The Michigan GT has wrapped up and produced two new Adepticon invitees. This was the first Maximum Firepower event to feature the newest unit releases: Rebel Commandos, Han, Boba Fett, and Scouts. Only one list to go undefeated featured the new units. The announcement of Rebel Commandos and the DH-447 Sniper made waves – finally Rebels would get the Range 4 shooting they lacked, and it would also have Pierce and High Velocity. Snipers did show up a lot during the Michigan GT, but they were not featured in the winning lists. Instead, one winning list featured three copies of the much maligned Proton Charge Saboteur. Additionally, this list broke with many staples of Rebel list building, pairing Luke Skywalker with Han Solo instead of Leia Organa. Rick Stegich was the pilot of the winning list, going 3-0 to secure his High Command invite. Here is the break down:

Luke Skywalker (Force Push, Force Reflexes, Emergency Stims)

Han Solo (Esteemed Leader, Duck and Cover, Emergency Stims)

Rebel Troopers (Rebel Trooper)

Rebel Troopers (Rebel Trooper)

Rebel Troopers (Rebel Trooper)

Rebel Troopers (Rebel Trooper)

Rebel Troopers (Rebel Trooper)

Rebel Troopers (Rebel Trooper)

Rebel Commandos (Strike Team) w/ Proton Charge Saboteur

Rebel Commandos (Strike Team) w/ Proton Charge Saboteur (HQ Uplink)

Rebel Commandos (Strike Team) w/ Proton Charge Saboteur (HQ Uplink)

Points: 780/800

I caught up with Rick for an interview just as he was finishing up organizing and playing at a kit tourney at Pastimes in Illinois, his local store.

Q: I’ve never been to the Michigan GT. Can you describe the atmosphere?

A: This was my first time there – it’s in a conference room at a hotel. The ballroom they had it all set up in was very big with a lot of different games going on. They started setting up Legion the night before so I got a gander at the terrain and I was very pleased. I was hoping with all the moaning on the forums that they would do their due diligence with some nice terrain. They went above and beyond. I did see David Lawson there from Imperial Terrain, so I’m sure he was involved in getting some of that terrain on the table.

Q: What matchups did you face?

A: I had all Rebels, which I was not expecting, considering it’s usually 60/40 Imperials, but at this event it was 60/40 Rebels. The first match was against Luke/Han, my second was Han/Leia, and there was one guy that brought Luke and a T-47, which happened to be my last matchup – no Leia. Granted, I thought T-47s might come back once Han came out because of his two pip card; that would mean at least one round they couldn’t focus on the speeder, but as soon as Boba and Scouts came out that window closed.

First game was Key Positions with Advanced Positions against Luke/Han. My opponent was surprised – he came up at 785, but my 780 allowed me to take Blue. Once I looked at the board, it was obvious which side to take – it was a perfect funnel where he would have had to go all the way around to flank me. I picked a good board edge that would be a great funnel for my saboteurs and put bombs there. I had a nearly perfect setup. The bombs were great – I started placing them right down in front of my two pieces of terrain, so he tried to go around and that just took him longer. He just couldn’t rush all at once because of the bombs handing out suppression, and that’s why bombs are great, they keep your opponent from doing what they want in force.

The second one – he came with a list that I had been curious about, with three naked AT-RTs and a lot of activations. It was the funniest thing – Key Positions was in the second slot, so I think “okay, he’s going to use both of his eliminations to get rid of it.” So I defer, and then he deferred… “Okay, if I pick it, there’s no way he’s leaving it.” So then I defer… and then he deferred. Nothing got pulled off the board. It ended up being Long March, Recover the Supplies, and Limited Visibility. None of the conditions really came up all tournament. With Scout 2, I could get all my bomb guys up there and start planting bombs around the middle supply crate. Sure enough, he marched forward with his AT-RTs and his troops. All I did was rush forward with Luke, Han and a couple of corps troops for Esteemed leader, and I play Han’s two pip, so Luke could pick it up and run back, and none of his troops could get to Luke. He probably misplayed his AT-RT, the three red dice melee claw is devastating, but he ended up trying to displace my units, and that didn’t work because I could move even further away. He had a long shot to win by hitting a couple of crits with an aimed AT-RT rifle, but he could only manage one. I got three supply crates and brought them back, and that was it.

The last one, it wasn’t going to go well with the T-47. I didn’t exactly fear armor, but I didn’t want to face armor. If anyone had brought Flamethrowers or Rotaries, Luke would have had his work cut out for him. Sure, the bombs have Impact 1, but bombs don’t really do much damage. They are there to disrupt what your opponent wants to do. Nobody wants to go through them. I thought, “How did I get the last match against a T-47? I’m pretty sure I got paired down.” During setup, he was already mentioning how he shouldn’t have taken the T-47, but I know he had at least one win already.

It was Key Positions with Advanced Positions again. I picked the perfect side again, and the game went much like the first. I keep my entire army close together and put the bomb guys on my edges. The Range 1 of the Arm action really gives you a good coverage. The terrain didn’t help, he tried set up his one sniper and it couldn’t see anyone. His Luke tried to move and then Push, and was gonna attack, but ended up not doing much at all. The game was over pretty early.

Q: How prevalent were armored units?

A: I think AT-RT’s got a boost with the introduction of the Scouts. Everyone loves those snipers, but you’re not going to snipe at an AT-RT. Armor was still present, accordingly it should be. Armored units may have gotten more able to react better with more corps units that don’t have Impact. More soft targets boosts armor, I think armor is still solid.

Q: How prevalent were the latest releases?



A: Everyone I faced had Snipers, and looking at the other tables, they were perched everywhere. It was mostly the strike teams. The guy I had been practicing with took full squads with Saboteurs in his list, I don’t like it but I understand why he did it, they last longer in a full squad. With the strike teams, they’re not really disposable, but at the same time, you don’t really mind if they get knocked out. If you want to waste your shot killing a single model while I’m hiding the other model to keep the weapon, I’m all for it. I didn’t see any full squad commandos, I don’t think taking them is the right call. Except maybe full Rebel Commandos with the Snipers. I’ve been practicing today and yesterday with Hunter and Targeting Scopes, putting a wound on a commander, targeting them for Hunter and splitting fire to pick up the aim for the bigger shot. It’s pretty decent.

Q: Your list is really interesting because it breaks away from established rebel list building in multiple ways. Why take Han over Leia?



A: The two pip card – it’s so dumb. And also the HQ Uplinks I took were for his 0 pip card. I win initiative, tap the uplink on a saboteur that was going to die, or that I can save. If I knew he had massed units, I could jump forward and suicide bomb to suppress all of them before they activate, or drop a bomb and move completely out of sight to save that unit.

Q: Did you miss having Z-6 troopers?



A: Not after today’s tournament! Today was a horrible day for Z-6… But at the time I built this list, I was fine with it. I swore I read that someone did the math and the extra rebel trooper was roughly the same damage math wise? Granted, I wasn’t going to get close to the maximum possible damage, but the troopers are just there to stay alive, dodge a lot, deal suppression and win on objectives.

Q: Do you have any advice for players trying to use Saboteurs?



A: Using the terrain to keep a model alive is something you have to do with Snipers, but with Saboteurs you don’t need to do that. You can hang back out of sight and continue laying mines or detonate. In that sense they are better than snipers since they don’t need to be seen at all. The only reason I put them out in the open is to get more distance, but you don’t have to be seen to drop a mine that can hit an enemy unit. They will still have to move to get a shot at you. My second tip is suicide bombing – moving up, arming and detonating right away is fine as long as you can save your other model. If they amass their guys, go ahead and waste a Saboteur, it’s fine to dish out a ton of suppression at once before they’ve activated. The third thing, you need at least two, and kind of like triple bikes, you need three to get the full effect. You need to be a little reckless with them, and you want three just in case you make a mistake. You don’t want to lay a bunch down and find out you don’t have any of them left, plus you’d rather be blowing up multiple bombs per action.

And the top thing – you need to be Blue player and build your battle cards correctly. You can’t be advancing, you have to play defensively, which was the whole strategy behind this list. I knew Key Positions as Blue player is probably the brokest thing in the game, but of course I wasn’t going into the tournament going, “Well I’ll count on that to win.” I looked at what else I could do to make it defensive. Moisture Vaporators are great because if points destroyed are the same, Blue Player wins, which means Red has to come to me to repair a vaporator or destroy one of my units. If I’m completely hiding and laying down bombs, good luck with that.

Q: There’s zero pressure on you to engage.

A: Exactly. And if need be, I have a flanker in Luke. He can hang out on his own and hop between terrain, and if need be I can activate him last to take care of a vaporator or kill a unit. I’ve thought about if I was playing against myself, “How do I beat this?” One kind of “shady” strategy is spend five turns getting ready and then have Luke go in on round six just kill one enemy unit or tag a vaporator.

Q: I wouldn’t call that “shady,” I think the game starts to break down because the incentives are screwed up.

A: Right, right, so, defensively, I think, “Okay, I can add Moisture Vaporators.” What about Recover the Supplies? I go in and grab the middle and drag it back to my territory and I’m on the defense again. Or Luke steals one of theirs on a flanking maneuver because they didn’t protect their other supply crates, and that’s pretty much how it worked out in the tournament. Reckless Diversion soaked up everything, even to the point of Han dying, but they only had one unit left to shoot Luke with. I got the one pip card going the next round, Luke used Force Reflexes double moved and got out of there. And then, Intercept the Transmissions, those pieces are set, you have to go there, you have to reinforce, so I didn’t take one. And then Breakthrough, the only way we’re playing that is if it shows up in the right and my opponent wants to play it.

Last, but not least, this is a competitive list. If you play this list with your friends… you don’t like your friends. I felt bad for my buddy when we practiced with it, but you know, we did the whole competitive thing, timer, everything. But the last time we played, it was supposed to be casual, but he was antsing to get back to playing competitive, so I used the other list I would have taken to Michigan, which was Vader, six DLTs and three Sonic Charges at 779(!). It’s so mean with the mines and Vader’s three pip. There’s definitely a place for charges in a competitive meta. So, if you hate your friends, or want to reduce the number of friends in your friends list, play it.

Q: If bids continue to increase, how far do you think you might go in the future to secure Blue player?

A: When I build a competitive list, I don’t pay attention to the points that much when I build it, but then I see where I can strip it down to secure Blue player. I could have taken the HQ Uplinks out and been at 760. It’s still going to do what it wants to do, it’s gonna drop a lot of bombs and play defensively. If it happens that you can keep going down and it doesn’t hurt you, go for it. It shouldn’t have a target number, it should be based on of it’s competitive or not. You can’t really make an assumption because you would have to build every single list you think is competitive, and see what that costs. Right now, most people are just staying at 14 points because they aren’t willing to test it, but I think people should be testing it and trying to go way further. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, but that’s how the rules are: there’s a huge advantage to being Blue player. It’s obvious. It could get bad if FFG isn’t paying attention to it.



Q: If you had a chance to rewrite Key Positions, how would you do it?



A: The one thing I always point out when saying it’s broken is that there’s no range limit. It’s just “beyond your deployment.” That could be the simplest way to do it. I don’t know if that would be it. Granted, Key Positions is broken, no doubt about it, but I think the problem lies in the Blue player advantage. Blue player picks their side, Blue chooses what battle cards are brought to the table. That’s huge for just for taking a little less of an army. Especially on the Michigan tables – I spent a good half minute measuring what spots I liked and where the middle was. I picked my side and it was heavily favored. So give that to a Blue player, where terrain may be as dense as Michigan or less – I don’t think we’ll see the Gen Con or Nova tables again, because players want it dense. So to really fix Key Positions, you might have to go beyond it and fix being Blue. You still get to pick a side, but all the deployments and conditions should be in the stack, and you pull from the top three of each category. And this might be more enticing to the more casual players who come to tournaments instead of being annihilated by someone that understands Blue player and did make the low bid and makes it not fun.

Q: What is something you would share with someone if they asked you how to improve at Legion? (The sarcastic voice in the back of my head says, “A twenty point bid.”)

A: I’m heading the charge here at Pastimes in Niles, Illinois, so I’m the one teaching and trying to break all the bad habits that new players have. List building is the easiest thing – shave down your list, make it simple. No scopes, just bring DLTs. Max out your corps. I’d give them a hand with showing them how to maximize their activations, and show them why something is important or not important. Do you really need that Environmental Gear? How many times did you use it? Take off all your Scopes, your Stormtroopers already have precise one? Do you need to spend six points for an extra reroll? How many points is that? What else could you do?

Another thing: Use the range ruler all day long, every chance you get! And, understand what measurements are. When I learned that the 2 movement tool and the base is the exact length of Range 1 – oh my Lord. That made it so much easier, and again, I started measuring everything else out, and I can know a lot of things beforehand. So, definitely learn everything about the board, you don’t even need terrain. Questions like, “If you’re playing Advanced Positions, how far away will you be from one another? How many moves will that take?”

That wraps up this QA. Big thanks to Rick Stegich for being a good sport and taking my call while being a TO. Maybe we’ll see one another at the Las Vegas Open!