Rebel High Command - January 12 Rules Update

By theaficionado, in Imperial Assault Skirmish

Posted at

Nice, concise write up.

I think it's hard to say what sort of impact this will have.
I like the points per figure cost ruling in general, I'm not a huge fan of the reinforcements nerf.

On one hand, it's good you can't run away and deny points anymore (though of course you still can with expensive single figures who are close to dying). And it was a bit silly that every trooper deck is guaranteed to have 2x Reinforcements and Grenadier. Between that and Negation, it's half of your command deck already sorted.
It's also nice that people will no longer have to take (or hold onto) Comm Disruption just to cancel Reinforcements. Not always the case, but a very common use for it.

On the other hand, point denial was an interesting tactic, not always fun to play with/against but it was another strategic layer to the game. Using troopers as shields or as bait was a large part of their flexibility. Now they seem to be more about rolling that (admittedly) decent attack and little else. There was a certain charm to having waves of disposable stormtroopers. Yes they were strong, but I feel there could have been other ways to fix that.

I hope these changes don't just devolve the game into a big messy firefight. I liked that movement and positioning was equally if not more important than dice rolls. I hope this doesn't negatively effect strategic depth. It seems like it may remove some strategy from over there, and add some over here.

As for the wider effect? It stands to reason that single figure groups and characters will become better in comparison, however, I do feel that some might now be too strong because of this. Already excellent characters like Bossk, Terro, Jedi Luke, Vinto etc... get even better now that they can contribute VPs quicker and easier.

I think the last few waves introduced a lot of anti-trooper stuff. Lots of cleave and Jabba's Nefarious Gains to name a few. We haven't had a chance to see how those changes were going to affect the trooper heavy meta. And now more changes were dropped. It's strange to make so many drastic changes so soon after a whole new release wave. I hope they didn't go to far.

Posted at

Thanks for the write up.

Denial of running away the last guy in a group was a non-fun experience, even for the me when I was playing Troopers and running away!

I think Troopers are still a good type, after all Grenades and Reinforcements are still great cards, as is 'Call the Vanguard'. Besides they're the only unit type where you can get 3 separate attacks in 1 activation which is really great as you can divide it up however works best. (I guess the forthcoming BT-1 can do this too but with less flexibility)

Edited by nickv2002
fix spacing
Posted at

Do you think cards like Emergency Aid (I've always liked to take it in my Hero lists) or Glory of the Kill will become more prevalent? If the lower level regular troops become less common (less health, easier kills compared to 7-8health elite figures) wouldn't a similar strategy be to try to keep your figures alive longer or heal them to get more life out of them?

I feel like the amount of damage that can be done across the board has risen. Elite Stormtrooper with reroll would average 4-5dmg, but the single figures like Bossk, Jedi Luke, Shyla, Obiwan, etc, seem quite capable of 6-8 on a regular basis.

Posted at

Do you think cards like Emergency Aid (I've always liked to take it in my Hero lists) or Glory of the Kill will become more prevalent? If the lower level regular troops become less common (less health, easier kills compared to 7-8health elite figures) wouldn't a similar strategy be to try to keep your figures alive longer or heal them to get more life out of them?

I feel like the amount of damage that can be done across the board has risen. Elite Stormtrooper with reroll would average 4-5dmg, but the single figures like Bossk, Jedi Luke, Shyla, Obiwan, etc, seem quite capable of 6-8 on a regular basis.

Glory of the Kill

Emergency Aid is fine but you really want cheap leaders (read Regular Imperial Officers and Gideon (sort-of)) to use it optimally because it requires an action. It's 2 points which is is probably a point more than it would cost if it had been printed more recently.

Edited by nickv2002
Posted at

On one hand, it's good you can't run away and deny points anymore

I never really saw the problem with the last surviving model in a group running away.

If I do 10 wounds to Jedi Luke, I score zero points as he has 15 wounds.

If I do 10 wounds to two Elite Stormtroopers, I score zero points as they have 5 wounds each but three models in the group.

Why is one of these things un-fun, game-breaking, unrealistic or whatever the criticism is, and the other isn't? Why did one of these things need to change to score 6 points, and the other remain unchanged? Should we score points based on wounds instead? I don't really see why. Isn't reducing the effectiveness of the eTrooper squad by two thirds a reward in its own right, while Luke remains able to operate at full capacity even though you've nearly killed him? If one Trooper can hide to deny VPs, can't Luke do the same?

I mean, it's not the end of the world, I'm not wildly upset about it, I just don't really see what the need was for the change. Though the disastrous way in which the change has been communicated has probably soured my view somewhat.

(In before the usual accusations: sometimes I'll play trooper lists, but I'll also play hero lists, all-Jedi lists, double-Bantha lists, even a double-AT-ST list which I really enjoy for giggles. I'm not personally negatively affected or angry about the change, just baffled about it. Imperial Officers needed nerfing - they were single-handedly ruining competitive play. Was scoring based on cards not models doing the same? I hardly think so).

I think the last few waves introduced a lot of anti-trooper stuff. Lots of cleave and Jabba's Nefarious Gains to name a few. We haven't had a chance to see how those changes were going to affect the trooper heavy meta. And now more changes were dropped. It's strange to make so many drastic changes so soon after a whole new release wave. I hope they didn't go to far.

Yeah, this is baffling too. Right after a bunch of things were introduced that would probably change the meta, they forcibly changed the meta. Why? Just seems weird.

Posted at

Yeah, this is baffling too. Right after a bunch of things were introduced that would probably change the meta, they forcibly changed the meta. Why? Just seems weird.

Posted at

Emergency Aid is fine but you really want cheap leaders (read Regular Imperial Officers and Gideon (sort-of)) to use it optimally because it requires an action. It's 2 points which is is probably a point more than it would cost if it had been printed more recently.

I actually trigger this with Wing Guard and Gamorean Guards in Merc lists, maybe Gideon if he's close. But yeah, ImpOfficers are the best at it.

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Yeah, this is baffling too. Right after a bunch of things were introduced that would probably change the meta, they forcibly changed the meta. Why? Just seems weird.

You've got to assume that both were tested well in advance & together though, right?

The Pendulum swingeth

Posted at

On one hand, it's good you can't run away and deny points anymore

I never really saw the problem with the last surviving model in a group running away.

If I do 10 wounds to Jedi Luke, I score zero points as he has 15 wounds.

If I do 10 wounds to two Elite Stormtroopers, I score zero points as they have 5 wounds each but three models in the group.

Why is one of these things un-fun, game-breaking, unrealistic or whatever the criticism is, and the other isn't? Why did one of these things need to change to score 6 points, and the other remain unchanged? Should we score points based on wounds instead? I don't really see why. Isn't reducing the effectiveness of the eTrooper squad by two thirds a reward in its own right, while Luke remains able to operate at full capacity even though you've nearly killed him? If one Trooper can hide to deny VPs, can't Luke do the same?

I mean, it's not the end of the world, I'm not wildly upset about it, I just don't really see what the need was for the change. Though the disastrous way in which the change has been communicated has probably soured my view somewhat.

The difference is that unique characters still have to risk themselves in order to attack at first, making it harder for them to run away. Troopers get to be in three separate positions, making it much more likely that the third can easily run away.

Troopers also often effectively have more health than many uniques, as you will likely be wasting damage on the second or third shot at the same trooper.

Posted at

Do you think cards like Emergency Aid (I've always liked to take it in my Hero lists) or Glory of the Kill will become more prevalent? If the lower level regular troops become less common (less health, easier kills compared to 7-8health elite figures) wouldn't a similar strategy be to try to keep your figures alive longer or heal them to get more life out of them?

I feel like the amount of damage that can be done across the board has risen. Elite Stormtrooper with reroll would average 4-5dmg, but the single figures like Bossk, Jedi Luke, Shyla, Obiwan, etc, seem quite capable of 6-8 on a regular basis.

Glory of the Kill is amazing, as nickv2002 already mentioned. Emergency Aid is okay, but I'm less sure about it.

I am curious to see if trying to time out with unique figures to win will suddenly become a thing. Technically, it could have been a thing before; I don't see why it will suddenly become one now just because Troopers can't do it.

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Since when did we decide emphatically that reinforcements does reward extra points? The most literal interpretation of the new rules still seems to imply otherwise.

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Reinforcements doesn't reward extra points.

However, killing the reinforced unit now very clearly gives you additional points.

You get points for every destroyed figure, and you track extra figures with strain tokens (or paper and pencil, if you know what's best for you).

Posted at

Since when did we decide emphatically that reinforcements does reward extra points? The most literal interpretation of the new rules still seems to imply otherwise.

Since the Rules Document *literally* implies that it does.

From Page 13:

"When a figure is defeated, the opposing player scores victory points equal to that figure’s figure cost (see “Figure Cost” in the “Rules Updates” section of the FAQ)."

Posted at

Reinforcements doesn't reward extra points.

However, killing the reinforced unit now very clearly gives you additional points.

You get points for every destroyed figure, and you track extra figures with strain tokens (or paper and pencil, if you know what's best for you).

That's correct. It's possible that I worded it poorly; it's more that it gives your opponent the opportunity to score more points.

Posted at

Reinforcements doesn't reward extra points.

However, killing the reinforced unit now very clearly gives you additional points.

You get points for every destroyed figure, and you track extra figures with strain tokens (or paper and pencil, if you know what's best for you).

That's correct. It's possible that I worded it poorly; it's more that it gives your opponent the opportunity to score more points.

I was apparently just looking at the text version of the document (the one that they actually link to from the page with all of the updated documents) and it says none of this (strain token etc.). It still leads to the interpretation that your point total is what is currently destroyed. Only the hi-res pdf has it added in (perhaps as a response to the initial debate?). It would be nice if they updated the text version, or changed the link to this one for uniformity.

Edited by bobbywhiskey
Posted at

Yeah, this is baffling too. Right after a bunch of things were introduced that would probably change the meta, they forcibly changed the meta. Why? Just seems weird.

You've got to assume that both were tested well in advance & together though, right?

Someone mentioned knowing a playtester on the facebook group for IA skirmish when talking about these changes. Sounds as though it was tested.

Posted at

Hi everybody!

I'm sorry if this is not the right place to ask.... but would anybody please give a me link to the official rules change announcement / document?