Answering the question “Did we really need a THIRD version of each of these characters mounted on a big honking terrain piece?”, Atomic Mass Games comes in with a resounding (and entirely correct) “Obviously” in the form of the I Am No Jedi duel pack. Whether you’re looking at grabbing the deluxe convention version at a show or picking up the characters separately, Goonhammer is here to help you decide if this is the box for you!
As ever, a big thank you to Atomic Mass Games for providing us with a copy of the Convention Exclusive version for our reviews!
Ahsoka Tano has always been one of my favorite characters in Star Wars, and as somebody who has been a high school teacher for…Lord, twenty years now?…watching her growth from rebellious teenager to adult hero particularly resonates with me. In this regard, it’s her transition to Rebels that I feel really brings the payoff of this storyline, culminating, naturally, in the adult Ahsoka facing once and for all the truth of what her master has become. It’s one of the best moments in the Star Wars saga, in my opinion, and fortunately Atomic Mass Games agrees. Earlier this year, they treated us to the Convention Exclusive version featuring a dramatic scenic base (watch this space for the upcoming How To Paint Everything article) and now are preparing to release the characters separately.
Let’s take a moment to talk about what’s different about the two packs:
In Both Boxes:
- Ahsoka Tano, Jedi No More
- Darth Vader, Fallen Master
- Character and stance cards for both models
Convention Exclusive Version:
- Scenic Display Base (including two bases without Ahsoka and Vader on them to “fill in” their spots on the display
- Alternate head for Darth Vader (with slashed open mask)- also contains the option for full mask
- Alternate character card for Darth Vader (with slashed open mask)
The character cards in the Convention Exclusive version are foil as well; I don’t know about the ones in the retail pack, but I would guess not (since they bothered reprinting Darth Vader’s with different art, it stands to reason they’d change the foil treatment as well).
OK then- great scene, wonderful sculpts…let’s see if they hit the mark on the character design!
Ahsoka Tano, Fulcrum
Ahsoka comes in with a nice set of stats- 8 squad points and 4 force is excellent. No complaints, and befitting of a talented and resourceful force-user. She is era-locked to the Age of Rebellion, for entirely appropriate reasons.
First of all, let’s talk about the narrative here: this model design is an A- for theme. She is a really interesting combination of her younger forms, her master Anakin, and even a tiny nod to first teacher Plo Koon in her stance cards (like Plo, she has a combat tree in one form that splits into a pin/disarm branch or a heal-focused branch). The big miss is the lack of the Spectre tag; the only times we see Ahsoka in this version, she is working with the crew of the Ghost, and it would really have been nice from a gameplay perspective to give her the ability to trigger off those Spectre abilities.
She is Fearless comes from her Padawan version and gives her some fantastic mobility, admittedly at the not-inconsequential cost of force.
Riposte is obviously not as strong as What’s the Matter, Too Fast For You? from her Jedi No More version, but it’s nice to have when it’s relevant. It is not as useful as Deflect, but given the prevalence of lightsabers in the current meta (September 2025), you’re likely to get plenty of opportunities to use this.
Then I Will Avenge His Death is a potentially devastating ability- being able to take an action more than once in Shatterpoint is a very rare and special thing- but it suffers from the same quality of life issues that Anakin did prior to the May balance update. The second attack has to target the same character, she can’t switch stances, and she has no ranged attack, so she has to be careful not to shove the target out of range to follow up (usually this mistake involves accidentally shoving someone too far away from a point or off a ledge and not being able to follow without sacrificing the greater gameplan). Given those limitations and how (understandably) expensive this ability is in terms of force, this ability unfortunately doesn’t end up being as frequently impactful as you might think. When you need it and the stars align, though, this is going to feel great.
I Am No Jedi (roll credits!), the namesake ability of the pack, gives Ahsoka a nice bonus for wounding the enemy- 1 force refresh and a jump automatically, and a second force refresh and a five-die attack if that enemy was a Primary or Secondary character. It’s good that this triggers no matter what kind of enemy unit is wounded, and it definitely helps offset Ahsoka’s incredible ability to consume force, but I would describe this as a middle-of-the-road identity ability. It’s nice to have, but it is nowhere near as impactful as Luminara Unduli or Ki-Adi-Mundi’s “on wound” effects, and it lacks the other parts of those identities that make them so impressive. This identity is largely about helping Ahsoka, and while that’s fine, it’s not going to really wow us.
Let’s take a look at her stances:
These are pretty solid, overall! Jar’Kai gives Ahsoka her “aggro” side- her offensive expertise here is pretty strong; the conversion rate of expertise to successes isn’t quite as good as the other side, where you’ll always net even or more results than expertise, but most of what it does convert it turns to crits, so unless your opponent has mitigation, they’re going to stick. Both branches of Jar’Kai offer good offensive output- the top is a load of damage and the bottom is a pile of conditions. The tree tops out with a precious reposition, though it will be tough for Ahsoka to get there on seven dice. Where Jar’Kai excels is on those five dice bonus attacks, which have a real chance of doing some serious damage or a bunch of debilitating conditions to whatever triggered them. It also very reliably wounds models if she uses Then I Will Avenge His Death– two swings that only need three successes to deal six damage a piece will take out pretty much anything in the game. Her defensive expertise in Jar’Kai is pretty solid as well, with a good conversion rate and even some crit mitigation at the top end, though you’re not likely to reach it often on five dice.
Form V Shien Reverse Grip is Ahsoka’s positioning/healing stance, giving easy access to shoves, healing, loads of movement, and respectable if not outstanding damage. Her offensive expertise here is just all about favorable exchange rates, at a 1-1 expertise to successes ratio or better. It does not have much in the way of crits, however, so you’re really banking on just overwhelming your opponent’s blocks by sheer weight of results. This side also gives her six defense dice at both range and melee, and her expertise is solid, with a good conversion rate and crit mitigation, as well as an annoying jump on 4 that definitely can’t be relied upon but should make your opponent worry.
So where does she stand? To be honest, this is a model that feels like she was designed before May’s character rework (which she almost certainly was, given the lead time on these things), and as such she suffers from many of the challenges that pre-update Anakin did. That’s not to say she’s not good- there is a lot here that is objectively powerful, and she has champions who have really been putting her through her paces and advocating on her behalf- but she feels “solid” rather than exceptional. She also has the challenge of being in a faction with some other very exciting primary options in Kanan Jarrus, Cassian Andor, Charming Princess Leia, and even models like Hera Syndulla and Han Solo (to say nothing of the recently-released Jyn Erso). She’s a model who can do a lot on her activation and make some really strong “hero carrying the team” plays, but does little for the rest of her squad (actually, nothing beyond her Force refresh). All in all, she feels a bit like a character reflective of the Galactic Republic’s faction identity trying to fit into a Rebel Alliance-shaped hole…if that’s what you’re after, or if like me you just love her and this moment in the story specifically, then give her a try!
Now on to the other character in the box…
Darth Vader, Fallen Master
It’s Darth Vader; if he was ever going to be a secondary, clearly, it was going to be a 5 point one. Notably, he does not bring the same “1 force more than most other people in this slot” that his primary incarnations do. He can play either in the Reign of the Empire or the Age of Rebellion, again for very appropriate reasons.
There’s a lot going on here! First of all, his tactic (Anakin Skywalker Was Weak) is strong. If you’re not strained, you refresh Force. Force refresh is always good. After you check that effect, Vader gets to remove a damage and a condition from himself and make a dash (which your opponent can’t prevent by Pinning him, as he can remove the condition first). That’s a lot of good stuff all in one place (incidentally, you’ll also remove the strain, because you’ll take damage from the dash per the usual strain rules!).
Then You Will Die Braver Than Most is not only just a fabulous villain line, it’s a great ability. It costs two Force, but it lets displace a character within Range 3, pulling them towards you and giving them Expose. Diceless displacement is always a defining piece of tech where it exists, and the Expose (usually right before Vader bisects the unfortunate victim with his lightsaber) is just icing on the cake. The only drawback here is the two Force cost; between this and the cost of the next ability, Vader quickly becomes inefficient as he starts getting wounded.
Speaking of that other ability, The Power Within Will Soon Serve the Emperor is one of those abilities that you won’t count on, and you won’t use all the time, but that one time you need it, it’ll swing a game. For the cost of one Force and a strain condition at the end of his activation, Vader can contest an Active objective within Range 3 instead of Range 2. This is obviously a big deal, and a very powerful ability, however, it’s important to remember that this ability actually costs two Force to your economy, because the Strain you’re picking up will prevent your Force refresh from your tactic unless you have a way for another model to clear it.
Finally, More Machine Now than Man really ups Vader’s resilience and punching power, giving him a very hefty Protection and Steadfast to reduce damage and stick on points, while gaining additional dice from focus actions with Impact, though that last point is less relevant than it could be as he has no way to gain focus for free during his activation. Unless you’re starting your turn in range of what you intend to attack or able to pull it to you with Then You Will Die…, you’re not going to be able to benefit much from that particular part of the ability.
On to the stance:
(There is a printing error here; Unrelenting is Vader’s defensive expertise, not another melee offensive expertise.)
Form V Djem So is…fine. 7 dice is pretty solid, if not flashy. The Offensive Expertise is all right, though it converts at a little below 1-1. Block to fail is a cool effect, but there will be those rare times your opponent doesn’t roll any blocks, and at that point you’d rather have another hit (which would cancel a block anyway). The Defensive Expertise is also OK, converting at a bit below 1-1, but with the added wrinkle that often any opponent with only one health remaining and no recovers on their combat tree simply cannot attack Vader for fear of immediately being wounded on their own turn. This is niche, but the psychological effect there is good. One damage here and there incidentally isn’t anything to sneer at, either- one of the strongest models in the game right now is Cassian Andor, whose This Town is About to Blow ability is super effective at dealing chip damage to take models below the threshold where they’re likely to be one-shot on subsequent attacks. Vader’s Defensive Expertise can have a similar effect, although of course it’s nowhere near as strong as Cassian’s ability (and shouldn’t be).
In terms of results, this is a nice, varied tree, with the only things lacking really being movement options (other than following up on shoves). You’ve got a good spread of damage (capping out at 8), access to all three conditions other than Expose (which he can get out with Then You Will Die Braver Than Most anyways), shoves on steps 1 and 2, and even some healing sprinkled in if needed for once the fighting has really gotten underway.
All in all, Darth Vader, Fallen Master is a very interesting secondary option for Empire. He brings solid hitting power, reliability (he will almost never be a dead activation because of his tactic), and durability to the table. Unfortunately, he’s not taken off as a particularly popular piece. Some of that is undoubtedly the ecosystem around him; Empire is generally considered to not be in a great place right now, and he hasn’t been readily available outside of conventions until recently. That said, I’m still not sure he’s poised to step into a big role in the meta, largely because the worst things about him don’t have anything to do with him personally. First of all, he’s Anakin Skywalker. That means if you take him in a standard premiere list, you’re passing on being able to either take the other two versions of Vader (some of Empire’s better primaries) or General Anakin himself in a 2×2 style list with Republic. His 5 squad point value is also really awkward for Empire, making it hard to fit him into lists and basically requiring that he either be in a squad led by Krennic (who has nine squad points) or be run alongside underwhelming units like the ISB Agents or the Snowtroopers. This may be helped in the future by the addition of other Imperial options, but for now, he feels like a model you’d have to build your whole roster around accommodating, and I’m not sure what he brings is worth THAT.
Still, overall, this is a really cool box, especially the con-exclusive version with the terrain display. If these characters speak to you, or you don’t mind doing a little work to figure out where they fit against the backdrop of their specific factions, they should be a lot of fun to play- they’re both very impactful characters whose rules capture their narrative spirit very well.
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