Today's ship pack is a highly requested pack, the Cloud Car from the Empire Strikes Back!
Like with my T-47 Airspeeder pack, this pack bends the rules on what is a starfighter, but we can pretend these are slightly modified versions that can take to space to defend Bespin from any incoming attacks.
So let's get stuck in!
The Lore:
The Cloud Car was built specifically for Bespin's Gas Giant environment by the builders of Cloud City themselves. They were most commonly used as patrol vessels by the Wing Guard, however, civilians could obtain them as personal airspeeders. The Cloud Car's twin-pod design meant that it could hold both a pilot and co-pilot/gunner, the first of which could concentrate on flying while the other can either concentrate on taking down an opponent or enjoying the view in comfort.
The Overall Design:
This ship would be by far the cheapest crew/gunner carrier in the game thanks to the fact it's a poor starfighter compared to most others in the game.
Because of that, I went with a ship that sits between a Vulture Droid in combat/defence and a Sheathipede-class Shuttle for its support role.
The Stats:
The Cloud Car is weak but still capable as we see it deliver a shot to the falcon that shook it a little, so I decided on a stat line identical to the Vulture Droid. I did originally consider one attack die front arc and two attack dice bullseye as I can't imagine that these things weapon's are all that good, but I know there is a strong dislike for single attack die, and it would make this ship unimaginably cheap.
So with that in mind, I settled on the Cloud Car having the following stat line:
Front: 2
Agility: 2
Hull: 3
The Actions:
This is a simple civilian/police craft, so I felt just the basic focus and evade actions were necessary. Next, I decided on giving the Cloud Car a red boost to help aid its otherwise slow dial. The last action is taken from the Battlefront game where they had access to jammers, so I added the jam action as well. This overall keeps it relatively well rounded, letting it become 'acey' with the boost and evade, but more of a support ship with the jam.
The Dial:
As I said the dial on this thing is slow, however, it is relatively manoeuvrable compared to other ships. This is because of the Cloud Card's repulsors, it can more tightly manoeuvre as needed around an urban environment.
The Ship Ability/Upgrades:
These are grouped together this time as it's one and the same for the Cloud Car. I decided the Cloud Car's second pod gives it a unique opportunity to be able to equip multiple types of upgrades like the T-70 and M3-A. With the Cloud Car, you can choose to equip either a crew or gunner as this ship's second pod could be used either as a passenger seat or gunner station.
The only other slot on this ship is the modification slot as there isn't much else this ship would have equipped that would compare to any standardized military vehicle.
The Pilots:
Lando Calrissian:
Of course good old Lando gets a spot here!
Lando's new pilot ability fits his nature in The Empire Strikes Back; both the smooth-talking scoundrel from Solo, but also the selfless General from Return Of The Jedi as he cares for the people of Cloud City. It also shows the deal he made with Vader to allow his people to avoid the wrath of the Empire, even if your enemies don't always follow through on the deal. I admit his ability isn't the best as most opponents won't take you up on the deal, because of this I'd say he's cheap being about 24-27.
Iden Versio:
Next, we have the Imperial turncoat herself, Iden Versio. During the events of the Battlefront 2 campaign, Iden and Del (after joining the Rebellion) escape Cloud City using a Cloud Car, using it to take out refuelling Star Destroyers. I made Iden's Rebellion pilot ability very similar to her TIE/ln pilot ability, letting her reduce the amount of damage a friendly ship suffers from an attack once every three rounds. This is incredibly useful, not only for the flimsy Cloud Car but for any allies who may need to shrug off a massive amount of damage, because of this she'd be by far the most expensive at about 27-32 points
Bexley:
Friend of Willrow Hood, Bexley was a Cloud Car pilot who tried to take precious and expensive cargo from him during the occupation of Bespin by the Empire. Bexley's pilot ability is a selfish version of Hera's new A and B-Wing pilot ability, letting her take a friendly ships token or lock for the duration of an attack or defence. This works well with another Cloud Car using Perceptive Copilot so she can take an evade, boost or jam each round and still have a focus when needed. I'd say she's the closest pilot to being an ace in the pack, because of this she's about 26-29 points.
Lobot:
Lando's loyal aid and friend, Lobot's cybernetic implants allowed him to run calculations incredibly fast and efficiently. However, the same implants were constantly trying to fully take over his humanity and control him. Because of this, I made his pilot ability allow him to easily gain free calculate tokens after performing focus actions. However, if he personally becomes damaged or ionised, he loses control and becomes little more than a droid, only being able to perform calculate actions. Points wise I'd say he's about 25-28 points.
Willrow Hood:
The star of the show, ice cream man himself, Willrow Hood! Willrow was hired to transport a secret cargo off of Bespin during the occupation of Cloud City, however, he lost the cargo multiple time until he finally escaped with Bexley (I know he's not really associated with the Rebellion in cannon, but he was in legends). Willrow's pilot ability shows his handling of the illicit cargo, allowing him to constantly pass around any illicit cargo ships may have (he would have one) letting him work as an advanced Cikatro Vizago. Points wise I'd say he's about, 23-26 points as although he has an illicit slot, he'd have no talent slot like the other named pilots.
The Generics:
We have two good old generic pilots, with Bespin's Wing Guard Officer being the more skilled and talented of the pair, with it sitting around 21-23 points, and the Outer Rim Scout Pilot being as cheap as the cheapest Vulture Droid at about 19-21 points.
The Upgrades:
Lobot:
Lobot's crew ability is specifically designed for the Lando's crew ability for the Rebellion. He lets you roll 1 additional defence die while calculating, increasing your chances of gaining multiple focuses and evades. The only disadvantage is that you'd need to be coordinated to be able to perform both actions or use K-2SO's crew ability to gain the calculate then hopeful have 4 tokens for the round! However, as it also boosts your agility, I'd say it's about 6-9 points.
Willrow Hood:
I decided to let Willrow bring his ice cream maker along for the ride when you equip him to any ship. However, he also has an issue with you making use of the illicit cargo he brings as he knows the person he's bringing it to will be rather upset if you used it instead. Points wise I'd say he's about 2-4 points.
Del Meeko:
Of course with Iden here Del needs to make an appearance! Del's crew ability works in a similar fashion to his TIE/ln pilot ability, however only needing the defender to be damaged, not the attacker. This shows he's fully embraced the Rebellion and its less destructive ways. Points wise I'd put him at about 5-9 points.
Shriv Suurgav:
Good old Shriv, who doesn't love him! Shriv's ability is an advanced version of the Suppressive Gunner, allowing him to give out stress, strain or deplete instead of just give a deplete token. This is very useful on the little Cloud Car as the attack is already unlikely to hit, so he can make use of his attack to set up an even tougher shot from a lower initiative ship. This would make him about 9-11 points.
Dio:
I'm a sucker for a cute droid and little old Dio is definitely one of them! Dio's ability to slot into astromech slots makes him unique as he's otherwise small enough to fit in a cockpit with any pilot, so I decided as long as Iden is the pilot Dio can come along for the ride. His ability lets him disarm bombs and remotes like the Republic R2-D2, but also gives you access to a range 0-1 attack in any direction that can ionise a ship. This is a risk as 360 degree attacks are always far too powerful, but with it being limited to twice per game and unable to damage ships I feel it's ok, but still expensive at about 8-12 points.
Iden Versio:
Her gunner ability lets Iden work well with both her droid Dio or Shriv, letting her double the amount of Ion tokens a ship would gain from Dio,or reduce an enemy ships agility for 2 attacks with Shrive passing out a strain. Because of this Iden is very powerful, making her sit around 4-7 points as she also gives you the ability to equip Dio to a ship as well.
Conclusion:
Like with the snowspeeder I've always wanted to make this ship as I have an old little toy Cloud Car in a similar scale to X-Wing's scale and would love to fly it. Luckily, I was also asked by DarthDalton on my Discord to make it so here you go buddy, thank you for the suggestion!
When I started to make it I was a little stuck for ideas for relevant crew and gunner upgrades as Lando was already done, so I only had Lobot and Willrow. But then I remembered that Iden flew the Cloud Car in Battlefront 2 and the pack very quickly became a way to give the Rebels their version of Inferno Squad. Overall I'm happy with how it came out.
I would like to add this to my upcoming league (email watchersquadron@gmail.com to join!) but as we have the Snowspeeder already for the Rebellion I'll save it for the next one!
Otherwise, as normal feel free to use the cards in friendly games to show the rest of the X-Wing community that with this ship at least, the clouds are the limit!
Thank you all for reading,
Watcher Leader out.