Last March of the Gungans
By Cody Barnett

A light breeze drifts over the plains, the grass gesticulating serenely in the cool wind. Captain Roos Tarpals inadvertently shivers against the cool wind, realizing with a start that the stirring air is artificial. A coldness settles in the pit of the salty officer's stomach as he realizes the source of the breeze; massive troop transports glide down the hillside toward the awaiting Gungan Grand Army. The Trade Federation transports stop, spewing forth an innumerable army of battle droids. Mechanical terrors march in unison toward the primitive band of Gungans, blasters blazing red death as they come.

The order to fire is given. Gungan trebuchets launch colossal energy balls into the droid army, energy crackling in brilliant sparks as battle droids collapse. The army continues to advance, however, finally breaching the Gungan energy shield.

The Battle of Naboo has begun in a furious display of destruction.

I am pleased to introduce the next preview card from Invasion of Naboo: Boss Nass (B)!

Fans of the Star Wars: Trading Card Game have been anticipating a Gungan deck since The Phantom Menace. However, the Independent Development Committee's predecessor provided an inadequate force to break past the upper tiers of deck-building. One of the goals of Invasion of Naboo is to provide the resources necessary to allow the Gungan deck to evolve into a fierce, competitive force in modern gameplay.

No faction is effective without a leader. The Gungan faction looks to Boss Nass (B) to fulfill this role. The Boss of the Gungan people fills the shoes well, picking up where Boss Nass (A) left off. Boss Nass (B) is prepared to bravely lead his people against the mighty forces of the oppressive Trade Federation.

Boss Nass (B) exemplifies a new facet of Gungan strategy: high defense. The components for this strategy were already in place with units such as Fambaa Shield Beast. Invasion of Naboo developed the strategy further, however, expanding the Gungan faction into the Character arena. Boss Nass (B) specifically grants all Gungan units with a higher health than power an additional +1 health. Gungan Catapult can now endure more hits from the enemy before unleashing a massive counteroffensive that will level your opponent's Ground forces. Captain Tarpals (A) is given longetivity to further grant your Gungan units the critical Accuracy 1 bonus.

Perhaps the best part of Boss Nass (B)is his combination with Boss Nass (A). Boss Nass (A) can be used to lower the build cost of Gungan units during the build step and then, since both versions have an equal build cost, you can switch Boss Nass (B) to the top of the stack free of charge.

Boss Nass (B) also grants each of your Gungan Character units "Pay 1 Force -> Intercept." This ability, although sported on many 'leader' Characters - works especially well with the Gungan faction. You can use Jar Jar Binks (A) to Intercept attacks and reroll any amount of attack dice. Although Darth Vader (R) sports unpreventable damage, the ability is useless when hits are rerolled into misses. Boba Fett (H) suddenly isn't as effective when his sixes are rerolled to prevent a monstrous Critical Hit from being scored.

Gungan decks will be a force to reckon with in the aftermath of Invasion of Naboo. Boss Nass (B) is but one of the many new cards that seek to prove the power of primitiveness. Although Boss Nass (B) is considered a 'leader' card, the Gungan is more effectively described as a defensive leader. There will be one specific offensive leader to work alongside Boss Nass (B), as well as additional Gungan units that promote a high offense or a high defense..

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About the Author
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.