So as an Imperial player, I am super excited about the RRG update to drop in November that promises to give us a massive re-balance, especially to the older units, many of which, to be fair, were DOA. I know the Imperials the best, so I am just going to go through them, and this is mainly my wishlist, so feel free to include your own.
1. E-Web: The E-Web has been DOA pretty much from the first moment it dropped, and losing the plodding keyword helped, but not by much. Being able to move and shoot is a critical element to Legion, and it often goes unnoticed how often you need to move and shoot until one pays attention. This is a big part of why exhaust weapons and cumbersome weapons, to the most part, aren't useful. One solution to this would be to remove the Cumbersome keyword from the game and simply make these weapons cost more (or cost what they originally cost), but I think for the E-Web we have a simple, elegant solution: Make the gun range 1-4. It is a heavy machine gun mounted on a tri-pod, it should have better range, but regardless of 'realism', this would make them usable. Being out-ranged by so many things in the game AND being unable to move and shoot to deal with being outranged make it virtually unplayable. I also wouldn't mind a Cover 1 keyword to simulate Sandbags and to help the E-Web with Cover (it often struggles to get into cover because of it's awkward size), but I would understand if they didn't do this. In conclusion, I think the simplest answer is to give it Range 4. I don't think it breaks it, as it still is clunky and fills a support slot (something Empire rarely fills, so it screws up the order pool).
2. Speeder Bikes: Bikes got a huge point discount a year ago, and they still are way too fragile. It seems that FFG has finally figured out what makes speeders work in STAPs (and to a degree TaunTauns), and it seems a huge part of it is the Agile Keyword. I actually think FFG should change the Speeder X keyword to be like Scale in the sense that it contains other keywords. I think Speeder X should include Agile X, Cover X, AND that your cover can never be reduced below your X (to show it's hard to hit you because of how fast you are going). This would give both Speeder Bikes and the two Rebel Speeders alot of life and perhaps a chance to actually see real play time (The Airspeeder would need Outmaneuver, but with Agile 2, it might not blow up instantly). I'd even be fine if these changes made bikes (or the other speeders) MORE expensive, if it actually made them playable. They just blow up waaaay to quickly against any player who knows what they are doing. They need a buff to defense to put them on par with STAPs, not simply a points reduction.
3. Dewbacks: Oh boy, these guys were DOA, and how they were playtested side-by-side with Tauntauns will always confuse me. Dewbacks are as bad as Tauns are good. If a Dewback spurs, it is still slower than a Taun (albeit only slightly), but has to gain 2 Suppression to sort of keep up with the Taun, on a unit that will gain a bunch of suppression from a bunch of fire. It HAS to take Endurance to fix it's own problems, while Tauns can take Tenacity to increase damage output, and all of it's weapons are pretty bad and you need to pay for them, while Tauns get an amazing Range 2 shot that complements their charge perfectly. Basically, Dewbacks are a dumpster fire, but you already knew that. Now I think Dewbacks really need a good, range 3 weapon to compliment them (I would LOVE Iden's Repeater for them, 2R 1B 2W, Critical 1, Impact 1), but alas, they have nothing like that right now. I've done alot of thinking on this, and I THINK that their Flamethrower is relatively on par with the Tauns native gun. The Tauns are fast, and Range 2 is no problem for them, and with Sharpshooter 1 and Surging Red dice, it is almost a guaranteed 3 hits past cover, which is amazing. The Flamethrower is more damaging to Infantry squads, but sucks in other situations, and is only Range 1, and Dewbacks are slow and struggle with Suppression. If a Dewback with a Flamethrower cost the same as a Taun (90 points), they MAY see play (or they may still suck too much). The other guns are way worse than what the Tauns use (other than range, but they still suck), so if they equip those guns they should be cheaper than Tauns. I believe the Dewbacks should be no more expensive than 70 points to reflect this. Alternatively, the word Spur I believe is a bit of a failure. It has way too much downside to make Dewbacks and Vader really usable. I think a change to Spur to be (Gain 1 Suppression to increase you speed by 1 for the remainder of the Activation) would go a long way to alleviating this. Op Vader needs the help too.
4. Vader: Both Vaders have real, real problems, and it has always been my argument that, if you had access to Commander Vader and Commander Luke for the same cost, I would always take Luke over Vader. I think the difference between them is that much. Both Vaders need a MASSIVE point reduction to be viable, since they are so slow. Vader has clearly suffered from 'Big Name syndrome'. If he was designed the same way, but was named after some rare Dark Jedi in Legends no one had ever heard of, her would be waaaaaay cheaper, but since he's named Vader, he must be expensive, he's Vader!!! But he also sucks for his cost. I think nothing less than a 20 point reduction for both Vaders would be way too little, and would still not be enough. In all seriousness, if Iden and Op Vader cost the same, would you take Op Vader over Iden? Maybe, but the fact that I think that's a legitimate debate shows how week Op Vader really is. I am hoping for a 30 point reduction from both, but don't expect it. I think both Vaders will drop 20 points (so Op Vader 150, Com Vader 170) and they probably still won't see play, and will get ANOTHER 20 points off in a year. Maybe someday Vader will be usable...
5. Scout Troopers: If Scout Troopers came out today, I'm convinced they'd have Scout-3 and Red saves. They clearly have armor on (more armor than ISF who get semi-surging Red dice) and yet get White-Surge Dice. I know FFG will never do it, but I think those are your fixes right there. What about Strike teams? Well, they are a completely seperate card, so you could leave that alone? Otherwise you increase the cost of Imperial Snipers and give them Red saves. You wouldn't even need to do it that much, since CIS and GAR get Red save Snipers for 52 points, AND have Impervious. Grant it, their Sniper weapons aren't as good, but trading Impervious for High Velocity/Pierce seems like a fair trade. Anyways, if the Empire had Scout-3, Red saving Scout Troopers, they would be a legit threat as Assault Infantry, which is clearly the role they are meant to fill. Also, they would no longer surge defensively or offensively, and would work amazing in Aggresive Tactics lists. I doubt FFG will ever fix these guys, but this is a wishlist, so there ya go.
6. Heavies: Both Imperial heavies aren't bad, but they definitely aren't up to snuff with the AAT. I have played the ATST alot, and really love it, so am excited for any help. If you run the numbers of it's health compared to the health of the new tanks, the ATST is over paying for it's health by about 15 points (and considering the weapons on the new tanks are better, it should probably be cheaper). My suggestion for the AT-ST is A) Reduce it's cost to 155, B) Give it Critical 1 on the main gun and reduce the Impact to 2, C) Reduce the cost of all of the guns by 5 points D) Make the Mortar Range 3-Infinite, and the 88 Range 1-4. These changes might be enough to put it on par with the new tanks. One problem with the ATST is the ranges on its guns are all funky and don't synergize. This would help alot, and make taking Weiss a little more reasonable (as you'd have a nice shot to use with him at any Range band). The Tank isn't in as bad a place as the ATST, but I think giving it a slight points reduction (maybe 5-10 points), and reducing it's Impact by 1 and gaining Critical 1 would help immensely. Adding Critical to the ATST and the Tank wouldn't invalidate the Hammers pilot, but would make it more of an option than an auto-include. Also, if I could redesign Weiss, I'd keep him at 10 points, but give him Arsenal 1 instead of 2, and make him not exhaust. This would give the ATST Arsenal 3 with him, and with the changes to the guns, actually make the ATST kinda scary. Anyways, probably will never happen, but it is nice to dream.
That's about all I can think of for the Imperial side, and like I said, these are more wishes than predictions, and I'm excited to see what they do. What are you hoping for? What would you like to see?
Edited by SirCormac