Welcome aboard the Rogue One, rebel recruits! I’m Captain Wesley Klemas (AKA TheSecondFlock) filling in as pilot today. Where’s our regular pilot? Why, he’s off on Scarif, running some cables around a battlefield at the moment (Probably trying to score some last-minute VPs in the final round!).
Seriously though, greetings everyone! I’m the newest member of the IACP Steering Committee, and joined right around the time the team was finalizing the patch for Season 8.2 last year. To my recollection, there was never a big formal announcement, so I’m taking the moment to introduce myself on my first article here! Meanwhile, I’ve been working hard with the team in the background for the past 7 months as we finalized Season 8 and poured our hearts and efforts into getting the content ready to share with you in these articles for Season 9! Now, with that brief introduction out of the way, let’s jump to today’s Rebel spoilers!
In Season 8, we saw the IACP introduction to the Guardians of the Whills, Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus, and they were met with overwhelming fanfare and excitement. “But hang on,” some of you asked, “where is the final member of the Rogue One team?” Well, now you have your answer! Bodhi Rook is Landing in IACP now and preparing his team’s deployment onto the battlefield, ready to provide cover from the air!
Our favorite paranoid pilot shows up as a 2 point Rebel support figure, ready to help the cause — Wait, what’s that? No, Bodhi, Saw’s not on this mission. No, nobody brought a Bor Gullet, it’s going to be fine!
What kind of abilities do we give a pilot in a ground-based skirmish game? Well for starters, Bodhi comes equipped with the ability to fly his Rebel comrades safety onto the mission grounds with his Smooth Landing ability, borrowed from Hera Syndulla. Not only is this move extremely thematic on him, it also works him in as a great partner for Cassian Andor, whose favorite partner up until this point has been Hera in order to take full advantage of his Strike Team ability. For 2 points, Bodhi pulls this off at less of a premium, and it’s all the more fitting as a member of the Rogue One team proper.
Speaking of synergy with the members of his famed team, a Smooth Landing isn’t all Bodhi’s packing, as he is able to provide Air Support to the entire army throughout the mission. We noticed a theme cropping up in our Rogue One figures in that, with the exception of Chirrut Îmwe, all members of the core group in IACP have had the ability to generate offensive Power Tokens for either themselves or their teammates. Air Support solidifies the attacks you make that use power tokens by adding 2 accuracy to them. Not a bad deal, huh? Of course, this might allow you to keep your Rebel Heroes a little safer while striking, increasing the distance they can hit from, or can make up for an ill-fated Accuracy roll on those pesky Green and Yellow dice. Just make sure to keep Bodhi alive for as long as you need his help!
I will note that, to make full use of Bodhi, you’ll want an army that can continuously generate offensive power tokens. Again, this works great in a dedicated Rogue One list, with four of your core members able to generate more power tokens every single turn. Outside of this thematic archetype, though, rebels like Ko-Tun can help you generate these tokens, and heavy hitters like Biv Bodhrik who normally strike from a minimum accuracy of 4 can really benefit from the Air Support boost. Heck, you can even make a deal and have Bodhi work with some shady characters in a Scum list, relying on a Clawdite Shapeshifter to provide tokens to your Bossk, who can use Bodhi’s Air Support to take range 5-8 shots with his destructive Indiscriminate Fire (and that’s without Focus)!
Last but not least, Bodhi is a brand new Technician this season! If you ever have a chance to take a free shot with him from safety, be sure to try out Network Connection with him to help activate his multiple beneficial surge abilities from deep within cover! Now, if only Bodh could generate power tokens for the team himself…
Well, maybe he can’t on his deployment card, but at least he can with Transmit the Plans. Bodhi’s unique Command is sweet and simple: an action to give 2 power tokens to friendly figures, anywhere on the map! Whew, that’s the power of communication technology! And on a 2-point figure, the action shouldn’t be too missed, as with Bodhi this generates even more value in the form of his Accuracy buff when those tokens get used. And what’s this? If Bodhi is at the terminal when he plays the card, you get 2 VPs! If you draw Transmit in your opening hand, a turn 1 rush to the terminal into this is a no-brainer, but what about later in the game? Do you keep Bodhi huddled next to R2 the whole game, to keep him safe, benefit from his CC, and never lose out on the Accuracy bonus? Or do you have him run around as an objective grabber and bring Saw in case Bodhi doesn’t make it long enough to draw his card? Well Rebels, the decision is up to you!
I know the above cards have been great, but in the spirit of the holidays just-passed, I’ll leave you with one more present. In Season 8, we saw a rise in popularity for a Rogue One themed archetype list. With the release of Bodhi, I bet you’re all wondering how you can fit him into your favorite lists from last Season. Well, this should help you get half-way towards answering that question.
Jyn Erso is getting a cost-reduction from 7 points to 6 (and a new art piece as well)! While Jyn can hit hard, even for a 7 point figure, she struggles into tanky enemy figures with innate defenses or bonus dice, and is a bit fragile for a 7-point figure. Sure, she has a gun, but really needs to get in close to get that Tonfa Strike to be getting her value. Plus, while she works great as a Brawler, her Leader trait isn’t synergizing much for her ability to battle within the thick of things. So, we’re bringing her down to the same cost as her Rogue One heavy-hitting peers Cassian and Baze. And speaking of Jyn art, take a look at Beat Down in Monday’s article, it’s great on her! Of course, this should all make her more appealing to take into any army with you, not just Rogue One themed lists!
That marks the end of today’s transmission! Wrapping up Season 9’s spoilers tomorrow, we’ll be traveling through hyperspace to a destination far far away to recruit an exciting new deployment card that many of you have been anticipating for a long time! Plus, a neat little bonus announcement and a first from the IACP team! Happy New years, Rebels!