Scene to Stats: Hondo Ohnaka & Weequay Pirates

“Insolence? We are pirates! We don’t even know what that means.”
-Hondo Ohnaka, STAR WARS: The Clone Wars™

Wherever there is commerce, there is piracy. For as long as the galactic starlanes have existed, there have been those who would steal, kidnap, racketeer, and take other shortcuts to fortune; hired guns whose loyalty runs as deep as a buyer’s pockets. Of the many pirate bands that have tormented the galaxy, few have written to the notoriety as the well-traveled Captain Hondo Ohnaka and his Ohnaka Gang of Weequay Pirates. Playing each side of the Clone Wars, Hondo & his gang of brutal buccaneers extorted senators and kidnapped even Jedi. A number of weequay warbands would go on to swear allegiance to Maul and his burgeoning Shadow Collective, breaking off from their wayward captain for the promise of ever greater riches. Read on for more in today’s Scene to Stats, where we take a look at the seedy underbelly of the galaxy, and the new Hondo Ohnaka and Weequay Pirates expansion for STAR WARS: Legion!

The charismatic captain Hondo Ohnaka, Trustworthy Compatriot joins Star Wars: Legion as its most flexible Operative yet, able to fight alongside any of your Factions with his broad Mercenary keyword. His unique keyword, My Mood is Based on Profit, changes the value of nearly all of his other keywords based on the pips of the Command Card you played that Round. A true master of improvisation, Hondo’s Arsenal, Independent: Dodge, Reliable, and Uncanny Luck all increase in power with increasing pips – Standing Orders has never looked more appealing! The Nimble and Disengage keywords ensure he is a slippery adversary, for Hondo always prefers discretion to valor – but, when conflict is unavoidable, Hondo is full of tricks with his Arsenal keyword and a number of Grenade upgrades hidden in his coat!

Hondo Ohnaka brings several unique tricks to your Command Hand – at least while you and he are on good terms! The 2-pip, That’s Just Good Business, allows Hondo to ignore virtually all effects of his Suppression and, once that Round, steal all of the green tokens from an enemy unit with which he Moves into base contact, giving them his Suppression tokens as a very unconvincing payment. Stories, So Many of Them True grants your army the benefit of wisdom born of Hondo’s years of experience tangling with the galaxy’s most wanted: each time an allied unit starts its Activation within Range 1 of Hondo Ohnaka, he may gain a Suppression token to have their ear, and grant the unit a free token with which to forge stories of their very own!

Hondo rarely travels alone and included along with him are a band of raucous renegades: the Weequay Pirates. Like their captain, the pirates are Mercenaries available to any of the four tentpole Factions of the game, but they take orders from no one; the Self-Preservation keyword means the pirates are at their bravest with a Gang Boss, Pirate Captain, or Raiding Party Leader nearby, all commanding from their A-A5 Speeder Truck or a WLO-5 Speeder Tank! The brand-new Swashbuckler keyword grants the pirates a free Dodge token after they spend an Aim token during an attack – an Aim token they likely gained with their own Independent keyword! With the Charge keyword the Pirates can deftly mount a boarding action from the backs of their Raider Repulsor Vehicles, and with Versatile on their Weequay Blaster Ranged weapons means they are a menace to nearby foes even while Engaged in Melee combat.

The Weequay Pirates feature a more full upgrade icon bar than your average Corps and include several Heavy and Personnel options to swell their ranks and carry out their merry mayhem. The Weequay Captain can offset their average Courage and their Self-Preservation keyword by preventing the unit from being Suppressed during its Activation. The Weequay Pirate Squad is unique among its Peers, as the pirates can be Transported, provided that Transport is also a Raiders unit – all aboard! The Long Rifle Pirate Heavy Weapon adds a miniature wielding a Lethal long-ranged blaster, a perfect way to spend the Aim tokens generated by their Independent keyword or by a nearby WLO-5 Speeder Tank with the appropriate Crew. If the job requires getting your hands a little dirtier, the Electrostaff Pirate adds the Immune: Melee Pierce keyword to your band of pirates, allowing them to tangle even with a lightsaber in a pinch!

The pirate’s life is one of merriment, misadventure, and maybe a little larceny. Tell tall tales of your very own with Hondo Ohnaka and his Weequay Pirates, available for preorder right now at your local game shop and on the webstore.

Until next time, Atomic Mass Games, signing off!