Based off the iconic scene in Kenobi where Obi-wan and Vader (Spoilers – Anakin) come face to face for the first time in a decade we find ourselves looking at the You Can Not Run Duel Pack for this weeks spotlight.
The models for this are this are excellent and really bring the important characters to the table top. Obi-wan is ready for a fight, but not confident in the stance of his General model while Vader is imposing and using the Force to move objects showing his power and control trying to intimidate Kenobi.
Darth Vader, Jedi Hunter
This version of Vader is meant to be where he’s the enforcer for the Emperor. He’s currently hunting down the remaining Jedi following Order 66 and won’t be stopped in trying to achieve that goal.
At 7 Squad points and 4 Force you’re getting yourself a powerful Primary character and with 12 Durability and 3 Stamina he’s ending the game on the battlefield. You’ll be slightly limited in squad composition if you want to make the most of his Tags including the always welcome Galactic Republic which allows him access to a vast array of buffs via other units.
Vader’s Fury – A full advance for a Force is pretty much the minimum you want from a movement ability and this has that with a little kicker of 2 damage on his next swing. It not only moves him around but turns up his damage enough to injure most opponents in a single swing, great ability and you’ll use it most activations.
Riposte – We’ve seen this on Asajj and it’s just something which is nice when it comes up. You’re able to deal damage out of activation if your opponent if they attack you in melee and roll a failure in the result. You can’t plan around this but it’s great when it kicks in.
The Sith Lord Strikes Back – Similar to Maul’s ability this triggers when you’re wounded but this time it’s by Melee or Ranged. You can make a Dash and then a 5 dice attack against the character which wounded Vader. It’s always nice to get bonus attacks even if under the condition of your character being wounded, Vader (shockingly) swings fairly well so even at 5 dice you’ll usually get something off.
Your Hatred Makes you Powerful – When an allied character makes a melee attack (as a part of a combat action) you can choose to suffer 2 damage. If you do then you can add 3 dice to the roll. This is insanely powerful and lets you reach the end of the combat trees with characters who wouldn’t normally be able to with any regularity. Most characters have a powerful effect in the last branch of trees, for example Vader himself having with 2 Damage and a Shove, 3 Damage or 1 Damage and a Climb. All brilliant results on the tree. When used with other combat monsters like the Inquisitors or some of the super mobile characters like Ahsoka you’ll be able to cover loads of distance or just wound an enemy model with most attacks.
Dark Rage is Vaders more offensive damage stance, with 5 defence dice and an average expertise. However it’s raw power is fantastic. I always think of looking at the results in the first 3 boxes as they key for what you get out of a character, this can maybe be increased to 4 for anyone in Vaders team though due to his Identity. In here you have a possible 7 damage and a single shove or 6 and 2. In addition the other key point here is that he’s got a branch at 3 successes which lets you go through to a 5 of 6 finish so having the choice after seeing the results to complete on either 5 or 6 depending on what you need is excellent. Finally picking up multiple crits on any expertise result really means you get guaranteed damage and shove with a single expertise result.
His second stance of Form V Djem So is what used to be General Anakin Skywalkers offensive stance, and truth be told while a slightly more defensive stance still outputs some real results. Able to put out 9 damage is only slightly less than the Dark Rage tree and includes range attack via the thrown saber and boasts 6 defensive dice against ranged and melee long with an improved expertise track. Having a shove on the first result is excellent but having to wait until the 4th for a second to get around Steadfast is a little disappointing. You’ll be swapping stances a fair amount with Vader and jumping between depending on the scenario during the game at any given point.
Obi-wan Kenobi, Out of Hiding
Representing Obi-wan at his weakest we see an Obi-wan who just wants to keep watch over a young Luke but is forced into action once again. Before rekindling his connection with the force this is what we have, a Secondary Obi-wan.
Costing 4 he fits into a bunch of different teams, really easily with the 8 (or 9) SP characters, he’ll even go with the 6’s if you’re taking one of the 3 point supporting squads. The only other key things to points out are that he’s only got 2 keywords and neither are useful in terms of existing positive synergy. If anything they’re just detrimental as things stand.
Run – A Tactic so a freebee, never going to say no to one of these. Healing one (either damage or a condition) along with a free reposition on either himself or a character engaging an enemy is brilliant. Being able to use the heal for example remove a pin allowing the reposition to take place is great.
Mind Trick – A unique reactive ability costing a hefty 2 force. However it’s a potential game winning ability. It can remove out of activation attacks completely and if Obi-wan is holding an objective by himself then it makes him immune to the attack and the attacker loses the activation as there isn’t another character to pass the attack onto. You’ll want to make sure you always have at least 2, if not 4 force available if you’re pushing Obi-wan forward to protect him (or others). He’s still weak to things like Force Push as that can remove him from an objective but your opponent won’t be able to use brute force to claim his objective if he’s holding one.
Greater Purpose – Gaining Immunity to [!] is a great ability and allows Obi-wan to always make use of his good expertise tree so he shouldn’t be going down without a fight, making it pair brilliantly with Mind Trick above.
Last Stand of the Jedi – Representing the more damage Obi-wan takes the more fierce he’ll fight to protect those under his care. You’ll get 2 additional dice after the first injured token is presence and 4 on his last attack after the second is placed allowing you can complete the tree with frightening regularity.
Force III Soresu is Obi-wans trusted fighting style and it hasn’t left him even in his darkest moment. Packing a possible 7 damage, 2 shoves, 4 healing or jumps and repositions you’re looking at possibly the fullest tree in the game. The worst single box on the tree is a damage and heal, that’s how good the rest of the tree is. You’ll nearly always be able to use the stance card to get the most out of the situation you have found yourself in with Obi-wan and that’s a brilliant place to be in.
Closing Thoughts
Overall the first Duel Pack for Star Wars Shatterpoint is a great example of what they should be going forward. You get yourself a snapshot of a couple of iconic characters who are both really playable in the game and hopefully we’ll get more coming from AMG in the future.
