There are many ways we tried to bring thematic elements from G.I. Joe into Special Missions so that it wasn’t just a RISK game with a G.I. Joe skin. We wanted it to truly feel like a G.I. Joe game that happened to be using familiar RISK rules. The most prominent element in that regard (and one that received a lot of attention from the testers) was the playable Leaders. Since they are in the thick of things in this game, each one needed to feel both unique and true to their character in the source material. Given how important they are to the thematic part of the game, let’s take a closer look at all 17 Leaders (between the base game and the promo pack) and how they tie into their characters from the shows, comics, and movies.

G.I. Joe

Duke

First Die Bonus: Infantry

Ability: When Duke is in a battle, the enemy's air and ground attacks during the first round of battle get no First Die attack bonuses.

Leader Action: If Duke is in a disputed territory, DEPLOY 1 to 5 infantry there and make a sneak attack.

A true leader and consummate professional, Duke is an effective infantry commander. His Leader Action allows him to bring more greenshirts to the fight, and direct them on a sneak attack to improve his odds later when battles are resolved. His effective leadership is depicted in his ability. Under his guidance, his forces are able to deny Cobra forces and their leaders any First Die bonuses. Often the first round of battle is the most critical, so the ability can be very impactful in many battles.

Scarlett

First Die Bonus: Skystriker

Ability: Each time you roll for a Skystriker attack in battle, you may re-roll 1 die.

Leader Action: MANEUVER Scarlett and 1 Skystriker in the same territory to a Cobra territory within range, then make a sneak attack. Both units may then stay there or return.

Shana M. O'Hara is an intelligence operative, but also an effective combatant, willing to go wherever she is needed. In Special Missions, this means she is piloting a Skystriker. With her leader ability, she's able to move in, make a precision strike to take out a priority target, and get out (or stay, as the situation may require. . .). In combat since she's thematically flying a Skystriker, she has a highly effective re-roll ability, making her air attack phases work out in G.I. Joe's favor more often.

Snake Eyes

First Die Bonus: Infantry

Ability: When you take a RECON action in the region Snake Eyes occupies, you may claim 1 additional territory card. If you claim a territory in this region that reveals plots or hidden units, you may move Snake Eyes there.

Leader Action: Sneak attack twice in the territory Snake Eyes occupies, then he may move to any adjacent territory.

Snake Eyes is sneaky, so naturally, he helps with your Recon actions! He's very effective at rooting out Cobra's hidden troops and nefarious plots. Being able to effectively surveil a region and acquire two territory cards at once helps narrow down Cobra's options, even if it fails to reveal any units. As a master ninja, he is also an effective combatant. Two sudden sneak attacks can take out a couple of critical units, with Snake Eyes able to blend back into the shadows and set himself up in a different territory before battle resolution.

Flint

First Die Bonus: Defense

Ability: When you RECRUIT, advance your command tokens 1 step on your Faction Track OR draw 1 mission.

Leader Action: ADVANCE all units of 1 type 2 steps on your Faction Track. Any that advance to the deployment zone this way may DEPLOY to Flint's location.

Since he is an adept tactical planner, Flint has some broad abilities that have options. His ability can get you your command tokens back faster or facilitate more missions (and thus, bring you closer to victory), while you are Recruiting – an action that you want to do anyway to advance your objectives. His leader action is similarly versatile, being usable on any type of unit, and allowing you to bring units Recruited at the time you used his ability into play much faster.

Cover Girl

First Die Bonus: Wolverine

Ability: When attacking in a battle with Cover Girl and 1 or more Wolverines, add her +1 attack bonus to each die you roll during the ground attack phase, not just the First Die.

Leader Action: DEPLOY or REINFORCE 1 to 3 Wolverines to Cover Girl's location, then make a sneak attack.

The game had Wolverines as the tanks, so we had to have Cover Girl and she had to do something with them. Both of her abilities are tied directly to tanks, as they should be. Cover Girl's expertise at the head of a tank group is absolutely devastating, with her Leader Action making her more able to effectively get into position with her tanks. How do a bunch of tanks sneak attack you? Good question. Yo, JOE!

Roadblock

First Die Bonus: Infantry

Ability: The active Cobra player must spend 1 command token each time they move 1 or more units into a territory Roadblock occupies. If they can't spend a command token, they can't perform that action.

Leader Action: Remove up to 3 non-Leader Cobra units in a territory Roadblock occupies OR 2 non-Leader Cobra units in a territory adjacent to Roadblock. You choose the unit(s).

The ability for Roadblock ended up being a little cheeky and on-the-nose. It was tricky to work out in terms of rules, but his ability makes him literally function as a road block for Cobra. While it ties into his name, it was supposed to represent his tenacity in being willing to stand his ground against Cobra, and lay down some heavy fire against incoming enemies. This also ties into his Leader action's long-range removal of enemy units (which is a bit stronger than other Leader Actions due to the avoidable nature of his ability).

Cobra

Cobra Commander

First Die Bonus: Defense

Ability: Cobra Commander may retreat from a disputed territory during your turn. If he does, you may DEPLOY or REINFORCE up to 4 units there to replace him.

Leader Action: Remove up to 4 Cobra units in a disputed territory to remove non-Leader G.I. Joe units of your choice with an equivalent combined recruit value.

He may care about world domination, but Cobra Commander cards more about self-preservation. He's also not above throwing more bodies between him and the enemy to sacrifice themselves for his benefit. His ability can be a little tricky to time correctly, but it is effective and thematic. He gets out before things go south, and throws some fodder at G.I. Joe. Domination cannot be had without sacrifice, and his Leader Action illustrates his ruthlessness even towards his own troops, as he willingly gives their lives to defeat his foes.

Destro

First Die Bonus: HISS Tank

Ability: When Destro defeats G.I. Joe in battle, you may ADVANCE all non-infantry units on your Faction Track. Any that advance to the deployment zone this way may DEPLOY to Destro's location.

Leader Action: ADVANCE your HISS and Rattler units 1 step on your Faction Track and/or RECRUIT 1 more of each for free.

Unlike Cobra Commander, Destro likes to be in the thick of battle. He's just that much more honorable – at least as far as Cobra and its allies get. As a result, his ability's bonus only applies when he wins a battle (either by wiping out G.I. Joe or forcing their retreat). Appropriately, both his ability and his Leader Action tie into the use of HISS Tanks and Rattlers, as his is a weapons manufacturer and war profiteer. Timely use of his ability can be a powerful swing.

Baroness

First Die Bonus: Rattler

Ability: Each time you MANEUVER or REINFORCE 1 or more Rattlers into a G.I. Joe-occupied territory in the region Baroness visibly occupies, you may sneak attack there (once per territory).

Leader Action: ADVANCE all plot and command tokens 1 step on your Faction Track and regress G.I. Joe's command tokens 1 step.

In many ways, Baroness is the Cobra counterpart to Scarlett. She is effectively piloting a Rattler in the game, giving Cobra a First Die bonus to the air attack phase, and she's able to utilize Rattlers to create sneak attack opportunities (though in a different way than Scarlett uses Skystrikers). As Cobra's intelligence officer, her Leader Action also allows Cobra to more quickly complete their schemes, while also interfering with G.I. Joe's ability to counteract them effectively.

Dr. Mindbender

First Die Bonus: Infantry

Ability: The first time your take a PLOT action each phase, you may immediately take another PLOT action.

Leader Action: Draw 3 plot cards. Keep 1 of them, then place 1 of them under the plot deck and the other back on top.

Dr. Mindbender is always scheming. And plotting. And scheming some plots. Since he's one of the less combat-oriented leaders (despite that physique), his abilities take a more cerebral approach. As one of Cobra's top minds, his ability allows you to accelerate your plans by doubling up on a Plot action every phase. His Leader Action, on the other hand is to represent some longer-term planning, allowing you to find just the right plot card for the in-game situation.

Zartan

First Die Bonus: Infantry

Ability: Zartan may occupy or move through G.I. Joe territory without making it disputed. He may remain hidden in a territory with visible units. If he is in a territory that gets claimed by RECON, he must retreat or be removed.

Leader Action: Move up to 4 G.I. Joe units from a territory visibly occupied by Zartan to any adjacent territory that is unoccupied or controlled by Cobra.

The master of disguise, Zartan can be anyone, flawlessly. The art on his card depicts him holding a mask with Duke's face. As such, both of his abilities tie into that concept. His ability allows him greater freedom of movement, and is the only Cobra unit that can coexist “peacefully” in a territory with G.I. Joe units. His Leader Action represents him impersonating a G.I. Joe leader, and sending some G.I. Joe troops on an unfortunate wild goose chase. He's such a nice guy like that.

Storm Shadow

First Die Bonus: Infantry

Ability: When you MANEUVER or SHADOW OPS into a G.I. Joe-occupied territory with Storm Shadow, immediately remove up to 2 G.I. Joe infantry there.

Leader Action: Secretly select an unoccupied territory within 3 movement range of an undisputed territory Storm Shadow occupies, then put his token (as a hidden unit) on that territory card.

At the very least, Storm Shadow is Snake Eyes's equal in combat. His ability is lethal to represent his skill. Simply moving into a territory allows him to remove G.I. Joe infantry, no roll needed. He has to be careful to not overextend and land himself back on the Faction Track, however. To facilitate his sneaking around, his Leader Action can be used to sneak back into the shadows to set up for another strike later in the game.

Serpentor

First Die Bonus: All units

Ability: If Serpentor is defeated, his token is claimed by G.I. Joe. When Serpentor moves into a G.I. Joe-occupied territory, you may activate the leader action of another active Cobra leader you control at no cost.

Leader Action: Remove all G.I. Joe infantry units from the territory Serpentor occupies.

Despite only appearing in 2 of the 5 scenarios, it was important for Serpentor to be impactful when he was finally in the game. As such, he is the most powerful leader on both sides, but is contingent on the number of mission tokens on him (scaling up in power the more he has). He's designed to be effective at combat (due to his warrior genetic heritage!), pushing you to be aggressive with him. This comes at a cost because it does put him more at risk than your average leader, and he does not get redeployed via the Faction Track as other leaders are.

G.I. Joe Promos

Jinx

First Die Bonus: Infantry

Ability: Before you perform a MANEUVER action with Jinx, you may perform a RECON action in her region. If this action reveals any hidden units, you may remove up to 2 non-Leader units revealed this way.

Leader Action: Use during the battle resolution step after a battle with Jinx. Move Jinx to another disputed territory and sneak attack.

When deciding on the promo pack leaders, I knew who I wanted to do with G.I. Joe right away. Jinx was first up on my list. I'd previously done a playable version of her in The Crimson Veil expansion to the G.I. Joe Deck-Building Game, so the participating in multiple battles in a single turn was a thematic nod to her ability there, as a ninja who is able to rapidly redeploy. Her standard ability took some iteration, but is representative of her ability to gather intel on the enemy effectively. Thematically, she was designed to work efficiently with Snake Eyes.

Shipwreck & Polly

First Die Bonus: Skystriker

Ability: When you roll for a ground attack in a battle with Shipwreck, if the U.S.S. Flagg is in an ocean zone adjacent to that battle, you may re-roll up to 3 dice one time during the first round.

Leader Action: Move the U.S.S. Flagg up to 2 spaces. Then, you may sneak attack a territory adjacent to the ocean zone with the U.S.S. Flagg.

Shipwreck being a leader allowed the promo pack to explore some new ground. The U.S.S. Flagg is an important part of the game, but none of the base game's leaders directly work with it. As he is a sailor, Shipwreck was a natural fit for such an ability. Since having leaders in the thick of the battles is most interesting, his ability allows essentially calling in air support from the nearby U.S.S. Flagg (also why his First Die bonus is Skystrikers), and his Leader Action is designed to get the U.S.S. Flagg into more advantageous positions for his use. Plus, who doesn't like a sneak attack?

Cobra Promos

Crimson Twins

First Die Bonus: Infantry

Ability: When placing starting units or when deploying, the Twins' tokens must be in different territories. For Leader count and recruit value, they are 1 Leader. They may share a territory. If so, their First Die bonus is +2.

Leader Action: Move 1 Crimson Twin and up to 2 Cobra Troopers from his territory to the other Twin's territory and make a sneak attack.

With Crimson Twins, I wanted to do something really unique to represent their nature. They are the only leader represented by two tokens, allowing them to be in two places at once (which is a powerful ability in-and-of itself). They work very well in concert too, if you're willing to give up the flexibility that being in two places at once offers, so they make your ground forces very potent when they are together. This made them the most complicated leader from a rules-perspective, and the ended up with their own rules card as a result.

Zarana

First Die Bonus: Rattler

Ability: Each time you take a PLOT action, you may look at the top 2 cards of the G.I. Joe Mission deck. Put 1 on the bottom of the deck and 1 back on top.

Leader Action: Move Zarana to a disputed territory within 3 spaces. Remove up to 1 Wolverine or Skystriker from that territory. Reveal a random G.I. Joe Mission.

Of the four leaders in the promo pack, Zarana was the trickiest to nail down, and her ability took its final form last. At first, I made attempts to have her impersonate other leaders (including G.I. Joe leaders), but that was just fraught with complications. Ultimately, her ability to sneak around and sabotage G.I. Joe was the thematic hook that worked for her. Both of her abilities play into spying on what the enemy is up to (the base game has very little giving Cobra info on G.I. Joe's missions, so it was a new direction), with a bit of equipment sabotage built into the Leader Action.