The Senate is similar to Darth Vader in both points and Force abilities, but he also can take a Command upgrade. He moves just as slowly as Vader but lacks Vader's Relentless. Where Vader is the rabid attack dog on steroids, Palpatine is the puppet master. He's got Entourage with his crimson-robed Royal Guards, meaning you can field one unit of them without factoring their Special Forces rank (so you can take 4 Spec Forces units; 5 if you take Krennic and a unit of Deathtroopers...) and he can issue a free order to one Guard unit per turn as long as they're within 1-2 of him. Don't let his withered appearance fool you either, he's still the Sith Master- not only does he have Master of the Force 2 to automatically ready his Force powers after using them, but he can shoot lightning as a ranged attack or in melee. The Lightning's got the same dice as the AT-ST's main gun but with surge to critical, Pierce 2 and suppressive- but half the range. He's not as tough as Vader with only 5 wounds and 4 courage, but he does roll red defense dice with surge and immunity to Pierce, so he can be a tough nut to crack.
The Senate is similar to Darth Vader in both points and Force abilities, but he also can take a Command upgrade. He moves slower than legislation and lacks Vader's Relentless. Where Vader is the rabid attack dog on steroids, Palpatine is the puppet master. He's got Entourage with his crimson-robed Royal Guards, meaning you can field one unit of them without factoring their Special Forces rank (so you can take 4 Spec Forces units; 5 if you take Krennic and a unit of Deathtroopers...) and he can issue a free order to one Guard unit per turn as long as they're within 1-2 of him. Don't let his withered appearance fool you either, he's still the Sith Master- not only does he have Master of the Force 2 to automatically ready his Force powers after using them, but he can shoot lightning as a ranged attack or in melee. The Lightning's got the same dice as the AT-ST's main gun but with surge to critical, Pierce 2 and suppressive- but half the range. He's not as tough as Vader with only 5 wounds and 4 courage, but he does roll red defense dice with surge and immunity to Pierce, so he can be a tough nut to crack.
Of special note, he's got a unique special ability called '''Pulling the Strings'''. Palpatine spends an action to give a free move or attack action to a trooper unit within range 1-2 of him. Sounds like nothing super special, right? Sure, you can use it to have your Stormtroopers or, even better, Death Troopers, take a free fire action and fire twice in the same turn. But remember, the Empire has access to multiple units that have ''Steady'', ''Relentless'', or ''Charge''- and those still trigger after the free move granted by ''Strings''. Additionally, none of the actions in question count against the normal actions taken during the unit's actual activation. Imagine Vader using a free move to get into melee and then attack with ''Charge''... then using his normal activation to fight... then using his "Implacable" Command to fight again. IN ONE TURN. That's an extreme example, but Royal Guards (which you should be taking with Palpatine) can do it too.
Of special note, he's got a unique special ability called '''Pulling the Strings'''. Palpatine spends an action to give a free move or attack action to a trooper unit within range 1-2 of him. Sounds like nothing super special, right? Sure, you can use it to have your Stormtroopers or, even better, Death Troopers, take a free fire action and fire twice in the same turn. But remember, the Empire has access to multiple units that have ''Steady'', ''Relentless'', or ''Charge''- and those still trigger after the free move granted by ''Strings''. Additionally, none of the actions in question count against the normal actions taken during the unit's actual activation. Imagine Vader using a free move to get into melee and then attack with ''Charge''... then using his normal activation to fight... then using his "Implacable" Command to fight again. IN ONE TURN. That's an extreme example, but Royal Guards (which you should be taking with Palpatine) can do it too.
Latest revision as of 16:55, 22 June 2023
This page is in need of cleanup. Srsly. It's a fucking mess.
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"The Jedi are extinct, their fire has gone out of the universe. You, my friend, are all that's left of their religion."
Vader is an absolute glacier, with the slowest movement speed a unit can have, and being melee only without using force powers it's going to be a few turns before he's doing any damage. However when he does, it is the most terrifying and destructive force you could ever imagine.
At 200 190 points (as of the 10/27/21 update) he's a good chunk of your army as well. But, what he does, he does well; with 8 wounds, a red defense die, and Immune: Pierceawesome- he's difficult to take down. Deflect allows him to send wounds back at his attackers if you spend a dodge token, so be sure to have a dodge available if he's likely to take a lot of enemy fire to make your opponent think twice.
Master of the Force 1 lets you ready an expended force upgrade token. What's that? Vader activates and dodges FOR FREE EVERY TURN? that means he has a 3+ save on a red dice, and has a 1 in 6 chance to send lasers back at your enemy. Terrifying. Finally, Relentless gives a free attack action after he moves, but as you only get one attack action per activation (free or not) be sure to use your other action on something productive like Saber Throw double moving towards the enemy (Saber Throw is also an attack action).
Once in combat, he can attack with an amazing six red dice with Impact 3 and Pierce 3, sure to tear up whatever he comes in contact with. He can be equipped with three Force upgrades, so be sure to give him Force Reflexes for that dodge token as well as Saber Throw for dealing a bit of damage before he closes the distance. His final benefit is his infinite-level Courage: this means that he will never be Panicked, and the same applies to units within 3 distance of him as well, ensuring you get the most out of those Stormtroopers.
Lastly, the 10/27/21 rules update made some major changes to Vader. It added that he can take a single Command upgrade. It also added that he has Compel for Corps troopers. This means that when a Corps unit at range 2 or less of him activates and rallies, if the unit is suppressed but not panicked, it can take a suppression token to make a free move. This essentially makes your units into plodding, fearless death machines, as they still get to move and do something else with their remaining action. And with Vader's Courage rating of "-", units within range 3 of him never panic. This is going to make Snowtroopers especially attractive as Vader's companions thanks to their Steady keyword, meaning they are effectively immune to suppression (except they still get the cover bonus!). But even Shores and Storms should find this helpful. Of course, all this power means Vader is going to be even more of a fire magnet than he was to begin with.
Upgrade Cards
Force Power Upgrades (x3 Slots)
Unaligned Powers
Battle Meditation (10 pts.) - Allows you to choose one of your orders to be issued to any unit, if not mentioned on your card. It's situationally useful- for example, if you're worried about not being able to issue an order to a certain unit when you absolutely need it, or you know you're using the deployment scenario like Disarray that can result in part of your army being distant from the rest, but HQ Uplink or Long Range Comms aren't available.
Force Guidance (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow you to give a surge token to up to 2 friendly units at range 1-2, as a free action. If you're a big fan of surge tokens, go for it. Otherwise, there's probably better Force powers to take.
Force Push (10 pts.) - Exhaust as a free action to choose an enemy trooper unit at range 1, make a Speed 1 move, even if engaged. Very useful as it can be used to push an enemy's face closer to Vader's lightsaber.
Force Reflexes (15 pts.) - Exhaust as a free action to gain a Dodge token. This is practically an auto-include for any Sith or Jedi because of Deflect, and Vader is no exception.
Saber Throw (10 pts.) - As an attack action, you can throw a melee weapon at Range 1-2, halving the number of dice you get. Thanks to Relentless, Vader can make a double move and then still whip 3 red dice of Impact 3 and Pierce 3 pain at someone. It's difficult to pass up this one.
Dark Side Powers
Anger (5 pts.) - After you suffer 1 or more wounds, gain an Aim Token. It's ok. If you don't take Saber Throw (let's be honest, why aren't you taking Saber Throw?), it's of extremely limited usefulness thanks to Vader's slow speed. Additionally, Aim tokens aren't as valuable to Vader since he's always throwing red dice, which already have a very high probability of hitting (each red die has a 75% chance of either a hit or a critical- if you've got surge tokens, that jumps to 88%). If you do take this, don't forget that when you suffer a wound for Implacable, it also triggers the effect.
Fear (3 pts.) - After your rally step, you can give an enemy unit at range 1-2 a suppression token. It's low cost and works well with other suppression effects like Master of Evil, Palpatine's lightning, mortars, etc. But if you're not looking to play the suppression game, it's not all that useful except as a mild nuisance.
Force Choke (5 pts.) - Exhaust as a free action to choose a non-Commander, non-Operative unit at range 1 and inflict one wound. Can be useful to finish off that lone trooper who's irritating you, or to pick off a wounded Wookiee Warrior before they charge your lines. Just don't expect a lot out of it.
Command Cards
(3 pip) Master of Evil - [Darth Vader & 2 Units] - When Darth Vader is issued an order (during the command phase), he gains one dodge token. When Darth Vader activates, every enemy trooper within range 1-2 gains 3 suppression tokens. - oh what's that? you have rebel troops all around Darth Vader that have been focus firing him for the last turn or two? got him down to 3, maybe 2 wounds? SIKE. All those troopers are going get some serious rape thrown their way. Seriously an awesome card to use Vader's strength in an explosive fashion, because if you're within range 1-2 of any troops anyways, you're going to kill them.
(2 pip) New Ways To Motivate Them - [2 Troopers] - When a friendly non-Darth Vader trooper unit with a face-up order token activates, it may suffer 1 wound to perform 1 free action. - All around, much more utility than push. It already gains you the 2 nominations that you get from the generic card, but now you have an added option of suffering a wound to perform another action. All things considered, usually it's primary uses come during the late game, when you need to double dash troops out to objectives, or when you need a squad to move, aim and pulverize a runaway rebel team.
(1 pip) Implacable - [Darth Vader] - At the end of Darth Vader's first activation, he may suffer 1 wound to shuffle his order token into the order pool. During Darth Vader's second activation, he performs 1 fewer action. - SMASH that's the sound of Darth Vader spending one very good turn literally curb stomping anyone he's close to. It lets him decimate squads he's in melee with, or throw 2 sabers. OR BOTH! the options aren't limitless, but your power sure will be. The 10/27/21 update also added that Vader gains a dodge token when he activates - that's two free dodge tokens on top of the two you'd get from Force Reflexes...
Tactics
Another Blaster magnet:
Seriously Vader really will cop a huge amount of fire power once he starts to get closer, your opponent knows he's going to rip his units to shreds if you close the distance. Keep your Stormtroopers near and support him, otherwise he's toast.
Despite his hefty price tag, he soaks up so much enemy fire it might be a good idea to just charge him at your enemy as a distraction from speeders or AT-STs. Use this in conjunction with Stormtroopers with concussion grenades and grappling hooks to get in the enemies face. No matter the range, everyone is scared of Vader. Use that knowledge when you plan your lists accordingly.
The man who gets shot more times on screen than anyone else, who 1v1s X-Wings better than an armored walker, and this is HIS ACHIEVEMENT NOT YOURS; Director Krennic brings a couple of different things to the party. Coming in at 90 points base, he is near the cost of Veers, but packs a different kind of punch. Krennic's command abilities are less tethered to dishing out tokens or pure damage like with Vader/Palpatine/Veers, and more in applying a tactical use of your forces during the game.
His ability Compel lets friendly troopers near him perform a free move action if they are still suppressed but not panicked after their rally step- but they have to gain another suppression token to do so. Basically, if Krennic drops his "Annihilation Looms" Command Card (see below) later in the game, Compel will let you partially get around losing an action due to being Suppressed ("partially" because you get two actions but the first will be a move). Otherwise, unless you're fighting an enemy who goes for maximum suppression (like a Dooku-oriented Droid army, for example), it's pretty situational as you still have to deal with Panic- although having Commander Vader or even Palpatine around can help mitigate that.
He also has the keyword Cunning- when you reveal one of Krennic's own three Command Cards (see below), if there would be a tie on the pips, he automatically breaks it in his favor. It's nice but nothing earth shattering. And if you're facing someone else who has it, such as Dooku, the effects cancel each other out. Per the movie Rogue One, he's usually accompanied by his fearsome Death Troopers, therefore, he has the Entourage rule with them- this allows him to field one unit without having to factor their Special Forces rank, and he can always issue an order to one unit of them per turn as long as it's within range 2 or less.
A pistol rather than Veers' E-11, does limit him to range 1-2. However, the pistol fires rainbow spray, meaning one red, black, and white dice. This, accompanied with surge to critical, pierce, and sharpshooter however, can make for a reliable removal of models when given an appropriate escort. Krennic's one big failing is his fragility in an army that tends to not be very fragile. He has 6 wounds, rolling white dice with surge on defense- he's got the same defense as the Rebel scum he is trying to kill. He's also only got Courage 2, so be wary of getting too much suppression.
Upgrade Cards
Command Upgrades (x2 Slots)
Aggressive Tactics (10 pts.) - After issuing orders, give 1 surge token to up to 4 friendly units with a face-up order token. If you really want Surge tokens, it can be useful, especially on defense.
Commanding Presence (10 pts. dropped to 5 pts. by rules errata) - When issuing orders, you can issue orders at range 1-4. Pretty meh. On smaller battlefields, this isn't even needed. On larger ones, it's more useful, as Krennic will spend most of his time hanging around the back, but hardly a must have. With the lower points due to the errata, it's actually not bad. It allows your troops to move away from Krennic a little bit and still be in range for his commands. Also note that this increases the range of Entourage as well, meaning Krennic doesn't have to be near the action.
Esteemed Leader (5 pts.) - Friendly trooper units at range 1 gain Guardian 1, helping you defend your points investment. Basically, allows you to have someone else to eat a ranged attack meant for your general; doesn't work in melee, though. Useful if you want Krennic to hang in the fight a bit longer, but honestly, not a must have.
Improvised Orders (10 pts.) - Draw 2, pick 1 token from your order pool. Pass.
Strict Orders (5 Points) - troopers with a face up order token can choose to remove one Suppression token instead of rolling dice during their Rally step. It's ok. The trick is getting the face up order tokens so you can maximize the effect; but Krennic's Command Cards don't offer a lot in that regard, although Entourage helps.
Gear Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Electrobinoculars (8 pts.) - Gain the ability to spend an action to give another friendly unit at range 1 an aim token. Veers or the Officer can do it better, but it does give him something to do when he's not near the action.
Emergency Stims (8 pts.) - When you would suffer wounds, prevent up to 2 of them, then suffer the same amount you absorbed with this card at the end of your next activation. Lets a unit (hopefully) survive to shoot one more time. Situationally useful, allows you to hold two wounds off unit the end of your next activation. Krennic’s best abilities are passive, so it is entirely possible to make this work, but really, is this worth the points?
Environmental Gear (3 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. Never a waste, ignoring difficult terrain, but unless he’s chasing a squad likewise equipped with this, he can live without it.
Grappling Hooks (3 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. I mean, after the events of Rogue One, I think Krennic would lie to avoid climbing up towers. Skip.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. A free speed 1 redeploy isn’t bad, but honestly, unless you need it to keep up with your entire army, you don’t need it.
Targeting Scopes (6 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. Why? In case you whiff all three of your shooting dice?
Command Cards
(3 pip) Annihilation Looms - [Director Orsin Krennic & 2 Trooper Units] - Every trooper unit on the table immediately gets a Suppression token, and double it if it's turn 5 or 6. This is where Krennic's "Compel" ability comes in handy, or the Commander Vader. Good for a last minute middle finger to try to cause enemy units to panic late in the game. Just be wary that it affects your doods too, and have a contingency plan.
(2 pip) Deploy the Garrison! - [2 Trooper units] - Two friendly trooper units with face up order tokens (read: Not necessarily the ones given an order by this Command Card...) can take a free Standby action at the start of the Activation phase. This one seems underwhelming at first glance but it's actually rather clever. It essentially lets two trooper units do a free move or attack before they actually take their activation. Two caveats, however: 1. Your unit loses its standby token if it subsequently gains a suppression token, and 2. the unit will also lose token if it performs any action. So make sure you give out those Standby tokens wisely, and use them before the two units activate. This Command is especially good with Death Troopers and their "Ready 1" ability....
(1 pip) Voracious Ambition - [Director Orson Krennic] - At the start of the activation phase, place 3 random facedown order tokens on this card. You can look at them at any time. When you would draw an order token from the pool, you may instead choose one from this card. It's essentially giving you 4 tokens for the price of 1 (although other than Krennic himself you can't benefit from abilities that affect face up order tokens like Aggressive Tactics or Strict Orders... but still).
Tactics
Krennic is not a typical fighting commander, and not as straight forward suppoort to use as Veers with his aim tokens. His biggest asset is that he can control your own activation's as well as limit your opponent's. He's best while he stays at the back issuing orders to death trooper unit and joining the fray when both forces are worn out, since he will be less likely too get shot by huge attack pools. Its important to use his compel ability since at the cost of one extra suppression your units are guaranteed 2 actions when suppressed (but the move still must be the first one) which can be crucial in order to grab that one objective that you desperately need in order to win. His entourage also allows you to start shore trooper chain in every turn if death troopers are alive and in range (via comms relay on DT's) but it requires proper positioning
The dude with the bitchin' sideburns from the Star Wars: Rebels cartoons. In Rebels, he eventually defects and joins the Rebel Alliance; Legion doesn't depict that but he does have a related "Flaw", which we'll get to later.
He's the same base cost as Krennic, but he has the option of taking his J-19 Bo-Rifle for an extra 25 points and... you probably want it because it's really good. He has 6 wounds and 2 courage, not too shabby for a non-Force user, with red defense (no surge) and critical surge on offense. In melee he swings 2 red and he comes with a pistol that has range 1-2, doing 2 black and 1 white with Pierce 1 - but his Bo-Rifle gives him a significant boost in both melee and ranged- his melee becomes 1 red, 2 black, 1 white with Charge, Lethal 1, Immune: Pierce while defending against melee attacks, and Reconfigure; his ranged uses same dice with Lethal 1 and Reconfigure. That's pretty good for a guy who doesn't use the Force, and two of his Commands give him a free Recover action to reconfigure his weapon.
As for his special rules, he comes with Contingencies 2 (set aside two extra command cards in a side deck; after revealing cards during the command phase, you can discard your chosen card to replace it with a contingency card of the same pip value), Cunning (if he uses one of his own commands and there is a tie for pips, his command counts as one pip less to break the tie), Sharpshooter 1, and Tactical 1. Contingencies is a great keyword, as it gives some major flexibility in your command phase. Let's say you just played Assault but it turns out that Coordinated Fire is in your contingency deck and it might be a better choice this turn... swap it out! Cunning also helps insure that you get first go, as long as your opponent doesn't also have it (Count Dooku), in which case they negate each other.
Upgrade Cards
Armament Upgrades (x1 Slots)
J-19 Bo-Rifle Blaster/Staff (25 pts, reduced to 15 on 10/27/21) - has the same dice in either configuration, 1 red, 2 black, 1 white, as well as Lethal 1 and Reconfigure. The Staff version adds Charge and Immunity to Pierce when defending against a melee attack. This takes Kallus and makes him into a pretty mean bastard. And since he's got Tactical built-in, you could, for example, double move to get into melee and then use Charge for a free melee attack with two Aim tokens. Yeah, seriously. And that's without factoring his 1-pip, which makes him almost unkillable. This is a very good upgrade and should be taken, especially since the points were decreased.
Command Upgrades (x2 Slots)
Aggressive Tactics (10 pts.) - After issuing orders, give 1 surge token to up to 4 friendly units with a face-up order token. If you really want Surge tokens, it can be useful, especially on defense.
Commanding Presence (10 pts. dropped to 5 pts. by rules errata) - When issuing orders, you can issue orders at range 1-4. Pretty meh. On smaller battlefields, this isn't even needed, especially if you're having Kallus charge forward into melee with da boyz.
Esteemed Leader (5 pts.) - Friendly trooper units at range 1 gain Guardian 1, helping you defend your points investment. Basically, allows you to have someone else to eat a ranged attack meant for your general; doesn't work in melee, though. Not a great choice as Kallus probably wants to be in melee.
Improvised Orders (10 pts.) - Draw 2, pick 1 token from your order pool. Pass.
Strict Orders (5 Points) - troopers with a face up order token can choose to remove one Suppression token instead of rolling dice during their Rally step. It's ok. The trick is getting the face up order tokens so you can maximize the effect, and Kallus's cards aren't great for that.
Training Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Duck and Cover (8 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. Where Kallus is only 2 courage and wants to get stuck in, you probably don't want him getting bogged down with suppression.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. Not bad considering his Courage, and especially handy for that turn his Flaw gets used.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. Where he's already got good ability to get Aims, might be a pass.
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. You probably don't want Kallus hanging around on Standby, but if you're leaning heavily on his shooting or being a sneaky bastard, then this could be worth taking.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack while you are wounded, gain 1 red attack die. If he's got his J-19, you probably want this (although be wary of his Flaw).
Offensive Push (4 pts.) - exhaust while performing a move to gain Tactical 1, which stacks with the Tactical 1 Kallus already has. Not bad if you're heading into an assault with the J-19 and want maximum Aim tokens. But may be a bit superfluous considering he has Charge with the J-19 and can double move for two tokens and still charge. But then again, he gets free recovers from two of his command cards, so you could easily use this three times. Tough call.
Gear Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Electrobinoculars (8 pts.) - Gain the ability to spend an action to give another friendly unit at range 1 an aim token. You're probably better off taking an Officer or Veers and letting them do this while Kallus attacks.
Emergency Stims (8 pts.) - When you would suffer wounds, prevent up to 2 of them, then suffer the same amount you absorbed with this card at the end of your next activation. Lets a unit (hopefully) survive to shoot one more time. Situationally useful, allows you to hold two wounds off unit the end of your next activation. Not bad if you really want to get just one more swing out of Kallus.
Environmental Gear (3 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. Never a waste, ignoring difficult terrain, but unless he’s chasing a squad likewise equipped with this, he can live without it.
Grappling Hooks (3 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. Like Enviro Gear, not bad if the situation arises.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. A free speed 1 redeploy isn’t bad for a melee-oriented guy.
Targeting Scopes (6 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. Not terrible considering he does throw a bunch of black and white dice (especially if he has his J-19), and he has easy access to Aim tokens thanks to Tactical.
Command Cards
(3 pip) Ruthless Tactics - [Agent Kallus and two units] - Kallus gets a free Recover action during his activation. Whenever an enemy unit defends against a ranged attack, it gains an Observation token (or two tokens if the unit has suppression tokens equal to or exceeding its courage value). If you're doing a gunline army, this command will help ensure that anything you focus fire on will go poof fast.
(2 pip) ISB Investigation - [Agent Kallus and 1 unit] - You choose a number and your opponent (or one of your opponents, if you're doing more than 2 players) has to set aside their command cards of that number; they cannot use those cards until after they've chosen a card in the next turn. Basically a guessing game card, where you try to prevent your opponent from using a really good 1-pip next turn.
(1 pip) Face Me! - [Agent Kallus] - Kallus gains Agile 1 and Block (when he spends a Dodge in melee, he gains defensive surge). He also can do a free Recover action during his activation, and enemies engaged with him cannot withdraw. Note that the last thing has no effect on Disengage; but it does mean that Kallus will have a meatshield if it survives his assault, and he'll have potent defense if someone strikes him back.
(Flaw Card) Developing Sympathies - If Kallus is wounded at the start of the Command Phase, your opponent may play this card; at the end of Kallus's activation that turn, if he made an attack he gains FOUR suppression. If he's already got some suppression, this can cause him to panic if you don't have a good Rally step in the following turn. And where Kallus, especially if he has the Bo-Staff, is a combat-oriented character... this can be pretty bad if the timing is right.
Tactics
Kallus is a lot like a weaker, non-Force-using Vader, where he's got some tricks but he's mainly oriented towards combat, especially if he has his J-19 upgrade. He can go toe-to-toe with a lightsaber boi and acquit himself well, especially when he uses his 1-pip, but it's a fight he's not likely to ultimately win (especially if he's facing particularly hard-hitting ones like Vader, Anakin, Dooku, or OpLuke). Against most other characters, he should do quite well. His shooting isn't bad either, even if you don't take the J-19. Don't underestimate the flexibility of Contingencies!
The Senate is similar to Darth Vader in both points and Force abilities, but he also can take a Command upgrade. He moves slower than legislation and lacks Vader's Relentless. Where Vader is the rabid attack dog on steroids, Palpatine is the puppet master. He's got Entourage with his crimson-robed Royal Guards, meaning you can field one unit of them without factoring their Special Forces rank (so you can take 4 Spec Forces units; 5 if you take Krennic and a unit of Deathtroopers...) and he can issue a free order to one Guard unit per turn as long as they're within 1-2 of him. Don't let his withered appearance fool you either, he's still the Sith Master- not only does he have Master of the Force 2 to automatically ready his Force powers after using them, but he can shoot lightning as a ranged attack or in melee. The Lightning's got the same dice as the AT-ST's main gun but with surge to critical, Pierce 2 and suppressive- but half the range. He's not as tough as Vader with only 5 wounds and 4 courage, but he does roll red defense dice with surge and immunity to Pierce, so he can be a tough nut to crack.
Of special note, he's got a unique special ability called Pulling the Strings. Palpatine spends an action to give a free move or attack action to a trooper unit within range 1-2 of him. Sounds like nothing super special, right? Sure, you can use it to have your Stormtroopers or, even better, Death Troopers, take a free fire action and fire twice in the same turn. But remember, the Empire has access to multiple units that have Steady, Relentless, or Charge- and those still trigger after the free move granted by Strings. Additionally, none of the actions in question count against the normal actions taken during the unit's actual activation. Imagine Vader using a free move to get into melee and then attack with Charge... then using his normal activation to fight... then using his "Implacable" Command to fight again. IN ONE TURN. That's an extreme example, but Royal Guards (which you should be taking with Palpatine) can do it too.
Upgrade Cards
Force Upgrades (x3 Slots)
Unaligned Powers
Battle Meditation (10 pts.) - When you issue orders, you can give one of those orders to a friendly unit anywhere on the battlefield. Same as with Vader, it's of very limited usefulness.
Burst of Speed (3 pts.) - Expend to increase your movement rate to 3 for the rest of the turn, but gain an immobilize token at the end of the turn. This was already a popular upgrade for him before it was even released (and as of this writing in November 2021, it technically still hasn't been released in the US yet).
Force Guidance (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow you to give a surge token to up to 2 friendly units at range 1-2, as a free action. As with Vader, only useful if you really like surge tokens and want to guarantee having some.
Force Push (10 pts.) - Exhaust as a free action to cause an enemy trooper unit at distance-1 to make a speed-1 move. Pretty useful for moving around enemies and ensuring you can fry them (or Vader can chop them, or troopers can shoot them, etc), but the short range hurts a bit, especially for slow-moving emperors.
Force Reflexes (15 pts.) - Exhaust as a free action to gain a Dodge token. Dodge tokens are always nice but since Palpatine doesn't have Deflect or Block, it's not quite as auto-include as it would be for someone who does have either of those.
Saber Throw (10 pts.) - Spend an action to perform an attack with one of you melee weapons at range 1-2, using half of that weapon's dice (rounded up). You can skip this one because Palpatine's melee attack is also a ranged attack with full strength either way.
Dark Side Powers
Anger (5 pts.) - Gain an aim token every time you take damage. Much more useful to Palpy than it is for Vader, especially when Palpy uses "And Now... You Will Die". Practically an auto-include for him.
Fear (3 pts.) - Gain Demoralize 1, letting you give 1 suppression token to enemy units at range 1-2. Works well with other suppressive effects, like Palpatine's lightning.
Force Choke (5 pts.) - Exhaust this ability to deal 1 wound to a trooper mini at range 1, that isn't a commander. Makes sure you get that last pesky trooper.
Command Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Aggressive Tactics (10 pts.) - After issuing orders, give 1 surge token to up to 4 friendly units with a face-up order token. Where it'll be really useful is when using the "An Entire Legion" card. But otherwise, it's not that useful for Palpatine since he already has surge on offense and defense, and his other two Commands only target himself.
Commanding Presence (10 pts.) - When issuing orders, you can issue orders at range 1-4. Pretty meh. On smaller battlefields, this isn't even needed. On larger ones, it's situational. Where it is potentially (but still not very) useful is in conjunction with the Entourage rule, as command range boosters can affect it- and Palpatine's a bit slower moving than his Royal Guards.
Esteemed Leader (5 pts.) - Friendly trooper units at range 1 gain Guardian 1, helping you defend your points investment. Basically, allows you to have someone else to eat a ranged attack meant for your general; doesn't work in melee, though. Stacks with the Guardian 2 that the Royal Guards come with, which will help keep Palpatine alive as he closes in for some fun with electricity.
Improvised Orders (10 pts.) - Once per turn, draw 2, pick 1 token from your order pool. Might be useful when Palpatine drops either of the two Commands that only issue to himself.
Strict Orders (5 Points) - Guarantees a trooper unit (with a faceup order token) can remove one suppression when they activate, rather than leaving it to chance. Meh. Palpatine's got a rather high Courage value (the highest in the Empire, not counting Vader's fearlessness), and two of his three Commands only target himself.
Command Cards
(3 pip) An Entire Legion - [Each Eligible Unit] - No special effect, aside from having issued orders to every single unit on your side of the field. Bear in mind that it's worded "each eligible unit"- so they are still required to be within range 3 of Palpy to be issued the order. It generally shouldn't be much of an issue due to the small-ish table size, but still, it's worth noting.
(2 pip) Give in to Your Anger - [Emperor Palpatine] - You get to choose which trooper unit your opponent get to activate first. Give it an order token from the pool, if it hasn't already got its own. If that unit cannot perform an attack action by the end of its activation, if gains 4 suppression tokens. Yikes! This is a really good way of screwing with your opponent's well-laid plans.
(1 pip) And Now... You Will Die - [Emperor Palpatine] - When you activate Palpatine, you may choose to give him 1 wound and 1 suppression any number of times to perform an attack each time, and then the defender gains 1 immobilized token. Up to 4 attacks a turn (before any other items/abilities, and not counting his normal two actions- which can include a normal attack)? You may want to keep a medical droid or two nearby...
Tactics
Palpatine is kind of a one-trick pony - roll him into the enemy force and drop that 1-pip to unleash UNLIMITED POWER™. The real trick is getting him there with all of his wounds intact so he can deal maximum damage, because everyone knows about that trick. This can be done multiple ways, such as having him ride in a LAAT, having him roll up with some Royal Guards to soak wounds, or keeping cheap Corps units with medical droids around. The Force upgrade "Burst of Speed" also can be valuable for this. Once in range, unleash the beast and watch half your opponent's army vanish, with the survivors bolted in place by the immobilization. Also be wary of your opponent screwing with Palpatine's one big trick by using things like Change of Plans or I am a Jedi, the latter being particularly brutal.
Aside from his 1-pip, which is easily one of the most powerful in the game, Palpatine is basically a slow-moving lightning machine. As mentioned above, he's throwing the same dice as the AT-ST's main gun but with shorter range. While surge to critical helps, his attack is best used shooting at infantry, especially infantry with minimal cover and/or no dodge tokens. Pulling the Strings is nice and all but it's more of an opportunistic thing really, like if the stars align and allow for the Vader triple attack threat mentioned above. Realistically, you want Palpatine to be moving into range and then maniacally laughing as he slaughters his foes.
First, at 80 points (reduced to 75 on 10/27/21), he's less than half the cost of Vader, letting you gear out your other units a bit better or throw an extra unit into your army. He's very much a support commander rather than combat, with a modest 3 white attack dice with Pierce 1 at range 1-3 and 2 black in melee with Precise 1 and Sharpshooter 1, so he's best kept in the backfield in cover.
His Inspire 1 ability lets him keep nearby units in the fight, though not to the same degree as Vader, but his greatest boon is his Spotter 2 ability: Giving a free Aim token to two nearby units can let Stormtroopers move while still shooting more accurately, or for laying down serious firepower have an AT-ST perform its own Aim action and fire with two aim tokens, letting it reroll up to four dice during its attack action. Veers can be equipped with two Command upgrades and one Gear.
Upgrade Cards
Command Upgrades (x2 Slots)
Aggressive Tactics (10 pts.) - While you are the nominated commander, after issuing orders, choose up to 4 friendly units with faceup order tokens. Each chosen unit gains 1 surge token.
Useful in an infantry-heavy army led by Veers. Most units in the Imperial army already have offensive surges, and therefore a command upgrade that gives them a different type of surge can be useful. It provides Imperial forces with the defensive surges that they dream of (granted, only one per unit), to give them true power armor, and it gives out up to 4 tokens for the price of ten points, every turn, as long as the Commander with this upgrade is the chosen Commander for the turn (that is, if Vader issues the order for the turn, Veers can't use this). If you do take this, be sure to also have methods of increasing your face up order tokens to maximize the benefit.
Commanding Presence (10 pts.) - When issuing orders, you can issue orders at range 4. An ok upgrade at best, 10 points can be spent more efficiently elsewhere in most armies, even 2 grenades often convey better bonuses.
Very situational. Generally not all that useful since the table size is pretty small, and you're already using range-3 for your command radius. But if you went with a bunch of Speeder bikes and really want to ensure you can issue orders to them, this will help (although putting Long Range Commlink on the bikes is probably smarter).
Esteemed Leader (5 pts.) - While you are defending, each friendly corps trooper unit at range 1 gains Guardian 1 (When a friendly unit at range 1 is defending against a ranged attack, you may choose up to 1 hit result. For each result chosen, roll a defense die as though you were the defender.)
Veers is not really a front line commander. His defense is solid, but his attacks are fairly weak, and his best utility is boosting morale, dishing out Aim tokens to other units, and throwing down some solid Command Cards. If for some reason you're really worried about him taking damage, this can help mitigate the potential loss of him.
Improvised Orders (10 pts.) - Exhaustible - After an order token is drawn from a friendly order pool, draw a second order token from that pool. Choose 1 to use and shuffle the other back into the order pool. If you do, during the End Phase, ready this card.
To get the most out of Veers, you want to ensure you have ways of getting face up order tokens as much as possible (especially if you're trying to use Strict Orders or Aggressive Tactics).
Strict Orders (5 pts.) - When a friendly trooper unit with a face-up order token activates, during its Rally step, it may remove 1 suppression token instead of rolling dice.
If you didn't bring either Palpatine or Commander Vader (who are good at preventing Panic in your troops), it's a decent choice. Just be sure to have a way to get the face up order tokens where you need them when you need them. Note that Veers doesn't need to be the active commander in the turn to trigger this- it simply has to be in your army for the army to always potentially benefit, so it can be used when Palpatine drops his "An Entire Legion" command.
Gear Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Electrobinoculars (8 pts.) - Gain Spotter 1, which stacks with Veers's existing Spotter 2 to give him Spotter 3. Not a horrible choice allowing you to spread around the Aim token goodness.
Emergency Stims (8 pts.) - When you would suffer wounds, prevent up to 2 of them, then suffer the same amount you absorbed with this card at the end of your next activation. Lets a unit (hopefully) survive to shoot, (or command) one more time. Veers isn't a very good combat unit; ideally, he shouldn't be taking a lot of heat.
Environmental Gear (3 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. If you're worried about difficult terrain for some reason, here's your remedy.
Grappling Hooks (3 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. If you're worried about safely climbing stuff for some reason, here's your remedy.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. Veers is more a "lead from behind" sort of commander, so you probably don't need this.
Targeting Scopes (6 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. Not really worth it, considering Veers only chucks white dice (very low chance to hit) and the points for this are better spent elsewhere.
Command Cards
(3 pip) Imperial Discipline - [General Veers & 2 Units] - When a friendly unit is issued an order it may recover.
Seems pretty underwhelming at first glance. However, Recover does a bunch of things: first, it allows you to remove any number of suppression tokens you wish from the unit. Then it also allows you to ready any exhausted cards, like HQ Uplinks, your Stormtroopers' missile launchers, Vader's Force powers (any that his Master of the Force wasn't able to ready), General Weiss on your AT-ST, etc. Lastly, it lets you flip a Config upgrade on units like the Death Troopers, saving you an action if you need them to switch things up. Also note that it doesn't specify that the units have to be issued an order by Veers- orders granted by, for example, Entourage or HQ Uplink would also qualify. This Command is actually pretty versatile.
(2 pip) Evasive Maneuvers - [2 Vehicles] - When a friendly vehicle unit is issued an order, it gains 1 dodge token. Friendly vehicle units can spend dodge tokens to cancel Critical hit results
This is... yummy in certain situations. 2 bikes in your list? take it. 2 vehicles of any kind? take it. Seriously, taking the occupier assault tank, and some bike units can make them VERY hard to remove in a turn where they have you completely ranged. It might even make your opponent NOT want to ice them, which would be ICING on your imperial cake of victory. Try not to think about how an Occupier can dodge...
(1 pip) Maximum Firepower - [General Veers] - At the end of General Veer's activation, he may perform an attack using the following weapon: Range 4-Infinite, 4 red dice, Impact 2, Immune: Deflect (the target cannot do Deflect's special damage to you, but can still use Dodge tokens to trigger surge).
It's that opening scene where Veers goes PEW PEW in his AT-AT. Cool. Extreme long range and generally small table size means you probably want to do this one early in the game.
Tactics
Stormtroopers Who Can Hit
Give your Stormtroopers targeting scopes, use one action to give them an aim token and use Veers' spotter ability on them and enjoy as you re-roll dice up the wazoo, your blast points will finally be too accurate for sand people.
Vehicle SMACKDOWN
There is never too much dakka. And your dakka machines (ATST, GAVw, and scout bikes) get to survive to deal more damage. Plus aim tokens. Plus all the good stuff veers comes with. honestly Veers is in almost every list because he is very versatile.
Essentially a worse General Veers. She is 30 points cheaper though, with less fewer options and slightly worse offensive capabilities. Take this girl if you want the extra points to use on your unit choices.
She can use the rule Spotter 1 to give a unit an Range 1 and Aim Token, Inspire 1 to remove a Suppression Token from a unit at range 1, and Sharpshooter 1 to reduce the cover of a unit she shoots at by one level.
She punches with a black dice, has an Officer's RK-3 Blaster Pistol, range 1-2, one black, one white. She has white defense dice, four wounds, two courage, and surges to hit and to save.
Note that the Officer's commands can be used by any Empire commander. They're not locked specifically to her.
Upgrade Cards
Command Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Aggressive Tactics (10 pts.) - After issuing orders, give 1 surge token to up to 4 friendly units with a face-up order token. If you like surge tokens, and plan to lean heavily on the Officer issuing orders, then by all means. Otherwise, pass.
Commanding Presence (10 pts.) - Issue orders at Range 4. The Officer works best at Range 1-2, so if you want to help your units that rush forward, or hang back if she's joining the vanguard, this could help.
Esteemed Leader (5 pts.) - Friendly Corps units at Range 1 gain Guardian 1. This will help keep your Officer alive longer, just be sure to keep a cheap-ish unit nearby to absorb those wounds.
Improvised Orders (10 pts.) - Gives you a second chance at pulling that order you need. Exhaustible, but it readies itself in the End Phase. More worthwhile on this Commander than any other, if you need that special unit to make the shot.
Strict Orders (5 pts.) - A unit with a faceup Order Token may remove one Suppression Token instead of rolling. Stacks well with her Inspire rule. Note that there is no requirement for the character with this upgrade to be the active commander for it to trigger... so taking it on the Officer frees up a Command upgrade slot on your other Commander (if you take one).
Gear Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Electrobinoculars (8 pts.) - Gain the ability to spend an action to give another friendly unit at range 1 an aim token. The officer already has this built in, so it stacks to give you Spotter 2. Definitely worth considering.
Emergency Stims (8 pts.) - When you would suffer wounds, prevent up to 2 of them, then suffer the same amount you absorbed with this card at the end of your next activation. Lets a unit (hopefully) survive to shoot one more time. You took this model because they're cheap. Don't ruin a good thing.
Environmental Gear (3 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. May be helpful, but if she's going to hang back, give it a skip.
Grappling Hooks (3 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. Will she be climbing? Probably not. Pass.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. If you expect to be running forward, this will be worthwhile. But since the Officer works best as a support from behind the lines type of character...
Targeting Scopes (6 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. Why? You have a two shot gun. You already re-roll all your dice when you spend an Aim Token.
Command Cards
(3 pip) Coordinated Fire - [3 Corps Units] - After a friendly Corps Unit spends at least one Aim Token, another friendly unit at Range 1-2 may gain an Aim Token. Stacks beautifully with the Spotter rule or Shore Troopers.
(2 pip) Pinned Down - [2 Support or Heavy Units] - After a friendly Support or Heavy Unit makes an attack against a unit with a faceup Order Token, you can shuffle that unit's Order Token back in to their pool. YES. Your ATST can have a second activation. Your E-Web can fire twice. Baller. Your Dewbacks can... Dew it all over again? Ok, even though the context is clearly that the defender's token is the one that goes back, not your attacking unit's... the FAQ's have made it clear that it's that way. It's a nice way to screw with your enemy's plans, especially when your opponent wants faceup tokens, such as when using Fire Support ("sorry Rex, not gonna call you Captain anymore..."), Strict Orders, or General Grievous's "Supreme Commander" command card. Also note that this was FAQ'ed that Arsenal works with it to return multiple tokens.
(1 pip) Covert Operations - [1 Support or Operative Unit] - You get to peek at two random command cards from your opponent's hand. Hey, it can't hurt. From experience you will always pick Standing Orders. Always. The November 2020 update totally rewrote the effect of this one and now it's: when your opponent issues orders from a Command Card, every unit that gets one of those orders also gains a suppression token. It's nothing earth-shattering but throwing extra suppression when your opponent uses a 3-pip (especially one like Luminous Beings Are We, We're Not Programmed, etc.) is kinda nice, especially if you're using a suppression-oriented list, which Empire does well. Note that it only applies to orders from the command card itself, and not from other effects like HQ Uplink, Coordinate, Entourage, Commns Relay, and so forth.
Tactics
Tactics? She's cheap, you need a Commander. The buffs she provides are nice, but not game changing. The points you save by taking her over other Commanders can go towards the rest of your army.
Alternatively, she works as a secondary Commander. For example, Vader runs forward, and she hangs back.
The main character from the story mode on EA's Battlefront 2 video game. She's a highly trained operative and sniper. In the story of BF2, she eventually becomes disillusioned with the Empire after the Battle of Endor and joins the Rebellion/New Republic, and hijinks ensue but that's beyond the scope of Legion. For now.
To start, she's 100 points base, with 6 wounds, 3 courage and red defense dice (no surge). She comes with the same blaster as General Veers (3 white at range 1-3 with Pierce 1), and punches for 2 red; she has offensive surge to boot. Her Marksman rule allows you to spend an Aim token to simply change a die- a blank becomes a hit, or a hit becomes a crit (and you can use two Aims to turn a blank into a crit). She can be upgraded to have a sniper rifle or a LMG- which are detailed in upgrades, below.
She is loaded with special rules since she's a non-Force-using special forces agent. To start, she has Quick Thinking (spend an action to gain both a Dodge and an Aim token) and Nimble (she gains a Dodge token after spending one or more during an attack). Although she's a Commander, her Covert Ops rule allows you to change her to an Operative during deployment, and when you do, she gains Infiltrate, allowing you to deploy her anywhere on the table as long you she's outside of range 3 of all enemy units at the time she deploys (meaning if there's nobody on the board yet, she can deploy literally anywhere....). If you don't field another Commander, you are required to promote a Corps or Spec Ops unit to be the acting commander (in much the same way as if all commanders had been killed- but Covert Ops specifies is must be Corps or Spec Ops). She also has a Loadout rule- for every upgrade you give her, you can set aside a different upgrade with the same slot and equal or less points value... and when Iden deploys, you may swap out the upgrades. Did you take Emergency Stims but decided you'd rather have Electrobinoculars? Swap 'em out! Same goes for her weapons- does the TL-50 seem more useful against the droid horde than the sniper? Swap 'em out!
Lastly... She also comes with FOUR command cards. One of them requires her to field her droid buddy ID10, so there's a second card for if you choose not to field it.
Upgrade Cards
Armament Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Iden's DLT-20A Sniper Rifle (15 pts.) - range 1 to infinity doing 2 black with Pierce 1 and High Velocity (if it's the only weapon in the attack pool, the target can't spend Dodge tokens).
TL-50 Heavy Blaster (15 pts.) - Range 1-3, 2 red, 1 black, 2 white with Critical 1 and Impact 1.
Training Upgrades (x2 Slot)
Duck and Cover (8 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. Not terrible, especially if you're going with a close-ranged assault version of her, using the TL-50. The Sniper version probably won't be moving around a lot, so just make sure she's in heavy cover and you won't miss this upgrade.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. Having a way of getting rid of suppression tokens is a good thing.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. Very useful for plugging enemy characters/tauntauns/wookiees/etc.
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. Not a terrible choice for a sniper, although it does somewhat limit her since her sniper rifle has unlimited range. Likely a more useful option when using the TL-50.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack while you are wounded, gain 1 red attack die. Iden's good in melee- she throws 2 red dice per attack- so while this isn't a bad upgrade, melee isn't exactly where she's at her best. But it's cheap and she does get two training upgrades.
Offensive Push (4 pts.) - exhaust while performing a move to gain Tactical 1 (which gives an aim token after performing a standard move). Aim tokens are always nice, especially if you want to make heavy use of her Marksman keyword.
Gear Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Electrobinoculars (8 pts.) - Gain the ability to spend an action to give another friendly unit at range 1 an aim token. You don't really want this on her, she's a bad ass and should be using Quick Thinking and shooting, not trying to be Veers.
Emergency Stims (8 pts.) - When you would suffer wounds, prevent up to 2 of them, then suffer the same amount you absorbed with this card at the end of your next activation. Lets a unit (hopefully) survive to shoot one more time.
Environmental Gear (3 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. May be helpful, but if she's going to hang back, give it a skip.
Grappling Hooks (3 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. Will she be climbing? Probably not. Pass.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. Cheap and helps get her where you need her. Not a bad choice.
Targeting Scopes (6 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. Her sniper rifle only rolls two dice, as does her melee attack. Her E-11 does throw three dice but they're white and do you really want to upgrade her based around that? It could be useful with the TL-50, since that does throw a bunch of non-red dice.
Iden's ID10 Seeker Droid (DIo)
For +15 points, Iden can be accompanied by her signature counterpart (it does have the "Counterpart" rule with her), a droid named ID10. It effectively gives her an extra hit point, and can apparently attack in melee or at range 1 with an electric shock that does 3 white damage and Suppressive. It also has Shielded 1 and Recharge 1 for an extra free block (and they'll get that back for free from Iden's "Concussive Blast" command...). It also has the "Small" keyword, which allows you to ignore it when determining range, line of sight, cover, etc. It's effectively not there and you only factor Iden herself. Lastly, it has a Comms upgrade slot.
Command Cards
(3 pip) Tactical Strike - [Iden Version and 3 Troopers] - when Iden or a Spec Forces unit with a faceup order activates, it may reduce its movement rate to one to gain Tactical 1 (free Aim token after moving) and Steady (may make a ranged attack action for free after moving). Any of the Spec Forces units would really enjoy having this effect.
(2 pip) Concussive Blast - [Iden Versio] - Iden recovers when she activates, and gains a weapon that does 5 red(!) at range 1-2 with Blast, Suppressive, and Scatter. It's a nice short ranged attack and gives a free recover as icing on the cake.
(2 pip) Incapacitate - [Iden Versio] - during Iden's activation, you may choose an enemy trooper unit at range 1 and within line of sight of her ID10 droid. That unit gains 3 suppression, and if it's a Corps unit, you can also cause them to lose their activation by giving them a face down order token or flipping their token if they were issued an order. Another decent short ranged effect to knock out a unit for a turn. Note that this is the one that requires you to also field the ID10 droid.
(1 pip) Pulse Scan - [Iden Versio] - Iden gains Sharpshooter 2 and an Aim token. At the end of her activation, she also gains both a Dodge and a Standby token. For one turn she is a ridiculously good sniper, and can potentially even do a double-tap with her sniper rifle or TL-50.
Tactics
Iden is more of a Jason Bourne type than a great tactician. She's pretty good at fighting but her abilities and Command Cards lend themselves more to that than to bolstering the troops around her.
There's two ways of running her. First, as a sniper, and she's quite good at that- although only throwing two black dice is going to severely limit her damage output. She'll be basically plunking off a wound or two each turn. The High Impact means she'll be good at knocking wounds off things that rely on Dodges, notably tauntauns or anything else with Agile. While attacking a Jedi/Sith may seem like a good idea, bear in mind that they ignore her Pierce and always have at least a 50/50 chance of blocking her hits even without Deflect. She'll generally struggle to actually do damage to them barring intervention from the Dice Gods.
Secondly, you can give her the TL-50 and have her do a Rambo impression. She's quite good at that too. But if you're going with the Rambo version, the trick will be getting the Aim tokens for her Marksman ability until she finds a nice spot to park and Quick Think/attack. Her 3-pip helps a lot, as would taking upgrades like Hunter or Offensive Push. The other issue is that the TL-50 doesn't have Pierce, so it won't be as reliable at dishing out wounds, especially against red defense- but the sheer number of dice helps- and Impact 1/Critical 1 means she can even be useful to attack armored vehicles in a pinch.
If you've got the spare points, the droid buddy is worth taking just for the slight bump in survivability, and if you go with the Rambo option, adding suppressive and some white dice up close is a plus. And, hey, if you've got a further ten spare points, you can take an HQ Uplink to ensure Iden gets an order in a turn when someone else happens to be issuing orders- if you use her Concussive Blast command at the right time, you can use that Uplink twice per game!
Boba Fett is a very strong ranged operative, with his wrist rockets dishing out 2 black dice with Impact 1 & his E-3 Carbine also putting out 2 black dice with Pierce 1. This coupled with Arsenal 2, Sharpshooter 2 (allowing him to always fully ignore enemy cover), Movement 3 and Jump 2... he can practically ignore obstacles and make enemy units paste. He also has the Impervious rule, if your opponent has "Pierce x" roll x amount of extra defense dice, very helpful in some situations.
Fett has an ability called "Bounty" where he can select the enemy commander or operative and puts a victory token on it. If Fett kills that unit, he gains the token and if he has it when the game ends while he has it, his side gets it added to their total. Watch the salt in your opponents eyes as you take that victory token off his hands.
Upgrade Cards
Training Upgrades (x2 Slots)
Duck and Cover (8 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. Meh. Not terrible but not great- his defense is already excellent, and he'll probably be attracting a lot of fire so you'll get that suppression the old fashioned way.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. A decent choice to keep Fett moving and firing, although he has Courage 3- but he'll probably attract a lot of fire too.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. Very useful for taking out that enemy character for Fett's Bounty rule.
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. Fett ideally needs to be mobile, considering his mostly short ranged weapons. Stopping to put him on Standby is not optimal.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack, while you are wounded, gain 1 red attack die. Fett's not bad in melee but his strength is his ranged attacks. Still... his guns have short range and he might find himself in melee- a little boost couldn't hurt if you've got a spare 4 pts to spend.
Offensive Push (4 pts.) - exhaust while performing a move to gain Tactical 1 (which gives an aim token after performing a standard move). Aim tokens are always nice, especially when doing Fett's regular attacks (which are mostly black dice).
Gear Upgrades (x2 Slots)
Electrobinoculars (8 pts.) - Gain the ability to spend an action to give another friendly unit at range 1 an aim token. Fett's an expensive combat monkey, you don't need him trying to be Veers.
Emergency Stims (8 pts.) - When you would suffer wounds, prevent up to 2 of them, then suffer the same amount you absorbed with this card at the end of your next activation. Lets a unit (hopefully) survive to shoot one more time.
Environmental Gear (3 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. Fett's got Jump. Pass.
Grappling Hooks (3 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. Fett's got Jump. Pass.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. Fett wants to be close to the enemy so anything that helps with that is welcome. And it's cheap!
Targeting Scopes (6 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. Fett throws four Black dice as range 1-2 (Wrist rockets+E-3+Arsenal 2), the odds of needing to reroll three of them are low but you will be very gratful you can if you do need to.
Command Cards
(3 pip) Z-6 Jetpack Rocket - [Boba Fett] - During his activation, Boba Fett gains a rocket attack with range 3-4, has Blast and Impact 2, and has 3 red dice. Wanna put some holes in an enemy tank? Here's how. Combine with his EE-3 to give the attack Pierce too (unfortunately the Wrist Rocket is only range 2 and can't be fired alongside this).
(2 pip) ZX Flame Projector - [Boba Fett] - During his activation, Boba Fett gains a flamethrower attack with range 1, has Blast and Spray, does has 1 red die (and Spray multiplies that red die by the number of models in the target unit- fire at an 8 man B1 droid squad and he's throwing 8 red dice...). Useful for making an enemy squad disappear, especially when you combine with his EE-3 to give the attack Pierce 1.
(1 pip) Whipchord Launcher - [Boba Fett] - As long as a unit has an immobilized token, Boba Fett can perform moves even if he is engaged with them. During his activation, Boba Fett gains the ability to, as a free action, give an enemy trooper unit at range 1, and in line of sight, 2 immobilized tokens and 2 suppression tokens. Very useful for shutting down a melee oriented unit like a Jedi/Sith- especially when they just dropped a Command like "Implacable" or "Son of Skywalker".
Tactics
You've seen The Mandalorian, right? Remember how the main character fights in that? Not the sniping, but when he's fighting the stormtroopers up close? That's how you should use Fett. Use the environment and your many weapons and tricks to fight on your terms, not your enemy's.
While he's got a 3+ armor save and 5 wounds, he's not a tank, and he can't wade in and murder entire squads like a Sith Lord. Make heavy use of his Jump 2 and movement 3 to put him right where you need him. His normal attacks (wrist rocket and EE-3) can pretty reliably do 2-3 wounds per turn to troopers and 1-2 wounds to armored units. He can take lots of upgrades but he doesn't really need them. Hunter is useful if you intend to actually pursue his bounty (you don't have to, although it's generally a good idea), and Tenacity can be handy if you wind up in melee, but otherwise, field him naked and let him thrash targets of opportunity. His pricetag is a little high at 140 points base (reduced to 120 pts as of 10/27/21), but you're paying for his versatility, not sheer killing power.
You don't have to use all three of his Command cards- so take the 1 or 2 that are most useful to you in the circumstance to maximize his utility. Fighting a horde oriented army? Wipe out an entire squad using the flamethrower. The enemy brought a TX-130? Use the Rocket. Vader or Operative Luke are about to thrash your line using Implacable or Son of Skywalker? Whipcord those bastards and let your line sort it out. There's also no rule saying that you have to put the Bounty on the enemy's most powerful character- so if your opponent takes a fully decked out Operative Luke and the 50 pt Officer, don't feel bad about putting it on the Officer and then shredding him.
The only bounty hunter polite enough to take off his shoes inside. A bouncing badass of punches, kicks and claws and a handy mortar, Bossk is tough as nails, and for what your pay, packs a solid punch.
Bossk comes stock with the Bounty rule, like Boba Fett. At deployment, place a Bounty Token on an enemy Commander or Operative, at the end of the game, that Token is worth a victory point, depending on whether that character lived, or fell victim to the Trandoshan Terror. Bossk also has Enrage 3, giving him Charge and Courage - when he’s taken 3 or more wounds. He’s an Expert Climber, can Regenerate up to three wounds at the end of his activation, and has the Unhindered rule, ignoring difficult terrain.
He strikes with one red, two black and one white dice in close combat, with Pierce 1, and his Relby -v10 Mortar is Range 2-4, one red, four white, with Pierce 1 and Suppressive. White defence dice, but 7 wounds, 2 courage, and surges to critical, with movement of two.
Yeah, he’s a solid beast.
Upgrade Cards
Training Upgrades (x2 Slots)
Duck and Cover (8 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. Helps with the lad’s survivability, although once his Enrage kicks in, he won't be able to use it anymore as he will be unable to gain suppression tokens (unless he regenerates enough wounds to lose Enraged).
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. It’s probably not worth your while taking this, considering Bossk has decent courage and becomes fearless once he starts feeling the pain.
Hunter (6 pts.) - Literally has his face on the card! When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. Practically mandatory, this will help you collect that Bounty (especially considering all those white dice his main gun throws...).
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. Situationally useful, but the shorter Standby Range probably doesn’t hurt our man anyway.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack, while you are wounded, gain 1 red attack die. This stacks beautifully with Bossk’s base rules, allowing him to hit even harder once he starts taking damage.
Offensive Push (4 pts.) - exhaust to gain Tactical 1, which gives a free aim token after making a standard move. Good for getting you an aim token in that one turn where you really need to move before firing, or if charging into melee combat.
Gear Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Electrobinoculars (8 pts.) - Gain the ability to spend an action to give another friendly unit at range 1 an aim token.
Emergency Stims (8 pts.) - When you would suffer wounds, prevent up to 2 of them, then suffer the same amount you absorbed with this card at the end of your next activation. Yeah boy! Keep your wounded Bossk alive just that turn longer, making the most of his abilities. The controlling player decides the order of "end of activation" effects, so you can choose to try to regenerate before suffering the wounds. A solid buy, if you can make the most of it.
Environmental Gear (3 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. Slow clap for the person who takes this.
Grappling Hooks (3 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. Look, if you want to waste your points, go ahead.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. The mortar gun has excellent range so if you're looking to snipe, you don't really need this. But if you plan to rely heavily on his melee abilities or Dioxis Charge, then this is a good choice to help get you there slightly faster.
Targeting Scopes (6 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. Bossk chucks a lot of dice in his attacks, not a bad buy- especially if you've got Hunter or Offensive Push.
Command Cards
(3 pip) Lying in Wait - [Bossk] - Bossk gains Sharpshooter 1, and after an enemy unit activates, Bossk gains an aim token. Says it on the tin. This is not an opening card, and is great for that turn when you just know you’ll go second. Good for when you have to pick off a pesky Commander.
(2 pip) Reptilian Rampage - [Bossk] - Bossk May make two attack actions in his activation, and suffer a wound for a free move action. If you took Tenacity, you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank! This command has some interesting potential. You can use it to fire the mortar, suffer the wound to take a free move into melee (and trigger Tenacity, as already mentioned), and then use the second attack action to punch. Or you can use it to double tap with the mortar gun, dropping 4 suppression in addition to whatever damage it manages to do (white dice are unreliable but that red with Pierce and critical surge isn't...).
(1 pip) Merciless Munitions - [Bossk] - For the round you use this card, Bossk gains Arm 1: Dioxis Charge as an action, placing a Dioxis charge token within range 1 (and line of sight) of Bossk. After he performs this action, he may perform a speed 1 move. Until the end of the game, Bossk gains Detonate 1: Dioxis Charge- "Detonate" allows him to explode the charge token after any unit makes an action. The explosion does an attack against every unit within range 1 of the token with 1 red and 1 black die ignoring cover and surging to critical. After a trooper unit defends against this attack, it gains 1 poison token, which causes one wound to the unit when it discards the token at the end of its next activation (not in the End Phase like green tokens). It may not sound like much but it's going to pretty reliably do at least two wounds to whatever you manage to hit with the explosion. Bear in mind though that the enemy can use a medic to remove the poison token without suffering the extra wound (this takes up one of the medic's healing charges).
Tactics
Unlike his fellow bounty hunter Boba Fett, Bossk is actually kind of tanky. His armor is worse (5+ save compared to Boba's 3+) but he has more wounds and a 5+ roll each turn of healing them back. Not to mention he actually gets better if he suffers wounds thanks to Enrage (and Tenacity if you took it- it's a very good upgrade for him, so that's going to be a theme here). He has long range shooting that is actually pretty good (best used against someone who doesn't have immunity to Pierce)- it's almost guaranteed to do at least one wound per turn while dropping two suppression; and he's actually really good in melee too- along with Palpatine, he's the only non-lightsaber wielder in the game who does pierce in melee.
Like Boba Fett, Bossk's command cards should be taken based on utility- you don't have to take all three, so take the 1-2 that are most useful to you. His 1 pip gives some short-ranged crowd control, the 2 pip doubles his damage output for a turn, and the 3 pip turns him into a super sniper. Also, like with Boba Fett, you don't necessarily have to target the most powerful enemy character for Bounty- there's no shame in putting it on that 50 point Officer or Princess Leia and sniping the crap out of them.
One thing to remember though is that his mortar gun has a minimum range of 2- so once the enemy gets close, you're either going to have to charge (not a bad idea, especially if Enrage has kicked in and you've given him Tenacity) or make a tactical withdrawal to get back into shooting range (also not an awful option).
Not to be confused with the Commander version of the same guy. Note that operative Darth Vader may use the Command Cards of commander Darth Vader, and vice versa.
Upgrade Cards
Force Upgrades (x2 Slots)
Unaligned Powers
Battle Meditation (10 pts.) - Allows you to choose one of your orders to be issued to any unit, if not mentioned on your card. I suppose this has its uses, but what they are, I don’t care to guess.
Force Guidance (10 pts.) - Exhaust this card as a free action to dish out one token each to up to 2 units within range 1-2. Surges aren't super necessary since Imperials tend to already have them (mainly on offense), but if you're running a lot of Shore Troopers (which don't have surges), you could see some usefulness out of this.
Force Push (10 pts.) - Exhaust this card as a free action to move an enemy unit speed 1. Vader is slow and wants to cut things with his saber- this will help you do that, especially if you can manage to combine it with Force Throw.
Force Reflexes (15 pts.) - Exhaust this card as a free action to gain a Dodge token. You need Dodge tokens to trigger Vader's Deflect ability, so you definitely want this.
Saber Throw (10 pts.) - As an attack action, you can throw a melee weapon at Range 1-2, halving the number of dice you get. Not a bad choice, although this version of Vader actually has a useful ranged 1-2 attack (it has Scatter, which can give a little help getting Vader into melee, where he belongs). Three red dice with Pierce 3 and Impact 3 is pretty brutal though...
Dark Side Powers
Anger (5 pts.) - After you suffer 1 or more wounds, gain an Aim Token. It's not bad, but there's a few things to think about. First, Vader is slow and does best when he's in melee, so it'll be hard for him to actually benefit from this if he's being plugged from a distance (you can rest assured that he will). Second, Vader already chucks red dice in melee or with Saber Throw, which have a high probability of hitting (75% per die, jumps to 88% if you get surge somehow, like from Jedi Hunter or surge tokens)- so he doesn't really need it that much. Third, this version of Vader only gets two Force upgrades. If you're taking this, then you're NOT taking two of the following excellent powers: Saber Throw, Reflexes, or Push.
Fear (3 pts.) - After your rally step, you can give an enemy unit at range 1-2 a suppression token. If you only have 3 spare points and an open Force slot, it's not bad. But there are other far more useful choices for Vader.
Force Choke (5 pts.) - As a free action, exhaust the card to choose a non-Commander, non-Operative unit at range 1, and it suffers a wound. Could be useful to finish off a pesky enemy unit, but it's competing with other more useful Force powers for the two slots you get.
Training Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Duck and Cover (8 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. This version of Vader is actually affected by Suppression, so this could give him a little extra defense as he plods towards his victims.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. Vader has Courage 3, so suppression tokens aren't a huge deal to him. Although if you plan to make heavy use of his Spur rule, you may want this to keep your suppression under control.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. Not terrible, but Aim tokens aren't that valuable to Vader, since he's already chucking red dice (which hit 75% of the time, 88% if you've gotten surge) with his lightsaber, and his Force Throw is best used on trooper squads (so he can actually make use of the Scatter effect), which usually can't be considered "wounded".
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. You don't want Vader on standby, you want him bulldozing into enemies and mercilessly slaughtering them. Hard pass.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack while you are wounded gain 1 red attack die. Not a bad choice, as there's a good chance Vader will be hurt when he finally gets to melee. You could even use Implacable to ensure he does suffer that wound...
Command Cards
(3 pip) Darkness Descends - [Darth Vader] - When Vader is issued an order, he gains 2 surge tokens. If you reveal this card at the start of the Deploy Units step, you have to to use during round 1, but Vader gains Infiltrate and Scout 1, at the cost of having to deploy Vader last. The 10/27/21 update changes this card to a standard Divulge card - if you divulge the card during deployment, Vader deploys at the end of the setup phase and has both Infiltrate and Scout 1. If you didn't divulge, Vader gains Reliable 2. Either way, the card is permanent. Note that this means if you play the card after divulging, you get nothing additional and only get an order for Vader on a 3-pip. Tough call, right?
Have you ever wanted to see Vader deep strike like Space Marine Terminators? Here's your chance!
(2 pip) Fear and Dead Men - [Darth Vader] - When Vader uses Deflect, the attacker suffers 1 wound for each blank result, instead of each surge result. When an enemy unit at range 1-2 and in line of sight of Vader activates, he gains a dodge token.
Vader finally taps into his skill at Djem So to unleash death upon foes. He gains excellent defense with an increased chance of deflecting (1:3 instead of 1:6), although he'll also be suffering wounds when he successfully deflects. That one turn where the enemy unleashes everything they have to prevent Vader from reaching them is the one turn he'll make them pay for it.
(1 pip) Vader's Might - [Darth Vader] - As a free action, choose another non-heavy unit at range 1 and place that unit on the battlefield within range 1 and height 1 of its current position. If its an enemy unit, you then get to roll a white defense die for each mini in the unit. The unit suffers a wound for each block or surge result.
Vader picks up a unit and tosses it, and if it's an enemy unit, it potentially takes some damage. Yuck. And since it's a free action, he can still take his normal two actions and murderize things. Not bad, although the range is a little short.
Tactics
This version of Vader is a little weaker than the Commander version, but makes up for it with a little more versatility. He now has a Courage value, 2 fewer wounds, and throws one less die in melee. He gains the Spur rule (when he makes a move action, he can gain a Suppression token to boost his movement speed by 1), Jedi Hunter (critical surge when attacking someone with access to Force upgrades), and a ranged attack- "Force Throw", which is 2 black dice at range 1-2 with Blast (ignore cover) and Scatter (you may re-cohere the target unit). Scatter is particularly useful as you can use it to potentially move an enemy unit closer to Vader, or in range of Force Push. He also has two Force slots and one Training slot, rather than the three Force slots of his Commander variant, giving him access to some useful upgrades. Vader's still a combat monster, and that's where you want him- in front, mercilessly slaughtering his foes.
The 10/27/21 rules update changed this Vader significantly as it did for his Commander variant. His points cost drops to 175 base, and he can take an extra Training upgrade (for a total of two). On top of that, he loses the Spur keyword and his movement speed is now 2. Plus he gains a wound for a total of 7. Operative Vader just went from being "meh" to "terrifying".
Beach party crasheres. Our "Veterans" choice. Black dice for close combat, their E-22 Blaster Rifle offer one black dice at range 1-3. They have a red defense dice, one wound each, and one point of courage. Rules-wise, their Coordinate: Emplacement Troopers rule allows them to issue an order to an Emplacement Trooper at range 1 after they are issued an order, and Target 1 gives them an aim token after they are issued an order.
Upgrade Cards
Heavy Weapon Upgrades (x1 Slot)
T-21B Trooper (32 pts.) - "21B, homie, you can't afford this." Adds a trooper with a range 1-4 gun. It does 2 black, and 2 white dice with Critical 1. At 32 points, this is pretty pricey, but still powerful. If you're taking this, be sure to spend that Aim Token.
Personnel Upgrades (x1 Slot)
FX-9 Medical Droid (19 pts.) - Adds an (evil) medical droid that as a free action twice per game, can either heal a model of a lost wound or poison token, or restore a model to a unit (if the unit has multiple wounds, like Royal Guard, the model only has a single wound). The range is 1. Otherwise, the droid can't fight in any way, and cannot be removed as a casualty unless only the unit leader is left. Useful mainly to keep your powerful Commanders and Operatives alive, especially Palpatine after he uses "And now... you will die."
R4 Astromech Droid (9 pts.) - Adds an (evil) astromech that functions exactly like the Medical Droid, except that it heals vehicles of wounds, ion tokens, or damage tokens (eg "weapon destroyed). It's fairly cheap and can keep your lovely AT-ST in the fight. Obviously it's useless if you have no vehicles.
Imperial Comms Technician (10 pts.) - Adds a guy with a cool big helmet that gives you a Comms Upgrade slot. If you want a HQ Uplink to guarantee you get that order, sure.
Imperial Officer (20 pts.) - Increases your courage by 1 (to 2), and gives you Inspire 1 (remove a suppression token from one unit at range 1-2). Probably not worth the points for what you get, although she can make your gunline a bit more resilient. If you're fielding Vader as a Commander, pretty much totally worthless.
Shoretrooper (13 pts.) - It's another Shoretrooper. How exciting!
Training Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Duck and Cover (8 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. It's of limited usefulness due to low Courage.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. Your guys won't really be attracting enough fire to justify this, but you could do worse. Especially useful if facing an enemy who throws out a lot of suppression tokens (Dooku oriented Clankers, for example).
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. Considering we lack surges, this could be helpful.
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. You can get value out of this. Unlike Stormtroopers, you actually have a gun that can do some damage. Stick 'em on Standby and let the enemy come to you.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack, while you are wounded, gain 1 red attack die. Sorry, why are your Shoretroopers in close combat?
Gear Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Electrobinoculars (8 pts.) - Gain the ability to spend an action to give another friendly unit at range 1 an aim token. This is one of your army's better shooting units, and if for some reason you're not getting the free Aim token from Target 1, then you'll probably want them to be doing Aim actions of their own. Pass.
Emergency Stims (8 pts.) - When you would suffer wounds, prevent up to 2 of them, then suffer the same amount you absorbed with this card at the end of your next activation. Lets a unit (hopefully) survive to shoot one more time. No, just no.
Environmental Gear (3 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. Can be handy, but if you plan on standing back and shooting, give this a skip.
Grappling Hooks (3 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. If you plan on going to a climb, you'll want these. Since you'll probably want these guys in a gunline, it's probably a pass.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. Again, if you want to move and shoot, give them a go. If you want to hang back and shoot, give it a miss.
Targeting Scopes (6 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. Shoretroopers don't have surge but do have easy access to Aim tokens, so this is a solid option.
Grenades Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Concussion Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die, that ignores cover. Shoretroopers already throw black dice, so you're essentially paying extra just for ignoring cover up close. If you think that's worth the 5 points, go for it.
Fragmentation Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 red die with critical surge. Can be a nasty surprise for enemy units that get too close.
Impact Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die and Impact 1. This is how you make enemy tanks disappear. However, it's very short ranged on a unit that you probably should have shooting from distance; and as of writing (December 2019), only the Rebels really have any vehicles worth worrying about- and they're speeders, so good luck getting close enough to actually use grenades on them.
Smoke Grenades (6 pts.) - Use an action to gain Smoke 1, allowing you to place a smoke token within range 1 and line of sight of your unit leader. The smoke token grants +1 Cover to all friendly units fully within range 1 of it. Can be useful to get a little extra cover for your advancing battle line.
Tactics
Synergy Intensifies
You like shelling your opponent to hell? So do these guys! A match made in heaven. To begin, these boys love hanging at the back lines. The T-21B gives you Range 4, and the DF-90 Mortar Troopers will help you through their Fire Support rule.
Now, importantly, your Coordinate rule is not limited to the DF-90, but rather, emplacement troopers. So yes, you can throw a free order to an E-Web. While lacking Fire Support, E-Webs carry a lot of firepower, and lack the Mortar's minimum range.
For upgrades, Overwatch and Targeting Scopes deserve the most consideration. With your E-22's giving black dice at range 1-3, you can pile on some hurt with a sneaky shooting attack, and you lack surges of any kind, so Targeting Scopes will assist with making the most of your free aim token.
Boom boom. For every Shoretrooper unit you take, you can take one of these. They're a separate unit, but have to deploy close to each other. The Mortar Unit has the Fire Support rule, allowing you to contribute your attack action to the attack of a friendly unit, provided you have a faceup Order Token (Limit 1 Fire Support Per Pool). Doing so counts as your activation. You can pivot up to 360 degrees, which thanks to the Reposition rule is free either before or after you make a standard move. They also have Sentinel, giving them a standby range of 1-3.
For weapons, you punch with a black dice, have an E-22 Blaster Rifle, black dice Range 1-3, and of course, a DF-90 Mortar. Ooh wee, Range 3-4, three white dice, Critical 1, Cumbersome, Suppressive, Fixed: Front.
You move with speed 1, have 3 wounds, 2 courage, and red dice for defense.
Upgrade Cards
Comms Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Comms Jammer (15 pts.) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders. You are Range 3-4. Why are there units within Range 1 of you, again?
Comms Relay (5 pts.) - Allows a unit with this equipped to pass an order to another friendly unit at range 1-2, but this means the squad that "passes" the order doesn't get one. Might actually be worth. Once your opponent comes within Range 2, bounce your free order over to another unit within Range 1-2 of yourself. It's situational, but not without merit. See the "Synergy Intensifies" comment in the Tactics section, below. (The 1.6 version of the Rules Reference Guide has errata'ed the Comms Relay to "non-emplacement troopers only")
HQ Uplink (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow a unit to issue an order to itself. So, you could issue an order to yourself... or get a free order from your Shoretroopers... yeah, tough sell.
Long-Range Comlink (10 pts.) - You always count as being within range of your commander. I mean, if your Shoretroopers move away from you, but again, why?
Tactics
'Make sure you are close to your Shoretroopers"
No, seriously, Make sure you are close to your Shoretroopers!
They throw you a free order when they get an order, and you can use Fire Support to merge your awesome rules, with their awesome firepower.
I mean, I suppose you could fire the Mortar by its lonesome... But don't.
For upgrades, run 'em naked. Save your points.
Yes this a separate unit, feel free to use them to fill out your troops slots if you are focusing your points elsewhere.
Synergy Intensifies: an increasingly popular tactic is to take a gunline of 3 Shore squads plus 3 Mortars; give each of the Mortars the "Comms Relay" upgrade. That way, you can do a daisy-chain where one of the Shore squads gets an order. They give a free order to a mortar using Coordinate. Then the mortar uses the relay to give its order to the next Shore squad, who then gives a free order to the next mortar, and so on until the final mortar either keeps the order or passes it onto another unit. Combined with the Shore squads' Target 1 ability, you now have 3 Shore squads each with a face up order and an Aim token, plus one more face up order either on a mortar or another unrelated unit, all the the cost of one order. It's not cheap though- each Shore squad (with T-21B and extra dood) plus Mortar with Relay cost 138 points (using the errata points values) before any other upgrades. The 1.6 version of the rules have errata'ed the Comms Relay to be "Non-Emplacement Trooper only", meaning this tactic is now dead in the water. Move along, move along...
Snowtroopers are just a tad more expensive while losing Precise 1 for Steady, giving them a free ranged attack action after completing a move action. This frees up an action to get an aim, dodge, or a second move action (remember they only get one attack action per activation, free or not) depending on the situation. Rush them up the board with a flamethrower and laugh maniacally as you're throwing as many as a half-dozen black dice when lighting up enemy infantry units, while getting Ignore Cover for all attack dice.
Upgrade Cards
Heavy Weapon Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Flametrooper (20 pts.) - Burn, baby, burn. Adds a trooper with... you guessed it, a flamethrower. The attack is only range 1, but does 1 black die for each mini in the unit you attack, and ignores cover, too.
T-7 Ion Snowtrooper (34 pts.) - Adds a trooper with an ion gun. This one has a range of 1-2, 1 black and 2 white dice, and Impact 1 and Ion 1. If the target is a vehicle or a unit of droid troopers, they gain an ion token, each of which causes the unit to lose an action. If both actions are lost, the vehicle/droids can still use free actions. Additionally, ion attacks nuke shielding on the few units that have it, even if they're not droids (looking at you, Sabine Wren). If you're facing Separatists and especially if they fielded a lot of droidekas, or traitors, you probably want this. Otherwise, it's of limited usefulness. The Republic doesn't have vehicles (except the speeder no one uses) or shielding (yet), and Rebel vehicles tend to be speeders, so your short-ranged ion gun will struggle to catch up with them.
Personnel Upgrades (x1 Slot)
FX-9 Medical Droid (19 pts.) - Adds an (evil) medical droid that as a free action twice per game, can either heal a model of a lost wound or poison token, or restore a model to a unit (if the unit has multiple wounds, like Royal Guard, the model only has a single wound). The range is 1. Otherwise, the droid can't fight in any way, and cannot be removed as a casualty unless only the unit leader is left. Useful mainly to keep your powerful Commanders and Operatives alive, especially Palpatine after he uses "And now... you will die."
R4 Astromech Droid (9 pts.) - Adds an (evil) astromech that functions exactly like the Medical Droid, except that it heals vehicles of wounds, ion tokens, or damage tokens (eg "weapon destroyed). It's fairly cheap and can keep your lovely AT-ST in the fight. Obviously it's useless if you have no vehicles.
Imperial Comms Technician (10 pts.) - Adds a guy with a cool big helmet that gives you a Comms Upgrade slot. It's ok if you desperately want an HQ Uplink on these guys.
Imperial Officer (20 pts.) - Increases your courage by 1, and gives you Inspire 1 (remove a suppression token from another unit at range 1-2). Useless if Commander Vader is nearby, otherwise, if you want a slight morale boost, go for it.
Snowtrooper (12 pts.) - Adds another snowtrooper mini. Oh, joy.
Gear Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Electrobinoculars (8 pts.) - Gain the ability to spend an action to give another friendly unit at range 1 an aim token. Meh. Your guys are slow and you probably want to advance and take advantage of their Steady rule, not hang back and spend actions pretending they're General Veers.
Emergency Stims (8 pts.) - When you would suffer wounds, prevent up to 2 of them, then suffer the same amount you absorbed with this card at the end of your next activation. Lets a unit (hopefully) survive to shoot one more time.
Environmental Gear (3 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. Your movement speed is already 1, so difficult terrain doesn't really affect you.
Grappling Hooks (3 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. If you usually play on tables with lots of levels, go for it.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. You're slow. This gives you a free move, putting you one notch closer to the enemy. And it's super cheap. Not a bad option.
Targeting Scopes (6 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. If you're getting Aim Tokens from Veers or an Officer, it's probably worth it- you're suddenly as accurate as normal stormtroopers. But your guys are slow and you probably don't want to slow them down further by making them take Aim actions.
Grenade Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Concussion Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die, that ignores cover. Not a bad option considering your normal shooting attack is a piddly white die. But take a look at the next option...
Fragmentation Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 red die with critical surge. Your normal shooting attack is a piddly white die. Suddenly your six man unit of snowtroopers is throwing 5 red dice plus whatever heavy weapon you gave them (flamethrower seems nice, since it means ignoring cover...), with critical surge on everything! The only downside is the super short range- but you have Steady and can throw after a double move. Definitely worth considering! Auto include if you are taking the flamethrower.
Impact Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die and Impact 1. Good for making enemy vehicles disappear. However, the range is super short, and your guys are slow (Steady helps here). Additionally, as of writing (December 2019), only the Rebels really have any vehicles to worry about- and they tend to be speeders. So you can't really catch them with your slow guys tossing short ranged grenades.
Smoke Grenades (6 pts.) - Spend an action to gain Smoke 1, which allows you to drop a smoke token within range 1 and line of sight of the squad leader. Smoke tokens give a +1 Cover bonus to any unit that is fully within range 1 of it. If you're fine with a slower advance, this could be useful for giving cover- one suppression token plus this means you're suddenly in heavy cover even if you're standing in an open field. If you plan to double move and Steady fire, you may want to skip this (or put it on a faster moving unit).
Tactics
Important thing to note:
Snowtroopers have the slowest movement speed in the game, this can cause some issues with positioning, keep that in mind. This does have the benefit of making them immune to difficult terrain saving you points on environmental gear. Additionally, they can double move each turn and use Steady to still fire, although throwing white dice and having short ranged heavy weapons will limit the results you get from this.
The bread and butter of the Empire, stormtroopers have an advantage in armor (4+) over their Rebel counterparts (generally 5+ or worse), but their shooting skills are shit in exchange, with only a white die in ranged combat. To compensate, they have Precise 1, so maximize on this by having them get aim tokens as often as possible, such as with Veers' Spotter ability.
They can take one upgrade each of Gear, Grenades, Heavy Weapons, and Personnel; like 40k's Tactical Marines, kit them out for their desired role, such as grappling hooks and concussion grenades for if you want to rush them into close combat to take objectives, or targeting scopes and heavy weapons if you want them to sit in the backfield shooting.
Upgrade Cards
Heavy Weapon Upgrades (x1 Slot)
DLT-19 Stormtrooper (24 pts.) - Adds a trooper with a range 1-4 gun that does 2 red dice, and has Impact 1. At a minimum, you should always take this- if gives your troopers some much needed punch since their standard white dice are awful.
HH-12 Stormtrooper (34 pts.) - Adds a trooper with a rocket launcher. Exhaust this weapon to make a range 2-4 attack, and deal 3 black dice for damage with Impact 3. Along with having to exhaust it (meaning you have to spend an action on Recover to use it again- not as big of a deal if you've got Veers though), a big drawback is Cumbersome, meaning the unit it's attached to can't move during the same activation you shoot this. Stupid good against armor, though.
T-21 Stormtrooper (27 pts.)- adds a trooper with a range 1-3 gun that throws 4 white dice with Critical 2. It almost doubles the dice your squad is throwing, and gives critical surge on up to two of the surges you may roll (bearing in mind that you already have normal surge built-in on Stormtroopers). Not a great choice unless you just really like throwing a lot of white dice or really want critical surge.
RT-97C Stormtrooper (26 pts.) - adds a trooper with a range 1-4 gun that throws 1 red and 3 white dice. It's got less accuracy than the DLT but a higher ceiling and higher average damage. No impact means it's less reliable against light armor, but it will get more hits through targets in heavy cover. A decent side-grade to the DLT and arguably your overall choice
Personnel Upgrades (x1 Slot)
FX-9 Medical Droid (19 pts.) - Adds an (evil) medical droid that as a free action twice per game, can either heal a model of a lost wound or poison token, or restore a model to a unit (if the unit has multiple wounds, like Royal Guard, the model only has a single wound). The range is 1. Otherwise, the droid can't fight in any way, and cannot be removed as a casualty unless only the unit leader is left. Useful mainly to keep your powerful Commanders and Operatives alive, especially Palpatine after he uses "And now... you will die."
R4 Astromech Droid (9 pts.) - Adds an (evil) astromech that functions exactly like the Medical Droid, except that it heals vehicles of wounds, ion tokens, or damage tokens (eg "weapon destroyed). It's fairly cheap and can keep your lovely AT-ST in the fight. Obviously it's useless if you have no vehicles.
Imperial Comms Technician (10 pts.) - Adds a guy with a cool big helmet that gives you a Comms Upgrade slot. If you're desperate for an HQ Uplink on these guys, here's your chance. Otherwise, meh.
Imperial Officer (20 pts.) - Adds a new squad leader to your unit who increases your courage by 1, and gives you Inspire 1 (remove a suppression token from another unit at range 1-2). Gives your doods a nice morale boost.
Stormtrooper (11 pts.) - Adds another stormtrooper.
Stormtrooper Captain (15 pts.) - adds a stormtrooper captain. He becomes your squad's leader and adds a Training upgrade slot to the unit. Additionally, you can exhaust him to make your unit immune to being suppressed (but they can still panic) for the activation, at the cost of not being able to remove suppression tokens during that activation. He essentially lets your stormies stay in the fight for one extra turn. Either way, being able to take an upgrade like Hunter can be handy, since your Stormies rely pretty heavily on Aim tokens.
Stormtrooper Specialist (15 pts.) - adds a stormtrooper specialist. He gives your squad an extra Gear upgrade slot, and you can exhaust him to gain 1 Aim or 1 Surge token. The extra Gear slot is meh, but for four points over a normal trooper you're gaining the ability to get an Aim token without having to rely on Veers or taking an Aim action. The specialist is especially useful in a squad with the HH-12 because you can use him for Aim tokens, and when you do a recover to ready the HH-12, you ready him too... just watch out for suppression!
Gear Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Electrobinoculars (8 pts.) - Gain the ability to spend an action to give another friendly unit at range 1 an aim token. If you've got one squad that can't afford a heavy weapon, this can turn the squad into a token farm for your other units. Especially useful if Veers or the generic Officer aren't your commander(s). But generally it's probably gonna be a pass.
Emergency Stims (8 pts.) - When you would suffer wounds, prevent up to 2 of them, then suffer the same amount you absorbed with this card at the end of your next activation. Lets a unit (hopefully) survive to shoot one more time. Meh. This is more valuable on more expensive units that you would probably rather keep alive for one more activation, like Royal Guard or Death Troopers.
Environmental Gear (3 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. If you know there's going to be lots of difficult terrain, here's your remedy.
Grappling Hooks (3 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. If you know there's going to be a lot of terrain to climb, here's your remedy.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. Super cheap and gets you slightly closer to the enemy, or into cover that was just out of your deployment zone.
Targeting Scopes (6 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. You already have Precise 1, which stacks for a total of four rerolls per Aim token. But you're still rolling mostly white dice with these guys and still probably going to miss.
Grenade Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Concussion Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die, that ignores cover. Short ranged but gives you black dice, which is an improvement over your normal white dice. Worth a look, but then again, check out the next type of grenade...
Fragmentation Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 red die and surge to critical. A significant upgrade over the white dice your stormies normally toss. If you've got a DLT-19, you can even use them against a vehicle in a pinch. A very attractive upgrade.
Impact Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die and Impact 1. Great if you know you're facing vehicles. But the problem is that they're short ranged and only the Rebels really have any vehicles at the time of writing (December 2019)- and Rebel vehicles are mostly speeders, which will be difficult to catch (or in the case of the T-47, they're immune to range-1 weapons like these).
Smoke Grenades (6 pts.) - Use an action to gain "Smoke 1" for the activation; Smoke allows you to drop a smoke token anywhere within range 1 of the unit leader and within his line of sight. Smoke tokens give +1 Cover to all trooper units whose unit leader is within range 1 of them; enemy trooper units shot by those units also get the bonus. Can be useful if you're using a token farm unit (see electrobinoculars, above), but otherwise, you may be better off with Frags or Concussions.
Tactics
It really can't be understated how shit stormtrooper shooting is. White dice are just awful even with surge, giving each stormtrooper only about a 38% chance of hitting. Even with the rerolls from Aim tokens/Precise, you're still probably not going to hit, and unlike the B1 Droids, you don't have the numbers to make up for it. It's important to give the squad a heavy weapon as often as possible, so at the very least, you're dropping suppression tokens on the target.
Imperial Officers:
These guys can definitely be worth attaching to the squad with useful abilities to keep your men in the fight. Inspire will allow you to remove suppression from nearby units, and the courage boost will make it so you don't get suppressed quite so easily..
Alternative take:
HH-12 Rocket Launchers can sometimes not be worth it for stormtroopers, as you are unable to move and fire it, and you have to spend an action on Recover (or use Veers's 3 pip command) to fire it again. This can be a huge pain in certain game types, not totally useless by any means but definitely something to keep it. The DLT-9 is versatile in that you can still move and fire, you don't have to exhaust/ready it, it gives you good punch (2 red) and it still has Impact so the squad can still potentially do some damage to vehicles. Don't underestimate that little MG-34 clone!
Spooky scary black armor zombie bois. Their rules are absolutely spot on with how they’re depicted in Rogue One: Terrifying troopers that lay waste to everything in their path (except a blind man walking through a battlefield completely out of cover) but, fragile as all heck. If you’re familiar with the term ‘glass cannon’ then you’ll know what I mean. These blokes can issue absolutely punishing amounts of firepower, but with one wound apiece, they will drop to concentrated fire. You overstate their fragility. Sure they have one wound each, as most troopers do, but they throw red defense dice with built-in surge. The Rebels and even Stormtroopers would kill for that level of defense.
Rules wise, they have Disciplined 1, which automatically removes one Suppression Token when they are issued an order, Precise 2, rerolling an extra two dice when they spend an Aim Token (total four rerolls per token), and Ready 1, gain 1 Aim Token when you go on Standby.
For weapons, they punch with red dice, have an SE-14s Light Blaster, Range 1-2, two white dice, and an E-11D Blaster Rife, Range 1-3, one black dice.
They also Surge to Hit and Surge to Save, with red saving dice, one wound, and two courage.
Upgrade Cards
Heavy Weapon Upgrades (x1 Slot)
DT-F16 (22 pts.) - Gain Compel (see Director Krennic, above), and this model becomes the unit leader. Essentially, if you decide to field a unit of Death Troopers and don't want to field Krennic, but definitely want Compel... here you go. Obviously, not a great choice unless something goofy happens, like you want a full size squad but don't have the 12 extra points for DLT-19D.
DLT-19D Trooper (34 pts.) - Range 1-4, two red dice, one white. Impact 1. Stacks beautifully with the E-11D Focused Fire Config. Gives the squad some extra punch, and even makes them slightly useful in the event of an enemy tank (although that's not the optimal target).
Training Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Duck and Cover (8 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. These guys already have pretty decent defense (red dice with surge) so it's not absolutely essential, and "Overwatch" is a better choice.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, automatically remove 1 suppression. These guys have Courage 2 already, so it's not a huge draw. And if Commander Vader or Emperor Palpatine are in your army, you definitely don't need this.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. Death Troopers have Precise 2, so getting Aim tokens is a good thing- however, don't forget that Death Troopers have "Ready 1" too....
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. You want this, especially if you plan to take full advantage of Krennic's "Deploy the Garrison!" command card, or even just the "Ready 1" ability Death Troopers have by default.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack, while you are wounded, gain 1 red attack die. Don’t be fooled, we have a great melee attack dice, but Death Troopers are not a melee unit. Pass.
Comms Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Comms Jammer (15 pts., dropped to 5 pts. by Rules Errata) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders. Death Troopers generally should not be close enough to use this. Pass.
Comms Relay (5 pts.) - Allows a unit with this equipped to pass an order to another friendly unit at range 1-2, but this means the squad that "passes" the order doesn't get one. A handy little upgrade, combined with Krennic’s Entourage rule, this essentially gives you a free Order, as your Death Troopers can bounce this up.
HQ Uplink (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow a unit to issue an order to itself. A decent choice, especially if you did not field Krennic. And if you use a Recover action to flip your Config card, you can ready this card too!
Long-Range Comlink (10 pts.) - You always count as being within range of your commander. Not a bad choice by any means, but you aren’t fast enough to justify running that far ahead.
Gear Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Electrobinoculars (8 pts.) - Gain the ability to spend an action to give another friendly unit at range 1 an aim token. Death Troopers are a powerful offensive unit who have to carefully plan their actions. You don't want to waste those actions pretending you're General Veers. Hard pass.
Emergency Stims (8 pts.) - When you would suffer wounds, prevent up to 2 of them, then suffer the same amount you absorbed with this card at the end of your next activation. Lets a unit (hopefully) survive to shoot one more time. An easy pass. Two delayed wounds? Death Troops are expensive enough without this.
Environmental Gear (3 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. If you actually plan to do a lot of moving with Death Troopers (but... why?) and are worried about difficult terrain, here you go.
Grappling Hooks (3 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. About as valuable here as on any other unit, which is to say, not much. Why would your Death Troopers be climbing anyway?
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. While not being without merit, this isn’t optimal. You have good Range 1-4 weapon options, so a Speed 1 move won’t help you much.
Targeting Scopes (6 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, which stacks with Death Troopers' existing Precise 2 for Precise 3. Is one more reroll really worth 6 points to you, especially considering how expensive these guys are already?
Armament Upgrade (x1 Slot)
E-11D Grenade Launcher/Focused Fire Config (8 pts.) - This gun is actually two guns, for the price of one. When you perform a Recover action, you may flip the card from one side to another.
Focus Fire Config - Exhaust to gain range 1-4, Suppressive, one black dice per trooper. There’s basically two ways of using this: sparingly, where you wait for the right moment, preferring to Aim and Shoot; Or spammingly, where you Shoot and Recover.
Grenade Launcher Config: exhaust for range 1-2, Blast, one red dice per trooper. The second you hit Range 2 of your target, make sure to switch to this.
Grenade Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Concussion Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die, that ignores cover. If only Death Troopers had a gun that was better. Oh wait, they do.
Fragmentation Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 red die and critical surge. You already have normal surge, and if you're using the grenade launcher config, you're already throwing red dice. Basically lets you throw red dice without having to spend a Recover action. Of the three offensive grenades, these are probably the only ones you should consider, but realistically, your Death Troopers shouldn't be close enough to use them anyway.
Impact Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die and Impact 1. Basically useful for making tanks disappear, but ideally, your Death Troopers shouldn't be that close to a tank, not to mention that Rebel tanks (the ones you're most likely to face) are mostly Speeders... good luck catching them.
Smoke Grenades (6 pts.) - Spend an action to gain Smoke 1, allowing you to put a smoke token out within range 1 and line of sight of your unit leader. A smoke token gives +1 Cover to all units that are fully within range 1 of it. A little defensive boost but it takes an action to use, and Death Troopers already need to manage their actions carefully. A better option is to give this to a cheaper unit (eg Stormtroopers) and let them give your more valuable Death Troopers that defensive boost.
Tactics
Death Troopers work best when fielded en masse with Director Krennic. His abilities and command synergize very well with them. Whether or not you take Krennic, these elite troopers should be considered a major part of your offense. They are fairly tough and hit very hard. Their abilities lend themselves towards ambushing with Standby as often as possible and managing their actions carefully- you'll need to Recover fairly often to get the most of their gun configs. Give careful consideration as to what upgrades you take. Usually, the DLT-19D and your Config are regarded as mandatory, and for good reason. Besides that, Overwatch is practically a "must have"; if you take multiple units, saving one unit for Krennic's Entourage ability and giving others HQ Uplinks is a decent option.
The red robed guardbois of the Emperor. You don't have to have Palpatine in your army to field them, but it couldn't hurt.
It's a tiny 3 man unit, each with 2 wounds and courage 2, and red defense dice (no surge, offensive or defensive). When shooting they hit pistols for 2 black dice at range 1-2, and in melee they swing Force Pikes for one red and one black. They have Guardian to help keep your valuable commanders alive, and Disciplined 2 to remove two suppression tokens any time they are issued an order. Lastly, they have Charge, making it easier for them to get into melee, where they shine.
Upgrade Cards
Heavy Weapon Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Electrostaff Guard (25 pts.) - Adds a Royal Guard with... an electrostaff. The electrostaff replaces his Force Pike, and throws two black dice but also grants Immunity to Pierce in melee. It's the only way to get an extra dood in your tiny squad, but it's pricey. Face it, you're probably gonna have to take this.
Training Upgrades (x2 Slots)
Duck and Cover (8 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. Could be useful to help weather the inevitable firestorm these guys will attract. A pretty good option, and you've got Disciplined to keep their suppression tokens under control.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. Since you've got Disciplined, this isn't really a priority, especially if you've got Palpatine to boss these guys around.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. An excellent option, as you're swinging black and red dice- the black dice have a 50% chance of hitting for these guys (unless you get surge somehow), so these rerolls can help maximize damage.
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. You want these guys moving into melee as quickly as they can, not sitting around on Standby. You don't want this, unless you're trying to pull some weird crap with Krennic's "Deploy the Garrison".
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack while you are wounded, gain 1 red attack die. Definitely worth taking, since these guys are melee-oriented and any boost there is welcome. Don't worry, they're bound to attract some enemy shooting.
Gear Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Electrobinoculars (8 pts.) - Gain the ability to spend an action to give another friendly unit at range 1 an aim token. Again, you don't want to be sitting around pretending these guys are General Veers. Hard pass.
Emergency Stims (8 pts.) - When you would suffer wounds, prevent up to 2 of them, then suffer the same amount you absorbed with this card at the end of your next activation. Lets a unit (hopefully) survive to shoot one more time. Meh. These guys are so short ranged, it seems difficult to actually get good mileage out of this.
Environmental Gear (3 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. If you're worried about difficult terrain, here you go.
Grappling Hooks (3 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. If you're worried about climbing terrain, here you go.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. Super cheap, and helps your elite melee unit get a little closer to the enemy. Never a bad choice for these guys.
Targeting Scopes (6 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. Meh. In melee (your forté), you throw red and black dice. Red dice have a high chance (75% before any possible surges) of hitting anyway; black dice are only 50% (also assuming no surges) but you're not throwing a lot of them. Odds are pretty good you generally won't need more than 2 rerolls. Ultimately it's up to you to decide if the one more reroll is worth those points.
Grenade Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Concussion Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die, that ignores cover. Your pistols are essentially double this but without the ignoring cover, and you're probably better off sticking with them. Pass.
Fragmentation Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 red die with critical surge. A very nasty surprise for an enemy you can't quite reach in melee. Or better yet, toss these boys and then charge for maximum carnage.
Impact Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die and Impact 1. Useful for killing vehicles. However, there aren't a lot of vehicles in the game yet (as of December 2019), and the ones you'd be facing are Rebel (not counting any Imperial vs. Imperial civil wars). Most Rebel vehicles are speeders so good luck getting close enough to use these.
Smoke Grenades (6 pts.) - Spend an action to gain Smoke 1, which allows you to place a smoke token within range one and line of sight of the squad leader. Smoke tokens grant +1 cover to all units fully within range 1 of them. Not an ideal choice for this unit, as you probably want to be using those actions to move forward. A better option would be to put this on a cheaper unit (Stormtroopers, for example) and have them toss the smoke to cover your valuable Guards.
Tactics
These guys are pretty straightforward. Get into melee quickly and chop stuff up. They are especially useful when Palpatine is in your army, as he has the Entourage rule with them- this allows you to field one unit without factoring their Special Forces rank (so you can field 4 Special Forces units). It also allows Palpatine to always issue an order to one unit of these guys as long as they're within range 1-2 of him. These guys aren't invincible though- they have 2 wounds each and red defense, but they're also a tiny unit (maximum of 4 men per squad) and if they get shot up enough, they'll die just like anyone else.
Scout Troopers are incredibly good at early game board control, especially if you take more than one unit. With 2 black dice and the the ability to reduce the defender's cover by 1 with the sharpshooter special rule, they can be surprisingly deadly, especially if you upgrade them with Hunter. Scouts also come can also improve light cover to heavy cover with the Low Profile rule, which automatically negates an extra non-critical hit when the unit has cover (so heavy cover negates 3 hits). For 48 points they're not an auto-include but they're definitely useful, but they tend to be overshadowed by other, much superior options in the Empire's special forces options.
Upgrade Cards
Heavy Weapon Upgrades (x1 Slot)
DLT-19x Sniper (28 pts.) - Adds a trooper with a sniper rifle that has range 1- Infinite 5 (the 1.5 rulebook added a range 5 and limits sniper rifles to that range), with 2 black dice, High Velocity, and Pierce 1. High Velocity disallows spending Dodge Tokens, making it very useful for chipping away at things that rely on those tokens, especially units with Agile like Tauntauns. It can also be handy for safely shooting at Jedi/Sith, although their immunity to Pierce and good defense means it may be difficult to actually do damage. Still, it's better than nothing.
Sonic Charge Saboteur (26 pts.) - Adds a trooper with a bomb. As an action, you can place the bomb token at range 1 and within line of sight of your unit. When you choose to detonate it (a free action after any unit performs an action) it does 1 red and 1 black dice to all units within range 1 of the token, with Blast, and Suppressive, as well as converting surge results to crits.
Training Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Duck and Cover (8 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. Ensures your relatively fragile unit has a little more survivability.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. They have courage 2 and are kind of frail (small unit with 1 wound each and 5+ saves), so it's unlikely you'll get a lot of mileage out of it.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. Not bad, actually. Let your longer range units plunk wounds on something and then unleash a pile of black dice with rerolls.
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. Your guns are only range 2, except for the sniper if you take one, but why are you holding up your entire squad on Standby for that? Pass.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack while you are wounded gain 1 red attack die. Short ranged guns mean there's a good chance they'll get stuck in melee, but they're not great at melee either, especially if they've lost a model to trigger this. Not terrible and low cost, but there may be better options.
Comms Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Comms Jammer (15 pts.; reduced to 5 pts. in Rules Errata) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders (unless it's a character issuing an order to himself). Very short range and the unit is fairly fragile.
Comms Relay (5 pts.) - Allows a unit with this equipped to pass an order to another friendly unit at range 1-2, but this means the squad that "passes" the order doesn't get one. Very situational and the unit is already fairly pricey for a small unit.
HQ Uplink (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow a unit to issue an order to itself. Potentially useful if you expect the unit to be away from the commander or just want to ensure they get issued an order when you really need it.
Long-Range Comlink (10 pts.) - You always count as being within range of your commander. Situational, and not very helpful on smaller battlefields.
Gear Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Electrobinoculars (8 pts.) - Gain the ability to spend an action to give another friendly unit at range 1 an aim token. Not ideal for a unit like this, where you want them getting close and unleashing black dice of death.
Emergency Stims (8 pts.) - When you would suffer wounds, prevent up to 2 of them, then suffer the same amount you absorbed with this card at the end of your next activation. Lets a unit (hopefully) survive to shoot one more time. Could be useful if you finally get near the enemy and want one last chance at blasting those black dice of death.
Environmental Gear (3 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. Useful if you expect to play in lots of difficult terrain, otherwise, pass.
Grappling Hooks (3 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. Useful if you expect to climb stuff, otherwise, pass.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. Stacks with your existing Scout 1. Not a terrible choice and ridiculously cheap too.
Targeting Scopes (6 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. If you took Hunter and use the squad to hunt down wounded enemies with your shotgun pistols... ouch.
Grenade Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Concussion Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die that ignores cover. If you're close enough to use these, you're close enough to blast double the amount of dice with your pistols. What's better: four black dice that totally ignore cover or eight black dice with reduced cover? Hard pass.
Fragmentation Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 red die and critical surge. This is a little tougher choice than Concussion grenades, as the red dice with surge are almost guaranteed to hit (88% chance per die), but your non-critical hits will be subject to cover (although Sharpshooter still applies). Tough call.
Impact Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die and Impact 1. Good for hurting vehicles but short range on a fragile unit means they may not survive to get close enough to use them.
Smoke Grenades (6 pts.) - Use an action to gain Smoke 1, allowing you to put a smoke token out within range 1 and line of sight of the unit leader. Each smoke token gives +1 Cover to all trooper units whose squad leader is within range 1 of it- and it gives that bonus to troopers those units shoot at (it works both ways). The downside is that it takes an action to trigger, meaning it'll slow you down a little. Still, not a bad choice.
Tactics
Cool loadout idea Run a squad of these guys upgraded with hunter and emergency stims, supported by a sniper team. use the snipers to pick off a model or two, and then rush in with your scout troops, shooting 2 black dice per model, with a free aim token from hunter, reducing cover by 1 because awesome - and if your opponent cries, bonus points (just make sure to understand that these guys have very little to no survivability out in the open, so cover positioning can make or break this squad)
These guys don't fit well in the Empire list. They lose the survivability of most other Imperial units, take up an SF slot, and they roll a respectable amount of attack dice but lack of offensive surge means it's tough to get reliable hits out of them. That one time you get 10 hits on those black dice will be glorious... but more often, you're getting 4-6. And that's assuming all five (if you took a heavy weapon upgrade) actually survive to get close enough to shoot with their pistols. For these reasons, these guys tend to get overlooked for the strike team version (see below).
Heavy Weapon and spotter, with the same keywords and equipment as the regular Scout Trooper squad (see above). Note that you are required to add a heavy weapon trooper to the team, and that heavy weapon trooper is the unit leader.
Upgrade Cards
Heavy Weapon Upgrades (x1 Slot)
DLT-19x Sniper (28 pts.) - Adds a trooper with a sniper rifle that has range 1- Infinite 5 (the 1.5 rulebook added a range 5 and limits sniper rifles to that range), with 2 black dice, High Velocity, and Pierce 1. High Velocity disallows spending Dodge Tokens, making it very useful for chipping away at things that rely on those tokens, especially units with Agile like Tauntauns. It can also be handy for safely shooting at Jedi/Sith, although their immunity to Pierce and good defense means it may be difficult to actually do damage. Still, it's better than nothing.
Sonic Charge Saboteur (26 pts.) - Adds a trooper who can throw and detonate bombs. As an action, you can place a bomb token at range 1 and within line of sight of your unit. When you choose to detonate it (a free action after any unit performs an action) it does 1 red and 1 black dice to all units within range 1 of the token, with Blast, and Suppressive, as well as converting surge results to crits.
Training Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Duck and Cover (8 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover even when out in the open. Not super useful for either variant, although with the new wording for Low Profile, it *might* be useful on a saboteur. Kind of expensive though, and most likely a pass.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. Extremely small, fragile team is unlikely to survive enough firepower to make this worth taking.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. If all you're doing is firing the sniper rifle then you're probably not moving, and can just take the Aim action, saving the points for this. The saboteur will generally not benefit from this (as the bomb explosion attacks aren't coming from him). Pass.
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. Not super useful for either variant, as you want the snipers to be far from their target and the saboteur doesn't want to be sitting around on Standby. Pass.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack, while you are wounded, gain 1 red attack die. Not a wise option for a 2 man team that you don't really want in melee.
Comms Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Comms Jammer (15 pts., cut to 5 pts. by the Rules Errata) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders unless it's a character issuing an order to himself. If you're going with the sniper, kind of a waste since you should never be close enough to use it. The saboteur could possibly be close enough to use it but the low survivability of these guys means you're packing more points into a unit that will be easily lost. Pass.
Comms Relay (5 pts.) - Allows a unit with this equipped to pass an order to another friendly unit at range 1-2, but this means the squad that "passes" the order doesn't get one. Not likely that this will ever be useful, unless you desperately want to be able to pass an order token when using Covert Observation. Pass.
HQ Uplink (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow a unit to issue an order to itself. Useful to ensure your unit will get to fire when you want (at least once) or if you expect, for example, the sniper variant to be out of range of your commander. Although it's a fairly expensive upgrade, meaning you're stacking points onto a unit that you're taking because it's cheap.
Long-Range Comlink (10 pts., errata'ed to 5 pts.) - You always count as being within range of your commander. Situational, and not very helpful on smaller battlefields.
Gear Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Electrobinoculars (8 pts.) - Gain the ability to spend an action to give another friendly unit at range 1 an aim token. Not super useful for either variant of this team, as both want to maximize the efficiency of actions (the sniper wants to aim/shoot, the saboteur wants to run/toss bombs).
Emergency Stims (8 pts.) - When you would suffer wounds, prevent up to 2 of them, then suffer the same amount you absorbed with this card at the end of your next activation. Lets a unit (hopefully) survive to shoot one more time.
Environmental Gear (3 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. Generally not useful for the sniper, but could be for saboteur if movement is an issue.
Grappling Hooks (3 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. Generally not useful for the sniper, could be for the saboteur if climbing is an issue.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. Stacks with your built-in Scout 1. Cheap and actually useful.
Targeting Scopes (6 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. Not useful for either team, since the sniper only rolls 2 dice, and the saboteur generally won't benefit from it. Pass.
Grenade Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Concussion Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die that ignores cover. You shoot two black dice normally and have Sharpshooter to reduce cover. Pass.
Fragmentation Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 red die that comes with surge to critical. With only two men in the squad max, not a particularly attractive option, but could make for a nasty surprise.
Impact Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die and Impact 1. Could be useful to surprise an enemy vehicle, but as of writing (December 2019), only the Rebels really have any vehicles worth mentioning and they are mostly speeders- good luck catching up with them.
Smoke Grenades (6 pts.) - Spend an action to gain Smoke 1, allowing you to put a smoke token out within range 1, and line of sight, of your unit leader. The smoke token grants +1 Cover to all units that are fully within range 1 of it. For the sniper, not really that useful (since you've already got Low Profile and just need at least light cover to max it out); but for the saboteur after tossing his bomb, could be useful for providing cover for your other units.
Tactics
The game's meta has long *loved* these when fielded as sniper teams. They're a low-cost way to boost your activation count; and if you plop them in heavy cover, they can pretty reliably do a wound or two a turn to most enemy units (just be wary of Jedi/Sith or Impervious) from a safe distance. Black dice without surge are kinda sucky though (50% chance of hit, including crit), so try to have aim tokens ready... you're gonna need 'em. Generally you want to keep them cheap and not take any upgrades aside from the mandatory heavy weapon and possibly Recon Intel.
Another elite spec ops squad for the Empire, super sneaky squad rocking Infiltrate, Marksman and, Reliable 1. With Surge to hit whilst attacking and courage 2, it is your typical special forces: shooting or punching with 1 black dice each. There's also the unique Inferno Squad, which is a single two wound guy who must be accompanied by Del and Gideon (see heavy weapon upgrades, below), and he comes with 2 black dice when shooting and Retinue: Iden Versio (they get a free Aim or Dodge token when they start the activation phase near Iden).
Upgrade Cards
Heavy Weapon Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Gideon Hask (38 pts. errata'ed to 29) - Unique. Can also be taken by any corps unit. Adds 2 Wounds and 1 Courage to the unit he joins, and he comes with the Coordinate: Corps Trooper and the Leader rule, making him the new squad leader. Also has a range 1-3 attack doing 2 red dice. If you're not taking Inferno squad, he's probably best taken in Snowtroopers or Stormtroopers so you can get maximum use of his Coordinate (his Coordinate combines with the Shoretrooper Coordinate, meaning you have to choose which one to use each turn- you don't get to do both).
Del Meeko (38 pts. errata'ed to 25) - Unique. Can be taken by a corps unit. Adds 2 Wounds to the unit he joins, and he comes with Repair 2: Capacity 1, High Velocity and Lethal 1 (spend an aim to gain Pierce 1). Del has a range of 1-5 with 2 black dice. You're basically getting a decent sniper with a random ability to fix vehicles once per game. The lethal is just one more thing that needs to eat Aim tokens, so he too might be better off in a Corps unit (especially Snow or Storm so he still has offensive surge on those black dice) unless you're taking Inferno squad.
T-21 Special Forces Trooper (29 pts. errata'ed to 27) - adds an extra body with a T-21 blaster that does 4 white at range 1-3 with Critical 2. Not a bad choice if you're not shelling out the points for Del or Gideon; of course, it's the only way to get an extra body in your squad aside from Del and Gideon. The white dice aren't great but Critical 2 is quite handy.
Training Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Duck and Cover (8 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. Not terrible but where these guys have Infiltrate, it's probably smarter to just deploy in heavy cover.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. Not bad, although Courage 2 means suppression isn't that big of an issue for them.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. If you want them hunting characters or tauntauns, a good choice for free aims to use with Marksman.
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. It's not bad but ideally these guys don't want to be on Standby.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack while you are wounded gain 1 red attack die. These aren't really a melee unit. Pass.
Comms Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Comms Jammer (15 pts.; reduced to 5 pts. in Rules Errata) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders (unless it's a character issuing an order to himself). Probably not all that useful considering they're a shooting-oriented unit.
Comms Relay (5 pts.) - Allows a unit with this equipped to pass an order to another friendly unit at range 1-2, but this means the squad that "passes" the order doesn't get one. If these guys are receiving an order, you probably want them to keep it...
HQ Uplink (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow a unit to issue an order to itself. Potentially useful if you expect the unit to be away from the commander or just want to ensure they get issued an order when you really need it.
Long-Range Comlink (10 pts. errata'ed to 5 pts.) - You always count as being within range of your commander. If you're going to lean on Infiltrate and deploy far from your commander, not a bad option.
Gear Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Electrobinoculars (8 pts.) - Gain the ability to spend an action to give another friendly unit at range 1 an aim token. Not all that useful since you want them aiming/shooting, not spending an action giving an aim to someone else.
Emergency Stims (8 pts.) - When you would suffer wounds, prevent up to 2 of them, then suffer the same amount you absorbed with this card at the end of your next activation. Lets a unit (hopefully) survive to shoot one more time. Could be useful if you finally get near the enemy and want one last chance at blasting those black dice of death.
Environmental Gear (3 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. These guys are at their best sitting in heavy cover and blasting fools, so... maybe have it just in case you want to make a last minute objective grab?
Grappling Hooks (3 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. If climbing is your thing, go for it.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. You have infiltrate, but if there's a juicy piece of heavy cover nearby that you couldn't infiltrate into, this can help.
Targeting Scopes (6 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. Not terrible considering they are a shooty unit but you also want to use aim tokens for Marksman so you wouldn't be using it then.
Grenade Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Concussion Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die that ignores cover. Not terrible but you generally don't want to be close enough to use them.
Fragmentation Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 red die and critical surge. See concussion grenades above.
Impact Grenades (5 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die and Impact 1. If they somehow get close to a non-flying armored vehicle, sure. But how often is that going to happen?
Smoke Grenades (6 pts.) - Use an action to gain Smoke 1, allowing you to put a smoke token out within range 1 and line of sight of the unit leader. Each smoke token gives +1 Cover to all trooper units whose squad leader is within range 1 of it- and it gives that bonus to troopers those units shoot at (it works both ways).
Tactics
These guys are the Empire's analog to Rebel Pathfinders. They excel at using infiltrate to start out in a good defensive position, and then just sitting there blasting at enemies and not dying easily. They're slightly cheaper than Death Troopers (including T-21 they're 95 points to the 106 for DLT-19D Death Troopers) and are slightly worse for it- but you're getting a little more flexibility out of the ISF. The ISF also work nicely with Iden, especially Inferno Squad- they love her 3-pip command in particular. So if you're running Iden, consider fielding at least one squad of ISF/Inferno squad.
These guys are your typical hit and run type squad, being able to dodge incoming fire while dishing out a respectable amount back. With 1 White, Black & Red dice each these guys can make rebel infantry squads cry. With "Cover 1" you can improve your cover by 1, not bad. "Speeder 1" allows you to ignore terrain at height 1 and if activated you can make a compulsory movement, again not bad. Speeder Bikes are incredible at getting around the board, with the best movement speed in the game and the ability to move three times. However being 90 points does make them slightly less awesome.
Upgrade Cards
Comms Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Comms Jammer (15 pts.) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders.
Comms Relay (5 pts.) - Allows a unit with this equipped to pass an order to another friendly unit at range 1-2, but this means the squad that "passes" the order doesn't get one.Per the 1.6 version of the rules, vehicles cannot take this.
HQ Uplink (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow a unit to issue an order to itself.
Linked Targeting Array (5 pts.) - Gain Target 1, allowing you to get a free aim token when the equipped unit is issued an order.
Long-Range Comlink (10 pts.) - You always count as being within range of your commander. Situational, and not very helpful on smaller battlefields.
Duck and Cover (8 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. Not a great option considering you'll probably want to use the Dewback's "Spur" ability.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. A really good choice considering you'll probably want to use the "Spur" ability often.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. Rerolls are nice, and if you're not taking Endurance or Tenacity, this is a solid runner-up choice.
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. You want to move and attack, not sit still on standby. Hard pass.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack while you are wounded, gain 1 red attack die. The Dewback's a good melee unit and will probably take some fire before engaging. Another solid choice.
Comms Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Comms Jammer (15 pts., drops to 5 pts. in the Rules Errata) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders. Might be useful if this guy actually gets to the enemy lines (which it wants to do, but it's slow).
Comms Relay (5 pts.) - Allows a unit with this equipped to pass an order to another friendly unit at range 1-2, but this means the squad that "passes" the order doesn't get one.
HQ Uplink (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow a unit to issue an order to itself. Can be useful to ensure it gets an order when you want it.
Long-Range Comlink (10 pts.) - You always count as being within range of your commander. Situational, and not very helpful on smaller battlefields.
Armament Upgrade (x1 Slot)
CR-24 Flame Rifle (20 pts.) - range 1 throwing 1 black, 1 white with Blast (ignore cover) and Spray (adds 1 black and 1 white to the attack pool for every model in the target unit). Very short range but pretty deadly if you can pull it off.
T-21 Blaster Rifle (10 pts.) - Range 1-3 throwing 4 white with Critical 2. Highly inaccurate but it's a lot of dice and good chance of critical hit when it does hit. Bear in mind also that the Dewback has surge to normal hit by standard.
RT-97C Blaster Rifle (15 pts.) - Range 1-4 throwing 1 red and 3 white. Very similar to the T-21 but longer range and one red die for a better chance of getting at least one hit.
Tactics
The standard Dewback is a tough but slow melee unit. Defensively, it has Courage 2, throws red dice without surge, and has Armor 1 to automatically block one incoming attack. Offensively, it throws six dice in melee only, 3 red and 3 white with suppressive and critical 2. The Dewback can be upgraded with shooting attacks, and it's got Relentless so it offers a little extra firepower while it advances towards melee. It has a slotted base so it's bound by the vehicle movement rules, although it has Unhindered and Reposition to help it a little; and while it moves super slow like Vader and Palpatine, it has the Spur rule that allows it to increase its speed by 1 at the cost of also gaining a Suppression token.
For 55 points these bad boys can put out an impressive amount of firepower with the E-Web Heavy Blaster and depending on how you upgrade them, they can either suit anti-infantry or vehicle. With 2 white, 2 black & 1 red dice attacks base, range 1-3 and Sentinel (Standby range increased to 3). It's Cumbersome and Fixed: Front, but has Pivot and Reposition, so in the off chance that you do need to move (in which case you can't fire the main gun- but can fire the crew's E-11 blasters), you're more likely to get where you're trying to go.
Upgrade Cards
Comms Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Comms Jammer (15 pts., cut to 5 pts. by Rules Errata) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders. You should never be in range to actually use this.
Comms Relay (5 pts.) - Allows a unit with this equipped to pass an order to another friendly unit at range 1-2, but this means the squad that "passes" the order doesn't get one. Situational, but probably not all that useful. Per the 1.6 version of the rules, emplacement troopers can no longer take this.
HQ Uplink (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow a unit to issue an order to itself. This could be useful so you can ensure it fires when you want at least once per battle.
Long-Range Comlink (10 pts.) - You always count as being within range of your commander. Situational, and not very helpful on smaller battlefields.
Generator Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Barrage Generator (10 pts.) - Exhaust this card to add 2 white dice and Suppressive to your attack. A vital component of an Empire army dedicated to dishing out mass suppression tokens alongside other things like Palpatine's lightning, Darth Vader's "Master of Evil" command, the Fear power, and mortars.
Overcharged Generator (10 pts.) - Exhaust this card to add 1 black die and Impact 1 to your attack. If you're looking to kill enemy tanks, this can be helpful.
Tactics
Anti-Infantry
The low cost of 10 points will give them "Barrage Generator", add 2 white dice and Suppressive to the attack pool, take a couple of these and watch your rebel scum friend cry as you make his units useless.
Anti-Vehicle
For the same amount of points you can kit them out with "Overcharged Generator", adding 1 black die and giving them Impact 1 in their attack pool. Particularly useful against AT-RT'S which are relatively weak
At 195 155 points the AT-ST is almost as costly as Vader but is worth every point. For starters its main ranged attack gives two of each die in the front arc with Impact 3, while Arsenal 2 lets it use two of its equipped weapons; General Weiss ups this to Arsenal 4, letting a single fully-equipped AT-ST fire all 4 or its weapons: Twin Blaster Cannons for general offense, grenade launchers for up-close enemies in cover, twin light blasters to support the cannons, and a mortar launcher to punish any backfield units, for 10 points extra this is arguably an auto-include if you want to dish out the ranged attacks. With 11 wounds and Armor, your opponent will struggle to deal with it, even if you kit it as a close-range walker without Weiss and the mortar launcher. Take 2 with General Veers and keep them in the backfield to pepper your opponent with double-aimed blaster cannons, or focus down their commander: firing twice with 3 white dice with 4 rerolls can put wounds on Leia or Luke before they can start causing problems, and can also be used to spam suppression.
Upgrade Cards
Pilot Upgrades (x1 Slot)
General Weiss (10 pts. errata'ed to 5 pts) - Unique; gain Arsenal 2 as a free action (errata removed Exhaust). Stacks with your existing Arsenal 2 for Arsenal 4. Useful if you take all of the weapons available to the AT-ST and want to fire ALL of them. 10/27/21 errata also added the Field Commander keyword, which allows it to use generic command cards as though it were a commander, among other things. The errata was kind to the poor general, and he's now a solid choice, especially if you shell out for all the weapons upgrades. Note that because it costs a free action to gain his Arsenal 2, using him can trigger things like Standby or Detonate before you can actually fire. Just puttin' that out there.
Imperial Hammers Elite Armor Pilot (10 pts.) - gain offensive surge. This has been pretty much a "must have" since it was first released.
First Sergeant Arbmab (5 pts.) - Unique; gain Tactical 1, which gives a free aim token when you move. Also a pretty good choice, especially if you don't have the points for the Hammers.
Governor Pryce (10 pts, errata'ed to 5 pts.) - Unique; you get Field Commander (see General Weiss, above) and as a free action each turn can give a friendly unit within range 1-2 an aim and a suppression. Not a bad choice, although she arguably fits better on a GAVw.
Hardpoint Upgrades (x3 Slots)
88 Twin Light Blaster Cannon (20 pts. errata'ed to 10 pts.) - adds an extra gun throwing 1 red, 1 black, 1 white with Impact 1 and Fixed: Front. You want this. It stacks beautifully with the main gun, although its range is slightly shorter.
AT-ST Mortar Launcher (10 pts. errata'ed to 5 pts.) - adds an extra gun throwing 3 white dice with Suppressive and Fixed: Front. Extremely long range though (Range 4+) means that later in the game it may be tricky to fire. But the low cost, suppressive, and long range means it'll be pretty useful in the early game- plus you can always split fire if necessary. If you're taking General Weiss, you're taking this.
DS-3 Concussion Grenade Launcher (15 pts. errata'ed to 8 pts.) - adds an extra gun throwing two black dice with Blast (ignore cover) and Range 1-2. When you get up close and don't want to deal with Emperor's enemies hiding behind cover, this is your remedy.
Comms Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Comms Jammer (15 pts. errata'ed to 5 pts.) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders. Meh. This is gunboat and wants to blast stuff from range.
Comms Relay (5 pts.) - Allows a unit with this equipped to pass an order to another friendly unit at range 1-2, but this means the squad that "passes" the order doesn't get one. If this guy's getting an order, you probably want it to keep it. Pass.
HQ Uplink (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow a unit to issue an order to itself. A solid choice, and if you have Veers's 3-pip, you can use it twice!
Linked Targeting Array (5 pts.) - Gain Target 1, allowing you to get a free aim token when the equipped unit is issued an order. Not a bad choice although it can sometimes be difficult to get an order onto it (unless you go with Veers and/or the basic commands).
Long-Range Comlink (10 pts. errata'ed to 5 pts.) - You always count as being within range of your commander. Situational, and not very helpful on smaller battlefields; it also doesn't help with how most command cards don't allow you to order vehicles.
Wow this thing becomes a blaster magnet, chances are your opponent knows how good this thing is and they'll try and take it out before you can take those guns for a spin.
A land raider designed by a nearsighted remembrance a hundred years after the last time they saw one.
This unit is more than a little of an unusual one. Your weak points are your side arcs not your rear like the AT-ST, meaning that your enemies can over flank you if they aren't careful. Forty points 15 points (thanks 10/27/21 errata) less than an AT-ST gives you three fewer wounds and all of your base weapons are front facing with the lighter anti-infantry gun being half the range of the other(s) The good news is that you can put a lot of red dice on targets. It can also transport a whole unit of your choice. You also get red defense dice, which an AT-ST doesn't, so hits that get through your Armor are less likely to stick.
Upgrade Cards
Pilot Upgrades (x1 Slot)
General Weiss (10 pts. errata'ed to 5 pts.) - Unique. exhaust Free action to gain Arsenal 2. Stacks with your existing Arsenal 2 for Arsenal 4. Somewhat overkill as the most guns you can have is 3... but the 10/27/21 errata also added the Field Commander keyword, which allows the tank to act as your commander when using non-character specific command cards like Ambush, and allows it to actually be a commander if you don't field one. Not a terrible choice and opens up interesting new options for your army, although Governor Pryce (see below) may be the better option. Note that using a free action to gain his Arsenal 2 can be used to trigger Standby or Detonate- not a huge deal but worth remembering.
Imperial Hammers Elite Armor Pilot (10 pts.) - Unique. Gain offensive critical surge. A good choice since you don't have surge. Those red dice are now hitting almost 90% of the time and the black dice jump from 50% to 63%. Not bad.
Governor Pryce (10 pts. errata'ed to 5 pts.) - Unique. Gain Field Commander (see General Weiss, above) and as a free action a friendly trooper unit within range 1-2 (or being transported) gets a free Aim and a suppression. This is not a bad choice, especially if you're transporting an E-Web.
First Sergeant Arbmab (5 pts.) - gain Tactical 1, which gives free aim tokens after each move. Aims are never a bad choice.
Hardpoint Upgrades (x1 Slot)
DLT-19 Rifle Pintle (18 pts.) - adds a gun with range 1-4, doing 2 red with Impact 1. A nice anti-tank gun to stack with your main gun, but less useful if your opponent didn't field any tanks. Still, it's long range with red dice, so it's worth considering.
RT-97C Rifle Pintle (14 pts.) adds a gun with range 1-4, doing 1 red and 3 white. Basically cheap extra dice to add to whatever else you're attacking with.
Comms Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Comms Jammer (15 pts. errata'ed to 5 pts.) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders. You probably don't want the tank close enough for this to be useful.
Comms Relay (5 pts.) - Allows a unit with this equipped to pass an order to another friendly unit at range 1-2, but this means the squad that "passes" the order doesn't get one. If this tank is actually getting an order somehow, you probably want it to keep it. Pass.
HQ Uplink (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow a unit to issue an order to itself. Always a decent choice.
Linked Targeting Array (5 pts.) - Gain Target 1, allowing you to get a free aim token when the equipped unit is issued an order. If you can find a way to reliably get orders to this thing, it could be very useful. But Arbmab (see Pilot upgrades, above) might be a better choice.
Long-Range Comlink (10 pts. errata'ed to 5 pts.) - You always count as being within range of your commander. Probably not going to be useful most of the time. Pass.
Tactics
With reposition and pivot, this tank can be surprisingly agile. If you need a quick flank for next turn, move this bad boi twice and then use your free 360° (You only get a 360° pivot with Full Pivot) 90° pivot to quickly get behind enemy lines and flank the rebel scum. Also good for quick getaways if you find your leader in a tough spot. And don't forget, even though you may have less wounds than an ATST, you do get to roll red for defense instead of white, which will most likely make up for having less wounds.
This model also seems quite slow with Speed-1, but it's large base size improves its speed significantly. However, the size of the base can also make this model hard to maneuver, so beware of getting stuck.
With the rules update in November 2020, this thing got a boost. It can transport an emplacement trooper unit, notably an E-Web. The E-Web can fire out of the tank while ignoring its own Fixed: Front, and can be shot at, but it also gets heavy cover. If you're familiar with the military term "technical", the Empire can now do that. And it's kinda good.
It's basically a TIE Blackhawk helicopter. It costs 105 pts. (errata'ed down from its original 120) base, and comes with a slew of keywords. It has Armor, Arsenal 2, Cover 1, Hover: Air 2, Immune to Blast, Melee, and Range 1 weapons, and it's a Transport 1: Closed. So it's an armored helicopter that is hard to kill and can fire two weapons. It has 8 wounds with a 6 resilience, throwing white, surging dice on defense. For offense, it has twin laser cannons that fire a red and three black at range 1-3 with Fixed: Front. And it has movement 2 with a rather large base to zip around the table speedily.
Upgrade Cards
Pilot Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Baron Rudor (12 pts. errata'ed to 8 pts) - Unique; you gain Marksman. After you recover, gain an Aim token. It's not terrible, considering you can take Ordnance weapons and can do recover actions to gain an aim and ready the ordnance. Worth considering if you want to use the LAAT primarily as a gunship.
Imperial TIE Pilot (8 pts.) - increase your speed by 1. Now the thing is even faster. Especially worth considering if you are using the LAAT as a bus to airdrop Vader or Palps right into combat.
Governor Pryce (10 pts, errata'ed to 5 pts.) - Unique; you get Field Commander (allows the vehicle to issue orders like a generic commander, and BE a commander if you choose not to field one), and as a free action each turn can give a friendly unit within range 1-2 an aim and a suppression. Not a bad choice especially if you're actually transporting something.
Ordnance Upgrades (x1 slot)
Armor Piercing Shells (10 pts.) - exhaust to do an attack with range 2-3 dealing one red and two black. It also has Fixed: Front, Impact 3, and Cycle (at the end of an activation where you did not use the card, you may ready it). Good for when you really want an enemy tank dead. This is arguably the best choice, as its range corresponds with the main gun, and it makes the thing useful for taking down vehicles.
High Energy Shells (8 pts.) - Exhaust to make an attack with Cycle, Critical 1, High Velocity, and Fixed: Front. This is at range 2-4, throwing 1 white and 2 red dice. It's your go-to when a Jedi/Sith, or anyone relying on Dodge tokens, needs to be deleted now. Just remember to fire other guns elsewhere because high Velocity only works if all weapons in the attack pool have it. Also a good choice for some reliable hits, although it outranges your built-in main gun, and you lose the High Velocity if you fire them at the same target.
Bunker Buster Shells (12 pts) - Exhaust to fire an attack with Cycle, Blast, Scatter, and Fixed: Front. Range 1-2, 1 black and 3 white dice. Your interesting option. Pulling an infantry squad into the open has some neat ideas behind it, but white dice will generally limit the damage output.
Comms Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Comms Jammer (15 pts. errata'ed to 5 pts.) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders. Not likely to be all that useful unless you just want to drop off Vader/Palps and then don't have a plan for the LAAT afterward.
Comms Relay (5 pts.) - Allows a unit with this equipped to pass an order to another friendly unit at range 1-2, but this means the squad that "passes" the order doesn't get one. If this is getting an order, you probably want it to keep it. Pass.
HQ Uplink (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow a unit to issue an order to itself. A solid choice, and if you have Veers's 3-pip, you can use it twice!
Linked Targeting Array (5 pts.) - Gain Target 1, allowing you to get a free aim token when the equipped unit is issued an order. Not a bad choice although it can sometimes be difficult to get an order onto it (unless you go with Veers and/or the basic commands).
Long-Range Comlink (10 pts. errata'ed to 5 pts.) - You always count as being within range of your commander. Situational, and not very helpful on smaller battlefields; it also doesn't help with how most command cards don't allow you to order vehicles.
Tactics
As mentioned above, it's basically an armored helicopter. Its firepower is not impressive (although it can be upgraded to be slightly impressive), but it can safely transport your close-ranged units like Vader, Palpatine, IRG, or even Scout troopers right into the beating heart of the enemy so that they can tear it out.
Fantasy Flight Games has seen fit to release new boxes with additional and supplementary upgrades in them. Most of them can be applied to any Trooper unit with the proper slots.
Imperial Officer Imperial Officer (20 pts.) - Adds a new squad leader to your unit who increases your courage by 1, and gives you Inspire 1. 20 points may seem like a lot but the import thing to remember is that the cost is comparative. meaning that you end cost is 5-7 points over adding a normal trooper to the squad. the best squad to add her to is on that is already more expensive and will be around other troops. Snowtroopers lover her since they have to keep moving to be useful.
Astromech
-As there currently only about 2 relevant vehicles for the Empire, and usually you're only gonna take 1 in any list, you typically should pass this. Could be useful if placed inside the TX-225 along with a stormtrooper unit for emergency repairs and shots.
Coms Tech
-Adds a vox caster to the unit, which in turn lets you take comm upgrades on most of your units. What's that? You wanted every unit in your army to have an HQ uplink? May not be cheap, but it's good for your front line units while your gun line is keeping your commander safe.
Medical Droid
-Good for healing your expensive leaders and special forces units, but not much else. Sacrifices killing power for staying power.
Something important to keep in mind is that your commander will more or less determine the kind of army you're going to be running, keep this in mind when making your list.
Make sure you have a reliable way of dealing with vehicles no matter the list you're making unless you want to have a bad time.
Definitely either run Darth Vader or "it's ya pal" Palpatine, get some royal guards and equip your Stormtroopers with grappling hooks and concussion grenades, this will make them very maneuverable and versatile. Your Stormtroopers will make for good distractions so that your royal guard and commander don't get toasted straight away, just make sure you get up the board as quick as you can. Snowtroopers can make excellent distractions as well, if your opponent knows the power of flametroopers then expect some fire to be diverted away from the things you want to keep alive
If you decide to run General Veers or an Imperial Officer, you'll most likely take more of a ranged approach, setting your Stormtroopers and other units up in advantageous ranged positions to give them the best shooting potential and really make your opponent suffer.
If you're going for this style of play then General Veers with 3 Stormtrooper squads equipped with Targeting Scopes and DLT-19's (And Imperial Officers just to keep them around) along with Concussion grenades; with two E-Web Heavy Blaster Teams (Upgraded with Overcharged Generator just to deal with vehicles) makes a very solid base to build up from. With this you still have room for a fully upgraded AT-ST.
Alternative take:
For your Stormtrooper squads, you could equip 1 or more with HH-12's and impact grenades as with all the re-rolls you're getting, these things can be devastating to vehicles.
Alternative alternative take:'
Snowtroopers with Ion rifles will fulfill this role nicely too while still being more maneuverable, not having the cumbersome rule.
Thanks to several new units, the Empire has access to a range of new toys that provide the Suppressive rule. Basically, each shooting attack is chucking out two Suppression Tokens (only one if you whiff your shots, which you won't). With careful target selection, you can drive stuff straight off the board from Turn 1.
The mainstay units for this type of army are Krennic, Shoretroopers, and DT-90 Mortars. Then use Bossk, Scout Trooper Strike Teams, Death Troopers and E-Webs for flavour. Consider too the GAVw, if sitting back and shooting isn't your style.
This page is in need of cleanup. Srsly. It's a fucking mess.