“Jabba ruled with fear. I intend to rule with respect.” — Boba Fett
Written by Adam Slaber
While Ministravaganza is underway again today, let’s take some time to break down one of the other amazing reveals we’ve gotten so far.
As Matt mentioned in yesterday’s article, Ministravaganza is continuing on today, on AMG’s Twitch page, where we will hopefully see some more spicy reveals regarding The Mandalorian wave.
This time we’re talking about Dad Bod Boba Fett, who very much lives up to his name, both with his unit and his command cards. Importantly, all of his command cards can be used with both units, meaning both Boba Fett's have access to 6 command cards, like Vader, Luke, and Shadow Collective Maul.
Boba Fett – The Old and Wise
Peeking at Boba’s new unit card, there’s definitely some exciting stuff here. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately, depending on what kind of person you are), this Boba does not have Bounty on his card, so that means no double bounty for rebels. Like Din, however, Boba has the "Rogue" affiliation, meaning if you want to field him with his Mandalorian buddy you'll be needing to bring along an Underworld Connections commander.
Looking at his weapon profiles, he retains his blaster carbine from his empire days. Fett's EE-3 Carbine is firing three black dice at range 1-3 with pierce 1; so while it's still a small attack pool, at least one wound is sticking. Additionally, his time with the Tusken raiders definitely paid off with Fett's Gaderffii stick. In melee, he’s swinging a 3 red 1 black weapon, absolutely bonking kids left and right.
Boba retains some of the standard keywords of a Mandalorian unit, having Impervious and surging red saves. He has some of their mobility in the form of Jump 1, but does see his speed come down to 2 to reflect his growing dad bod; but he additionally gains Tactical 1 as he has more time to look and aim with his slower pace. Boba retains Surge: Crit from his empire bounty hunter days, but his failing eyesight is reflected in only having Sharpshooter 1, as opposed to the 2 he had in Empire. He also still has Arsenal 2, which will come in handy should you bring along any of his empire cards (which you definitely should consider doing).
Now, the fun stuff. Independent: Standby and Sentinel. I don’t know how much more needs to be said about this, that’s an absolutely amazing independent proc. A free move into cover or an additional attack with his pierce weapon, or a second melee attack if he's engaged. And to top it all off, this all occurs off an action at range 3 instead of range 2 because of sentinel, meaning he doesn't even need to leave the gunline to use it (more on why that's helpful later).
1 Pip - A Simple Man
Oh man is this a doozy as well. Lets break it down:
1 order, which can go to any unit.
If the order goes onto Boba, a unit (ANY unit, not just trooper units) may make a speed-1 move at the start of the activation phase
If the order does NOT go onto Boba, Boba gains Marksman, 1 aim token, and increases his range weapons by 1, to a maximum of 5.
There's a lot going on here, and it's a lot of good stuff. A unit with independent that doesn't have to give itself an order with their card has a lot of flexibility. Whether they need to activate first or last in a round with the order or can pass it off to retain the independent.
Passing off that order helps Boba a lot, giving him Marksman to make sure his longer range hits stick, and either an aim/dodge (for Empire) or a standby (for Rebels). This can help a lot for a bounty hunting Boba to be able to push 5 black with marksman through at range 3 of a target, or to make sure he's getting a pierce wound through with his standby attack.
The nuttier side of this card is when he does get that order, however. Being able to push ANY unit a speed-1 move at the start of the activation phase is extremely strong. In rebels, you can give an AA5 with wookiees or Luke in the back a whole extra move, extend a Tauntaun's threat range, or get someone to safety. You can also order a vet unit that coordinates to an MK-2 for a surprise fire support shot, which will be much more deadly than doing the same with No Time For Sorrows due to being able to win priority easier. As for the imperial side, you can push a LAAT carrying Vader or Palpatine an extra 6 inches, or even a Gav tank carrying the new Dark Troopers the same distance as an AA5. There's a lot of fun mechanics here, and both sides of the card seem to be very viable options.
2 Pip - Making His Way in the Galaxy
That's alot of bonks.
What this card essentially breaks down to is a similar effect to General Greivous' 1 pip, Trained in Your Jedi Arts but as a 2 pip with an (arguably) better weapon.
Boba gives himself an order with this card, which means no independent tokens unless you pass them off with Comms Relay. Notably, Boba cannot make attack actions during his activation, but he likely doesn't want to anyway due to the second part of the card; at the end of his activation he can perform an attack against every unit within range 1 and line of sight, with a 2 red 1 black weapon.
With Surge:Crit, this attack is averaging 2.36 required saves per unit, which can add a lot of wounds up very quickly. While it's similar to Sabine's Explosions!, it has the added benefit of leaving Boba on an objective you're trying to contest and can give Boba a lot of dodges if you take him with Up Close and Personal (which seems like a must-take). The go to play is to stick Boba in melee and still make these attacks, as the attack has Versatile, meaning he's even safer than before.
3 Pip - Rule With Respect
This is why you love to leave him in your gunline. Boba Fett gives himself an order (again losing that independent token sadly), along with 2 other units.
Then, when a unit in range 1 and line of sight of Boba makes a ranged attack, they add a free black die to one of their attack pools. That means units with arsenal aren't gaining additional black dice for each split attack they make, but units with gunslinger do (I guess Han and Boba made up huh?).
Importantly, you can't shoot a bit with units around Boba, then move Boba into a second group to continue reaping the benefits, as Boba needs to have a face up order token.
Having an additional black die makes for some great long range alphas, for example from Cassian/Iden and triple snipers or a range 4 gunline. With 4 High Velocity snipers, you're more reasonably pushing through 2 wounds a shot, and Cassian can make that all the way up to 3 with Marksman. It's the same with a DLT gunline shot, 3 black 1 white with critical 1 generally mean's you're forcing 2 to 3 saves instead of 1 to 2. If you use this as a turn 1 play, your poke goes up to something more threatening. If you use this as an objective turn, your hammer move gets that much deadlier.
Putting it all Together
When you look at the big picture for Rebel Boba, you have a very good tool to support a gunline with, or a close range threat to help you win objective fights. Running him with Tenacity and Up Close and Personal as his trainings means that he's potentially throwing 8 red and 2 black a round in melee (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) his independent standby and a wound, and can feel pretty safe up close with UCaP. Top it off with giving a bus a move on his 1 pip turn and you have a recipe for a close range nightmare, or a massive anti-melee threat to protect a gunline with.
Similarly, Imperial Boba gains some very potent tools in his command cards to make him worth running as a support piece early while being a hammer late game to close out with Bounty. Top it off with his new 2 pip and he's threatening objectives very hard too, while the rest of your list takes their time shooting stuff off the board or gets close to blender anything they see.
Just remember, Boba's the crime lord, so you're supposed to be paying him. Thanks for reading.
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