Chabelo Jedi Hunter wrote:
Im with Boris too, minis like Aurra Sing JH and Mara Jedi are so powerful cause of the lightsaber ability, they can bring down in one turn a lot of minis (Big cost minis like all Windus) in one single assault, and is weird that he is attacking with a lightsaber but cant block it, it makes non sense in the game, and if you see the game with a little reality, so if it counts as a melee attack, they will be less powerful than they already are, cause they can combine fire, and almost nobody uses Mara with some spoter guys, but if she attacks an unactivated mini with spotter 20, she has an att of 20 and deals 50 dmg if hit so by giving her melee on those attacks, gives you a chance to survive
In general, I also support this change. But don't make the mistake that doing so would make Aurra and Mara less powerful. It merely changes how they interact with particular minis. Those with deflect lose the ability to survive a Mara Assault. Those with block now gain it. Mara now has the choice to get around both deflect and block, not just deflect as it is now.
It makes these two minis better actually (although its only a marginal increase in power).
And btw, I've used Mara and Aurra with spotters all the time. Lou ran Garindan as a standard reinforcement for Aurra and Boba Merc at Gencon.
The issue of power with these two also must apply to all minis with a lightsaber if you are going to make a change for "sense reasons". Which is the primary reason people want it. It makes no more sense to only change the lightsaber +10 ability and not force Aurra's LS Sweep to also become a melee attack. It also means Cade will not cause splash when adjacent. It also likely means that Aurra and Mara get base 20 dmg when attacking adjacent, so now Mara's deadly attack gets the extra 10 on a crit (40 instead of 30, or 50 instead of 40 with cunning).
And if we go with the rule that is used for the Geo (I think the most logical) - Aurra and Mara must use their lightsaber when adjacent, which is why it must also be applied to all lightsaber non-melee figures in the game.
Net effect on the meta is that LS block goes up in value, and deflect loses a little - they do not offset however. Block is present on most of the good melee figures in the game already. They all get a lot better in top tier competition. Deflect only users like most Luke Skywalkers, lose some of their value. Personally, I am pretty sure that block is a cheaper power than deflect in most of these characters, and that will have a major effect on the meta.
So while I would support a change, please be clear about what it would do to other figures in the game. I will never support a change to only the LS +10 rule without dealing with all of it, that makes it even more stupid and less real than the current rules. It needs to be all or nothing. Right now, its pretty easy to explain to people - if the card says melee, its melee. The Geo is an easy one to explain as well as its right on the card. This change would be infinitely more confusing if its not consistent because its not on the cards. Please be clear about that before you make any decision about this.