Bodyguard Droid

Shortly after Episode III came out, my wife (Mrs. Ten-Eyed Man) came out of the shower singing, “I wish I was a guard for General Grievous\That is what I’d truly like to be\’Cause if I was a guard for General Grievous\I’d be the coolest droid in the movie.” Truer words have rarely been sung to a hot dog jingle. The Bodyguard Droid is a terrific piece, befitting the way cool Jedi-fighting, staff-spinning, head-not-needing droids from the movie.

For 20 points, you get 60 more hit points to plug into the character of your choice, which is exactly double both the cost and the extra hit points for the Twi’lek Bodyguard (reviewed Monday). However, Bodyguard Droids go on to also double the Damage statistic of the alien pole dancer, as well as the Attack value (the Defense, while not doubled, is a healthy 3 points higher). Lightsaber Resistance pushes the Defense a little higher against the premier melee combatants of the game, which is a nice bonus.

This is all very well and good, but the ability that really makes the Bodyguard Droid incredible is the other really obvious one in his name: Droid. As a non-Unique droid for the Separatists, the coolest droid in the movie can reap handsome rewards like Double Attack, Careful Shot (useable on melee attacks despite the name), a total of +8 Attack from Fire Control and Supreme Commander Grievous, and the Repair 20 ability of Wat Tambor. Faction synergy just oozes off these guys. Supported correctly, a couple of them can be attacking twice per round at a +20 to hit (Darth Vader, Jedi Hunter may only need a ‘4’ to hit them, but they would only need a ‘3’ to hit him) (in your helmeted face, Vader!).

Finally, no discussion of the Bodyguard Droid would be complete without mentioning the Destroyer Droid. This is where the Separatists can really make use of that Bodyguard ability, because, as we know from the Destroyer Droid review a few weeks ago, the only problem with those guys is their low Hit Points. If you can plug in an extra 60 (which will still get all the benefits of Shields 2) (huzzah!), you’re doing well. If those extra 60 hit points can also fight, benefitting from the same stat boosts that you wanted for the Destroyer already, so much the better.

All in all, the Bodyguard Droid is a great buy. They can be used to defend other pieces, or they can be a key part of your own offense, using their eponymous ability to spread the damage between them and keep any one from getting eliminated.

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

Emperor Palpatine, Sith Lord

First of all, I just want to say that I love this piece. When the Revenge of the Sith set first came out, I happily told my friends who were Star Wars fans but didn’t play the game about the Betrayal ability, and they loved it, and I hoped against hope that Sith Palpatine could become a tournament mainstay.

It wasn’t meant to be, though. Sith Palpatine is good, but he’s since been pretty much overshadowed in terms of Imperial monsters by Darth Vader, Jedi Hunter.
His numbers are solid, but not stellar (mostly a Defense issue; at 62 points, you expect something higher than 20). You also sort of expect a +16 attack (though that’s as high as the game currently goes, so one shy is maybe forgiveable).

As with many Jedi and Sith types, it’s the abilities that really set Sith Palpatine apart. Triple Attack is pretty much a gimme in a 60+ point figure, but he’s got it. He also has a whopping six Force points, which is still not as good as having four and Force Renewal, per his other version. Lightsaber Assault is fantastic, allowing serious mobile offense, and Sith Lightning gives you some guaranteed damage (though I will usually choose Lightsaber Assault, since it does more damage at a lower Force cost, with the important down side that it can miss).

The above abilities are all very useful, but not all that interesting. Fortunately, Emperor Palpatine, Sith Lord has not one, not two, but three tricks up his billowing sleeve that are completely unique in the game. The previously mentioned Betrayal, while it doesn’t go off all that often, does mean that your opponent will always have to think twice about his attacks. Consider that if Obi-Wan, Jedi Master wants to make a Lightsaber Assault on Palpatine, there is almost a 10% chance that he’ll turn to the Dark Side and not be able to spend another Force Point to reroll. Given odds like that, many players will instead have Obi-Wan just walk up and attack once, saving that Force Point as a safety net. Betrayal is not remotely as useful in terms of “a thing that happens all the time” as it is a “thing that scares your opponent into making bad decisions.”

Execute Order 66 is a weirdly different ability. Where Betrayal is all about gambling and odds, Order 66 is all about guarantees, with the big guarantee being that if your opponent is playing a clone or AT-RT squad, you’ve got a guaranteed win. The idea that a pretty large number of figures, some of whom are the best shooting options the Republic has, simply can’t target Sith Palpatine, makes it easy to see why serious tournament play doesn’t really include clones.
Which is why Palpatine’s Commander Effect is sort of a mixed blessing. Once again, it’s a trick unlike anything else in the game, because it allows you to mix factions, but only with pieces that will be completely crippled if you go up against another Emperor Palpatine, Sith Lord.
This, then, is the strangest thing about Sith Palpatine: he’s one of the most metagame-dependent pieces in the game. If your local environment involves a large number of Order 66 pieces, then you’ll do very well with him (though it might be a dull game). If your local environment involves a lot of Sith Palpatine, however, you might not want to use him (or at least not use his Commander Effect). As a pure beatstick, you can do better with either Darth Vader, Sith Lord (two points less) or Darth Vader, Jedi Hunter (13 points more). As a “reinforce everyone in your squad while doing a bunch of direct damage piece,” you should use the original Emperor Palpatine from Rebel Storm. As a “keep your opponent guessing and have some really memorable games” piece, you can’t really do better at all.

Overall rating in 100: 2.5
Overall rating in 200: 3.5
Overall rating in fun, casual games: 5