Welcome to the final spoiler for Season 11 content! To round out the set, we have a few more cards that, while on their own may seem unassuming, may become incredibly powerful when combined with the right setup and synergies. The Imperial faction will be receiving some new support tools to provide alternatives to the conventional Imperial Officer, and the Steering Committee hopes that this will encourage increased list diversity for both support figures and skirmish upgrades among Imperial lists.
First up, we have another Bad Batch character, but this time it is the villain, Dr. Royce Hemlock. A high-ranking member of the Imperial officer cadre, he retains the Leader trait, as well as the attack profile of his 2-point counterparts. However, instead of just simply ordering other figures around, he has much more additional utility as one of the Empire’s top scientists (represented by the Technician trait in Imperial Assault). He will almost certainly be using one or both of these special actions each turn, so let’s dive right in.
First up, we have his Neurostim ability, representing his penchant for cooking up all sorts of potions, including injections that made himself unaffected by his own toxins. While he is cooking up a stim for his allies, it’s a volatile process that can frequently go wrong. As such, he rolls a yellow die for this ability, and distributes up to one damage token if one or more damage symbols are rolled, and then up to one surge token if one or more surges are rolled. As it is a yellow die, he will often just give one token, but occasionally he will give two. It is also one of the few ways in Empire to access surge tokens, which are excellent on many figures. While this ability is limited to adjacent figures, Advanced Comms Systems will allow him to affect figures up to 3 spaces away, making it easier to trigger both this and his second ability…
Neurotoxin recalls the scene where Dr. Hemlock gasses the Bad Batch and incapacitates them as they approach his lair. This ability is a yellow die grenade that will also apply Weaken. It functions as an excellent way to allow your support figure to do some chip damage while also making your subsequent attacks more effective. Satisfyingly, it is especially effective against those dastardly Rebels and their boxes around C-3P0. While it may not necessarily do a lot of damage all the time, it has significant utility in many situations. The risk that it might just deal two damage will help keep your opponents on their toes.
However, Dr. Hemlock’s main claim to fame comes in the form of his cloning experiments of questionable ethicality. Indeed, his clones, specifically bred for lethality, are some of the most dangerous opponents of the Bad Batch. Enter the unique Command card for Dr. Royce Hemlock:
At first glance, this may seem like just a slightly upgraded version of Reinforcements. However, in keeping with the theme of Dr. Hemlock, it is certainly much more dangerous and lethal. Notably, it can revive a Trooper figure up to a cost of 5, as compared to 3 for standard Reinforcements (as long as they aren’t Droids, of course, since you can’t clone a droid). It can also revive a figure from a completely defeated group, meaning that the ability can be used to revive single-figure troopers like the Dewback Rider and E-web Engineer.
Keen-eyed Imperial Assault veterans may note that the placement of a group on the board after it has been defeated bears some resemblance to the interaction of Ugnaught Tinkerers and the Junk Droid. Indeed, it has been established that whenever the Junk Droid enters into play, it does so readied, even if it had been previously exhausted earlier in the round. Dr. Hemlock can reinforce an existing Trooper group, and the newly placed figure is exhausted if the group is exhausted, and readied if the group is readied. However, he can also revive a previously defeated Trooper group (either the entire group, if it is one figure, or one figure from a multifigure group), and that group is readied when that figure is placed back on the board. This quirk of the rules interactions means that this Command card can not only surprise opponents with another figure that they did not expect to have to deal with, but also allows Imperial Trooper lists to steal last activation in a round to blunt the initiative swing (often a necessity in multifigure group Imperial lists with low activation counts). Note that any attachments that were on a defeated group remain attached to them when they are revived.
Using this Command card costs Dr. Hemlock’s entire turn, although with his plethora of special actions and as a Technician, he may benefit from many Technician Command cards. Take care though, as with only 5 Health and a white die (and no Cower, he’s proudly unafraid), he can certainly be run down and defeated.
Now where on earth do all of these experiments and evil conniving and scheming take place….why, the Imperial Citadel of course! The Empire is a master of logistics and making sure to maximally exploit every resource it can get its hands on. This upgrade will provide a new way for Imperial lists to access power tokens, and make sure that lists centered around power token synergies (looking at you, Director Krennic), are able to get maximum value. Note that a figure can only gain one token (not two) from the Citadel, and only at the start of its activation.
Are there some rare tokens you would like to have, but can’t fit Thrawn in your list? Well, this might be the perfect upgrade for you. That being said, it shines brightest in lists with existing power token synergies. Additionally, it means that since no power tokens will go to waste, players may more carefully consider whether it is worth spending that block token on the nearly dead Riot Trooper, or saving it for another figure that may make better use of it. Figures like Riots that passively generate tokens will appreciate a good Citadel to fall back too.
Well, folks, having reached the end of the week, that is all the spoilers we have for IACP Season 11. We encourage you to join us in playing games with these new cards, especially in our online playtesting events, and to share your feedback in their respective Discord channels. Your participation feedback is invaluable as we continue to enrich the game with more Deployment cards and Command cards that allow players to truly customize their Imperial Assault experience, while keeping the game fun, fresh, exciting, and balanced for everyone as much as possible. As always, stay tuned for any further updates and adjustments to these cards throughout the playtesting process!