A New Hope, A New Set Part 1

After months of speculation and grumbling on the Star Wars Miniatures boards about when previews would start for the new Imperial Entanglements set, the previews began this week not with a trickle, but a flood. As of this writing, thirteen figures have been previewed ahead of the March 17th release. For those of you, like me, who like to assign meaningless mathematical statistics to things like this, that means we’ve already seen nearly a third of the set. To be more precise, we’ve seen 32.5% of the new figures. To be even more precise, I’m just stalling for word count.

Imperial Entanglements is intended to be a set focused on events taking place during the original trilogy of movies, and to a lesser extent in the Extended Universe, centered around the conflict between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire. Based on that criteria, the figures so far are doing just what it says on the tin. We haven’t seen anything in this set that’s too shocking so far, but fans who break out into hives at the mere mention of the prequel have a lot to be grateful for.

After the jump, a look at some of the Unique figures released so far and my thoughts on each.

Leia, Bounty Hunter

I don’t know if the world was clamoring for a Princess Leia beat stick, but that’s what we’re getting with this figure. And, in fairness, it’s going to be a very, very useful piece, especially given the propensity as of late to turn to General Grievous, Droid Army Commander to make unstoppable droid squads. See, Leia is built for one thing – taking out robots. That is something she will do quite well.

It’s all thanks to Electrostaff +20, which turns Leia into a 40 damage-dealing machine  capable of doling out the hurt to any unlucky droid she’s parked next to. The problem, of course, is getting her there – she lacks any sort of ranged attack. However, with Stealth and Evade, enterprising players can just move Leia in and out of cover on their way to whatever sort of ‘bots their opponents may be packing without fear of ranged units picking her off ahead of time. Force Sense is a nice bonus to help avoid some potentially nasty figures but probably not the main focus of the piece.

In summary, it looks like Leia may not be a figure to build around, but at 26 points she can find a home on most squads in the droid-heavy competitive environment. Just make sure she’s got someone covering her while she runs in and deals out hot, electricky death and she’ll be solid. Though, honestly, can we talk about that sculpt? I know most prepainted minis don’t look good when blown up to this size, but her face looks like she just got done doing the photo shoot for the Saw V poster.

Thanks to Robot Viking for the images of Leia.

 

Lobot

 

Remember Lobot? He worked for Lando Calrissian and was at best an ancillary character in the movies. Much more information than that and this becomes another edition of “Who The Force Is That?” and we still have a couple pieces to go. So let’s focus less on who Lobey is and more on what he can do for your squad.

You’ll notice right away, of course, that Lobot has no attack and no damage. That’s just fine, because he can ultimately provide a ton of firepower if you make some lucky rolls. See, Lobot has the downright spiffy ability of Fringe Reserves 30, which means that so long as you roll exactly 11 on your initiative attempt, you can add up to 30 points of Fringe (no affiliation) figures to your squad. Granted, it’s not an instant win scenario since your opponent doesn’t have to defeat those units to win the skirmish, but it can absolutely turn the tide of a battle.

Here’s the really cool part of this, though. Recon gives you another chance at it, so long as Lobot (or another figure with Recon) has line of sight to another figure. So basically, you get two chances to make your roll of 11. It’s not a 100% chance, but it’s darn good odds with a great payoff, especially considering the relatively tiny investment made in recruiting him. Add in some solid door control and you have a jack-of-all-trades piece that will fit into just about any squad and will be relatively easy to pick up (he’s just a Rare). Not bad for a guy who, by my recollection, is in Empire for all of ten seconds.

Moff Jerjerrod

…Huh.

Don’t get me wrong, I see potential here. It’s really going to depend on what else is released in this set. But let’s look at what we know now. There are only three other figures with Death Star in their name that have been released so far. They’re not bad pieces for what they are, and Moffykins will definitely make them more cost-effective, and his Commander Effect is very useful for the swarms that will result from his primary ability. His attack and defense are nothing to write home about.

But his usefulness depends on if there are more Death Star figures coming in Entanglements. Until then, I don’t have much to say about this guy.

Dash Rendar

 

Ask anyone who came of age amidst the video games of the mid-to-late-nineties and odds are they were familiar with Shadows of the Empire. It was one of the earliest games for the N64 and probably the first major ones that wasn’t made by Nintendo itself. The story was also played out in a comic book series and novel, and I remember knowing at least a few kids back in grade school that had them (I was jealous). Dash here is the main protagonist of the story arc, so he’s got some nostalgic credibility. How is he as a piece? Pretty dynamite.

Now, looking solely at Dash’s stats, he’s not particularly great. 10 damage, a measly 6 attack, a paltry 15 defense…how is this guy a Very Rare? The answer is versatility. He can attack four times in a row so long as he doesn’t move, and if he does, he can still move and attack twice in a row then run back into cover thanks to the combination of Greater Mobile Attack and Twin Attack. So long as he attacks enemies that have already activated this turn, he gets a little better overall. Evade also will help keep him alive a little longer. The trick with Dash seems to be right in his name – keep him on the run. His Pilot affiliation also makes him subject to some useful Commander Effects, such as the one from Odd Ball that grants characters with the Pilot identifier the Grenades 20 and Penetration 20 abilities.

It will take some work to make Dash a powerful solo piece. Luckily, at 28 points he leaves you enough room to put some good support pieces on the table. If the forum buzz is anything to judge by, Dash will likely be a coveted figure for this set.

Thanks to Starwars.com for the images.

The Verdict So Far?

Imperial Entanglements is looking to be another strong set. Granted, we’ve only seen thirteen pieces, many of which are reprints or commons (hence why we didn’t discuss them). Still, there exists some definite potential that this set will help keep the playing field level and breathe new life into some older figures. And for many newer players, these reprints and new takes on old figures will help bring them up to speed in terms of their collections.

Overall, there’s a lot to be excited about, and there’s more to come. Keep your eyes on this space as the previews continue in advance of the set’s March 17th release date, as we’ll have plenty to discuss. – Bryan Carr is the host, creator, and producer of Geekspeak, an award-winning nerd news podcast available for download at http://www.geekspeakradio.us. He also thinks the Ewoks are due for a comeback.

 

Thanks to Rebelscum.com for collecting the previews thus far, and Wizards.com for the images not attributed to other sites.