"We do not accept bad deals" - Pykes - What we know so far

With the upcoming Mercenary releases for Legion, this post runs through what we know about the dark and sinister Pykes being released as part of the Shadow Collective.

First off, for those who don't know anything about the Pykes in Star Wars, here's a quick run down.

Pykes are a humanoid species with faces that resemble a fish. They frequently wear masks though to protect them from noxious gases. There principle planet is Oba Diah, which is the home of the Pyke Syndicate. This group makes money from the trade of spice which is cruelly provided by slaves in the Spice Mines of Kessel.

As well as appearing in certain comics and books, they notably appear in the Clone Wars TV show, Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Bad Batch and of course the more recent The Book of Boba Fett.

So what do we know about them in Legion?

So far we know there will be two different Pyke units released (hopefully in June).

First up, let's look at the Pyke Syndicate Foot Soldiers - a corps unit.

Unit Name	Pyke Syndicate Foot Soldiers
Normal Unit Size	4 (with a Maximum of 6)
Faction	Mercenary (so not actually a faction)
Heavy Weapon Options	P13-M Disruptor Soldier and Electro-Whip Soldier
Personnel Options	Pyke Syndicate Capo
Upgrade slots	1 Heavy, 1 Personnel, 1 Gear, 1 Grenade

This Pyke unit will be able to be taken by all 4 of the current factions (Rebels, Imperials, GAR and CIS). This is indicated in the top left of the unit card.

Overall, this looks like a pretty solid (and cheap) timing neutral defensive unit. With the new key word, Independent: Dodge 1, the unit receives a dodge if it is not issued an order. This coupled with Outmaneuver can mean a unit in Heavy cover with a dodge could easily hunker down and defend an objective. Danger Sense 2 can help even further, giving that extra defensive dice rolls if needed (but remember they only have courage 1). The defensive surge (but still on a white dice) is nice. With a black dice at range 3 they don't pack that much punch with their ranged attacks, but throwing 8 white dice in melee could bring some spiky rolls!

The P13-M Disruptor Soldier brings a pretty nice range 4 dice pool with the bonus of poking a hit through armour with Impact 1.

The Electro-Whip Soldier makes a very spiky melee threat a little more reliable as well as adding a suppression onto the defender thanks to Suppressive and reducing their movement potential through Immobilize 1.

I can see the P13-M being taken more commonly as a range 4 threat from a defensive position, but saying that, if these points are to be believed, a 50 point 5 man unit throwing 8 whites and 2 reds in melee might also make for a defensive unit ready to pounce if threatened from their hiding spot.

We currently know of two options for the personnel upgrade slot. The Foot Soldier and the Capo.

The Capo is equivalent to the officers already in existence for the four main factions. It increases the unit's courage by 1 and acts as the unit leader. It also gives the unit Independent: Surge 1 - a nice little bonus to allow for some attacking surge conversions.

The Foot soldier introduces another new key word - Cache. The Foot Soldier has Cache: Aim 1, which basically gives you an aim at the start of the game to spend when you like.

I can see the Capo being taken to aid the use of Danger Sense 2 and to provide that extra attacking urgency. With the Electro Whip and the Capo - throwing 10 white and 2 red dice, with a surge might be pretty spicy (!!).

At the moment, this is pretty much all we know. Overall I can see these being most useful in Rebel lists. Rebels love dodges, and adding another unit in which gets dodges, quite easily and are likely to be a defensive unit may complement the normal force of rebel troopers.

Pyke Syndicate Capo

Now, I'll start of by saying I am pretty sure it's going to be more than 45 points. I think 50-55 is most likely. As well as adding a Capo to a unit of Pyke soldiers it can also be taken as a stand-alone commander.

So, which faction might we see hiring out the Pykes on the table?

Rebels

I see these as the most likely brothers in arms sue to the dodging reasons given above. Could they also be a cheap melee threat positioned in an A-A5 Speeder Truck?

Imperials

With the resurgence of Commander Vader and his new Compel: Corps I could see some potential melee synergy here, driving the Electro Whip forward.

CIS

Coordinate is still so useful and so I can’t see many lists ditching cheap B1 units who already have access to range 4 through the E5-s.

GAR

Remember, mercenary units do not coint towards your forces minimum units in your force organisation chart (eg. You can’t take 1 Pyke Solider unit and 2 units of Phase 2s in an 800 point army and have no more corps). You still need your 3 standard corps and can then top up with mercenaries if you want to. GAR corps are still expensive. I can’t see many people pumping additional points into the mercenary corps here at the detriment of Jedi, Wookiees or Heavies.

At the moment, we have no details on the other corps units in the Shadow Collective 't battle force (the Black Sun) and so can't compare them.