https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2020/1/2/seizing-power/

Is Fifth Brother with Homing Missiles good? If you've got the two force, you're either guaranteeing a hit and a crit, or rolling 4 dice with mods. Seems relatively nice?

Vagabond is fun.

G4R-GOR V/M is whacky and I love it.

Lt LeHuse at I5 is really intriguing. Not exactly an ace, but free sharing of a target lock to full effect is pretty awesome. I’m going to have to look for synergies there.

Nom Lumb makes one Jumpmaster playable, at least on theory. Points will matter though.

Phasma is a double edged sword as if she is close to the likes of Kylo Ren they might take shots on her to plink damage onto Kylo and wear him down without even letting Kylo respond with his maneuverability and force charges. Vagabond and Fifth Brother look like solid additions to the Empire and make the already scary Advanced V1 into an even scarier opponent while Vagabond is great at quick area denial. As far as Lon Lumb goes he could make use against Dengar against only one opponent but the attacker can manipulate Lumbs arc to where they want it to be keeping their pricey ships like Wedge Antillies safe while also letting something like a Tala Squadron Z-95 take Lumbs shot.

9 minutes ago, dsul413 said:

Lt LeHuse at I5 is really intriguing. Not exactly an ace, but free sharing of a target lock to full effect is pretty awesome. I’m going to have to look for synergies there.

I think LeHuse and Vonreg are going to be very good friends, especially if Vonreg can carry an FCS.

I still don't think Strikers do great with munitions, and I don't think Vagabond changes this. It is similar in theory to Jerjerrod-Prox in double Decimator lists, but the vastly smaller footprint (and smaller movement on the boost) of the Striker vice the Deci tames it. Fifth Brother looks like fun, and the combo with Homing Missiles does indeed work. Could be a jerk. The double-Force requirement keeps him in line, since preserving Force to use his abiity necessarily gimps that famous V1 defense. As a toss-in, though, I think he works better than Grand. Morna might work for fly-bys.

Neither /sf pilot excites me, but I am all-in on Rush. Ini6 Silencers should be feared. Bossk gives us a decent named Z pilot for Scum, which is nice, but Nom looks particularly interesting, as the red linked rotate is one of the biggest weaknesses in that chassis.

2 minutes ago, ChahDresh said:

I still don't think Strikers do great with munitions, and I don't think Vagabond changes this. It is similar in theory to Jerjerrod-Prox in double Decimator lists, but the vastly smaller footprint (and smaller movement on the boost) of the Striker vice the Deci tames it. Fifth Brother looks like fun, and the combo with Homing Missiles does indeed work. Could be a jerk. The double-Force requirement keeps him in line, since preserving Force to use his abiity necessarily gimps that famous V1 defense. As a toss-in, though, I think he works better than Grand. Morna might work for fly-bys.

I think Vagabond will be rather cheap at I2 (and he might not have an EPT az I2) compared to the named ones and with skilled bombadier and a proton bomb, you might end up below 45 points.

5 hours ago, Tobbert said:

I think Vagabond will be rather cheap at I2 (and he might not have an EPT az I2) compared to the named ones and with skilled bombadier and a proton bomb, you might end up below 45 points.

Vagabond really wants mines with that ability...

11 minutes ago, Cerebrawl said:

Vagabond really wants mines with that ability...

True, I just thought about the price.

So we will probably use proximity mines, since Connor Net only has one charge, and both of them are just 1 point more than proton bombs.

Edit: And we get the cluster mines back in the Fully Loaded Devices Pack.

6 hours ago, dsul413 said:

Lt LeHuse at I5 is really intriguing. Not exactly an ace, but free sharing of a target lock to full effect is pretty awesome. I’m going to have to look for synergies there.

Lieutenant Rivas seems like a good fit. He'll get a free Lock when an opponent gains a red or orange token, so LeHuse can potentially spend that Lock (since Rivas only rolls 2 red dice, and a Gunner LeHuse is 3 red dice attack).

6 hours ago, CaptainJaguarShark said:

Is Fifth Brother with Homing Missiles good? If you've got the two force, you're either guaranteeing a hit and a crit, or rolling 4 dice with mods. Seems relatively nice?

Should be solid.

I'm also intrigued by Fifth with Ion Missiles. Get the first hit through, and you can force-up the Crit to ensure that an Ion token sticks. Seventh Sister didn't work with Missiles, otherwise she'd have been sweet with the Ion tricks.

7 hours ago, CaptainJaguarShark said:

Is Fifth Brother with Homing Missiles good? If you've got the two force, you're either guaranteeing a hit and a crit, or rolling 4 dice with mods. Seems relatively nice?

Doesn't work. As I understnad, there's no "neutralize results" step because all dice are canceled. I could be wrong.

42 minutes ago, theBitterFig said:

I'm also intrigued by Fifth with Ion Missiles. Get the first hit through, and you can force-up the Crit to ensure that an Ion token sticks. Seventh Sister didn't work with Missiles, otherwise she'd have been sweet with the Ion tricks.

Super curious about this. Would be especially nice if those missiles get their much-needed buff...

6 hours ago, Gilarius said:

Nom Lumb makes one Jumpmaster playable, at least on theory. Points will matter though.

Makes for a decent bugzapper, but yeah points matter. I want to see it at 40 points, but anything under 43 is probably ok.

What I'm really hoping for is talent slots on G4R-GOR and Nom Lumb. Gimme my i0-i1 intimidation blockers!

11 minutes ago, Cerebrawl said:

What I'm really hoping for is talent slots on G4R-GOR and Nom Lumb. Gimme my i0-i1 intimidation blockers!

I think I'd be amazed if G4 had a talent. The plus side is that it'll make him cheaper, which is gonna be for the best.

21 minutes ago, ClassicalMoser said:

Doesn't work. As I understnad, there's no "neutralize results" step because all dice are canceled. I could be wrong.

I think it does, and not only because FFG has talked it up in the article. Homing Missiles only skips the Attack and Defense Dice steps, but doesn't skip compare results (generally won't matter) and treats the attack as a hit. Checks out, IMHO.

And anyhow, even if enough rules lawyers convince the community that it doesn't work--since FFG have clearly demonstrated intent for this to work--FFG will almost surely create a ruling where it does.

21 minutes ago, ClassicalMoser said:

Super curious about [Ion Missiles/Fifth Brother]. Would be especially nice if those missiles get their much-needed buff...

I think it mostly needs to be felt-out on the table. Fifth using just Lock has a 42% chance of 3 hits, 74% with Focus/FCS, 82% with Focus/Lock-Spend. 3 hits with Fifth Brother guarantees an Ion token against a 7B Jedi or X-Wing.

The Empire has some interesting options here. Probably the best overall set of pilots in the set, I can see some interesting use in all of them. Less happy with the Scum pilots, the only one that will probably see table time for me is a Marksmanship Bossk.

5th Bro absolutely works with Homing Missiles IMHO.

ATTACK

Ships can perform attacks which thematically represents the ship firing its blaster cannons, ordnance, or other weapons.

If a ship performs an attack, it becomes the attacker then follows these steps:

1. Declare Target: During this step, the attacking player identifies and names the defender of the attack.......

2. Attack Dice: During this step, the attacking player rolls attack dice and the players can modify the dice.....

3. Defense Dice: During this step, the defending player rolls a number of
defense dice equal to the ship’s agility value and the players can modify the dice........

4. Neutralize Results: During this step, pairs of attack and defense dice neutralize each other. Dice are neutralized in the following order: ....

5. Deal Damage: If the attack hits, the defender suffers damage for each uncanceled 󲁧 and 󲁨 result in the following order: ....

6. Aftermath: Abilities that trigger after an attack are resolved in the following order....

Homing Missile skips 2 and 3, and counts as hitting. 5th Bro takes place after 4 before 5.

29 minutes ago, JBFancourt said:

5th Bro absolutely works with Homing Missiles IMHO.

ATTACK

Ships can perform attacks which thematically represents the ship firing its blaster cannons, ordnance, or other weapons.

If a ship performs an attack, it becomes the attacker then follows these steps:

1. Declare Target: During this step, the attacking player identifies and names the defender of the attack.......

2. Attack Dice: During this step, the attacking player rolls attack dice and the players can modify the dice.....

3. Defense Dice: During this step, the defending player rolls a number of
defense dice equal to the ship’s agility value and the players can modify the dice........

4. Neutralize Results: During this step, pairs of attack and defense dice neutralize each other. Dice are neutralized in the following order: ....

5. Deal Damage: If the attack hits, the defender suffers damage for each uncanceled 󲁧 and 󲁨 result in the following order: ....

6. Aftermath: Abilities that trigger after an attack are resolved in the following order....

Homing Missile skips 2 and 3, and counts as hitting. 5th Bro takes place after 4 before 5.

Nice! Sounds like he'll be especially awesome against reinforcing large-base ships too. Pushing crits through against bossk, RAC, Hera, etc. sounds like a lot of fun!

45 minutes ago, ClassicalMoser said:

Nice! Sounds like he'll be especially awesome against reinforcing large-base ships too. Pushing crits through against bossk, RAC, Hera, etc. sounds like a lot of fun!

I hadn’t thought of that!!! That’s awesome. Lol.

5th bro is amazing. Easy low 50pt ace to include in most lists with passive and homing missiles.

Phasma will be a standard in FO lists since majority of their ships work off being damaged and she triggers those abilities. Really like her in this faction.

Rush is gonna be fun to list build for. You dont want him ignored, so build him up to be a huge threat, maybe with torpedoes, etc. Opponent cant ignore that.

Just to make sure, Fifth Brother couldn't be used to double up the crits from Mag Pulse Missiles could he?

Pretty sure there's no loophole there, other than using his ability to add a result and make sure the attack hits.

42 minutes ago, missileaway said:

Just to make sure, Fifth Brother couldn't be used to double up the crits from Mag Pulse Missiles could he?

Pretty sure there's no loophole there, other than using his ability to add a result and make sure the attack hits.

Nope, his ability doesn't "double up" the crits from Mag-Pulse. Mag-Pulse's effect is applied during the Deal Damage step, Fifth Brother pilot's ability happens between the Neutralize Results and Deal Damage steps so his extra crit result would be canceled by Mag-Pulse's effect.

4 hours ago, Hiemfire said:

Nope, his ability doesn't "double up" the crits from Mag-Pulse. Mag-Pulse's effect is applied during the Deal Damage step, Fifth Brother pilot's ability happens between the Neutralize Results and Deal Damage steps so his extra crit result would be canceled by Mag-Pulse's effect.

Are you sure?

If the attack hits or misses is determined at the end of the Neutralize Results step.

The Mag-Pulse's effect resolves at this point and then, "after the Neutralize..." and before the Deal Damage Fifth Brother adds a Crit result. The Mag-Pulse's effect doesn't cancel this one.

3 hours ago, S4ul0 said:

Are you sure?

If the attack hits or misses is determined at the end of the Neutralize Results step.

The Mag-Pulse's effect resolves at this point and then, "after the Neutralize..." and before the Deal Damage Fifth Brother adds a Crit result. The Mag-Pulse's effect doesn't cancel this one.

My take is that the cleanest, easiest way to interpret Fifth Brother is that the crit result is treated like any other damage result on the dice. This would mean it'd be nothing with Mag Pulse, or an Ion token with Ion Missiles, or a normal crit elsewhere.

Of course, it's entirely possible for Ion Missiles and Mag-Pulse Warheads to have two different rulings, because they have different-enough texts. In fact, I think Ion Missiles dealing an Ion Token would remain, even if Mag Pulse were to deal two crits, since "All remaining [hit]/[crit] results inflict ion tokens instead of damage." sets up an ongoing effect for the Deal Damage step.

//

It occurs to me there are at least three other questions to answer about Fifth Brother:

• How does he interact with Treacherous or Veteran Wing Leader? Can Treacherous cancel the crit, or a wingmate suffer it instead?
• How does he interact with General Grievous crew? Can General Grievous cancel the crit?
• How does he interact with Selfless/Biggs/Xizor? Can a critical damage be suffered by someone else to cancel the Fifth Brother's crit?

This may seem like *one* question, but with the differences in text on all the cards, they don't necessarily have the same answer.

They *ought* to have the same answer, however. This is an example of where FFG hasn't been very clear in their writing, and it'd do best for the community to come up with as much of a standard for how to treat these things as possible. However, the community is mostly made up by greedy-as-**** folks with the worst tendencies to try to twist any slight rules wording difference into absurd advantage.

5th Brother does not work with Mag Pulse.

When you've determined if the attack hit or miss you have the window to use 5th Bro to add a crit result to the dice pool. As well, the defender will suffer 1 Critical Damage, and gain 1 Deplete and 1 Jam token. Then the dice results are canceled.

The die that 5th Bro added is never actually applied. None of the dice are.