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One Last Shot

A Preview of Escape from Hoth, the Final Force Pack in The Hoth Cycle

“I think you just can’t bear to let me out of your sight.”
    –Han Solo, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

The Escape from Hoth Force Pack marks the thrilling conclusion of The Hoth Cycle for Star Wars™: The Card Game! The Rebel forces in Echo Base race to escape the Imperial assault and evacuate their troops, even as the shadow of the Executor looms over the battlefield. To complete their evacuation and continue the war for freedom on other battlefields, the Rebels will need to evade an Imperial blockade, but even the desperate evacuation effort won’t stop some members of the Rebel Alliance from getting in their parting shots against the Empire’s advancing forces.

Always resourceful, some of the Rebels will use any available tool to gain the upper hand over the Imperial forces. As the last defenders of Echo Base flee from Hoth, they are quick to take full advantage of every opportunity to hurt the enemy on their way out. With the Evacuation Procedure objective set from the upcoming Escape from Hoth Force Pack, you can retell the story of the heroes’ escape, while taking a few last shots as you leave Echo Base behind.

 Evacuate! Evacuate!

The evacuation of Echo Base begins with the objective set Evacuation Procedure (Escape from Hoth 302). As the Rebels in Echo Base begin their evacuation, the objective’s special Reaction text helps the Rebels escape. At the beginning of your opponent’s turn, Evacuation Procedure allows you to sacrifice a unit to remove all focus tokens from a target enhancement or Hoth objective, allowing you to help some units escape while mobilizing your other forces. After helping the Rebels escape with Evacuation Procedure, you can prepare the rest of the Rebel Alliance to leave Echo Base and continue the fight on other worlds. As the Imperial forces draw nearer, the Princess must be protected, and if Leia Organa (Core Set 88) can be evacuated, her example could serve to ready all of your exhausted units and objectives in one stroke.

As the Rebel defenders of Echo Base complete their evacuation, they remind the Imperial attackers that they’re not going without a fight. The Rebel Alliance’s new units in the Evacuation Procedure set make sure that the Imperials pay for every step they take into Echo Base, and that you get the maximum benefits whenever your units evacuate, whether by being discarded, returned to your hand, or sacrificed. Because the evacuation takes place during the aftermath of the Battle of Hoth, the set includes a copy of the fate card Battle of Hoth (Escape from Hoth 236), making sure that you have maximum opportunity to cause damage as you lead the strategic retreat from Hoth.

In order to successfully complete the evacuation of Echo Base the Rebels will rely on the transport ship Bright Hope (Escape from Hoth 305). This ship was the last transport to leave Echo Base during the Rebel escape, and its special ability ensures that it will be there when you need it. Bright Hope is a sturdy transport ship, and by employing it at the right time, you can help your units escape, and go on to win the war.

While it waits for the last defenders of Echo Base to complete their retreat, Bright Hope possesses a Reaction ability that allows it to remove a token of any kind whenever a friendly unit leaves play. As an important part of the Rebel escape from the ice caverns of Echo Base, Bright Hope is able to consistently benefit from the continuing Rebel evacuation, keeping itself ready for action and undamaged. With this Transport always ready for continuing action, its  and (  ) icons might just prove to be a tipping point in a critical battle after the evacuation has been completed.

Cover Your Retreat

When you’re leading the Rebel escape from Hoth, Toryn Farr (Escape from Hoth 304) can be an invaluable asset. As the Chief Controller of Echo Command and the one responsible for firing the ion cannon, she is another key player helping to cover the retreat from Hoth. To help her protect the Rebels during the final evacuation, she possesses the Shielding ability, and as an added bonus, her special text lets her focus an enemy enhancement when she leaves play, offering the Rebel Alliance another opportunity for a parting blow to cover their escape from Hoth. Toryn’s control of the ion cannon allows you to temporarily disable part of the Imperial blockade around Hoth by incapacitating their resources or damage potential as Toryn makes her own getaway from Echo Base.

To help continue the evacuation effort, the Rebels may need to make use of a Buried Outpost (Escape from Hoth 306). Free to play, and providing one resource, the enhancement also possesses a Forced Reaction that forces you to either sacrifice a unit, or focus Buried Outpost when it enters play. In some circumstances this might seem like a disappointing choice, but the Rebels must evacuate, and Buried Outpost gives you another option for escape. Using Buried Outpost wisely lets Toryn Farr and others escape at the opportune moment, keeping Bright Hope free from focus and damage tokens, and allowing you to use the resources from Buried Outpost to continue the Rebel evacuation! With no guarantees that Evacuation Procedure will be one of your starting objectives, Buried Outpost offers a way to allow units to escape from Hoth and continue damaging the advancing Imperial forces.

If you want to make clean getaway from Echo Base though, you'll need the diversion provided by Han Solo (Escape from Hoth 303)! The Rebel version of Han Solo has lost Targeted Strike, and thus some of the damage potential of the Han Solo the smuggler, but Han Solo the Rebel makes up for any loss with his potential tricks as he prepares to take off from Echo Base,  ferrying Princess Leia to safety, and diverting Lord Vader’s attention from the other escapees. Whenever the Rebel Han Solo leaves play, you may search your deck for any other Rebel Alliance card and place it into your hand, preparing you to escape the coming Imperial assault, before eventually returning to destroy the dark side’s objectives. As Han Solo escapes from Echo Base, he’s always ready to take a deadly last shot.

With the Millennium Falcon (Edge of Darkness 332) on your side, Han Solo and his bucket of bolts will take the first opportunity to distract Darth Vader and help the Rebel defenders make good their final escape. After striking first with the Millennium Falcon, its Action can swap it for the Rebel Han Solo. After Han strikes, you can help him escape safely as well by using a card like Fall Back! (Core Set 54). When Han escapes, you get to use his ability to search for any Rebel Alliance card. Potentially, you could even grab another copy of Fall Back!, which would let you set up another attack run with the Millennium Falcon, keeping the Rebel evacuation in progress, and drawing Darth Vader and his troops away from capturing the escaping Rebels! When Han and the Millennium Falcon finally do escape back to space, they’ll be ready to return on other battlefields, dodging back and forth, and helping to foil the designs of the dark side!

Board the Ships

The Rebels in Echo Base must escape from the clutches of Darth Vader and the Imperial strike force, relying on the speed and intelligence of a few plucky defenders. Even as they load transport ships and take flight, these heroes seize the opportunity in the midst of evacuation to take a few last shots before they escape. Ready yourself for the climatic conclusion to The Hoth Cycle, and check out Escape from Hoth, arriving soon at retail stores everywhere!

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Source: One Last Shot (http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=4338)