For some other reason, I just happened to be looking at the Rebel Troop Cart a few minutes ago, and I finally realized what a vast improvement this piece is over the Desert Skiff from BHs.
I'll lay it out here.
Rebel Troop Cart
Cost: 15
HP: 50
Def: 18
Att: +0
Dam: 0
Speed 8
Troop Cart
Desert Skiff
Cost: 23
HP: 60
Def: 13
Att: +5
Dam: 20
Flight
Mounted Weapon
Rigid
Speed 8
Rapport (w/ Jabba)
Desert Skiff
Now, on first glance (and what I initially thought about the new Troop Cart) there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of difference. For 8 points less, the Troop Cart gains 5 Def (which is definitely great), but loses 10 HP, all attack abilities, and Flight. The loss of Rigid is nice and Mounted Weapon is probably a hindrance to the Skiff, but those aren't really that big of a deal.
So, initially, my response was to shrug off the Troop Cart and say "Eh, it's just a cheaper Skiff. That's kind of dumb." Well, in order to see what's really interesting about this, we have to look closer at the definitions of Troop Cart and Desert Skiff.
One of the things that always hurt about the Skiff was the fact that if the Skiff was defeated, anybody riding on it was defeated as well if you failed a Save of 11. Not too bad if you've got Force Users or Bodyguards riding on the Skiff, but otherwise, that's pretty harsh. Well, the Troop Cart only requires a save of 6 for that same effect. That's an extra 25% chance that you won't be defeated. That's a huge difference in my book.
Secondly, the Desert Skiff ability says that for characters riding on the Skiff, you count range to those characters by counting range to the Skiff itself, and then adding 1 square. Well, the Troop Cart says you count range to the passengers, by counting range to the Troop Cart itself! While, I believe this means that normal Melee attackers (those without Reach) can attack the passengers as well, this means that Melee pieces without Melee Reach can make their attacks from the Cart without having to disembark. This also allows characters to be effectively 10 squares away from a Commander and still be subject to the CE.
So, while I still think the Troop Cart will be a situational piece, I now feel like I see what makes it different, and what might make it actually more playable than the Skiff. The Troop Cart will certainly be better if the rules are clarified that enemy Melee characters cannot attack the passengers. Guess we'll have to wait till tomorrow to see how that one works out.
_________________ -Aaron Mand'alor "You either die a hero, or you live to see yourself become the villain."
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