I'm the opposite of you 501 trooper, I love the new shield ability. And I believe it's costed correctly, it fits the character and helps out a major weak point for sep heroes.
Also love:
Bao-Dur: old republic droid teams! Alt to bastilla!
Sith Recruit: cool new swarm piece that is anti strafe!
New General Grievous! Yes! The shield bot will allow me to forgive the lack of evade, spinning blade is awesome
New Han and Leia, versatility is really cool
The Imperial Triumvirate, alt for Thrawn
IG88A: my favorite bounty hunter is now the fantastic four
Ranged Rakghoul: epic zombie
Squib: finally balance for those doors/booming voice. Down with mice!
Voxyn Queen: very interesting reserves piece
Nihilius: what he should have always been

Dislikes
Covert Ops Trooper: way to overpowered! Save of 6 maybe
Dug Black Sun Vigo: didnt think that every faction needed good super stealth...
Mando Training Sergeant: great piece except that Cover Ops bit

Though all in all another excellent set!

Energy Shield is MUCH worse than Covert ops, because you can't evan hit the guy unless you're right next to them. Covert Ops you have a 50% chance of not working compared to 0%. You also have to be within 6 for covet ops.

Oh. I must have read the card wrong the first time.
Its still worse, though, because it doesn't have range. Covert ops is still an okay ability. I don't really like it though, evan though I play Mandos. This is because I look at abilities from EVERYONES point of view. Don't be like Obi-Wan, looking only "from a certain point of view"

Wasn't he a Cosmonaut b4 he became head of the Black Sun?

Maybe it should have been "Covert Oops?"

Likes
Qui-Gon Force Spirit, his special abilities are what you expect but for 16 points his new force power and CE are great!
Sith Bastila, great deep strike capabilities plus Sith Alchemy!
Sith Recruit, excellent special abilities on a cheap piece the Sith needed. Good design.
Mandalore the Vindicated, a great bag of tricks and he helps make the Mandos more competitive.
Mandalorian Training Sergeant, he may be an over-bloated piece, but I like that the designers invented a new movement breaker and it fits the Mandos perfectly.
Satele Shan, between her and Mical the OR are getting some nice mid-cost Jedis
Anakin Chosen One, I like the viability he brings and his cost makes him worth using even if you don't use all he has to offer.
Klatooinian Assassin, I'm not sure why I like this piece, just something in my subconscious tells me he has a useful combo.

Dislikes
Mandalorian Training Sergeant, he's and over-bloated piece. I think he's too expensive for 200, and at 500 he's too powerful. What are the Vong gonna do at against him? I guess we'll find out next week.....
Flim, I agree with Nader, a definite missed opportunity.
2 Mara Jades, this might stem from my dislike of Mara, but really?!, we needed 2 in one set?!
Nihilus, yes he represents his video game version well, but beyond his 22 def he has no way to stop shooters, wish he at least has deflect or something.

As for the Epics, I like Revan, but he's got a lot going on so he ends up being very expensive. Galen is neat, but being only a Rebel restricts him too much imo. And then there's Boba, he's cool, but he may be way too much. He can potentially be in 3 different factions and has access to a lot of tricks and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Again, I guess we'll find out at Gencon.....

I think that covert ops is disliked more than energy shield just because it was created by the V-set team. Energy shield was an official ability, so many people are alright with it being open for the separatists that are weaker than the Republic (IMO). The Republic is already one of the most powerful factions as it is now, but with covert ops, it eliminated many possibilities for defeating them. So, basically, covert ops is argued against more often because it's a new ability that counters a lot of squads, and is available for the Republic, and it was a V-set design. I agree with 501st trooper that energy shield is more powerful, it's just an ability that has been made "fair" because the costing is fair for the battle droid spotter compared to the gungan shieldbearer.

Hm, yeah I forgot about that. Would be interesting to know.

I think they weren't ready when the V4 printing deadline arrived.

stats for Blizzard 1 (colossal) are posted in the V4 spoiler thread.

There were some comments made about printing the cards as part of V6 at Gencon next year, but that a PDF might be released sooner so people can play them.

I have to agree with both of you on covert ops. I play tested it and it kept everyone separated, but barely got used. It isn't powerful at all, it just was boring with all the characters shooting from far away, really ruining the point of close-combat. I'm against the ability, and I hope that it is changed around a bit to make it more melee close-up friendly.