watcher4242

May 23, 20219 min read

Custom Ship Pack: LAAT/le Patrol Gunship

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Today's ship pack is the LAAT/le Patrol Gunship, the police version of the LAAT/i Gunship we all know and love from the clone wars. This ship was incredibly similar to the LAAT/i so I was originally hesitant to create it as it would fill a similar role to the LAAT/i. However, as this ship played a prominent role in Rebels, for the Empire, I think its a perfect fit for the faction.

So let's get stuck in!

The Lore:

The LAAT/le was originally built for the Republic as a police gunship for use in the Coruscant lower levels, keeping order in the chaotic dark. After the Clone Wars, as the Empire rose in the place of the Republic, they needed an effective but cheap vehicle to deal with the now oppressed and restless citizens across the galaxy. Although the Lambda, Sentinel(coming soon) and TIE Reaper were all in service, the LAAT/le was quicker to mobilise, smaller and easier to manoeuvre in tight spaces, all of which were good qualities for a ship that would be used in urban environments.

The Overall Design:

The LAAT/le is one of mannnnnyyyyyyyy shuttles for both the Republic and Empire which makes it a little bit of a problem for introducing them into the game. This is difficult because you don't want to make them too similar to other shuttle in the faction and have people just see them as more pointless crew carriers. The major difference with the LAAT/le that made me decide to make it was two-fold; firstly, its smaller size makes it both a more manoeuvrable and cheaper shuttle than most. Secondly, it just came out in Legion, so there are lots of pretty pictures I could use!

The Stats:

As I said, this thing is smaller than its brother the LAAT/i. Its size reduces its strength, even if it's not by much, making it a small base ship and fewer hull points than the LAAT/i. Because of this, I'd say the LAAT/le would have about 7 hull, but still quite tough even without the shields!

Its weapons are also less powerful compared to its brother as well, as it had far less of them. Where the LAAT/i had its two front and one rear bull-turrets combined with its composite beams, the LAAT/le loses the composite beams. Because of this, I made it have a front and rear attack, with the rear being a meagre and useless 1 attack die, and the front being a widespread 2 attack dice to show the ball turrets wide arc.

This ended up with the LAAT/le having the following stat line:

Front Half: 2

Rear: 1

Agility: 1

Hull 7

The Actions:

The LAAT/le's actions were always very obvious to me. With it having the normal focus and a red reinforce like the LAAT/i, a red lock for its missiles and finally a white jam for cutting the communications of those pesky civilians!

The Upgrades:

As I said the LAAT/le had missiles, so that is one slot down. The next was also easy, with it being a troop carrier, it makes sense for the gunship to have a pair of crew slots to let it fill this role. Then finally add a modification slot to round it off!

The Dial:

I've constantly mentioned the LAAT/le and LAAT/i are very similar. This means I've practically given it an identical dial to the LAAT/i, only giving it access a zero stop rotate to show its more effective repulsor lifts compared to most ships and its brother.

The Ship Ability:

I had a problem with this ship from the beginning, its solar panels were bugging me. It was an obvious hint towards what the Republic would become with the TIE series. However, it is in no way a TIE craft, so I couldn't give it the V-Wing's ship ability. Originally I gave it its current ship ability but was unhappy with it as I felt it would be far too powerful for all TIE ships that also have the same solar panels. Then I realised this shows how its solar panels were more of a way to gave the craft additional boosts of power, not provide it with its full power (like with the TIEs), so it could reduce the difficulty of its otherwise poor dial and action bar. It also gave me charge tokens to work into the pilot abilities.

The Pilots:

Clone Commander Fox:

Starting with the Republic we have Fox, the loyal clone trooper who was assigned to lead the deadly Shock Troopers who protected Coruscant itself. His ship ability allows him to either coordinate or jam a ship after getting a lock on them. Because you can lock at range 0-3 this is a massive boost to your coordinate and jam actions. This, with his high initiative, makes Fox an effective pilot of the LAAT/le, despite him not being able to both reduce the difficulty of the lock and get a free jam/coordinate. However, good old Targeting Computer solves that problem! Points wise I'd say Fox sits around 43-47 points thanks to his initiative, ability and talent.

"Hound":

I understand why Hound got his spot as a LAAT/i pilot, but it makes even more sense for him here, allowing him to have a more accurate ship for him to track down his prey. His new pilot ability is very similar to his original, however, slightly improved letting him either transfer a red token like before or acquire a lock reflecting his abilities as a tracker. It also, like with Fox, lets him become both much better as a support ship or a more aggressive vessel. Points-wise Hound is possibly as good as Fox it not better, however, his lower initiative and lack of talent brings him down, making him about 40-44 points.

Rukh:

Now we move onto the Imps. Like with Hound, Rukh was a capable tracker in Thrawn's service (I promise no more Thrawn cards(this time...)). Because of this Rukh gains similar easy access to locks. However, he isn't as well adjusted for aiding his allies, this makes him less of a support ship than the other options in this pack. Rukh is also interesting as he's the only named pilot to not need to spend their charge tokens to use their ship abilities. This makes him a little more flexible and one of the better plots for the ship as he can more consistently reduce the difficulty of his red manoeuvres or reinforce. Combined with his talent I'd say he would sit around 37-40 points.

Arihnda Pryce:

I'm very happy with Arihnda's pilot ability, I feel it perfectly captured her ruthless nature of stepping on others to get her way, as well as her scene taking down Kanan in Rebels. This scene and her ability lets her gain a victory while recklessly destroying Imperial assets. Her ability is incredibly strong to pair with a swarm of TIE/ln Fighters, however, her low attack dice does cause a problem for her actually hitting and destroying these. A way around this would be to give her Ruthless. which lets her damage a friendly ship at range 0-1 of the defender (including the defender) to change a result to a hit result. This means she can cripple them while improving her chances of hitting them, making her absolutely ruthless!

However, one small problem, I imagine she's a poor combat pilot, so no talent... If only we knew a custom X-Wing creator who'd make a card to get around that problem.

Because of the massive cost of a friendly ship, the risk of damaging other allies in the explosion of her kill and her low initiative and low attack value, she's actually cheap compared to the other pilots, at about 35-37 points.

The Generics:

Well, we have quite a few here, with two for each faction. And as normal we have the two talentless grunts and two talented aces. Points-wise I'd say: The Lothal Oppressor and Coruscant Guard Pilot are both 35-37 points. The Outer Rim Enforcer is about 34-36 points and the Inner Rim Police Officer is 33-35 points.

The Upgrades:

Clone Commander Fox:

Fox's crew ability lets him aid his allies in pushing forward more damage, even if it causes them to become strained. He also has a natural bonus against force users thanks to his experience chasing down Ahsoka during the Clone Wars. I'd say he's about 1-3 points because although he's effective against force sensitives, his ability is otherwise not too deadly.

Hound (and Grizzer):

I felt Grizzer needed at least a name drop! Hound's crew ability is overall similar to the R3 Astromech's ability with two slight changes. Firstly he actually gives you a white lock, especially useful for the LAAT/le. And secondly, he can stack the number of locks he can maintain with the R3 Astromech, meaning on the ARC-170, he could maintain up to three locks! He is a must-have for Fox, making it much easier for him to get a lock for his ship ability. This makes him about 4-6 points.

Valen Rudor:

Ace pilot and arrogant baron, Rudor, like all good Imperial aces know how to look after their own skin better than all others. He knows how to take advantage of the loss of an ally to either escape or close the range on an enemy target (as he knows they've already shot). His ability is very similar to his TIE/ln Fighter pilot ability, except restricted to only one action. He's incredibly useful in a list with Pryce, either on her to get a boost off after killing one of her allies, or on another ship, letting it close the range for a better attack when Pryce makes the kill. Points wise I'd say he's about 2-4 points.

Rukh:

I felt it would be nice to give out another way to gain one of the rear and precious cloak tokens, and Rukh's personal cloak gives me this opportunity. The cloak is only able to last a short time, however, you can extend the time it's active by suffering critical damage. A high price to pay, but with him still being able to perform attacks, it's a worthwhile price. Because of this, I'd say Rukh is around 8-12 points.

Royal Imperial Cadet Co-Pilot:

Well well well, a way to give Pryce a talent... As Royal Imperial is located on Coruscant, I imagine a large number of Cadets being sent on police missions in these ships as training.

The cadets at Royal Imperial were some of the best, but still young, so I imagine although they are talented, any stress would take away those talents. Points wise I'd say they are around 1-3 points.

Shock Trooper Training:

An upgrade built to show the training of both the Republic and Empire's elite Shock Troopers, this talent allows your pilots to easily close the distance between themselves and their opponents, letting them cause more damage. This is especially useful on the LAAT/le as it can boost past and use its wide front arc or rear gun to still attack its opponent while avoiding being attacked. Points-wise I'd say it's about 4 points for small ships and 7 for medium ships.

Search Lights:

An upgrade built to work on the LAAT/i, LAAT/le or even the LAAT/c (another ship I'm tempted to do...). Search Lights are made to give the other LAATs the LAAT/i's ship ability and the LAAT/i charges for its ability. The idea is for it to also work alongside another upgrade I've made, Additional Composite-Beams, making LAAT/i pilots have to decide between wider attack coverage that also spend your charge tokens, or more rerolls. Points-wise I'd say it's about 6-8 points.

Example List:

Pryce's Price:

Arihnda Pryce (35)

Royal Imperial Cadet Co-Pilot (2)

Ruthless (1)

Ship total: 38 Half Points: 19

Academy Pilot (22)