Big Ewoks Need Big Bows
By Cody Barnett

In preparation for the arrival of the Rebel assault, the sadistic Emperor Palpatine inserts battalions of the Empire's finest troops on the forest moon of Endor. As patrol teams survey the forest floor for signs of Rebel activity, the awaited strike team navigates the labyrinth of foliage undetected by ground forces. When the brazen Han Solo alerts a scouting party to the Alliance's presence, the mission becomes compromised, with the entire fate of thousands resting on one small skirmish. As Solo battles fisticuff with one scout trooper, the other attempts to flee for help to put an early end to the attempted act of sabotage.

His efforts are futile, for the Wookiee Chewbacca has his friend's back covered. As soon as the speeder bike roars into the forest, Chewbacca aligns his bowcaster with the vehicle's skeleton and fires. With perfect accuracy, the bolt strikes the speeder bike's backside; in a plume of flames the vehicle disappears, tossing its rider deep into the forest.

As the countdown for the new Battle of Endor release slowly ticks by, fans anxiously await to see what else the Independent Development Committee has up its sleeves. This week, we examine a card that will leave everyone breathless.

Chewbacca's Bowcaster (A) is one of the new pieces of unique Equipment which offers advantages to two underplayed deck-types - the Wookiee deck and Chewbacca decks. Veterans of the game remember the "Chewie Reanimator" deck that nearly toppled the game play in its time. Since the restriction of Chewbacca (G), the deck's vital force, decks that contain Chewbacca have steadily declined in play. Chewbacca's Bowcaster (A) looks to reverse that. For a meager two build, it gives any Wookiee with it attached Accuracy 1. This can make a difference when facing some of the colossal Characters - Darth Sidious (H), Darth Vader (R), and Boba Fett (H). The more damage dealt to them, the sooner you can pick the Character arena clean.

The fun doesn't end there, however. If Chewbacca has his bowcaster attached, he gains one of the most powerful mechanics in the game - cross-arena attacking. We've seen its power demonstrated with the Millennium Falcon (E) and the Death Star II (A). Chewbacca now has the option of attacking units in the Ground arena instead of in the Character arena! The card makes a perfect addition to decks that utilize the power of Chewbacca (I). Should your opponent have dominance over the Ground arena, Chewbacca (I) can help pick units off one by one with his monstrous power. Even a Patrol Mode Vulture Droid will shudder at the thought of this! Whenever your opponent attempts to attack Chewbacca, you can laugh as you roll the Wookiee's Retaliate dice right back at them.

One interesting note is that Chewbacca's Bowcaster (A) helps the Light Side player take out Stealth units used by the Dark Side in Ground. Light Side Ground is notorious for high-speed hitters; with the introduction of Stealth, players had to counter the slower units the Dark Side now used. Chewbacca's Bowcaster (A) allows the player to run the fast units without worrying about being road blocked by Stealth.

As the IDC continues to deliver sneak previews to players and fans alike, none of them can anticipate what the IDC still has in reserves, eagerly awaiting to share with the community. Tune in next week for a totally different preview card - same IDC time, same IDC channel!

Thoughts or comments? Visit the message board thread for this article here.

Cody has been a collector of the game since its beginning in 2002. Due to lack of interest in his community, he did not begin playing until he joined the Rebelbasers online community in 2003. He is an avid Star Wars fan and enjoys the Trading Card Game. Currently, he is the Chairman of the Card Creation IDC sub-committee. He still posts on Rebelbasers under the screenname of Grand Moff Nicodemus Fett.