Troop Cart (This character can transport up to 1
Large ally or 2 Small or Medium allies who end their
moves adjacent to it. Remove those allies from the
battle grid; they move simultaneously with this
character, have cover, and are considered adjacent
to it. They can make attacks, counting distance from
this character. A transported ally can return to the
battle grid immediately before your first activation
of the round. If this character is defeated, all
transported allies are also defeated; save 6.)
Alrighty, today we have the Rebel Troop Cart . . .
or as some call it, Skiff 2.0. Stat-wise, we have a
decent 50 HP and a solid 18 defence. Unlike the
skiff, you might actually miss this guy. You loose
the attack and damage rating of the skiff but
seriously, no one played the skiff for that.
So, how exactly does this guy differ from its
estranged brother? One of the oddities of the skiff
was that range to the transported characters was
determined as range to the skiff +1. Not so with the
cart. Range is counted to the cart and that's it. So
what kind of implications does this have? Well,
essentially, if you're adjacent to the cart, then
you're adjacent to it's passengers. Melee opponents
can attack your figs in the cart and you're melee
pieces can attack FROM the cart. Your passengers
still get cover from non-adjacent attacks, but since
it's the same distance to the cart as it is to the
passengers, your opponent can shoot at either
without needing accurate shot assuming the cart is
the closest fig. I could go on forever explaining
the oddities of this piece and you can see why
ruling on it can be such a nightmare . . . not
unlike the skiff really.
There are two figures that are BFF with this piece,
this first of whom we review the other day: the Hoth
Trooper with Repeating Blaster Cannon. Throw his sad
'speed 1' butt in his buggy and suddenly he can move
16 squares and still make all his attacks. The other
piece you should consider is Master Kota (whose
partner in crime should be Chewy, Rebel Hero, who
can bodyguard both Kota and the skiff.) It's been
ruled that Kota's repulse doesn't affect other
passengers or the cart itself . . . and since range
is counted from the cart, the radius of the blast
grows slightly. It can be devastating if you can
pull it off.
Do note that the cart doesn't have flight like the
skiff does, so terrain will bog down that impressive
speed 8. It's also worth noting that when the cart
dies (and die it will) the save required for
passengers on board is only a 6, rather than the
skiff's 11.
100pts 1/5: Don't try it here. It'll drop like a ton
of lead.
150pts: 3/5: Here you have enough room to set up a
gimmick with some support.
