Killer_Nacho |
Atarian Ranger - 12 points
Faction: Republic
HP: 40
Defense: 15
Attack: 7
Damage: 20
Abilities: Affinity (for Old and New Republic),
Stealth, Synergy (+4/+4 with allies with a Force
Rating)
Man, was I excited when I saw the stats for this
figure! While this may seem like just another random
filler, this piece is actually very useable. It's
really a great tribute to how good of a set Jedi
Academy is overall, almost everything is useable.
This piece can be very useful. By itself, it really
is nothing special. 40 HP for a 12-point unit is
nice, but 15 defense and 7 attack are a bit below
the norm. 20 damage is good, though. I hate weak
shooters with 10 damage, it makes them nearly
unusable in my opinion.
Now on to what the piece can do. It's signature
ability is Synergy, more specifically Force Synergy.
Whenever he is within 6 to an allied force-user, his
stats get a good increase. This increases his rather
bad 15 defense and 7 attack into a very respectable
19 defense and 13 attack. Surely you can find a use
for a 40 HP, 19 defense, 13 attack, 20 damage minion
for a mere 12 points? This unit also has Stealth, so
it can't be targeted in cover when the opponent
isn't within 6 squares. Further, even when it can be
targeted in cover, it has an impressive 23 defense
if a Force-user is nearby. Oh, did I mention that
this piece can be in any of the Republic squads?
Yup, three of the most Jedi-dependent factions get
access to this unit. The Old Republic's only good
units are Jedi, the Republic is swarming with Jedi,
and the New Republic got a big boost in Jedi Academy
by introducing a bunch of new Jedi. There can simply
be a lot of use for these guys. In any squad you are
playing even a few Jedi, these easily become the
best grunt units that points can buy. Team him with
Grand Master Luke for filler, try him out in GM Yoda
squads (or GOWK squads outside of DCI)... even your
Old Republic squads, since they are undoubtedly
swarming with Jedi as well.
Overall, this piece is not the most exciting piece
in Jedi Academy, but it is among the most playable.
I think these little guys will find a home in a lot
of squads looking for some grunt fillers, they are
really versatile and can be included in most squads
that feature some force-users. Try him out!
100 points: 3/5, Could team him with your beatstick
here since most beatsticks are force-users. Could be
a decent support piece.
200 points: 4.5/5, Like pretty much everything, they
get even more sexy the higher you go. In 200, you
get more options with your force-users, so naturally
they become very good grunts... More than the
standard clone, old republic trooper, or new
republic trooper.
Sculpt: 2/5, Don't really like this one... Looks
kind of funny to me for some reason. |
|
Josh |
Antarian Ranger (12/40,
Common—Jedi Academy; HP 40, ATT 7, DEF 15, DAM 20,
DEP 12)
I would argue
that this character is the best common that has been
released from Jedi Academy for three
different factions. While he’s listed as a Republic
character, his Affinity allows you to bring
him into Old Republic and New Republic squads as
well. This gives all three of these factions a very
solid shooter to bring in for not that much. You’ll
want to run him with Jedi because his Synergy
gives him a +4 bonus to his attack and
defense scores if he’s within six squares of a Force
user (raising him to a much more respectable +11 to
hit with a defense score of 19). With Stealth
you can hide him around the board (which is good
since without Synergy his defense score is
pretty weak), and if you throw in things like the
Bith Vigo you can give him Evade or the
Rodian Vigo to give him a bit of super Stealth.
He works very well in just about any Jedi build you
can throw him in and can give them some much needed
ranged offensive capabilities for relatively little
to deploy.
100 POINTS: At only 12
points to deploy, he might not be a bad way to fill
out a Jedi build from any of the three factions he
can be put into. However, you probably won’t want to
put in more than two just because you’ll still need
room for your Jedi beat stick. SCORE: 3
200 POINTS: Here, you’re
going to have plenty of room to put in a lot of
these guys and have a lot of Jedi around so you can
get him his Synergy pretty easily. I would
recommend packing a Bith Vigo or two just to get
them Evade since without Synergy these
guys are pretty easy pickings. This gives Jedi build
some pretty solid offensive ranged hitting power and
he is definitely a welcome addition to all three
factions he can play in (though especially Old
Republic since they don’t have a lot of good trooper
characters, at least in my opinion). SCORE: 4 |
Gunnar "Darth
Malstrom" Malstrom |
Antarian Ranger (C-Republic)
Cost: 12
HP: 40
Def: 15
Att: 7
Dam: 20
Specail Abilities:
Affinity (May be in a New Republic or Old Republic
squad)
Stealth (If this character has cover, he does not
count as the nearest enemy for an attacker farther
than 6 squares when choosing targets)
Synergy (+4 Attack and +4 Defense while an allied
character with a Force rating is within 6 squares)
DarthMalstrom back with a review of the Jedi's new
best friend, the Antarian Ranger. Now I ran into a
couple of these guys at our JA relese tourny and
they just destroyed GM Luke, graunted they rolled
17s and 18s all night and Luke kept missing his
saves. I can't promis you that these guys will roll
good for you, but I can promise for a mere 12 points
you get a pretty nice piece.
His stats are on the low end, but actually can be
beefed up pretty good. The 40 HP are decent on a 12
point piece, and are extended further by stealth.
The attack of 7 and defence of 15 might look low,
but when paired with jedi they can get a big boost.
Now this guy can be in any squad that has the word
republic in it, so he has a ton of ways to bump him
up. Put him in a New Republic squad and give him
Evade/mobil (from Wedge), or Duelist (from the new
Kyle) or give him deceptive and It's a Trap from the
CorSec Officer. Want to run Old Republic, with
Malak or Revan… boost his attack to +15. If running
the Republic you can give him mobil and lower his
cost to 11 from Amidala. You can boost his attack
and defence with GM Yoda or GoWK.
The moral of the story is that for 12 points this
guy can do his part.
Onto the ratings…
100pts 2/5: He is cheap enough to be added here,
but this isn't where he shines.
200pts 3/5: Here you can mess around with him. Mix
and match, see what you can come up with. This guy
is going to see some play. |
