While i fully recognize that this was a piece
that did have an impact on the meta, its a piece i
have to hate on principle. I did have him at #5 on
my list, but this piece to me represents where this
game started to go wrong. Han and the rebels were
bad enough, but Dash began the reign of the "OH!
lets make a shooter that can blitz the crap out of a
piece and then not be hit in return!" Dash began the
reign of the greater mobile, double, twin, evading
shooters. He isnt broken as his attack and damage
are low, but the fact he can have shoot four times
and do 20 DAM a pop with opportunist is still a
pretty good threat. All you have to do is add an
attack booster with your squad and you can get him
to a 13 or 14 attack, which is why he was so popular
with GOWK. Why they then tacked on evade and greater
mobile is beyond me. Now we have Darth Bane with
just as sick stats/abilities. This era reminds me of
the JWM days when the JWM HAD to be in every single
squad. Dash may not be quite as bad as back then,
but in the upper meta, he has had about that impact.
While he is justly positioned at #4, this is a
character i wish they really hadnt made.
Josh
Dash Rendar, Renegade Smuggler (29/40, Very
Rare—Imperial Entanglements; 70HP, ATT 6, DEF 15,
DAM 10, DEP 28)
For a lousy seven extra points compared to the
original Universe version of Dash, you’re picking up
a lot of extra bells and whistles. The original
Dash, while a decent shooter, was pretty weak and
kind of overpriced for what he brought to the table.
Renegade Smuggler really remedies all that. While he
loses 10 points on his damage score, he picks up
both Double
Attack and
Twin
making it possible for him to deal 40 points of
damage against a single target (bumped up to a
whopping 80 if you make him a late round activation
thanks to
Opportunist). One of the biggest problems the
original Dash had was his weak defense score (which
Renegade Smuggler still has) but nothing to protect
himself. Renegade Smuggler has both
Evade
and Greater
Mobile Attack. This means he’ll be able to make
all four attacks every round but isn’t forced to
stand in one place to do it. Even if you can’t get
him fully out of the line of fire,
Evade
will give you a chance to extend his life by
avoiding damage. As an added bonus, he picks up an
extra 10 hit points compared to the original Dash
which means your opponent will have to use one more
attack on him to bring him down regardless of
whether they deal 20 or 30 points of damage in a
hit.
While he’s much better than the original Dash, he
still has the problems that the original Dash does
in his stats. Both his attack and defense scores are
very weak. Even with his
Opportunist,
he’s only going to be boosted to a +10 to hit which
may still have trouble hitting your opponent’s
larger targets. His defense of 15 can also be
bolstered but it’s still a problem you’ll have to
deal with when you run him. Use
Greater
Mobile Attack as much as humanly possible to
keep him out of the line of fire.
Evade is
always helpful, but I’ve always found that relying
on saves is a dangerous way to go. You can take
advantage of it, but the
Greater
Mobile Attack will be much more reliable in
keeping Renegade Smuggler alive.
100 POINTS: Here, he’s a pretty good addition to the
right squad. Renegade Smuggler is a solid shooter
and as long as you don’t have to activate him early
in the round, he can be pretty nasty. He’ll be
best-paired with a mid-level beat stick (a 50-60
point piece would be ideal), so you can include him
and leave yourself with some points for a few grunts
to give you a few extra activations in your turn.
SCORE: 3
200 POINTS: With all the additional support that you
can bring in at the 200 point level, Renegade
Smuggler will be a very solid addition to a squad.
Being Fringe, he’s an excellent candidate for Master
Kota’s commander effect which makes him a stronger
attacker and raises his defense to a much more
acceptable level. With plenty of pieces to synergize
with him, Renegade Smuggler will be very effective
in this build format. SCORE: 4
Addendum for Top 10 Minis of 2009 List—Again, I
really don’t think I need to make any real revisions
to this review. I do like this version of Dash a lot
more than the original and he really can benefit
from some good effects to make him even more
dangerous. One of his best allies is the Rebel
factions old Admiral Ackbar since his Commander
Effect slides in well with Rendar’s existing
Opportunist
though Malak, Dark Lord of the Sith is also a great
commander for him. There are a lot of great
commanders that can really help him out and since
he’s such an improvement over the original Dash
Rendar out of Universe, it’s not really a surprise
to me that he shows up on this list.
Darth Mauler
Back at the end of last year, two factions had greater
mobile shooters that could hit for 80 damage: The
Mandalorians (Mandalorian Scout), and the Republic
(Captain Rex). While the Mandalorians needed this
advantage, the Republic was put far ahead of the
other factions by this advantage. But then, #4 on
our list appeared in Imperial Entanglements: Dash
Rendar, Renegade Smuggler, giving everyone such a
deadly shooter.
His stats are unimpressive. 70 hp is all right, allowing
for one more hit of either 20 or 30 damage. 15
defense, 6 attack, and 10 damage, however, are all
terrible. It will take some very distinguishing
features to set Dash apart.
What distinguishes Dash is the Greater Mobile, Double, Twin
combination. This gives him the deadly ability to
make 4 shots while moving. While this would not be a
very great threat with 6 attack and 10 damage, he
also has Opportunist, allowing him to boost those
stats to 10 attack and 20 damage. Combined with his
4 shots, that’s 80 damage. 10 attack, however, is
still pretty low, but since he’s a fringe follower
with Pilot, there are many ways to deal with this
(Just to name a few: Grand Admiral Thrawn GMY,
Jagged Fel, Wicket, R4).
Defensively, 70 hp and 15 defense leaves a lot to be
desired. Even with Evade, Dash is somewhat of a
glass cannon. Still, the Evade means he is likely to
survive longer than Rex. Add to that the 4 points
you save, and Dash RS can hold his own against Rex.
100 pts. 2.5/5 He is a glass cannon at this level. Most big
beatsticks that dominate this level are too hard for
him to hit, making him very ineffective. Still,
though, he might work if you combine him with Lord
Vader or Vader LOTF for a Dynamic Duo (though one
point is left over). The problem, though, is that at
this level running Dash means cutting out all
support if you want a beatstick.
150 pts. 4.5/5 Although held back slightly by his low
accuracy, Dash is highly competitive in this
shooter-dominated format.
200 pts. 5/5 At this level, his low attack is less likely
to hold him back.
