Leia Organa and Fleet Troopers announced!

Finally we get a look at new Rebel units, Leia Organa and Fleet Troopers! As Commander and Corps units, respectively, these expansions will help to significantly increase the diversity of options for Rebel players.

I expect these Rebel expansions to release at or near the same time as the General Veers and Snowtroopers expansions. (A closer reading of the articles shows that Leia and the Fleet Troopers are expected in the 2nd Quarter of 2018, while Veers and the Snowtroopers are expected in the 1st Quarter.) Somewhat unsurprisingly, there are some definite parallels between Leia and Veers.



Like all the commanders revealed so far, Leia has 4 keywords and 3 upgrade slots. Like General Veers, she can bring 2 Command upgrades and 1 Equipment upgrade. They both have the Inspire ability and Sharpshooter, though Leia's values are better. Veers has the Spotter 2 ability (Choose up to 2 friendly units at range 1. Each chosen unit gains an aim token.) and Precise 1, and pairs nicely with Imperial units that need to aim in order to get their best value. Leia on the other hand has Take Cover 2 (Choose up to 2 friendly trooper units at range 1. Each chosen unit gains a dodge token.) and Nimble. This synergizes nicely with Rebel Troopers, who need dodge tokens to make use of Nimble and improve their survivability, it even helps out Luke, who needs dodge tokens to be able to Deflect, and of course it improves the defense of Fleet Troopers as well.

With their newly revealed Ready 1 keyword, Fleet Troopers can gain a free aim token when they take a standby action. Given their attack of 2 white dice, they will no doubt be rolling a lot of blanks, so aim tokens will almost always be helpful. Given that you will likely want them to either move and standby or aim and shoot, getting a dodge token from Leia will be extremely helpful to keep them in the fight longer.

Personally I am very keen to see what her Equipment upgrade will be. Will it be identical to the Equipment upgrade that comes with General Veers? Will it be something useful for Corps units like Fleet Troopers or Stormtroopers, or will it be Commander only? In short, is it something people will want multiple copies of, or will a single copy be enough?

Hopefully we don't have to wait too long to find out!