“There will be a substantial reward for the one who finds the Millennium Falcon .”
   -Darth Vader, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

The last defenders of Echo Base plan their escape from the frozen wastelands of Hoth, even as Imperial forces use their vast resources to maintain their blockade and capture as many of the fleeing Rebels as possible. How will the Battle for Hoth end in your games of Star Wars™ : The Card Game ? Decide for yourself with Escape from Hoth , the final Force Pack in The Hoth Cycle , now available at your local retailers and online through our webstore !

Featuring sixty cards (two copies each of five new objective sets), Escape from Hoth chronicles the efforts of the Rebel Alliance to flee from the besieged Echo Base, as the dark side plots the best way to crush the Rebellion once and for all. When we announced the Force Pack , we looked at the power of Darth Vader’s Super Star Destroyer Executor ( Escape from Hoth, 308) and its ability to use sacrifices for the benefit of the dark side. We also examined the Rebel Alliance evacuation  and the parting shots fired by units like the Rebel version of Han Solo ( Escape from Hoth, 303).

As the Rebels attempt to escape in their transports, the Imperial Navy pushes its assault, but turns to different methods of attack as well, employing bounty hunters to take as many prisoners as they can. Dark side players looking to explore the benefits of capturing units would do well to consider maintaining a strong offensive presence with the new Scum and Villainy objective set— Hunt Them Down ( Escape from Hoth, 312).

No Disintegrations

Capturing cards is an integral part of many Scum and Villainy strategies, and while it’s nice to remove a card from your opponent’s deck, it’s even better to be able to make some use of it. Objective cards such as Jabba’s Reach ( Edge of Darkness, 74) and The Bespin Exchange ( Core Set, 135) allow you to reap additional rewards from capturing cards by granting you everything from an increasing reserve value to the ability to remove focus tokens. The Hunt Them Down objective set offers direct benefits for capturing units, but also contains the potential to go on the offensive, granting the dark side a versatile response for any light side tricks.

The objective card itself is a potential engine for quick assaults against your opponent’s objective. It begins with one resource, but for every captured card on Hunt Them Down, it gains an additional resource. Even without the other cards in the objective set, many Scum and Villainy cards allow you to capture more units and boost the amount of resources Hunt Them Down can produce.

The objective set’s other cards balance damage potential against long-term strategies. One copy of the fate card Target of Opportunity ( Escape from Hoth , 170) provides automatic damage against an opponent’s objective, and Remote Hideout ( Escape from Hoth, 315) plays for free and provides two resources to muster your forces quickly. However, it also possesses the caveat that the first unit you play each turn must be focused as it enters play. Will the trade-off work toward your advantage? This enhancement at least offers the dark side options it wouldn’t otherwise have.

The third and fourth cards in the Hunt Them Down objective set further balance tools to capture your opponent’s cards against your damage capabilities. With two copies of Kihraxz-class Assault Fighter ( Escape from Hoth , 314) in the objective set, you stand a good chance of getting these light and nimble Fighters onto the playing field. By possessing both a  and an (  ), these ships can help attack and bring down light side objective, and their Reaction ability allows them to capture cheap enemy units when you win the edge. You won’t win any wars by depriving your enemy of one-cost units, but you will be able to fuel Hunt Them Down, and other capture-dependent cards, including Dengar, the focal point of the objective set!

Dengar ( Escape from Hoth , 313) is a deadly and nearly emotionless bounty hunter, fitted with a number of cybernetic implants. Dengar enters play with two , a solid set of combat icons for defense. However it is Dengar’s special ability that makes him a truly lethal Bounty Hunter and fulfills the objective set’s commitment to versatility. His Reaction ability permits him to gain a combat icon of his choice for each card he has captured. These icons are not edge-dependent, and you can choose whichever icons are most useful to you at the time he strikes!

The ability to tailor Dengar’s icons to any combat situation makes him an invaluable asset for the dark side, especially for a capture-heavy Scum and Villainy deck. Of course, the more cards he has captured, and the more power he has gathered, the greater a threat he’ll pose to the light side. You can expect your opponent to take the fight to him every chance they can, so you might want to look for means to keep him around. Dengar has three damage capacity initially, but you can double that by enhancing him with Mandalorian Armor ( Core Set , 93), further boosting his ability to take captives and battle the light side.

A Temporary Reprieve?

Even as the Rebels flee from the icy wilderness of Hoth, they may not have as much breathing room as they thought. Bounty hunters have been dispatched in pursuit, and other dark side forces maintain their watch. Will you lead the Rebels to safety and continue the war against the Empire? Or will you lead a deadly strike force and destroy the Rebellion forever?

Dive into the climatic ending of The Hoth Cycle today. Escape from Hoth is now available through local retailers and online through our webstore!

The characters, starships, and situations of the original Star Wars trilogy come to life in Star Wars : The Card Game , a head-to-head Living Card Game ® of tactical combat and strategic planning that allows two players to wage cinematic combats between the light and dark sides of the Force.

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