Sunday, December 6, 2015

Commander's Guide - Aggressor

Last time we talked about a 16 point rebel squadron with Rogue that has a role of hunting down enemy squadrons.  Well, much like with Wave 1, Wave 2 squadrons typically have an alternative squadron on the other faction.  So let's talk about the YT-2400's direct Imperial analogue, the Aggressor, and the named pilot for the squadron, IG-88.




Aggressor

The Aggressor shows up on the table very, very similar to the YT-2400.  It also is 16 points, with 4 Blue dice for anti-squadron and 1 Black for anti-ship.  It also has the Rogue keyword.  There are 3 differences though, to keep this from just being a re-skinned rebel fighter on the Imperial side.  First, the squadron is relatively slow for an Imperial squadron - only Speed 3, so not quite the speed you'd want in a front line interceptor role.  Second, it also has less hull, dropping from the YT-2400s 6 hull back down to 5 hull.  Finally, in exchange for these two limitations, it gains Counter 1.

The Aggressor isn't quite as flashy as the Firespray-31, another Rogue squadron with Bomber and 2 Blue dice for its anti-ship.  But it is more balanced overall, a good anti-squadron fighter that can double in an anti-ship role, and doesn't require squadron commands to utilize.  With 4 Blue anti-squadron dice, and Counter 1, it punches hard for its point value, harder than any comparable rebel squadron besides the X-Wing in terms of pure damage potential per cost.  It also has enough hull to stand up to anti-squadron fire if it needs to, and just enough damage potential from its 1 Black anti-ship to do those duties as well, if no squadrons are around.

IG-88


The named pilot that goes along with the Aggressor, IG-88 adds 5 points to the cost of the base Aggressor, and changes nothing about the squadron's dice or Rogue keyword.  It does however, do four serious upgrades over the generic version.  First, it ups the Counter keyword to Counter 2, making attacking IG-88 a bit more of a questionable idea.  It also adds a single Scatter token, to avoid the worst attacks while still slinging back dice.  In addition to these, it ignores enemy squadron's Counter and Escort keywords, making it an amazing hunter / killer for specific enemy squadrons.  Finally, it boosts the base speed of the squadron from Speed 3 to Speed 5, making the squadron incredibly maneuverable and able to reposition quickly to catch enemy fighters.

IG-88 looks to flourish in the hunter / killer role, activating in the squadron phase to finish off a wounded fighter, or hunt injured enemy squadrons trying to hide behind Escorts.  The fact that his abilities come so cheaply compared to the generic version means he could even see use leading a group of Aggressors in scouring the skies of fighters, or as a member of Fel's Flying Circus, as another hyper mobile anti-squadron machine.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the blog. I have been coming here daily....

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    1. Glad you've been enjoying us. Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see me go over in a future article!

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  2. Awesome suggestions. Really gets the creative juices going regarding dealing with the Rebel fighter threat!

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