3 hours ago, Vondy said:

He did have a team of "Death Troopers" on hand in Episode 7 and 8.

Death Troopers are good at killing storm troopers, Imperial scientists and unarmed civilians. They haven't been shown on screen to do any good against Rebel troops or 3 people holed up in a bar. Besides their name and cool armour, what have they got going for them?

29 minutes ago, DarkHorse said:

Death Troopers are good at killing storm troopers, Imperial scientists and unarmed civilians. They haven't been shown on screen to do any good against Rebel troops or 3 people holed up in a bar. Besides their name and cool armour, what have they got going for them?

Better than average equipment, higher rate of pay, some say cybernetics. Also their rivals.

57 minutes ago, DarkHorse said:

Death Troopers are good at killing storm troopers, Imperial scientists and unarmed civilians. They haven't been shown on screen to do any good against Rebel troops or 3 people holed up in a bar. Besides their name and cool armour, what have they got going for them?

You say, "haven't been shown on screen to do any good against Rebel troops". I would characterize the Rogue One battle as 6 of them doing some major damage against veteran rebel commandos. The Death Troopers died, but so did the hardened commandos.

Then, in Mandalorian, did you miss the brief hand-to-hand engagements with Mando himself? They held their own for a bit and even put him on the ground a couple times. This against a bounty hunter who amazed then took down veteran mercs by himself, took on Trandoshan assassins 2 to 1, and held his own against a veteran commando "shock trooper" who's best ability seems to be hand-to-hand combat. Mando has been shown to have met only one person who could possibly be a match for his hand-to-hand abilities. He's being set up as having legendary combat abilities. Even so, he got knocked on his *** a couple times by the Death Troopers before he got the upper hand. So, a step below legendary in hand-to-hand combat abilities still means they have some badassery about them.

On 12/28/2019 at 7:25 AM, DanteRotterdam said:

He is now. After TLJ he had a lot of detractors.

Depending on who you listened to, Kylo Ren got a lot of hate even after TFA, with that portion of the viewership being upset that he wasn't a fully-formed villain in the way that Vader was when we meet him in ANH. Which completely misses the point that with Kylo, that villains (even in Star Wars) don't have to be cartoonishly one-dimensional to be interesting or effective in their role of being the antagonist to the hero(es) of the piece their in.

My own take, but I think too many folks that weathered the Expanded Universe just got so used to villains being one-dimensional that being presented with a major villain that wasn't was too much of a shock for them to fully process. And that it took TLJ, with Kylo finally stepping out of Snoke's shadow to become the true Big Bad for folks to really start appreciating him as a villain.

Moff Gideon feels like too much of a throwback to that one-dimensional cartoon villainy. A few friends I've spoken to either dozed off during his monologue or simply skipped over it, with the gamers amongst them wondering why nobody tried to at least take a pot shot at the guy during his monologue. Hopefully he gets more nuance when he shows up again in Season 2, or that he gets a harsh lesson that unnecessary grandstanding can get you into trouble when dealing with a far more pragmatic adversary.

59 minutes ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

My own take, but I think too many folks that weathered the Expanded Universe just got so used to villains being one-dimensional that being presented with a major villain that wasn't was too much of a shock for them to fully process. And that it took TLJ, with Kylo finally stepping out of Snoke's shadow to become the true Big Bad for folks to really start appreciating him as a villain.

On this point, the Emperor is mentioned in ANH, seen in a hologram in ESB, and only shows up in RotJ. This gave Vader a chance to establish himself as the primary antagonist in the audience's minds before the "devil figure" arrives. Kylo was given no such opportunity. I confess that I do refer to Kylo as "Darth Emo," but he's wasn't entirely one dimensional even in TLJ and Driver did a fine job with what he was given.

14 minutes ago, Vondy said:

On this point, the Emperor is mentioned in ANH, seen in a hologram in ESB, and only shows up in RotJ. This gave Vader a chance to establish himself as the primary antagonist in the audience's minds before the "devil figure" arrives. Kylo was given no such opportunity. I confess that I do refer to Kylo as "Darth Emo," but he's wasn't entirely one dimensional even in TLJ and Driver did a fine job with what he was given.

Absolutely. Driver knocked it out of the park. The entire principal cast did, but in the final outing, Driver deserves special note, especially after realizing how much he conveys after that certain scene following the duel on the wreckage...without a single line of dialogue (unless we count one, "Ow."). Driver fleshed out Ben/Kylo so well that I found myself conflicted about the possibility of a redemption arc for him. Even if in ancillary media, I'd have loved to have seen him working for actual redemption after the movie's end...what would that look like?

Driver would be amazing as the lead in the upcoming Netflix adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Sandman.

But...back to The Mandalorian.... 😁

The first official merch of Li'l Yoyo is out: saw posters at the store last night. Makes sense, as it's quicker to take production stills and have them printed up than it is to get toys designed, manufactured, and shipped.

9 minutes ago, Nytwyng said:

Absolutely. Driver knocked it out of the park. The entire principal cast did, but in the final outing, Driver deserves special note, especially after realizing how much he conveys after that certain scene following the duel on the wreckage...without a single line of dialogue (unless we count one, "Ow."). Driver fleshed out Ben/Kylo so well that I found myself conflicted about the possibility of a redemption arc for him. Even if in ancillary media, I'd have loved to have seen him working for actual redemption after the movie's end...what would that look like?

Agreed 100%. I was pleased with all of the main cast's performances in RoS. Ridley stepped up in a way I didn't expect, but Driver stuck his landing perfectly. My take is that movie turned out to be a big beautiful train-wreck. Yet, there is a lot there to enjoy. Having Ben's after-story explored in ancillary media would have been interesting. Alas!

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but back to The Mandalorian.... 😁

Indeed, enough digression!

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The first official merch of Li'l Yoyo is out: saw posters at the store last night. Makes sense, as it's quicker to take production stills and have them printed up than it is to get toys designed, manufactured, and shipped.

I must be getting old and soft, but I find Baby Yoda crazy endearing.

7 minutes ago, Vondy said:

I must be getting old and soft, but I find Baby Yoda crazy endearing.

For sure. There are people upset at Jason Sudeikis for voicing one of the scout troopers punching Li'l Yoyo through the bag. ("How could you!")

I'm disproportionately excited about the reported Black Series figure coming out. I just hope they're not charging the full $19.99 SRP for a 1.1" figure, even if he does come with a frog, soup cup, and lever ball handle.

7 hours ago, Sturn said:

He's being set up as having legendary combat abilities.

I don't think he is. I think he is being set up as a typical Mandalorian and that they *all* have legendary combat abilities. At least that is what all the other characters keep telling us.

17 minutes ago, DarkHorse said:

I don't think he is. I think he is being set up as a typical Mandalorian and that they *all* have legendary combat abilities. At least that is what all the other characters keep telling us.

So they all do. And the Death Troopers still took a bit for him to get the upper hand over them.

6 minutes ago, Sturn said:

So they all do. And the Death Troopers still took a bit for him to get the upper hand over them.

If that is your high water mark then fair enough.

1 hour ago, Vondy said:

On this point, the Emperor is mentioned in ANH, seen in a hologram in ESB, and only shows up in RotJ. This gave Vader a chance to establish himself as the primary antagonist in the audience's minds before the "devil figure" arrives. Kylo was given no such opportunity. I confess that I do refer to Kylo as "Darth Emo," but he's wasn't entirely one dimensional even in TLJ and Driver did a fine job with what he was given.

With Vader, it could be argued that in ANH he was nothing more than Tarkin's attack dog, being more the heavy that was the physical threat to the heroes while Tarkin was the film's principle villain given his rank and command of the planet-killing Death Star. It was only in ESB that Vader got to shine as the primary villain, and even then he was shown to be subservient (or at least differential) to the Emperor, who at that point in time was a bad practical effect presented as a giant holographic head.

Not unlike how Snoke was presented in TFA, just a giant hologram barking orders that Kylo Ren and Armitage Hux deferred to.

I contend a lot of the initial dissatisfaction with Kylo was in part that the marketing had presented him as being the new Darth Vader (helmeted visage, fearsome-looking weapon) when the whole point of his character was that he wasn't even close to being on Vader's level. Then again, many cinematic villains when compared to Darth Vader tend to fall very short of the mark, as Vader is one very tough act to follow in terms of iconic screen villains.

I actually really like Gideon and sort of enjoy how the ‘Imps with faces’ we meet in the show kind of have these over-the-top personalities or quirks that you don’t see from some of the non-Imp people.

It sort of mirrors how folks in real life who might join the Empire were they in Star Wars tend to have similar traits.

Plus, Giancarlo is amazing and he can do awesome stuff with characters like Gideon.

That was awesome

So gear from the Mandalorian.

Tracking fobs are in no disintegrations.

Do we have bounty pucks?

Do we have his explosives?

2 hours ago, Daeglan said:

So gear from the Mandalorian.

Tracking fobs are in no disintegrations.

Do we have bounty pucks?

Do we have his explosives?

I looked for the fobs in No Disintegration’s I couldn’t find them.

4 hours ago, Daeglan said:

So gear from the Mandalorian.

Tracking fobs are in no disintegrations.

Do we have bounty pucks?

Do we have his explosives?

I think the bounty pucks are nothing more than hologram projectors. They appear to be individually programmed with the details of a particular bounty posting (species, known associates, last known location, etc). I see them as a stand in for characters who don’t have a data pad to display the bounty specifics.

I think the explosives were proton grenades (“Dangerous Covenants”). The description mentions a magnetic aspect and that they are commonly used for breaching barriers or vehicle hulls.

And of course IG-11’s explosive is your “one each” thermal detonator 😎

Wookieepedia entry on the dark saber, for those unfamiliar with the Old Republic / Clone Wars / Rebels lore associated with it. I have found with my own RPG play group of like minded 40-50 yr old nerds, not everyone has played KOTOR or watched the cart-....er... animated series. 😎

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Darksaber

3 hours ago, Eoen said:

I looked for the fobs in No Disintegration’s I couldn’t find them.

Yeah, I don't think those exist officially at the moment. Probably pretty easy to homebrew, though.

42 minutes ago, StarkJunior said:

Yeah, I don't think those exist officially at the moment. Probably pretty easy to homebrew, though.

More of a narrative aid than anything else.

You basically point it around until you get a stronger signal, then you play hot-or-cold until you find the target. Maybe add Boost to Vigilance/Perception checks against the target, but other than that, there isn't a ton it would need to do. Just give a direction and watch them waltz into your cleverly laid trap! 😈

3 minutes ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

More of a narrative aid than anything else.

You basically point it around until you get a stronger signal, then you play hot-or-cold until you find the target. Maybe add Boost to Vigilance/Perception checks against the target, but other than that, there isn't a ton it would need to do. Just give a direction and watch them waltz into your cleverly laid trap! 😈

It's the Bounty Hunter Signature Ability "Always Get My Mark" in a piece of gear.

4 hours ago, Eoen said:

I looked for the fobs in No Disintegration’s I couldn’t find them.

On 11/16/2019 at 12:06 PM, Jegergryte said:

Tracking fob: Page 52 No Disintegration, the Tracking System attachment....

The fob is a gadget with that mechanical effect, with a predesignated target already designate by the guild... and it's a one-target use only version, cheap, disposable, non-reusable.

The target is designated through various means, for instance the guild's surveillance systems, as well as those of law enforcement, Empire, and anyone with a security and surveillance systems of some quality.

I guess my interpretation of that attachment's mechanical and narrative function is a liberal, but it basically states line of sight plus manoeuvre, and bam: I can track you somewhat better. Just like in the series.

This^

On 12/28/2019 at 10:06 AM, DanteRotterdam said:

Man are we on different pages here... I ******* love that the somewhat ‘throw away’ weapons of the Universe are scary all of a sudden. An E-Web just became the scariest thing for a group of PC’s to encounter... Let alone a flametrooper!

I think the E-web in this scene is supposed to be like the civil war era gatlin gun used to pin down the Regulators in Young Guns (2?). In either event, another great western trope and the E-web was the perfect tool for the job. I love it. I've always like dropping E-webs into Imperial Assault and now I realize I've under utilized them in Edge/Age.

14 hours ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

More of a narrative aid than anything else.

Flip that destiny point!