I was actually very annoyed when I first saw Wuher. Reserve Squads were just starting to get better and then this guy comes in and messes up the whole thing. I agree with you that he helps against mouse walls, but he discourages the use of a droid reserve squad. And, he also makes your own reserves/reinforcements cost more.

Elite Rebel Commando, from Legacy of the Force





The R7 is a great piece - non-unique override for 8 points, with 40 hit points and Ion Shielding. The Elite Rebel Commando, at 16 points, has 50 hit points and stealth, so it's easily more robust, while it's also a decent backup attacker. With Crix Madine's Cunning +20 CE and twin, the ERC is a threat, especially against Droids with its Ion Gun +20, although it is limited by a low attack score. All of this adds up to one of the strongest non-uniques in the games.

At the same time, there's a limit to how many ERCs you want in a squad, since Cunning Attack is easier to defend against than Opportunist; if your opponent has a whole squad of Cunning Attackers, it's often easy to activate your big guy and make him the legal target. But they're so strong that they're going to fit into just about any Rebel Commando squad - they're better than the R7 in a bunch of Rebel squads since they have in faction synergy. They featured in the 2010 GenCon Champion squad:



I think if I'd done this pre v-sets, the ERC would have been an 11, but with more diversification for the Rebels, he mainly fits into builds with Commando support, especially Crix Madine. Still a very strong option for the Rebels though - door control that's survivable and that's an attacking threat deserves a 10/10.

Warrior Caste Subcommander, from Command of the Galaxy





The Warrior Caste Subcommander creates an entirely new squad type for the Yuuzhan Vong: a swarm of Warriors whose Blast Bugs are relatively low damage for the cost, but are also unpreventable. It's a very strong squad type; two Warrior Caste Subcommander swarms were pushing hard for the Top 4 at the NZ Nationals this year, and it's especially a nightmare for uber-defense pieces like GOWK and Darth Zannah, as the Warrior Caste Subcommander swarms can cut right through their defenses and take them down with 6 Blast Bugs.

There are a few different Yuuzhan Vong Warriors to build around - the Praetorite Vong Scout has Cloaked and rapport with Prefect Da'Gara, but also has only 10 hit points. The Yuuzhan Vong Warrior is cheap at 8 points, even though it lacks ranged defense, while the Domain Lah Warrior has Speed 8 and 40 hit points for 10 points. Don't forget the Seer if you run into Disruptive too - it increases the range of the Blast Bugs by 2. Another quirk of the Subcommander is that often their squads don't require a Yammosk - although you can bring one if with Quorreal if your opponent has a useful commander effect like Captain Tarpals or General Dodonna.

The Warrior Caste Subcommander is a great piece - it might be the single best piece to build around that the Vong have. Even though Subcommander squads might have a few rough matchups, like Strafe and Gallop, it's a Power 11 piece in my book, 11/10.

Bothan Noble, from Legacy of the Force





Cannon CEs are very, very strong - pieces like Princess Leia, Old Republic Senator, and the new Commando Droid Captain are some crucial pieces for their factions. The Bothan Noble is another cannon CE piece, but it does obviously suffer in comparison to Princess Leia in the same faction - it's almost always worth paying the extra 3 points for Leia, as her CE is stronger (with a +4 +10 bonus), she's more robust, and she's a better shooter. At the same time though, the Bothan Noble does have some chance of competitive play - for starters, its CE is for all followers, not just Rebels, so you can cannon Fringe shooters like Boba BH or Dash. It also means you can use a different Leia like Leia Rebel Commando or Luke and Leia on Speeder, and still get a cannon CE in your squad. Or you can run Leia and a Bothan Noble in tandem - possibly risky in a post Bastila meta, but certainly feasible, as the squad that finished first after Swiss at GenCon 2010 demonstrates:



The Bothan Noble is a really strong piece - it's possibly been a bit overlooked recently, and it is fragile for the cost, but it's one of those pieces where it would never surprise me to see it in a top squad, 9/10.

4 is pretty generous. He's only "good" in the sense that his stats are high enough you have to actually think about him, but relative to anything remotely competitive in his cost range he's more like a 2.

Commando Droid Officer, from Shadows





It might seem premature giving this a piece an 11, since it's from a very recent set, but the Commando Droid Officer is a powerhouse. It provides a much needed specific boost for the awful Commando Droid from Galaxy at War, but it also has a wider application that means it's a great option for a lot of droid squads. The Commando Droid was one of the worst pieces in the game, but Rapport of 3, Stealth, +2 attack, +2 defense, and +10 damage makes them much more viable.

I don't know if Commando Droid swarms are viable competitively, but the Commando Droid Officer also boosts a broader groups of droids; Coordinated Movement applies to Commando Droids, but also other droids like the BX Commando Droid Sniper and other Commando Droid Officers. The Commando Droid Officer also has Fire Control, so some CDO builds may be able to function without the Battle Droid Officer (previously a staple in Separatist Droid squads). And most importantly, it has a cannon CE that allows a Droid ally to make an immediate attack at +10 damage. There are lots of good recipients - IG-88A with Twin and Assassin is nasty, as is a BX Sniper with Accurate Shot, and General Grievous, Hero of Hypori can take an extra swing too. But perhaps the most powerful option is to have a small battery of Commando Droid Officers all giving each other cannon attacks and coordinated movement.

We've already seen a squad with three Commando Droid Officers make the final at the 150 point HaweraCon tournament in New Zealand:


Even just as an attacker, the Commando Droid Officer is passable - with Twin, Stealth, and +13 attack with Fire Control, it's not a bad deal for 22 points; when you throw in the cannon CE, Coordinated Movement, and fire control, it's one of the best pieces in the game. It also moves Separatist droid builds in different directions - droid squad staples like Whorm, HK-47 Assassin Droid, and the Battle Droid Officer don't fit well into Commando Droid Officer squads. The Commando Droid Officer has Tier 1 written all over it - a piece that has ranged defense, a cannon CE, is a good attacker, and provides some movement is an amazing deal for 22 points, and I look forward to seeing what builds emerge with it, 11/10.

Update - the Commando Droid Officer has been errata'd so it fulfills its original purpose of boosting WOTC Commando Droids, as well as the v-set Elite Commando Droids. It's still good, but not a power piece anymore, I think an 8/10 is a better grade for it.

Supreme Overlord Shimrra, from Destiny of the Force





Supreme Overlord Shimrra is an expensive attacker/tech hybrid, who can be hard to use. His Commander Effect is great for setting off Nom Anor's self-destruct commander effect, or just helping crucial attacks to stick. He also has the very powerful Master Tactician, which can help him set up to unload his Triple Attack at the start of the round, or frustrate other Master Tactician squads. At 72 points, there's no way you can leave him out the back - he needs to come out and fight. He has some intimidating qualities - his attack and defense are top drawer, 130 hit points with Crab Armor 6 can take a while to wear down if you're only hitting for 10s or 20s, and he can be loaded up with lots of damage.

But at the same time, the Supreme Overlord feels too limited to be worth his 72 points - he can't do much damage on the move, so he only gets nasty if you're based against him. Shimrra is also very vulnerable to a heavy shooter squad - something like a Talon Karrde fringe squad or Cad Bane/Thrawn should be able to cut through him very quickly. He has some very strong components - his CE and Master Tactician are both very useful - but overall, he's disappointing, and he's probably the v-set unique who's most in need of a remake. 5/10.

Ulic Qel-Droma, from Champions of the Force





After covering Shimmra yesterday on Rolling Mini of the Day, Ulic Qel-Droma is strangely similar - an expensive fighter/commander with great stats, lots of hit points, and useful Commander Effects, but also lacking in shooter defense, not very mobile, and ultimately over-costed.

Ulic's most interesting ability is allowing Mandalorians into the Sith faction - you can have weird combinations like Mando Scouts with Force Renewal via Sidious Hologram, or Mandalore the Vindicated getting Darth Bandon's CE. At 61 points just for Ulic, however, it's a tough squeeze to make interesting combinations work even at 200 points, although he might be more feasible for 500 point Epics. Additionally, the v-sets have provided Mandalore the Lesser, who also allows hybrid Sith/Mandalorian squads, and at 37 points, he's a more efficient piece with more space to build around. I'm also not sure of using Mandalorians as bodyguards - while bodyguard is a very useful strategic ability, most Mandos have low hit point to cost ratios.

Ulic's an interesting piece, but he's very limited as a damage dealer -his cost and his limitations mean that it's impossible to justify spending 61 points on him for any sort of competitive squad at 200 points. 4/10.

I finished second, so you would have played me in the semis:

I played this:


You played this:


It would have been interesting - I would probably be happy to trade Yobuck for your 8 Scouts if I could, and hope I could punch through Shimrra with Dark Temptation and Opportunist. I'd need decent rolls with that 23 defense and force immunity.

Here's a graph of the set by set ratings, as covered on the Rolling Mini of the Day. Obviously Shadows has a very low sample size, and I think The Clone Wars will improve, as the randomiser has been choosing the bad pieces. But by and large, it seems reasonable - I think Revenge of the Sith is often regarded as the worst set, while the sets with Huges like The Force Unleashed are also weaker.