Since I was first introduced to Mandalorians through Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back, they have been one of my favorite groups in the Star Wars universe. With the introduction of this squad pack (along with the recent Clan Kryze FAQ here), it is now possible to run two full strike teams of nothing but Mandalorians, which is what I’ve always wanted to do in this game. A huge thank you is due to AMG for sending us a review copy of this squad pack.
What’s In The Box?
This box contains all the parts needed to build The Armorer, Paz Vizsla, and two Covert Mandalorians. The models go together great, and I really like the inclusion of the Covert Mandalorians because they don’t have a canon paint scheme like named characters do in Shatterpoint, which allows you to flex a little creative muscle when you’re painting your models.
The Armorer
The Armorer is the Primary Unit in this Squad Pack with the odd 9 SP available to build with. With the support abilities that she offers, you will also really want to run her with other Mandalorian units to get the most from her. Her tactic ability Wisdom of the Mandalore allows her and an additional Mandalorian unit to jump at the start of her activation. Additionally, Both Hunter and Prey allows her to set up an enemy unit with an Exposed condition if they are engaged after The Armorer jumps or advances. She also adds more dice to her defensive rolls for damage she has taken with her ability Just as We Shape Mandalorian Steel, We Shape Ourselves, and probably most beneficial of all is her Identity Our Survival is Our Strength. This is the Way which allows allied Mandalorian units to use their abilities when they are wounded or injured without increasing the force cost of the ability. This lets Mandalorians have an efficient force economy and allows them to be consistent throughout the game.
Both combat trees have six spaces to advance, and she has two stances to choose from: Strength of the Hammer and Insight of the Forge. She has no ranged attacks, either. Insight grants slightly better defense and is more focused on handing out conditions instead of pure damage at the start of the tree, and Strength offers more pure damage at the front end of the tree.
Paz Vizsla
The Secondary Unit in this box comes in at a healthy cost of 5 PC, which partially explains why The Armorer has 9 SP, and also severely limits who he can pair with just from a cost perspective. We Are Mandalorians! is a great Tactics Ability as it allows every Mandalorian unit within Range 4 to remove one damage or condition from itself. If they are a Supporting Unit, they can also jump. His Identity grants him Steadfast if his active stance is Fearless and he can’t go into Reserves if he is Injured. He has two reactive abilities in I’ll Cover The Rear and Go. There Are Too Many. This is the Way. They both allow Paz to attack an enemy unit out of activation, which is always great, especially since the force cost doesn’t increase if he is Wounded or Injured. Go allows him to shake off damage and and a Wounded token in exchange for two injured tokens before making a 5 dice ranged attack. Cover allows him to roll a 5 dice ranged attack after an ally within Range 2 is attacked if Paz’s active stance is Heavy Firepower. His Heavy Firepower stance is more ranged-focused, and Fearless is more geared toward melee. Heavy allows Paz to hand out 7/8 damage depending on the path you choose, as well as Pin, Shoves, Strains, and Recover. Fearless only has one path, and is melee-only. Paz can use his Vibroblade to deal 9 damage as well as Strain, Shove, and two Recovers if he works through all 5 points of his tree.
Covert Mandalorians
Finally, we have the Support Unit of this box with the Covert Mandalorians. To illustrate having the option of either using their rockets or blasters in combat, their ability Mandalorian Armaments allows them to choose between Sharpshooter and Impact for that turn. Additionally, they can use their Jump Packs to reach objectives or enemy characters at a higher elevation. Mandalorians Are Stronger Together allows them to immediately make a focus action if they end a movement within Range 2 of another Mandalorian unit, and Our Secrecy Is Our Survival. This Is The Way grants them Protection if their card is in Reserve or still in the Order Deck. Their only stance, Adherents of the Way, allows you to really customize how you want to impact your opponent’s units. There are two starting points, but then you can go in any direction for the desired effect after that.
Sample Strike Team
Squad 1:
The Armorer
Paz Vizsla
Covert Mandalorians
Squad 2:
The Mandalorian
Bo-Katan Kryze/Sabine Wren
Clan Kryze Mandalorians
This list of “oops, all Mandos” is probably my favorite way to run this box. It maximizes synergy between the two squads and their keywords, and is incredibly thematic. It also gives you two multi-model support units for those times when you really need to spread out on a map. This list was not possible until AMG gave Bo and her Mandalorians a split-era change, which is a very welcome change, indeed!
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