Shatterpoint

Hello There! - Squad Reactions

CahoonM

May 22, 2023 • 9 min read

They have now shown all of Obi-Wan, Cody, and the 212th boys. 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 Obi-Wan Kenobi

8 SP - This is pretty surprising to me. Not because Obi should be as powerful as Anakin or Dooku, but because his supporting cast do not seem to be worth of their own price.
3 FP - Standard and good.
10 Stamina - I think this is a good spot to be in. He's got 3 less total HP than Anakin but has a ton of defensive shenanigans to help deal with that.
3 Durability - This is also a good spot to be, I think most primaries will probably be at the 3 mark. Interesting that he has 8 more total HP than Lord Maul.

Hello There! - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. One character in this unit may Jump. If it does, that character adds 3 dice to its next attack roll during this activation. I love this, a lot. I am so glad they gave Obi an ability with this name and the way that it functions is perfect. It's both thematic and very good. I have a feeling this is going to be a highly utilized ability, not only for offensive output but for positioning and mobility. This ability, with a focus, nearly doubles his expected Crits and Strikes on both of his stances.

So Uncivilized... - This is a Reactive Ability with the cost of 1 FP. When a character in this unit is targeted by a ranged attack, this unit may use this ability. The unit gains a Hunker. After the attack is resolved, if the attack roll contained one or more Failure results, the attacking unit suffers 3 damage. This is pretty good. It's just Deflect but Obi gains a hunker in addition to bouncing damage back.

Patience - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. When you reveal this unit's order card, if you have an order card in reserve, you may put that card on the top or bottom of your order deck. If you do, put this unit's order card in reserve. When this unit's order card is put in reserve, one character in this unit may Heal 3 times and may Jump. This is a neat ability. I really like the potential for flexibility here, especially when you consider other Force Users and the Shatterpoint card. I like the idea of him getting a handful of abilities when his card is put in reserve, it makes the stress of holding a heavy hitter back a few extra turns go away a bit.

Knowledge and Defense - This is an Identity Ability with no cost. Allied Units do not lose their Hunker when they become Engaged and can gain and have Hunker while they are Engaged. While an allied Galactic Republic Unit has one or more Hunker, it adds 1 die to its defense rolls against Melee attacks. After an attack targeting a character in an allied Galactic Republic Unit is resolved, that character's Unit may remove all its Hunker. If it does, one character in that unit may Heal for each Hunker removed. Then each character that Healed may Dash. Oh my lord, this ability is amazing! This ability alone is enough for me to already say that there is almost no reason not to bring Obi-Wan to every GAR list you use. Alongside Rex and other clones who all have abilities revolving around Hunker tokens, this is incredible. It also adds a pretty good amount of flexibility to how you use your hunker tokens. Getting to choose to remove them after an attack where you already defended and got extra defense dice is wicked. If you do remove them you get Heals. I really love this, I think it'll make clones a lot tougher of a nut to crack and I'm all for it.

Form III Soresu

This seems like it will be Obi's more ability-driven stance. His combat tree is loaded up with different abilities in almost every spot. I mean he has a choice in his 3 column, the middle branch that gives him 3 Heals! He's only throwing 5 attack dice in melee, but that can come up to 9 with a focus and after using Hello There! His attack expertise is pretty good giving him only Crits at various levels. His defensive expertise is also not too bad here. Both expertise are not very interesting, but they are functional.

Form IV Ataru

This stance looks like it will be Obi's more combat-oriented one. He's throwing 7 dice in melee or up to 11 dice with a focus and Hello There! He's also throwing 6 defense dice in both melee and at range. His attack expertise chart is pretty good, but I wish he was generating more Crits instead of strikes. His 4+ slot is not bad though, 2 Crits and 2 Strikes is pretty incredible. His Defensive expertise is awesome. 1-2 Expertise on a defense roll gives him a block and lets him turn 1 crit into a fail, which is arguably better than getting an extra block. Consider the fact that his ability So Uncivilized... could proc off of the Crit he turns into a failure against a ranged attack.

Overall, I am so excited to use Obi-Wan. He's probably the unit I am most excited about so far. I think his defensive style is going to mesh really well with the rest of the Clone boys. I am really glad that it seems like Anakin + Obi-Wan will be viable and fun. I can't wait to get him on the table.

Secondary - CC-2224 Clone Commander Cody

4 SP - I think this is right in line with what we can continue to expect for Clone Secondaries. I am tempted to say they'll almost all have identical Statlines.
0 FP - No explanation needed.
9 Stamina - Same as Rex, I'd love it if all Clone Secondaries are the exact same Points, Stamina, and Durability. I think this makes for a decently tanky unit, but not too tanky so that they never die and/or never get any really defensive keywords to support them.
2 Durability - See above^

We've Got a Big Problem... - This is a Tactic Ability with no cost. At the start of this unit's activation, choose an enemy character at range 5 that is contesting an active objective. The chosen character receives the exposed condition. I think this is pretty good. This is potentially going to help Cody really hammer down on an enemy character that is playing the objective. If he is able to focus and shoot after using this ability then he can throw 9 attack dice without the enemy using any defensive expertise or getting any cover. That gives them only a .33% chance of blocking anything. I think this ability will be used best against Force Users, particularly defensive ones like Asajj, Ahsoka, or Obi.

Defensive Maneuver - This is an Active Ability with the cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may Dash. If any characters Dash, this unit gains one Hunker. This is a nice ability. Mobility and extra defensive tech are always good. This also pairs quite well with Kenobi, which I like a lot.

Say Goodnight, Clanker! - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. Characters in this unit have Sharpshooter 2. When a character in this unit is makes a ranged attack, the target does not benefit from cover. This ability is absolutely amazing. 9 Attack dice at range 5 with no cover and potentially an Exposed token is nuts. Cody is going to be walloping some people.

Bring it Down! - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. When an allied Clone Trooper Supporting character within range 4 that has one or more Hunker makes a ranged attack as a part of a combat action, it may reroll up to 2 failures. Our first re-roll ability in the game! This is sick, I am really stoked about this. This ability alone would be enough to always bring Cody with clone lists. I am hoping that the Clone Commandos in particular will benefit from this a lot because I would love to run some Obi, Lumi, Barriss, and Cody non-sense.

Concentrated Firepower

This stance is pretty incredible. Cody, like Gar Saxon, is going to be a long-range powerhouse. He's throwing 6 attack dice at range 5 or up to 9 dice with a focus. He also gets to ignore cover so he has the potential to do a good amount of damage. His ranged attack expertise is super cool. Just doing extra Crits and damage is so nice, especially that 4+ spot giving him 1 Crit and 2 additional damage. He's only rolling 4 defense dice in melee and at range, but that shouldn't be too rough when you consider Hunker and Obi-Wan being around him. His defensive expertise is okay, but not great.

Overall, I am also quite excited to use Cody. I am really glad that there will be a nice answer to Gar Saxon other than using Gar Saxon. I really like the utility he adds to regular CTs in the form of rerolls and his Tactic ability.

Support - 212th Clone Troopers

4 SP - I am pretty surprised by this. I was really expecting a 3 here. To me, they just don't look that much better than the 501st CTs, but maybe I'll be proved wrong.
0 FP - ...
7 Stamina - It seems like this will be the spot for most Clone Supports. I think this is fine, once again, not too tanky, but not too weak. Gets a lot better when you factor in defensive keywords.
2 Durability - ^

Coordinated Assault (Pin) - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. When another allied Galactic Republic character makes an attack as part of a combat action, before dice are rolled, this Unit may use this ability. If the targeted character is within Range 5 of a character in this Unit, the target gains the Pinned Condition. This is pretty good. I am going to bet that all Clone support units have something like this. It is a really nice way to add some conditions to the attack and potentially snuff out a bit of the defender's expertise chart. Sorry, Ahsoka, fewer jumps for you.

Brothers in Arms - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. If this Unit has at least one Hunker token, characters in this unit have Steadfast. This is good since they'll have plenty of Hunker tokens. This could be quite handy while contesting an objective.

Bullseye Training

This stance is... interesting. They throw fewer dice at the same range as the 501st, they have fewer dice in melee, fewer dice in both defenses and both have the same melee and defensive expertise. They also are the only unit so far to have a completely linear combat tree. You have no choices on how to spend your successes. With all that said, the 212th has the potential to do 8 damage vs the 501st's 5. Their ranged attack expertise is much better than their blue brothers'. They generate more damage and crits so they should be able to max out their tree with relative ease considering you only need 4 successes.

Overall, I am pretty excited to use these guys. I don't think they're as exciting as Clone Commandos or Wolfpack, but I'm hoping they're pretty good. I suspect I will be running a lot of them for the first month until Commandos come out.

I am really excited to run this squad. Obi-Wan has been one of my favorite characters in Star Wars since I was a kid and I always love using him in games. I am glad that he is seemingly good and functional in this game. I think he and Cody will be an excellent pair to play with. I hope I am right about them being pretty good, but either way, I am excited to paint them. These sculpts and poses are incredible. As always, thank you for reading, and let me know if you agree or disagree with anything I've said in the comments!