Force 0 Renewal 1 is here! The greatest random piece balancer has finally been validated! WHOO!

AND she's got REAL RELFECT?!?!

And a new Revan? That's even better!

Today's two spoilers (Mara Jade, Hand of Judgment and the new name: Revan, Returned) are two of the few pieces that don't fit our set theme. By now some of you may have seen the opening crawl that lays that theme out.

"Long Time Ago" is, of course, part of one of the most iconic Star Wars phrases. Right up there with, "May the Force be with you." For this set, though, it holds another meaning. "Long Time Ago" also refers to Star Wars as it existed before the prequels were released. The Tales of the Jedi comic book series, some of the early Expanded Universe novels, Kenner action figures, Decipher CCG, the Ewok movies, and of course the original trilogy itself. The set draws inspiration from all of those. With the sequel trilogy coming out, we wanted to take one last chance to pay homage to "old school" Star Wars, as we expected future Vsets to put a lot more emphasis on the new material. The Vong, Republic, and Separatist factions didn't exist at the time, but for the other factions over 70% of the pieces in the set come from before 1999. The subset, "Far Far Away", carries the same theme as the main set but collects together many of Tatooine's alien scum. It also starts a Hutt subfaction, with 6 members of Jabba's entourage.

I'm really excited to see the release of this set. We'll see the introduction of the Hutt subfaction plus two additional subfactions. There's quite a mix of useful tech pieces, mid-range secondary attackers, and a handful of new major beatsticks. We've already seen previews of the Mandalorian Knight and the Krath Death Witch, which help defend against big shooters. We'll also see pieces that turn activation advantages into disadvantages. Naturally, not everything is going to make a splash as a Tier 1 piece, but we tried to give every piece a reason to be played. For example, the Beast-Lord is unlikely to have an impact on the competitive tables. (For one, Atton 'Jaq' Rand is probably a stronger choice and is 2 points cheaper.) But he introduces a brand new squad type: the first piece to directly counter Savage. Savage has its own built-in drawback, so there isn't a strong need to counter Savage pieces, but it fits his character as a Beast-Lord and makes him the basis for a very unique squad.

I had a lot of fun working on the set and working with my fellow designers. Big thanks to The_Celestial_Warrior, sthlrd2, and Lou. Hopefully I didn't drive them too crazy. We hope you enjoy it!

I think Mara could be a prime Pellaeon swap-in target versus Imperials. Problem is that Imperials have been swapping with Boba recently (Fringe). And the other problem is that you'd have to have a main-lined 30-pt commander that you don't mind swapping out. Thrawn isn't being swapped out for anybody.

Oh, that's not a "phrase," I just came up with it. I'm pretty sure I've seen people use Force 0, Renewal 1 on customs before (maybe the piece balances better starting with 0 FP?), it's just one of those things that bugs me until I see it on a v-set or WotC piece.

I too would like to see the rest of the hand of judgement, I think they could work kind of like an imperial version of the elite republic commandos when played together!

Force 0 Renewal 1... awesome. so, it's "official" now?
it just adds another turn to how long it takes to use cool powers hehehe.

we're seeing some awesome VSet pieces now - the design team are bringing their A-game,
and making solid 7/8 outta 10 pieces, which don't entirely replace other variants of the figures.
its happy days!

Whirlwind attack is pretty nasty in a Jorrus squad. You can bring in pieces with Twin like Aayla and Adi Gallia and attack every adjacent piece with double/twin. Don't think it will be top tier, but it's a nasty trick.

Two new previews from SHNN:

Green Jedi Commander
Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2)

http://swmgamers.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=17411&start=0

R2 is really interesting. Finally something of the "rebel hero" piece he's deserved. He seems to be primarily a non-unique droid deterrent for all involved parties.

i do not understand artoo very much.

Why does he have rival for non-unique droids?

Such Devotion in a Droid. move toward? does that mean that every step has to be toward R2? or can it just mean that at the end of movement it has to be closer?

Why the non-unique droid hate in the Commander effect?
Why a commander effect at all?

When does the movement breaker occur? Can it occur between doors opening and closing?