It’s impossible to overstate how much I, and so many others, loved Andor as a tv event – and the squad pack for it is just a delight. The Cassian is all business, though maybe would’ve preferred a sneakier-looking version; after all, even K2S0 looks like he’s trying to be subtle. Also, compared to some of the face sculpts, he’s ok, but not perfect. He packs a whopping 9 Squad Points, though, so you can build a truly elite team around him. Whilst he only has 2 Force, he doesn’t rely on it, and the rest of the squad only do so situationally. That being said, using Force for your free leader move is usually a deal breaker for me; however, his does give both him and another unit a free Dash and Hunker (if spies). Still, means you really need to pair him with Jyn, though (which obviously is thematic, but limiting). His ruthlessness allows him to add 3D to an attack against an enemy engaged with an allied unit, at the cost of 2 Damage to your ally. Also, whenever a struggle is claimed by either player, he rolls 3D and enemies contesting objectives take damage on every positive result. Finally, his innate allows an allied unit to move (or place if a spy) when another of your units is Wounded and, perhaps more importantly, grants Impact 2 and Sharpshooter 2 to units activated with your Shatterpoint card.
K2S0 is a hefty 5SP, which puts him up at the top end of Secondary costs. Why? Well, he has a couple of good, if costly (Force) abilities: he can Dash towards a friendly and remove a condition from them, and if a friendly unit within R4 becomes Wounded he can Dash and do a 5D retaliatory attack. Generally, his attacks have lots of Shove and Damage, off 7D at both ranged and melee. So, very good, but not exceptional. However, he has 2 passive abilities that are top-notch. Lockdown means that, if not Wounded, your opponent cannot remove your control marker on objective K2S0 is contesting. That is really powerful, particularly if you activate him late in the turn. And if he is Wounded, he gets to activate is GOODBYE passive: the attacker gains Pinned, Strained, an Ally within R3 can Dash AND you can choose to spend up to 2 Momentum to move the Struggle that many spaces towards you, at the cost of Defeating him. That’s an unrivalled level of mid-game control that can flat out win you the game.
And, a moment for the rebel Pathfinders. Whilst they are not explicitly from the show, they very easily could be Vel and Melshi – now there’s a character arc we weren’t expecting – and I for one will certainly be painting them up as such (the female rebel in particular is spot on). They are super-sneaky in game, beginning Hunkered, and any Dash when Hunkered is instead a Move. For a Force, they Dash and Hunker; similarly, for a Force, the can add 3D to their attack roll, each Hit doubling against Primaries. For a cheap 3SP unit, they are damn sneaky and fast.
A note on ratings, as the standard Zatu ratings have slightly different meanings when we look at miniatures:
ARTWORK – the overall aesthetic quality of design of the sculpts, pose variety etc.
COMPLEXITY – How hard they are to build based on sprue layout and assembly instruction, and how demanding they are to paint.
REPLAYABILTY – How much fun they are to play with and how well they fit with other elements of the same faction for listbuilding, or useful as standalone models for rpgs etc.
PLAYER INTERACTION – How much fun they are to play against, and how well they fit the overall game theme
COMPONENT QUALITY – Physical quality of the product and value for money.
Scores:
ARTWORK 3
COMPLEXITY 2
REPLAYABILTY 5
PLAYER INTERACTION 3
COMPONENT QUALITY 4
About the author:
Sam blogs @big_geekingout and as part of bigcomicpage.com with an emphasis on dad-gaming and IP content. Recovering competitive card gamer, infrequent skirmish wargamer, and average boardgamer. Decent Modeller with a fondness for terrain. Enthusiastic if not especially capable miniature Painter. Media and English Teacher, which is a cover for being a movie nerd. Reasonable cook. Occasional Parent.
