“Casting My Ballot”…On the Points Changes Tomorrow

Something big is about to happen in America…a stream about changing the point values of plastic Star Wars miniatures.

So there I was minding my own business, trying to decide if I was going to take the Calorie hit on an afternoon latte, when I looked at my local discord and saw that AMG had announced something:

Well, now I obviously needed the latte, there was postulation to be done.

So, since literally nothing else is going on today in America, I decided I was going to toss together my super quick guesses on what will be announced tomorrow as a little distraction for anyone who wants one. A quick aside: I really doubt they will change unit cards to revert them. Neither FFG nor AMG has ever to my knowledge changed a unit card to make a unit less good, it has a lot more impact than changing points and all and thus they have (correctly in my opinion) saved those efforts for making units MORE fun. So, I’m only gonna speculate on points because I think that’s all that’s gonna happen. Plus? I think that’s all the OVER-powered units need at the end of the day: to be at the value they should have been in the first place.

Keep in mind I wrote this super quickly and very off-the-cuff, don’t tell Kyle but I didn’t even tell him I was doing it until I was halfway done writing. I’m sure you will disagree with some stuff but this is all just silly guessing anyway. I actually think this is quite a bit MORE than what we’ll actually see (again, only 3 months of data here for them) but it was fun regardless to guess WILDLY so I hope you all enjoy it.

Let’s get to it.

GAR Adjustment Predictions

• Anakin +15: He should probably be as expensive as Luke, from a keyword standpoint I’d call them equal between Tempted and Disengage but Anakin has a better lightsaber while Luke has one additional health and courage. Maybe AMG can’t resist making all the big Skywalker boys cost the same. “But Luke costs 175” you say? Well, more on that in the Rebels section.
• ARC Troopers +6, ARC Strike Team +4, and Clone Commander +4: This would raise the cost of each unit by 10 and thus the cost of 4 full units in a 501st list by 40. If they increased the strike team cost by 4 then the increase for the ARC elements of the “nightmare list” alone rises to 56. That would basically result in one fewer strike team in that list, though that number likely rises with the likely Anakin increase as well as a certain other unit…
• Clone Commandos +10: I’m choosing NOT to believe the +20 example that Will Shick threw out there in his recent interview with Grey Squadron because I think that’s a clear overshoot. Remember, this unit is still basically tied with Bad Batch as the newest unit available for purchase. It’s a really bad feeling to buy something that is cool and good and then for that thing to be nerfed into near oblivion, and increasing the cost of a triple commando list by 60 just seems like it’s too much. This is the one I’m the least sure about though, it’s also possible they could keep the cost the same to allow GAR players to still field these as cheap-ish close-range fighters with the base gun while making their blaster cost 10.
• Bad Batch +5: It’s a bit too good for the cost but it’s less outrageous in my opinion than the above three, most of the lists that feature them also had commandos and Anakin at the very least so there will be a cumulative effect.
• BARC -5: Normal speeders have been disappointing after the cover changes and I think AMG is realizing the points hike they got universally just wasn’t necessary. Just leave my Fluttercraft alone ok?
• Padme and R2 -10: This is my Hail Mary pick, but they aren’t getting played at ALL.
• Wookiee Chieftain: No adjustment even though he should be 10 points less but he’s skated by for this long…grumble grumble

With all the above put together, the Anakin Quad Strike menace would go up by 86 points, which feels to me anyway like it SHOULD be enough to level the playing field…? They’ve done the testing not me so whatever it is let’s just hope it works!

Rebels Adjustment Predictions

They certainly don’t have anything that needs a nerfin’, but it’s not an easy question to decide what to buff or how much that’s even necessary but I see a couple of targets.

• Jyn, Lando, and Ahsoka -10: These are the heroes that seem to see the least play, Lando will certainly be helped when he gets a new unit card (already confirmed to be on the way, whenever that happens) but at least this may convince a few more folks to dust off their collections.
• Both Lukes -5: I think they’re not super-far off, and this nicely makes all the Skywalker boys 170, yay for symmetry!
• Tauntauns -10: They’re really rough compared to Dewbacks at the moment and this would help rescue Echo Base Defenders from its current doldrums.
• T-47 Airspeeder -10: Armor 3 is big ouch and when half of the factions regularly run lots of ranged impact it’s even more ouch, this feels more appropriate and also boosts EBD.
• Rebel Veterans -2: Speed 1 does really hurt, despite their better attack profile and access to Mark II’s, but I think they need to have a light touch because it’s so spammable

CIS Adjustment Predictions

I’m gonna be bold here and say that CIS is actually probably close to being balanced aside from a couple of key things

• Persuader (Snail) Prototype +10: I’ll die on this hill, it’s too good with Arsenal 3 and two ordnance slots, and close enough to the oppressiveness of the GAR alpha that I think it needs to be toned down
• Magnaguard Prototype -5: Maybe now they’ll get played???
• STAP -10: This probably still isn’t enough, but most speeders so bad right now
• Sun Fac and Poggle -10: And they probably still won’t get played until Geos get what I assume will be a new unit card in the future.

Empire Adjustment Predictions

I am afraid of Vader, I think that without GAR to beat up on Empire lists he may REALLY start dominating, but I have my doubts that AMG will see things the same way so I don’t think he’ll get touched. I actually don’t think Empire will get changed a TON because I think they’re going to benefit most from unit card changes, which are going to come (assumedly) later.

• Moff Gideon -15: This is another bold one but man 100 points is just crazy for this dude who is only just OK at fighting
• Kallus -5: His command cards as they exist now are too slow and people are just picking Krennic over him, he also is getting a new unit card as confirmed by AMG so that will probably be the REAL buff.
• Inquisitorious Training becomes FREE: To account for the fact that it is rarely helpful these days and may motivate folks to choose them more
• Shoretrooper Mortar -4: I just feel like the motivation to take them is super low right now
• Royal Guards -5: Gives Empire more of a melee choice apart from Dewback spam
• LAAT and GAV -10: “PLEASE PLAY WITH US!!!!”
• Dark Troopers -10: [in a robotic voice] “PLEASE PLAY WITH US!”
• Riot Control Squad -5 and KX Security Droids -5: I dare you AMG, I double dog dare you. Open the floodgates for accusations of using point adjustments to sell more models! But seriously these seem like crap out of the gate and I think 10 points off the typical unit may just be enough.

Mercenary Adjustment Predictions

• The original bounty boys (Boba, Bossk, Cad Bane) -5: These guys are also likely going to have unit changes but their usage has gone way down. Cad and Boba were champions of an objective play that no longer exists in this game while Bossk was great at a “poke them from range 4” style that also barely exists. The cards (whenever they show up) will be more impactful but this could make them see more air for now
• Pyke Foot Soldiers -2, Pyke Capo unit -4, Pyke Capo personnel -2: A small adjustment before, I assume, the unit may seem more major changes
• Shadow Collective Maul -5: He may end up with card changes in the future, but this seems about right for now
• Swoops -5: I’m hesitating here because I think it’s the best traditional speeder bike but they really shouldn’t have gone up with the edition change anyway they still die quite fast despite the dodge
• All Mandalorian Super-Commando Heavy Weapon upgrades, Shields, and Jetpack Rocket -2 each: This would mean that the full spam list would get 24 points cheaper…I already think it’s good but I still think it could use a small boost.

There you have it!

You can bet we’ll cover the real thing after it happens, until then feel free to speculate the day away!