I have talked a lot about rebellion in the Rim What is in the box, but I have not spoken to much about what I think will happen to the game upon its arrival and as it is going to be out this Friday this seems like a good a time as ever to share how I think this box will change the game, and why. I have mentioned a few of these in other wright ups, and these are just my feelings, we will see how it actually pans out.
The decline of leading shots
Leading shots has been a staple really since day one. However with Linked Turbolaser Towers giving you red rerolls leading shots becomes a little less necessary. This opens up a lot of options for the ion cannon slot and just list diversity in general. Now I am not saying leading shots is headed out the door, as maybe you want to take a different turbolaser than Linked Turbolaser Towers but you do have more options build wise and that’s a good thing. Also add in weapon battery techs for better chances of blue crits and that Ion slot options really open up.
Imperial II (120) • Weapons Battery Techs (5) • Electronic Countermeasures (7) • Heavy Ion Emplacements (9) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) = 148 Points
MC80 Star Cruiser (96) • Gunnery Team (7) • SW-7 Ion Batteries (5) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • Spinal Armament (9) = 124 Points
Increased use of Dodonna
So Dodonna is already pretty popular, but between proximity mines dealing face up damage and more reliable ways to generate crits on ships though weapon battery techs, and the new ace Malee Hurra, and the cheese of using Ezra to move an asteroid so your opponent is going to land on it really up Dodonnas value, so I think you will see him a bit more often especially in fleets that really just want to throw as many proximity mine out as possible.
Rise of the Cymoon
The Cymoon is really only seen with Vader as its commander with Director Krennick out I have seen it used with other commanders now, but when Rebellion in the rim drops I think it will blow things wide open for this guy. You have IF and Linked Turbolaser Towers to fix your dice and in most cases that will be all you need. You can have the Vader commander choke out an officer like Tua on your Cymoon in case you get a truly horrendous roll. The Cymoon will start to see a lot more table time with various different commanders than it currently does.
ISD Cymoon 1 Refit (112) • Minister Tua (2) • Intensify Firepower! (6) • Gunnery Team (7) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • Spinal Armament (9) • Electronic Countermeasures (7) = 150 Points
A Mon Mothma Resurgence?
Now this might seem odd and call me crazy, as there is nothing in here that directly benefits Mon Mothma but there is something that benefits the ships she prefers, namely the CR-90 and MC-30 as they both have 2 evades. The CR-90 and MC-30 both have at least on redirect and Expert Shield Tech lets the redirects reduce damage by one. The problem with Mon Mothma is that there is no benefit to taking her if you are going to stay a long range she only gains value when you are at medium range or closer and that can be a scary place for the CR-90s to be because sure you can evade, but in most cases you are also getting more dice chucked at you. Getting a little more damage mitigation with the redirect can be better than moving damage around putting damage on another hull zone especially when paired with Blast doors. When you add the MC-30 titles to this you can mitigate a lot of damage. It’s not amazing, but I think it might be enough to make her presence felt again.
MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63) • Expert Shield Tech (5) • Ordnance Experts (4) • Reinforced Blast Doors (5) • External Racks (3) • Foresight (8) = 88 Points
CR90 Corvette B (39) • Expert Shield Tech (5) • Engine Techs (8) • Reinforced Blast Doors (5) • SW-7 Ion Batteries (5) = 62 Points
Heavy (as in the Keyword) squadron balls and a decline in Intel
So with Advanced Transponder net helping work around some of heavy squadrons disadvantages namely not preventing squadrons form attacking ships. You will start to see more Y-wing Swarms Tie Bomber Swarms Etc. it’s important to remember that the squadrons you are engaged with can still move away and repossession to attack a ship. However this still goes a long way in diversifying fleet builds and giving more options to squadron complements.
Return of the Assault Frigate
The Assault Frigate has fallen out of favor recently, however Ackbar Assault Frigate with Linked Turbolaser Towers really helps them out. In addition the fact that we will be seeing Y-wing swarms return also makes them better as he can take flight controllers and push a large amount of squadrons. The MC-75 can do this too, but the Assault Frigate can do it cheaper and there is a bit of synergy between Galant Heaven and Advanced Transponder net. They won’t be in every list, but you should expect to see them more than you do right now.
Assault Frigate Mk2 B (72) • Flight Controllers (6) • Advanced Transponder Net (5) • Electronic Countermeasures (7) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • Gallant Haven (8) = 105 Points
Medium squadron groups.
So Medium squadron groups are a bit of a rarity in the game right now but they will likely see an increases practically on the Empires side with Reserve Hanger Deck. 6 Tie fighters can feel like 10 with this card its super solid. I do also think that this will move Sloan list away from max squadrons to a medium squadron group with ships to take advantage of striped tokens. In addition IG-88B can really just ruin a squadron’s lists day. I feel the rebellion has already had tools to do medium fighter coverage with shara and tyco, Biggs balls, etc. They now they also get Lando who will ruin a scatter aces day with a double hit on a red that can’t be modified, and will take a lot of attacks to take down you ether need to over commit you squadrons to kill him or watch him kill your squadrons it’s a nice addition to give more options to medium groups for rebels.
Imperial Fighter diversity
Commander Woldar will open up more builds for imperil squadrons expect to see more tie phantoms especially in Sloan lists. Tie defenders as well will become more common, really any squadron without swarm just got a little better and a bit more viable, again more viable options is a good thing.
Higher Prevalence of Raid tokens
I have used raid a few times playing the game, but I have never seen it used against me and I think this is going to change practically for the rebels. They have the tools with Rex and Kannan to make life very hard on a ship. There is also the objective Surprise Attack that drops raid tokens on ships at the very start of the game that can really mess things up especially when added with other raid token generators. The Imperils don’t really get a leg up in this area aside from with Commander Woldar Gauntlet fighters are a bit better, if they must attack squadrons they are just too expensive, I mean even Kannan who can give a ship two raid tokens a turn is cheaper than the generic Gauntlet. The Empire does get some more interesting things with raid when you factor in the interdictor and some of the objectives though I will talk more about that in an upcoming right up. Raid is still overall better for both sides just more so for the Rebels and that feels thematic.
Sato will see play
To put it simply Malee Hurra fits right into a Sato list and does what Sato needs done provide crits for the critical effects he wants to trigger. Again it’s not amazing, but I think it will start to push Sato lists to be a bit more viable and to be honest when someone has worked up the gumption to take him to a major tournament they always seems to do better than most think. He probably won’t become top tier with this single squadron added to his arsenal, but I do think you will see him around a bit more, not to mention Y-Wing swarms coming back as well, just seems like a good sign for Sato.
Also I can find nothing on a Malee Hurra in Online so not sure who she is. There is a Melee with no last name she is the girl that told Anakin his podracer would never run, but I doubt this is her. I feel there where many better options for Scurrg Pilots, but it is what it is.
Other Forgotten ships will return.
You will start to see more Nebulons, as with the Vanguard Title I can see Rebel lists wanting to run two. As the Vanguard title is so flexible it can work as a carrier, or as a gunship. Vangaurd will likely be the second Nebulon taken, in most cases but you will still see more of them. The raider has a great title and Iden Versio helps with survivability. The VSD also gets to go fake speed 3 that should make it easier for a VSD I to deliver its payload.
Raider I (44) • Iden Versio (6) • Ordnance Experts (4) • External Racks (3) • Instigator (4) = 61 Points
Victory I (73) • Ordnance Experts (4) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • External Racks (3) • Harrow (3) • Engine Techs (8) = 98 Points
Raider II (48) • Weapons Battery Techs (5) • Disposable Capacitors (3) • Heavy Ion Emplacements (9) • Corvus (2) = 67 Points
Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57) • Auxiliary Shields Team (3) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • Vanguard (4) • Flight Controllers (6) = 77 Points
CR90 Corvette B (39) • Liberator (2) • All fighters, Follow Me! (5) = 46 Points
Objective Variation and List diversity
For a really long time the red objective has been dominated by Most Wanted and Advanced gunnery, and in general if you could not make use of one of them as objectives you were just a bit sub-optimal. Now I think we have some great choices that will help it so you don’t have to take a big ship so you can take Advanced Gunnery, and you don’t have to take a flotilla to take Most Wanted you have strong options meaning you don’t have to feel retrained in list building because of the objectives available to you. This is a wonderful thing, I can't tell you how many times I have come up with a good list idea, but all the objective options where just weak, now things are blown wide open.
Imperial Fish Farm
The Empire has always kind of struggled to get a token farming list going like the Rebels. This is mostly because the Lamda is the better utility ship the VCX is a better over all ship. Now the Lambdas have a friend in Maralo Eval and he will help supplement the lack of firepower the Lambdas have making Imperial token farming again a much more viable option.
I am excited for Rebellion in the Rim and all the changes that will come with it, and the rumored FAQ that will drop soon after its release. With the Starhawk and Onager release just a few months away, we will be dealing with a lot of shake up a lot changes, but things are more open than ever and the options you have will make the game the most divers it has ever been. I hope everyone is looking forward to Friday as much as I am Until next time, have a great week!
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