This is a battle report for the NJ Regional on Saturday Jan 7. I’m splitting this post into 2 parts because it was getting pretty long. This first post focusses on preparation, my list, and my thoughts on some of the new units. The next part will focus on the matches and I'll have that out by tomorrow.
First off the list I settled on:
Luke’s Finest:
Jedi Luke (12 pts)
Elite Alliance Rangers (12 pts)
Elite Echo Base Troopers (8 pts)
Gideon (3 pts)
R2-D2 (3 pts)
C-3P0 (2 pts)
Super Snipers
I play tested the new Jabba stuff with Kody, the Regional Champ from the Rockville MD tournament, and most of the credit for coming up with this list goes to him. We figured we’d see a lot of scum lists based on how awesome the Rancor is and the quality of the EWeequay Pirates. In order to counter those units we looked at the elite rangers. They have an insane amount of range, consistent damage and become hidden when they get a kill. I was taking shots at 8 accuracy and forgetting to count because it's basically an auto-hit if they're focused. 12 range is certainly not out of the question. 2 rerolls gives you a consistent 6-7 damage. (rules note, you can only get 1 reroll per die, can't reroll the same die twice). 5 health, black die units (looking at you Stormtroopers) absolutely melt to these guys.
After they start getting their focused kills in ROUND 1, they become even stronger with the extra surge from hidden. The command cards they can use are BOSS. Assassinate (hunter): Use during your attack for +3 damage= So good. Call the Vanguard (use at the beginning of a round. A trooper of cost 4+ may perform a move AND an attack) enough said.
Elite Ranger Prime Matchups:
- Regular alliance rangers (1 hit every time, thanks for the hidden condition)
- Elite Stormtroopers (Want to waste Zillow on my inherent +1 pierce? Fine by me)
- Rancor (black die might as well be no die)
- Jabba (if you're not completely tucked away you're an easy target)
- Captain Terro (Rangers dont need to group up at all, they are lone wolves and can kill terro in 3-4 hits. I killed him in 2 focussed hits once with god rolls)
- Anything with less than 5 health (thanks for the hidden condition)
- Anything that can't close the gap (happy to sit back and pick you off)
Elite Ranger counters:
E Jet Troopers w/ targeting computer (Zillow to add +1 block and converting it to an evade is amazing, these guys took 3+ attacks to kill and deal great damage with three dice and targeting computer attached for a reroll. They have no problem getting in your face so you don't get your rerolls)
E Echo Base Troopers (Ignore pierce 1 and 8 health means 2-3 hits to kill)
Bantha/Onar, High health, no defense units (I didn’t face any typical bantha lists, but that type of unit negates the auto pierce 1 and the surge for pierce one, so limits the max damage output a bit. Getting in close eliminates your ability to reroll. Onar seems really good, being able to charge in, hit hard, and give himself a surge cancel when optimal, but I didn’t play against him either.)
The first list we tried was:
eRangers
2xeEBTs
Obi-Wan
Gideon
3PO
This list seemed really strong, with 6 activations and 74 health. The only problem was the Echos really benefit from focus and there wasn’t enough to go around. Without focus and no rerolls, their attack is just ok. Against the Rancor they might as well not even attack. In play testing we mostly just used them for objectives, but 2 sets is a bit of overkill for that and I’d rather have more damage to pair with the already formidable Rangers. Enter Jedi Luke.
Luke’s Finest
For 12 points you get a unit with 16 health, basically 3 actions, built in +1 damage, a built in evade plus white die and a 3 dice attack that you can use twice… not to mention a command card that single handedly wins you the game. In play testing, Jedi Luke was an absolute terror to deal with. I found you want to play conservative with him until your rangers can pick off some units and then rush him in to clean up around the end of round 2. If he’s healthy late in the game he can easily win all by himself. It’s impossible to run from him. His damage floor is a bit disappointing with GBY + 1 but his ceiling is legit and 2 attacks gives you plenty of consistency.
We sacked one of the EBT groups and Obi for Jedi Luke and R2. R2 actually does really well on the ISB map, scomping round 1. On Leia’s map he’s ok, just sitting alone at the top of the map. Not great on the Bantha map, but still he is at least a distraction. Any attacks against R2 are in my opinion wasted attacks. 6 health with a white die and 1/3 chance for evade is plenty tanky. So now our list was:
Luke’s Finest:
Jedi Luke (12 pts)
Elite Alliance Rangers (12 pts)
Elite Echo Base Troopers (8 pts)
Gideon (3 pts)
R2-D2 (3 pts)
C-3P0 (2 pts)
Luke's Finest Strategy
The trick with this list is baiting your opponent into targeting the Echos. It’s easy to accomplish this. Round 1 you leave one of your echos open to an attack (preferably a non-lethal one), near the end of the round but before the Rangers have activated. On the ISB map it was one just hanging out after it opened the door (don’t block LOS for your Rangers), on Bantha’s it was usually in the long hallway, on Leia’s usually down by the objectives. Once one of your Echos is damaged, you have to lure your opponent into dangerous positions by tempting them to finish off your Echo group. At the end of Round 2 your echos should be dead, but the amount of damage you’ve done with Luke and the Rangers will more than make up for it. You’ll find yourself with a healthy Luke and 2-3 Rangers left, while your opponents list has disappeared. Cleaning up from there is easy work.
For command cards I actually was not running grenadier. The rangers don’t get close enough to use it and the EBTs generally didn’t survive long enough. Instead I was running Assassinate which gives you +3 damage on the rangers, giving you a maximum attack of 11 damage and 1 pierce if hidden and focused. Ouch. Also you don’t have to use it until you can see all the dice results so you don’t have to use it if you don’t need it. The new card Positioning Advantage is also a must add to any list in my opinion. +1 dmg for 0 cost and it can be used by any figure, which means no more units getting away with 1 health to go hide in the corner. Call the Vanguard is another must have addition for any list with Erangers. You can use it with the Echos also, which can come in handy for finishing off wounded units that are out of sight of the rangers. Heightened Reflexes comes in handy for getting rid of those pesky white dice, and you can use it AFTER the opponent rolls, so save it for those dodges. Some of the other hunter cards are worth a look, but I decided not to run them including: Tools for the job which gives you damage but is a lot less consistent than Assassinate and Glory of the Kill which can heal your snipers but they really weren’t taking too much damage hiding in the deployment zone. Kody’s command deck was a little different than mine and I think he may have picked those cards. The rest of my deck was pretty self explanatory with the game over card Son of Skywalker (which I only drew twice at the tournament unfortunately), Force Surge, Force Rush, Urgency, Planning, Negation, Take initiative, etc. I also included Camouflage because the Snipers really benefit from that extra surge and you can sometimes cause a miss with it.
Now it was time to put the list to the real test. After a 3 hour drive through the snow up to Trotta’s hobbies in NJ, Kody and I both running Luke’s Finest, we entered the fray.