A bounty hunter who plays by his own rules in a faction dominated by vast armies of identical droids, Cad Bane certainly stands out amongst the Separatist Alliance’s other units in Star Wars™: Legion. But this uniqueness is also his strength, and today Legion expert Kyle Dornbos is here to go over the basics of adding the Cad Bane Operative Expansion to any Separatist army.   

Cad Bane is a bounty hunter for hire who needs no introduction. He works in the shadows, doing the bidding of the puppet master behind the Separatist Alliance, using booby traps, tricks, gadgets, and his intellect to accomplish his objectives, all while wearing a fabulous wide brimmed hat.

In Star Wars: Legion, Cad Bane is a disruptive presence on the battlefield who often operates apart from your main force as a thorn in your opponent’s side.

Cad Bane is a mobile and flexible threat. With Jump 1, Steady, Sharpshooter, and his Dual LL-30 Blaster Pistols, he can pop in and out of cover while picking off opposing models. While he rolls only a surging white die when defending, he does have Danger Sense 2 and can be more durable after he has taken fire. Meanwhile, his three courage keeps Cad Bane moving even when he has accumulated a couple of suppression tokens.

Cad Bane’s real strength, however, lies in his command cards.  We will start with his one and two-pip cards, saving the three-pip for an upcoming article on advanced strategies.

I’m Your Worst Nightmare

I’m Your Worst Nightmare is a simple but very effective card. It allows Cad Bane to make two attacks, while improving his defense with Uncanny Luck. If Cad Bane already has a couple of suppression tokens to enable Danger Sense, he can be very difficult to take down on the turn you play this.

Combined with Steady, Cad Bane can move, attack, move, and then attack again. This can be a very effective way to claim a Bounty, especially if Cad Bane is equipped with Hunter,  which would provide an aim token on each attack if his target is wounded.

I’m In Control

I’m in Control is an effective way to shed suppression while disabling nearby enemy units. “At the Start of Activation” effects occur before a unit’s rally step, so I’m in Control can be played when Cad Bane has a large stack of suppression to avoid him panicking or losing actions. Note the targets do not have to be enemy trooper units; Cad Bane can pass suppression tokens to friendly units if necessary.

Enemy units that receive suppression from this card also gain an immobilized token, further slowing them. I’m in Control is a great card to play to thwart your opponent’s plans when one or more of their units are trying to reach an objective.

Bounty Hunter for Hire

Cad Bane is the first character with the Bounty keyword available to the Separatist Alliance. Bounty is a valuable keyword, representing one of the few ways to score victory points beyond accomplishing objectives.

Importantly, Bounty is something you should view as a bonus, rather than something to count on.  Opposing characters are often tough, well protected, or buried in your opponent’s back line. Luckily, Cad Bane has all the tools necessary to take down tough targets in hard to reach places to fulfill this goal.

Playing Peekaboo

Cad Bane is very different from previous bounty hunter characters in Star Wars: Legion. He has neither the attack range of Bossk nor the durability of Boba Fett. But he does have the Steady keyword as well as the ability to deploy in unexpected locations via his Bane Tokens.

Cad Bane is best used to harass exposed units near pieces of line of sight blocking terrain, where he can move, take a shot, and then move safely back behind cover.  This is known as “playing peekaboo.” The Jump keyword gives you some additional flexibility here, where Cad Bane can jump straight over the piece of terrain he is hiding behind, take his shot, and then move to another safe location.

There is another concept that builds on this called “last-first,” which refers to the time during a given turn in which you activate Cad Bane. You hold Cad Bane until your last activation on a turn, pop out of cover and take your shots, then on the following turn play a low pip command card and activate Cad Bane immediately, taking a parting shot and moving safely back behind cover.

Be very careful not to expose Cad Bane to too much firepower. Though his Danger Sense helps, Cad Bane is still relatively fragile and can be defeated very quickly when focused. Cad Bane is known for his planning and patience; if you act similarly, you may find that Cad Bane’s quarry will present you opportunities as the battle unfolds.

Sample List

Cad Bane often works independently, apart from the main elements of a Separatist force. The best way to support him is to take a solid core of units that can take advantage of the chaos he creates by pushing objectives and taking ground while Cad Bane zips around the flanks picking off exposed units.

This list can be made with just two Clone Wars Core Sets and Cad Bane himself. It has General Grievous, four units of B1s, and two Droidekas to hold down the center while Cad Bane does his thing. The B1s feature two HQ Uplinks,  which are especially important on turns where Cad Bane’s command cards are being used, to ensure you avoid triggering AI on your B1 units.

There is a lot more to Cad Bane and how he fits into the machinations of the Separatist Alliance. We will revisit him in our advanced tactics article!

Kyle Dornbos is one of the co-hosts of a notorious Legion podcast and a blogger. You can find articles and other great content by Kyle and his colleagues on their blog.