SO, the last WotC set has come and gone. Although certainly not disappointed by it, one of my biggest regrets overall is how far the "lesser" factions still lag behind the major factions. I think recent sets have some some to address this, but not enough for my tastes.

Consequently, I'm embarking on "Balance of Power," a virtual set designed to help boost the lesser factions--primarily the Old Republic, Sith, Mandos, and Vong, although the New Rep and Seps may get some representation. The "big three" (Rep, Imp, Rebels) will not be represented in the set.

"Balance of Power" is not intended to be "40 characters the minor factions should have gotten." Although that may be an aspect of it, the idea is to provide 40 cool and playable pieces, sort of all the cool pieces these factions could have been getting--but crammed into a single set!

BoP is also not intended to replace existing characters, but rather to "buff" them, where this is possible. So while many of the factions will probably get big guns to help them out, the more important angle will be the cheap commanders, the Rieekans and Wedges, who can help change the fortune of a faction.

I'll post a setlist as time goes on, but for now, I'm looking for ideas (not necessarily full stats). I will probably pull heavily from my experience on my various Virtual KotOR sets, my "5 Easy Pieces" threads, and the ongoing New Lost Twenty, but I'd definitely like to hear what other people think.

So, here's some of what I'm thinking:

OLD REPUBLIC

Although MotF actually leaves them in pretty good shape, there's still a lot of room for improvement.

I'm thinking of expanding their options with a generic Old Republic Senator who allows you to include non-Unique Republic characters without Order 66. I think this adds about 30 pieces, effectively doubling the number of non-Fringe options the Old Republic has, and bringing their variety on par with the Seps.

I will almost certainly include a version of the Gryph I've been working with for quite some time (designed around Diplomat/Disruptive) to give the Old Rep an interesting spoiler angle.

I'd like to buff the Jedi, possibly with commander effects that grant lightsaber styles, and might use Vandar Tokare and/or Admiral Forn Dodonna to give the unique characters something exclusive (perhaps Protective)

One non-Unique commander I'm considering is something like "Echani Martial Instructor", who maybe provides Close Quarters Fighting to allies, and Parry to allies with Melee Attack. This piece was have "era-based" affinity, so could also help the Sith.


SITH

Although the Sith have a number of "powerhouse" pieces, the Sith lords are pretty vulnerable to ranged attacks, so I'm thinking of a low-cost commander who can provide Cloaked and Ambush, either as a commander effect or special ability. I'm toying with "Darth Maladi, Hologram," or something similar, who might have "Assassination Orders" that allows her to give Cloaked and Ambush to an adjacent ally with a Force rating. She might also have Affinity to bring stormtroopers into the faction.

Another key piece I could see would be "Marka Ragnos, Sith Spirit", or something to that effect. He might have Affinity for non-Unique darksiders (or perhaps just Imperials, because the Seps only have one piece as-is) and probably a decent commander effect. I could also see him having Turn to the Dark Side, although all of that on one piece might be too much.

For support pieces, I will definitely be taking a look at some of the pieces from the Sith 5 Easy Pieces thread, including the Beast Master, Sith Recruiter, Gloom Walkers, Sith Officer, and, of course, Saul Karath. Saul will have affinity to allow him to help both the Sith and the Old Rep.


MANDOS

One piece I've been pondering for a while is Kal Skirata, who would allow the Mandos to bring in non-Unique followers with Order 66. If you look at most of these pieces, the sort of fill the "lower ranks" under the cheap Mandos. Actually, the higher cost Order 66 pieces (not including those on vehicles) are very similar to the low-end Mandos in design.

Cassus Fett and possibly some variations of super-commandos would provide some of the "tech" that the faction needs.

I might also look to include Demagol, if space permits. A Mando healer is good, and recent plot twists in the KotOR comic book give a whole new spin to the character.


VONG

Although I have the least emotional investment in the Vong, I do have a few ideas.

The Vong often use critters and creatures, so I've been thinking of doing something with Savage pieces for quite some time, but the introduction of the Dejarik pieces gives it a different spin. Now, I'm thinking of a cheap shaper (possibly unique) who has a special ability or commander effect that removes Savage from Savage characters and instead gives them Dejarik (making the existing Dejarik pieces more useful and appealing, and perhaps gives Dejarik allies Vonduun Crab Armor. Even before you start adding commander effects, I think the idea of a crab-armored Reek or Rakghoul is kinda scary!

Since the Vong currently only have one "achor" attacker, Supreme Overlord Shimmra seems to be a pretty obvious addition as an alternative.

I'd also like to play a little with the Peace Brigade, possibly introducing a Thracken Sal-Solo piece. The trick with him is to make the Peace Brigade interesting for everyone, but just much much better for the Vong.