Hi all, just wanted to do a quick write up on my recent tournament experience from the past weekend at the Board Room Game Cafe in Halifax, NS. We had a solid 10 players out for a game night kit tournament and it was my first time playing since Heart of the Empire came out so got to see some stuff I hadn't seen in action before.

Army

• 2x 9 AT-DP
• 2x 7 Elite Jet Trooper
• 3x 2 Imperial Officer
• 1 Zillo Technique
• 1 Rule by Fear

Alright so first things first, I used to be a huge E-web fan and the AT-DPs are more or less just a straight upgrades from them. For 1 more point you're gaining 9 more hp, but losing Recover 2, trading 2 Damage surge for Pierce 2 but also gaining a 1 Damage surge option and you get a straight 1 Damage and a built in reroll when you've suffered less than 9 damage. On top of that they can actually shoot and move in the same turn and they're massive which means they don't have to worry about other figures getting in their way. So if you're used to running E-webs (which I know is rare), these just feel so much more usable and powerful and I highly recommend them.

The eJets are an easy choice next since (a) they are very strong, (b) they balance out the lower mobility of the AT-DPs (c) it makes the core of my squad all Vehicles which is useful.

The Imperial Officers are pretty key as well if you want to be getting off two shots a turn with each of your AT-DPs. They're also useful for controlling terminals and objectives.

Finally, I brought two skirmish upgrades. Zillo is the best single point card in the game, even if you were only to use it for the Pierce cancel, I've had it save so many units, and the difference between an AT-DP surviving to activate another time can completely swing games. Rule by Fear is great, a third of the time you can just throw out Shared Experience and pick it back up later, otherwise throw out a weaker card to gain a better one.

Command Cards

• 3 New Orders: Favourite card, turn a 2pt activation into 9 pt activation
• 3 Grenadier: Great unmitigated damage potential
• 2 Overrun: Great unmitigated damage potential
• 1 Change of Plans: Useful when an AT-DP is out of position or an eJet squad is down to a single figure.
• 1 Negation: Disrupts' opponents plans
• 1 Fuel Upgrade: Def/Speed on everyone but officers
• 1 Hit and Run: Must for AT-DPs
• 1 Shared Experience: RbF / Zillo fodder but also useful on its own
• 1 Tough Luck: Can make a big difference and flexible offense/defense
• 1 Concentrated Fire: Red dice are nice.
• 0 Element of Surprise: No dice are also nice.
• 0 Fleet Footed: Sneaky walkers.
• 0 Planning: Cards are good.
• 0 Take Initiative: Basically a must take card.
• 0 Overcharged Weapons: Situational but useful if AT-DP will die before activating in a round.

Should all be pretty self explanatory, would love to fit in Call the Vanguard but isn't possible at the moment.

Round #1 (Nal Hutta - Shield Generators)

Opponent's list: IG-88 Merc Hunters

So I was worried about Nal Hutta with my list but it turned out to be fine providing I got the non-narrow deployment zone. We were playing the shield generator mission and I was able to get both AT-DPs out first turn, one with officers and one with it's own movement into position to cover two of the lanes. The ATs provided good covering fire and punished anyone left in LoS of them while the eJets rotated the map and focused down units. Was a pretty quick match.

1-0

Round #2 (Nal Hutta - Crates)

Opponent's list: Han w Upgrade, Ahsoka, Hera, Chopper, C-3P0, Gideon, Jyn, Jarrod

Lucky enough to win initiative and took the better deployment zone again, tried to go for a similar set up but with him passing out focuses first round and rolling 4 out of 5 of his first defensive rolls as Dodges I was left at a pretty big disadvantage. By the time I got Jyn and Jarrod down and forced his Han to retreat a bit I had already lost both AT-DPs and my eJets were all below half health.

Honestly, I'm embarrassed to admit but the dodges threw me off my game a bit, I misplayed a few times this round and didn't make great use of my command cards or Zillo. I tried to sneak in with a Grenade and Overrun to his support units at the end but wasn't quite able to get it off before being taken out.

1-1

Round #3 (Jabba's Palace - Pick up Crates)

Opponent's list: Vader w Upgrade, Palpatine, Royal Guards, eStormies, Imp Officer

Got the side without the stairs, which was my preference, but all my units wouldn't fit in the deployment zone so one AT-DP was stilling out the hallway a bit. Opened the door early with one AT-DP having LoS on that room while the other was sent around the other way past the terminal by the officers. Split the eJets up similarly. He brought all his units around leaving the door closed on his side.

Due to the size of the AT-DPs I was able to gain pretty good LoS around the whole middle area by having them able to see around both sides of the walls. This became a killbox where I took out his guards first and then began focusing Vader. The emperor did some work with his Force Lightning which was pretty effective vs my AT-DPs due to how small the room is and how many of my troops ended up being adjacent. Ended up trading an AT-DP for Vader which worked out well in my favor as it left not much in firepower from the rest of his squad. Didn't stand much of a chance once I was able to take out Palp as well.

2-1

Round #4 (Jabba's Palace - Control Points)

Opponent's list: eSentry Droids, eRiot Troopers w Cross Training x2, Blaise, 0-0-0

Set up similarly to last game but under estimated the Sentry Droids and on his last activation of the round he shredded both of the eJets in one of my squads. That was dumb of me. The good news is he dropped them both down the pit afterwards to avoid the return fire of the AT-DP which took them out of the fight for a while. I was able to get some hits on Blaise and then finish him off the start of the next round.

Meanwhile it was 4v2 Riots vs my eJets at the middle control point, though I did have some covering fire there from my other AT-DP. We ended up mostly trading there, with him bringing in 0-0-0 from his terminal and the Sentries from the pit eventually, but by that time my second AT-DP was in position there as well. I was able to finish off one of the Sentries and 0-0-0 with the help of a New Orders command from an Officer reactivating one of the AT-DPs. Due to Zilloing one of 0-0-0s previous attacks I was able to have 3 health left which was just enough to attack through the bleeds (command deck was empty) to finish off a few units and then contest the middle control point with another officer so that in the final round I hit 40 while he hit 39. Very close and fun match up.

3-1

All in all had a great day of games which always leaves me wanting to play more. The top table in the final round was the player I lost to in the second round with Han up against a Ranger list which ended up winning. Not sure exactly what was in it and haven't played against the player who was running it but hoping to get to play against them some time in the near future.

As for the list it probably could use some tweaking but I think it's also very solid as is. After getting handled a bit by the Sentry Droids I definitely want to give them a closer look, they remind me of Vinto a bit which is one of my favourite units. Manueverabliity wasn't as bad as I anticipated it would be but I got lucky winning initiative and choosing my zone most of the rounds which I think made a big difference.

Up next I think I'm going to be trying a more droid heavy list, something with BT-1, 0-0-0, and some eSentries and then I'll see where I go from there. Thanks for reading!