Hello everyone, and welcome to another Season 7 preview for the Imperial Assault Continuity Project! Today, we’re taking a look at improvements to some of our previous Imperial figures and showing how they will go from rear-echelon benchwarmers to heroes of the Empire!
“Ready to Die?”
All the way back in Season 1 of the IACP, we implemented a modest change to The Grand Inquisitor: dropping his price from 9 points to 7. While this change proved to not be game breaking, it did not change the Inquisitor’s fundamental flaw: he did not deal enough damage, even when attacking in melee, and the Lightsaber Throw ability used a very weak dice pool. Therefore, he continued to see very little play, except in lists based on the “red blades” theme.
Three years later, in Season 7 of the Continuity Project, we are completely overhauling the Grand Inquisitor to both improve his power within the game and to better capture his status as the Empire’s terrifying Jedi hunter, as seen in Star Wars: Rebels. His first battle shows off why he is such a potent threat: he is crafty, intelligent, and able to easily outmaneuver his opponents in lightsaber combat.
We captured his flexibility and skill in lightsaber combat with the Precision and Deadly Spin abilities. With Precision, The Grand Inquisitor can control the flow of a battle to maximize his attack or easily circumvent his quarry’s defenses. Once he has his target right where he wants them, The Inquisitor can use Deadly Spin to ensure they cannot dodge him and deal damage to their ally as well. Meanwhile, the changes to Lightsaber Throw improve its range and damage, increasing the likelihood of him being able to perform the “signature move” of the FFG version of the card: the ranged cleave.
Improving the Lightsaber Throw ability also makes The Grand Inquisitor’s personal command card, Hunt Them Down, much better. The card increases the throw’s minimum range to 5, and makes it possible to cleave up to 5 damage onto your opponents’ other figures up to the attack’s accuracy spaces away, Using this combo, a well-positioned Inquisitor could kill up to three figures in a single attack, dramatically swinging the battle in your favor. You can further use Hunter cards like Tools for the Job and Assassinate to deal even more damage to the Empire’s foes. Taken together, these changes will make The Grand Inquisitor into the potent force on the battlefield he always deserved to be.
Let the Hate Flow Through You
Another update in Season 7 is to the Lure of the Dark Side command card. With this change, the mediocre card put out by FFG is getting a major boost. The biggest change is increasing the range from “within 3 spaces” to “line of sight.” This will allow your dark-siders to tell opponents the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise from across the map, meaning support characters are not safe just by being in the back of an enemy formation. Additionally, the Dark Side is a pathway to quick and easy power, represented by gaining damage power tokens. Finally, the enemy’s realization that, in their anger, they killed their friends will cause them to suffer mental strain as they scream to a room full of medical droids. The changes are not all upside, though: after the attack, the figure will be left with a damage power token that they can use to take vengeance upon you…
Improved Logistics
The other change to an Imperial deployment card this season is the reduction of the Shoretroopers’ base cost from 7/4 to 6/3. While this change is superficially much less drastic than the changes to The Grand Inquisitor, it leads to a major shift in how they play. The greatest effect of this change is that the Shoretroopers can now be Reinforced. This means your opponent will have to track down and kill the entire group of Shoretroopers before they can be sure the figures they have destroyed are gone for good…
This job becomes much harder when the Shoretroopers deploy with artillery support. When a Mortar Trooper is attached to a Shoretrooper squad, the Shoretroopers can use Reinforcements to respawn next to the Mortar, safe in your deployment zone. This means both that your opponent has to work that much harder to wipe out the group, and that the mortar can respawn its spotters, making it an even larger threat to your opponents’ group formations and hidden support figures!
These reduced-price Shoretroopers and their Mortar Trooper or Flametrooper allies are also great candidates to use two of Season 7’s command cards: the brand-new Reduce to Rubble and the improved Of No Importance. Reduce to Rubble allows the Heavy Weapon Squad Upgrades to spread even more damage through your opponents’ ranks, rendering them easier to finish off with the Shoretroopers’ rifles or a well-placed grenade! Of No Importance, meanwhile, reduces your opponents’ gains when they do kill a member of your army. Acting as a reverse Celebration, this command card will allow you to delay your opponent’s victory so your fallen minion’s surviving allies can seal the win.
The Empire’s Might
With the improvements to The Grand Inquisitor and Shoretroopers, the IACP Steering Committee is excited to see more variety in Imperial Trooper and Imperial Hunter lists! And stay tuned, because tomorrow we will be unveiling another set of units that will fit into both archetypes…
In the meantime, we invite you to discuss these new cards, the rest of Season 7, and anything else Imperial Assault on the IACP Discord and the Zion’s Finest Slack channels!