What Have We Here - Squad Reactions

They have now shown (and released... I know, I'm a bit late to the party here) Lando Calrissian, Lobot, and Wing Guard. 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 - Lando Calrissian

8 SP - This is what I was expecting and hoping for! 8 Squad Points has been and will forever remain the most flexible spot a Primary can be in, in my opinion. I love seeing an 8 on any unit.
2 FP - I think this is fine. Considering he has a refresh available and doesn't seem too force-hungry, I think 2 FP is probably plenty.
9 Stamina/ 3 Durability - No surprises here. 9/3 is Pretty standard for a non-force user Primary.

How You Doin' Ya Old Pirate? - Oh, I am a fan of this. Free condition removal at the start of his activation is awesome. I especially like the fact that it seems like you can throw those conditions onto enemy scoundrel units or even himself. It will be interesting to see when the best times to put it on a friend or enemy will be. I have a feeling it really depends on the condition itself, but only game time will tell!

Hedged Bets - Woah. WOAH. This is a very, very, very neat ability. I'm not sure how good it actually is, but it seems like it could be incredibly good under the right circumstances. This makes the Force minigame a lot more taxing, I think, but once you can figure out how to get this to Proc consistently, then I think this is maybe even a game-winning ability. On-demand condition removal and on-demand condition adding are awesome. Handing a Pin or Expose out to every enemy unit sounds very good at first glance.

Sabacc Shift - This ability is incredible. It makes his condition moving and adding abilities even better. It's basically a reserve+ that allows you to refresh two force. I see pretty much no reason why you wouldn't want to use this ability every single chance you get. I am excited to see how he feels on the table because, so far, he seems just as gamble-y and slippery as I was hoping for!

Conflicting Responsibilities - I really love this ability a lot. It's both very thematic and seemingly pretty good. I'm glad he has the option between Empire and Rebel. I will be playing him as a Rebel probably around 90% of the time (I'm a fanboy). The latter part of this ability is also very cool. It seems incredibly flexible and potentially very, very powerful. It's basically free Payday on all of your scoundrel units. I'm thinking stuff like throwing a bunch of scoundrels into a list with Gideon Hask and trying to kick off his dice-adding ability as often as possible. I'm excited to see what people come up with here.

Idiots's Array

This is an interesting stance. Seven ranged attack dice and six in melee is not a bad start. His ranged expertise is pretty solid but not the craziest we've seen. His melee expertise is serviceable, but I think it's not where he wants to be. His defenses are okay. Six dice for both is good, and his expertise is okay. Crit->fails are good, but I do wish there was a Block or two in this chart somewhere. If your opponent has no crits, then this chart is useless. The heels are nice, but again, I would rather see blocks. His combat tree is not bad, but not amazing. Two damage, a heal, and a Shove by two is not terrible. the three damage on three is good. Topping out at eight damage is not bad at all, especially since that comes with two shoves. His top route seems fine if you're leaning into the condition manipulation thing.

Pure Sabacc

This stance looks better at first glance. Eight dice at range and five in melee is a decent start. His ranged expertise looks incredible. The fact that it retains a 1:1 or better split until 5+ is wicked good. Even once you get to 5+, four crits are very nice. His melee expertise is also not too bad, but it's definitely not where he wants to be. His defenses on this side are a bit better looking to me. Yes, he does roll fewer dice, but his expertise chart is a lot better, in my opinion. Blocks, Repositions, and Heals are good, Repositions especially. It seems like he can be pretty mobile, depending on how you roll. His combat tree here is pretty similar to Idiot's Array. It tops out at eight damage, which is not bad. For me, the big draw here is the upwards of four Shoves. You can really blast your target just about anywhere you want with four shoves. I think at first glance this is the stance I'd prefer to use more often, but maybe time will change my opinion.

Overall, I think Lando looks awesome. He is easily in my top three Star Wars characters, and I cannot wait to get him on the table. I think they did a great job with theming and making those thematic abilities still helpful in the game. I think I will have a very hard time putting him down once I start playing games with him.

Secondary - Lobot

5 PC - I was not expecting this at all. I do find it pretty funny that Lobot is up there with the likes of Kalani, the IGs, and Paz. It limits who he can go with a little bit but not too much. We're finally getting to a good point where there are enough three pc units that he can go just about anywhere you want.
0 FP -
8 Stamina/ 2 Durability - This seems okay. Maybe nine Stamina would've been fine, but eight is not bad.

Detain - This is a good ability. Extra moves on your scoundrel units in addition to even more condition manipulation. I like it.

Security Network - This seems like a pretty good ability, too. Lobot is not making any crazy attacks so him allowing your other units to do so feels nice. I'm sure this will be a pretty handy ability in almost all lists you put him in. Time will tell how often you want to use it though.

Battlefield Calculations - An ability like this has shown up somewhere before I think, I just can't remember where. It's not bad. I like having this as an option to try and set it up before Lobot gets wounded but I don't think it will be worth the Force once he is. It takes a bit of setup and maybe some draw order luck to proc perfectly but as an ability of convenience, it is good.

Lockdown - Now, this is awesome. This ability seems very strong at first glance. At the very least, it makes Lobot the main target for Attacks and Pushes rather than your more important units. I feel like this should help you out quite a bit on heavily contested points mid-late game. It also feels like he synergizes a little bit with some of the Ghost crew, too, which I am a big fan of.

Cybernetic Enhancements

This is not a bad stance. Seven attack dice at range four and six in melee is a good start. His ranged expertise is solid for a secondary but maybe a little behind the curve for five PC secondaries. His melee expertise is fine, but it's not where he wants to be I think. His defenses are solid. Five dice for both is a good start. His expertise is not bad, but not amazing. At least he has one block at each level. This chart continues to lean into the condition play that this whole squad utilizes. His combat tree is good. A Shove on one is nice. He tops out at seven damage but more importantly, he has a free active ability on there. I love free actives and I think they're useful to use about 95% of the time.

Overall, Lobot seems like he is actually worthy of the five-point cost. Most fives in this game do not really feel like they should be that expensive, in my opinion. He does. His attacking and defending are okay, but his abilities are what seem to be amazing to me. I cannot wait to get him on the table and see what he can do!

Support - Wing Guard

3 PC - I was not expecting Lobot to be a 5, which means I was also not expecting these guys to be a 3. I think it is fitting, though and it allows them to find their way into more teams, which I am a fan of.
0 FP -
8 Stamina/ 2 Durability - This feels about right. I don't think they would be deserving of 9 Stam or 7.

Headlong Assault - I enjoy this ability a lot. I was not expecting this unit to be a melee-leaning unit, but here we are. They can throw up to 8 dice each in melee, which is awesome. I like that this gives them a little bit of direction, too.

Rapid Response Team - I love this. I find it funny that Units like Kalani or Kraken, who are known for their strategic genius, have this ability, too. It somehow feels very on-theme that the Cloud City guard does too. Whether it's because they're strategic geniuses or just dumb lucky, I don't know.

Security Force - This is a solid ability. Steadfast is something that I always love seeing on any unit.

Security Training

This is not a bad stance for a 3pc at all. Throwing 5 attack dice at range and 6 (up to 8) in Melee is great! Their ranged expertise is serviceable but not crazy good. Their melee expertise is actually not too bad. I wouldn't have minded seeing the chart swap over at 3+ instead of 4+, but I get it. The combat tree is also pretty good for a 3-cost unit. Pin + 2 Damage in the first 2 is solid, followed by a potential reposition or shove is great. I really love it when a unit with steadfast also dishes out a few shoves. Their defenses are fine, nothing crazy good or bad. I think it's just the clone armor treatment, which these days feels like the exact middle-ground of defenses.

Overall, I think this unit is solid-looking. I am excited to get them on the table and see how they play. It's a bonus that their minis are super dope-looking too!

This whole squad looks like they are going to be a ton of fun! I am very excited to paint and play these guys as soon as possible. My one gripe is that they didn't include a Gambino head for Lando in the box, but maybe that means young Lando will be coming down the road.

Thanks for reading!

(I'll be painting Lando like this regardless)