Month: July 2019

Winner, Winner RPQ Dinner

Battle Reports


This past Saturday a few guys and I made the trek down to Connecticut for a Rally Point Qualifier. The store we played at was great and the people were great; granted, there were some concerns as the tables were not set up and the terrain was pretty much all Warhammer terrain. To the stores credit, I think this was their first ever Star Wars Legion event and it was a learning experience for all. 

We ended up doing a competitive terrain set up (I’m somewhat ignorant to other wargames to be honest) in which the players pair up on a table and set up the terrain. I think we all did a good job of making the tables as even as we could with no competitive advantage towards anything specific. While this isn’t the proper way, I’d rather us have done this instead of having tables that left us wanting more, because that could have been disastrous. 

As the clock went past the starting hour, things started to settle down. I think some of the anxiety of all the players worried about the tables somewhat dissipated and it was time to start. With twelve players in the field it was decided we would do three rounds of swiss with a top two cut. This is great because it makes sure a true winner comes out on top as opposed to going for a SoS (Strength of Schedule) winner. 

The List

Commanders: 
– Luke Skywalker (160) + Force Push (10) + Force Reflexes (15) + Emergency Stims (8) = 193
– Rebel Officer (50) + Strict Orders (5) = 55

Operatives: 
– Sabine Wren (125) + Recon Intel (2) + The Darksaber (25) = 152

Corps: 
– Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) + 2-1B Medical Droid (18) = 80
– 3x Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) = 186

Special Forces: 
– 3x Rebel Commandos Strike Team (16) + DH-447 Sniper (28) = 132

Total: 798/800 

Commands:
– Son of Skywalker (1) 
– Explosions! (1) 
– My Ally is the Force (2) 
– Push (2) 
– Return of the Jedi (3) 
– Legacy of Mandalore (3) 
– Standing Orders (4) 

Before we go into the swiss games, I really want to take a minute to talk about the list, the decisions that went into it, and how I got to this specific build. First and foremost, shout out to our newest blog member Mike Syrylo. He and I have been working on this list together for quite some time, and while we don’t run the exact same upgrades in it, the think tank behind it remains the same. My build works on giving myself the opportunity to play Luke either defensively or aggressively, both of which occurred on Saturday. After playing four games the week before the RPQ, I made some subtle changes to the list that I think ultimately played into my success on Saturday. I dropped a second medical droid and two sets of recon intels on the Rebel Troopers to put Force Reflexes on Luke and Strict Orders on the Generic Officer. Both cards were absolutely great for me on Saturday and I have no doubts that they allowed me to play the way I played.

Another thing you’ll notice is that I’m running Push over Sabine’s two pip card. Shout out to Nema Ashjaee of Team Relentless, as he and I have compared notes quite a bit leading up to each others RPQ’s. He won his out in California with a very similar list. The idea of Push over Sabine’s two pip, of course, is to have full control over both Luke and Sabine rather than a card that just issues an order to Sabine.

Last but not least, some people think dropping the generic for corps is a better play. Which, sure, it is more efficient on the face of things, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a purpose. He provides Luke dodges if you keep them close enough, which happened quite a bit on Saturday. He provides an extra courage bubble for the Corps units when Luke is on a mission and out of range. In this case, he had Strict Orders which allowed me to ensure suppression management, and he also gives me an extra Commander token to be able to pull out when I play Explosions! on Sabine. In a lot of ways, the Bald Man was my unsung hero on Saturday.

Round 1

After a two hour drive together I ended up getting paired with my friend Justin. Ironically, we played a practice game the night before as a tune up for the RPQ. It’s super unfortunate that you play a local player and friend after driving to somewhere to play a tournament, but it is what it is. I don’t have the exact list on hand, but the main idea is that it was a nine activation Palpatine/Bossk list with IRG (no electrostaff) in there for added protection. This game I was blue player and our battle cards ended up being Advanced Positions/Rapid Reinforcements/Intercept the Transmissions.

At first glance I wasn’t too thrilled about it being Intercept, but after some deploying I started to feel alright. Sabine was able to stack her recon to a speed two move and she had her sights on an exposed sniper team early. I was able to jump up onto a big building with her and I left her there basically all game. She was in range of the back transmission and most of his army for five rounds.

As for Luke and the rest of the gang, they had one job and one job only: Kill Palpatine as quickly as possible. The last thing I needed was Palpatine to be running rampant on Intercept. I made a round two last activation play to get Luke into base to base with Palpatine for a free swing before we went to a roll off next round with our one pips. I want to say I got a wound through, which was nice, because the roll off and Luke defense rolls were not in my favor. Palpatine was able to kill my Luke in one roll on his ANYWD play and then he wiped out a Trooper squad. I thought the game might unravel at that point, but now Palpatine was on two wounds remaining, the IRG were almost all but gone, and I still had Sabine in range of so many things at once. I just needed to stay calm and kill Palpatine before the round ended and then figure out an end game strategy to get me to a victory.

Down goes the Emperor. I basically swapped a Z6 unit and Luke for Palpatine and the IRG. Not a bad trade, even if it wasn’t exactly how I wanted it to go. It should be noted that currently my opponent has a 2 to 1 VP lead on me, as I didn’t want to move into the Palpatine Murder Ball too early. Round four, now the next scoring round, I play Explosions! vs his Merciless Munitions. I win the roll off, take some shots with Sabine, and throw some bombs. (All of this while being on top of this building and in range of my back transmission STILL!) I was able to do a lot of damage and put a lot of suppression out, which came into play later on. Bossk has three suppression and two wounds on him and he’s in range of the middle transmission. I’m worried about the grenade going down in an area where I would take significant damage in order to score in rounds four or six. So I decide to take a chance and have a sniper shoot Bossk with no cover. I rolled one hit and now I’m banking on him making a save so I can choose not to pierce it. (Pierce is optional, always remember!) Bossk rolls…..block! Fourth suppression goes on. Needless to say, his rally roll comes: all blanks. Panic at the Lizard Disco. This opened up my path to victory as Bossk now couldn’t shoot anything, couldn’t throw his grenade, and ultimately panicked out of range of the middle transmission. The score was 3 to 2, in my opponent’s favor, after four rounds.

Nothing of crazy importance happened in round 5. It was more about getting positioning for the final scoring round and starting to figure out all the math. He had a lone Stormtrooper leader in my backfield that I needed to worry about for my back objective. The Generic officer ended up taking care of that guy (MVP!) though. Once that happened, I was able to tie up both his back objective and the middle objective, while scoring my home objective. Final score of 4 to 3!! It was a great game. I feel bad it had to be my friend round one and now I hurt his chances of winning the tournament, but we had fun regardless!

Round 2

After winning my round one game, it was time to face a mirror match of sorts. He had Luke/Sabine/5 Z6/Three snipers. A very efficient list and it was going to be a nail biter from the get go. This game I was also blue, which is crazy since I brought a two point bid, and this game we got Advanced Positions/Limited Visibility/Breakthrough. (I was terrible about taking pictures for my eventual write up, I was too dialed in.) 

I deployed both Sabine and Luke together towards the very middle of the board with one Z6 squad as a quasi back up. Everyone else I decided was going to in a diagonal, methodical pattern towards his deployment zone. My thought process was this: Play Sabine aggressive early, keep Luke in a safe place and wait for his moment to attack, and do whatever I can to keep him from breaking through into my endzone. 

I don’t know if it’s because it was warm in the place or if it’s because the game was so intense….either way, I was sweating bullets. We both played super aggressive early. We both played Explosions round 2, he played his to hit my Sabine. I played mine to hit quite a bit, but the most important thing was putting some wounds on Luke. Then I was able to put Luke on Stims early in round 2. I now had the upper hand, even though I lost Sabine in the process. It was worth it, though, at least for the time being. 

As the bulk of my forces moved towards his deployment zone and Luke kept denying a possible entry over on my side, it turned into a who could survive longer. Without going into much detail from the middle rounds, we’re going to dive in to the final round. I played Son of Skywalker in round 6. I have one unit leader and the generic commander with two health remaining in his deployment zone. He has two Z6 units making their way downtown to mine, but Luke is waiting in the wings. 

I decide to pull from the bag, I get a corps. His Sabine was within range of my unit leader and Commander, so I decide to activate the unit leader to go tie up Sabine and make sure she can’t gunslinger me off the board. He activates Sabine and kills him, but now she’s in a spot where I can get my Generic into base to base, while being in his deployment, and keep him safe. I go to the bag: sniper. He pulls a sniper and hits my commander for one.  I’m still safe but I only have one wound remaining. I pull from the stack again….Corps. He ends up pulling a corps and moves into my zone. I pull….Special Forces. I just can’t pull that Commander token to get to safety. I’m sweating bullets here. He pulls a sniper, moves and shoots my commander. It’s heavy down to light: one hit. Finally, I pull the Commander. I rally one off, and get into base to base with Sabine for full safety. He gets a second unit into my deployment zone. Currently, we’re at 2 to 1, but I still have Luke with SoS and Force Push available. I push one unit out of the end zone, then I engage the other unit with an aim and two attacks. Luke wipes them. I end up taking the sweat bowl 1 to 0. Generic Commander, the unsung MVP. What a game!

Great game from Alex, we had some intense rolls and moments. Not much more you can ask for playing this game! 

Round 3

We’re on to round three against another member of Skull Squadron, Joe. He was running a ten activation Bossk/Tank list and I was red player for this one. This actually benefited me quite a bit because of last veto on the battle cards. I was able to get Advanced Positions/Limited Visibility/Recover the Supplies. So much of that benefits my list, especially when the middle piece of terrain was raised, and I have two jump units. 

Joe was slightly on the back foot at the very start of the game, and I even made it worse. He had to react to the middle box and put Bossk up there in the hopes he could survive and grab the box early round two. However, my two saber wielding Rebels had other plans. They both jumped up onto the middle and it was carved Lizard for the infantry. 

Now, while I had the upper hand, I have to give credit to Joe. It’s not like it was this simple walk in the park win. I did pull a classic Rebels tactic: get into a super safe spot with boxes and make him come to me. At the same time, I sent Sabine on a mission to his back field to perhaps just take a box grabber out and take a complete strangle hold on the game. This, however, is where I make a huge mental mistake. After two and a half games, my mind was kind of spacing out, which seems to be a common thing. I played Explosions! and for some reason I thought it was a free action to toss the grenades, even though I KNOW it’s not. I bring this up because mental fatigue is such a real thing. That said, this was 100% a wake up call for me and I went laser focus the rest of the day. I needed to put this gaffe behind me, and move forward. 

It ended up coming down to a crazy end of round 5 move to double move the tank into position to perhaps kill a hunkered down box grabbing corps unit , even though I had a few other units nearby to ensure I could pick it up had they died. I also brought Luke all the way back to my backfield (with a box) to be able to play, yet again in round 6, Son of Skywalker. I won the roll off and melted the tank. I think we played it completely out, but there was no way I could lose. 

Joe was a great opponent. Even on his back foot he gave himself a chance. He knew he wasn’t going to make top four and really wanted those Imperial Tokens and I decided to give him mine. I have the Legion Discord tokens and I play Rebels, what’s the point! That’s what this game is all about, being a good cohesive community. Hope you enjoy those tokens, Joe! 

Round 4: The Finals

I end up drawing a local-ish guy Eric Daniels, which is pretty cool. We know that one of us is going to take this home. He was running a very interesting Double bounty list with Krennic and DT’s. It’s a ten activation list and very sparse in upgrades, but all the same very interesting. This game I was blue, and for a split second I almost decided to take red. Had his list been 11 activations, I think I take red. However, since he was a 10 activation list, I decided to take blue. Boy, am I glad I did! I was able to force Limited Visibility/Breakthrough/Major Offensive.

There was a big height 2 bunker in the middle of the map that helped block line of sight, and with Limited Visibility combined with the bunker, I just went all in on moving the forces down the field in a cohesive unit. With his fifteen possible command cards, I wasn’t sure if he had Merciless Munitions, but I was going to gamble he didn’t. Bossk had to double move and climb this piece anyways, so it was something I could worry about later.

I decide to move Luke and Sabine towards this middle bunker in tandem and start formulating a plan. I knew one needed to be aggressive, and one needed to be somewhat reactive. This is where my opponents fatigue sets in, though. In the middle of round two he double moved his Deathtroopers to get to a better area, and they were hidden, but they were in Luke’s Force Push range. Once this happened, I knew which of my characters was going for the throat.

I am able to get them into melee, not wipe them, and keep Luke safe going forward. Bossk DOES indeed move onto the bunker with some climbs, so I decide to go tarpit Sabine into Bossk. Her melee is better than his melee. The plan here is to make sure he can’t bomb my army now, because he won’t reach them. He can’t shoot for a while now. Even if he disengages, she can just re-engage. I caught him in a log jam. On top of all of this, I end up getting two Z6 shots into Krennic and severely wound him at the end of round two.

I was able to cap Krennic very early in round 3, and the wheels kind of fell off there. I was able to delete the Deathtroopers with Luke, without an aim, and I decided to recover to get his force powers back. Sabine kept Bossk at bay and they exchanged some shots, and Boba decided to jump up into that fracas to see if he could aid his fellow Bounty Hunter.

Bossk ended up killing Sabine on a wild roll in round 5, which net my opponent a bounty. This matters because I needed to make sure Luke was not bountied and some weird bounty shenanigans took away what seemed like an assured victory. Luke just bounces his way to another Corps unit to gain safety. At this point I’m pretty positive he can force push them off, next round, and get into the endzone, while being the very last activation of the game. That means I have at least one point there, to tie the bounty. However, I end up being able to get three units into his endzone without Luke, including the Generic Officer! Do I need to say it? MVP!

It was a great game by my opponent. He made one very, very small error. I really wonder how the game plays out if he doesn’t make that error. Alas, he made it and I capitalized on it! At the end of the day, it’s like a sports game: the team that makes the most mistakes typically will lose. I’m not saying I played a perfect game, but I made sure not to make a major mistake at any point.

Final Notes

I can’t lie: I’m pretty shocked I won. I kind of doubt myself as a player all the time, just because it’s my first ever wargame. The dice and decision making can really bog you down. There’s so many variables. Doug Kropp, aka Sploosh, and I talked about it though and we agreed that this might be what it takes to be good at the game. If you go into a game worried you might lose, it’s a much better attitude than going into the game thinking you’re going to win. You tend to make smarter decisions and start calculating certain choices you never thought you would, but the mindset has you on the right path. Now, I’m not telling you to think you’re going to go 0-4 and that you stink at this game. My advice is to be humble about your skill set, know how hard it is to win four games in a row (super hard), and act like your back is against the wall even if it may not be.

I’m super excited about the win! I can’t wait for Worlds next year at Adepticon! I hope to meet all the RPQ winners and have a great time! I’ll be going to LVO in January, too!

May the Force be with you!

-Zachary

Jedha Jank: Vandor Dreaming

General
“And the pierce came a’rollin”

Welcome to our initial installment of Jedha Jank! In this series, Zach and I will attempt to come up with an off the wall, yet functional list. Once we’ve developed an idea, we’ll explain what specific tactic or gimmick the list excels at, in an attempt to make a case for why you should give this list a shot for your next casual gaming night.

Vandor Dreaming
Commanders 
Jyn Erso (130) + Duck and Cover (8) + Environmental Gear (3) + A-180 Rifle Config (0) = 141
Operatives
 Sabine Wren (125) + Recon Intel (2) + Electro Grappling Line (5) + The Darksaber (25) = 157
– Chewbacca (110) + Hunter (6) = 116
Corps 
 Fleet Troopers (44) + Scatter Gun Trooper (23) + Rebel Officer (19) + Environmental Gear (3) = 89
 3x Rebel Troopers (40) = 120
Special Forces 
 2x Rebel Commandos (60) + DH-447 Sniper (28) = 176

Total: 799/800 

 

 

This list involves a small, 9 activation strike force led by Jyn Erso, mainly supported by Sabine and Chewbacca. The concept as whole involves Jyn and Sabine running amuck behind and in-between the opponent’s lines while Chewie takes the main body of the force into the action. Jyn’s infiltrate combines nicely with Sabine’s natural speed 3, and the two ladies can quickly begin throwing bombs and small piercing shots to draw out opponents and put pressure on normally safe objectives. Oh, and there’s six units with pierce, and four of those shoot at range three.

Chewie takes the important task for the list. As anyone who has faced a competent Chewbacca knows, killing minis in his guardian bubble, especially when they’re in cover, can be a difficult task; as you tend to become crit reliant. Killing minis is important in Legion, even more so when those minis come equipped with pierce, sharpshooter, or giant dice pools. Full commando squads and fleet troopers bring all of that to the table. 

Hopefully the concept is quickly becoming clear. Chewie, Officer Fleets, and two Hunter Commando squads with snipers bring a tremendous amount of stopping power, and not much can stop that freight train once it starts (literally) rolling. By distracting the opponent and putting pressure on areas they consider to be safe with Jyn and Sabine, you can casually push your death ball up the board until its too close for your opponent to handle. The three naked rebel troopers function as objective grabbers and filler. They basically replace the triple snipers in most meta lists, so the order pool stays functionally the same. 

The best competitive features of this list arrive in its access to pierce and relatively easy order control. Placing orders on Jyn and Sabine goes a long way to giving you great timing. Because each of your heavy hitters has pierce and either sharpshooter or a double digit dice pool, going to the bag generally means that you will be able to draw enough firepower to do some heavy, piercing damage to an enemy unit. Additionally, having four corp tokens but only one true corp attack allows you to keep the fleets flexible with their activation timing, which is crucial considering their range two attack band.

In the build up to the Northeast Open, I ran this list about five times to get an idea of how it works. I was originally taking this in an attempt to win the Golden T-47 for the jankiest list, but decided to take a competitive list instead. I encourage you to try something in this vein for your next beer and pretzels event or casual local tournament; there is also a fun variant where Han, some upgrades, and a medic replace Sabine. One of the best parts of Legion is building a fun, thematic list that specializes in a dastardly tactic, and we will try to highlight some of these over the coming months. Feel free to comment with some of your favorite Jyn Jank lists, and share the ideas with your friends!

-Mike

Pure Pazaak: An Introduction to Bidding

Strategy

Image result for pure pazaak

To Bid or not to Bid, that is the ultimate question. Bidding in Star Wars Legion is simultaneously one of the most basic yet challenging aspects to building a list. At its core, bidding is simply determining how far below the maximum of 800 points you want to be. Your reward? The choice to either be the blue or red player, both of which come with their respective benefits and drawbacks. I will not be discussing bidding amounts, as this topic is in constant flux and has been covered previously in other blogs and podcasts.

Fight on Your Terms

The first and most obvious advantage of choosing blue player is being able to utilize the battle deck you brought with you. Running a Pathfinder and Han list? You want to guarantee that Recover the Supplies has the potential to be present. Choosing the right cards to bring with you is a topic in and of itself, and there’s a great Notorious Scoundrels podcast episode about this that I suggest you give a listen to!

Additionally, just knowing what cards are likely to turn over and what deployment options are available gives you a leg up in the game, and transitions nicely into the next benefit: picking the table edge.

When approaching a table you’ve never played on before, being able to choose the board edge gives you an advantage from the offset. Armed with the knowledge that most deployments begin in the bottom right corner for the blue player, you can help to mitigate your chances of being pinned down in a corner with no cover or even find that long sight line that overlooks the middle Key Position. Being able to avoid unfavorable deployments is a skill that can single-handedly save you losses when it matters most.

Turn Zero

Picking the battle cards and deploying your army in Legion is generally referred to as Turn Zero. As the blue player, once the cards flip over, you have the first choice to remove one of the active cards from play. Not only can this be useful in removing an early objective that would create a disadvantage for you, but it also presents an opportunity to engage in mind games with an opponent. Removing a card that your opponent does not expect or bluffing for a card in the third row can unnerve your opponent and potentially force he or she into a mistake.

Once the cards are decided and it comes time for objective and unit deployment, the next advantage appears. Being able to place the first vaporator or box allows you to screen out large areas of the board from your opponent, potentially pinning one of their vaporators into a corner or forcing them to place a box just a little too close to your army’s deployment. And speaking of deployment, as blue you get to put down the first unit. As I’ll discuss later, this is not always the best option, but a well infiltrated Pathfinder, or even Jyn if you’re bold, can give you a great option for an alpha strike or smash and grab on an objective.

Stalemates

One thing that will quickly become clear as you progress in your Legion career is that objective ties become commonplace in the higher tiers of play. When victory points (VP) are tied, the first tie breaker comes down to points destroyed, commonly referred to as MOV (Margin of Victory). However, if this score is tied as well, the blue player claims victory. This situation, or the threat of it, frequently comes into play on Sabotage the Moisture Vaporators. Because of the even numbered, defensive nature of the objective, it consistently ends in a VP tie, and forces the red player to push forward and make something happen, giving a huge positional advantage to the blue player. A wonderful example of this can be seen in the World Championship final match, which is available on FFG’s YouTube channel.

Not all is Blue

All of this is not to say that there are not significant advantages to claiming red player. The first, and most immediate, is having the final say on battle card selection. Because the selection process goes blue – red – blue – red, the red player has the option to make a final decision without fear of reprisal.

The larger advantage manifests once the cards are down and the minis start hitting the table. Deploying second allows you to react to placements by your opponent to ensure you have a counter for their placements and movements. Crucially, this also means you have a good chance of having the final deployment of the phase. This is a great opportunity for Pathfinder infiltrates, recon intel Deathtrooper advances, or pointing Luke or Boba towards an opponents weak flank.

Blue or Blue not, it’s not that Hard

There are a few simple guidelines to help streamline the choice of player color. If you approach a table and quickly realize one board edge presents a significant advantage, go blue. If you have Boba or Sabine and your opponent doesn’t, strongly consider blue to ensure Recover is an option. Basing your decision on battle deck choice holds especially true on off-kilter lists that have specific weaknesses to condition cards; for example, Flyboys probably don’t want Hostile Environment in the post Deathtrooper and Bossk world. Finally, if you expect your opponent is of a similar or higher skill level and a VP tie is likely, go blue to force them to be proactive.

Declining blue and choosing red can also be the right way to go. If you feel comfortable with starting on either board edge and want the option to choose the final card and deploy second, red works well. The final consideration for red vs. blue can also come down to activation count. If your opponent outnumbers you in activations, acting as the red player can allow you to avoid giving up multiple deployments in a row.

Recap

I hope this guide was a helpful introduction for the red-blue dilemma. The common theme of this, and most things in Legion, is to take every advantage that you can muster. If you have any further questions or want some clarification, there are tons of folks on The Legion Discord more than happy to help, so please come join us there!

Zach has been kind enough to allow me to come on board and continue to write for the Jedha Journal, and I look forward to answering any questions and interacting with you all in the future!

 

-Mike

The Synergies of Sabine Wren

Rebel Analysis

See the source image

As we plug along here at the Jedha Journal I’m going to try and take the writing and the posts to another level. I’ve kept everything somewhat simple for the most part, as this is a beginners blog, and it’s meant to keep things nice and light. However, as I evolve as a player I want the blog to evolve with me as well. I’ve been playing a lot of games and want to say I think I’ve taken my game to the next step with a lot more room for improvement. The best key to that is reps. Playing more than once a week is so great for fine tuning your skills in this game and if you want to get better at this game it’s your answer. Today, on the heels of Sabine and Bossk being released, I want to focus on Sabine and her synergies with the Rebel Commanders. As we all know, I may be known as Thrawn on the Discord but I am a Rebel player through and through.

If you have never watched Rebels the TV show, I recommend you do so. Personally, I think it’s Disney’s best Star Wars entity other than Rogue One. Sabine Wren is arguably the best character of the show, I’m a big fan of Ezra myself and I know that may be a minority take but Ezra’s so important to the success of the Rebellion. I’m sure that’s going to be considered a hot take, but if you want some insight on to why I think all of that message me! Back to the banksy, explosive machine that is Sabine: her character development over the show was great. She changes hair styles every season, she paints everything and anything she can get on, she’s a Mandalorian, Darksaber!!!, she’s just straight up a lot of fun. I think FFG has done a great job with her thematically, even if I am not a fan of her two courage! Either way, it’s nice to have our own Rebel version of Boba Fett and I’m super excited to get her on the physical table rather than just on TTS. (Which I have done quite a bit for practice) Let’s Jump 2 the Rebel Commanders and how they synergize with Sabine, because this is going to be important with list building.

 

Luke Skywalker 

Did you really think I would start somewhere other than my favorite farm boy who I can never not put on a table? Putting these two characters together almost seems like a no brainer. They both have Jump abilities, they both are very fast and versatile. Luke’s command range and panic bubble is big for Sabine who WILL get focus fired on by your enemy any chance they can get it. The real questions comes down to what is the best version of Sabine to bring along with Luke and what is the best way to run them? In the answer of the former: I think, and this is an opinion piece this isn’t a binary of right or wrong, that budget Sabine is the best version to run with Luke. What I mean by budget Sabine is no Darksaber, with just Recon Intel and Endurance. I think Endurance is stapled on her, she is going to have suppression issues in any list, and taking off two at the end of the round is big. Her two pip is also an auto include in any kind of Sabine list building, in my opinion, too. Darksaber is great for the Dauntless aspect and the immune pierce but I’m having a hard time accepting those twenty five points into a list. Especially when I have a melee unit like Luke in there. In this instance, how I would run her and how I have been running her is to be a backfield harasser. She doesn’t have Sharpshooter, but her speed three moves can easily set up out of cover Gunslinger shots. Not to mention, you can try and play Luke a little more defensively while Sabine moves up the front lines to set up some shots and a big “Explosions!” play. Fun fact: “Explosions!” is real good.

As much as you’d like to play aggressive with both, and I’m not saying you can’t play that way, I recommend choosing one or the other to play aggressive and use the other in a more defensive standpoint until you can set the other up to be aggressive later. The reason for that is command tokens and command cards. Out of the seven of your cards, if you want to count Standing Orders (which I use round one often), you’ll only get to order the two of them together on three of those seven. So effectively, if they both live long enough, you have three rounds where you will have one sitting out there like a duck. Two of those cards are “Explosions!” and “Son of Skywalker” which is why you need to not move both up aggressively. If you have played Fly Boys at any point you’ll see that this runs quite similar, it just doesn’t have Han’s command cards to allow for some more aggressive play. (i.e Reckless Diversions turns. More on that in a moment)

Personally, I think bringing the Rebel Generic Officer with Improvised Orders is the way to run them together. I played several games of just Luke/Sabine, Luke/Leia/Sabine and just one so far with the generic but I think it’s the right move. The reason for that is 1: you get to add a second commander token to your stack. 2: you don’t have a command card conundrum with Leia in the mix. 3: Improvised Orders is the second best upgrade card in the game only behind Force Push. I need more testing because I could see Strict Orders being a possibility, however, GhostWalking and I have been doing some combined theory crafting and Improv just works better. I guess it comes down to is Improvised Orders worth 60 points to the list? I tend to think it is, because the turns you have order issues you have a couple of possible solutions to them. Playing Luke very defensively could prevent such issues, too, but more testing is needed. Here are a couple of the lists I have played recently:

– Luke Skywalker (160) + Force Push (10) + Jedi Mind Trick (5) + Emergency Stims (8) = 183
– Rebel Commander (50) + Improvised Orders (10) = 60
Operatives:
– Sabine Wren (125) + Endurance (6) + Recon Intel (2) = 133
Corps:
– Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) + Rebel Officer (19) = 81
– Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) + 2-1B Medical Droid (18) = 80
– 2x Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) + Recon Intel (2) = 128
Special Forces:
– 3x Rebel Commandos Strike Team (16) + DH-447 Sniper (28) = 132
Total: 797/800

 

 

Commanders:
– Luke Skywalker (160) + Force Push (10) + Emergency Stims (8) = 178
Operatives:
– Sabine Wren (125) + Endurance (6) + Recon Intel (2) + Emergency Stims (8) = 141
Corps:
– 2x Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) + Rebel Officer (19) = 162
– 2x Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) + Recon Intel (2) = 128
– Rebel Troopers (40) + 2-1B Medical Droid (18) = 58
Special Forces:
– 3x Rebel Commandos Strike Team (16) + DH-447 Sniper (28) = 132
Total: 799/800

 

Han Solo

“Habine” could become some serious rage, and it becomes a lot easier to plug Leia into the list if you do choose to do so. The issue with that is Command Cards yet again, mainly in just the two pip list though, so Han/Leia/Sabine is less crowded than lets say with Luke. For the time being, lets focus on just Han and Sabine. Gunslinger times two? Sounds pretty good. It’s another in your face type of list with two characters that want or need orders in certain rounds to make their effectiveness be felt. That said, if you can get both into a position to gunsling, all bets are off. Like it was said above, Sabine lacks Sharpshooter but you can work around that. Of course, we know Han has it, and they both have Pierce (two for Han and one for Sabine, respectively) That’s a lot of firepower even with so little dice. You’re basically guaranteeing six figures come off the board when both are getting shots in, that’s pretty dang good.

Here’s where some real theory crafting comes in, though, and you need to think long and hard about how you want to build Sabine when with Han. Han is only a courage 2 Commander, so Suppression could be an issue for both of them. I recommend getting some officers in there for Inspire, or of course if you want to bring Leia go right ahead. I almost want to say you want Endurance on both Han and Sabine. I even might go as far as to say that you want the Darksaber on Sabine in a Han list. The reason for that is because you have no melee threat worth taking other than that Darksaber. (Wookies are in a not as good place right now, but the argument can be had for them) That said, you need to be weary of the Suppression issues that will come in this list. It’s a lot easier to use Dauntless with commanders with Courage 3 versus Courage 2. The last thing you want is Sabine to panic. The best synergy I see from Habine, and man get the “Habinero” sauce out because this can be quite a spicy tandem, is Reckless Diversion to set up Sabine to move forward. Especially if it can set up a Gunslinger shot into an “Explosions!” round. Maybe Sabine is in your opponents face and you’re expecting a Whipcord or a Son of Skywalker? Bam, Change of plans. I haven’t had a chance to run Habine, yet, but here’s something I could see working just fine:

Commanders:
– Han Solo (120) + Endurance (6) + Environmental Gear (3) = 129
Operatives:
– Sabine Wren (125) + Endurance (6) + Recon Intel (2) + Electro Grappling Line (5) + The Darksaber (25) = 163
Corps:
– 2x Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) + Rebel Officer (19) + Recon Intel (2) = 166
– 2x Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) + Recon Intel (2) = 128
– Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) + 2-1B Medical Droid (18) = 80
Special Forces:
– 3x Rebel Commandos Strike Team (16) + DH-447 Sniper (28) = 132
Total: 798/800

Leia Organa

Oh yes it’s Ladies Night and the feeling’s right….the feeling to get up to eleven good activations that is. Leia being 90 points allows you to open up a lot of doors with Sabine, who can replace Luke in a Wonder Twins list basically at a cheaper cost. I’m not saying Sabine is better than Luke, but she offers some different tools than Luke for sure. “Explosions” and Coordinated Bombardment? Talk about some unique Rebel firepower. Leia is only a Courage 2 Commander as well, but her Inspire 2 can help, especially if you sprinkle in an officer somewhere in the Corps. Similar to what I said about running Habine, I think Darksaber might be a thing to bring with a Sabine/Leia list because you need some melee deterrent in a list, in my opinion. I still don’t think you WANT to Darksaber something, again I think Sabine is better as a backline harasser and objective grabber, but it’s a nice to have when you have it type of thing. It will play a lot similar to Wonder Twins, where you’ll advance Sabine while leaving Leia behind. However, you need to be careful with placement with Sabine more so than with Luke. Because of the courage. So advancing them as a tandem might be better suited, especially if you can get some dodges on Sabine from Leia if you think Sabine might get exposed. Basically you’ll have an entire army with Nimble, which brings up the value of dodges in the right moment. Something I seem to be doing less and less of, but the synergy is there and that’s the point! No Time For Sorrows on an exposed Sabine to get into some safety seems pretty good to me! I haven’t run Leia and Sabine by themselves yet, but if I were to do so it would be a super boring but oh my effective list like this:

Commanders:
– Leia Organa (90) + Improvised Orders (10) = 100
Operatives:
– Sabine Wren (125) + Endurance (6) + Recon Intel (2) + The Darksaber (25) = 158
Corps:
– Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) + Rebel Officer (19) = 81
– Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) + 2-1B Medical Droid (18) = 80
– 4x Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) = 248
Special Forces:
– 3x Rebel Commandos Strike Team (16) + DH-447 Sniper (28) = 132

Total: 799/800

Jyn Erso

Okay, I won’t lie here: I needed to go re-look at a lot of Jyn’s cards to remember what they did exactly. Which is sad, because I love Jyn as a character and was so excited when she came out. Only to have her not be great in terms of a competitive standpoint. However, we (as in the Discord) have been saying for a while that she could be good when another piece that supports her comes out. Is Sabine Wren that piece? It’s possible! Codec on the Discord has been openly talking about running a Jyn/Leia/Sabine list and I just built one to see if I’d like it? Well, I can’t say I hate it! Let’s take a look at the list and talk about why this could be a thing that could get Jyn on the table!

Commanders:
– Jyn Erso (130) + Duck and Cover (8) + A-180 Pistol Config (0) = 138
– Leia Organa (90) + Improvised Orders (10) = 100
Operatives:
– Sabine Wren (125) + Endurance (6) + Recon Intel (2) + The Darksaber (25) = 158
Corps:
– Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) + 2-1B Medical Droid (18) = 80
– 3x Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) + Recon Intel (2) = 192
Special Forces:
– 3x Rebel Commandos Strike Team (16) + DH-447 Sniper (28) = 132

Total: 800/800Commands:
– Coordinated Bombardment (1)
– Explosions! (1)
– Trust Goes Both Ways (2)
– Symbol of Rebellion (2)
– Legacy of Mandalore (3)
– Complete the Mission (3)
– Standing Orders (4)

I added in the command cards in this one because they need to be discussed quite a bit here in terms of the synergy the ladies bring. Losing Jyn’s one pip cards means you need to play her a little more conservative than normal, I suppose, and that’s honestly a good thing. FFG overcosted Infiltrate a little but so do we as players. We think deploying anywhere we want can work in our favor but there’s definitely a science to it. (I have a guest post in the works from someone who plays Jyn on the regular to speak about her in more depth) But, if you can deploy her a little ahead of your army and wait for Sabine to jump up towards her, there are some real synergies. First of all: Jyn is a Courage 3 commander, which is great for Sabine. Then if Jyn is parked on an objective, say, and in a safe spot, you get Sabine into range two or less of her in a round and then drop ‘Trust Goes Both Ways’ and gain teamwork with Sabine. Why does that synergize well? Because Jyn has quick thinking. All of a sudden, Sabine has an aim and a dodge token with Nimble. Is that a corner case? Maybe, but maybe not as much as you think. There’s a lot of ways to get dodges on Sabine between that and Leia with Take Cover. It’s a really strong list in terms of going for objectives and it’s pretty durable if you play it right. Sabine can be a tank at times. Jyn when Danger Sense is charged up is really hard to take off the board. You have a lot of ways to deal with suppression, especially if Sabine is getting focused on by the opponent. Jyn’s three pip card is so good, it’s up there in terms of what the Rebels have to offer for Command Cards, but she rarely seems to find the table. I have to say, I’m excited to give this a whirl. This is TRULY Ladies Night!

Final Thoughts
Sabine Wren is a shot into the arm of the Rebel army as we know it. She’s a lot of fun and I keep finding myself building lists that need her in it rather than not. I think the Darksaber will 100% be a playstyle thing and come down to if you think those twenty five points fit your army best there or somewhere else. If you noticed in a lot of my list building above I kept stims off of her. I’m starting to think that Stims on her is 1: not necessary and 2: you won’t get the value of them that you think you will. Luke and Boba can still get there moneys worth on Stims, Bossk too perhaps with some Regenerate shenanigans, but Luke is the main character that gets Stims stapled to completely. I think you can spend those 8 points somewhere else. The personal shield and grappling line are still things I need to try, but I don’t see myself using the shield. Either way, Sabine is one of my favorite characters in Star Wars to this date other than say Luke, Thrawn and Ezra. I’m glad that she is entering my favorite game and seems to be a very effective unit! Thematically she is perfect and while painting her is giving me anxiety just thinking about it, I can’t wait! Enjoy the heck out of her, I know I will! And remember:

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