borrow my stuff mate to give it a go anytime if you'd prefer before jumping in *edit*

He's pretty good. Very expensive, but also a powerhouse. I think he could be competetive in the right list, because stormtroopers can't kill him, but you'll need some cheap stuff with him for objectives and terminals.

If he's the guy that caught your eye, I'd say, go for it.

You might also check out the Inquisitor:

Totally different story I'm sure, but a similar playstyle/model/attack power. I don't know if he's more or less competitive than the RGC, but at the very least he costs fewer points so you can put more other stuff in to back him up

He's awesome and fun to play.

Welcome aboard Gammon! We are happy to help anyway that we can. I would suggest that when playing IA skirmishes to start, ask your opponent to match your current content for lists. Say, first two waves only or whatever you have. Otherwise things might get tilted against you quickly. Anyone who is looking to just have fun will be more than happy to agree, the guys who want to practice their lists for competitive tournaments and won't budge shouldn't be doing so against you anyway.

Unlike a lot of other competitive games, this is actually a great time to be hopping into IA even though it might seem over whelming to start. The meta is wide open, there are a lot of great lists, lots of great and unique content and you can pretty much run any balanced list right with your choice of characters (Favourites or functional!) outside of a select few. So pick away as you really can't go wrong! On top of all that, Jabba's Realm is around the corner and looks to be another step forward in game functionality.

I don't see him on any lists. He's over pointed so even if you use him in skirmish you're pretty much going to be building the list around him, he can't just be thrown into something. For campaign he is only in a couple missions and you wouldn't want him as a villain because he's overpriced. So no unless you're fine with playing the same list over and over and over and over, otherwise you won't get your $$$ out of him like you would a lot of other choices.

As a huge Kir Kanos / Crimson Empire fan myself, he was an auto-buy. We don't play competitive here, just for fun, so I can't speak to tournament lists or anything, but he's always done well when I played him. We've had some epic Chewie/RGC showdowns where they just slug it out and those black/white defense die combos can be really effective at keeping them in the game!

I think he comes up just a little bit short in highly competitive play, but if you're looking to use him in a casual game, he's fine. The first couple of waves have a bunch of high-cost figures that struggle to be worth it because they just don't do enough in a turn.

The Royal Guard Champion isn't nearly as bad as many of the others about that, though. He has several ways to get the most of his actions. Speed 6 makes his move actions that much better. Brutality can give him extra action economy. The same with Executor.

FWIW: you get the Royal Guard Champion card in the core box, just not the cool minifig (you get a cardboard token version instead of the plastic). So you could just pick up the Core set and try him out that way without needing to 'invest' in his figure pack.

He's a second Tier skirmish figure right now, IMO. Certainly not as bad as Dengar but not at the top tables either.

I think it's a very fun figure. Just played a list with the RGC for the first time last week and turn 2 he jumped in and 1 shot Leia and Diala, making up his points in a single activation. Pretty devastating to my opponent who then had to spend the rest of his attacks taking the RGC down while the rest of my troops cleaned up objective points.

Of course we're both pretty new to the game, so you probably won't always get that juicy of an opening...

As a huge Kir Kanos / Crimson Empire fan myself, he was an auto-buy. We don't play competitive here, just for fun, so I can't speak to tournament lists or anything, but he's always done well when I played him. We've had some epic Chewie/RGC showdowns where they just slug it out and those black/white defense die combos can be really effective at keeping them in the game!

I call him Kir Kanos as well, but SOME people call him Carnor Jax. Sacrilege.

You might also check out the Inquisitor:

Totally different story I'm sure, but a similar playstyle/model/attack power. I don't know if he's more or less competitive than the RGC, but at the very least he costs fewer points so you can put more other stuff in to back him up

Dude...dude......dude....

The Inquisitor is SO much better than the RGC! In fact, I personally think that he's probably one of the best single-figure choices in the game! He was a lot of fun to use when I played him in the GenCon Championship, and he is a fig that can definitely dominate a game when used well.

The RGC is good too and I've always enjoyed him, but for someone who is working with a limited starting budget and looking for competitive or highly effective pieces, then I'd recommend the Inquisitor and Bossk and Blaise. The RGC is fun, but (as has been said), his Deployment Card is there in the Core Box anyway, so you can try him out from there and see if you want to jump in right away or wait a while.

I'll second the Core decision. I've played with RCG a couple of times, just using a regular Royal Guard mini for him (if I wasn't using RGs too). I think he's a very fine starting point for playing. Especially if you particularly like Royal Guards. You need to play some chum with him, to get value out of his ability.

He has some great, unique command cards as well

I've discovered a couple of secrets to playing the RGC well:

1. Yes, he has Speed 6...but that doesn't mean you should run him up 6 squares to make his attacks (w Brutality). Rather, position him wisely so that you can move up 3 or 4 squares, make his attacks (w Brutality) and then retreat 2 or 3 squares again to safety. His 13 Health doesn't last very long if you don't roll an X-Men or two. So think of him as a Speed 4 figure which has an extra Speed 2 move after his attacks...he'll last longer that way.

2. If you really must commit him into the fray (ie, move the full 6 squares in order to attack), then make sure to do it late in the round so that he faces a lot less return fire. Sure, if you can get a kill on both Luke and Leia with Brutality by running him the full 6, then you obviously go for it, but generally speaking, you'll want to send in your big melee beatstick guy at the end of the round if possible. [This actually applies to all melee beatsticks, not just the RGC.]

This tidbit offered FWIW, hoping that it might benefit a new player.

I love the RGC, he is one of my favorite units in both campaign and skirmish. He can be competitive in skirmish but takes some practice against several different types of lists to know when to fully commit him to the fray. In campaign he is expensive but also devestating, so that if you see you are going to get a big threat increase at some point, he can be worth it. His value does drop the more the rebels get their skills though, but his agenda set is worth it even if you don't play him.

Dude...dude......dude....

The Inquisitor is SO much better than the RGC! In fact, I personally think that he's probably one of the best single-figure choices in the game! He was a lot of fun to use when I played him in the GenCon Championship, and he is a fig that can definitely dominate a game when used well.

The RGC is good too and I've always enjoyed him, but for someone who is working with a limited starting budget and looking for competitive or highly effective pieces, then I'd recommend the Inquisitor and Bossk and Blaise. The RGC is fun, but (as has been said), his Deployment Card is there in the Core Box anyway, so you can try him out from there and see if you want to jump in right away or wait a while.

I disagree. Inquisitor is a good card but he's got nothing on RGC. They don't even perform the same role.

Inquisitor just doesn't hit hard enough. He's great at taking out troopers doing a bit of cleave but he's too fragile to go deep. The saber throw is only good with his command card.

Only thing he does better than RGC is using force cards. But they are expensive and apart from maybe force lightning, it's usually not worth taking any of the other imperial force user cards.

Inquisitor suffers from the same problem that a lot of over costed cards do.... 9pts and only 1 attack. Unless you're getting amazing value out of that cleave he struggles to make an impact. I play a lot of RGC and I've never had the inquisitor be anywhere near as useful or scary.

There's some nice combos there with cleave and force lightning for example, but that still rarely comes close to the raw power of Speed 6, 2 dice defense and Brutality.

RGC is certainly expensive and can be tricky to play. It's a high risk, high reward situation. But the inquisitor is medium risk for low reward. I'd rather Bossk for 8pts.... or even 9pts with Temp Alliance.

Inquisitor will get better when we see more hunter and force user cards, but so far I've found him very lack luster.

Both when using and playing against him, I've never seen have much of an impact apart from his command card and maybe some force lightning combo.

I love the inquisitor on paper, but in practice he's always disappointed me.

Only thing I don't like about RGC is his command card is difficult to use well, and because of his cost, there's very few options when writing a list around him. It's always RGC, 2x eStormtroopers and 7 pts left over. That might be partially due to stormies still being one of the best units in the game for value, but it can make RGC (and Vader, AT-ST etc) lists a bit boring.

I've discovered a couple of secrets to playing the RGC well:

1. Yes, he has Speed 6...but that doesn't mean you should run him up 6 squares to make his attacks (w Brutality). Rather, position him wisely so that you can move up 3 or 4 squares, make his attacks (w Brutality) and then retreat 2 or 3 squares again to safety. His 13 Health doesn't last very long if you don't roll an X-Men or two. So think of him as a Speed 4 figure which has an extra Speed 2 move after his attacks...he'll last longer that way.

2. If you really must commit him into the fray (ie, move the full 6 squares in order to attack), then make sure to do it late in the round so that he faces a lot less return fire. Sure, if you can get a kill on both Luke and Leia with Brutality by running him the full 6, then you obviously go for it, but generally speaking, you'll want to send in your big melee beatstick guy at the end of the round if possible. [This actually applies to all melee beatsticks, not just the RGC.]

This tidbit offered FWIW, hoping that it might benefit a new player.

I find he's best used like a bantha. Run deep with your last activation (a few officer moves and an Urgency gives you a threat range of like 8-12 spaces). Hit two things hard, then have initiative next turn, do it again, and use the 6 move to escape.

Obviously there's heaps of things that do great damage with a double activation, but few of them can do 4x3 dice attacks with great surge abilities. There's also very few units that can really threaten the back line as much as he can. He can use his huge movement to get behind and start killing all those support units very easily. And once you start losing all those extra activations, focus tokens or extra attacks, he becomes even harder to kill.

And that's before the chance to roll X or average 2 block and an evade =)

Buy the core set no matter what you decide on. #1 you really need it for almost everything anyways, #2 the value in pieces/cards/tiles you get, is by far the best bargain, and #3 the replay value (especially if you play both Skirmish & Campaign) is excellent.

Now if you really want to use the RGC (whom I love too), then you almost have to buy the Agent Blaise pack. Not to use him (though you could), but rather for Zillo Technique. That card is unbelievable. It boosts your entire army. Now, if you're playing just for fun, then proxy it. Don't worry about it, I'm sure your friends and house rules are no big deal.

This is a fun list I'd play with:

RGC + Trooper List:

RGC (15 pts)

eStormtroopers (9 pts)

eStromtroopers (9 pts)

Imperial Officer (2 pts)

Imperial Officer (2 pts)
Imperial Officer (2 pts)
Zillo Technique (1 pt)

If you want to spend a little more on expansion packs, you can also do this list:

RGC + Spy List:

RGC (15 pts)
eISB Infiltrator (7 pts)

eISB Infiltrator (7 pts)

Agent Blaise (6 pts)

Imperial Officer (2 pts)
Imperial Officer (2 pts)
Zillo Technique (1 pt)

Those two armies will be sufficient, though play style will vary a little. One will have a Command deck using Trooper cards and the other will be for Spy cards. As stated though, you'll want to use RGC as a person to pick off 1 (or if lucky 2) figure(s). Unless you can manage a 1v1 then you can dash him in and use him straight up. But RGC can go down quickly when focus fired. He's not a "tank"...he's more of a high damage dealer with a bit of hp. So use your ranged figures to pick apart your opponent's figures, use the Imperial Officers to position RGC, and then activate him (last if possible) to move him up to double swing (with Brutality) and then use his 2nd action to run away for 6 pts.

Hope that helps!
~D

As a huge Kir Kanos / Crimson Empire fan myself, he was an auto-buy. We don't play competitive here, just for fun, so I can't speak to tournament lists or anything, but he's always done well when I played him. We've had some epic Chewie/RGC showdowns where they just slug it out and those black/white defense die combos can be really effective at keeping them in the game!

I call him Kir Kanos as well, but SOME people call him Carnor Jax. Sacrilege.

Kir never wears armor like that, his are the traditional robes. The picture for RGC is Carnor, when he's looking to take over as Emperor, post the death of the Palptine clones.

As a huge Kir Kanos / Crimson Empire fan myself, he was an auto-buy. We don't play competitive here, just for fun, so I can't speak to tournament lists or anything, but he's always done well when I played him. We've had some epic Chewie/RGC showdowns where they just slug it out and those black/white defense die combos can be really effective at keeping them in the game!

I call him Kir Kanos as well, but SOME people call him Carnor Jax. Sacrilege.

If you are familiar with both the comics, and the original text on the card, you'd know that it IS Carnor Jax.

Kir never wears armor like that, his are the traditional robes. The picture for RGC is Carnor, when he's looking to take over as Emperor, post the death of the Palptine clones.

IIRC, Kir does wear similar armor but much of the red/black is switched between he and Carnor.

(note: I could be wrong. It's been years since I read the series)

As a person who read the crimson empire series just a couple weeks ago, it is certainly Carnor Jax. Jax wears the black cape and black armor with a red body glove, as does the card for RGC. Kanos wears the traditional royal guard attire with red cape and armor with a black body glove.

I realize the box is Carnor Jax, but you just reverse the colors, more or less and he looks like Kir Kanos, who I prefer.