“And as my first act with this new authority, I will create a grand army of the Republic to counter the increasing threats of the Separatists.”

–Chancellor Palpatine, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones

From the earliest days of the Clone Wars and the Trade Federation’s blockade of Naboo, to the Rebel Alliance’s struggle against the Empire, to the First Order’s rising aggression, massive armies and military forces have determined battles throughout the Star Wars saga. Whether these battles are fought on a planet or in the void of space, the fearless commanders, soldiers, and pilots who decide the conflict have shaped the galaxy as much as any Force user or roguish smuggler.

In Star Wars™: Destiny, the collectible dice and card game of saga-spanning duels, you’ll find an entire faction devoted to the military forces of the Star Wars saga, including admirals, ace pilots, and skilled soldiers, as well as the tactics they use on the battlefield. Today, we’ll take a closer look at the Red cards that you might encounter within the Awakenings booster packs.

Launch the Assault

Though the heroes and villains of Star Wars: Destiny are split between two sides, and hero cards and villain cards cannot be included in the same deck, many Red cards are united by certain similarities. Whether you’re flying an X-wing with the Resistance or leading an army of Stormtroopers into combat, the military forces of Star Wars: Destiny share an unmistakable speed and an ability to control the battlefield.

In a game of Star Wars: Destiny, you’ll soon learn that speed is essential. The ability to deal more damage faster than your opponent ultimately translates to victory. Across both hero and villain sides, the Red faction offers the chance to quickly accelerate your plans. For instance, you may play Squad Tactics (Awakenings, 143) to activate any number of your non-unique characters at once! If your team is built around non-unique characters—the nameless pilots and soldiers who support the major players from the background—Squad Tactics can give you a significant advantage as you pull together an early offensive.

And of course, the galaxy’s heroes and villains also have their own takes on speed. When you fight for the light side, you could stage a Hit and Run (Awakenings, 106) attack, which lets you immediately activate one of your Red characters. What’s more, this event has the ambush keyword, which lets you take an additional action before your opponent has the chance to react. As the dark side, however, you gain access to Tactical Mastery (Awakenings, 74). This event allows you to take up to two additional actions, so long as you can spot a Red character that you have in play. Though these events each offer different approaches, they share a common theme—giving you more actions and helping you activate your characters faster than your opponent.

A Red team will also care much more about maintaining control of the battlefield than other factions might. In a normal game, the battlefield may switch back and forth between players multiple times, but many Red cards can only be used if you control the battlefield, giving you a vested interest in keeping control of it. If you control the battlefield, you can use Defensive Position (Awakenings, 104) to remove all of your opponent’s high-value dice—greatly mitigating the damage you might receive this turn. Or, you might play Occupation (Awakenings, 71) to strip your opponent of resources and create an opening for your next onslaught! And of course, either side can take advantage of an Outpost (Awakenings, 53).

And of course, it’s valuable to note that speedy activations and controlling the battlefield go hand-in-hand. After all, if you activate all of your characters, use their dice, and complete your plans faster, you’ll most likely have an opening to claim the battlefield before your opponent.

Commando Ops

Though the heroes and villains of the Red faction share a number of tactics and similarities, they also have distinct differences. While the villains care nothing for the lives of their soldiers and willingly sacrifice hundreds to achieve victory, the heroes are often forced to wage war through cunning and guerrilla tactics.

For instance, you may equip one of your characters with Scout (Awakenings, 33). This upgrade offers some ability to manipulate your own dice or discard your opponent’s resources, but more importantly, it has a one-third chance of letting you look at your opponent’s hand and discard the cheapest card. Between gaining information about your enemy’s plans and whittling down their hand, your Scouts could prove invaluable.

If you’re working to destroy your opponent’s hand, you can supplement that by launching a Commando Raid (Awakenings, 103). Rather than directly attacking your opponent, this event lets you resolve one of your Red dice showing a discard result, increasing the die’s value by two. And if that weren’t enough, you also get to draw a card, representing the new information that you’ve stolen from your opponent.

Obliterating your opponent’s hand can be punishment enough, but it’s even more punishing when Admiral Ackbar (Awakenings, 27) is one of your characters. Though he’s not as damage-oriented as some other heroes, Admiral Ackbar is an exceptional supporting character, generating resources, discarding your opponent’s cards, and changing your dice. He also has an ability, which reads, “After an opponent plays or discards the last card from their hand, they choose and deal 2 damage to one of their characters.” Discarding your opponent’s hand is often its own reward, but if you can turn that into some damage as well, even better!

Into the Gauntlet

While those who support the light side may need to wage war in secret, using sabotage and infiltration to achieve their goals, the galaxy’s villains have the benefit of a massively superior military machine. With countless, mass-produced vehicles and faceless soldiers, they seek to crush their opponents with overwhelming force—and they’re willing to sacrifice their own warriors to do it.

For instance, you may rally your First Order Stormtroopers (Awakenings, 2) around Captain Phasma (Awakenings, 1). Captain Phasma is an able leader, giving each of your non-unique characters the Guardian keyword. Essentially, this keyword lets you head off your opponent’s attacks—before a character with Guardian activates, you may deal it damage equal to the value of a die showing ranged or melee damage in your opponent’s pool. Then, the targeted die is removed from the pool. Obviously, choosing where your opponent’s attacks go can be very powerful, and you might even form your whole team around this, gathering an elite Captain Phasma and two First Order Stormtroopers for a total of twenty-nine points.

You can also deal damage to your own figures with The Best Defense… (Awakenings, 75). As we’ve shown before, this event allows you to deal damage to one of your Red characters in order to remove two of your opponent’s dice. Obviously, damaging your own characters can end badly, but the ability to remove your opponent’s dice may be worth the risk.

Between your opponent’s attacks and the damage that you inflict on yourself with the Guardian keyword, it’s almost inevitable that some of your characters will be defeated. Fortunately for these soldiers, death is never the end. Endless Ranks (Awakenings, 70) is one of the most expensive events in the game, coming in at five resources—but its effect is worth the cost. After all, this event lets you return one of your defeated non-unique Red characters to the game, fully healed and ready to join the fight once more. By playing this event, you effectively negate the effort your opponent put into destroying this character, and you’re in a perfect position to keep guarding attacks and setting up larger strikes.

A Military Machine

The cards that we’ve shown today are far from everything that the Red faction has to offer. Within Awakenings booster packs, you’ll find iconic characters like General Grievous and Poe Dameron, massive vehicles like the AT-ST and Black One, and countless other upgrades and tactics. Join us for our next preview as we look at the Force users of Star Wars: Destiny, and join the conversation in our community forums.

Pre-order Star Wars: Destiny at your local retailer today!