A lot of fans want to see their favorite character brought to IA (let's go Team Cad Bane!). The problem is, Star Wars is so huge- we have the main films, the spinoffs, Rebels, the comics, the books, the video games... then there's all of Legends. Frankly, it's overwhelming, and there's a case to be made that we're hitting a point of diminishing returns with the allies and villains in the game, at least from a campaign standpoint- with only a few side missions per campaign and story missions only implementing core and expansion-specific material, the appearance of allies and villains remains somewhat limited.
Stuff like Greedo and the Grand Inquisitor's "summoning" Agenda cards, the Nemesis class deck, and Murne Rin's Company of Heroes help with getting the heroes out that we want, but we still have the issue of why we need to have more characters and units in the game. I think there are a few classes of thought on this.
One group may think that characters' mere appearance is enough. Even if their abilities don't really bring anything to the table, at least they're in the game, adding to the theme. For instance, at this point, Kanan and Ezra may not necessarily seem like they could do anything that we haven't seen already from the plethora of other force users (the volume itself being an issue of concern for some more purist players). But the mere ability to include the two Rebels Jedi in a list or as allies in a campaign might be enough, especially for fans of the show.
On the other hand, some users would only want more units if they bring something new to the game. To these users, having Kanan and Ezra running around swinging light sabers like any other Jedi wouldn't be enough. However, let's say Ezra might have an ability that allows him to perform a move or attack with a creature, while a campaign version of Kanan might actually allow him to equip a blaster from the Heroes' inventory. The somewhat novel abilities might be enough to sway this camp to accepting a units' inclusion.
A few months ago, Fantasy Flight forum member AlexGamz posted a poll on the FFG and BGG forums about items that fans would like to see in future released content for Imperial Assault. One of the big focuses of the poll revolved around characters that people wanted to see brought to the game. In this article, we'll be looking at some of the top results and seeing what they could possible bring to the table, sort of like how we did for Rebellion. As always, since I'm more of a campaign player, there will be less focus on possible Skirmish additions. Since balancing the cards isn't really our concern right now, please note that we're not going to necessarily be completely designing the deployment cards right now- merely, coming up with thematic and unique abilities that could justify these units' inclusion in the game. Also, I'm garbage at MS paint.
Mercenaries
As we can see, there were definitely some front-runners here- 4-LOM and Zuckuss (who I agree would work best as a two-pack) and Cad Bane (go team!).
For 4-LOM and Zuckuss, I think a really interesting to do would be to really play up to the idea that they could work well together. I get that the droid or force users categories are probably pretty valuable for some lists, but I think there should be some temptation to bring them both along even if one doesn't exactly fit into a specific list. We haven't really seen a lot of reward for bringing along famous duos in the game before, so I think this could be a neat new mechanic.Perhaps an ability that they share called Teamwork, in which 4-LOM could give Zuckuss some new surge abilities, while Zuck could give the droid increased speed.
Another alternative could be something that slightly reduces the threat cost of one or both of the bounty hunters if the other is present. We might even see different cards for campaign, with Zuckuss having an ability called Findsman, that reads: If 4-LOM is already on the battlefield, reduce the Zuckuss' deployment threat by x" (with X being whatever number was found to be balanced, of course).
Cad Bane is a little tougher to pin down. He's a gunslinger, but between the Hired Guns and Vinto, the mercs aren't exactly hurting for that right now. His speed should probably be something to consider, with his Rocket Boots allowing for quick travel across the battlefield and limited Mobile (maybe he can gain mobile for only one move per activation).
Overall, I think he's a pretty squirrelly and resilient dude, and I think that might be the key to understanding his character. I'd like to see him have an ability like Killer Instincts: "You cannot take damage except when declared as the target of an attack". That way, Bane avoids AOE and direct damage attacks like Fenn's Blast, Luke's deflection, and Vinto's Boltslinger, making Cad Bane a thematically successful gunslinger while still offering a novel ability to the game.
Rebels
In a surprise to essentially no one, Yoda tops the list of wanted Rebel characters. While he might be a bit of a mess if one wants to run a more canon-friendly game, I think IA's inclusion of The Grand Inquisitor, Greedo, and Kenobi long before a Rebels era campaign was released, shows that canon isn't always an issue that all players prioritize.
My go to thought with Yoda is that he should be a support character. After all, the Emperor and Jabba are both pretty heavy support, and they seem like the other factions' equivalents of Yoda. The problem is, the Rebels are already swimming in support. Gideon, C-3P0, and the new Feralo are all incredibly effective support units- and we can assume Yoda should be no less effective.
So, here's a thought- we can give Yoda a modest attack. maybe RGG, something like that- not terrible. However, it totally won't be worth his threat- let's say we cost Yoda at something like 12-18 threat, more expensive than newer units typically have been lately.
Then, we give him a Battle Meditation ability. Costing two actions, Yoda is allowed to pick x number of units, and can either apply +ydamage to any attack they perform this turn or heal y damage they've received.
What I like about this is that Yoda is an investment- but he can really beneficial if used strategically. Also, it's pretty thematic- we're likely to see Yoda see little combat in this game, even if he is often included in lists.
For Rex, I think we should look to his... ugh, I hate to use the word, but his "catchphrase": Experience Outranks Everything. Inspired a bit by Jabba's Hutt Syndicate ability granting 1 Influence if Jabba is still on the map at the end of a mission, I think this ability for Rex should read: "As long as Rex is still on the map by the end of the mission, Heroes gain at least as much XP as the Imperial player." That way, if the Imperial player won the mission and won XP, if Rex was still around at the end of the mission the Rebels would also win 2 XP.
If this seems like a pretty strong ability, I'd agree with you. However, it's totally contingent on Rex actually surviving the mission- and if the Empire is doing well enough to win the mission, there's a decent chance Rex has already been defeated.
On the other hand, there's the possibility that the Rebels might just hold Rex out of combat to ensure extra XP- and while that may work (depending on how dedicated the Empire is to taking him down), we also have to keep in mind that would also just be giving the Empire extra threat for basically free during the mission.
Empire
As messy as Yoda might make canon, mixing current canon characters with Legends could be even tougher. That doesn't seem to bother fans who voted for Mara Jade, though!
I admittedly don't know a ton about Mara Jade outside of the few Legends books I read as a kid, but I like the idea of an Emperor's Hand ability that would read: Once per turn, if you've performed an attack after your activation, you may ready your deployment card.
This would really make giving her orders through Executive Order and Emperor extremely rewarding, as well as obviously making her work well with Palpatine himself.
She should probably be pretty fast, too. Not Ahsoka-fast, of course, but still a decent speed, maybe something like 5 speed.
For Thrawn, I'd like to see a support character that really gets the big picture. Unlike Palpatine, who focuses on tormenting units on the field, I'd like to see Thrawn focusing more on the tactics of getting Imperial units to the field. I think an Expert Strategy ability could be neat: "If Thrawn is included as a Starting, Reserved, or Open group for this mission, add x deployment cards to your open groups". This way, the Imperial player could have the potential to be more adaptive during their mission, including a wider variety of available units.
I'd also like to see a double action ability, not unlike Yodas. I'm thinking something like Combat Landing: "Perform an optional deployment. Each units deployed this way may interrupt to perform a move Reduce threat cost by x for one of the groups during this deployment."
So yeah, these are just some ideas that I've had, essentially for the purpose of demonstrating that these characters can bring something new and interesting to IA. I'm sure many of you have your own ideas on how these characters could be incorporated, and I'd love to read them in the comments.
Until next week...
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