Databank Download: What Have We Here Preview

09/10/2024

Years after gambling away the Millennium Falcon, Lando Calrissian won big and became the baron administrator of Cloud City, an independent mining colony on the planet Bespin. Balancing the needs of tibanna mining, tourism, and a demanding mercantile class on Cloud City can be tricky, but Lando is always ready with a card hidden up his sleeve, a loaded die, or a quick exit.

Befitting a man of his unique sensibilities and taste, Lando Calrissian in Star Wars™: Shatterpoint exists as an extremely flexible Primary Unit that can fit in many situations. At the start of Lando’s activation, How You Doin’ Ya Old Pirate? allows a friendly or enemy Scoundrel character to dash and remove all
special conditions from itself. This applies to Lobot and the Wing Guard but could also be used for a hasty retreat with Kanan Jarrus or give Hunter the last boost to enter the fray.

Hedged Bets is a unique ability in Shatterpoint, allowing you an incentive to save Force points in order to either remove conditions from friendly units or add conditions to enemy units, giving you a way to give any enemy unit any condition would be worth the cost of not using all your Force points. If you draw Lando’s Order Card before you are ready to play him, you can activate Sabacc Shift to regain 2 Force points and shuffle Lando back into the deck, an amazing ability that might also help Hedged Bets trigger more frequently or give you those extra Force points that you need. Finally, his Identity ability Conflicting Responsibilities might look similar to those who are familiar with Agent Kallus, only more versatile. After setup, Lando gains either the Galactic Empire tag or the Rebel Alliance tag, and gets to grant one of his tags to another Scoundrel for the turn their card is revealed from the Order Deck. You can use this to come up with some really clever turns, like giving Bad Batch members the Rebel Alliance tag, or making Din Djarin Galactic Empire on his activation.

For those in the know, Idiot’s Array and Pure Sabacc are two of the most sought-after hands to win a game of Sabacc with. For players of Star Wars: Shatterpoint, they represent the two dynamic Stances of Lando Calrissian. Idiot’s Array might be initially seen as the more defensive side with higher dice and the possibility of healing, but it also comes with more consistently helpful expertise results as well across the board. Pure Sabacc, on the other hand, hopes more for stronger luck with better expertise results if you have higher numbers of expertise, but much worse results for only one or two. Lando Calrissian is a man who often trusts his luck, and his Stances are no different.

As befits a man of his unique modifications, Lobot analyzes the battlefield, secures objectives, and assists other Scoundrels to seize victory with mechanical precision. His Tactic ability Detain gives another Scoundrel character a free dash then applying the Pin or Disarm special condition. While this might feel like it’s mostly designed for the Wing Guard in the squad pack, it could be just as useful on Lord Maul or another melee character that wants to be closer to an enemy for an attack. Security Network allows an allied Scoundrel secondary or supporting character to dash and make a 5-dice attack targeting an enemy Contesting an objective.

Battlefield Calculations would be extremely useful for any allied characters with Sharpshooter or Impact, giving them an immediate focus action after they make a move ending within range 2 of Lobot. Finally, Lobot has Lockdown, which stops enemies from taking away a control token Lobot is Contesting. This ability alone might win a game unless an opponent can remove Lobot from the point.

Lobot’s Cybernetic Enhancements Stance gives him many options and consistent success when he needs to step out of the command room of Cloud City. He has easy access to Push, Disarm, and Strain, but most importantly, with four steps he can get a free Security Network ability. This allows him to preserve the precious Force tokens that Lando hopes to save for Hedged Bets or other abilities as needed. Lobot has good attack and defense stats, with versatile choices stemming from his mathematical view on the battlefield. Uniquely, Lobot can calculate his defenses so well that he has the possibility of inflicting Disarm or Expose when defending! Enemies will have to consider the processing speed of Lobot before trying to attack him and remove him from a control point he has on Lockdown.

Cloud City has an eclectic mix of mining interests, tourists, and businessmen intermingling at any one time, and security and policing is provided by the Wing Guard. They have just as much experience with escorting unruly tourists as they do stopping corporate espionage. Their Active ability Headlong Assault shows their bravery with engaging anyone, and allows them to dash, and more importantly, gain a focus action and Impact [1] if within range 2 of an enemy character. This grants them not only movement but also an impressive 2 more dice against the target they run up to apprehend. They’re always at the ready, and this is expressed through Rapid Response Team, allowing you to reserve the Order Card for 1 fewer Force, which will normally become zero! And finally, since they mainly act as the defenders of Cloud City, they have Security Force, granting them Steadfast while Contesting an Active objective. They serve an effective purpose of getting quickly into the fray and being difficult to remove by enemy actions.

Wing Guard have a skillset more in restraint and control, and that’s reflected in their Stance Card as well. With a maximum of 5 damage on their Combat Tree, you might be tricked into thinking they aren’t going to have a big impact. However, with a free Focus and Impact, they will often be rolling 8 dice in melee, and very likely to get 2 Pushes, or a heal and a reposition into a more useful spot.

This squad pack is extremely versatile and can fit into many different strike teams alongside your favorite Galactic Empire, Rebel Alliance, or Scoundrel characters in Star Wars: Shatterpoint.

Make sure to check back for our next Shatterpoint unit preview, where we give you a first look at how your favorite characters from the Star Wars galaxy translate into the gameplay of Shatterpoint. Pre-order your own copy of STAR WARS: Shatterpoint at your local game store or through our webstore today.

Until next time, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!