Monsterpocalypse: These Apes Mean Business
We’re finishing up our look at the Empire of the Apes units, this week we’re discussing the Ape Gunners, Ape Infiltrator and the Jungle Fortress!
Last week we discussed the Rocket Ape and Assault Apes, now let’s check out the rest of the Empire!
Ape Gunner
At first glance the Ape Gunner may be overshadowed by the Rocket Ape with it’s multi shots or the Assault Apes with their Power dice possibilities. But don’t be fooled! The Ape Gunner is a solid unit with an innate Blue die for both attack and damage. With RNG 5 the Ape Gunners can secure buildings and still often be in range to shoot things relevant things. While there might not be anything necessarily flashy, the Ape Gunners aren’t bad at anything which means you’ll always have something for them to do.
Ape Gunner Elite
Pretty standard Elite rules, the commander rule is even more effective than usual because of what I mentioned earlier. You’ll get good use of the extra blue dice in both Blast and Brawl attacks throughout your games.
Ape Infiltrator
The Infiltrator brings a nice bundle of rules to your forces. This stealthy simian will spend it’s game in enemy lines, getting Spotter where it’s needed and even removing enemy Cloaks. The Infiltrator itself is Cloaked, meaning enemies will need to come a bit closer to shoot it. Overall a great utility piece, likely to take up a spot in many Protectors forces. It competes a little with the Rocket Chopper, but their roles are different enough that I still find myself running both of them in my lists.
Jungle Fortress
The Jungle Fortress provides the standard Faction building discount you would expect if you are running Empire of the Apes in your list. But the real test for how good a building is; do players not playing Apes bring the Jungle Fortress?
Action: Patrol Base allows you to put any unit into play adjacent to this building. They must forfeit movement, but can still attack. At it’s most basic level it can simply be a discount on a 2 cost unit, which is pretty nice. For Apes players it is essentially a double discount from the same building which is very welcome as they have a lot of 2 cost units they want on the board.
You might be able to pull of some sneaky plays if you place the Jungle Fortress mid-field. For example, on your turn you can spawn some fast units, then during the movement phase they run up to secure the mid-line Jungle Fortress. You use the Patrol Base action to spawn a Rocket Ape(or other unit of choice) on the far side of the building closest to the enemy. During the attack phase you’re now shooting into the enemy side of the board. Is it good? Maybe. Is it fun? Definitely. Can you do the same thing but better with Sun Shadow Industries Building? Well, ya…but this only takes up one of your Building spots?
Wrap Up
We’ve covered all the Empire of the Apes units and the Jungle Fortress! Overall this Faction is bringing a ton of exciting stuff and I’m looking forward to more games with them.
What is your favorite Empire of the Apes release?
