Old gray beard himself, comes in at number nine. I
had him at number five on my list. There is no
denying that he was one of the top game changing
figures of 2008...or was he? ;)
He was one of the biggest commanders of the young
Rebellion, and was key in planning the assault on
the first deathstar. In the minis game his presence
was felt just as keenly. Before his release in
Legacy of the force, the master of character control
was San Hill. He alone could help you to out
activate your opponent and then hammer them into
oblivion. Along comes Dodonna and not only matches
San, but does him one better. With San, you had to
plan to play your whole game activating a single
character unless you could find a way to off him
when you wanted too (at least until force unleashed
came along). Dodonna came along and gave you the
choice of activating one or two pieces. You could
out activate everyone and then wail with multiple
figures once you rolled for the new initiative. If
that wasnt crazy enough, he got even better. As i
said he was a key general in the early rebellion,
but his influence, help and miniature all stretched
into the New Republic era. This piece is one of a
couple key pieces that really shoved the New
Republic squads to the front of the competative
squads. It also helped they were handed some very
key beatsticks and some nice tech as well, but there
was no denying Dodonna's influence in all of
this...or was there?
On the WotC forums, Bill Russell (Billiv) was an
outspoken critic of Dodonna. He said Dodonna was way
over rated and too much of a crutch piece (or
something to that effect). Many of us called him on
it, saying that Dodonna was indeed a very powerful
piece and one that could be very hard to reckon
with. Well, i dont know if he ever really proved us
wrong, but he went on to win the 2008 Gencon
Championship, playing Han cannon without Dodonna.
The biggest downside to Dodonna was probably more
for the judges than the players. Judging when people
were playing him was many times a bit of a
nightmare. So many times a player would get so
excited that they would not declare they were
activating one or two characters before spinning
their second character. This led to a protest from
the opponent and a counter-howl from the Dodonna
player. Once a hard line was taken on having to say
something before you moved anyone, it would always
calm down and people would be more careful -
usually. I have lost track of the number of times i
have forgotten to declare and had it cost me (nearly
cost me) the game.
No matter your view on Dodonna, there can be no
denying he had a major impact on the game. His
ability to help two of the best factions as well as
his cheap cost means he will never lose his
playability. Most players have learned how to adapt
to being out activated, which helps as well.
Tomorrow we look at one of the newest leaders of our
repetitive friends.
StarWars
freak82
Top 10 minis of ’08 countdown
# 10 Moff Nyna Calixte
#9 General Dodonna
K sorry I missed yesterdays review but I am here
with #9 on our list of the top 10 minis of 2008!!!
Today we re-review General Dodonna.
When this piece came out in LotF, I knew he was
going to be good, but I didn’t know he’d be this
good. He is always in my rebel squads and he is a
main reason why “speedy cannon” is so good. He
brings to the table activation control, which in my
mind is one of the most important parts of the game
if not the most important.
He is a piece that has stood the test of
time so far. But it seems like having more act’s is
getting less important with all the new really high
cost power pieces we got this year running around.
Nevertheless, the General will remain one of the
best low point pieces I the game.
100: 4/5 He is good and will almost guarantee
activation control but in 100 that doesn’t matter
near as much
150/200: 5/5 Here he is a great a piece much like
Mas and R2 Astro for the republic. And even
