Hello everyone! This is I, Dominic’s, first time becoming a part of the blog world or “blogosphere,” and I am here to tell you about some exciting products coming up from Wizards of the Coast. These products will introduce you to cool new characters you may have never heard of, or better yet, allow you to collect characters that you have always wanted and waited for years and years to be made. I am of course talking to you, Star Wars fans. The glorious product I speak of is of course, Star Wars Minis.
Because, on Tuesday, June 30th, the next set of Star Wars Miniatures is released…
Jedi Academy!
For those fans of Star Wars films, the last two miniature sets Wizards of the Coast released were candy to your ears. Clone Wars was, as you may guess, themed for during the Clone Wars, with an emphasis on the old and new cartoons by the same name. Imperial Entanglements was Episode VI themed, with new Vaders, Lukes, Palpatines, and the like.
Now, fans of the Star Wars expanded universe, including the countless books and games that dealt with before and after the Movies took place, Jedi Academy is the delicious dessert that has eluded you for so long. No more is Luke a young, basically self-trained Jedi. Now, you can play him as Grand Master Luke Skywalker, the highest-point costed figure in the game! At a seriously stunning 115 points, no hero or villain has ever come close to being as expensive as him. What else would you expect, though, from the greatest lightsaber combatant the galaxy has ever known?
On the other end of the timeline, good vs. evil-line, and well-known-line is the villainous Sith Lord and sorcerer, Naga Sadow, a powerful character for the Sith faction whose villainy includes a virulent-poisioned blade which makes short work of his (soon to be un-)living enemies. Droids need not beware. The Sith also gain the additional frightening skills of Darth Plagueis. The Sith Lord who trained Palpatine, and the possible “father” of Anakin Skywalker, he has a mighty pair of instant-damage force powers. Not only that, but with his Essence of Life, he can bring your defeated characters back to life.
Indeed, Jedi Academy is an expansion that bends the rules and breaks the mold. The Youngling is the cheapest force-using character at 5 points, and the Jensaarai Defender is the most expensive non-unique force user at 45 points.
Fans of the Star Wars Videogames will be thrilled as well to see some of the coolest characters appearing in Jedi Academy. The Felucian is a cheap force user with a damaging force power who, with the right commanders, will be able to use it again and again. Even more people will be thrilled to be able to play The Jedi Exile from Knights of the Old Republic II. What stats does she have? I wish I knew, as that information is still unreleased. But she works for the Old Republic faction, that much we know!
But what Force-User themed expansion could be without the greatest threat that Luke and his Jedi Academy faced? Indeed, the Yuuzhan Vong invaders, a race completely outside and unaffected by the force gets four more excellent additions to its notoriously under-represented faction. The Paetorite Vong Priest boosts the stats of wounded Vong allies around him, and the Praetorite Vong Warrior and Yuuzhan Ossus Guardian are both excellent elite warriors. Lastly is the Fringe-factioned Peace Brigade Thug, whose presence on the battlefield increases the attack power of their friendly Vong warriors. For they will be very present, at only 4 points, and common, they are extremely cheap shooters as well who are a worthwhile addition to any shooter squad, not just the Vong army, that wants to invest in some cheap combine-fire fodder.
This all bodes well for those of us who use the figures for roleplaying purposes as well. The expansion contains a few new species to be represented in miniature form, as well as plenty unique and non-unique figures that you can use for your own characters. As you may have noticed, most of this set is force-themed, so you now have many more Jedi and Sith to represent your characters, with some droids and bounty hunters to satisfy the force-impaired.
Jedi Academy releases Tuesday, June 30th. It is now available for preorder. Preordering a case may be worth it for you completionists. Each sealed case of Star Wars miniatures contains one of each Rare figure and four of the eight Very Rares. It also contains 4 of each common and 2 of each uncommon. With one simple purchase, you will have a nearly complete set, and no pesky repeats of unique rares you only need one of! We should have plenty of cases on the release day, but preorder soon to make sure we have your copy of this ground-breaking set behind our counter the moment you walk in.
–Dominic