If there is one set that just seems absolutely necessary from a purely thematic point of view, it’s the Hello There Squad Pack. In the core set, you get Anakin and Snips, you have Rex and the 501st… but where is Anakin’s partner in crime? Where is Obi-Wan and Commander Cody to really bring the feel of The Clone Wars? It doesn’t surprise me that this was one of the first expansions available for Shatterpoint. The core set offers a wide variety of different combinations to showcase what you can do with the game. For squad building, for recreating those battles, you are going to want expansions like this, that are really going to make you feel like you’re playing through an episode of The Clone Wars.
A small sprue with every character on, cards for every language and the bases. Scan the QR code on the leaflet inside and it’s time for assembly. Up first is Obi-Wan Kenobi. I was slightly concerned after assembling the older Kenobi and having the mould line across his face, but I shouldn’t have been. This model is a breeze to assemble. Nothing is particularly complicated, and Kenobi comes together perfectly. The face is straight up Obi-Wan, as is the classic pose that we’ve all seen in the films and The Clone Wars. If you can’t tell, I’m a huge fan of this model! The only thing to note is the terrain at his feet, there are no instructions for this. As a seasoned miniature hobbyist, this is great, I love that I can have a play around to see what fits, or even if I just want to leave it off completely. For those who are new to the hobby, it may seem a little daunting. My best advice is to look at what others have done, how have they placed the terrain? Where are Kenobi’s feet in relation to them? For me, I actually left them off as I wanted the base to match what Anakin was on and having some sand terrain seemed very out of place.
Next up is Commander Cody. I always worry that legs won’t fit correctly onto a base, particularly when there is a bit of wiggle room with them. To combat this, with Cody I attached his left leg and the terrain he stands on first (pieces B04 and B09) before attaching the right leg (B03). That way I could make sure the right leg was in the correct position. The grenade holder. If you’ve followed my reviews, you’ll know how much I don’t enjoy these. For this one, the insert bends towards the left. To make your life easier, I’d attach the holder before attacking the left arm, as it does get in the way. Then it comes to the choice of heads: Helmet on or helmet off? I always keep my clones helmeted but my gosh, this one really made me pause. Both sculpts are superb, both capture the character, but the distinct helmet won it for me… only just. The entire model is stunning, and I have to say, this is my favourite clone to date so far. The detail, the pose, it all captures Cody perfectly.
Then it’s onto Clone Trooper A (the one with both feet on the ground). This one is an extremely straightforward model to put together even with the arms. I glued the left arm on last and had the right waiting, just to give me some wiggle room before the glue completely dried. The fit is perfect. Even the grenade holder, with the arms completely out of the way, was very easy to slot into place. Trooper B is equally simple with the exception of the grenade holder. This bends to the right and is slightly trickier to get into place. The two models once assembled are exactly what you’d expect from the clones, poses taken straight from The Clone Wars.
An absolutely beautiful looking squad, are the cards just as stunning? Obi-Wan doesn’t have a tactic that can activate every time he does, but it really doesn’t matter. Kenobi is the sort of general that I think will be fielded in every Galactic Republic. His abilities just bring everything together. Patience allows you to put a reserved order card into the order deck, top or bottom, when you reveal Kenobi’s order card. The balance is, Kenobi must be placed in reserve. However, when you put him in reserve, he can heal three and jump. This allows for some manipulation of the order deck and depending on when cards are revealed, really give a boost to the team. What I think works really well though, is that it is about timing. It’ll be great to have it payoff but it’s not a guaranteed one. What if Kenobi is the last card you draw, or the first! It’s not just an incredible ability to have, it needs to be done just right. So Uncivilised is the perfect demonstration of how thematic Kenobi is. If he is attacked by ranged weaponry (in other words, for the most part, blasters!), if there is a failure, Kenobi does three damage back. A really nice touch for the Jedi Master. Knowledge and Defense is the real reason why Galactic Republic players will take Kenobi. They keep hunker tokens in melee, which if they have one in melee, allows them an extra defense dice. Furthermore, at the end of combat they can remove hunker tokens to heal and then may dash. It seems incredibly powerful, particularly if everyone has the Galactic Republic keyword. Then again, for a character like Obi-Wan, I wouldn’t expect anything less!
Commander Cody is a little different to other clones. His tactic is to give an enemy within five contesting an objective an exposed token. While interesting, that’s a lot to make sure that happens in order for that to happen. Particularly at the start of the game, if Cody gets activated, it almost seems a waste. Maybe when I use it in game, I’ll see more of a difference. Most of his other abilities are based around hunker tokens. Bring it Down is my favourite, allowing trooper supporting characters within four, with a hunker token, to reroll two failure dice for ranged attacks. Up until now, I don’t usually concern myself with hunker tokens, I end up in melee too quickly. However, with Kenobi allowing you to keep them and lots of abilities triggering off them, I think I’m going to have to change my game play. That’s what I’m liking about this squad, it’s a different sort of thinking to get the most of them within the game.
The 212th troopers themselves aren’t hugely different to what we’ve seen from clones. The co-ordinated fire from them gives an enemy pinned and I’ve seen before that having two clone units with coordinating fire and a main character in the centre, can be absolutely deadly. Like with the other clones, they get bonuses for having hunker, which with Kenobi I’m going to have to take more note of. So those are the highlights from the cards; now it’s time for gameplay.
Let me be absolutely clear: if you are playing Galactic Republic Squads, you want General Kenobi as one of your primaries. Kenobi is insanely good. His ability to allow all Galactic Republic units to keep their hunker tokens is extremely good by itself, but the fact that those units can then spend those tokens to heal, and dash is incredible. I watched while playing against my son Charlie, my units rushing across the battlefield and lasting a lot longer. Not only that but being able to dash and move quicker to different objectives was a real headache for Charlie. He wasn’t able to just concentrate fire on a single unit without risking them healing and moving. This ability alone is worth having Kenobi. Patience worked brilliantly and allowed me to reserve Kenobi and have him jump, meaning when I did activate him, he was much closer to where the action was and could get stuck in. His stance card I really like, particularly form IV which has the ability to do three shoves, something not to be scoffed at. Even his ‘hello there’ with a jump and three extra dice was just gorgeous in its power. One thing I will say is I’m not sure if Kenobi isn’t too powerful, but as a primarily Galactic Republic player, I’m really not going to complain!
As for the clones, the 212th are a fine addition to the clone trooper pool and their coordinated fire allows for you to pick which conditions you like to use. As for Commander Cody, sadly he is a little weak in comparison to other clones, particularly Captain Rex. One of the things I do like about him is his stance card, which allows you to use defensive maneuver if you get five or more hits. Of course, there is also that reroll ability, but I found that heavily relied on Cody activating first so he could be in a position for other clone units to utilise it.
All in all, this is the set to get if you are a Galactic Republic player. The abilities that Kenobi brings are worth it just to solely use him. Cody and 212th I’m not ready to give up on and I think if used with another squad correctly, they could equally be as good. It doesn’t surprise me that Kenobi is becoming a staple of tournament play and I can’t wait to try him with Mace Windu (although I imagine Charlie might have something to say about that). With absolutely stunning miniatures and my favourite clone sculpt to date, this further adds reasons as to why to buy this set. There are lots of expansions out, but this seems like one that every player who likes to field Galactic Republic should take and I don’t say that lightly. A must buy: “These are the units you’re looking for!”
