I finally started my Twin Shadows campaign with some friends at work after-hours. Our fourth Rebel player kept canceling and eventually dropped out officially so we pressed on with three players.

• The first player played both Gideon Argus and MHD-19. He has a background playing Descent.
• The second player played Diala Passil and for this mission also controlled Han Solo. He has played Skirmish mode twice before so knew the basics.
• The third player chose Loku Kanoloa as his hero. He played one skirmish game earlier that month.
• I chose Technilogical Superiority as my Class Deck, and spent my starting XP on Technical Support which seemed appropriate since we all work in IT.

So we're all in a weekly gaming club at work and their experience as general gamers showed in this mission. Here are some highlights:

• Setup: For my special setup I deployed Elite Hired Guns and made a joke about them recognizing Han as the guy that shot their brother. I had standard Hired Guns and standard Trandoshan Hunters as my other two open group choices. (I was going for a bounty hunter theme.)
• Round 1: They decide rushing the objective is the #1 priority. Gideon moves to the safe and gets two surges on his attribute test, then later Han moves there and automatically gets another to unlock it. The other three heros engage stormtroopers and MHD-19 and Loku get shot - a lot.
• Round 2: with the safe open, Han picks up the data chip and runs. Gideon helps him move out of the cantina into the next area. Han gets shot a lot by Hired Guns and Stormtroopers but MHD-19 makes excellent use of Fuel Injection to race over to Han to heal them both up a bit. The Stormtroopers get wiped out. Loku gets shot some more and is almost wounded except that he had bought a combat coat that saved him. I don't deploy because at this point the green deployment points are well behind the action, and anyone deployed there will have trouble getting LOS for a shot next turn. Plus Boba is coming anyway.
• Round 3: So Boba Fett has just swooped onto the scene, and the players respond by moving MHD-19 over to open the docking bay doors. Half of us groaned at this and I offered to let them take it back but they stuck with it as I started dropping more Imperials onto the table. Boba Fett flies into Han's face and knocks his health down to practically nothing and I'm feeling pretty confident, until the players start counting spaces and realize they can win this if they can end the round with Han alive and four spaces from the terminal. So they do.
  • Diala Force Throws Boba away from Han so the Strain from Battle Presence won't kill Han when he moves.
  • A Hired Gun moves in to kill Han, and Han rolls a Dodge, so then Return Fire triggers and Han kills the Hired Gun, and then Parting Shot triggers but Han rolls another Dodge. I know some people hate the Dodge, but this was an epic moment and it was cool seeing Han be awesome in action.
  • MHD-19 then used Fuel Injection to move into the spot and block LOS for the 2nd Hired Gun (and the stormtroopers and officer), who sat there pouting and had to settle for a couple damage on MHD-19 instead.
  • At the very end, Gideon was able to move Han close enough that the Rebels could auto-win at the beginning of round 4, even with a wall of stormtroopers in the way.

After-Action thoughts: Diala, Gideon, and MHD-19 are a brutal combination for "move one character safely from here to there" missions, but I wonder how they will fair next mission when their job is to kill off a target with extra health and eat through the chumps blocking LOS. Loku was a great damage sink, but that may have been due to the armor. His tokens did provide the necessary extra damage to kill off a couple of models, but I think he'll be more important in the next mission, especially since he took Combat Spotter.

Current Setup going into mission 2: Past Life Enemies

• Diala: Plastell Staff (starting weapon) with Extended Haft, Shadowsilk Cloak, Force Throw, Dancing Weapon
• Gideon: Holdout Blaster (Starting Weapon), Called Shot, Air of Command
• MHD-19: Sidearm Blaster (starting Weapon), Armored Guantlets, Fuel Injection, Bacta Injector
• Loku: 434 "Deathhammer" with Tactical Display, Combat Coat, Spectrum Scanner, Combat Spotter
• 450 Credits remaining (they went back and forth about taking the VirboAxe, but I guess chose not to.
• Imperial Class (Technilogical Superiority): Experimental Arms (starting), Technical Support
• Agenda card: Interrogation Protocol (I'll probably be bringing in HKs to take advantage of Technical Support, so this has good synergy)

I have 4 XP left to spend and am considering Superior Augments just to have it early but Arc Blasters is of course amazing. If I wanted to pick something that would be relevant to keeping Somos alive next mission Cloaking Device and Failsafe are both solid too - Argh, too many choices!

So I turn to the community for help. What class cards do you think I should prioritize? (actually, I see a thread just opened for this exact question, perfect timing!)

Also, any opinions on which of the two final Twin Shadows missions is the easiest for the heros?

Thanks!

I believe whoever wins canyon run has the slightly easier mission from reading them but I can't say for certain.

But even if rebels win, the finale is still very close

I always go for tech support then cloaking then sup aug. Cloaking is brutal on eST groups. Arc is not dependable for stun. Or you could go for adaptive weapons and just shoot the rebels harder. Never tried that one

anyways, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the choices. Also don't worry about beating down the rebels, TS is pretty balanced and a good IP can leverage the later maps well

4 hours ago, frotes said:

I believe whoever wins canyon run has the slightly easier mission from reading them but I can't say for certain.

Eh... I'm not sure. I kind of stomped the Rebels in the Finale of this campaign and they had won all previous missions (Canyon Run was really tight coming down to their last action). That said though, I got a lucky dodge against an attack that could have completely turned it in their favor, if the attack had hit Fenn would have killed/stunned/severely damaged a lot of freshly spawned units with Havoc Shot.

Gideon and MH-D is a lot of support. I don't know if that'll work out later- but my groups have never gone with more than 1 support oriented character, maybe it's a decent strategy.

11 hours ago, Uninvited Guest said:

Eh... I'm not sure. I kind of stomped the Rebels in the Finale of this campaign and they had won all previous missions (Canyon Run was really tight coming down to their last action). That said though, I got a lucky dodge against an attack that could have completely turned it in their favor, if the attack had hit Fenn would have killed/stunned/severely damaged a lot of freshly spawned units with Havoc Shot.

Look at the other mission then, it seems tougher. I think the finale after the rebels win canyon run is pretty balanced and very tight

17 minutes ago, subtrendy said:

Gideon and MH-D is a lot of support. I don't know if that'll work out later- but my groups have never gone with more than 1 support oriented character, maybe it's a decent strategy.

Gideon enables 2 attacks from masterstroke so you aren't really giving up firepower by taking him. It's almost the same as 3 dps characters and MHD except Gideon also provides other things

1 hour ago, frotes said:

Gideon enables 2 attacks from masterstroke so you aren't really giving up firepower by taking him. It's almost the same as 3 dps characters and MHD except Gideon also provides other things

I agree, but I think MHD is better as a semi-support than Gideon is. Unless you're going for a Hammer and Anvil build, but I've never heard of anyone actually doing that. Gideon tends to attack as an occasional potshot, MHD's ability to get a focused attack in every other turn lets him hit a little harder. (Heh heh, I just noticed their Gideon didn't take Masterstroke)

18 hours ago, LegoMech said:

Current Setup going into mission 2: Past Life Enemies

• Diala: Plastell Staff (starting weapon) with Extended Haft, Shadowsilk Cloak, Force Throw, Dancing Weapon
• Gideon: Holdout Blaster (Starting Weapon), Called Shot, Air of Command
• MHD-19: Sidearm Blaster (starting Weapon), Armored Guantlets, Fuel Injection, Bacta Injector
• Loku: 434 "Deathhammer" with Tactical Display, Combat Coat, Spectrum Scanner, Combat Spotter
• 450 Credits remaining (they went back and forth about taking the VirboAxe, but I guess chose not to.
• Imperial Class (Technilogical Superiority): Experimental Arms (starting), Technical Support
• Agenda card: Interrogation Protocol (I'll probably be bringing in HKs to take advantage of Technical Support, so this has good synergy)

I have 4 XP left to spend and am considering Superior Augments just to have it early but Arc Blasters is of course amazing. If I wanted to pick something that would be relevant to keeping Somos alive next mission Cloaking Device and Failsafe are both solid too - Argh, too many choices!

Hmm... I would recommend getting one more attachment in before getting Superior Augments, even if it's just Jetpacks. Unless you plan on using a unit that can make really good use of that surge (Royal Guards maybe). Arc Blasters actually wouldn't be too bad against this group of heroes... MHD and Loku only have a blue die for their Strength test (33% chance to pass) and Diala and Gideon have blue-green (about 66%).

18 hours ago, LegoMech said:

I wonder how they will fair next mission when their job is to kill off a target with extra health and eat through the chumps blocking LOS.

Loku's got Combat Spotter. No one's blocking LOS to Somos once he's tagged.

4 hours ago, Uninvited Guest said:

Loku's got Combat Spotter. No one's blocking LOS to Somos once he's tagged.

Yeah, I'm actually really happy he took that. The Loku player was feeling a bit down after last game, as everyone else had a skill crucial to their success and he could have been any generic bum and been just as effective. This next mission he'll be the one with the critical skill they need, and whether they win or not I'm sure he'll feel more value in his character choice.

2 hours ago, LegoMech said:

Yeah, I'm actually really happy he took that. The Loku player was feeling a bit down after last game, as everyone else had a skill crucial to their success and he could have been any generic bum and been just as effective. This next mission he'll be the one with the critical skill they need, and whether they win or not I'm sure he'll feel more value in his character choice.

When I have it from characters like Vinto or there is an item that gives it, I've never once used it. Line of sight is very generous in IA and with heroes able to strain move if necessary, it is so rarely an issue I place it's value at nothing, so I've never taken it for Loku and never missed not having it.

In this case though the mission map favors hiding Somos. You get placed in a spot where Somos can start with LOS blocked by Stormtroopers and just use his special ability to let them attack more without moving. Then as they kill Stormtroopers I want to drop HKs who will use Tech Support to keep healing Somos. I think I'm going to pick the Cloaking Device and hold it for Somos so he can defend with two dice.

My biggest issue is going to be Diala Force Throwing his human shields out of the way. I don't claim to be an expert and this is my first time playing campaign mode, so we'll see how it goes. I'll post an update after the next mission which is scheduled for Monday the 27th and let everyone know how it worked out.

15 hours ago, Union said:

When I have it from characters like Vinto or there is an item that gives it, I've never once used it. Line of sight is very generous in IA and with heroes able to strain move if necessary, it is so rarely an issue I place it's value at nothing, so I've never taken it for Loku and never missed not having it.

Missions with narrow corridors where the goal is to kill one character (like the one he's going into) LOS is easy to prevent. It should make a difference in this case.

It also makes Jyn's Quick Draw usable if you intend saving it for a specific target. Now, that's not really applicable in this case but the point is that it has some good applications.

1 hour ago, Uninvited Guest said:

Missions with narrow corridors where the goal is to kill one character (like the one he's going into) LOS is easy to prevent. It should make a difference in this case.

Somos just steps around the corner, exactly like he would without Combat Spotter because 3 storm troopers becomes 0 storm troopers after 1 hero's activation. I've played it a few times, it's not going to help unless the Imperial Player intentionally lets it with bad positioning.

I'm very sad as I posted a whole long writeup of our 2nd mission and now it appears to be gone. I will try again but this one will be a lot briefer due to frustration.

My plan was to use Cloaking Device on Somos to boost his defense, then surround him with droids using Tech Support to heal him 9 damage per round. This didn't work out for the following reasons:

1) The white die from Cloaking Device was never that useful. Zero dodges rolled. A few blanks rolled. Getting even a single dodge would have changed the outcome, but it was not to be.

2) I'm an idiot, and after reviewing the scenario a dozen times beforehand only during the actual game itself do I realize that THE RED POINT NEVER GOES ACTIVE. Which meant my droid reinforcements were dropped on the wrong side of the Rebels and my whole healing plan went right out the window.

What I did right:

1) My special deployment was ISB Agents with Experimental Weapons and on my very first activation I dealt 11 damage to Loku. If he hadn't bought that armor he would have been wounded, and as it was he immediately had to retreat and heal up. In fact, three of the heros never left their starting position for the first two turns, and for a minute it looked like I'd have them pinned down all game.

2) Wounded Diala, removing the threat of her using Precise Strike to negate the Cloaking Device. She did get one attack on Somos before he wounded her, but it was only for a couple damage. (Of course, the white die failed me after this, but at least I could count on having it available)

3) Played my secret Agenda card at just the right time. Gideon had been giving Loku extra attacks, so when my HK droids couldn't reach Loku around the corner I focused on taking out his extra attack by attacking Gideon. Poor Gideon wound up Stunned, Bleeding, Weakened, maxed on strain, and 1 damage away from death. I couldn't finish him off, but it definitely tied him up for a while dealing with all that, so mission accomplished there.

What the Rebels did right:

1) Buy Loku a Deathhammer with Tactical Display for the free surge. Holy crap he was a wrecking machine. Gideon using Called Shot on him a lot helped too.

2) Buy Loku's Combat Spotter ability. It didn't matter that I had him walled in by Tusken Raiders and Stormtroopers, he got LOS to Somos and it didn't take long after that, even with the extra Health and white die for defense.

3) Force throw C-3P0 around. It was pretty hilarious, but they correctly assumed if they activated 3P0 I would just blow him away, so they used Force Throw to toss his small neutral figure towards the door, and timed activating him so that he'd get a chance to open it before I killed him. Very clever! Also, allowed me to quote his ROTJ "what magic" bit from the Ewok camp.

4) MHD-19 was the unsung hero, keeping everyone alive. I was incredibly close to wounding all of them but he undid much of my work quickly.

5) Focus on buying armor and abilities that boost Health. Three of the Rebels still have their starting weapons, but Combat Coat and Air of Command made the difference for both Loku and Gideon to avoid being wounded.

Next up: Canyon Run, where I plan on dropping a Bantha Rider on the path as my special deployment and using the pre-placed Probe Droid to keep healing him. We'll see how that plan goes.

Neutral figures cannot be affected by game effects other than as specified by the mission rules. (i.e. no Force Throw. )

12 minutes ago, a1bert said:

Neutral figures cannot be affected by game effects other than as specified by the mission rules. (i.e. no Force Throw. )

Okay, good to know, thanks! I know the force throw card says it only damages hostile figures, so I took that to mean friendly and neutral figures are not damaged by it. It never occurred to me to check if neutral figures could even be targeted by it.

I'm not sure how much difference it made though. They won on turn 6, and if it took them an extra round to get through the door they probably would have finished wiping out all my outside troops at that point. Around that time they had me down to four figures - when the doors opened and the Tuskens came in I deployed two groups and suddenly was sitting on an overwhelming # of deployment cards and models. If they had waited 1 turn and those deployments were staggered it may actually have wound up helping them instead.

cloaking is best used on ST groups because multiple figures are getting the extra die bonus. Makes regular ST risky to attack late game because of the dreaded dodge and is very effective if there is not much cleaving possible

cloaking on eST makes them extremely tough and almost impossible to remove a whole group before reinforcements are possible