Aurra Sing

Hit Points: 130
Defense: 21
Attack: +11
Damage: 20
Cost: 37

General description:
Aurra Sing makes a good door stop against huge characters. Beyond that, this is a character that cries out for double attack.

Uses:
Reeks and other huge characters can be a real problem, or they can be effectively immobilized. By placing a character one square away from a door, you can effectively block that door, since the huge character can open the door, but can’t pass through… as they will have to step on your character. Normally your opponents will then try to shoot the door block and kill it, allowing the huge character to squeeze through. What you need is a single character with lots of hit points that is really hard to hit… and with the cover provided by a huge character, nigh impossible to hit. Enter Aurra Sing. At a defense of 21 (plus four for cover) she’s extremely difficult to hit. Even if you do manage to hit her, she can take a good half-dozen whacks and still be there. And when she shoots back, she’s going to hit.

Strategies and game play:
Use this character to tie up your opponents troops. If your opponent likes to use huge characters, place Aurra Sing one square away from a door you don’t want the huge character to go through. If that character is a Rancor or an Acklay, place Aurra two squares away… out of Melee 2 range. If your opponent sends other characters to try to kill you through the huge character, kill them off. Ignore the huge blocked beastie. This forces your opponent to keep dispatching reinforcements to kill Aurra. Take advantage of this with the rest of your squad to crush the remainder of your opponent’s forces.

Combos with other miniatures:
If you team Aurra Sing with Lando Calrissian, Hero of Taanab you have a ‘door sniper.’ Move Aurra up to a door near Lando. Open it. Shoot. Move back, closing the door. One of the highest complements your opponent can give you is: ‘I hate when you do that.’

Ways to counteract it:
If Aurra Sing is being used as a door block, your best bet is to go around her. Find another door. If you can’t, back away from the door, send in a group of troopers, clones, mercenaries, etc. to pick her off. She can only shoot one character at a time. Don’t send in a Jedi… no use giving her the Jedi Hunter plusses.

Strengths/Pros:
Very high hit points, attack and defense. Plus, she’s Fringe, so you can put her in any squad.

Weaknesses/Cons:
37 point cost. Ouch. She only fires once a turn – that’s a real weakness. I think we need an FAQ that says: ‘Oops, Aurra Sing gets Double Attack. It was a misprint.’ Then we’d have a Jedi Hunter.

Artwork and aesthetics:
Ever notice that there is a limited number of female characters in the game? This is a nice figure in that respect. In fact, she’s the only female in the game with more that 100 hit points.

Overall rating (1-10):
I give this miniature a rating of 6. Limited uses and high cost keep it’s rating lower than you might think..

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Utapaun Soldier

Hit Points: 20
Defense: 16
Attack: +5
Damage: 20
Cost: 10

General description:
The troopers in the regular factions (Empire, Rebel, etc.) almost always overpower the fringe characters…that is until you get to Utapau. Utapaun Soldiers have armor as good as your average Snowtrooper and they have as many hit points. But then they shoot better and cause more damage. Only Elite Stormtroopers do better, but they cost more. But the best part of Utapauns is their leader quality. Shooting for 20 damage is really good for a Fringe character, but add double attack to that and now you’re talking. These guys are my mercenaries of choice.

Uses:
Troopers. Use this characters in any squad where you would normally have mercenary troopers. A 100-Point team of Tion Medon and seven Utapaun Soldiers is quite powerful. This team can do about 90 points of damage a turn. That puts them on a par with most 150-point teams.

Strategies and game play:
Keep these troops under cover, but feel free to charge the enemy in larger numbers. In other words, if you outnumber your opponent, attack. If he outnumbers you, defend behind cover. Don’t forget to use combined fire on those pesky highly armored types. You’ll need the bonus plusses.

Combos with other miniatures:
You absolutely should have Tion Medon in any squad that contains more than one Utapaun Soldier. Having Tion means that your Utapauns do twice as much damage. Tion doesn’t give plusses to attack, so it can also be useful to put the whole mix in a squad that has a good leader like Admiral Ackbar, whose plusses are given to followers, not a specific troop type. In fact, Utapauns make good Rebel troops. They are cheaper than Elite Hoth Troopers and with Tion they get to fire twice as often. The Tion/Utapaun combo even makes Lobot/Jabba useful. In a 150-Point team you can buy Jabba, use him to get three more Utapauns and then don’t worry about him. Played right, ten Utapauns and Tion are more than a match for many other 150-Point teams.

Ways to counteract it:
Make them come after you. If they have to move, they don’t get the double attack from Tion. You’ll also want to get them out in the open or charge them. The 16 defense will be hard enough to hit without bonuses from cover. If Tion is present, you absolutely must kill him first. When he dies it’s like the Utapauns are cut in half.

Strengths/Pros:
Double attack at 20 points of damage per shot… you have to like that.

Weaknesses/Cons:
They really require their leader and his bonus does not include any attack plusses.

Artwork and aesthetics:
The spear looks like a melee weapon so the figure is a bit confusing, but the armor has a distinct cool factor to it.

Overall rating (1-10):
With Tion this figure is a 7, without him a 4.

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Vornskr

Hit Points: 70
Defense: 18
Attack: +10
Damage: 10
Cost: 27

General description:
These are mean little buggers I normally refer to as the ‘rats’ … due to their appearance. If your opponents like to always include one monster force-user, this is the character for you. For example, if you have an opponent who constantly picks Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, you can send two ‘rats’ after him. For a lower price they have more hit points than Luke (140 to 130) and can not only do some damage, but if you are lucky they can keep a opponent from engaging with that high level character at all.

Uses:
Stop single high level Jedi/Sith. Destroy them or keep them impotent. There is also something deeply unnerving and morale shaking about having your Jedi eaten by rats.

Strategies and game play:
Use these in teams of two when you know a high level Jedi/Sith will be in use… as is the case with players you’ve played several times and they always play Darth Vader. (Sometimes, you can tell these players even before you play them!) Use stealth to keep your Vornskrs out of the line of fire until they get to their target. If the Jedi/Sith gets sent off by himself, send the ‘rats’ in. If you win initiative and the Vornskrs are in range, always move the ‘rats’ first on your turn. You want to get a chance to attack the Jedi/Sith before he gets to activate. They get +14 to hit and they’ll do 20 points of damage when they hit. They also have a 50/50 chance of forcing the target to activate…rendering it useless for the round. If you’re having a really good day they will poison the Jedi/Sith as well… possible 60 points of damage in a single round. Roll a natural 20 with one of these and you’ll be able to hear even the most stoic opponent moan. After the main force-user is dead, send them after any other force-user. If none are present, look for low level troops to mop up.

Combos with other miniatures:
Nobody much likes the ‘rats,’ so they pretty much work on their own. You actually want to use the other characters in your force to concentrate on the rest of the enemy team. Let the Vornskrs have their fun. Don’t use with characters that have Dominate. The natural targets of the Vornskrs are the exact characters you’ll want to dominate and turn against their owners.

Ways to counteract it:
Do not engage, especially with Jedi/Sith. Let your support troopers handle these guys. Your main job is to keep them away from your force-users. Fortunately you will always know who their targets are. Shoot them from a distance if possible, though their stealth will make this difficult. If you have droids, send them in. Destroyer Droids make perfect ‘rat’ catchers.

Strengths/Pros:
Nice hit points and just the type of special skills that one needs to stop a high level force-user. Fair defense and attack plusses for use against Jedi/Sith.

Weaknesses/Cons:
No force immunity. If they had that, we’d be talking real Jedi killers…and possibly unbalanced game.

Artwork and aesthetics:
These figures could also be used for giant rats in any D and D Miniature game.

Overall rating (1-10):
I give this miniature a rating of 9.

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