Defenders of Mandalore - Squad Reactions

They have now spoiled all of Ahsoka, Bo Katan, and the Nite Owls. I am going to talk about how I think they'll all work together and individually. You can still consider this article speculation since on paper everything can be way different 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 - Ahsoka Tano, Jedi No More

8 SP - I'm betting this is where about 90% of Primary units will be sitting. It's a really solid amount that allows you to mix and match in quite a few different ways.
3 FP - This, I think, will also be about average for Force User Primaries. I have a feeling that non-force-wielding primaries may only get 2, but we will see.
9 Stamina- The same as Rex. One good swing and you're wounded. The hard part, I think, is that sabers will want to be fighting sabers, and if Anakin can just wound Ahsoka or Asajj in one mediocre swing? That's scary.
3 Durability - I think 9/3 is a decent spot to be in. 27 HP is pretty solid. They're going to take a few hits to defeat, but I'd still be wary of how fast it can drop if you're engaged with 2+ units.

Force Speed - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may Advance. I think she is going to be a really maneuverable and agile unit.

What's the Matter, Too Fast for You? - This is a Reactive Ability with a cost of 2 FP. When a character in this unit would suffer damage from a Melee attack, this unit may use this ability. This unit suffers half of the damage in the damage pool. The attacking unit suffers the remaining damage. This is a pretty wicked ability. If you have force point to space I can barely see a reason not to use this. This is going to help with her defense a lot. If Maul is swinging 10 damage your way you can just make him suffer 5. I would be wary about attacking Ahsoka in melee with other things.

Deflect - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. After a ranged attack targeting a character in this Unit is resolved, this unit may use this ability. If the attack roll contained one or more Failure results, the attacking unit suffers two damage. This should be on all force users IMO, but so far I think we've only seen it on Ahsoka and Anakin. Since there's no cost, there is no reason not to use this ability.

Fierce Protector - This is Ahsoka's Identity Ability. When an enemy character wounds another allied unit, after the effects are resolved, one character in this unit may advance toward the enemy character that caused the effect. Then, the character that moved may Heal three times or, if that character is engaged with the enemy character, it may make a 5 dice attack targeting that enemy character. It is pretty damn incredible. This is a super cool ability for her to have, once again showing that will be an extremely maneuverable character. She's gonna be running all over the map.

Fierce Protector

What's the matter, Too Fast for You?

Form V Shien Reverse Grip

Oh my lord! These Stances are wicked!

Jar'Kai

This looks like it's going to be her more offensive stance. She throws 7 attack dice in melee and 5 defense dice in both melee and range. 7 Dice is a pretty solid attack, especially with her combat tree and expertise. With only 3 successes she will be doing 6 damage and 1 disarm! Her attack expertise is pretty good here dishing out 2 strikes at 1-2 or crits with 3+ rolls. As we now know, crits can not be blocked in this game so the more crits you have the better. The defensive expertise here is still pretty good, but it gets much better in a second. She's still able to pull some pretty good defense rolls that will potentially allow her to Block, Change Crits, Jump, and Heal. All of those are pretty incredible.

Form V Shien Reverse Grip

This one looks to be her more defensive-focused stance. She's still throwing 6 attack dice in melee, which is good, but now she's throwing 7 Defense dice at range and 6 in melee. This should prove to help her out a ton considering how her defensive expertise changes. The expense charts themselves are very similar between the two stances, it's mostly a difference in how many results you need to proc certain results. Using Shien means just 2 expert results will grant her 2 blocks, one crit change, and a Jump. This is incredible and will add to her defensiveness and maneuverability by a ton. Roll 4 results and you get all of that and a Heal! This stance alone is getting me really excited to field her.

Overall I am super excited to get Ahsoka on the table. I've already made a deal with Ashley to let me play the good guys for our first game and I cannot wait. My hope is that the way Ahsoka and Asajj move around the table is akin to Yoda during his fight with Dooku in AOTC. Just hoppin' and boppin' everywhere.

Secondary - Bo-Katan Kryze

4 PC - Good, I think this is about average. She will be able to fit with nearly all Primaries and all sorts of combos.
0 FP - Feel like this is self-explanatory.
8 Stamina - A bit low I think. Almost scary low. Her combat tree lacks Heals so she might find it a bit harder to play aggro especially if there are enemy sabers around.
2 Durability - I think this is fair and average.

Pride of The Mandalore - This is a Tactic Ability with no cost. At the start of this Unit's activation, choose another allied Mandalorian character. The chosen character may Jump. This is cool, I like that it seems the Mandos will get to be jumping around all over the place. I kind of wish this would allow Bo to Jump as well, but I'm sure there's a reason for it not to.

Jet Pack - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may Jump. I'm honestly a bit surprised that it costs anything to do, but once again I'm sure there's a reason.

Mandalorians are Stronger Together - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. After this unit makes a move action, it may use this ability. If a character in this unit is within range 2 of another allied Mandalorian character, this unit immediately makes a focus action. This is going to be stupid good. Adding dice to attacks for what is essentially no cost is pretty incredible. All you have to do is keep your Mandos together. This ability gets even better when you consider...

Mandalore will Survive - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. After this unit makes a focus action, one character in this unit may Dash and Heal. Insane. Consider this ability with the one that was previously mentioned. She effectively gets a Focus, Dash, and 2 Heals all for moving near her Mando buddies.

Some of us Serve a Higher Purpose - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. Allied Mandalorian characters within range 3 of this unit that are contesting one or more active objectives have Protection and Steeadfast. This is just purely good. Bo will always have this ability while contesting objectives, and since you'll probably be keeping the Mandos together most of them should get this ability as well.

Close Support

This is Bo Katan's only stance card. It's a decent mixture of Offense and Defense. She's throwing 6 attack dice at range 4 and 7 attack dice in melee. She's also throwing 4 defense dice in both. Both of her Expertises are pretty good, I think they're about middle of the pack. Consider that she will also usually have a Focus on herself and potentially both Protection and Steadfast, so she has keywords that should pick up some of the dice slack, especially in defense. Her Combat tree is pretty wicked. If she has even only 3 successes she can do upwards of 5 damage. She also has a Jump icon and 3 shove icons.

Overall, I really like Bo. I think she might be my favorite Unit I've seen so far. I really like the chaining of abilities together and the way she can support and be supported by other Mandos.

Support - Clan Kryze Mandalorians

4 PC
0 FP
7 Stamina - A bit low I think, but not too bad.
2 Durability - I think this is fair and average.

Jet Pack - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Same as Bo, I think this will be a handy ability to have.

Helmet Visor - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. Characters in this unit have Sharpshooter 1. This is cool. Sharpshooter adds X additional dice to ranged attacks after a unit takes a focus action. Since they will be bathing in free focus, this should proc almost every time you attack.

Skirmish Tactics

This is not bad. 6 attack dice at range 4 is actually quite good when you account for focus and Sharpshooter. 5 attack in melee is also not too bad, but I think they'd rather be shooting. 5/4 defense dice range/melee is also not terrible, but don't expect them to go more than 2 turns in melee with a saber. The expertises are okay, their best being, I think, a little below average. Their combat tree is also not terrible. They're doing upwards of 6 damage with a top roll, but that will likely take some serious luck.

Overall, I think I will enjoy using the Clan Kryze Mandos almost purely as a support piece for Bo. They seem to be in line with all of the rest of the Support units, but they all seem a little flimsy to me. We will see soon enough though.

I am really excited to get Ahsoka and Bo on the table. I can't wait to see what they're capable of. I'm quite glad they are a part of the Core box. I think this squad will prove to be a little less offensive and more ability oriented. We will see.

As always thanks for reading, I should have another one of these out next week as well.