Ok so I've been watching a lot of imperial assault lately on YouTube, and I've seen several lists that contained sorrin (spelling that right? On lunch right now don't have cards in front of me) and an army of probe droids. Now, they have quite a bit of activations, but these lists lack activations with multiple figures. I was wondering, why not use hk droid's? They have less hp, and can't regen. But they have that nifty ability to reroll your opponents dice so white die are so frustrating. And rolling 2 blues and a yellow (as opposed to 2 yellows and a blue) they have less surges but better accuracy. Too many surges, and they go to waste. But greater accuracy, you can stay back away from the enemy figures easier and therefore don't have to worry about your low hp or lack of regen. And with multiple figures to a group, it makes it easier to take things out before they activate. Just my thoughts. So am I missing something? Why do I see probe droids swarms but no hks being used?

Personally, I'd totally want to use HKs in that squad. Elite Probes are definitely worth using (great surges too), but I've never found the Regular Probes to do quite enough. I've used the Regular HKs a lot and I think they're great.

I've run Sorin and comms with two sets of hks, two eprobes, one regular probe, and zillo. It's good. Lots of fun. It is nice to get two attacks in a row. I haven't done the regular probe swarm mainly because I only have four probe droids. Technically hks are more expensive, you do get some benefits, but running lots of probes and officers could give you a lot of activations which may be advantageous even when your opponent passes. Not sure if I'd like it more or not though. I felt having six activations was doing fine.

Yeah, I agree. I would definitely want some HKs for that list. I haven't played with or against only probe droids before, so I can't really speak to how it would play, but the HKs are definitely a good fit for this list and greatly benefit from the focus.

-ryanjamal

I've run Sorin and comms with two sets of hks, two eprobes, one regular probe, and zillo. It's good. Lots of fun. It is nice to get two attacks in a row. I haven't done the regular probe swarm mainly because I only have four probe droids. Technically hks are more expensive, you do get some benefits, but running lots of probes and officers could give you a lot of activations which may be advantageous even when your opponent passes. Not sure if I'd like it more or not though. I felt having six activations was doing fine.

Heh. Out of curiousity, how did you get to *four* probe droids? O.o

I'm probably the guy you watched mate, there are various reasons why I prefer the regular probe and most others will run hk's but I stand by my choice.

First of all it's not a straight up trade, for those 4 hk I can buy 4 probe droids, two officers, and end on 39pts so I get initiative second round...

Secondly, instead of bby they're rolling byy,when I was testing with hk I just wasn't getting enough surges (I consistently want 2 and can use up to 6)

Thirdly people massively underestimate the grenadier option, I've 4 throw away droids that are able to take a hit or two then double move to something and blow themselves up for a red die damage in the same way as a grenadier.

Generally turn 2 will be clinch, my 2 probe droids will be my priority and hit hard before getting out of the way, then by the time my opponent is out I've normally got a couple of officers and droids left, those can then have their way with the opponent, either finishing things off or officer then double move explode if there's good value in it.

I'm not saying the hk version isn't a good option too, they're great of course, but in my testing I found the probes to work better for me.

It's worth noting most people who generally disagree haven't played 30+ games with the list and taken it to the semi finals of a nationals tournament.

Having said that, I'm likely to change my list to her troopers with Vader's Finest once jabbas realm is out

Hope that explains my thinking anyway,

Rich

Hks are absolutely amazing with Sorin, but they play slightly differently than Sorin with Probes Droids, or Sorin with vehicles. The reason that you don't see the HKs and Sorin in videos is probably because there are not many people out there recording videos of their games and then posting them online. One of my favorite lists to play is:

Sorin

Advanced Comms,

2 rHKs,

2 rStormtroopers,

Imp officer or Zillo&rule by fear

Its a great list with a surprising amount of flexibility, although it can tend to move slowly or camp/control a section of the map. Sorin and the Droids hit very hard and the troopers are good for terminals, objectives, okay damage, or ablative meatbags to protect your droids. With those HKs you can take advantage of some juicy command cards: Primary Target, Price on Their Heads, In the Shadows, Tough Luck and Wild Attack to truly dishearten your opponent. I personally like the extra officer over zillo/rule by fear for the occasional new orders, terminal camp, extra activation, and movement.

I have also had a lot of fun with Sorin and Probe Droids, these guys tend to be a little bit more aggressive due to the shorter attack range compared to the HKs. Elite probe droids can never be ignored, but regulars are pretty good if people aren't shooting their arms out from underneath them. Their attack most of the time isn't terrible(we have all had the 3 surge attack), and the ability to charge in and detonate can be devastating. Its funny, I usually don't see people worry about or think about that ability until it happens to them when 2-3 of their figures are low health. Hopefully someday we will have more droid command cards that might make them even more viable.

Also thanks for posting up the videos that you do Royal, we appreciate them.

Thanks Helios, always happy to get some feedback

Haven't considered using Sorin alongside troopers, I've always thought you have to really spam the droids to get the most out of him because he's not cheap. Sounds interesting though!

Unfortunately regular troopers are too often ignored, and get a bad reputation because they die quickly. They do everything moderately well: 4 movement, usually 3-4 damage on a shot(with re-roll), 3 figures per card, have great command cards, and die horribly if you stare at them too hard. I have been getting away with way too many shenanigans with them when I mix them in with a set of elite troopers. Opponents assume I'm coming at them with Elites or refrain shooting at them because they think that they are elites.

4 Droids is more than enough for Sorin to sit back and laugh and occasionally point out a target. The above list will probably only get better with jet troopers, but I haven't played around with it yet as I'm waiting to see what some of the command cards will be.

Unfortunately regular troopers are too often ignored, and get a bad reputation because they die quickly. They do everything moderately well: 4 movement, usually 3-4 damage on a shot(with re-roll), 3 figures per card, have great command cards, and die horribly if you stare at them too hard. I have been getting away with way too many shenanigans with them when I mix them in with a set of elite troopers. Opponents assume I'm coming at them with Elites or refrain shooting at them because they think that they are elites.

4 Droids is more than enough for Sorin to sit back and laugh and occasionally point out a target. The above list will probably only get better with jet troopers, but I haven't played around with it yet as I'm waiting to see what some of the command cards will be.

The mind games! I like it. I think there's a lot more psychological aspects to tactical games like this than people tend to think; intimidation, bluffing and misdirection can be used even when you're just using cards and dice...

I'm probably the guy you watched mate, there are various reasons why I prefer the regular probe and most others will run hk's but I stand by my choice.

First of all it's not a straight up trade, for those 4 hk I can buy 4 probe droids, two officers, and end on 39pts so I get initiative second round...

Secondly, instead of bby they're rolling byy,when I was testing with hk I just wasn't getting enough surges (I consistently want 2 and can use up to 6)

Thirdly people massively underestimate the grenadier option, I've 4 throw away droids that are able to take a hit or two then double move to something and blow themselves up for a red die damage in the same way as a grenadier.

Generally turn 2 will be clinch, my 2 probe droids will be my priority and hit hard before getting out of the way, then by the time my opponent is out I've normally got a couple of officers and droids left, those can then have their way with the opponent, either finishing things off or officer then double move explode if there's good value in it.

I'm not saying the hk version isn't a good option too, they're great of course, but in my testing I found the probes to work better for me.

It's worth noting most people who generally disagree haven't played 30+ games with the list and taken it to the semi finals of a nationals tournament.

Having said that, I'm likely to change my list to her troopers with Vader's Finest once jabbas realm is out

Hope that explains my thinking anyway,

Rich

Even without Sorin, it's amazing the amount of damage the Probes can do in one shot, especially the Elites. And in your video you really took advantage of the Blast 1 from Bombardment; it seems like your opponent underestimated that sometimes.

yea we chatted about it afterwards and he's played against Sorin enough to not have made that mistake really, silly sod

I've run Sorin and comms with two sets of hks, two eprobes, one regular probe, and zillo. It's good. Lots of fun. It is nice to get two attacks in a row. I haven't done the regular probe swarm mainly because I only have four probe droids. Technically hks are more expensive, you do get some benefits, but running lots of probes and officers could give you a lot of activations which may be advantageous even when your opponent passes. Not sure if I'd like it more or not though. I felt having six activations was doing fine.

Heh. Out of curiousity, how did you get to *four* probe droids? O.o

I bought two core sets way back. Sold the mini's of two without the cards. Didn't think I'd need to run six probes but wanted the ability to run four regs or two elites at least. Did the same with officers lol.

Australian Nationals had 3 or 4 Sorin lists out of 24 players.

6 focused probe droids are terrifying. At that point it doesn't much matter if they are regular or elite. The elite ones just live longer.

Forget about any melee units.... there's so much stun around that you won't hit anything.

And don't forget about the recover all probe droids have. That's a big deal and with the non-stop focus, they get plenty of surges to stay topped up. It's incredibly annoying to try punching through 7 health + black dice + recover 2 + Zillo.

I also think we might see even more Sorin when the jet troopers come out.

One of the guys i play with LOVES driods, and seeing him play it makes me curious, however, he still hasnt found the right mix of position, cards, etc. to win. Even with that said he has nuts turns that change things and im like dafuq!!!

I find sorin lists are very strong but they can snowball very quickly. If you lose one or two droids... your power falls dramatically. If you lose sorin, it's all over.

On the other hand if you loose one character from a rebel team or a few troopers, it's usually not as bad.

I had a horrible game against a sorin list at nationals where my opponent rolled nothing by 2 and 3 blocks and with zillo, I kept leaving everything on 1 health. Just rolled bad and couldn't push the damage through. That list annihilated me because every time a focused droid attacked, it killed something. Had I been able to just get 1 more damage through in a few different attacks, his list would have crumbled.

Bottom line is, it's a strong list, but difficult to play and can be quite susceptible to mistakes. It's certainly not "new player" friendly.

I find sorin lists are very strong but they can snowball very quickly. If you lose one or two droids... your power falls dramatically. If you lose sorin, it's all over.

On the other hand if you loose one character from a rebel team or a few troopers, it's usually not as bad.

I had a horrible game against a sorin list at nationals where my opponent rolled nothing by 2 and 3 blocks and with zillo, I kept leaving everything on 1 health. Just rolled bad and couldn't push the damage through. That list annihilated me because every time a focused droid attacked, it killed something. Had I been able to just get 1 more damage through in a few different attacks, his list would have crumbled.

Bottom line is, it's a strong list, but difficult to play and can be quite susceptible to mistakes. It's certainly not "new player" friendly.

Agreed

Yea true, agreed it's not a very forgiving list as if you leave Sorin open early on, you just lose.

I'm happy to lose him on round 3 though and often deliberately use him as bait at that point, the damage is done and his focus likely won't make a big difference round 4, a lot of the time it's not a big deal to lose him once everything is focussed and you've done the initial damage.

I've played Sorin with Com, 6 Probes and some r+e Officers. I had the feeling, that I don't have enough bodies and attacks. But man, do they hit hard!

I've played Sorin with Com, 6 Probes and some r+e Officers. I had the feeling, that I don't have enough bodies and attacks. But man, do they hit hard!

I think the ability to get health back in the probe droids does make the list feel a little bigger than it really is.

I'm probably the guy you watched mate

...when gods walk among mere mortals Ermergerd dude! I absolutely love your games! Long story short, I've got mental problems, I calm down by playing games with friends, but my truck and games have been stolen. I watch the **** out of you tube games now to help me out and your channel has been by far my favorite for imperial assault. So just wanted to so thanks, and looking forward to more (sadly I've watched em all already lol)

@Beard: Check https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/223210-imperial-assault-skirmish-video-battle-reports/

Hah I dunno about that mate, Chuffed you like the games though and glad it's helping you through bud.

Sucks to have lost your stuff for x-wing mate.

Been a week or so since I've filmed but looking at getting some games on Thursday/Friday so hopefully have more for you by the weekend

I've played Sorin with Com, 6 Probes and some r+e Officers. I had the feeling, that I don't have enough bodies and attacks. But man, do they hit hard!

So you have 9 activations but felt you don't have enough bodies/attacks? and you said 6 probes I though you can only have 2 copies of a non unique in the list?

2 elite, 4 regular I assume Koopa, that's how I normally run Sorin

2 Elite / 4 Regular

*edit* Ninja'd by Rich