Calo Nord

Calo Nord was supposed to be the Boba Fett of his day, 4000 years before Boba was a twinkling in his father’s genetic material. Compared to any version of either Fett, however, Calo falls rather short. He shouldn’t feel too badly, though; almost everyone falls short of the illustrious Fett family.

For 31 points, he has decent damage output, with Bounty Hunter +4 helping to compensate for his mediocre Attack value. He also has a respectable Grenades 20, which is helpful as a Bodyguard deterrent.

The problem with Calo is his survivability. With only 60 hit points and a lowish Defense of 18, he’ll only take two or three shots from your opponent’s main damage dealers. He does have the Avoid Defeat ability, which generally means that he will take a third or fourth hit to kill about 25% of the time. This is cute, a neat nod to how the character worked in Knights of the Old Republic, but nothing to plan for.

So is he worth 31 points? Maybe, but you should definitely be planning to compensate for his weaknesses. Consider teaming him up with Rodian Black Sun Vigo and keeping him in the back, well away from legal targets. For an interesting build, try him with the original Yoda, who will let him reroll his Avoid Defeat saves, bringing that 25% to a whopping 56% or so (assuming I’ve done that math right; probability class was a long time ago for me).

The bottom line is that Calo Nord isn’t the best choice around, but he’s certainly not the worst. As a Fringe piece, there are lots of choices for his squadmates, and there just might be some great combo out there that I haven’t thought of. Happy hunting.

Overall rating in 100: 2 (not enough room for support)
Overall rating in 200: 3 (exactly average, really)

Battle Droid Officer

Writing a review of the Battle Droid Officer is almost pointless. The simple fact is, if you’re using non-unique droids in a Separatist squad (and they’re not just there to combine fire with your real pieces), you should include a Battle Droid Officer. If not, you shouldn’t (‘cause, you know, duh).

Obviously Fire Control is the big, important part of the BDO’s card. It works like the best Commander Effect ever. It’s like if Michael Jordan and Leonardo Da Vinci were combined and given a Commander Effect, it would be Fire Control. First of all, it gives +4 to Attack to all your non-unique droids. It doesn’t even discriminate against commanders, like so many CEs that only work on followers. It also works anywhere on the map, rather than the mamby-pampy “within six squares” of so many lesser Commander Effects.

But the single thing that might be the most remarkable about Fire Control is that it isn’t a Commander Effect, which means... wait for it... it stacks with actual CEs. Even a lowly basic Battle Droid, with a normal Attack rating of +0, can shoot at an amazing +12 with the help of a BDO and the Super Battle Droid Commander and General Grievous, Supreme Commander. Those droids that start with a +8 (the Destroyer, Bodyguard, Hailfire, and X-1 Viper droids) get to shoot at a +20, higher than pretty much anything in the game.

The bottom line, as I alluded to above, is that the Battle Droid Officer is so good as to not even really be optional in any squad that relies on non-unique droids. If you don’t have one, get one (yeah, it’s Clone Strike, but at least it’s only an uncommon).

Overall rating in 100: 5
Overall rating in 200: 5
Overall rating at pretty much any other point value you care to name: 5

Nien Nunb

Nien Nunb is one of the most reviled pieces available for Star Wars Miniatures. This is not because he's awful—he's not. But he is entirely unique in that he is entirely Unique. As in, that's all his card says. He has no beneficial abilities of any sort, just the ability that says, "Hey, bounty hunters, have a bonus to your Attack when shooting me!" (It also says that you can't have more than one in your squad, because, let's face it, it would make winning a little too easy.)

To be honest, though, there's nothing wrong with Nien. As mid-range shooters go, he's right on par with others in his point category (though Boba Fett, Young Mercenary is much, much better than he is). He just doesn't have anything to distinguish him particularly from others in his class, and you usually will just take one of the cheaper bounty hunters to get the bonus to Attack against other Unique pieces.

The one thing that Nien has over those cheaper bounty hunters is that he's a Rebel and not Fringe. With Captain Antilles seeing more and more use, it's a little tougher to just throw Fringe pieces into the mix. You might also want to include Nien if you don't have a better candidate for Yoda of Dagobah's Light Tutor ability (which only works on Rebels).

Really, though, there's not a whole lot to say about Nien, probably because his card doesn't say much about him. Just remember that there are much worse pieces in the game (Princess Leia, Captive, I'm looking disapprovingly in your direction).

Overall rating in 100: 2.5
Overall rating in 200: 2.5

Wedge Antilles

Among Star Wars minor character fetishism, there are basically two schools of thought. The first refers to Boba Fett as “The Man.” The other will accept no Man but Wedge Antilles (there is a third but far less popular faction that considers Admiral Piett the pinnacle of Mandom, but that’s neither here nor there). Wedge’s status as a fan favorite is based mostly on his amazing tendency to be a minor character in the original Star Wars trilogy who lives through the whole thing. From the destruction of the Death Star to the destruction of the other Death Star, Wedge goes through it all and emerges unscathed. His miniature, while certainly not competition caliber, at least captures this aspect well.

For a lousy 22 points, Wedge has decent numbers, except for lousy Damage. His gimmick is that he might be the toughest 22 points to kill in the game. It starts with Evade, allowing Wedge an even chance to avoid the attacks of anyone who doesn’t press the gun against his temple (or use a lightsaber, Gaderffi stick, or vibroblade). It continues with Avoid Defeat, giving him a 25% to bounce back even after you’ve chewed through his 70 hit points.

Offensively, Wedge packs... Grenades 10. That’s it. Well, and a ranged attack that also does 10 damage. But that’s really it. So here’s the question: why does your opponent want to go through the considerable trouble of killing Wedge? In theory, his Commander Effect may provide the answer (“Allied Pilots gain Evade”).

Great! So we just need to find some powerful Pilots and put them in a squad with Wedge, who will keep them safe long enough to do their thing! Let’s see, who counts as a Pilot?


(rummages around in mini collection)


Seriously? Just the Shistavanen Pilot and the Rebel Pilot? Can we get someone with a damage potential on this piloting thing? Because until there’s a Pilot worth protecting, Wedge is firmly in the category of “novelty pieces.”

If you really want to use him, though, consider teaming him up with Yoda of Dagobah. Yoda can use Light Tutor to give Wedge access to the Force, allowing him to reroll all those glorious saves he gets to make. You won’t win, but it will take your opponent a long, long time to kill you.

Overall rating in 100: 1.5
Overall rating in 200: 1.5

Boushh

Poor Boushh. Saddled with a name that no two Star Wars fans pronounce the same, posed like Princess Leia, and only a 2:1 hit points:cost ratio.

I'd like to say that, like Zuckuss, Boushh rises above middling-to-bad statistics with terrific abilities, but it's just not the case. Grenades 40 sounds great on paper, and Paralysis is great, but we're dealing with an exceptionally fragile Melee Attack piece. Most competitive damage-dealing pieces can kill Boushh reliably in a single activation, and he doesn't even have Stealth or anything.

You're pretty much always better off spending those 20 points on something else, including six Ewoks.

Overall rating in 100: 1.5
Overall rating in 200: 2

Bossk, Bounty Hunter

Bossk, Bounty Hunter is less a sequel to the original Bossk than the completed draft of the character. Rebel Storm Bossk was extra dangerous up in melee, but had no special way of closing, and was too fragile to reliably get there by the usual means.

Enter Bossk, Bounty Hunter, who adds more hit points and Regeneration to help with the fragility, Momentum to give additional incentive to close, and Rend to make the close attacks that much more dangerous. He also has Flamethrower 20, because the first 100 bounty hunters through the gates on the release date for this expansion got Flamethrower 20.

So the new Bossk, at only eight points more, is substantially better than the old, and can be considered a complete replacement for him. Even vastly improved, though, he's only okay, due mostly to the low hit points that typify the Bounty Hunters set. His damage output potential is very good for the cost, however, so if you've got the means to get him into a good position, he might be worth your points. As a Fringe follower, he can benefit from many good support pieces. Good team-ups include Tarfful or Admiral Ackbar to help his Attack rating, R2-D2, Astromech Droid or Grand Admiral Thrawn to get him in position, or any Bodyguard to help him survive his travels.

Overall rating in 100: 2.5
Overall rating in 200: 3.5 (as the cheapest source of Flamethrower 20 there is, he's worth considering here)

Bossk

Back in the Rebel Storm days, the bounty hunters were pretty hot stuff. There was King Boba, the mighty IG-88, the extremely efficient 4-LOM, the almost as efficient Dengar, and the amusingly inexpensive Greedo. They were all quite useable back then, though some have fallen by the wayside nowadays. Bossk was always on the wayside, though. His shtick to distinguish him from the others is that he gets two attacks if he's next to you, but even before Twin Attack and Damage scores of 30+ it was pretty easy to kill this guy long before he got close. Given that Dengar was two points cheaper and had a slightly higher Attack rating, it was never really a contest.

There's a new Bossk in town (reviewed tomorrow). He's completely superior to this one, and I'm still not sure he's playable (more on that tomorrow). Don't bother with this guy unless you're really pushing a theme.

Overall rating in 100: 1.5
Overall rating in 200: 1.5

Darth Malak

Among his terrifyingly aggressive peers in the Sith, Darth Malak is a bit of an oddity: a fairly balanced character. His numbers are generally excellent, with Hit Points and Defense being just a touch low for his cost. But with Lightsaber Duelist enhancing his defenses, and Lightsaber Throw and Force Stun giving him ranged and defensive options, he's uniquely placed in the Sith faction to serve as a solid anchor for a squad, especially given his reasonable (for the Sith) cost of only 52 points. Naturally, he has the de rigueur Sith Rage for his faction, because if you can't do at least 60 damage in a turn, they don't let you be a unique Sith Lord.

He also has a nifty Commander Effect, which he got by copying off of Baron Fel's paper back in Dark Side Commander School. Unfortunately, unlike Baron Fel, he's way too pricey to include just for the CE, so you definitely want him up front, killing people for the Sith. The risk of being a frontline commander, obviously, is that you have a much better chance of getting killed than those commanders that can hang out in private rooms, far from the fight (Nom Anor, I'm looking in your direction). If you don't want to build around the CE (and with Dark Jedi and Sith Troopers being your only options in-faction to benefit, you might not want to), he's perhaps a bit too expensive (but if you're looking for a Sith beatstick that doesn't cost over 80 points, this is arguably your best option).

So, how to build for his CE? Sith Troopers, with their 20 damage and low Attack bonuses, seem like an obvious choice. If you're using Troopers, you should probably throw in the Sith Trooper Commander for his Deadeye-granting CE. And whenever you're considering a combined fire-oriented lifestyle, you should always remember the humble Aqualish Spy, one of the most efficient Fringe pieces in the game, whose Spotter 10 can give help you reap additional rewards for combining fire. Finally, remember that the CE only has to affect the guys contributing the bonus, not necessarily the recipient, so droids are fair game as your main shooter. HK-47, 4-LOM, and the Sith Assault Droid are all viable options to be a main shooter, backed up by combined fire.

Given the long list of pieces you might want to include with him, Darth Malak is perhaps best suited to 200-point play. You could squeeze him into 100, with just the three Troopers, a Trooper Commander, and a Bespin Guard or the like, but you're officially in the realm of fun theme squads in that case. For competitive play, you can spend points better than on Malak in 100.

Overall rating in 100: 2
Overall rating in 200: 3.5

Emperor Palpatine

Today's review is the scariest piece in the game that will get beaten to death every single time by one Yuuzhan Vong Warrior. The Rebel Storm Emperor Palpatine is one of the most interesting pieces in the game, in part because he's a 40-point piece with zeroes in both Attack and Damage.
The reason to field Palpatine, of course, is that he's the Dark Lord of the Sith, and consequently has some pretty cool Force powers and one terrific Commander Effect.

Force Renewal is one of the Big Powers in this game (along with Accurate Shot and Override). With most Jedi-types, you have a few Force Points, you do some cool stuff with them, and then you're mortal again. If you've got Force Renewal, however, you can reasonably count on having FPs available for the entire fight, no matter how long it goes. This eases any sense of urgency you might have to get in there and make those points matter, while simultaneously giving you a reason to put off the confrontation a little. After all, the more times Palpatine activates before he starts spending Force Points, the more he'll accumulate. Depending on your play style, this might seem like a great advantage or the least fun ever. Both viewpoints are valid.

Force Lightning is a great double-edged sword. It's guaranteed to hit and do a solid 30 damage, but if the Emperor is going mano a mano with a beatstick, he fries himself as well. Try to stay on the offensive with Palpatine, and see if you can nail clusters of enemies, rather than getting based. As discussed in the Nightsister Sith Witch review, Force Lightning is terrific against Bodyguard and Tow Cable-based tactics.

Finally, there's Palpatine's forgotten power: the noble Force Storm. I have never seen this power used in a tournament, though I've counted at least three occasions when it was clearly the player's best option. While it does only 20 damage, it hits everyone adjacent to the Emperor, and it has no possibility of hurting him. Brilliant, but easily overlooked and forgotten.

As good as these abilities are, if this was all Emperor Palpatine had to offer, he'd never get played (at least not at 40 points). Fortunately, he's got one heck of a Commander Effect. It turns out that when he leads them into battle, the Emperor can grant all of his Stormtroopers and AT-STs and black-masked sidekicks the use of his Force Points. With this sort of backup, the low Attack values common to Imperial grunts are less of a hindrance, since they can reroll their attacks, or they can get a speed boost from Move Faster. Naturally, Imperial Force-users can also benefit from this, since they no longer have just one or two uses of their best ability; they have as many as you care to give them.

As befits the guy who tricked a galaxy into making him its absolute ruler, Emperor Palpatine is a great piece whose presence on the battlefield can be felt everywhere your troops are. He does fall apart against Force Immunity, however, so be prepared for that fact and bring other pieces that can kill Thrawn and the Vong.

Overall rating in 100: 4 (at this point level, Palpatine is best used as a Force battery for Vader or a handful of Sith Witches and/or Dark Side Marauders)
Overall rating in 200: 4.5 (here you have more freedom to bring a mixture of troop types; only Droids and Savages won't benefit from Palpatine's presence)

Nightsister Sith Witch

Friend to Wampas, feared by bodyguards and astromechs, the Nightsister Sith Witch is one of the great utility pieces in the game. Her numbers are respectable for a bargain basement lightsaber wielder, but the primary reason to pay her point cost is for her abilities.

Until Champions of the Force came out, the Nightsister was the only way in the game to get Savage characters to benefit from Commander Effects. It is therefore a happy coincidence that she's Imperial, with access to most of the best CEs in the game. A Rancor is an okay piece, but a Rancor benefitting from Grand Admiral Thrawn, Stormtrooper Commander and Imperial Officer is a holy terror.

The Sith Witch was also the piece to break Emperor Palpatine's monopoly on Force Lightning (not that namby-pampy Sith Lightning that many Dark Side types use). While she's only got enough Force Points for one use of it, the fact that she can use it at all (and all of it's bodyguard-annihilating goodness) while only costing an expendable 17 points is great. As we all know, Mace Windu standing next to R2-D2, Astromech Droid is one of the scariest sights in the game. A Sith Witch, however, will happily run up to them and slap a guaranteed 30 on to Mace and destroy R2 altogether. She'll probably get killed for her trouble, but that's generally a small price to pay.
Finally, there's the squad revolving around Nightsisters and Emperor Palpatine (Rebel Storm version). What's better than a 17-point figure that can use Force Lightning? A 17-point figure that can use it more than once. One of my favorite little theme squads is Palpatine, three Nightsisters, and a Probe Droid; when the Emperor and his sinister cadre of rodeo clowns starts throwing inclement weather at you, you will know the meaning of fear.

The Nightsister is a great piece, both for specialized squads and as a general purpose low-end beatstick. At 17 points, you really can't go too far wrong.

Overall rating in 100: 4.5
Overall rating in 200: 4.5

Yoda of Dagobah

Yoda of Dagobah is very much a tactician's piece. He does a lot of different things, and several of them are either completely unique or shared by only one or two other pieces in the game.

First off, he has zeros in both Attack and Damage, and no damaging abilities of any sort. If you're playing a "kill 'em all" game and he's your last piece, you are dead and don't yet know it (if you're playing a Gambit-scored game, Giant Yoda can theoretically still win by stalling tactics and gaining center points).

The most straightforward usage of YoD is as a Force battery. He has the Commander Effect that lets him share Force Points and the completely unprecedented Force Renewal 2. Not a typo, not an imaginary story, this Yoda gains two Force Points every single activation, making him the best Force battery in the game (except for that elitist bit that he can only share with characters that already have Force ratings; Emperor Palpatine cares about everyone, because he's a nice guy). Not content to just share Force in life, this Yoda also has Force Spirit 6, giving one last gift before he shuffles off this mortal terrain map.

Light Tutor is another crazy ability, unprecedented and unique in the game. It makes any allied Rebel character into a tiny Force-user with a whole Force Point of his own (and, moreover, the ability to share Yoda's glorious bounty). Chewbacca, Rebel Hero is a popular choice for this, but Wedge Antilles, with his suite of "I don't die until I fail some saving throws" abilities, makes for an entertaining choice. Personally, I like to give it to the Hoth Trooper with Atgar Cannon, because spending a Force Point can give that thing a 50% increase in speed. Note that any figure affected by Light Tutor is now also subject to Jedi Hunter, which can be a major detriment.
Next, we get to Yoda's "neener, neener" abilities, Force Alter and Force Defense. You can't use Sith Lightning on him, and you can't attack him very well, provided he's still got some Force Points (Force Renewal 2, in case you forgot).

Oh, and Master of the Force 3, did I mention that? It's actually really easy for Yoda to run out of Force Points despite the FR2, just because he has so many ways to spend them, and can spend them up to three times per turn.

Finally, this Yoda's bread-and-butter move is Force Stun. By itself, Force Stun is a basic 50/50 chance (worse against most Force-users, who can reroll the save) to activate a character for the round. It's only extraordinary in this case because it doesn't replace attacks or turn, and Yoda has Master of the Force 3, allowing him to say, "Stun you I do! The save you have made? Stun you again, I do! Another save successful? Stun you I do!" Bear in mind you can make these decisions as you go, so you can keep at the one guy you really want to stun, or, if the dice are on your side, possibly stun three different targets on the same turn (remember that Force Stun uses the standard targeting rules, though, so you might have to move to get a new target).

Yoda of Dagobah is a very cool piece (if oversized compared to the other Yodas), and absolutely worth the points, but is not a piece for new or inexperienced players. His collection of weird abilities and the Force Point decisions that he forces you to make put him firmly in the "difficult to play well" camp, but he's eminently worth it.

Overall rating in 100: 3 (over a third of your squad not being able to damage anything is a tough pill to swallow)
Overall rating in 200: 4.5 (extremely effective, especially if kept on the sidelines to build up some Force first).

Chewbacca, Rebel Hero

If you read my review of Han Solo, Rebel Hero a couple of days ago, my review for Chewbacca, Rebel Hero is going to sound a little familiar. Once again, WOTC took an existing piece that was pretty good (though not as good as the original Han Solo), and made a phenomenal replacement by tacking "Rebel Hero" on to the end of his name.

Understand that not all new versions of characters are replacements. Yoda, Jedi Master; Luke on Tauntaun; and Emperor Palpatine, Sith Lord are all examples of characters that are different interpretations of their originals, but not clear replacements. Chewbacca, Rebel Hero is not one of these; he's a replacement. The old Chewie sported Cleave and Momentum and decent numbers. He was pretty good, but not terrific. Then the Universe set came out, with all sorts of juicy new Rebel Heros.

For six more points, you get +1 Attack, +20 Hit Points, Bodyguard(!), Repair, Industrial Repair, Gunner, and Demolish. That's actually seven improvements for your lousy six points, though they're not all of the same caliber, as we'll see.

Bodyguard is really the marquee ability here. Many squads depend on keeping a particular character alive, and whether that key character is a support piece or a primary damage-dealer, they can all benefit from 120 extra Hit Points.

Industrial Repair and Gunner give Chewie nice synergy with any Mounted Weapon units you happen to like. At this point, you can mostly just put him in with a Viper Droid, if you're into that sort of thing (but the Separatists have strictly better support for the big mirror-tank).

Repair 10 is cute, but of limited utility at this point. If you're using C-3PO to draw enemy fire, Chewie and R2-D2 can cooperate to keep him standing.

Demolish is obviously a situational ability, but really nice to have when the relevant situation comes up. Damage Reduction can really ruin your day, but a nice, solid 30 damage Momentum hit from Chewie that also ignores DR will make you feel much more manly and less oppressed by the AT-STs and Acklays of the world.

One thing that bears mentioning about this version of Chewie, however, is that he's not the center of your squad. At 30 points, you might expect him to play a significant role, and he should, but don't think of him as a primary damage-dealer. He only has one attack, and a mediocre Attack rating when he doesn't have Momentum working for him. He exists to support your real damage-dealer, who in this faction is probably Han Solo, Rebel Hero (or some Fringe uberpiece like Fett or Sing). Use him as the king of support pieces and secondary threats, and you'll do well.

Overall rating in 100: 3.5
Overall rating in 200: 4.5

General Windu

One thing that I really like about Mace Windu in the miniatures game is that all three of his versions have exactly the same basic statistics, down to the Triple Attack and five Force Points. As you probably don't recall from my review of Mace Windu, Jedi Master, I strongly prefer the original Clone Strike version of the character to the ROTS remake. General Windu, however, has stolen my heart.

Ignoring for a moment one of the most blatantly powerful Commander Effects in the game, the General features the triumphant return of Vaapad-Style Fighting, allowing roughly one in seven of Windu's attacks to be a critical. He also features Lightsaber Sweep and Riposte, because that way he gets more attacks that might be criticals. As a nice touch, he has Master Speed, which helps him start making attacks sooner, and finally, he has Force Absorb, which will mostly be used to cancel attempts to block his attacks.

As you can see, General Windu likes to attack. He also helps his followers discover their own inner Windus, with a Commander Effect that just grants all followers Extra Attack. Take a moment and breathe that in... yeah. Republic Commando Sev? He should totally do 60 damage a round. Depa Billaba? She should definitely get three attacks per round to try and trigger her own Vaapad-Style Fighting. Gotal Fringer? Two attempts at that elusive Disintegrate per turn.
Two of the above examples are Good Ideas. The other one is Just For Fun, a euphemism for "not competitively useful." I recently did play General Windu and a load of Gotals in a tournament, and lost (as I deserved to). Not a single '20' the whole time, either. Gotals suck, but at least now I can cross them off the list of "things I haven't yet played in a tournament."

Where was I? General Windu, right. He has one last ability which is interesting enough to merit its own paragraph. Shatterpoint is an interesting way to spend a turn. You should NOT, repeat not, use it instead of a Triple Attack, if the choice presents itself. Giving up 60 or more damage so you can add 20 per round in the future is only a good idea against the AT-AT. But if R2 can't quite tow you up to the Big Bad on your opponent's squad, you can do a lot worse than having Mace take a moment to size up the guy's weaknesses.

All in all, General Windu is some of the most fun I've had in this game. He combos so well with so many pieces, and has so many great abilities himself, he might very well be my favorite piece in Champions of the Force.

Overall rating in 100: 2.5 (at 72 points, a Jedi with no defensive abilities is probably a bad buy for this point total)
Overall rating in 200: 4.5 (now we're talkin')

Han Solo, Rebel Hero

Han Solo, Rebel Hero took one of the best figures from Rebel Storm and made him better. Back in Rebel Storm days, Han was a tournament mainstay, offering 20 damage, Cunning Attack, and Accurate Shot (allowing him to get the most out of Cunning Attack by targeting figures that hadn't activated yet). He also had a Force Point, allowing for a critical re-roll and (sometimes more importantly) to be the recipient of Obi-Wan's Force Spirit. Yep, RS Han Solo had it all, and is almost completely obsolete now.

For a mere seven additional points, Han Solo, Rebel Hero does everything his predecessor did, but adds two points of Defense, three(!) points of Attack, ten Hit Points, Mobile Attack(!), and a pretty cool Commander Effect that allows followers to hit for an additional ten points if they're shooting someone who hasn't activated yet. Seven points.

In all fairness, there is one thing that the RS Han has on the new one, which is the double-edged sword of being a follower (followers are subject to more Commander Effects than guys with Commander Effects of their own). The 28-point Han, backed up by Admiral Ackbar and Princess Leia, Senator, is a reasonable substitute for the Rebel Hero, but let's not kid ourselves; the new Han is better, and a lot better, at that.

For better or worse, WOTC took one of the competitive pieces for the Rebels and replaced it with the competitive piece for the Rebels. Accept no substitutes, every Rebel squad should use this guy.

Overall rating in 100: 5
Overall rating in 200: 5

Luke Skywalker, Young Jedi

While he isn't the Vader-crushing beatstick I still hope we'll one day get in this game, the Young Jedi version of Luke Skywalker is a pretty great piece.

At 21 points, his numbers are extremely solid, with Double Attack making him one of the highest damage outputs for the cost in the game (with the obvious caveat that he has to be in melee range to do any damage at all). Fortunately, he packs Lightsaber Deflect to help him make it to the fight, and Force Alter to prevent criticals against him or his friends.

Jedi Mind Trick is a cute ability, but generally not as good as Force Stun. The differences are that JMT only has a range of two squares, but also prevents attacks of opportunity. This is know as the "Look over there! Is that an emu yodeling?" defense. You use Mind Trick on some dangerous thing that has based you, then get away without the traditional attack of opportunity. The big flaw with this idea is that almost anything in the game that Luke might want to run away from base contact with will have Force Points of its own, reducing our 50% to a 25%. On the other hand, if you're pulling from the bottomless bag of Force Points that is Yoda of Dagobah, you might be okay spending one just to get your opponent to spend one of their (probably limited) points.

Young Jedi Luke won't see a lot of play, because Luke on Tauntaun offers the much sexier trick of automatic criticals, but if you're looking for a Luke with more than one trick up his sleeve, I recommend this one.

Overall rating in 100: 4
Overall rating in 200: 4

Luke Skywalker on Tauntaun

Luke Skywalker on Tauntaun has the interesting pair of distinctions of being the cheapest Luke and the one that currently sees the most competitive play. The reason for this is his lone Force Power, so I'm going to talk about it last.

For 16 points, Horsey Luke presents an attractive package, with very reasonable base stats, the huge advantage of Speed 8, and the ability to both shoot and use a lightsaber for extra damage up close. If he did nothing else, he'd be fine filler, but nothing to base a squad around.

Like all Lukes, he has some Force Points, but only enough to use his one Force Power once. "Use the Force" is obviously intended to evoke his amazing kill shot on the Death Star, allowing Luke to score an automatic critical hit. Why the Death Star-killing power is on a version of Luke from three years after the Battle of Yavin is a matter for the philosophers to discuss.

Anyway, Use the Force is obviously handy, working almost like Sith Grip or other auto-damage powers, and I have actually finished a game on it, killing an enemy Mace Windu before he could get back to a medic in a locked room. The reason that this is the Luke for competitive play, however, is because of the combos available with it.

First of all, one use of the ability isn't anything to base a squad around. The old way to fuel Luke was to get Obi-Wan killed and let Luke have some Force Spirit lovin'. The fancy new way to keep the auto-crits coming is Yoda of Dagobah and his stellar Force Renewal 2. Also, if you know you're going to be scoring criticals, you clearly need a Chagrian Mercenary Commander, he of the +20 to damage on critical hits. Finally, with Han Solo, Rebel Hero around, if Luke is shooting an unactivated character, we can make this automatic hit worth a total of 50 damage (60 if adjacent). The big down side here is that the combo is fairly fragile, requiring a number of pieces to work properly, and a good Accurate Shooter can really ruin your day. Bodyguards are therefore essential, but the good news is that the Rebels are blessed with the best Bodyguard in the game. I won't tell you his name, but it rhymes with "Mewbacca, Febel Zero."

As filler or the core of the squad, Luke on Tauntaun is an extremely solid buy for your paltry 16 points. If you do try to make him the core of your squad, however, I strongly suggest you have a backup plan, as you really have to devote a lot of fragile pieces to the auto-crit gimmick.

Overall rating in 100: 4
Overall rating in 200: 3.5 (wider selection of opponents makes the auto-crit ability less overwhelming)

Anakin Skywalker

Anakin Skywalker needs to get a better agent. Given that the whole of the Star Wars film saga is supposed to be about him, his fall, and his redemption, the "good guy" versions of him in the minis game have thus far been sorely lacking.

As a case in point, check out the wretchedly unusable mess that is the Clone Strike Anakin Skywalker. To be completely fair, he's from the original design run, when they hadn't quite figured out how to cost melee-only characters, and he was the cheapest character at that point who could swing twice for 20 damage each time. Throw in Lightsaber Riposte, Lightsaber Precision, and Impulsive Sweep, and he packed a lot of offense into his little 25-point cost.

Even in Clone Strike, however, Ani was outclassed. Quinlan Vos costs only one point more, is mostly similar, and adds 30 hit points and another +5 to his Attack, for the measly price of losing his mind entirely whenever one of his Unique friends is killed.

By Revenge of the Sith, a new Anakin Skywalker came out, with substantially improved stats and still in the same price bracket, but only Rare instead of Very Rare. This was the last nail in the coffin for the idea of anyone ever using CS Anakin for anything besides decorating the top of their computer monitor.

To recap, he's useless for competitive play, and the ROTS version is better for theme play. On the other hand, he's holding not one but two lightsabers. So he's got that going for him.

Overall rating in 100: 1.5
Overall rating in 200: 1.5

Aerial Clone Trooper Captain

The Aerial Clone Trooper Captain is without a doubt the finest piece in the game with a giant bear trap on his back. For example, he’s way better than Chewbacca, Gnawing His Own Leg Off.

Seriously, what is that thing on his back? I know it’s supposed to be part of his jetpack, but it just doesn’t say “Aerial” to me. It says “dental braces for the Rancor” to me. But I digress before I’ve even gotten started. Sorry about that.

The ACTC, as he is known to brevity-conscious players, is not a great piece. He’s not terrible, but you can probably find a better way to spend your 23 points. With only 40 hit points and a Defense of 14, he’s in serious danger of being killed by your opponent’s fodder pieces. He does have some potent advantages, but they can be hard to get maximum use out of.

First of these advantages is his Commander Effect. Extra attacks for a heavy hitter are always a good idea, and the Republic has a couple of good non-Unique candidates for this ability, such as the AT-RT, the ISP Speeder, and Republic Commando Sev. Unfortunately, the first two are not terribly competitive pieces, and the last one is better paired with Republic Commando Boss for the same effect.

Another advantage is Spotter 20. Adding 20 more damage to an attack while also giving it a +4 to hit is a win-win, right? Again, not so much. First, you have to spend your turn on combining fire, so you have to hang this fragile pieces out somewhere and leave him there. Worse, he has to be within six squares of the target to use Spotter, which is hideously dangerous for this brittle, brittle Captain. Finally, giving up his turn to Spotter means that he doesn’t get an “end of turn” in which to use his Commander Effect, so you can only use one of his main advantages per round.

The last advantage for the poor Cap’n is an Attack of +10 for 20 damage, with Flight to help him get into position. This isn’t bad, and he can use it with the Commander Effect. I’d plan to use this part of the flyboy’s repertoire, if you want to build with him. Keep him safe in the back rank, and either keep him within six of a powerful, non-Unique ally, or use Mas Amedda to expand the range of his CE.

The Rocketeer look-alike isn’t the worst piece in the game, but the Republic has more pieces than any other faction. You can find a better use for your points.

Overall rating in 100: 1.5 (definitely not worth a quarter of your points)
Overall rating in 200: 2 (a little better, but still too easy to kill)

Depa Billaba

If you spend a little time on the Wizards of the Coast message boards, from time to time you'll run into someone talking about the notion that the Jedi Weapon Master made all other low-to-mid-cost Jedi obsolete. While this is mostly true, even the JWM's harshest critics tend to make one unanimous exception in the form of Depa Billaba.

While Depa has roughly similar statistics to a Weapon Master, costs three points more, and is missing most of the Lightsaber-related powers that the JWM sports, she's widely considered an auto-include in Republic squads for the simple beauty of Force Sense. Any power that can take an otherwise competitively viable squad type (the Nom Bomb) and neuter it across the entire map for an entire round is a power that you have to consider carefully. There is more than one type of Stealth squad, of course, and Depa is effective against all of them. I singled out the Nom Bomb because, alone among Stealth builds, Jedi always care about it. If you build a squad specifically around Jedi and their melee strength, you are officially licensed not to care about Commander Bacara's squad of well-hidden ninja nancy-boys. You still have to get across the board under a withering hail of blaster fire, but if they're all stealthy when you get there, boo-hoo. A lightsaber doesn't need to target you from a distance, and congratulations to you for making your opponent waste a bunch of points on Stealth. On the other hand, a Nom Bomb squad relies on not only being hidden, but being personally explosive as well. This makes Depa's Force-powered visual acuity doubly important, as an exposed Nom Bomb is a mostly helpless one as well.

Besides her one power that's unique in the game, Depa is a perfectly reasonable fighter, sporting Lightsaber Deflect (the discerning Jedi's favorite way to make it across the field to cut up the shooter) and Vaapad-style Fighting. Depa is the only piece in the game so far who can get so many criticals and doesn't have "Windu" in her name somewhere (and she costs less than half what the cheapest version of Mace does).

To recap, Depa is a fine choice if you're planning to make an all-Jedi squad, even if all she does is standard fighting. She's a must-have if you're making a squad around shooters (or one very powerful shooter), because super-stealth is a major factor against such squads.

Overall rating in 100: 4
Overall rating in 200: 4.5

Even Piell

You know that one Jedi master? The short one, with the pointy ears? No, not Yoda. No, that one who costs three points more than a Jedi Weapon Master, and is generally not as good, but has one unique Force Power to set him apart? No, not Depa Billaba. I said "he," didn't I? I'm talking about Even Piell, one of the most overshadowed characters and pieces in Star Wars.

Monsieur Piell had the misfortune of being released in the same set as both Depa Billaba and the Jedi Weapon Master, either of which is pretty much just better than him, and of looking quite a bit like one of the most famous characters in Star Wars, but somehow less cool.

On his own merits, Even isn't bad. He's got the requisite Double Attack, a reasonable number of Force Points, good numbers, Lightsabers Block and Sweep, and Mettle, a power unique to him in the game. Mettle means that any time he uses a Force Point to reroll something, he gets a +4 to the roll. This is very cool, or would be on a character with Force Renewal and/or Master of the Force. The problem is that Even will most likely want to use this power on Lightsaber Block saves, and he can't, because then he'll have used his Force Point for the turn already. He also only has four FPs to begin with, and while that's above average, it still means that Mettle can matter an absolute maximum of four times in a game.

He's not bad; he really isn't. He just costs the same as Depa Billaba, who trades Mettle and Lightsaber Block for Vaapad-Style Fighting, Lightsaber Deflect, and Force Sense, which is strictly better. This wouldn't be a death sentence if it was just a question of using both Depa and Even, but the non-Unique Jedi Weapon Master trades Mettle for a list of lightsaber-related powers as long as your arm, with only a slight loss in numbers to offset it. No matter how many points you have left, you should be using JWMs instead of Even Piell, I'm sorry to say.
Of course, the above applies only to competitive play and the bleeding edge of efficiency (as my reviews almost always do). If you want to use Piell over a JWM, you aren't losing that much (unless you have Commander Effects that only apply to non-Uniques), and you might do just fine with him. But if you're working on your next big tournament squad, the JWM is the better bet, even if the only advantage he brings you is that he comes with a three-point savings. One Ugnaught Demolitionist can be the difference between victory and defeat.

Overall rating in 100: 2
Overall rating in 200: 3

Count Dooku

Count Dooku is generally underappreciated. Since he came out in the same set as Darth "Can Theoretically Do 120 Damage In A Turn" Maul and was costed similarly, he was sort of ignored for a while. However, in the generally extremely dubious comparison of which of these two pieces would win in a one-on-one fight, the nod pretty much has to go to Dooku. Seriously.

An Attack of +16 is almost as good as it gets. A Defense of 21 is also excellent, with Lightsaber Duelist giving a situational-but-awesome +4 to that. Hence, Dooku hits CS Maul on a '5,' but Maul needs an '11' to hit him back. That pretty much takes care of the Dooku's Double Attack versus Maul's Triple Attack problem.

Add to this the fact that Dooku can throw 30 damage on to Maul before they get into melee range, and that Dooku has Lightsaber Block versus Maul's no defensive abilities at all, and you can see why Dooku is really the better fighter.

But, as I said earlier, this exercise is generally pretty dubious. The miniatures game is not played in one-on-one fights, or it would be pretty dull (I wouldn't play it, anyway). The question with a given piece is, "What can I do with this guy in terms of squad construction?"

The answer for the modern Separatist player is, sadly, "Lose." I've said it before (enough times that I'm running out of ways to say it), but the Sith-type Separatists are pretty much never worth the points, since there is very little they can do to synergize with the rest of their droid-oriented faction. The one major exception for Dooku is the old "Shock Therapy" squad, featuring him and Darth Sidious in a 100-point squad. This was extremely effective back in the day, but will usually suffer in the modern competitive environment (Darth Bane needs to be hit by no fewer than seven Sith Lightnings in order to die from it). In higher point totals, Dooku doesn't really get any better. Once there can be some concentrated fire against him, his respectable Defense and Hit Points will still crumple too fast to justify his 52-point cost.

Count Dooku was a great piece in his era, but is basically outdated now. Bummer; I really like Christopher Lee.

Overall rating in 100: 2.5
Overall rating in 200: 2