I don't think FFG should ever be allowed to put Biggs in their articles again (unless it is a new pilot/errata/<crew>).

Okay the least interesting ship in the wave (unless a TLT nerf is incoming). On to wave 13 (which isn't acting like the past movie releases in waves 10 and 8)

Except for Fen Rau, he is the Rebel Omega Leader On Steroids THAT CAN TAKE PULSE RAY SHIELDS!!!!

To me, the most interesting thing about Maul is removing stress. Suppose Maul, Dengar, Outlaw Tech on a Trandoshan Slaver. Stall, attack, hit, and clear the stress. Kinda cute. Probably not super impressive, but maybe someone will figure out something interesting to do with him.

He's also an interesting counter to Rebel Captive.

Maul seems decent if you build him with synergy, his ability is flexible. Dengar is probably better in the general case.

1 minute ago, theBitterFig said:

To me, the most interesting thing about Maul is removing stress. Suppose Maul, Dengar, Outlaw Tech on a Trandoshan Slaver. Stall, attack, hit, and clear the stress. Kinda cute. Probably not super impressive, but maybe someone will figure out something interesting to do with him.

He's also an interesting counter to Rebel Captive.

Indeed. I'm trying to work out a good Bwing build with him.

3 minutes ago, Marinealver said:

I don't think FFG should ever be allowed to put Biggs in their articles again (unless it is a new pilot/errata/<crew>).

Okay the least interesting ship in the wave (unless a TLT nerf is incoming). On to wave 13 (which isn't acting like the past movie releases in waves 10 and 8)

The Sheathipede is boring, but I suspect you will see it at a lot of top tables because of the cheap coordinate action.

Just now, HolySorcerer said:

The Sheathipede is boring, but I suspect you will see it at a lot of top tables because of the cheap coordinate action.

Maybe, I don't see too many Upsilons but you could be right about the costs.

Then again you don't need the ghost to bring it out, but I will predict with the VCX there will be more phantom 1 than phantom 2s unless TLT gets hit with the nerfhammer.

Just now, Marinealver said:

Maybe, I don't see too many Upsilons but you could be right about the costs.

Then again you don't need the ghost to bring it out, but I will predict with the VCX there will be more phantom 1 than phantom 2s unless TLT gets hit with the nerfhammer.

Well the Upsilon costs twice as much. Why do the Imperials keep getting support ships that cost so much. There is nothing left to support after you equip even the cheapest Upsilon.

Just now, Rakaydos said:

Indeed. I'm trying to work out a good Bwing build with him.

Ibtisam is interesting, since she'd get two rerolls for the price of one stress. But then you don't really want to clear your stress after attacking, so that part is useless. That does remind me that Maul+Wired is a potential thing.

Keyan+Maul can reroll two dice, spend one to Focus, then hopefully hit to remove the second. Not bad, but what does your action do?

A Rage+Maul could work, but Inspiring Recruit is cheaper. If you're rebels and just clearing stress, Kanan opens up your dial. Ezra+Maul on a VCX seems solid, though.

4 minutes ago, apoapsis said:

Maul seems decent if you build him with synergy, his ability is flexible. Dengar is probably better in the general case.

Also which supports my argument t\earlier that most of the CIS ships should go to Scum if they get released to X-wing.

14 minutes ago, DarkArk said:

As in, just having something to shoot. Which is really all you can ask for in most situations.

Yes, such a marginal benefit that it costs 2 or 4 points on other ships for one. I mean FFS you're the one that goes on about how broken EU is. Now you get both, it doesn't eat up your action so you get one for your attack, and it seriously helps you get attacks in that you wouldn't have otherwise. All above RAC, and you can eject the astro if you want to get rid of the first card he puts on you.

My original point, which you neglected of course, was that this is a ship your opponent has to answer, and does not want to be fighting in the end game. He's got to be just about the cheapest PS11 repositioner in the game now.

I think you misread the card. You can't have something to shoot when using the astro. Range 1-3 is a very large restriction and you will have to do a lot to play around that. Since it's a free action, you also can't trigger it off of k-turns to help the normally stiff jousters out

Also EU isn't broken, EU on large turreted ships is broken. You can't just take things out of context and re-purpose them on ships that are pretty discernibly inferior to the things you're comparing them to

also "a ship your opponent has to answer" is meaningless. Every ship in your squad can be something your opponent has to answer and you can easily build rebel squads consisting of nothing but ships you don't want to be fighting in the late game (it's easy between Dash and Regenerators). Imperials can field lists with 3 of such ships, all more durable and maneuverable than Wedge. Being PS 11 is nice and all, but he's only got a focus to modify his dice with. That isn't going to be scaring anyone anytime soon.

I will admit I came out a bit hard on the astro, as it is useful for its price. Out of all the non-unique astros that exists, I would even call it the most useful (though, admittedly, that's not very high a bar). But thinking that it makes Wedge etc. any better than they were previously is wishful thinking. It's not that good a card (it IS 1 point after all), it takes up a slot populated by a few immensely powerful upgrades (r2-d2, for example) and it doesn't address the ships' fundamental issues of being mathematically inefficient.

It is decent, very okay and probably very fun. But it is not amazing, it is not even terribly note-worthy and will not find a home on any ship until the X-wing is fixed and the Y is made into something other than just a TLT (with optional btl-a4 r3-a2) caddie. You're not going to see it on an ARC (because it shuts off when your aux arc hits an enemy) or the sheath (ditto, but also because the sheath needs r3-a2 to be relevant). You're not going to see it on Poe because he's wedded to regen, and you're not going to see it on the Y because TLT/r3-a2. The ships that can really use it, the X-wings that cannot benefit that much from regen, are well decidedly well below the power-curve and this does not help them that much.

In short, situational but useful card with no real place to call home yet. It does not elevate anything to any particularly amazing (or even very good) level

Don't forget the Ghost interactions!

As a huge Ghost player I'm very stoked for this! A new shuttle I can dock on the Ghost to totally change its role from a double tapping turret ship to a command ship very appropriate to its role in Rebels. And AP is nice and cheap especially as he can launch out the back after a maneuver and then give the Ghost actions on that turn.

But also Chopper is hilarious and I can't wait to strip my ships down to fix their shields. Kind of weird that he is using human Crew parts to repair technology but hey that's our Chopper hahaha

Thinking about the Phantom II title, it seems weak. A Sheathipede is only 3 points cheaper at minimum than an Attack Shuttle. That doesn't really seem worth it. I don't think I want to give up an attack for 3 points and an action. There's a point level where I'd be interested, but I'm hesitant.

Lothal Rebel/Collusion Detector/TLT/Wookiee Comandos + AP5 is 57 points. I guess a BB-Intensity Poe fits along side that, or a VI Corran Horn. Meh.

So Chopper kicking his girl Hera out the airlock is going to be a thing now...

Just now, theBitterFig said:

Thinking about the Phantom II title, it seems weak.

Ha, that title is there so Chopper can kick it out the airlock for a shield.

2 minutes ago, HolySorcerer said:

Well the Upsilon costs twice as much. Why do the Imperials keep getting support ships that cost so much. There is nothing left to support after you equip even the cheapest Upsilon.

Yeah, Imperial shuttles are more like gunships than support ships.

Just now, GILLIES291 said:

Don't forget the Ghost interactions!

As a huge Ghost player I'm very stoked for this! A new shuttle I can dock on the Ghost to totally change its role from a double tapping turret ship to a command ship very appropriate to its role in Rebels. And AP is nice and cheap especially as he can launch out the back after a maneuver and then give the Ghost actions on that turn.

But also Chopper is hilarious and I can't wait to strip my ships down to fix their shields. Kind of weird that he is using human Crew parts to repair technology but hey that's our Chopper hahaha

So a doubile shield upgrade for 5 points. Think of it take a shield upgrade and take chopper. Shield goes down you can discard the shield upgrade and get it back. 5 points for +2 shields I am not sure it is as good as green regen for 4 points (R2-D2) or even as good a focus to shield regen for 3 points.

Courier Droid is limited. Thanks for stopping the OP NPE that is multiple Courier Droids on the same ship.

2 minutes ago, Boba Rick said:

Ha, that title is there so Chopper can kick it out the airlock for a shield.

I am tempted to run the utterly awful score-to-settle, hera, phantom-2 Chopper Sheath just for the hilarity of Chopper messing with reality to regenerate your shields

the ship will do effectively nothing with its 2-die primary, but it will be great for a laugh

Just now, Boba Rick said:

So Chopper kicking his girl Hera out the airlock is going to be a thing now...

but only in an ARC-170, or the new shuttle.

Keyan, Maul, Rage?

Also, guess the article confirms that Sabine is staying as-is. If it wasn't an article on a Rebels ship, I would almost feel like FFG is rubbing our collective noses in how much they're NOT fixing Sabine.

5 minutes ago, Boba Rick said:

Ha, that title is there so Chopper can kick it out the airlock for a shield.

Can it be equipped? There isn't a points cost, and only a (--) line, and it never specifies any ship it can be attached to. The associated Ghost title does specify a ship, and it specifically instructs you to equip the Phantom II title to another specific one. I'd be inclined to think Phantom II can't be equipped, other than with Ghost.

Just to note: you cannot equip the Phantom title without a Ghost titled VCX100 in the squad AND the Phantom must start docked if you do. It doesn't have a number for its cost for a reason.

4 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

I think you misread the card. You can't have something to shoot when using the astro. Range 1-3 is a very large restriction and you will have to do a lot to play around that. Since it's a free action, you also can't trigger it off of k-turns to help the normally stiff jousters out

That's the key thing on the card, IMHO, that makes it stronger for low-PS pilots than high-PS. On a high-PS pilot, everyone else on the table will have moved already - you'll have practically no way to guarantee that your maneuver ends without an enemy in-arc. So the little guy will almost never trigger. (Although, I suppose, ?that's a good thing? - if he didn't trigger, it means you already have a shot. If you didn't have a shot, then he does trigger, and maybe lets you maneuver into a shot?)

On lower-PS X-Wings, though - they will be maneuvering before anyone else does, so can be assured they will trigger him whenever they want...they'll know how to aim to get the free action. This can make them very speedy, indeed. Which is nice.

Either way, not bad for a 1-pt feed into the IA chipper. (Of course, this makes it a much stronger fix for the T-65 than the T-70, which tends to prefer AT in the mod slot)

I think this is a decent expansion. Nothing screams "crazy town power creep", there are lots of new things to think about, and cheap coordinate is begging for some theorycrafting.

4 minutes ago, xanderf said:

That's the key thing on the card, IMHO, that makes it stronger for low-PS pilots than high-PS. On a high-PS pilot, everyone else on the table will have moved already - you'll have practically no way to guarantee that your maneuver ends without an enemy in-arc. So the little guy will almost never trigger. (Although, I suppose, ?that's a good thing? - if he didn't trigger, it means you already have a shot. If you didn't have a shot, then he does trigger, and maybe lets you maneuver into a shot?)

On lower-PS X-Wings, though - they will be maneuvering before anyone else does, so can be assured they will trigger him whenever they want...they'll know how to aim to get the free action. This can make them very speedy, indeed. Which is nice.

Either way, not bad for a 1-pt feed into the IA chipper. (Of course, this makes it a much stronger fix for the T-65 than the T-70, which tends to prefer AT in the mod slot)

I don't believe that the astro is bad, it just doesn't really do enough atm to see play

its situational usefulness is going to come down to two big things basically

lower ps: can break off chases by boosting away from bad engagements, such as chasing a bomblett miranda through obstacles. Boost clears the blast radius where you'd normally be screwed. It can also help set up firing arcs when you're turning, though sadly it doesn't work on K-turns to give the ship some real flexibility

high ps: helps you get arc when you wouldn't have had it

it's 1 point, so I believe that's fine. But it's horrible on ships that depend on their astromech to see play, which is basically everyone except for generic X-wings who just need IA fodder (but those are, sadly, already horrible)

4 minutes ago, streamdragon said:

Also, guess the article confirms that Sabine is staying as-is.

The article also shows the old version of Biggs, so...