Appetite for Destruction - Squad Reactions

They have now shown Grievous, Kraken, and the B2 Battle Droids. I will talk about how I think they'll all work together and individually. You can still consider this article speculation since everything can be way different on paper than on the table. Eventually, I will be writing Unit Guides on most/all of the units in the game, but that will have to wait until I can get some playtime in with them.

Primary - General Grievous

• 8 SP - I think this is exactly where he belongs. Right now, 8 is a really good spot to be in for mixing and matching different units.
• 3 FP - Baseline, good. He's not super force hungry and he has ways to refresh force tokens so I think this is a solid spot to be in.
• 11 Stamina - Anakin Levels of Stamina! I think this is completely fair. I actually like the fact that he has such a large health pool. I would not have been upset if he had 12/3 either. I want Grievous to feel like the 2003 CW mini-series Grievous.
• 3 Durability - ^

Onward - This is a Tactic Ability with no cost. At the start of this Unit's activation, choose another allied Battle Droid character within [range] 4. The chosen character may [dash]. Free moves are good, very good. It seems like a lot of the Separatist Primaries and Secondaries have ways of giving Battle Droids free moves. I like that it adds to the horde feel of Droids.

Scuttle - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Characters in this unit have Scale until the end of the turn. One character in this unit may [advance]. I like this a lot. Once again, extra moves are insanely valuable. What I like even more is the addition of Scale. The visual of Grievous spider crawling up and down walls is wonderful.

I Have Been Trained in Your Jedi Arts - This is a Reactive Ability with a cost of 2 FP. After a [melee] attack made by a character in this unit is resolved, this unit may use this ability. Each enemy unit that has one or more characters engaged with the attacker, except the defending unit, suffers [damage] [damage]. Woah! This ability is kinda crazy. More than at least two times a game I find a lot of my units balled up in a massive scrum with opposing units. The possibility of doing absolutely massive damage here is not low. In theory, he could do upwards of 23 damage in one turn via attacking and then hitting up to 5 other units. Not bad for 2 Force. I'm imagining a, potentially common, scenario where he wounds 2-3 units in one turn, add 3 momentum, and then scores a few objectives to win a struggle easily.

Appetite for Destruction - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. After this unit makes a combat action, choose an allied Battle Droid Supporting character within [range] 3. The chosen character may [dash]. Then, that character may make a 5-dice attack targeting the same enemy characters within [range] and LOS. This ability seems to just add more utility to already crazy good Battle Droids. This absolutely adds to the relentless, horde feel of pure CIS lists. This makes, I think, 2 or 3 Primary/ Secondary units that give out free attacks to Battle Droids and the fact that this is an Innate ability means it will trigger almost every turn and is free.

Another Fine Addition to My Collection - This is an Identity Ability with no cost. When a character in this unit wounds an enemy unit, after the effect is resolved, that character may [heal] [heal]. Then, if the wounded unit was a Force User, refresh [force] [force]. "Dark Side' units continue to get Force refreshing abilities. I am also glad that it seems like Grievous will be adding a little more healing capability to an otherwise heal-free list. If you bring Grievous, Dooku or Asajj, and Jango all together you can potentially refresh up to 6 Force in between deck reshuffles. I really like that this also leans into his canon job of Jedi hunting.

Quad Arm Attack

Upwards of 13 damage and a Disarm off of only 5 successes! This Stance is crazy nice. He's rolling 8 attack dice in melee and none at range. He's getting 4 defensive dice in both Melee and at Range. His melee attack expertise is pretty damn good. Getting 2 crits and 2 damage off of 4 expertise results is kinda nuts. What really sells this stance is the combat tree. If you take the top path he is getting 11 damage from 5 successes, the bottom path still gives you 10 from 6, but gives you a few extra things. This seems like it could be one of the better offensive stances so far, but it is lacking pretty hard in the defensive capabilities, but that's where his next stance helps a ton.

Cunning Warlord

This is clearly his more defensive stance. He's getting 7 attack dice at range and 6 in melee. His defense dice are slightly better with 5 at range and in melee. His ranged attack expertise is still quite good here too, however, his melee expertise is not quite as good. The defensive expertise on this card is quite interesting, although thematic I think. Getting no blocks off of 1-2 expertise is a little bit scary, but he still gets a Crit->Strike and a dash. 3+ Giving him only 1 block is also not so great, but he is once again getting a crit swap and a nice reposition. The combat tree here caps out at 8 damage off of 5 successes, but he does get a ton more abilities too. I really like the addition of a double heal box here, I think "bad guys" could benefit a lot from more healing.

Overall, I think Grievous is going to add a ton of utility and offensive output to any list he is in. I really like how mobile he seems and how he has a decent amount of heals around. I would be careful leaving him out in the open without any cover because 4 defense dice do not really go a long way. I can't wait to get his big, scary ass on the table.

Secondary - Kraken, Super Tactical Droid

• 4 PC - I am glad that we got a Super-Tac that is only 4 points instead of 5. I think this is a really solid spot to be in and I like the flexibility that it provides.
• 0 FP -
• 10 Stamina - This is a decent spot to be in, it's a good amount for a Secondary unit. He does not have a lot of defensive tech so I'd still be careful not to overextend if you don't have to.
• 2 Durability - ^

Do Not Let Them Escape - This is a Tactic Ability with no cost. At the start of this Unit's activation, you may choose this unit or an allied Battle Droid Supporting Unit. Each character in the chosen unit may [dash]. This is like a slightly nerfed version of Kalani's Roger, Roger with no range requirement. It's probably good that they lessened the effect for him because he's cheaper and Kalani is very very good. Just like with Kalani, there is simply no reason not to use this ability every chance you get.

Tactical Network - This is an Active ability with a cost of 1 FP. Choose another allied Battle Droid character within [range] 4. The chosen character may [dash], then may gain [hunker], remove one condition from itself, or make a 5 dice attack. This ability is quite good on Kalani and should prove to be just as good on Kraken. It adds a ton of variety and utility to the things your Battle Droids can do.

Complete Analysis - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. When you spend Force Points to place this unit's card in reserve, spend one less [Force]. From what I've seen so far, there is not much reason to use this ability on Kalani. Kalani loves to go out as early as possible to give his droid buddies more moves. My assumption is that there is just as little reason to use it on Kraken. The only real benefit here is that if you really need to go with something other than him, you can try to get lucky for free.

Conqueror's Resolve - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. While a character in this unit is contesting one or more active objectives, it has Protection and Steadfast. This is really nice. I like essentially any innate ability that helps you move or keeps you on objectives. Protection could be pretty huge on him since he lacks much defensive tech otherwise.

Ruthless Logic

This stance is pretty good for a support-oriented unit. 7 Attack dice at range and 5 in melee is nice. He's still only getting 4 defensive dice at range and in melee, so be careful. His ranged attack expertise is okay, I think it's pretty middle of the pack for Secondaries, of course, anything that gives you crits is nice. The melee expertise is similar, just middle of the road. Not too good, not too bad. His defensive expertise is also not the best we've seen, but it's also not the worst. I think it's funny that in order to make it to the bottom he has to have cover and has to roll all expertise results. His combat tree is pretty nice, capping out at 7 damage with 5 successes. 5 Damage, 3 Shoves, and a free Active is really solid for a full run, especially if you follow up with a Tactical Network attack from another unit.

Overall, I think Kraken is going to be quite good. He should prove himself to be an excellent tool for pure CIS/Droid lists. Pair him with Kalani and you've got yourself a very nice set of Secondaries.

Support - B2 Battle Droids

• 4 PC - I bet you can't guess what I am going to say... I really like this. I think 4 PC is one of the best places to be since it gives you, currently, the most flexibility.
• 0 FP -
• 8 Stamina - This almost feels kind of high when you factor in protection. They are not going to be dying super easily, but they are still able to be wounded by 1-3 good swipes.
• 2 Durability - ^

Relentless Advance - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may [dash]. I cannot stress enough the fact that abilities that grant extra movement are incredible. This will no doubt come up almost every time they activate. I like it a lot.

Saturation Fire - This is a Reactive Ability with a cost of 1 FP. When a character in this unit targets an enemy character that is contesting one or more active objectives with an attack, this unit may use this ability. Add 2 dice to the attack roll. This is really neat. 1 FP for 2 extra attack dice isn't a bad trade, especially if you really need something wounded. Add this and a focus to their attack dice and your rolling a pretty stout 9 dice.

Enhanced Blast Armor - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. Characters in this unit have Protection. This is solid, I like that it is always on instead of only when contesting. This should help their overall defense a lot, but I wouldn't rely on this to save you in dire times.

Suppression Protocol

This seems to be a pretty good stance overall, it should help them slot into their role as Heavy Offensive pieces. They're throwing 6 Attack dice at range 5 and 5 in melee, but only 4 defense dice at range and 3 in melee. Their ranged attack expertise is actually kind of insane. Getting 2 guaranteed damage off of 2+ expertise is nuts. Even if you get no other hits or crits, expertise icons will still net you some damage no matter what. Their melee expertise is... not good. Keep them out of melee at all costs. Their defensive expertise is not bad, but it's also not super good. The attack tree on this stance is pretty solid, up to 9 damage off of 5 successes is huge for a supporting unit, 11 if you roll 2 expertise. I also really like the slew of other abilities they get, specifically the Exposed condition. Exposing your target with the first shot and then utilizing that with the second man's follow-up is incredible.

Overall, I think the B2s will add a lot of offensive output to Droid lists in particular. I could see even taking them outside of CIS lists simply because they seem pretty self-sufficient. Dashes, Extra Dice, and Protection all on their unit card make them good alone and very good with the proper support.

I am really excited to get my hands on all of these modes, especially Grievous. I think all 3 units from this box will prove themselves as excellent choices for a lot of different lists.

Thanks for reading!