Let’s be honest, all anyone wants to talk about is series two of Andor. The show was a tremendous success, bringing not just great Star Wars but also great television. What better way to relive some of the show and Rogue One by being able to field Director Krennic. I think for a lot of us, we have wanted to be able to reenact the battle on Scariff, or some form of it. This set goes far beyond just a regular squad pack, with not four, not five but six miniatures included, still for the same RRP of £59.99. With today’s current economic climate, it’s a price that I don’t think can be grumbled at.
Not only do we get Krennic, but we also get a Death Trooper Specialist, two death troopers and two Shoretroopers. This allows players to be able to provide players with a lot of squad building options to really be able to create that Rogue One feel. It’s something that I really appreciate, and I think once they are all on the tabletop, will look incredible. To provide players with so many options in a single box is really setting a standard. Without even opening it, you can see this is great value for money.
So, let’s take a peek inside the box to see just how much value we get. There are the standard cards and leaflet directing you to the Atomic Mass website. There are also two lots of four bases, enough to fit all the models with a couple of spares. Finally, there is the sprue itself, even with six models, all of them fit onto a single sprue, can’t say I’m not impressed! With the box emptied it was time to get constructing.
Krennic is up first and is a very simple build, only being three steps to have the primary done and dusted. The model is simple to put together but let’s talk about the elephant in the room… literally! Even looking at the sprue, it is glaringly obvious that the scale on Krennic is way off. Not just a little, but so obvious I am shocked that no one picked up on it. I knew this might be a problem but actually seeing it in person is – well – like looking at an elephant. The model itself really captures Krennic but the scale is very noticeable, and I imagine even more so when he hits the tabletop. It’s such a shame for such an interesting pack and I really hope it gets sorted at some point in the future. I want a Krennic. I’ve seen some players paint him as a hologram which I think might be the best of a bad situation in this case. Either that or maybe put him in the wash!?
Next up is the Death Trooper Specialist. Now I’ll talk about the three Death Troopers together here because they all have an optional build of having a blaster pistol to go on their belt. Of course, my first thought was they are all going to have it because it looks awesome. But then my sensible head prevailed. While I like the option is there for all three, when I’m playing on the tabletop, I need something to stand out a little with the Specialist. While he has got more poached than the other two, having a blaster pistol on his leg and leaving it off the other two, aids me as a player to recognise which is which. So, my Specialist will have it, while the two ‘normal’ Death Troopers won’t. For the Specialist, it’s fairly straightforward but I was a bit worried about the arms lining up with the gun. To get around this, I glued the left arm on first, then the pouch. I let the glue dry on these before attaching the right arm and then the gun, while the glue was still drying. Doing it this way gave me a bit of wiggle room so everything would line up just right. I love this model, there is so much detail, the pose is just right, and I think it looks very imposing. The additional blaster I like, it’s certainly not necessary but slots against the leg just fine.
It’s then the turn of the two standard Death Troopers. Both Death Troopers follow the same build pattern and are easy to do. Put the left arm before the right and there shouldn’t be any issues on both of these constructions. In terms of poses, they are both fairly similar but for gameplay, I actually think this works best and is another way for me as a player, to tell these guys apart from the Specialist.
Last up are the two Shoretroopers. These two are equally simple to put together, even with the helmets as two pieces. With the latter of the two you want to put the left arm before the right. What I like about these two, they’re the first time we’ve seen Shoretroopers in the game. Not only do they look amazing, but they have two very distinct poses. I’m really hoping we get another squad with these, as I think they are going to be a huge amount of fun to paint.
With those done, the squad is complete. I wish I could say that they look impressive but lined up together, you can really appreciate just how out-of-scale Krennic is. Take him out and this squad pack looks fantastic. Maybe Krennic’s cards are equally larger than life? Coming with two force and nine spending points, he allows you to select a lot of different units. However, the lack of force could be an issue, as Krennic has three abilities that require the force to activate, one of those that costs two! This expensive one is ‘Your Concerns Are Hardly Warranted’, that means when a unit is wounded, you can stop the player from getting one momentum. That is extremely powerful, and I can see why it costs two force. The other two that each cost one force are ‘Deploy the Garrison’ and ‘We Stand Here Amidst My Achievement’. The former allows you to choose a ‘Stormtrooper’ supporting character to dash towards an objective, gain a hunker and make a five dice attack. That too seems incredibly powerful when used at the right time. The latter is for when an allied primary or secondary wounds a unit, Krennic may dash and then make a five dice attack. Cowardly and joining the fight when it is over, seems very like Krennic and I love the ability. It really gives you the right feel for the character. His identity ability is ‘Peace and Security for the Galaxy’. At the end of his activation, if the stance is set to ‘High Aspirations’, he can select an active objective that is contested and take control of it. If Krennic isn’t wounded and his stance card is set to ‘Arrogance’, the force costing abilities drop by one force, meaning all but one are then free. Ok, I can see why the Krennic model feels bigger than life. Krennic seems fantastic, someone to really push the opposition and drive your opponent up the wall! I think he will be a lot of fun to use. This is before we even look at his stance card. ‘Arrogance’ allows seven dice for ranged, five for melee, with a maximum damage output of six damage, but the tree is very concise, with you having to pick one of three paths. ‘High Aspirations’ allows eight dice ranged, six melee with a maximum damage of eight. The tree is a little more flexible too, but with the abilities costing one less on the other side, I don’t think this will see a lot of action.
The secondary in the box, the Death Trooper Specialist, costs five points. He rolls seven dice whether he is in melee or ranged and can do a maximum of six damage. Unlike Krennic he does have a tactic to use when activated that allows him to dash and then choose an enemy within three to strain or pin. That is incredibly nasty, he clearly wants to be at the front of the unit! The character innately has protection and immunity from exposed. The other two abilities each cost a force, which with Krennic, is in short supply. ‘Imperial Brutality’ allows you to choose itself or an Empire supporting unit to dash. If they are then engaged, that unit and the enemy unit each get exposed. Obviously if it is itself, it can’t get exposed, making it rather useful for softening up your enemy before attacking. The final tactic is ‘Unrelenting Assault’ and after this unit has made an attack, it can then attack a different character in a different unit with five dice. This guy clearly packs a punch and used right, should be able to cut through the enemy with little trouble.
It’s then onto a choice of two supporting units, which I love and hope more sets start doing soon. Both units cost four points. I’ll start with the Death Troopers. Six dice ranged, five dice melee and can do a maximum of six damage, they clearly favour ranged as they get more defense dice too. ‘Tactical Advance’ is their only ability that costs a force and allows them to dash and then focus. ‘Supporting Fire’ allows them to dash after an allied Empire unit makes an attack, as long as they are within five. They come with protection and impact one and they also give Empire Primary characters with two, cover one. This is clearly a unit that wants to be near other units.
The Shoretroopers have the same dice arrangement – six ranged, five melee, with an extra defense dice for ranged over melee. They can do a maximum of six damage, the same as the Death Troopers, although there are a lot more options to heal. They have two abilities that cost one force. ‘Defensive Maneuver’ allows each character in the unit to dash and then gain a hunker token, The other force costing ability is ‘For the Empire’ that provides a different action to be able to use. You choose an enemy that this unit is engaged in and push it away two. However, the Shoretrooper gains exposed. Like most things with the Empire, every benefit comes with a disadvantage. Times right though, and this could really help. The unit always has sharpshooter one, further enhancing their ranged capabilities. Finally, ‘Garrison Force’ allows you to add a dice to an attack roll if you have at least one hunker token and if you are making an attack outside of the unit’s activation. That can be handy but that’s a lot of ifs to try and line up. Also, if they are contesting an objective, they also gain steadfast and protection. These don’t seem as easy to use as the Death Troopers, but I also like that. There is the ‘easy’ unit to use as well as a unit that requires a lot more thought and planning.
So far, I’m impressed with this squad pack, really impressed. But we’ve only looked at words, how do they actually play out on the battlefield? The answer is amazingly and perhaps that is why Krennic looks larger than life. He really brings this whole squad and a half together in a way you just can’t imagine looking at the cards. Been able to ‘Deploy the Garrison’ for free when the stance card is correct is scary… for your opponent. I used the Shatterpoint card on Krennic, and instantly found it synergised with the Shoretroopers, giving them a hunker token and therefore an extra dice to their five dice attack. Pulling this out twice during a struggle was impressive to say the least. Krenic can hold his own, he took Luke Skywalker out easily enough. But the look on my opponent’s face when I took control of an objective was priceless. Let alone stopping his momentum. Krennic is a serious contender for any Empire player.
Why does Krennic work? Because of the stormtrooper keyword. Have squads that use this, and you can walk all over your opponent. Everything aside from Krennic has this keyword. The shoretroopers can really throw a good punch, you want them straight in the mix by an objective. The Deathtroopers were by and far, the unit that did the most work for me. I took a photo of the initiative cards at one point to show when they activated. Because of all the shenanigans going on in the squad, they had already wounded and won an objective by the time I came to actually activate. It was seriously impressive. The Specialist also helped wight this and again, can really take care of himself.
This is an incredible squad, I pretty much love everything about it. Yes, you have the very noticeably oversized Krennic but in terms of gameplay, I think this is the first time where I have felt like the Empire, rather than playing characters ofthe Empire. It felt so thematic, and my opponent said it felt like he was up against this unstoppable force. If you are an Empire player, this box is a must buy. Use the Stormtrooper Sergeant for a secondary and Veers or Thrawn for your primary and you have a very weighty force to run against other players. This has been one of the funnest boxes I’ve had the pleasure of playing with, I feel like now I want to bring some order to my neighb- I mean the galaxy!
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