You forgot Lightning.

They play different roles. Kyle is a more all around offensive beat, with many more options to attack at range. Don't underestimate Grenades 40. That is some hefty damage you could do to a group of figs. He is also less reliant on Force Powers for his damage output. Kol needs to use Precision twice to do 60 Dam, Kyle has Triple. Heck, he will also have more damage output when facing a Melee piece with Riposte. Let's not forget, who will be deadlier when they first move up. Kyle has Assault, Kol has Precision.

Where Kyle really shines is with Ghost Luke. Renewal makes all those Force Powers a lot more dangerous. Kyle Katarn, Battlemaster isn't going anywhere, even with the new Kyle. He fits a great beatstick role.

Agreed he is my favorite beatstick, and his Grenades helped win me 2 matches

ok well he hits me for 20 with lightning then i walk in and do 30. Now its initiative, if he wanted to riposte go ahead kol would block and shado would riposte and block. Kyle has absolutely 0 defense. So while im squashin him, he can hit me and if hes lucky he'll get 40 damage a turn, while im doin 60 with both shado and kol. Thats without riposte from shado. Kol would still wooop though.

Keep in mind you aren't playing in a vacuum. Even in squads without wedge, Kyle can use Grip, or Lightning or Grenades to damage from a distance. Against shooters, adjacent when not Wedge, or non-adjacents Sans Wege on Kol's team, he has no defense. Kyle can at least hurt them when not in base. One on one, of course the melee hate beats swiss army knife, but Kyle can deal with many problems more than Kol.

Mathematically and Tactically figuring out duels between force users is a pass time for me. Here is what I came out with:

Kol and Shado start off with 4 force points(fp) aka two rounds before the duels happens.

Kol vs Kyle:
Tie 5 rounds: Who every wins the key initiative is the winner
Kol spends 4fp on rerolls and 5 fp on blocks and Kyle spends all on riposte or 1 lighting and three riposte
Note: I give kol a small edge as a if the duel starting off not base to base, it should work in his favor, and didn't try out any force push tactics.

Shado Vs Kyle:
Kyle wins
Shado dies 5th round dealing around 110 damage(88-133) to Kyle.
Note: This one was a hard to figure out with Shado have so many options. I think a riposte, block and hit run tactic was the best chance for Shado but he eats up to many force points to over come Kyle and his 4 riposte. If Shado starts of with say 8 fp then he probably would win.

Anyways I use Shado when I'm not using wedge and Kyle when I am. As for Kol I think of him as a cheaper Kyle but without disruption, which is huge. Basically ask yourself this am I going to use wedge, do i need or want disruption, what will the points difference get or lose you? IMO if you have Wedge then Kyle's disruption put him over the other two most of the time and wedge evading CE really extends his 150 hp vs shooters a lot. Without wedge the other two are probably better.

PS: In short, I really like all three.

umm... why would you not use grenades often?you cant just say a piece isn't good
because you don't want to use one of his best abilities.

WAIT! yes you can. This is the internet after all. Please, proceed with your jackassery.

also with mobile he can move in, lob a grenade, and get out. He can grenade into a thrawn bubble as well. Kol relies on force pts to do damage, and with renewal 1 he'll have trouble keeping enough to really shine. Both pieces are good, but its like comparing apples to oranges. They are really not the same.

[quote=ewokballs88] And if your comeback to that is, well i would only do grenades if there are adjacent guys, then my answer is no good player in there right mind would ever keep his pieces together like that with kyle as an opponent.

that's why you force push them, and make them adjacent!