We are Brave - Squad Reactions

They have now shown Queen Padme, Sabe, and Naboo Royal Handmaidens. 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 - Queen Padme Amidala

• 8SP - This is a bit surprising honestly. I was fully expecting her to get the same treatment as Cad. 9/2 would've made more sense to me personally, but for balancing the rest of her Squad this makes sense.
• 3FP - Once again, a bit surprising, but she was the "Chosen One's" wife after all.
• 9 Stamina/ 3 Durability - This is what I was expecting for her. 9 is not bad, but it's not great. One good roll and she can be wounded, especially in melee with some of the heavier hitters.

Royal Command - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Choose an allied Galactic Republic unit. Each character in the chosen unit may [Advance]. Nice. I like this a lot. Normally, at this point, I would maybe be getting tired of the amount of free-move tactics that Republic has, but I'm not at all. Free moves are incredible and I can't get enough of them.

Coordinated Fire: [Damage] [Damage] - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. When another allied Handmaiden unit 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 suffers [Damage][Damage]. Oh, baby! Double-damage CF is insane. This is a really nice way to augment the lower than average damage output of Sabe and the Handmaidens. It's likely a good thing that orher Republic Primaries can't use this ability, I think it would be too good.

Crack Shot - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. Characters in this unit have [Sharpshooter 2]. When this unit makes a Focus action, each character in this unit may [Dash]. I love this. It feels similar to what Jango can do. It might actually mean that Padme will be a formidable ranged fighter. I am looking forward to seeing what I can do with this ability,  especially paired with ARFs. Like I have said many times before, action economy is incredibly important and this ability adds a lot of potential utility to Padme. Free moves are great.

Servant of the People - This is an Identity Ability with no cost. While this unit is not wounded and while one or more characters in this unit are contesting an active objective. If this unit's active stance is Faith in Diplomacy, allied Galactic Republic Supporting characters can contest the same active objective, even while they are wounded. — While this unit is not wounded, if this unit's active stance is Aggressive Negotiations, allied Galactic Republic Supporting characters within [Range] 4 add 1 die to their attack rolls. HOLY MOLY! This is a multi-part ability so let's cover them separately.

1. The first clause of this ability is absolutely insane. Allowing Republic Supports to contest while wounded is incredible. This ability is going to be huge for maintaining control and tempo in the mid-line. Sitting middle with this while she is hanging out with both of your supports will mean you are always scoring at least 5 bodies on that objective if you need to. I can see a ton of play with this and I can't wait to get it on the table.
2. This clause is also quite good. Adding dice to Republic Supports is really solid. A few of the clone Supports have slightly anemic offensive output. I suspect this ability will feel really solid, but less flashy than the former.

Aggressive Negotiations

I really like this stance. I think it is surprisingly good for Padme and I'm all here for it. I was not expecting her to throw a decent amount of dice, but with this stance, she can get up to 10 dice pretty easily. She'll normally throw 7 dice at range and 6 in melee. She'll also be getting 5 defense dice at both range and in melee.  Her ranged attack expertise is solid, but not the best. 1:1 results until 4 expertise is pretty incredible (and rare). Her melee expertise is also decent, just not crit-generating. It also has a 1:1 ratio of Expertise: Results until 4 experts are rolled. Her defensive expertise is really solid here. Getting both Blocks and Heals on every level is really good. I don't think she'll be getting 5+ expertise almost ever, but if she does she is doing 2 Blocks, 1 Heal, and a Crit Delete. Her combat tree is not bad at all. It caps out at 8 damage out of only 5 successes. It also has a decent amount of other conditions and abilities. I like that she has a double heal choice and a reposition.

Faith in Diplomacy

This stance is also quite good. I think this is likely to be her default stance, but not necessarily because it is the better choice (I am still undecided on this). It is mostly due to her Idneitiy ability. She's getting 6 attack dice at range and melee and 5 defense dice in both. Her ranged attack expertise is still pretty good, but does not generate anything other than Strikes. It does have a 1:1 ratio of results until 5+ expertise, which, I think, is the first time we've seen that. Her melee attack expertise will get the job done, but it's not doing a whole lot. Her defensive expertise is mostly the same but trades a block for a heal on the second and third tiers.

Overall, I think Padme is going to add a ton of utility to Republic lists. I am not sure who I will be pairing her with, but it will most likely be Mace or Obi-Wan. I am also stupidly excited to paint her and her goons.

Secondary - Sabé, Royal Bodyguard

• 4PC - Yeah, this tracks. I was suspecting this point cost whether Padme was an 8 or a 9. 4 Still remains the most versatile cost for a secondary.
• 0 FP -
• 9 Stamina/ 2 Durability - This isn't bad, but it's not great. This is in line with most of the other Republic Secondaries which I am okay with. Be careful near heavy hitters or Sabe will be getting wounded.

Loyal Protectors - This is a Tactic Ability with no cost. At the start of this unit's activation, each allied Handmaiden character may [Dash] toward an allied primary character. More free Tactic moves! I like this ability a lot, as is the case with every other variant of the Free Tactic move. I do think this is the most limiting one we have seen since as it stands there are only 2 units that benefit from it, but I think it's fine. Having 3 bodyguard characters run towards your primary is thematic and likely very good.

Expose Flank - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may [Climb]. If any character ends this movement at a higher elevation than it began, characters in this unit have Sharpshooter [1] until the end of the turn and this unit immediately makes a focus action. This is a very cool ability. 1 Force to Climb, get extra dice, and Focus. This allows you to do 3 things while still having two actions. Those two actions likely Move and Attack. I think this ability adds a ton of movement and offensive versatility to Sabe.

Coordinated Assault: [Dash] - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. When a character in another allied Galactic Republic unit makes an attack as a 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, one character in this unit may [Dash]. More free moves! Sabe is going to be sprinting all over the board! I think there is almost no reason not to use this ability every time you can. The maneuverability that she is going to have between all of the abilities we've seen on her card will make her pretty slippery. I really like the idea of Coordinated Assault vs. Coordinated Fire. Two abilities that occur right when you're shooting that either help you or your allies.

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 have Cover [1]. I was hoping, and almost certain she'd have an ability like this. The thematics in this squad pack are incredible and this ability is too. I really like that this is not limited to Padme, but can be used on any allied Primary and Secondary including Sabe herself. This could come in real handy with almost every other Primary or Secondary in the game so far.

Decoy

This is actually a really solid stance for a unit that seems mostly support-driven. 7 base attack dice at range is incredible when you consider Expose Flank. 6 Dice in melee is also nothing to scoff at, but it's clear she'd rather not be engaged with enemies I think. 5 Defense dice in melee and at range is a good start, but it's essentially always 6 at range due to Bodyguard. There seems to be a pattern here with Sabe and Padme. Both of them have 1:1 ratio expertise unit 3-5ish results. Generating crits at every level is solid, and adding up to 3 strikes is not bad at all. Her melee attack expertise is not bad either, just not the best. Her defensive expertise is really solid for a Secondary unit. Crit Deletes are really good, and she gets them at 2 levels. Reposition is also super nice on her since she'll already be pretty slippery. Her combat tree is okay, generating 6 damage off of 5 results. She also has a ton of conditions and abilities to pick from which I love. 3 Shoves off of 5 successes is really good.

Overall, I think Sabe might be the secondary unit I like the most so far. She looks incredible and is very fun to use. I am a huge fan of her versatility and "Jack of all Trades" type of feeling. I am hoping she feels good on the table too.

Support - Naboo Royal Handmaidens

• 4PC - This makes sense, though I was expecting a 5 here, just because I thought Padme was going to be a 9.
• 0 FP -
• 8 Stamina/ 2 Durability - This is not bad at all. 8 Stamina on a Supporting unit is really solid and I think better than all the Clones we have so far.

Expose Flank - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may [Climb]. If any character ends this movement at a higher elevation than it began, characters in this unit have Sharpshooter [1] until the end of the turn and this unit immediately makes a focus action. Just like on Sabe, this ability is really good. I think they are going to be able to utilize it frequently and effectively.

Coordinated Fire: [Disarm] - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. When a character in another allied Galactic Republic unit makes an attack as a part of a combat action, before dice are rolled, this unit may use this ability. If the target character is within [Range] 5 of a character in this unit, the target unit gains [Disarm]. I thought that this was what the ARF Troopers were going to get, but I was wrong. CF: Disarm is okay. If you're not using another CF at the time then there is no reason not to use this, but it's overall the worst condition in the game so I wouldn't make procing this ability a priority.

Intercede - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. While this unit is not wounded, enemy characters engaged with on or more characters in this unit cannot target allied Primary characters or allied Secondary characters with attacks. I am going to just copy-paste what I wrote for Magnas here: This is it. This is what you're bringing them for. This ability is absolutely fantastic. This is why that 8 Stamina should prove to be a really healthy amount for them. Sure, they're susceptible to getting 1-2 shot, but that's still 1-2 hits that didn't come for your more important pieces.

Absolute Loyalty

This stance is not bad. 5 attack dice at range and 5 in melee is decent, but with abilities that will become 7-8 ranged dice. 5 Defense dice at range and in melee is pretty good, but don't rely on it. Their ranged attack expertise is okay, it's not 1:1 past 2 expertise but that's to be expected for Support. Melee expertise is okay, but once again not really something to make a priority. Their defensive expertise is pretty good. They don't generate a lot of blocks, but a Crit Delete on a Supporting unit is insane. Their combat tree is okay for a Support, but it's not the best we've seen. 5 damage off of 4 successes is not bad at all. They, like Sabe, have a to of really good conditions and abilities on their tree though. Heal or Jump in Column One is really nice. Repositions at the end add to the overall mobility of this unit and the box as a whole.

Overall, I think this is the Squad Pack I have been most excited about since Hello There! I think all of these units will add a ton of utility to a ton of different lists both together and individually.

Thanks for reading!