You Cannot Run - Squad Reactions

They have now shown Obi-Wan, Out of Hiding and Darth Vader, Jedi Hunter. 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.

Secondary - Obi-Wan, Out of Hiding

• 4 PC - I am glad he is a 4. I thought there may have been potential for him to get a 5 rating, but luckily not. 4 is the best spot to be in as a Secondary unit.
• 0 FP - Still weirdly surprising to me, but I'm sure they have their reasons.
• 8 Stamina/ 2 Durability - Yikes... 8 is very low. He has decent defensive abilities, but 16 effective HP is not a lot. Be careful around Primaries and other high-damage units.

Run - This is a Tactic Ability with no cost. At the start of this unit's activation, choose a character in this unit or another allied character that is engaged with an enemy character. The chosen character may [Heal] and [Reposition]. This is a really neat ability. I like the idea of getting friendlies out of engagement and healing them. I think it is possible that this ability does not proc on anyone but Obi super often because of the requirements, but when it does I think it'll be quite handy. There is currently a forum question waiting for a ruling out whether or not this requires Obi to be engaged to use on himself, hopefully, we get an answer soon.

Mind Trick - This is a Reactive Ability with a cost of 2 FP. When an allied character within [Range] 3 is targeted by an attack, this unit may use this ability. The attack ends. If it is the attacker's activation, it may make another attack targeting a different character. If it does, remove 2 dice from the attack roll. Holy cow this is cool. I really like this ability and hope we see it on more Jedi. Essentially just keep Obi near a high-value piece and shut down an attack or two against them. I also kind of like the idea of using this with Dooku, who kinda wants to be attacked and trying to force your opponent to attack him when they otherwise wouldn't. That would take a bit of setup and mind games, but I think it's possible. This ability should also prove itself handy in keeping him alive since he's got relatively low HP.

Greater Purpose - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. This unit has Immunity [Exposed]. When this unit would gain [Expose], one character in this unit may [Heal] instead. I like this. I think it is our first "Immunity X" ability so far. I really like the add-on that he gets to heal when he would gain an expose instead of this just granting him immunity. This should help a bit with his kinda low health pool.

Last Stand of the Jedi - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. For each Injured Token this unit has, characters in this unit add 2 dice to their attack and defense rolls. Hey! He's kinda like his ol' buddy Maul! This is cool, there's no downside so why not use it? It Sorta turns Obi into a Tanky Cruise Missile late game, especially if he has two injured tokens since he would die right after. This should also help him defend pretty decently once he's got one injured. The gap from Injured->Double Injured should be wider than from Healthy->Single Injured.

Form III Soresu

I really like this stance as an ability-driven stance. It varies slightly from General Obi-Wan's (Obi-One) Soresu stance, but not by much. Obi-Two's Soresu (this one) has a higher damage cap, slightly worse expertise, and rearranged success squares. This stance rolls 1 additional attack die in melee for 6. He's getting 5 defense dice in both melee and at range. His attack expertise is still pretty decent, but it's not generating a ton of crits. His defensive expertise is pretty nice. It doesn't give him any abilities, but he gets a 1:1 ratio of Expertise: Blocks until he rolls 4 expertise, which should be pretty rare. His combat tree is good for a Secondary unit. He gets up to 7 damage off 4 successes, or up to 4 heals if you need it. He's not a bad pair with Vader, Maul, or Inquisitors who will be taking damage for abilities.

Overall, I think he is pretty good. I am excited to try him out, but I don't think he really has much of a defined place at the moment. He is going to suffer from having the same name as General Obi-Wan and since GOW is insanely good, OBi-Two might have a hard time finding a list to sit in.

Primary - Darth Vader, Jedi Hunter

• 7 SP - Woo! Another 7 SP. Honestly, I figured there was a chance for Vader to be a 6. I think it is still possible in the future pack they spoiled at Adepticon.
• 4 FP - Another 4 FP! Now if you want 8 FP Dooku + Anakin is not the only way! I like this a ton, I think he's still pretty Force Hungry, but not too much.
• 12 Stamina/ 3 Durability - Woah! 36 EHP! This is insane. It is highly unlikely that he is ever removed from play. As of writing, there are only two units who could possibly wound him in one turn: Grievous and Anakin (if he double taps). Those both are not going to happen often either, it will take some seriously uncommon math for it to work out that way. I think Vader should be easily living through 3-4 swings before getting wounded.

Vader's Fury - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may [Advance]. During the next attack made by a character in this unit during this activation, after all dice rolls have been modified, ass [Damage] [Damage] to the damage pool. Oh Baby! This ability is nuts! It is going to make Vader very very fast and very deadly. Extra movements, especially advances are always good and just adding 2 extra guaranteed damage is wicked. Pair Vader with Rex and/or Ahsoka and He can end up in your opponent's backline turn 1. While he's back there he will get to use this ability and hopefully wound a unit or two.

Riposte - This is a Reavtive Ability with no cost. After a [Melee] attack targeting a character in this unit is resolved, this unit may use this ability. If the attack roll contained one or more [Failure] results, the attacking unit suffers [Damage] [Damage]. This is a good ability, especially when you pair it, kinda, with his next ability. This should nearly always proc and when he's not wounded it's free so there is no reason not to use this if you can.

The Sith Lord Strikes Back - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. When this unit is wounded by an attack, after the attack is resolved, it may use this ability. One character in this unit may [Dash] and make a 5 dice [Melee] attack targeting the character that wounded it. Okay, so why does this pair decently with Riposte? Well, it essentially means that pretty much any time Vader is attacked he will have some sort of retaliation. The only way around it is to shoot Vader and not wound him, otherwise, he's swinging back. The Dash helps with getting closer to the character that attacked him if it was a ranged attack. 5 Dice is also not something to scoff at when you consider Vader's combat trees and expertise. He can do upwards of 5 damage on both trees with only 3 successes.

Your Hatred Makes You Powerful - This is an Identity Ability with no cost. When an allied character makes a [Melee] attack as a part of a combat action, after choosing a target, the attacking unit may suffer [damage] [damage]. If it does, the attacker adds 3 dice to the attack roll. How does he keep getting better and better? This ability is excellent. If you pair somebody with a lot of heals (*cough* Either Obi or Luminara) this ability's downside can almost completely go away. That essentially means that his allies, including him, can just 3 free attack dice whenever they make a melee combat action. There is a point where extra dice have greatly diminishing value, but adding 3 dice to most melee rolls is really quite good, especially if doing so would wound an enemy unit.

Dark Rage

Oh. My. Lord. This is a wonderful stance. 7 Attack dice in melee, none at range. 5 Defense dice at range and in melee. His attack expertise is pretty nutty. He gets a 1:1 ratio, or better, of Expertise: Icons until he gets to 5 expertise results, FIVE! His defensive expertise is also decent, but not great. It'll get the job done but is not flashy. His combat tree is chef's kiss. It caps out at 9 damage with 6 successes, but you can make that 12 damage by using Vader's Fury and rolling 4+ expertise. Not bad. He also gets a decent amount of shoves and he gets a Dash with 5 successes. This tree is just chock full of good shit and I am all here for it.

Form V Djem So

Djem So is also very good but varies quite a bit. This stance has a ranged attack with 7 dice and he gets only 6 in melee. He increases his defense dice to 6 in melee and at range as well. His Ranged Attack expertise is not the best, but it will do some work. His Melee expertise is notably worse than Dark Rage's but, once again, will still get some work done. His defensive expertise is decent, but not great. 1-3 for 2 blocks is not terrible, but I would be careful about using Fury or Hatred too much. The combat tree here is more straightforward. It caps out at 9 damage from 5 successes. You also get some choices for a whole slew of abilities. The most interesting one to me is his last column, the middle line where after 5 successes he gets 1 damage and a Climb. I believe this is the first clime we've seen on a combat tree, at it's a bit weird since you cannot climb while engaged with an unwounded unit. Either you're trying to proc it while using Saber Throw or you're banking on wounding whatever unit you're engaged with. It feels a little silly that it's not just a jump but then again, Vader is maybe too menacing to Jump.

Overall, I think this Vader is going to be extremely popular. He seems like he is just going to be an absolute menace on the table. He's going to be nasty with almost any list you want to bring him with but I will note that he's not a terrible replacement for Anakin in Obi-Ani. I can't wait to see him on the table and how people decide to use him.

I am quite pleased with how this packing is shaping up overall. I think both Obi-Wan and Vader are going to add a ton of fun choices to list-building. I think they're both quite versatile and seemingly effective.

Thank you for reading!