Wave 1 Villain Pack – Royal Guard Champion
Royal Guard Champion, painted and photographed by Matthew of www.oldenhammer.com
Campaign
If you are going to get a Wave 1 Villain Pack for the campaign, it should be this one, based on the awesome Carnor Jax! The Deployment Card of the Royal Guard Champion speaks for itself. Amazing speed, 2 defense dice, a hard hitting attack, good surges and Brutality, allowing him to attack twice during his activation, if you manage to position him right. And if all of that had not been enough, he also has Executor, giving him an extra attack each turn if you set it up right. You get to use him in certain campaign missions anyway, and probably know by now how devastating this guy is for rebel heroes.
So let’s take a look at the Agenda Cards included in the pack. Best of the Best can upgrade your normal Royal Guards to be even better at inflicting Stun and have even more protection from Stun. It does cost 2 Influence and that’s quite a lot for a one time use effect, but since it makes some of your strong units even stronger, it is definitely worth it. Pulling the Strings on the other hand is one of the best Agenda Cards available to date. You pay 1 Influence and you already removed 300 Credits from the rebel credit pool. And if the rebels can’t buy you off immediately, you just made back your investment. If they can’t buy you off within 2 missions, it gets even worse. It is hard to articulate how fast you can get a snowball rolling in your favor with this card. Use it in every campaign, it will never disappoint you.
To recruit the Royal Guard Champion as a Villain for your campaign, you need to win the side mission Infection, which is included in his Agenda Deck. This mission is playable with just the tiles from the Core Box!
Skirmish
Since the Royal Guards Deployment Card got changed a bit, the Royal Guard Champion suffered with them. His hefty cost of 15 does no longer justify bringing him to the board until the Guardian or Brawler traits get more love from FFG. So you are mainly looking at the Command Cards in this pack. Parting Blow stands out since you can also use it with the Bantha Rider. This way you can double move into a group, trample to your heart’s content, and then use Parting Blow if anyone tries to get away during their activation. Just make sure you aren’t stunned. Cripple can also help you with the Bantha, as you can lock certain figures in place, to be trampled on again next round. Lastly, Counter Attack is also very good to use with the large hairy beast. And if, for what ever reason, you do take the Royal Guard Champion out for a spin, don’t forget to pack Flurry of Blades. Works best if you first move him into a group of figures with an Imperial Officer or if you have Fleet Footed.
The included skirmish map Kuat Space Station only uses tiles from the core box.
Model
It doesn’t look as weird as IG-88 and thus maybe not so intimidating, but his cloak and blade style still manages to deliver. With only red, black and a bit of brown, you are also all-set to paint this mini. But since the cloak and the hood can be tricky to get right. Head over to Oldenhammer.com for inspiration as always.