Not Accepting Surrenders - Squad Reactions

They have now shown Grand Admiral Thrawn, Agent Kallus, and ISB Agents. I will talk about how I think they'll all work both 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 - Grand Admiral Thrawn

• 7 SP - This is what I was expecting. I did not want him to be weak enough to be an 8 but I think it's hard to justify a 6 if he's not also a particularly fighty character.
• 2 FP - This surprises me a little bit, but unlike the other 2fp's, this is not a huge deal for him because of his abilities.
• 9 Stamina/ 3 Durability - This is the standard for non-force user primes so, I think it's fine.

I Want You to Know Failure, Utter Defeat - This is an Active Ability with a cost of one FP. One character in this unit may [reposition]. If it ends that movement contesting an active objective, that character adds 3 dice to its next attack roll during this activation. This ability is fantastic. It's like a slightly worse Hello There! I like that it gives the added flexibility of a reposition but limits the ability to end the move contesting. In a pinch, this could be worth it simply for the advance. This is a great start!

Battle Tactics: Architechs of Their Own Destruction - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. When you create your starting order deck, you may include up to two Grand Strategy Battle Tactics Cards. When you draw a Battle Tactics Card, resolve the effects of that card then reveal another Order card and continue your turn as normal. Not much to say here that I won't mention later on. We've known about his Battle Cards since Adepticon, but now we see the full picture. I like that they let you include two instead of just one.

We Must Wait and Watch - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. When you spend [force] to place an allied Galactic Empire unit's order card in reserve, spend one less [force]. Then, if there are one or more cards in your order deck, you may spend [force]. If you do, the reserved unit may remove [damage] or one condition from itself and one character in that unit [reposition]. Woah! This is great. Free reserves are wonderful and super helpful, especially since he only brings 2 FP himself. This is also a soft counter to any enemy Moff Gideons, which is solid and kinda funny. The second clause is also great. Repositioning a unit that has not activated is great, add on some condition or damage removal and you are cooking!

To Defeat an Enemy You Must Know Them - This is an Identity Ability with no cost. Characters in allied Galactic Empire Units that have one or more injured tokens and that are engaged with one or more enemy characters have Protection. Okay, this first part is neat. There's not a lot to say here except that this is a good ability.

Additionally, when an allied Primary Unit is wounded by an enemy attack, after the effect is resolved, you may refresh your Order deck. Holy moly, this is great. We don't know the full implications of this ability yet since it will likely require some Forum rulings and/or errata of the rule book to work properly. Going off the general idea though, this ability is going to be super handy. A full deck and force refresh is sick! I like this part of the ability a lot, but there is a slight downside. This refresh is controlled by your opponent. If your opponent doesn't want this to happen then they don't have to wound your Primaries. It is not a huge downside, but it is something to consider.

Battle Tactics Cards

Turn Their Strength Against Them - Both of these effects are very solid and useable. I think I would generally prefer the top one of the two, but the bottom one could be situationally VERY good. With the Bounty Hunter Unit Pack coming out sometime in the next few months this card seems like a good choice.

Sometimes Brutality Serves a Purpose - Again, both of these effects are good. Again, the top one is a bit better in most situations but there will certainly be cases for the bottom, albeit rare cases.

I Expect Results, Not Perfection - Of the three cards, this is the best one in my opinion. Diceless displacement for the cost of three damage is not bad at all. The bottom choice is solid. OOA Dashes for your units is great, but I think the top ability is the way to go most of the time.

So, of all these cards, you can only every bring two at a time. I think there will be situations where all three could be helpful. At first glance, I think I would bring both Sometimes Brutality Serves a Purpose and I Expect Results, Not Perfection. Those two seem like the best of the options. Both feature some form of displacement and/ or OOA dashes for your units.

Strategic Genius

Well, these two seem great. I think this one is his more ranged/effect-oriented stance. It starts off with sic attack dice at range four and five dice in melee. He gets five defense dice at range and six in melee. His ranged expertise is okay, but not amazing. Only one crit from one to four expertise is rough and two at five or more is not good. The Pin is neat, but I'd much rather see a hit or damage there. His melee expertise is also fine. He at least gets more results and at lower numbers on the table. Two crits at four is okay. Defensively his expertise is also kinda... meh? Crit to Fails are not bad, don't get me wrong, but without at least one block to go with it they can be tough. If your opponent only rolls hits, his expertise is a little weak. His two level is okay but not great and his three level is good but not amazing. I am curious to see how he feels on the table. His combat tree is all sorts of wild. It tops out at seven damage, but the damage is not why you're here. You're here for the five damage, four heal, one dash, three shove tree. Oh my lord, that path is amazing. I cannot express how much I love it. I cannot wait to pull that one off for the first time. Overall, this stance seems to be pretty good. I think I will likely spend most of my time here.

Aggressive Assault

This stance seems more suited to melee attacking and damage. He rolls five attack dice at range four and seven in melee. He gets five defense dice for both. His ranged expertise, again, is fine? It's not great but it's not terrible. His melee expertise is, again, not amazing. At least this time he gets that extra hit at three or four. His defensive expertise is slightly worse on this side, which is not good. It wasn't great before and now the levels have changed. His combat tree is why you're here though. It tops out at nine damage. He can only do up to one shove, but it is one success, so that's at least great. He has a repo on three, which is solid. Otherwise, this tree just seems like a straight downgrade from the other one. Overall, this stance is fine. If you need more damage then flip, but otherwise, I think I'll likely just stick to Strategic Genius 90-95% of the time.

Overall, I really like Thrawn. I am a big fan of his seemingly more Supportive role in comparison to all of the haymakers that Empire already has. I think he will prove to be quite good on the table. I am not usually an Empire player but I am excited to get him on the table. I am also very excited to paint his gorgeous mini.

Secondary - Agent Kallus, Inside Man

• 4 PC - This is what I was expecting. Most flexible spot for Empire and for Rebels. This makes throwing him in Spectre lists real easy.
• 0 FP -
• 9 Stamina/ 2 Durability - This is not bad at all. Nine stamina on a secondary is usually more than enough.

All Leads Must Be Pursued - This is a Tactic Ability with no cost. At the start of this unit's activation, each character in this unit may [dash] toward an enemy character. This is a solid tactic. A free dash is always good and toward can be very forgiving, especially late game when units are all over the place.

Prepared For Any Encounter - This is an Active Ability with a cost of one FP. This unit immediately makes a focus action. Additionally, characters in this unit have Sharpshooter [2] and Impact [2] until the end of the turn. This is great! I likely won't use this every time he goes, but for one force it's not bad at all. This allows him to Dash-move-focus-attack for only one force. I think this will add to his overall flexibility a lot.

Imperial Intelligence- This is a Reactive Ability with a cost of one FP. When an allied character is attacking or defending, this unit may use this ability during the modify dice rolls step. That allied character may reroll one dice for each tag it shares with this unit. WOAH!!! Let's gooooo. This is a fantastic ability that both Empire and Rebels will love. Kanan rerolling up to three dice on any of his attacks is very scary. This also gets around both expose and disarm due to the timing and it can be used on Kanan's clapbacks. This should help Spectre teams a ton. Empire likes this a little less, but it's still not bad with them at all.

Uncertain Loyalties - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. At the end of Setup, choose one of the following: - Loyal Servant: This unit has the Galactic Empire, Spy, and Trooper tags. - Double Agent: This unit has Rebel Alliance, Scoundrel, and Spectre Tags.

YES! We've know that he would have an ability like this since they first shows us him at Adepticon. We weren't exactly sure how it would play out but I was suspecting he'd get just Empire and Spy or Rebel and Spectre. Adding the third stage to each option is great! I cannot wait to throw him in lists with my Spectres. I think this adds a ton to his overall flexibility and use case. I think Empire still might have some trouble finding a decent spot for him. Now that we've seen this, we have a better idea of how Lando's similar ability will work which is very exciting.

Tactical Supremacy

This is not a bad stance at all. He starts off with symmetrical dice, six attack and five defense. His ranged expertise is fine, but not amazing. Extra damage is okay, but I generally still prefer hit(s) to damage. His melee expertise is very good. Two hits at one or two is solid and two crits at three or more is great. The shoves on both levels is wonderful. Giving him up to three shoves and at least one is steadfast proof. His Defensive Expertise is not bad at all. One block at one is something I love to see. The rest of the chart is very good. His combat tree is identical to Captain Rex's, which means it's very good. It tops out at up to seven damage or nine with expertise. He has access to two very early shoves or three with expertise. The few conditions are nice and the Reposition is great.

Overall, I am VERY excited to get Kallus on the table. I think he is going to bring quite a bit to both Empire and Rebel lists. He seems like a unit that I could see myself using a lot of. I am also a huge fan of his model and can't wait to see how he looks with a mutton-choppy face.

Support - ISB Agents

• 3 PC - This is what I was expecting for them. I like this because it allows for some good flex options with the rest of Empire.
• 0 FP -
• 8 Stamina/ 2 Durability - This is a solid spot to be in. They don't have any of the fancy keywords like Darks or ISF, but eight is still good.

Assault Tactics - This is an Active Ability with a cost of one FP. Each character in this unit may [dash]. Then this unit may suffer [damage] to immediately perform a focus action. I like this ability on Stormtroopers. I am glad that the ISB has it as well. It is something I see myself using pretty often, but not all the time.

Imperial Detention - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. When an enemy character that is engaged with one or more characters in this unit [advance] or [dash], after the move is resolved, the moving characters unit suffers [damage][damage] if the moving character is no longer engaged with one or more characters in this unit. I was hoping we'd see this again soon! This is the same as the Super Commando's ability that I love. Locking things in engagement can be very handy and depending on the HP of the enemy, game-winning.

Brutal Suppression - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. Characters in this unit have Impact [1]. This is neat. I like that it adds some more use to their Assault Tactics. I like that Storms are shooty and these guys are punchy. Maybe they'll find a decent spot in Vader lists.

ISB Doctrines

This stance is not bad. Starting off with six dice for both attack ranges is good. Four defense dice at range and five in melee is also good. Their ranged expertise is pretty great. Two hits at one or two is very good and swap to a crit for three or more is nice. Their melee expertise is not bad, but not amazing. The crits are fine and the shove is nice, but it feels like their expertise' are conflicting with their overall design. They have the same defensive expertise at Kallus, which is nice. It is very good for a support, especially a 3PC. Their combat tree is not bad for a 3PC either. It tops out at five damage. They can also do two shoves or three with expertise. Pin and Expose is also not a bad choice to flex to, but I think the default will usually be the bottom path.

Overall, I think these guys are good. They actually feel like they deserve the 3PC slot, which I like from a balance perspective. I think they will be pretty flexible and popular. Allowing Vader to bring Death Trooper is a scary prospect.

I think this squad is going to add a lot to Empire. I am rather excited to get them on the table and see what they can do. I am very happy to see an EMpire release that doesn't look absolutely busted or incredibly killy. Tricks are more fun anyway.

Thanks for reading!