Wave 2 Ally Pack – R2-D2 & C-3PO
R2-D2, painted and photographed by Matthew of www.oldenhammer.com
Campaign
These droids were long awaited, even if you haven’t lost your plans to a certain super weapon.
Let’s look at R2-D2’s deployment card first. It is noteworthy that he is the very first figure that has different deployment cards for the campaign and skirmish, so be sure to always use the right one! He only costs 3 Points, which is just a little more than an Imperial Officer you give to your imperial Player. Artoo then sports a hardy 6 Health, defends with a white die and has the Lucky ability, which makes him incredible hard to hit.
The main thing he will do for you is complete tech attribute tests, with his Computer Interface Arm. And since he is an elite ally, this means he gets an automatic result each time he takes the test! This makes some of the harder tech attribute tests in the missions a breeze. Also, his attack is just a yellow die, but you get 2 Accuracy and 1 Surge result for free, so he is also not helpless in combat. And if you really can’t find anything to do for him, he can at least heal other droids or vehicles for 1 damage. This comes in handy for MHD-19 from the Return to Hoth expansion and of course for C-3PO.
C-3PO painted and photographed by Matthew of www.oldenhammer.com
Speaking of C-3PO, he is at least as good as Artoo, if not better, His Deployment Card shows his greatest weakness first. He can not attack, which makes him the first ally that can not participate in combat. His ability Non-Combatant prohibits him from using one of his actions for an attack. But since there isn’t an attack type or attack die listed on his card, you couldn’t trigger one anyway. But he does only cost you 2 deployment points and has 4 Health with a white defense die. He also has the Cower ability, similar to the Imperial Officer, which helps him survive. But what can he do for you, other than just blocking line of sight? Well with Inform, he can give the focused status to any adjacent friendly figure. Also, he is Distracting, like Han-Solo, giving you more evade results to work with. For what he costs, this is amazing!
But it doesn’t stop there! You do need Twin Shadows to bring them into a campaign, but this means you also own the mission Canyon Run which awards the Counterparts reward card. It is a little hard to read, but basically means you can bring either 3PO or Artoo to a mission, completely for free. No deployment dost, and you can ignore the 1 ally per mission limit. Bringing both droids to a mission for 2 Deployment Points is incredible!
To recruit the Droids as Allies for your campaign, you need to win the side mission Open for Interpretation included in this pack. This mission requires map tiles included in the Twin Shadows expansion. So you should get it if you are interested in using the iconic droids in your campaign.
R2-D2 appears in the following campaign missions:
- Twin Shadows Side Mission: Shady Dealings
- Twin Shadows Side Mission: Canyon Run
- Wave 2 Pack R2-D2 and C-3PO Side Mission: Open to Interpretation
C-3PO appears in the following campaign missions:
- Twin Shadows Side Mission: Past Life Enemies
- Twin Shadows Side Mission: Canyon Run
- Wave 2 Pack R2-D2 and C-3PO Side Mission: Open to Interpretation
Skirmish
Unlike their campaign map, the skirmish map that comes with this pack, does only require map tiles from the core box. So if you buy them straight for skirmish, no need to get any other box to be able to play their map. But how about their skirmish performance? Well, C-3PO is currently in the spotlight. His ability to focus adjacent figures with Inform and the additional evade results for adjacent friendly defenders granted by Distracting helps to avoid some of the hard hitting attacks that rely on Surges to hit really hard. But even though he can reroll his defense die like the Imperial Officer, with the Cower ability, he isn’t as durable as you would assume. And his slow Speed of 3 means he will lag behind after the first 2 rounds unless your opponent already has you cornered. He still appears in quite a lot of lists, just because he is usually worth his points.
R2-D2 does have a special deployment card for skirmish that adds the Scomp Link, letting you draw additional command cards. His Lucky ability makes him unusually durable. Currently, he is mostly seen in the company of Leia. Her ability to shuffle used or discarded cards back into the Command Card deck, together with R2-D2’s ability to quickly dig for them, make them a good pair. Still, he is not as prevalent in Rebel Lists as his counterpart.
The two droids of course also come with some Command Cards. 3POs signature card Etiquette and Protocol is interesting, but unbelievably hard to use, especially with him being so slow. Artoo’s signature card Terminal Network is pretty good, actually. It lets you gain control of all terminals on the map until the start of the next round. This can be invaluable to draw command cards, or just gain some victory points! The pack also comes with one copy of Devotion which helps you find your signature command cards more easily, and it can also be used by imperial and mercenary lists! So if you play a Boba Fett list including the HK Assassin Droids or some Probe Droids, this card could make this pack a worthwhile pickup for you. Special shout out to Single Purpose. It is usable by any figure and with more units released that have amazing special actions, this is only getting better and better!
The included skirmish map Wasteland Outpost only uses tiles from the core box.
Model
Both models look amazing! C-3PO is a good model to practice if you aren’t as advanced, and R2-D2 offers enough detail to challenge both beginners and more advanced painters. Especially, R2-D2 looks so different on the map that he definitely will catch your eye multiple times during a mission.