Of the handful of Tier 1 squads at the end of WotC, I think the NR squads have had it the worst in the current meta. Kyle is part of that.

Mon Calamari Knight, from The Clone Wars





It makes the Wookie Beserker look good (I'd take the -2 cost and momentum over a good defense most of the time). It makes the Klat Assassin look like its from a different game. There's no reason to play the Mon Calamari Knight ever and it's one of the worst WOTC filler pieces ever, 2/10. *

* I guess the 20 defense is worth something, so I've raised him to a 2, but I think he's a very bad 2.

Agreed. Terrible but defense makes it a 2.

The 20 defense is certainly an outlier, but I don't think it's enough to make it playable. No way I'd take two Mon Calamari Knights over a Jedi Weapon Master, or a Mon Calamari Knight over five Mouse Droids if I want blockers. Utapaun Warrior has an extra 10 hit points too - it's probably better in that role as well.

OK, I'm changing the Mon Calamari Knight to a 2, since I'm clearly outvoted, but I want to let you know that this is under sufferance.

ARC Trooper Captain Fordo, from Command of the Galaxy





My money would have been on the v-set designers trashing the ARC Trooper and making a v-set redux version - they're a weak early piece, with a single attack and 40 hit points representing a poor deal for 18 points. But with the addition of v-set pieces Ordo and Fordo, in tandem with Captain Rex, they're suddenly very playable - GMA double/twin shooters in a squad like the Andy Hatton designed effort below, shooting at a very respectable +14 with Fordo's synergy:



While I like Bastila Jedi Master keeping CEs under control, and I'm not a big fan of boosts that ignore her Advanced Battle Meditation, in the case of ARC Troopers it's well warranted. They're such a weak piece without Commander Effects that they need the extra love, and Hand Signals and Disciplined Leader help the ARCs to keep their Commander Effects against CE counters like Bastila and Disruptive. This makes the ARC Trooper squads much stronger, although they still have a fair share of bad matchups - the 40 hit point ARCs are vulnerable against Yobuck and Lancer, and they don't have any answer to tempo control either. But they at least have the potential to be a tournament-level squad, and Fordo's double attack CE and CE sustenance abilities are a major contributor to this. 9/10.

It's actually very similar (maybe identical?) to the squad I used to playtest Fordo with; I think it's the optimised build if you want to play ARC Troopers.

It is very good, but I think for that type of squad (a squishy group of Double Twin GMA shooters), for a tournament the Jason (or Laura) Echani squad does similar things more effectively - even though you have less attackers, you get more tricks with Swap, Accurate Shot, and Master Tactician, as well as more damage and higher attacks. The ARC build certainly has its advantages though - it has Lobot for customisation, among other things.

Defel Spy, from Bounty Hunters





The Defel Pirate has already been covered on Rolling Mini of the Day - I discussed how:
a) Defel Pirate builds could be decent with Niles Ferrier's super-stealth and +4 attack bonus, but they're inevitably going to be worse compared to similar Klat Assassin builds. The Klat Assassin has extra hit points, a higher attack, and Cloaked instead of Stealth.
b) It's unfortunate that Niles Ferrier's attack boost doesn't stack with Talon Kardde's.

I gave the Pirate a 5, and I think the Spy is very comparable - the Pirate has self-destruct 20 and is 4 points cheaper, while the Spy has extra hit points, better stats, and loner. It's kind of a wash in my book - I'd probably give the 10 point Pirate the slight edge, but there's no reason why both can't be 5/10.

Apologies for the lack of updates, things have been busy for me over the last week or two.

Battle Droid Officer, from Clone Strike





The Battle Droid Officer is both a really strong piece, and a design I don't really like. An non-disruptable +4 attack for Droids is invaluable for most Droid squads, and it's well worth 9 points - I've even seen squads with a Lancer as the only other droid utilise a BDO. But at the same time, having a piece that chills out the back doing nothing seems like a silly design - wouldn't it just be easier to make Droids cost an extra point and have higher attacks to start with? I guess it does make gameplay feel like a droid army with commanders out the back, but it seems weird having such a bland piece sitting out the back in every Separatist droid squad. The good news is that Separatist droid squads do have an alternative source of Fire Control, with the new Commando Droid Officer also featuring it, on a much more useful and flavourful piece. The Battle Droid Officer is obviously a very strong piece, and it's an important cog for Separatist droid squads, but wouldn't it have been easier to give droids higher attacks to start with? 10/10.

unless you're running a Cad Bane Bounty Hunter squad were you don't run droids (other than mice that is)

But seriously this guy is as important as Mas and is used just as frequently. While you may find a Republic or Empire build that doesn't need Mas he is usually an auto include, same with this piece.


Now I see what you are saying about him standing in the back and the droids could have started with a higher att. I think the designers might have been intending that this guy might be a target that once gone would hurt the droids, but realistically you rarely get into the back line of enemy territory.

100% agree.