Lit From Paper to Plastic - assessing the accuracy of WotC's Star Wars miniatures - Mk II

Back in 2006, I started a thread in which I'd review EU minis from the Star Wars Miniatures line released by Wizards of the Coast. The point was not to assess their effectiveness in this excellent game (WotC's finest product under the Star Wars licence) but rather, to assess whether the game designers "got it right" in terms of a set of stats that reflect the characters.

I was thinking back to that thread, which missed so many later EU sets, and thinking I might kick it off again. I still love the game and play irregularly.

My focus will be primarily on New Republic era characters, but with some from other eras thrown in.

Original thread; http://boards.theforce.net/threads/from-paper-to-plastic-star-wars-miniatures-and-the-eu.25567804/

I started the last one off with a review of the Universe set figure Kyle Katarn. That remains one of my favourite pieces, because of how good the sculpt is and how close to Jedi Knight Kyle they got.

It seems fitting then I review the next Kyle they released as the first piece:

Kyle Katarn, Jedi Battlemaster​

Hit Points:140
Defense:20
Attack:14
Damage:20

Special Abilities

• Unique
• Disruptive (Suppresses enemy commander effects within 6 squares)
• Grenades 40 (Replaces attacks: range 6; 40 damage to target and to each character adjacent to that target; save 11)
• Lightsaber Duelist (+4 Defense when attacked by an adjacent enemy with a Force rating)
• Melee Attack (Can attack only adjacent enemies)
• Triple Attack (On his turn, this character can make 2 extra attacks instead of moving)

Force Powers

• Force 4
• Force Grip 1 (Force 1, replaces attacks: sight; 10 damage)
• Force Lightning 1 (Force 1, replaces attacks: range 6; 20 damage)
• Lightsaber Assault (Force 1, replaces attacks: Make 2 attacks)
• Lightsaber Riposte (Force 1: When hit by a melee attack, this character can make an immediate attack against that attacker)

If Universe's Kyle represented Jedi Knight Kyle, this is so very obviously Jedi Outcast's Kyle. I've not made any secret of my relative dislike for the game - it looks great and the saber combat is satisfying but the relativism in the moral compass of the story and the decision to effectively undermine the light side ("canon", lol) ending of Jedi Knight is problematic for me. And the story was silly.
But, let's see how they did... after all, this game established much of Kyle's badassery:
Appearance
As I said, very much Outcast, though this mini suffers from the mid-range drop in quality due to cheaper or varied plastics and paints. Some of the sculpts lack proportion, because they are not managing the shrink from mold to casting properly, etc. To the point where his face is actually hideously ugly. Yet, the little lace-up collar from Outcast is clearly seen, and he's wielding a blue saber.
Could have been pretty, was instead beaten by the ugly stick.
6/10
Stats
Whenever I bring him out, my opponent does everything they can to beat him down. Statistically speaking, he's solid for 54pts. He has 20 defence, which makes him difficult to hit; +14 to attack is a really solid value.
(Quick description - attack roles are a roll of a twenty-sided die or 'd20' + the attack roll vs the target's defence + mitigating factors. So if I have to hit defence 20 and have a +14, I need only roll a 6 or higher.)
140hp is a good range, and 20 dmg is standard for a lightsaber wielding character.
His special powers include
* disruptive, which is useful against any commander heavy faction like, say, the Imperials;
* Grenades 40 - which means within 6 squares he can do 40 dmg to a model and all adjacent models, friendly or otherwise, unless they roll 11+ on a save. And that's per adjacent model.
* Lightsaber duelist - so if he's toe-to-toeing a Sith or Dark Jedi, they have to hit a whopping 24 defence, and
* Triple attack - Kyle loses his ability to shoot at range for the melee only characteristic, but if you run up to a model in one turn, the next turn you can do between 60 and 120 damage to one figure (range assumes 3x critical success roles).
So, in effect - tough, doesn't miss, hard to hit back - perfect. An excellent swordsman, a cheeky grenade throwing pain, an irreverent thwarter of command strategies and "Oh, I'm not moving, I'll hit you 3 times now. You go dead."
He *should* have stealth, but that would add 10+ points to his cost and break him a little.
9.75/10
Powers
Kyle comes with 4 Force points, which means he can spend only that much on his powers in total unless you find a battery for him like a Force spirit. But what's interesting here is that he gets grip - a line of sight ranged attack for 10 damage. Vader has this, of course, but it means he can just kill those last 10 hit points off a model without rolling an attack. Lightning is the same, but has a range of 6 and 20 dmg. Lightsaber assault is nice - it means he can move in his turn, then spend a force point to attack twice (he'd only be able to attack once in that turn since he moved). Lightsaber riposte means he's dangerous to attack in melee.
So what we have here is a twofold representation of Kyle as a pure warrior, which in his angry quest to 'avenge' Jan Ors is precisely what he is. He has those dark side powers, which as I said I feel undermined the potency of the ending of Jedi Knight but can be used in game with no penalty; and let's face it, max rank choke was fun and still is fun.
But it's the fact Kyle can just beat the snot out of anyone in so versatile a way that gets your attention here.
10/10.
I'm very, very conflicted by this mini. It's as ugly as sin but such a potent weapon. Still, given the source material I cannot fault their desire to respond to fan critiques of the Universe Kyle nor to give a totally lethal Kyle Katarn. This is a great translation; it's just not pretty enough to display on your shelf over the Universe Kyle.
Overall, I give this translation from paper (pixels) to plastic... 8/10

Mara Jade, Jedi​

Hit Points: 110
Defense: 20
Attack: 12
Damage: 10
Special Abilities

• Unique
• Cunning Attack (+4 Attack and +10 Damage against an enemy who has not activated this round)
• Deadly Attack (Scores a critical hit on an attack roll of natural 19 or 20)
• Lightsaber (+10 Damage against adjacent enemies)
• Stealth (If this character has cover, she does not count as the nearest enemy for an attacker farther than 6 squares when choosing targets)
• Twin Attack (Whenever this character attacks, she makes 1 extra attack against the same target)

Force Powers

• Force 4
• Lightsaber Assault (Force 1, replaces attacks: Make 2 attacks)
• Lightsaber Block (Force 1: When hit by a melee attack, this character takes no damage with a save of 11)

Mara Jade... rarely have I seen a character so wildly different in various forms of media. Her best appearance was in the Thrawn Trilogy; subsequent iterations never did her justice and Zahn spent all this time trying to rehabilitate her image/make her "his only" etc.
Mara has 4 iterations in this game. The first is in the opening set, Rebel Storm, and is a beautiful mini to look at. Easily my favourite, and based on the cover of "By The Emperor's Hand".
The second was this one. The next was "Barbie" Mara Jade, based on her CCG look and with a... pink cape. The final was in her guise as Arica, the dancer. Faction wise, they went Empire -> New Republic -> New Republic -> Empire.
I'm focussing on her "best" version, by which I mean the version everyone agrees is amazing.
Because of the look of "Barbie" Mara it's hard to pin down the eras precisely here. I think this one is based on her MotS/HoT/early NJO and Barbie Mara (the fan name, not mine) is later NJO.

So bearing that in mind, I'm assessing in that context.
Appearance
The set that this Mara came from was "Alliance and Empire" released in 2007 to mark 30 years of Star Wars. Hence why minis from this set have the "Star Wars" logo painted on square, not circular, bases. There were some great minis, appearance wise, in this set - such as Luke's landspeeder, Yavin ceremony Luke, Ephant Mon, Wicket, and Jabba - and some ugly minis, like the commons. Mara's... Mara's a mixed bag.
She's wearing a combat jumpsuit, has a blaster strapped t her right hip and no wrist, disappointingly. Her pose is dynamic as she crouches and thrusts her purple bladed saber backwards. She's wearing the greyish scarf about her neck, and so in that sense is consistent with the popular art of Jedi Mara at the time (as well as, if I'm not wrong, the black series action figure?)
But, the hair is too red and the face lacked detail. The Rebel Storm figure, which I'll review later (hint: massively disappointing in all but appearance), had the right red-gold hair.

The thing is, though, they got much more right in her look than they got wrong and the pose is just so much better than an en-garde lightsaber stance,so...
8.5/10
Stats
Stats wise, Mara is excellent for 45 points. Her 20 defence is top tier, as is her +12 attack and 110hp. What this says is that she's a nimble fighter, a competent fighter who can actually stand toe to toe with almost anyone. She might not win the fight but she'll not make it easy on them either. Her 10dmg is not limited to melee only, and reflects her blaster pistol at her hip (like Kyle, and all other regular blaster pistol models, she does 10. Heavy blaster pistols or carbines etc do 20dmg). She gets +10 dmg for melee attacks from her lightsaber.
But those stats are part of the puzzle, and it's the special abilities that make her shine. Mara gets cunning attack and deadly attack. These powers add to hit and damage, and increase the threshhold for crits, respectively. This here, is pure Mara. Mara often teases Luke about his lack of guile and upfront honesty; she learned a lot of subterfuge and fights accordingly. If Mara attacks an unactivated enemy, she's adding 16 to her attack role and adding 10dmg. If it's adjacent, she's adding another 10 from her saber. So, she will do one hit of 30 (10 + 10 + 10) or with a 10% crit chance, 40 (10 base x 2 + 10 saber + 10 cunning).
Not bad, and she's pretty reliably going to do that 30dmg.
But, where it gets nice is "twin attack". Double attack is two separate attacks against the same or different targets; twin attack is two attacks against the same target*. This represents Mara's combat training - she's excellent and taking on a target and bringing them down. Assuming she's using her saber (i.e. she's adjacent to her target) she can do 2 x 60, 70, or 80 points in damage if they haven't moved. Someone's not ready for the fight, and Mara pounces. Perfect.
(* Boba from the Bounty Hunters set has twin and double attack. Nasty!)
The last feature is stealth. If she's in cover, ranged attackers without Accurate Shot cannot attack her. Again, perfect. Mara was trained for subterfuge, espionage, and detection avoidance by the Emperor. I've already touched on how she fights, and this is also great. Takes advantage of cover, takes advantage of her opponent's readiness.
I give her stats 10/10.
Powers:
Mara has a force power rating of 4, meaning she can spend four points on her two powers. One power is block - for 1 force she can negate a melee attack if she rolls higher than 11. I don't really recall her being a great duellist, but she did I suppose manage to go up against a few Vong or even Luuke without getting hit. So, yeah, ok, pay that.
But lightsaber assault. Mara, you cheeky, wicked soul. Lightsaber assault replaces attacks and allows you, for 1 force point, to make 2 attacks. But twin attack means if you attack a target, you make 2 attacks. Does that mean Mara makes 4 attacks, Other Barry?
Yes Barry, it does.
So imagine; Mara is hiding in cover until her turn, runs up to base the imperial beatstick "Vader's Apprentice, Unleashed" (Galen Marek aka Starkiller) - who hasn't activated this turn and hits him for 4 x 30hp of damage (her +16 to hit vs his 20 defence). Marek has 130hp, so *1* crit in those four rolls is enough to do 130hp and he's done.
She can't take down Tsavong Lah easily and Vader would parry her attacks, but Marek's a solid piece and she can just munch on his face in one go. It's situational, but I mean... wasn't Mara, when she was consistent, a master of her situations (note: references to the Jedi Academy Trilogy are banned here; references to I, Jedi are ok).
I give powers a 10/10.
So, in summary?
Mara's a great piece who is sadly a little spoiled by the production quality of this run. She's the best version of Mara we've seen, in my view, but she's not the one you'd put on display. You'd put her Rebel Storm variant next to Universe Kyle.

Still, the intent here is to assess how well WOTC did in making the EU characters work in a combat game, and my god they succeeded. I may be a little biased because I mostly play New Republic squads, and Mara's a fixture of those, but... the translation is perfect. Pit the mini is slightly imperfect.
Overall I give this translation from page to plastic a 9.5/10.
* * * *
I did two of these, just to give a bit of flavour for discussion. Websites like Ebay. Troll and Toad, and Coolstuff Inc all sell individual models and they're great for display or any iteration of the role playing game. I'm keen for any feedback you have, and I'm happy to take suggestions though some models I can't review because I never read their books (Ferus Olin, Lorn Pavan).
Actually to make it easier, I can give you some options for next review and you can pick what you want to see discussed. Most votes will naturally win, unless discounted in Florida (ha! 2000 election joke!)
1) Ganner Rhysode
2) Kyp Durron
3) Darths Revan and Malak
4) Grand Admiral Thrawn (second version, from Imperial Entanglements).
5) Baron Fel

 

You so need to cover some Vong since their game mechanics were pretty interesting.

 

Do you mean in general, in terms of negating force point rerolls or offensive FPs? Or Lah/Nom Anor/Yomin Carr specifically?

 

Just the whole Vong squad dynamic thing (as well as their named characters of coruse), as they could be really nasty “hero killers” especially if you had a few Peace Brigade Thugs along, of which they really should have made more types.

 

Yep, that's not a bad idea actually. I have a number of Vong minis but will need to over their stat cards. As the Vong were not just an EU creation but subject of a bold and interesting arc (NJO wasn't perfect, but it was the right call in my view) I will do an entry on the Vong in general. I remember going up against Tsavong Lah, but he was just annoying to kill int he first game then a big hole in a squad when BH Boba rolled his 20 and disintegrated the Warmaster on the spot.

To help people who may not know the game as well, this is a great resource:

http://www.bloomilk.com/Character

Now, I need to caveat this heavily. In the section that is called "Set/Faction" there are a number of fan stats there which use existing models to either make up missing EU characters or new versions of existing characters. It's a bit silly and I avoid them. For reference, the last official set is "Masters of the Force". So from "Rebel Storm" through to "Masters of the Force", these are the valid sets. And yes, they even did Legacy minis and KOTOR minis (including KOTOR comics).

 

Well obviousdly Boba fought on the side of the Vong whilst the Warmaster was still alive, so someone was doing something wrong there

 

Or, like a six year old's drawing of Russell Crowe in Gladiator.

So that's 1 for Fel, and 1 for a special review of the NJO Antagonists the Yuuzhan Vong.

EDIT: GrandAdmiralJello, you had best own a copy of the Fel mini or else...

(Plus, appearance would be about 10/10. There are lots of perfect looking minis in the set, and man - Fel's pitch perfect and came out of the mold/assembly paint line unblemished.

 

I loved the WotC miniatures. They were my introduction to the Yuuzhan Vong, believe it or not, who I'd heard about but never actually ready anything about or knew any character names. And my Nom Anor figure remains one of my favorite sculps of the entire run. I will be watching this thread with great interest.

Fun bit of trivia, I used to haunt the old WotC SW Minis board and was even involved in the modding community a bit. Was good friends with an admin back then. Good times. Still have a couple of my custom figures around here, somewhere.

 

I so hope you build a Boba Fett, Yuuzhan Vong Collaborator, because they so should have released one of those, along of course with a Viqi Shesh, Career Politician and a Thrackan Sal-Solo, Peace Brigade President.

 

Yeah Fel is based on the Rogue Squadron comics look - the cover to #21, this:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:Fel-garden.jpg

Excepting maybe a couple of the Vaders (the one from the ROTS set, and later "Rebels and Imperials" starter; the one from the Rebel Storm Starter); and Mara from the Rebel Storm set, I am hard pressed to think of a unique Imperial model that's better looking than Baron Fel. Marasiah maybe...

Actually that's not fair. The Empire has a lot of good looking models, including generics from Rebel Storm (best looking storm troopers in the game). They suffered from varying production later on, but early uniques were all really pretty. Hard to muck up their simply lines, though...

 

Any preferences for the next review?

 

Ugh, man, you're going to make me dig into my closet and pull out my collection, aren't you? I have a whole tackle box full of the things, still. I meant to get rid of them years ago, when I was in school, but never had the heart to. Also, holy crap, I remember when BlooMilk was first launched, it was a standalone application that you could customize and load your collection into. I might still have the original .exe file somewhere on my hard drive. Cool to see that its still around.

I know almost nothing about the sets beyond the Legacy of the Force and KotOR ones, that's about where I put a chain lock on my wallet and stopped buying the plastic equivalent of crack they were for me at that stage. So... something from one of the later sets, I guess? I see that there's a collection of Dark Times era Jedi holdovers, Jax Pavan, Dass Jennir and Ferus Olin. Maybe a threefer?

 

I could do Dass, since I read Dark Times, but the other two I didn't really know the back story of. I remember hearing about Pavan and going "Oh, Lorn's kid? From Shadow Hunter? Neat."

 

OK well I just remember I'll be away for 2.5 days at a work function, so I might as well jump on and do Fel now before I go. Just for GrandAdmiralJello and all...

Baron Fel​

Hit Points:50
Defense:16
Attack:9
Damage:10

Special Abilities

• Unique
• Deadeye (On this character's turn, if he doesn't move, he gets +10 Damage)

Commander Effect
Followers within 6 squares who combine fire grant +6 Attack instead of +4.

A TIE fighter ace of unmatched skill and honor, Fel strikes fear in the Empire's enemies.

Baron Soontir Fel is a somewhat interesting mini, as I'll detail below.

Appearance

As I said earlier, Baron Fel is in my view one of the best looking minis out there. He's standing, holding his helmet under his left hand with his right hand resting on a holstered blaster on his hip. The post, the uniform, with it's red piping down the sleeve - it's all classic X-Wing comics, especially the Tim Bradstreet cover to issue 21. The goatee and slicked back hair, all the detail, it's dead on accurate.

10/10

Stats

Fel costs 18 points, and as a pilot you'd expect his skills would be above and beyond ground based skirmishes. You would also be right. His defence 16 is solid against troopers or say, Wedge Antilles when he's in cover, and +9 is a good to hit roll for a non-ground combatant. Damage 10 is a standard blaster pistol value and 50hp is enough to take a hit or two. It's a bit difficult, as my 2006 review of Wedge said, to really capture Fel's brilliance behind the stick of a TIE/Int in a scenario where he's fighting on the ground.

6/10. Fel's an epic, interesting and kickass character. These stats? Not so much.

Powers

Fel gets Deadeye, which means he can add 10dmg to attack if he doesn't move. Given that he's best suited plonking away at targets from cover, this is a reliable +10 dmg and should be used most of the time. His commander effect, which hits FOLLOWERS and not troopers (Vader can be a follower - followers are just minis with no commander effects of their own) is kind of cute. Mid range, good, versatile Fringe* shooters like Dash Render can take a would-miss-always cheap fringer, activate it to "combine fire" with Dash and Dash's getting +6 to it. 2 5pt shooters, like stormtroopers, adding +12 over +8 to hit? Yeah, it's nice and the commander effect and Deadeye synergise nicely with the concept. Fel's all about the kill shot, and not wasting firepower for any other reason - that's Deadeye. And teamwork is crucial to TIE pilots, which is the Commander Effect.

6.5/10.

Overall, Fel's a curious choice. You can glean some benefits from him being in your squad, but he just doesn't belong in ground combat. He's not helpless, he's just not optimised. Which makes me feel like he was included purely for fan service, which I'm not judging at all. Unlike our other two entries, Baron Fel should take a proud place of display on your shelf.

Net rating: 7.5/10. He looks amazing, he's ok in a firefight but you know if you could put that mini in a TIE Interceptor magic would happen. His sculpt and paint job confirm it.

 

i thought 14.99 for a booster was very high price. but near the end they were clearancing them at target at first i they were 7.99 and i bought a bunch then they eventually dropped to 3.99 and i bought even more. The quality on the figures is pretty poor though. I never actually played the game so i can't comment on that. One thing i absolutely loved is the Non named characters. one of my favorite being the Bith Black Sun Vigo. Look at this guy he is literally Neo from the matrix.

 

I was lucky enough to get a couple of 'damaged' boxes of stock for some gaming shop off eBay, for around £299. Damn near a thousand varied minis, with some of the harder to get heroes sure as Yoda, Mace, and amusingly Corran. Made a Warhammer army out of the Imperial models. I was going to sell them on, but their 'value' isn't worth the effort, especially when I can just collect them.

Fairly interested in this thread. Thanks for making it.

 

There's a lot of generics that have been ripped from other sources, which I think is great.

For example:

Hal Horn = Corellian Pirate



Human from the NEG to races = Human Scoundrel



Mical, Visas, Atris from KOTOR 2 = Jedi Consular, Sentinel and Guardian



Jaden Korr = Exceptional Jedi Apprentice



Mercenary Commander = Gen Airen Cracken



There's a lot more out there too.

Today's review is...

Ganner Rhysode​

Hit Points: 100
Defense: 19
Attack: 9
Damage: 20

Special Abilities

• Unique
• Melee Attack (Can attack only adjacent enemies)
• Double Attack (On his turn, this character can make 1 extra attack instead of moving)
• Loner (+4 Attack if no allies are within 6 squares)
• Quick Reactions (+6 Attack when making attacks of opportunity)
• Stealth (If this character has cover, he does not count as the nearest enemy for an attacker farther than 6 squares when choosing targets)

Force Powers

• Force 2
• Force Renewal 1 (This character gets 1 Force point each time he activates)
• Force Push 2 (Force 2, replaces attacks: range 6; 20 damage; push back target 2 squares if Huge or smaller)
• Levitation 1 (Force 1, replaces attacks: Move 1 Small or Medium ally within 6 squares to any unoccupied square within 6 squares. This move does not provoke attacks of opportunity.)
• Lightsaber Sweep (Force 1, replaces attacks: Can attack each adjacent enemy once)

Appearance
After a slump in quality across sets, the final set of SW Minis (Masters of the Force) was unrivalled in terms of quality of sculpt and minis, and Ganner is no exception. The model is very well detailed and would make an excellent Jedi PC for a role playing game. The pose is largely based on this image (http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080119233245/starwars/images/9/9d/GannerRys.jpg) in terms of robes and hair; so the mini follows the art approach of light brown hair instead of black and the scar on the right sie of his face. I can't mark down for this since it happens often; it's like Thrawn being BLUE instead of having a faint blue colouration - the images differ long before the WotC sculptors and painters got involved.
The saber is yellow, which I remember as accurate. I'm looking at him now and thinking he might be one of the best sculpts in the game. Though, the mini and the image I linked above both have strange metal lumps on the shoulders. Can anyone advise what they are?
10/10
Stats
Ganner was always a bit flashy, and after the Garqi mission he realised he'd overestimated his abilities whist downplaying his foes' strenghts in his mind. This is carried out by way of his 100HP (he's tough, and for 29pts this is definitely a good thing) and he has a solid defence at 19 but his 9 is a bit low for what you'd expect. Typically a +12 or so attack would be more common with the dmg/def/hp combo he comes with. I like the subtlety there; his attack is just a little bit weak but not silly.
On top of his stats, Ganner also comes with a few nice abilities. Double attack is always welcome; but Loner and Stealth are really cute. They show us a Ganner who's learned from Garqi and who has gone incognito looking for Jacen. Ganner used the Force to make himself less visible, so of course he gets stealth.
Here's where, mechanically, WotC did a brilliant job with Ganner. Sent off on his own, his attack goes to +13 which is what I suggested was in the range of appropriate for the character. I really like how they did this, it's very in-character.
10/10 (but Ender, didn't you say the attack was a bit low..?)
Powers
Ganner has an excellent selection of Force powers for his cost. He gets Force renewal, which means he can charge up his spendable Force points in turns where he's not using other force powers. Since he would be moving into position that means he'll probably get into his first fight with 5 or so to spend (2 + 3 rounds worth). What can he spend them on?
Well, for starters, there's lightsaber sweep. Sweep allows you to attack every adjacent target once. This ties back to Ganner's last stand against the Vong and his ability to take on a number of them at once. He's also got Force Push 2, which does 20 dmg to a target within 6 squares (no saves) and pushes them back 2 squares. That's kind of nice, and can be used to comic effect if he pushes them back into a waiting ally (either melee or line of sight for ranged).
But where he really shines is Levitation 1. See, Ganner's loner bonus is nice if he wants to skulk off and beat things up. But if he's playing a support role from stealth (making him harder to shoot) he's throwing your beatstick Jedi like Grand Master Luke into the terrified face of your enemy. Levitation moves an ally within 6 squares to any other spot within 6 squares of Ganner. Since the ally is not required to be adjacent, and since levitation does not activate the other model, you can land and then take the next model's turn to double/triple attack or what have you.
Given Ganner's talent with Telekinesis, and how he TK'd all those students to safety on Bimmiel, I'd call this appropriate.
10/10
* * *
Ganner was never a favourite character of mine in the books, but they did give him a noble enough send off in the end. But, that's not the point of these reviews; these reviews are to critique how much justice WotC did to EU characters in the miniatures game. So, over combat effectiveness or personal preference, we're assessing how a combat-focussed summation of their personality into a few stats works. The simple reality is the Ganner is an amazing piece, loved by NR players (and always in my NR squads) and an amazingly accurate rendition of his character in minis format. By the last set, they managed to make some truly astonishing pieces (and some duds, like the Han Solo).
Overall, I give Ganner 10/10. You can display him on your shelf. Play him competitively. And, know WotC did him such justice.

 

Bonus review because I was away:

The Jedi Exile​

Hit Points: 120
Defense: 20
Attack: 14
Damage: 20


Special Abilities

• Unique
• Melee Attack (Can attack only adjacent enemies)
• Double Attack (On her turn, this character can make 1 extra attack instead of moving)
• Empathy (Allies with Savage within 6 squares lose Savage)
• Lightsaber Duelist (+4 Defense when attacked by an adjacent enemy with a Force rating)

Force Powers

• Force 2
• Force Renewal 1 (This character gets 1 Force point each time she activates)
• Force Defense (Force 3: Cancel a Force power used by a character within 6 squares)
• Force Repulse 3 (Force 3, replaces turn: 30 damage to all characters within 3 squares; push back Huge or smaller characters to 4 squares from this character. Huge or smaller characters are considered activated this round; save 11.)

Commander Effect
Allies within 6 squares gain Extra Attack.

The Jedi Exile, given the mediocre name of Meetra Surik, was the female protagonist of Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Like Revan from KOTOR, she was given a miniature.

Appearance

I like what they've tried to do here; I just wish they could have done it better. The figure has some nice details in the robe and the lightsaber hilt, but has been given little to no love on the face sculpts. Given the card artwork:



The final sculpt just doesn't really do her justice. Plus, the robes are very generic making her look like a Prequel Jedi. Or boring, however you prefer to say it.

5.5/10

Stats

The Exile's stat range is solid for 49 points, but not exceptional. She'll hit most of the time, can take a beating, and dodge a few too (by virtue of a 24 defence against Force wielding opponents in melee, thanks to Lightsaber Duelist). Empathy is a strange one, and very situational - you use it to subject, say, big rancors or so to Commander effects (like hers, which is "extra attack"). Nice, but not that great and I don't really recall this being a feature of the Exile in the game.

So whilst not a helpless figure, this doesn't remind me of any of my KotOR 2 playthroughs at all.

7/10

Powers

Yeah, so... I'm not going to say the powers are bad. They're not. Force Defence is cute - cancelling a Force power within 6 squares. Repulse is a good damage/knockback/activate and Force renewal always helps to be a Force battery until of course someone else's Exile turns it off. But...

The Exile has no bond to Kreia here. There's nothing to represent getting more powerful from the "Wound in the Force" that surrounded her (and Nihilus). These are core to the reasons why the Exile was, you know, exiled and would seem to be a core element of their character. To have it missing, even with the powers she does come with? It's a pretty striking omission. Accordingly, I've got to mark down.

5/10.

* * *

Overall, the Exile is an OK commander for the Old Republic faction, but a pretty ordinary translation from pixels to plastic. She doesn't look as nice as some of the KOTOR-game minis like Nihilus, Bastila, Revan, T3, HK and the original Malak - so not much value to shelf display.

Net score: 6/10.

 

The quality of the paint jobs took a major dive in Alliance and Empire, and the quality of the sculpts slowly degraded from about Legacy of the Force, with the last few sets- Imperial Entanglements on- having especially poor quality.

 

Could be some kind of shoulder guard.

 

Yeah, it looks like like... I don't know, like either a growth (but it's metallic) or something to clip a cape on or something. Really strange.

And yes, AdmiralWesJanson that is true, though the Merc Commander (aka General Cracken) above is from Imperial Entanglements. So is this guy, who's a good sculpt and paint:



But then you get this guy:



Pros: Excellent stats, playable
Cons: Ugly as sin

And his old Universe counterpart:



Pros: Great sculpt, paint job
Cons: Just awful to play. I mean, really terrible.

 

Any preferences for a next review?