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Antares Draco
Legacy of the Force


Date Reviewed: May 7, 2008

Ratings:  Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being the worst.
3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating.

100 pt: 3.0
150 pt: 3.0
200 pt: 3.0

 
Sith Dragon

Antares Draco
Imperial
Cost: 33
HP:  100
DEF: 20
ATK: +10
DAM: 20

Imperial Knight; Double Attack; Synergy +4 (w/ Imp Knights); Cortosis Guantlet 18

Force 4
Lightsaber block; Force Push 2

Today we look at the new Empire Gimmick - the Imperial knights.  I really like all of these and wish we saw more Jedi like this in the mid 30 range that are solid pieces.  Antares isn't anything awe inspiring, but is good.  For 33 points his stats are very solid.  The +10 is not real great, but when you run a squad of Knights, his attack becomes a very solid +14.

His force powers are pretty blaze'.  He has block and force push 2.  However, the new ability of the knights in Cortosis Gauntlets is a pretty wicked ability.  If you block a Jedi's melee attack with an 18 or higher, you reduce the attackers damage by 20!  Most every Jedi will not be able to do any damage unless they have some sort modifier or roll a crit.  Having your Loda or Vader left without being able to cause damage can be a real moral sinker.  And just an FYI - CG is treated as a modifier.  It does not make the damage stat a 0.  You figure out all your damage and then subtract the 20, so a Jedi with Cunning or opportunist can still do 10 DAM on an attack with thier modifier.  A crit would also do 20 DAM.

100pts: Nope.  Antares and Knights are not big enough to run here.  Barring a CG block, they will be dropped very fast by the meta jedi, and they have no defense against shooters.

150pts: He is not quite good enough to run here.  If you are playing fun games give him and the knights a go, but otherwise, hejust will not stand up to the meta squads that rule 150.

200pts: Here they can be much more effective.  Antares can have the Emperor for more force points, Vader or Fel for a more powerful Jedi, or just lots of back up troops.  Antares is solid for his price, but he wont be game breaking.  Granted Jedi are really going to fear that CG.

willis
maximus

Antares Draco
 
Faction: Empire
Cost: 33

HP: 100
Def: 20
Att: +10
Dam: 20

SA:
Unique
Pilot
Imperial Knight
Melee
Double Attack
Synergy (+4 attack while an allied Imperial Knight is within 6 squares) 
Cortosis Gauntlet 18 (whenever this character rolls an 18 or better on a save when using Lightsaber Block against an enemy with a lightsaber, that enemy gets -20 Damage fo the rest of the round

Force 4:
Lightsaber Block
Force Push 2
 
There are a handful of new Imperial pieces in this new set that offer new playstyles for this particular faction.  Antares Draco is an extremely effective mid cost beatstick that works best with other Imperial Knights.  What you end up with is a melee heavy squad that doesn't have to depend on a "Thrawn Swap" or other CE's to be effective.  At first glance, Draco's stats will probably feel a tad low to you, which is a familiar feeling in this set.  100HP is average for a melee piece in this price range and the 20 Defence seems to be a new standard.  A +10 attack is low by itself and of course the 20 Dam is standard.  The trend I'm noticing in this set is that we're getting pieces with deceptively low stats, as their special abilities tend to make up for them.  Draco is one of these pieces.
 
First off, that +10 attack turns out to be plenty when you consider that running Jagged Fel (who, btw, costs 10 pts and grants Gregarious to Pilots boardwide) will grant Draco a +4 when within 6 of any ally.  It gets even better when that ally is another Imperial Knight which will give him ANOTHER +4 for synergy.  So now what to we have?  We have a 33 pt beatstick running around with a +18 attack.  Block helps out that 100HP as well, so we're set offensively and defensively stat-wise, especially if your opponents squad is melee heavy.  In fact, there's one more reason that you'll actually be *hoping* your opponent is running lightsaber beats:
 
Cortosis Gauntlets have to be one of the coolest, most demoralizing and game changing abilities in the game since Disintegration.  There are various levels of the ability so be sure you know which one you're dealing with.  Draco has Gauntlets 18 which means exactly this: if you roll a block save of 18 or higher (15% chance) against an opponent with a lightsaber, then that opponent gets -20 damage on all their attacks for the rest of the game.  In other words, that means your opponent's beatstick becomes useless barring a crit, CE or some other ability that increases damage.  Take Shaak Ti, Jedi Master for instance.  If Gauntlets went off on her then for the rest of the game she would swing for 10 damage with cunning and 0 damage without.  Amazing.  Something to keep in mind though is that the penalty is applied like bonuses . . . in other words, after doubling base damage for crits.  If your opponent crits it will do 20x2=40-20=20 damage.  Regardless, it's an amazing ability when it goes off and it does so more often then you might think.
 
100pts 3/5:  Draco can do ok here with the right support, namely other Imperial Knights.  However, you will most likely need to make good block saves and even get a Gauntlet to go off to beat the dominating beatsticks in this format.  Fortunately this format is melee/lightsaber heavy so it's definately worth a shot.
 
150pts 3/5:  More support and even a solid shooter to help out will be a huge boost to his effectiveness.  However, your opponents will field more shooters here which means Draco is defenseless against them.  Bottom line:  If fighting melee, he's good.  If fighting ranged, he has trouble.
 
200pts 3/5:  A lack of defence from ranged threats hurts him a lot especially since shooters tend to dominate here.  It would be fun running a bunch of Knights here, and you'd probably do ok, but don't expect it to be top tier.


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