Shatterpoint

Real Quiet Like - Squad Reactions

CahoonM

• 11 min read
Real Quiet Like - Squad Reactions

They have now shown General Solo, Chewie, and Rebel Commandos. 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 - General Solo

  • 8 SP - Not surprised by this at all. This is the most flexible spot to be in. I hope the Spectre crew are also both 8/4/4 boxes.
  • 3 FP - This is also not surprising. It is the proper place for a normal 8SP primary to be.
  • 9 Stamina/ 3 Durability - This is probably fine. He has access to an honestly insane amount of heals from combat. He also has Chewie around who can help him stay alive longer via Cover and adding expertise results.

Then We'll do it Real Quiet Like - This is a Tactic Ability with no cost. At the start of this unit's activation, choose another Rebel Alliance character. If the chosen character's unit card is in the order deck or in reserve, each character in this unit and the chosen character may [advance]. Otherwise, each character in this unit and the chosen character may [dash]. This ability is great. Extra movement is always good, especially when it can be an advance. The fact that both Han and the unit he chooses get the move makes this feel fantastic. Han being capable of a double advance is wonderful. I think most of the time you'll want to choose a non-activated unit for this if you can, simply because Han would love the advance. Launching a reserved Luke into the fight before immediately activating him is a real good time.

Outnumbered, Not Outgunned - This is a Reactive Ability with a cost of 1 FP. After a character in this unit makes an attack as part of a combat action, this unit may use this ability. One character in this unit may make a 5-dice attack targeting a character in a different enemy unit. This is a neat ability. I think it's a bit easier to digest when looking at two other similar abilities. IG-11's Targeting protocol and Hunter's Striking Distance. On the one hand, IG-11 gets this ability for free. IG-11 also has a free dash at the start of his activation. On the other hand, Hunter's extra move and five dice attack are lumped together under the one ability, that costs one force. Han is somewhere in the middle, if not the top of these three. Han has a five-dice attack that costs one force, but he also has the potential to advance for free at the start of his activation. Thinking about it, I actually prefer the setup Han has. Free advance + 1fp 5-dice attack (Han) > free dash + free 5-dice attack (IG) > 1fp for dash+5-dice attack (Hunter).

Let's Keep a Little Optimism Here - This is a Reactive Ability with a cost of 1 FP. When an allied unit is wounded by an enemy effect, after the effect is resolved, this unit may use this ability. If your opponent has more momentum than you, gain a momentum. This is a very cool ability. I like the thematics of it as well. I always feel like Rebels tend to fight best from the backfoot in AMG games and this feels like it fits in that. Is one momentum worth one force? Sometimes. I think this ability will not come up very often, but when it does, it will win games.

Hey, It's Me - This is an Identity Ability with no cost. Once per turn, when an enemy unit becomes wounded, after the effect is resolved, remove one condition from this unit. Then, one character in this unit may [dash]. – – – Once per turn, when an allied unit is wounded by an enemy character after the effect is resolved, one character in this unit may make a 5-dice attack targeting the enemy character that caused the effect. This is an interesting Identity. It feels like Luke's where it only tangentially helps your list but mostly helps its owner (Han). Getting to remove a condition is very good and free moves are always helpful. It is nice that he can either remove a strain or pin and then still move. The second part is also quite handy, but more difficult to use. Han has to already be in position for this to work and the trigger is caused by your opponent which means that your opponent has more control over this ability than you do. If your opponent does choose to allow this ability then great! Han will not be sad to shoot another five dice since he's already likely shooting upwards of 12. Another pretty big keynote is that this is his identity so it will never cost anything to use. He can shoot and shoot and shoot all day long.

Gunslinger

This is Han's more offensive stance. He is rolling seven attack dice at range four and six in melee. He gets five defensive dice at both range and in melee. His ranged expertise is very good. There is a mix of Crits and Strikes, but the important part is that he has a full 1:1 ratio of results here. Until you roll five or more expertise you are never losing out on any dice, which is great. His melee expertise is also pretty good. He still gets that 1:1 ratio, but it stops at three or more this time. Not bad for a gunslinger. His defensive expertise is where things get a little bit funky. He generates zero blocks. Now, that sounds bad, but it's not. At the moment, for Han, a StrikeFail is pretty much the same thing as a block. There might be future abilities that he can use this with, but for now, it means nothing of note. He does, however, have CritFails, which are much better than blocks! He will still probably be taking damage kinda easy, but it should not be too bad. His combat tree is fairly good. It tops out at eight damage, one expose, and one shove from five successes or you can do seven damage, two shoves, and a reposition. Repositions are very powerful, as are shoves, especially if they are within the first two or three columns of a tree. Han is going to be one slippery smuggler.

Smug Scoundrel

This is his more defensive/effect-driven stance. He gets six attack dice for both range and melee. He gets five defense dice at range and six in melee. His ranged expertise is still very good on this side. It generates lots of crits, but you lose the fabled 1:1 ratio at three or more expertise. His melee expertise is also quite good. He gets plenty of crits here as well, in addition to a reposition from two or more. Repositions on attack are very powerful. He is going to be very speedy. His defensive expertise is the same. His tree is very different on this side. The most damage you can do on this side is six, which is low, but that is not really why you're on this side. He can do three shoves and a reposition in a single attack, amazing. He can also heal up to five times in a single attack, also amazing. He can also do a very healthy mix of both. A primary that can run their full tree and only end with three total damage is hilarious, and also an indicator that they are doing a LOT of other valuable stuff.

Overall, I am pretty excited to get Han on the table. I think he may take some time to figure out, but will likely prove to be good.

Secondary - Chewie

  • 4 PC - No surprise here.
  • 0 FP -
  • 12 Stamina/ 2 Durability - Woah! A twelve stamina secondary! He's got that Wookiee HP and I love it. He could prove to be a real pain to wound, especially if Han is nearby healing him five times.

Wookiee Loyalty - 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 allied Primary character. If, at the end of this movement, this character is within [range] 3 of the chosen character, that character gains [hunker] and each character in this unit may [heal]. Wonderful. Free moves are the best. If this ability was just a dash, I would be happy, but it's so much more. If Chewie ends near a primary, that primary gets a hunker. This is good by itself, but gets even better when you realize if you get into range two, Chewie will also be giving them Cover 1. So that means that primary now rolls at least two additional ranged defense dice. Then on top of all of that, Chewie gets a little heal. Good to juice up that primary or keep himself from getting wounded.

It's Not Wise to Upset a Wookiee - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Choose an enemy unit within [range] 3 and LOS. Roll 5 attack dice. The chosen unit suffers [damage] for each [Critical] and [Strike] result in the roll. Abilities like this have proven themselves over and over again. They are extremely powerful. Damage that bypasses all defensive abilities and dice can be game-winning. I love it.

Bodyguard - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. Allied Primary characters within [range] 2 and allied Secondary characters within [range] 2 of a character in this unit gain Cover [1]. Just like Sabé, Chewie gets to give cover to all his best buddies. He also gives cover to himself at all times. Make sure to keep that in mind once you get a look at his stance.

Intimidating Presence - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. While this unit is not wounded, allied Rebel Alliance characters within [range] 2 add [expertise] to their defense rolls. This ability is very good. Adding free expertise to your rolls is very powerful. He also benefits from this, so he is almost always going to add one. Another HUGE note about this ability: This expertise does NOT care about Expose. You can always take advantage of this expertise because it is added AFTER any Expose would take effect. https://forums.atomicmassgames.com/topic/12589-exposeddisarmed-timing/#comment-52614 (forum ruling explaining this very clearly.) (Thanks @Kaza on discord for pointing this out)

Disarming

This stance is not bad. He rolls six attack dice at range five and seven in melee. he also rolls five defense dice at range (pretty much always six) and five in melee. His ranged attack expertise is fine since he is clearly not supposed to be an offensive powerhouse. His melee expertise is also pretty good. Crits at all levels in addition to a strike. He also starts to get some BlockFails at four or more, which are fine but still not as good as a strike. His defensive expertise is pretty good. He gets one block and one heal at each level, but he also gets a StrikeFail at three and a CritFail at four or more. The big thing to remember is that if he is not wounded, he will always have at least a single block and heal. ALWAYS. He is completely incapable of whiffing a defense roll. His tree is pretty good too. It comes in with either six damage, two shoves, and three heals off of five success or five damage, one shove, one expose, one disarm, one strain, and three heals. A shove on one is very very good and two shoves by three is excellent. Love it.

Overall, I am VERY excited for Chewie. I think he is going to find his way into almost every Rebel list I make. He is one of my favorite characters and the namesake for my dog.

Support - Rebel Commandos

  • 4 PC - Acceptable and not surprising.
  • 0 FP -
  • 8 Stamina/ 2 Durability - Not bad, eight is a very good spot to start. They also have access to a decent amount of defensive and healing abilities.

Command Doctrines - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may [dash]. If one or more characters end this movement within [range] 4 of an enemy character, this unit immediately makes a focus action and gains [hunker]. This is basically the rebel version of Covert Ops. Instead of having a sharpshooter, the commandos get a Hunker. To me, the hunker is better but I also prefer a more defensive playstyle. I could see a reasonable argument for using this almost every time they activate.

Coordinated Fire: [Damage] - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. When another allied Rebel Alliance 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 unit suffers [damage]. We've seen this in a few other spots before. It's okay and can be helpful, but if you have any other ability that would trigger at the same time you're likely better off using that over this. If you've got nothing else to do then great! More damage is more gooder.

Camouflage - This is an Identity Ability with no cost. At the end of setup, this unit may gain [Hunker]. This ability is fine on Ewoks, but absolutely amazing on these guys! It mostly has to do with their next ability...

Infiltration - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. When deploying characters in this unit, characters may be placed within [range] 3 of the first places character from that squad's primary unit, instead of the normal [range] 1. Yes! I love it. I think abilities like this are fantastic. The one (and only?) major downside to abilities like this is that it can potentially push your unit too far up and within range to get smacked FROM DOWNTOWN! by someone like Vader who can easily reach them on his first activation. However, that downside is slightly negated by the fact that they will start the game, pre-hunkered and potentially within 2 of Chewie for extra expertise. I think this is going to be very good.

Commando Training

Shove City, population: This entire squad. Seven dice at range five and six in melee is a good start. Five defense dice at range and four in melee is also respectable. Their ranged expertise is fine. It will get the job done, but it's not going to blow anything out of the water. Their melee expertise is also fine, but not amazing. Their defensive expertise is also fine, but not crazy. The reposition on three or more is very cool, but I am not sure it is better than a second block. Their combat tree is, once again, very good. Pin and Shove on two is very good, add a second shove on three, and boy, you're cookin'. They top out at seven damage from five successes. They also can potentially get pin, disarm, reposition, and up to three heals.

Overall, I am super excited to get them on the table. I think they are going to be very good, especially alongside Chewie.

I think this squad is one that I have been fairly excited about. Han is maybe a tiny bit disappointing or lackluster, but not by a ton. Chewie and the Commandos make up for that though. I think all three of these units will find their way into many very good Rebel lists for a long time.

Thanks for reading!