I've played with them a bit - they're really fun, but kind of extreme. I think Vader AoE and 501st Legion Stormtroopers will demolish most melee squads, but fall over and die to most shooter squads, especially anything with Cloaked/Stealth/Mobile.

Well said. He's great, but has his limits. However, as for fun-factor, using Maul on Swoop (then transferring to Maul Infiltrator) is one of the coolest and most-fun SWM game mechanics out there.

Varactyl Wrangler, from Champions of the Force





The Varactyl Wrangler is an uber-efficient piece; a piece who does exactly one thing well, and does it cheaply enough that he's worth considering for every squad involving Savages. If you're running Savage pieces, the Wrangler can keep them on the leash as it were, so it doesn't have to rush straight into the middle of the opponent's squad until you want it to. For instance, Chewbacca Enraged Wookiee can stay back and shoot, and benefit from Rieekan's Evade CE, while he's got a Wrangler within 6 squares. With only 10 hit points, the Wrangler's fragile, and easy to pick off for accurate shooters, but he's still a really nice little piece, and definitely an old school WOTC that's worth having in your collection for when you want to play Savage pieces. 8/10.

Master Vandar, from Vengeance





Interestingly, a friend I often play with regards Master Vandar as the second most broken piece in the game (after the much more mainstream choice of General Dodonna). Vandar is one of my favourites - he's a big beat, with some cool tricks, and he's fun to play, but I don't know that I'd be brave enough to use him in a competitive game. His high cost means that in a typical Old Republic squad, you'll often only have room for Vandar, Bastila, a good shooter, an OR Senator, and tech, meaning that Vandar has to carry a huge responsibility for both damage output and damage absorption.

Vandar's combination of Force Leap, Telekinetic Combat, and Ataru Style Mastery allows him to set himself up for twin at a piece, so he synergises well with the Old Republic Senator, who can give him another twin attack. He also has some fun tricks with Jedi Mind Trick 2 and Force Suppression, and Telekinetic Combat allows him to choose between melee attacks and non-melee attacks depending on the target. Vandar's a decent enough piece, but at 60 points, he's probably too expensive to bring to competitive tables - other options like Satele Shan, who's amazing value for 37 points, or Master Thon, who has the option of Force Repulse to deal with swarms, are better choices for Old Republic melee beatsticks. 7/10.

I would say it does TWO things well; it's a cheap Fringe fodder clearer, as besides Empathy, it's THE CHEAPEST (unless a new v-set piece has come out with Grenades that is cheaper, but last time I looked anyway) piece with Grenades 10.

I think Embo is a 10. Really scary piece.

Talon Karrde, from Bounty Hunters





Disruptive is a signature ability for the New Republic, and Talon Karrde was their first piece to have it. But he's more or less been surpassed by the subsequent NR pieces with Disruptive; Han Solo Galactic Hero is a much better shooter with Accurate and Cunning, both Kyle Katarns are tough melee beatsticks, and R2-3PO brings Bodyguard and Blaster Upgrade to the party. Talon's not a bad piece - Disruptive is a very helpful Special Ability, and 60 hit points is passable enough for his cost, but the only other things he brings to the table are some relatively weak shooting, and a Recon/Fringe Reserves 20 combo, which doesn't fit in that well with the New Republic. Talon isn't a bad piece overall, but the roster of NR Disruptive pieces is very strong, and as the weakest of those, he's unlikely to see table time. 6/10.

Boushh, Ubese Hunter, from The Dark Times





Boushh is a bland unique, with one interesting facet - his Grenades 40. Grenades 40 is obviously best used in Republic with Captain Tarpals' CE - allowing Boushh to use double grenades. In Republic, however, Boushh is up against Republic Commando Darman, who also has Grenades 40, and is slightly cheaper and a stronger mini overall - he loses 20 hit points and Bounty Hunter, but gains Stealth and Double Attack. So it's hard to find a use for Boushh at this point, and he's in need of a v-set remake. 5/10.

Cay Qel-Droma, from Masters of the Force





The Old Republic were lacklustre before the v-sets, which meant that this neat little piece didn't have much support, when he's actually not too bad. For 28 points his stats are decent enough, although his low attack is slightly disappointing, although it is at least augmented with Ataru Style, while he also has Lightsaber Precision as an option. More problematic is his lack of ranged defense, which is generally a requirement for a playable Jedi.

But Cay does come with one very interesting Special Ability; Cay's Legacy, where if he's defeated by a Unique, that enemy must make a save of 11 or else switch teams. It's situational - a lot of force users will take the risk if they have a spare force point available, and non-uniques can ignore it altogether - but it can make Cay Qel-Droma an interesting proposition. I would have thought that, because Cay's Legacy won't going to come into play in every matchup, and the Old Republic have stronger options in the point range, like the Jedi Battlemaster, he's maybe just short of competitive, but he did just feature in the Tennessee Regional top 4 a few weeks ago in a squad piloted by Shmi15, so what do I know? 7/10.

In the TN Regional he Cay's Legacy'd Mace, LotLS lol.