1 minute ago, NukeMaster said:

That's how it would have to work. (I assume you mean Aug for Boba) It seems optimistic and the article people don't always correlate with the release people, so I don't think it is wrong to doubt. If we see the neutral expansions released this month I'll have greater faith in FFG's ability to do monthly releases.

Yup, meant August. Good catch.

This is awesome! I’m pretty happy these are coming. Just got my snowtroopers painted too, so I know right away how I’ll approach the eweb.

Both look great. Can’t wait to see these on the table

16 minutes ago, jgibbs2 said:

They have a courage value? How does that work with stationary?

Well, my interpretation of RAW would be the unit essentially skips the activation. It would try to perform a move, be unable to, and therefore do nothing.

Of course, at some point we will hopefully either see this in the hotly anticipated RRG updates, in an email someone posts to facebook, or some kind of rules insert in the kit.

So, let's see how this actually works.

The FD laser seems like a good unit to deploy with a good line of sight to the center of the board, but with a decent LoS blocking piece of terrain next to it to prevent anyone from actually breaking its standby. It has 6 HP and a rather long range, which means it is pretty good overall at being shot at and forcing the opponent to take it seriously. It is also a great response to Speeder Bikes as it will be able to , if provided a good deployment, either pick them off at a distance or be able to shoot at them from the range that they would usually shoot at (unlike other squads that just can't.
Impact 2 is still worthless for now because when would an AT-ST ever get in range of it? But in mirror matches it would be an other nail in the coffin of AT-RTs (that already suffer a lot in mirror).
Even against units out of arc, it is still able to suppress them with its 4 pistol shots, so it's OK in terms of defensiveness
The biggest downside is probably its cost of 70, which is rather high for a unit that can't move.

The E-Web on the other way sounds a bit meh. It has surge to crit though, ad is rather flexible compared to say AT-RTs thanks to reposition. I think they will be great at dancing around a central position with a good LoS blocker and standbying. It is alrso rather cheap at 55 points compared to the rebel turret, meaning it will be easier to put in a list. It will also be able to grab objectives close to your lines then sit there "come if you dare" on their own, which will free other units.

As for the upgrades, the HQ one will probably be a must have for any unit with comms for that vital turn where you want initiative but also to give orders to these key units: If you look at the wording properly, it's basically allowing you to gain an additional order (so say, ambush: Give an order to unit X, but also to the unit with the HQ upgrade). May make airpeeders worth it, with compulsory-recover-shoot to perpetually get that order. Also good to manage your order pool.

Barrage generator and overcharged generator would have been nice if it has been equipable on AT-RTs, but it isn't. I see both being more interesting on the Rebel turret than on the E-Web.

Really like both units, I think they will add some interesting thought into list-building.

My immediate question as a Vader player is if these things can intelligently replace 2x Bikes, and open some list space for Boba Fett. Bikes are obviously much more mobile, but 2 of these turrets could be pretty effective at holding a point, allowing Vader and Boba to advance (maybe backed by some DLTs or some Special Forces).

Anyway, I think these are neat and I look forward to trying them!

51 minutes ago, jgibbs2 said:

They have a courage value? How does that work with stationary?

Good question.

32 minutes ago, Caimheul1313 said:

Well, my interpretation of RAW would be the unit essentially skips the activation. It would try to perform a move, be unable to, and therefore do nothing.

Of course, at some point we will hopefully either see this in the hotly anticipated RRG updates, in an email someone posts to facebook, or some kind of rules insert in the kit.

Could be. I wonder if it will be forced to pivot.

As for the RR, I expect it no later than a week after Fett is released, as he has a new upgrade type and his rank is not listed in the RR under deck building restrictions; as is, he cannot be added legally to any list. The new RR will expand on that.

Just now, Duciris said:

Could be. I wonder if it will be forced to pivot.

That was my other thought, but that doesn't make a TON of sense. "They're shooting at us! Quick, turn the weapon around so we can't possible shoot back!" If that's the case, then panicking the turret is puts it entirely out of the game for two turns (assuming no additional suppression). One turn of forced turning away, one turn of only having a single action, which mostly likely will be the pivot action.

A subtle but important difference between the two is the height profile. It looks like the E-web is standard trooper height, which means it will be able to get heavy cover pretty easily. The FD looks like it’s going to have a harder time finding cover that is 50%+ it’s height, similar to the problem an AT-RT has.

Just now, Caimheul1313 said:

That was my other thought, but that doesn't make a TON of sense. "They're shooting at us! Quick, turn the weapon around so we can't possible shoot back!" If that's the case, then panicking the turret is puts it entirely out of the game for two turns (assuming no additional suppression). One turn of forced turning away, one turn of only having a single action, which mostly likely will be the pivot action.

Yeah. No action one round of six seems like it'd be enough.

1 minute ago, Orkimedes said:

A subtle but important difference between the two is the height profile. It looks like the E-web is standard trooper height, which means it will be able to get heavy cover pretty easily. The FD looks like it’s going to have a harder time finding cover that is 50%+ it’s height, similar to the problem an AT-RT has.

Huh. Hadn't thought of that. I noticed the difference in base size on the 2.

1 minute ago, Orkimedes said:

A subtle but important difference between the two is the height profile. It looks like the E-web is standard trooper height, which means it will be able to get heavy cover pretty easily. The FD looks like it’s going to have a harder time finding cover that is 50%+ it’s height, similar to the problem an AT-RT has.

I was wondering about that. It is still a Trooper at least. So, if placed in area terrain it should still get cover like a trooper.

Likewise, the RRG shows Barricades as giving cover to Troopers, I wonder if that will work here.

7 minutes ago, shmitty said:

I was wondering about that. It is still a Trooper at least. So, if placed in area terrain it should still get cover like a trooper.

Likewise, the RRG shows Barricades as giving cover to Troopers, I wonder if that will work here.

Depends on if being an "Emplacement Trooper" is distinct. As it stands, per the RRG the barricade rules specifically state the ones included in the core set "provide troopers with heavy cover." So the question becomes, is Emplacement Trooper a subtype of Trooper, and thereby is guaranteed heavy cover from the core set barricades, or is it a seperate kind of unit, and therefore we need to use the 50% pregame determination rule.

Tabletop Admiral updated. I just called the new upgrade slot "Specialization", but let me know if there's another name for it that I missed.

Just now, werdnaegni said:

Tabletop Admiral updated. I just called the new upgrade slot "Specialization", but let me know if there's another name for it that I missed.

You sir are awesome with your rapid updates.

How does a laser cannon follow the panic rules?

1 minute ago, werdnaegni said:

Tabletop Admiral updated. I just called the new upgrade slot "Specialization", but let me know if there's another name for it that I missed.

I'm thinking it might be called "Generator"?

The E-web is going to be awesome in double commander lists. Between imperial discipline and new ways to motivate them with HQ Uplink, these guys will easily be able to recover/aim, move, and standby to shoot. Paired with the suppressive exhaust generator, I can't wait. 3-4 straight turns of having order tokens and bonus actions.

Too many toys now! They ate gonna have to increase max points from 800 to 1000 just so we can all play with alittle of everything!

5 minutes ago, Gun4hire said:

Too many toys now! They ate gonna have to increase max points from 800 to 1000 just so we can all play with alittle of everything!

I wouldn't hold your breath on that. The 800 point limit is so you have to make choices about what you want to bring, of course that only really applies to official tournaments.

If you are playing a casual game, do what you want. Heck, you could get rid of the dice and just make pew-pew sounds and flick models to show that they got blown up. We are playing "army men" after all, right? ?

Will be interesting to see how the e-web plays. Looks good on paper but it might be one of those things where in practice the rapid pace of a battle doesn’t suit it well. I think in certain objective games it will be useful but otherwise against airspeeders or commandos, it might get flanked easily.

33 minutes ago, Gun4hire said:

Too many toys now! They ate gonna have to increase max points from 800 to 1000 just so we can all play with alittle of everything!

Try different things each time. It’s all good.

i like having the flexibility in choices. I just did a sample build where I could field every unit I own besides Vader (sorry buddy) with this in tow, comfortably. Or I could drop Veers and Bikes to have Vader back.

This will be going in all of the 1.4 D armies:

If I'm reading HQ Uplink correctly, you just exhaust to get an order token, which is outside of the orders issued from a commander. Which means any commander card would not interact with HQ Uplink, because the source (commander) is not issuing the orders.

Seems really good for large vehicles, so you can really put the hurt on a pip 1 bid.

1 minute ago, shmitty said:

This will be going in all of the 1.4 D armies:

Where is this card from?

I'm super stoked about the 1.4 FD and the E-web. I've been waiting for emplacements and turrets and it was only a natural progression in the game. The models look beautiful, loving the Hoth feel.

One thing I see both of these units doing is replacing, modifying or improving certain roles that have previously been being filled by other units. Primarily I'm thinking about the 1.4 FD replacing AT-RTs with laser cannons in their "sniper" role.

Pros:

5 black dice vs 1 red, 2 black. Obviously red is better but 2 more dice and the efficient use of aims and standbys can mitigate the percentage loss of hit potential.

Improved Standby range.

More dice from secondary weapon(s).

Can't be damaged; doesn't have resilience. So there's no threat of it completely losing its ability to shoot (it can be suppressed which is a con).

Can be modified to have greater (or equal amount of impact to the AT-RT) anti-armour or anti-infantry capabilities. Though these items do exhaust.

Fewer points 70 vs 90 (even with a generator upgrade, only 80).

Will it be able to capture objectives? Even if these "Emplacement Troopers" can (which is maybe more applicable to the E-web) the 1.4 FD would have to deploy at the exact edge of deployment next to a building with a key positions objective in play. Very situational.

Cons:

Immobile; you can't reposition if necessary so deployment strategy and being subject to the battle cards are considerations. It also makes the unit prone to flanking maneuvers. Good placement during setup will require open fire lanes, preferably a barricade in front of it (if that will provide cover, also remains to be seen). It may require support from another unit to cover its flanks.

Can be suppressed. You're not moving anyway but aim/dodge/standby tokens are key. It also remains to be seen how this will interact with panic.

Poorer melee output/not a real melee threat. But hey, if you're in melee with a 1.4 FD, you're doing it wrong.

What do we think? What other pros and cons do you see?