Star Wars: Legion/Tactics/Clones
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Why Play The Grand Army of the Republic
You like storm troopers but also hate painting white. Being able to customize your troopers based on your favourite colors is a nice bonus.
Pros
- Jedi
- You get to play the "Space Marines" of Star Wars Legions
- If Obi-Wan is in your army, which is very likely, you get to say "Hello There."
- Your units hit hard and are mostly rocking red dice for saves.
- You have access to lots of tokens. Dodge, Surge, and Aim tokens will be able to push your units above what they are capable of on their own.
- Token Sharing. A unique ability that makes Clones behave more like a massive single unit, as opposed to several separate troopers going about their business. Single Clones left alive from a unit can become token factories for the rest of your army. Standby tokens cannot be shared.
- Wombo-Combo potential is strong with this army. Obi-wan and Rex together can be a mean combo.
Cons
- Most of your cool stuff is probably too big for this game(I mean have you seen a Star Wars Armada Super Star destroyer? Fantasy Flight is not adverse to big models, but even so, don't hold your breath waiting for an AT-TE and there is precious little between TX-130 and said Banesword on legs).
- Your army an elite army. Very expensive. You will usually be out-activated if you build an army with anything but bare-minimum core troops and support.
- There is a dependence on Surge Tokens to get the best out of your units.
- Your army is very susceptible to bad dice. Every casualty hurts, and a string of back luck can result in a cascade effect amongst your army.
- Painting white armor can be difficult. There are tutorials online how to do it well, just be prepared to lose a few clones to practice runs. Sorastro, on YouTube, makes some really great ones: https://www.youtube.com/user/Sorastro
Faction Special Rules
- Clone Trooper: Clone Trooper units within range 1 and line of sight of another clone trooper unit can share Dodge, Aim, and Surge tokens with each other (Standby token sharing has been removed with the Nov-20-2020 rules update). So if a Clone trooper unit has a dodge token, and a nearby clone unit gets shot, the shot unit can use that dodge token as if they had it themselves. Gives a little extra tactical flexibility to your squads and allows you to access more tokens on important units.
- Fire Support: while not technically a Faction Rule, most Clone Trooper units have it, even if only temporarily as in the case of Captain Rex. When a unit makes a ranged attack, one friendly unit with the Fire Support rule and a face up order token may add its eligible weapons (that is, within range and line of sight) to the attack pool; afterward, the Fire Supporting unit must then flip its order token. It helps when concentrating fire on an enemy unit that you really want dead, like Royal Guard, enemy characters, etc. Additionally, it gets around any potential problems due to Suppression and Panic. The Fire Supporting unit never checks to see if it's Suppressed or Panicked; however, it does effectively lose one of its actions, and doesn't get a chance to Rally (although it still loses a Suppression token in the End Phase as normal). It also cannot add it's surges to the pool, but will add the keywords the weapon being used has.
Units
Commanders
1-2 Selections.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
(170 pts.) The man so great, just saying his name is a meme.
Upgrade Cards
Force Upgrades (x2 Slots)
Unaligned Powers
Battle Meditation (5 pts.) - When you issue orders, you can give one of those orders to a friendly unit anywhere on the battlefield. Where this could be potentially useful is that it allows Obi-Wan to issue orders to units that his Command Card may not necessarily allow, like the BARC speeder when using "Knowledge and Defense"; But that's super situational. Generally a pass, since there are other more useful Force powers.
Force Guidance (5 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. This one's pretty good considering Clones like having lots of tokens and sharing them.
Force Push (10 pts.) - Exhaust this ability and spend an action to force a trooper unit at range 1 to perform a speed 1 move, even if they're engaged. Handy for shoving enemy units into the open or within charge range. Always a good option.
Force Reflexes (5 pts.) - Exhaust this card to gain a dodge token, as a free action. Practically a "must have", as Jedi need dodge tokens to trigger Deflect.
Saber Throw (5 pts.) - Make an attack action to perform a range 1-2 ranged attack with a melee weapon, using half of that weapon's dice (rounded up). Obi-Wan doesn't have a ranged attack; this gives him a pretty decent one (you get to choose which three of the six dice you use, so the obvious choice is 2 red, 1 black; Coming with Critical 2, Impact 2, and Pierce 2). Obi-Wan doesn't have Relentless so he still has to use a normal attack action to use it.
Light-side Powers
Hope (3 pts.) - Gain Inspire 1, allowing you to remove up to 1 suppression token from a friendly trooper unit at range 1-2, after your rally step every turn. Not terrible but you only have two Force slots on Obi, and there are other good options. If you're facing an army that relies on Suppression (like Empire with Palpatine and mortars), could be worth it.
Jedi Mind Trick (5 pts.) - Exhaust this card to give 2 suppression tokens to an enemy trooper unit at range 1-2, as a free action. Not very useful against Droids or an Imperial army led by Vader, but otherwise makes for a nice nuisance.
Command Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Aggressive Tactics (5 pts.) - After issuing orders, give 1 surge token to up to 4 friendly units with a face-up order token. Worth taking, especially since Clones can share the tokens...
Commanding Presence (10 pts.) - When issuing orders, you can issue orders at range 1-4. Generally not that great considering the table size (unless you're playing on a larger table, or you're worried your BARC is going to wind up out of the normal range).
Esteemed Leader (5 pts.) - Friendly trooper units at range 1 gain Guardian 1 when the character is defending, helping you defend your points investment. Never take this on Obi-Wan. The rules state that a unit with Guardian cannot "guard" a friendly unit that also has Guardian. Obi-Wan has Guardian built-in, meaning he literally cannot benefit from this. It only triggers when Obi-Wan defends, as well, so it won't help anyone else either.
Improvised Orders (5 pts.) - You may draw a second token when pulling an order from the order pool, and choose between the two. This generally isn't amazing, or bad. It becomes more useful, the more unit diversity a list has.
Strict Orders (5 pts.) - Guarantees a trooper unit with a face up order token can remove a suppression when they activate, rather than leaving it to chance. If you're playing a suppression-oriented army (like Empire with Palpatine and lots of mortars), might be worth taking to ensure key units don't get Suppressed.
Training Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Duck and Cover (4 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. Meh. Obi-Wan's got a solid defense already and then Deflect on top of that.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. It's an ok upgrade, but Obi-Wan has Courage 3 so he doesn't really need to worry as much about being Suppressed. If you feel as if suppression is an issue for you, however, this can be amazing.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. Have your clones take a shot at whatever Obi-Wan is going to charge and he gets that free Aim token when he swings. Worth taking.
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. Obi-Wan has no ranged attack unless you take Saber Throw, and even then it's only range 2. This is going to be a reoccurring problem with this upgrade.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack while you are wounded, gain 1 red attack die. Not bad. Either this or Hunter are probably the Training upgrades most worth taking.
Offensive Push (4 pts.) - exhaust to gain Tactical 1, which is gaining a free aim token after making a standard move. Not bad, considering Jedi constantly want to be moving.
Situational Awareness (2 pts.) - You gain Outmaneuver, meaning you may spend dodge tokens to cancel crits. Dodge tokens will often be going towards Guardian and deflect, so this isn't that great.
Command Cards
1 Pip: Hello There! - [Obi-Wan Kenobi] Obi-Wan Kenobi gains Nimble. At the start of the Activation Phase, Obi-Wan Kenobi gains 1 aim, 1 dodge, 1 standby, or 1 surge token for each enemy unit at range 1-2.
Similar to "Knowledge and Defense", it helps Obi-Wan be the bad ass he was in Revenge of the Sith. Plus it's a meme, and that's always fun. Use this card when you want to recreate the Utapau scene, because that's literally what it's for.
2 Pip: Knowledge and Defense - [2 Troopers] Obi-Wan Kenobi gains 1 dodge token for each other friendly trooper unit at range 1. Obi-Wan Kenobi can use Guardian during a melee attack.
Useful for that one turn where you really need Obi-Wan to survive. Don't forget that he can use the dodges to Deflect while using Soresu Mastery too.
3 Pip: General Kenobi - [Obi-Wan Kenobi and 2 Units] When Obi-Wan Kenobi issues an order to a unit, that unit gains 1 surge token for each other friendly unit at range 1 of it.
Good for mid-game if Obi-Wan and some clone units are clustered together, it gives that extra boost that could tip the scales for you.
Tactics
Obi-Wan is a defensive commander through and through. You want to keep him within range 1 of most of your army at nearly all times. After spending a Dodge token, being able to deflect in both Melee and Ranged is a humorous way to punish over-aggressive commanders and units alike. Don't hesitate to have him use his Jump 1 to get into melee with an unsuspecting unit, but he is best served using his Guardian 3 deflecting blaster bolts back at the enemy. Having a 2/3 chance to save against wounds, which includes a 1/6 chance to also deflect damage back is usually a better idea than depending on your expensive unit's base saves.
As a side note, a potentially devastating ability is to take Saber-Throw, and use your clone's Fire-support. With abilities stacking onto themselves, this results in Obi-Wan's impact and pierce being given to an entire unit of clones' shooting attacks. Laugh as a unit that was already suppressed suddenly is shooting the equivalent of miniature lightsabers across the board. Shoutout to the DC-15A, rocking critical 1 for this particular tactic. All the stacking of abilities.
Obi-Wan at a glance:
- Guardian 3: Being able to absorb a large amount of hits for trooper units within Range 1 is no small feat. Being able to burn dodge tokens on these as well can mean making an otherwise tanky unit infuriating to actually shift.
- Deflecting and Defense: Burning dodge tokens to deflect ranged attacks back at enemy units is a powerful ability. On this, using Obi-Wan's Knowledge and Defense whist in the middle of your Clone-Blob will result in an almost hilarious amount of dodge tokens. Pair this with using an action to dodge and using Force Reflexes can result in upwards of 6+ dodge tokens.
- Accidental Offense: Using Obi-Wan's Guardian ability can result in taking damage. Upgrading him with tenacity will result in an extra red dice in his pool for attacks. This won't put him on the same level as Vader or Dooku, but it does mean his lightsaber is that much more deadly. All while doing what he was already going to be doing. Defending your doods.
Clone Captain Rex
(90 pts.) "In my book, experience outranks everything."
Upgrade Cards
Command Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Aggressive Tactics (15 pts.) - After issuing orders, give 1 surge token to up to 4 friendly units with a face-up order token. Just remember that Rex has to have been the acting Commander for that turn. Never a bad choice, unless you plan to lean heavily on Obi-Wan's Command Cards.
Commanding Presence (5 pts.) - When issuing orders, you can issue orders at range 1-4. Fairly situational, and considering your clone brothers work best if bunched together, generally not really useful.
Esteemed Leader (5 pts.) - Friendly trooper units at range 1 gain Guardian 1 when Rex is defending. This can help your valuable Captain stay alive, and it stacks with Obi-Wan's Guardian 3 for a mighty Guardian 4...
Improvised Orders (5 pts.) - Once per turn, you may exhaust this card after drawing a token from the order pool to draw a second one and choose between the two. Not terrible but there are better options.
Strict Orders (5 pts.) - Guarantees a trooper unit with a face up order token can remove a suppression when they activate, rather than leaving it to chance. It's ok if you are facing an army that does a lot of suppression.
Training Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Duck and Cover (4 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. Not a terrible choice, especially early in the game if you've used Recon to get Rex isolated. Just be wary of the difficulty clones can have in losing suppression tokens and Rex's measly courage value of 2.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. Also a decent choice considering Rex's low Courage value.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. He has "Tactical 1" built-in, which gives him a free Aim Token after he makes a standard move. Plus he only rolls red dice to attack anyway, which have a high probability of hitting. Rex doesn't really need this, but it could be useful to gain an extra free Aim token and save it to be shared by other Clone units (although the short pistol range will limit how often this can be used).
Offensive Push (4 pts.) - Exhaust to gain Tactical 1 (gain a free aim token when making a move). Stacks with the Tactical 1 Rex already has built in, and his 3-pip command allows him to ready it for free after he uses it. A fantastic, low-cost way to get some more aim tokens to share with his clone brothers without using actions (and you can still use his second action, after moving, to gain another green token to share). Definitely worth taking!
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. Rex's only ranged attack is range 2, so...hard pass, as per usual.
Seize The Initiative (5 pts.) - Single use. Commanders or Operatives only. During the Issue Orders step of the Command Phase, issue and order to yourself. More often than not, Rex will be receiving orders, anyways, but it could be useful for the few times he doesn't. Token sharing makes other upgrade far more worth it, however.
Situational Awareness (2 pts.) - You gain Outmaneuver, meaning you may spend dodge tokens to cancel crits. Not too recommended, but can be a nice backup.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack while you are wounded, gain 1 red attack die. You generally don't really want Rex in melee, although he's not terrible at it (you especially want to keep him away from melee specialists, like anyone carrying a lightsaber...). If you've got the spare points and slot, there are worse ways to use them.
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. Not bad for when stuff is still out of Rex's reach but not your clones' reach. This allows them to move and fire while still having access to an aim token.
Emergency Stims (10 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 (2 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. If you take the jetpack for 8 points more, this is largely irrelevant, but this can be a great budget way to deal with terrain.
Grappling Hooks (1 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. If you take the jetpack for 8 points more, this is largely irrelevant, as well, but this can be an amazing budget way to deal with terrain.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. Stacks with Rex's built-in Recon, which then works with Rex's built-in "Recon Party" ability. A free speed 2 move for Rex and two trooper units before the game starts? Pretty much a "must have".
Targeting Scopes (4 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. At most, he throws 3 red dice, which have a high probability (about 88% each when you factor surge) of hitting anyway. Hard pass.
Ascension Cables (4 pts) - Until the end of your activation, you gain scale. This is especially useful to get your troops into position, or traverse a dense battlefield. You can't really go wrong with this one, but Jetpacks do exist.
JT-12 Jetpacks (5 pts., specifically for Rex) - Rex gets a 5 point discount on these. As a card action, he can make a Jump 2 move. A great way to make sure he's where you need him to be, and since you're making a standard move with it, you can still gain an aim token due to Tactical 1. Never a bad choice and often worth the investment.
Grenade Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Concussion Grenades (3 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die, that ignores cover. Rex has Sharpshooter 1 so he ignores light cover and turns heavy into light. You're probably better off just sticking with his pistols.
Fragmentation Grenades (3 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 red die and surge to critical. Rex's pistol attacks are better...
Impact Grenades (3 pts.) - Range 1 attack with one black die and Impact 1. You're probably better off saving the 5 points and using Rex's pistols. Most grenades kind of suck.
Smoke Grenades (2 pts.) - Use 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 (smoke tokens improve cover by 1 to units whose squad leader is within range 1 of them- but also confer that bonus to any enemy they shoot at- it works both ways). Since your Clones are likely to be bunched together, you could potentially get a lot of mileage out of this, and it gives Rex something to do when his pistols aren't in range yet.
EMP Droid poppers (3 pts.) - Range 1 with 1 black die, and an attack pool that includes them gains Ion 1 (just one, not one per grenade). Not too useful on Rex, sadly.
Command Cards
1 Pip: Call Me Captain - [Clone Captain Rex] Captain Rex gains Fire Support. When using Fire Support, his order token is not flipped upside down. When a friendly unit attacks in melee, Rex can use Fire Support to add a ranged weapon to the attack pool.
For one turn, Rex becomes a short-ranged machine gun that's hopped up on goofballs. Note, however, that Fire Support only adds his weapon (the dual DC-17 blasters) to the pool; it won't add his built-in critical surge or sharpshooter. But three extra red dice on top of what your clones and Obi-Wan are already throwing is still pretty awesome, and he can just keep doing it as long as he's within range. Plus, he'll still get his normal activation! Just make sure he's the last unit you activate because he has to have his face-up order token to do it. Once you get a few of these shots off, your opponent is sure to notice and bring guns to bear on him, so make sure he's got some protection, too. Thankfully, you have access to a ton of Guardian x, as a Clone player.
2 Pip: Take That, Clankers! - [2 Troopers] When a friendly infantry unit performs a ranged attack while having a faceup order token and an Aim token, during the "gather a attack dice pool" step that unit can increase the maximum range of every weapon by 1 (to a maximum of 4).
Not bad for the early game, having your clones take long range pot-shots at enemy units before those enemy units can fire back. Unfortunately since it specifies that they must have an Aim token (meaning you can't use the clones' token sharing ability), they're probably going to have to do an Aim action before making the attack (unless they get an Aim token some other way, like a different unit using Electrobinoculars to gift one). ARC troopers with HQ Uplinks are will love this! Also note: This can increase the range of Saber throw.
3 Pip: We're Not Programmed - [4 Clone Troopers] Clone Captain Rex gains Inspire 2 and 2 surge tokens. When Clone Captain Rex activates, he recovers.
The Recover part may seem a bit puzzling considering he doesn't really have anything that requires readying, but don't forget that it also allows you to remove any number of Suppression tokens. Inspire 2 and Surge tokens are pretty nice, and you get four order tokens too (don't forget that Rex is considered a Clone Trooper himself). Particularly nice when Rex is upgraded with Aggressive Tactics.
Tactics
Rex is a close range gunslinger that your clones will be happy to call Captain. With Gunslinger, Tactical 1, Sharpshooter 1, Scout 1, and Scouting Party, Rex can carry his own in a firefight, as well as support his troopers. Sporting 3 red dice on his range 2 pistols, and 2 red dice in melee, he isn't afraid to get up close and personal to enemy units. Naturally surging to crit only adds to his ability to shoot above his weight. Being 90 points base puts him on par with a kitted out clone trooper unit, but he is easily worth the cost.
His new to Legion ability, "Scouting Party", allows him to give 2 trooper units within range 2 the ability to scout move the same value as him. Put simply, he lets 3 units (including himself) Scout for the price of 1. Adding in the 2 point upgrade Recon Intel allows all 3 of these units to perform a free move before the game begins. Do not forget the fact that Rex will start with a shareable Aim token after this scout move, thanks to Tactical 1. This means that you'll often have a strong forward position.
Important things to remember about him:
- 5 wounds: He will not enjoy being focused fired for a particularly long period of time. He isn't a slouch, but he is not a tank.
- Courage 2: He is brave, but not exceptionally brave. This will result in him and the clones around him not being as brave as if Obi-Wan was the commander nearby.
- Recon and Recon Intel: Recon Intel is a no-brainer upgrade for him. Just do it. Being able to have 2 units of clones getting a free movement with him is not to be underestimated.
- Token sharing: He is a clone trooper. And this allows him to share tokens he generates, or use the tokens generated around him. Seriously... don't forget the token sharing.
- Range 2: He is a relatively short ranged hero, and will require some finesse to get the most out of him offensively. His 1 Pip card can be potentially devastating over the course of a turn, but it requires him to get into the teeth of enemy forces. Keep this in mind when tossing him around the battlefield. In Skirmish matches, Rex is terrifying with it.
- 3 Pip card: His 3 Pip card is fairly unique, allowing 4 Clone Trooper units to be issued an order. This combos well with Aggressive Tactics, spreading surge tokens around to units that enjoy having a surplus of them. On top of this, Rex being able to recover for free, as well as gaining Inspire, is a much needed boon for Clone troopers, that otherwise lack many sources of inspire and clearing suppression.
Anakin Skywalker
(160 pts.) The man in the mechanical suit before he needed the suit. Be sure to cover his base with sand for maximum theming.
Upgrade Cards
Force Upgrades (x2 Slots)
Unaligned Powers
Battle Meditation (5 pts.) - When you issue orders, you can give one of those orders to a friendly unit anywhere on the battlefield. Letting you issue orders anywhere is good. But most of your army is going to be clumped to make use of token sharing anyway. Only the BARC is going to be getting far on average, and it has a comms slot to accomplish the same thing this upgrade does.
Force Barrier (10 pts.) - Exhaust. When another friendly troops unit at range 1 is defending against a ranged attack, during the Modify Attack Dice step, cancel either 1 crit result or up to 2 hit results. This is amazing for boosting the durability of your units. Saber tanks somehow becoe even more annoying to deal with.
Force Guidance (5 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. Good power since clones share tokens and having more is always good.
Force Push (10 pts.) - Exhaust this ability and spend an action to force a trooper unit at range 1 to perform a speed 1 move, even if they're engaged. Shove enemies close enough so you'll be able to smack them with your saber. A solid choice.
Force Reflexes (5 pts.) - Exhaust this card to gain a dodge token, as a free action. A good option to reflect a wound back here or there with Anakin's Djem So Mastery, and gives another token to share if you've gained exemplar on Anakin already.
Saber Throw (5 pts.) - Make an attack action to perform a range 1-2 ranged attack with a melee weapon, using half of that weapon's dice (rounded up). Anakin doesn't have a ranged attack, this gives him one, effectively 3 red dice at range 1-2 with impact 3 and pierce 3. Made even better by the fact one of Anakin's command cards can give him relentless.
Light-side Powers
Hope (3 pts.) - Gain Inspire 1, allowing you to remove up to 1 suppression token from a friendly trooper unit at range 1-2, after your rally step every turn. Since a suppressed clone can just generate a token to pass along to another unit or take the tokens they need from other units, this isn't really that necessary.
Jedi Mind Trick (5 pts.) - Exhaust this card to give 2 suppression tokens to an enemy trooper unit at range 1-2, as a free action. Most Trooper units, outside of droids, have problems with handling suppression. This is almost always good.
Dark-side Powers
- Tempted - Anakin has the ability tempted which opens up the option to take dark side powers despite being a light side Jedi.
Anger (5 pts.) - After you suffer 1 or more wounds, gain an Aim Token. It's not bad here honestly. Due to one of Anakin's cards giving him exemplar, he can act as an additional battery for sharing tokens from. That means the token he gains shouldn't ever go to waste.
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 gives a suppression token, but with the relatively low amount of ways clones have to play a suppression game like the empire has it's not amazing.
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 units without having to dedicate shooting to them, but don't expect to pull a lot off with it.
Training Upgrades (x2 Slot)
Duck and Cover (4 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. Anakin will be gaining a decent amount of suppression through his command cards, so maybe don't take this.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. Anakin will e receiving a lot of suppression, one way or another, so this is pretty good to have.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. This can allow Anakin to mince just about any squad he comes into contact with.
Offensive Push (4 pts.) - exhaust to gain Tactical 1, which is gaining a free aim token after making a standard move. It's a free aim token, and Anakin can get Exemplar from one of his command cards. Not bad.
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. This is pretty useless, outside of Rex increasing the range of Anakin's saber throw. Hard pass.
Seize The Initiative (5 pts.) - Single use. Commanders or Operatives only. During the Issue Orders step of the Command Phase, issue and order to yourself. This can be very useful, especially if it's a turn where you're scared he won't be able to make it into melee with one.
Situational Awareness (2 pts.) - You gain Outmaneuver, meaning you may spend dodge tokens to cancel crits. Dodge tokens aren't exactly rare, for force users, but are typically used for deflect. There's better options.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack while you are wounded, gain 1 red attack die. Your opponent will most likely be shooting at Anakin a decent bit, considering the threat he can pose, so this can be nice to get a bonus out of it.
Offensive Stance (5 pts.) - Force user only. At the start of your activation, you may flip this card. When taking an aim action, gain two tokens instead of one. You cannot spend dodge tokens. The token must come from an action, rather than upgrades or command cards. This is the flip side of Defensive Stance. This can be nice to ensure you really hurt something in melee. Recommended, unless another upgrade catches your eye.
Defensive Stance (5 pts.) - Force user only. At the start of your activation, you may flip this card. When taking a dodge action, gain two tokens instead of one. You cannot spend aim tokens. The token must come from an action, rather than upgrades or command cards. This is the flip side of Offensive stance. The extra dodge tokens can ensure Anakin's survival or allow more use out of Deflect. Recommended, unless another upgrade catches your eye.
Command Cards
- Anakin's command cards all give him permanent buffs, with some downsides. He gains more keywords, but has penalties attached to those buffs requiring him to do certain things to avoid the downsides. Even better, most of his command cards are fun to say or meme to your opponent.
1 Pip: This is Where the Fun Begins - [Anakin Skywalker] Anakin gains Outmaneuver and Relentless, but if you don't activate Anakin as your first activation each round he gains a suppression.
Makes Anakin a bit tankier and more deadly, which is nice, but also has one of the hardest downsides to mitigate from his cards. If you take saber throw you probably want to pop this early for relentless, but if you do make sure you have some way of modifying your pull or removing suppression tokens. Your 3 Anakin specific command cards only take you so far, especially since you probably popped Hero of the Clone Wars turn 1 and may have used You Underestimate My Power already.
2 Pip: You Underestimate My Power - [Anakin Skywalker] Anakin gains Surge to crit and master of the force 1, but if he didn't attack someone he gains a suppression token.
Free surge conversion is nice and allows him to spread around his surges more, and master of the force can allow him to get effectively free tokens every turn from a force upgrade. The downside isn't bad as long as you wait for him to be close enough to engage before playing the card.
3 Pip: Hero of the Clone Wars - [Anakin Skywalker and 2 Units] Anakin gains exemplar and reliable 2, but if he's not at range 1-2 of an enemy unit he gains a suppression token.
If you think you can keep Anakin close to any clone unit, this allows him to join the production of tokens for your army. Nice to give him a use early before he can start swinging his 5 red dice lightsaber at the enemy.
Tactics
Anakin feels a bit like an all rounder. He can become a giant support battery providing a lot of tokens to all the clones around him if you build that way. He can run in and beat the enemy with a very offensive lightsaber and good keywords. He can try for a middle ground. Time will tell where he settles in the meta since he's still rather new.
Anakin at a glance:
- Tempted: The option to take dark side force powers is a fun little gimmick.
- Flawed: If you don't manage your suppression on Anakin, the enemy can take him out for a turn basically free. However, certain things can be used to mitigate the impact of this, such as Improvised Orders or a certain other cheap clone commander adding a second Commander token into the pool.
- Permanent buffs: all of his command card effects linger. He becomes better, but harder to use the more cards you have played. Makes for an interesting decision proccess.
Operatives
Padme Amidala
(90 pts.) Politics meets violence.
Upgrade Cards
Armement Upgrade
Looted E-5 Blaster (5 pts.) - Range 1-3, 1 Red 1 White. Pierce 1. This gives her a slightly more reliable damage at longer range, but slightly lower overall damage potential than her standard pistol.
Command Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Aggressive Tactics (15 pts.) - After issuing orders, give 1 surge token to up to 4 friendly units with a face-up order token. This isn't worth it, because, at most, only one or two units will have the orders to benefit from these given tokens.
Commanding Presence (5 pts.) - When issuing orders, you can issue orders at range 1-4. Not useful since she can't use generic commands and her commands mostly target herself.
Esteemed Leader (5 pts.) - Friendly trooper units at range 1 gain Guardian 1 when Padme is defending. Helpful for keeping her alive, especially if Obi-Wan is around.
Improvised Orders (5 pts.) - You may exhaust this card after taking a token from the order pool to grab a second token and choose between the two. Not terrible but there may be better options. She doesn't have to be the nominated commander for the turn to use it, so it frees up a Command slot on Obi-Wan or Rex.
Strict Orders (5 pts.) - Guarantees a trooper unit with a face up order token can remove a suppression when they activate, rather than leaving it to chance. It's ok if you are facing an army that does a lot of suppression. She doesn't have to be the commander for this to work either, freeing up a command slot on Obi-Wan or Rex.
Training Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Duck and Cover (4 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. This isn't too bad for some extra survivability.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. Padme's got Courage 3, so this isn't super useful. It's not terrible either, though, and could be very helpful in the turn she uses Our Fate Is In Your Hands.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. Padme's not amazing at picking off characters, but could be useful for gaining a token to share using Exemplar.
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. Not terrible, especially if you've taken the looted E-5. You only have one slot, though, and this is probably the worst training upgrade to grab.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack while you are wounded, gain 1 red attack die. Padme's not awful at melee, but you probably don't really want her there.
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 terrible for her, allowing her to dish out tasty green tokens to the clones.
Emergency Stims (10 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. For when you desperately want one last activation out of her.
Environmental Gear (2 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. If you're super worried about difficult terrain slowing her down, here's the fix.
Grappling Hooks (1 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. If you're super worried about her climbing stuff, here's your fix (although she should probably have Expert Climber already, judging by the arena scene in Attack of the Clones...).
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. This works well if you used her Diplomatic Cover to infiltrate, getting you ever closer to the enemy deployment zone.
Targeting Scopes (4 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. Not great, but not terrible either. The only weapons that she has that really benefit from it would be melee and her range 2 pistol, so you're likely to struggle to get a lot of mileage out of this.
Ascension Cables (4 pts) - Until the end of your activation, you gain scale. This is especially useful to get your troops into position, or traverse a dense battlefield. You can't really go wrong with this one.
Command Cards
3 Pip: Diplomatic Cover - [Padme Amidala] Permanent: Padme gains Reliable 1 (gain a free surge token at the start of the activation phase). However, you can choose to show this card during the deployment phase. If you do, you have to use this card as your command card during the first turn of the game. Padme instead gains Secret Mission, which allows her to gain a victory token as a free action once per battle when she's in an enemy deployment zone. She also gains Infiltrate and a Dodge token.
So basically Padme pretends to be a diplomat, sneaks into the enemy base, and steals vital info. It has to be played on the first turn, unless you would prefer to have Reliable 1, so there's no other real way to use this. Secret Mission is extremely good, so you will usually prefer to have it.
2 Pip: Aggressive Negotiations - [Padme Amidala and 1 Trooper] When Padme Amidala issues an order to a trooper unit. It may either perform a speed-1 move or gain 1 aim, dodge, or surge token.
This can be very nice, depending on the unit you use it on. Kenobi and Skywalker are troopers, so they're perhaps the best targets. Play this card when you expect a trooper unit to do some work.
1 Pip: Our Fate is in Your Hands - [Padme Amidala] Padme gains Danger Sense 2 (when defending, she can roll an extra defense die per suppression she has, to a maximum of 2 extra). At the start of the activation phase, Padme Amidala may transfer any number of suppression tokens from trooper units at range 1-2 to herself. For each token transferred, she gains 1 dodge token, gaining up to 2 dodge tokens.
She essentially takes on the suppression of those around her to allow them to fight while she hides. This is an interesting one. Bear in mind her Exemplar rule, so all those dodges may be useful for Clones (or Obi-Wan) when they're hanging around her! Clones can have trouble with handling suppression, so this can easily save a unit from losing a much needed action.
Tactics
Padme's more of a non-combatant, like Krennic or Leia, except she's an Operative. She doesn't give the morale boost of a Commander and can't use generic command cards. She comes with 6 wounds and 3 courage, throwing white dice with surge on defense. For offense she throws 3 black in melee (apparently she knows martial arts) and she comes with a pistol that also throws 3 black, at range 1-2 and with Pierce 1. She does have normal offensive surge as well, so she's not awful at fighting.
As for special rules, she has Quick Thinking (gain an Aim and a Dodge at the cost of an action) and Nimble (gain one dodge token after using one or more dodge tokens). She also has Sharpshooter 2, allowing her to completely ignore enemy cover To make her to better fit in with her Clone friends, she has the new Exemplar rule, which allows friendly units within range 1-2 and LOS to use her green tokens (note that it's units, so even a TX-130 could benefit...). Lastly, she has Authoritative, which appears to allow her to pass off an order issued to her to a friendly unit within range 1-2, much like the Comms Relay upgrade.
Using Padme's 1 pip command card for Secret Mission can win games, especially considering Clones have access to R2-D2 for another free victory token. You just have to make sure she's properly protected, which isn't hard, considering Obi-Wan Kenobi also exists. You could say he's her only hope.
Padme also isn't much of a fighter, but can do some decent damage when push comes to shove. She works primarily better as a token generator for other units, given that Authoritative isn't limited to Clone Trooper units. She only has a 5+ save, so stay close to heavy cover and make thorough use of dodge tokens with Nimble.
R2-D2
(45 pts.) The plucky little droid who is the only character in the movies who knows pretty much everything that happened from start to finish. He also has one of the highest kill counts among the characters...
He can also be accompanied by his robo-sexual life-mate C-3PO.
Upgrade Cards
Comms Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Comms Jammer (5 pts.) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders. Actually a pretty good take since he can roll around without fear of getting attacked. Just be sure that another friendly unit is available to be shot at so Inconspicuous can't be ignored.
Comms Relay (5 pts.) - Allows a unit with this 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. The current meta is that this isn't bad as it allows you to pass off R2's order from his Smoke Screen command and give two other units the free move.
HQ Uplink (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow a unit to issue an order to itself. Generally a nice back-up, but expensive.
Integrated Comms Antenna (3 pts.) - allows R2 to be issued an order when he's within range 4 of a commander instead of the normal range 3. For three points, this isn't the worst investment, but for 2 more points you could use a Jammer or Relay.
Long-Range Comlink (5 pts.) - You always count as being within range of your commander. Situational, and not very helpful on smaller battlefields.
C-3PO
(15 pts.) C-3PO is R2-D2's counterpart, and can only be taken as an upgrade to R2. For 15 points you gain two wounds to the unit and a melee "clumsy kick" for 1 white damage. 3PO isn't taken for his melee abilities, though. He has two special rules: Calculate Odds (as an action, choose a friendly trooper within range 1 and LOS and it gains one dodge, aim, and suppression token); and Distract (as a free action, lose Inconspicuous for the rest of the turn and force an enemy unit at range 1-2 to attack R2 and 3PO). Basically, C-3PO is annoying, and this has some real effects on the game.
Command Cards
1 Pip: "Blast Off!" - [R2-D2] - R2 increases his speed by one, and gains a Dodge token, a Suppression token, Disengage, and a Jump 1 action.
Basically gives you a turn where R2 is focused on fleeing the scene.
2 Pip: "Impromptu Immolation" - [R2-D2] - R2 can make a free move action after making an attack; he also temporarily gains a weapon that does a 2 white dice attack with range melee to 1, which also has Blast, Spray, and Suppressive.
Remember in Revenge of the Sith when R2 sprayed oil on some super battle droids and then fried them? Yeah, he does that, and it's kind of nasty. White dice limits the power of the attack but if it targets a large unit, you could be tossing a lot of dice.
3 Pip: "Smoke Screen" - [R2-D2 and 1 trooper unit] - when R2 issues an order to a unit, that unit may make a free speed 1 move. Additionally, at the start of his activation R2 gains a free action to lay smoke (he can place a smoke token within range 1, and all units fully within 1" of the token get +1 cover).
R2 does that smoke thing from the end of The Empire Strikes Back.
Tactics
For 45 points you get a droid trooper (calm down, clones... he's a good one. It means he won't suffer Suppressed and doesn't get the +1 cover from suppression, etc.) with 4 wounds and 2 courage. He has surge on offense and defense, throwing white defense dice, and zapping people in melee or at range 1 for 3 white with Suppressive. He also has the Grounded rule, meaning he is unable to climb or clamber. But you don't take him for his combat abilities.
R2-D2 is an astromech droid, and as such, has the Repair 2: Capacity 2 ability. This is huge. If you take a TX-130 tank (or two), you probably want to be fielding R2 because each time he uses the ability (a card action that he can use twice. That's what the "Capacity 2" part means), he can remove any combination of two damage, wound, or ion tokens from one tank. He could also repair damage that he's taken himself, since the Repair rule doesn't specify it has to be another unit!
He's also got Inconspicuous and Secret Mission. These are the other big reasons why you take R2. Inconspicuous disallows enemy units from attacking R2 if he has at least one suppression token and there's another valid target available; and he can choose not to remove a token during the Rally step (but he will still remove one at the end of the Activation Phase like normal). Bear in mind, however, that if there is no other valid target for the enemy unit, they can ignore Inconspicuous and attack R2. So you also need to make sure that he stays out of charge/melee range of enemy units. Anyway, this should help him get into position for Secret Mission, which allows him, as a free action once per game, to claim a free victory token if he's in the enemy deployment zone. If he's still "alive" at the end of the game, his side gains that token when determining who won. R2 is really slow (movement 1, but one of his commands can boost it temporarily), but Inconspicuous should help him double move each turn until he gets into the enemy deployment zone.
R2-D2 is a good cheap way of gaining an extra activation, especially in this army, where nothing is cheap. While his points were raised in the November 2020 RRG, this hasn't changed anything. That's not to say he doesn't have his uses; He absolutely does. In addition to his low cost, he has two main strategies:
1. Repair - if you take a heavy unit or some support vehicles, R2 has a superior repair ability and will keep your tanks fighting longer than usual. Your tanks are already pretty tough, as is. Also bear in mind that if you have a damage token and lose it, you cannot gain another one for the rest of the battle. So if your tank suffers six wounds and gains a damage token, you can use his ability twice (not in the same turn, of course) and regain 3 lost wounds and remove the damage token to become immune to damage for the rest of the game. Not terrible.
2. Shifty spy shit - use his Inconspicuous and Secret Mission abilities to sneak around and get a victory token to help tip the battle in your favor. C-3PO can also be a good take in this regard as his Calculate Odds ability can dish out those yummy green tokens that your clones like so much.
Corps
3-6 Selections.
Phase 1 Clone Troopers
(52 pts.) "Just like the simulations."
Upgrade Cards
Heavy Weapon Upgrades (x1 Slot)
DC-15 Phase I Trooper (27 pts.) - Adds a clone with a Range 1-4 gun. It has 2 red attack dice, and Critical 1. Clones already have pretty solid shooting and this gives some extra punch. At range 4! Not a bad choice.
Z-6 Phase I Trooper (23 pts.) - Adds a clone with a range 1-3 minigun. Cool. Fires 6 white dice (or the same as a whole squad of B1s for 11 points less). Great choice if you like throwing dice but don't care if you actually score any hits. However, that one time you manage to get 5-6 hits will be legendary.
DP-23 Phase I Trooper (23 pts.) - Adds a clone with a Range 1-2 gun. It has 2 black and 1 white attack dice, and Pierce 1. Basically a shotgun. The gunner still has a DC-15A like all other clones, so fire that until you get within range 2 and then switch to the shotty for some extra oomph (and in a pinch Rex's "Take That, Clankers" command can boost the range to 3).
RPS-6 Phase I Trooper (21 pts.) - Adds a clone with a Cumbersome and Impact 2 rocket launcher that fires one red, black and white die at range 2-4. Unlike most other missile launchers, it doesn't Exhaust to fire. Cumbersome means you can't move if you want to shoot it, but then you can Aim and fire every turn (rather than have to spend an action recovering). Gives the Clones some reliable heavy anti-armor punch that they generally lack.
Personnel Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Phase I Clone Trooper (10 pts.) - gives you an extra mook.
Phase I Clone Captain (14 pts.) - gives you an extra mook who becomes your unit leader, and he comes with a Training upgrade slot. Exhaust when the squad activates to lose the ability (for the unit's entire activation, so upgrades like Strict Orders don't work) to remove suppression tokens but also become immune to being Suppressed, allowing you to survive things like Vader's Master of Evil bomb intact.
Phase I Clone Specialist (14 pts.) - gives you an extra mook who comes with an extra Gear upgrade slot. Exhaust to gain an Aim, Dodge, or Surge token. Clones love those tasty green tokens, and he's another way of getting an extra one, plus the extra slot can get you some Targeting Scopes to maximize an Aim token's effectiveness. You could, instead, just ignore the slot and use his squad as a Token factory for your other squads, though.
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. Clones can just do an Aim action on their own and share it for free.
Emergency Stims (10 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 (2 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. Situational, only useful if you run into a lot of difficult terrain.
Grappling Hooks (1 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. Situational, only useful if you play on a table with lots of level terrain you desperately want to climb. For a single point, it's not the worst investment of leftover points.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. Really good choice to ensure all of your clones are in cover and are in range to lend Fire Support. Especially useful on the units that aren't scouting with Rex (note that it doesn't stack with Rex's "Scouting Party" ability).
Targeting Scopes (4 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. Not terrible, especially if you have the aim token to utilize it. The unit with Targeting Scopes must be the one with the token, though. The token cannot be received through token sharing.
Ascension Cables (4 pts) - Until the end of your activation, you gain scale. This is especially useful to get your troops into position, or traverse a dense battlefield. You can't really go wrong with this one.
Grenade Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Concussion Grenades (3 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die, that ignores cover. If you're playing on a table with lots of cover, this is may be useful to negate it. Remember, you just need to throw one to make your whole attack pool ignore cover. The short range will limit its use though.
Fragmentation Grenades (3 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 red die, that grants surge to critical. This is pretty mean. A six man squad of Clones throwing 5 red dice plus whatever their heavy weapon is (a Z-6 looks pretty good right about now...) with critical surges? Ouch. The only downside is the range. This is a solid choice.
Impact Grenades (3 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die that gives Impact 1. If you are fighting against Empire and they've got an AT-ST or two and you want to make them disappear, this is how. Although the short range means they're going to see it coming. Of course, if your opponent isn't fielding any vehicles, then you've wasted those points. It's a nice back-up, though!
Smoke Grenades (2 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 (smoke tokens improve cover to units near them). Your Clones work best if bunched together, meaning you could get some good results from this. Combine this with a suppression token and your unit suddenly has heavy cover even when standing out in the open. Another solid upgrade choice, but you probably don't need a lot of units carrying it.
EMP Droid poppers (3 pts.) - Range 1 with 1 black die, and an attack pool that includes them gains Ion 1 (just one, not one per grenade). If you know you're facing CIS- especially one heavy with droidekas or AATs- these can be worth taking. You just need to throw one to trigger it, so you can fire your other weapons, as well.
Tactics
Currently Clone Troopers are an expensive combination of Rebel shooting and Stormtrooper armor. This is reflected in their price per unit/model. They have the option to share tokens amongst multiple units of Clone Troopers and can offer Fire Support to each other, making Suppression a little less important to their activations. However, bear in mind that Clone units are very susceptible to suppression, overall, so you should be careful not to ignore the dangers of it.
The shown abilities of the Clone Trooper Captain and Specialist look to be a no-brainer upgrade for them, giving them more options to ignore suppression in its entirety, and generate tokens without having to sacrifice activations to do so. They bring the already high price point of the unit up, but without question make them much more worth bringing.
All of their heavy weapons options are viable, as well. Each one fulfills a different role, like forcing the squad to become more aggressive or allow it to hang back and plink enemy squads down at range. Clones rely on their corps more so than any other faction, so these boys, along with Phase IIs, will be your bread and butter.
Phase 2 Clone Troopers
(62 pts.) "For the Republic!"
Upgrade Cards
Heavy Weapon Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Z-6 Phase II Trooper (27 pts.) - range 1-3 doing 6 white dice. Great for sheer volume of dice; not great if you want an effective weapon that actually scores a lot of hits. Make sure you've got access to aim tokens when firing these.
Phase II Mortar Trooper (20 pts.) - range 2-4 doing 2 black dice with Critical 1, Suppressive, and Cumbersome. A great option if you're going for gunline- it makes you sit still to fire anyway, so just do that. Aim action + fire.
Personnel Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Phase II Clone Trooper (13 pts.) - adds an extra mook.
Training Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Duck and Cover (4 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. Can be useful since these clones are courage 2, but if you're going mortar gunline, you probably wanna just deploy in cover and not need this. If you're not, then you may also find yourself immediately losing an action because a squad got shot once by a suppressive weapon.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. Always a handy choice, since clones aren't great at dealing with excessive suppression.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. Extra tokens are nice, but it'll require you firing at a unit that is considered "wounded" (like characters or multi-wound models like Tauntauns, Imperial Royal Guards, and Wookiees) to benefit. Still, if you can pull it off, extra tokens to share are welcome. You don't have to use it, either, in case you want it for more token sharing.
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. Not a terrible take, although your clones do have Fire Support built in, which is somewhat similar. Not generally recommended unless you're going for a gimmick, of sorts.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack, while you are wounded, gain 1 red attack die. Clones aren't bad in melee but that's not ideally where you want them. Not a bad choice, not a great one either.
Offensive Push (4 pts.) - exhaust to gain Tactical 1 (gain a free aim token after making a standard move). Again, tokens are always nice! Even if this squad doesn't use it, other squads can borrow it.
Offensive Push (4 pts.) - exhaust to gain Tactical 1, which is gaining a free aim token after making a standard move. This can be really nice, for obvious reasons. Token sharing is strong.
Situational Awareness (2 pts.) - You gain Outmaneuver, meaning you may spend dodge tokens to cancel crits. Dodge tokens won't be as prevalent for Clone units, so, while this can be useful, it also isn't the most useful.
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 terrible but you are probably better off just doing an Aim action with the unit and sharing.
Emergency Stims (10 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 (2 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. Worried about difficult terrain slowing you down? Worry no more.
Grappling Hooks (1 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. Wanna climb lots of stuff without needing to worry about falling and dying? Here's the answer. Extremely cheap, too.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. Really good choice to ensure all of your clones are in cover and are in range to lend Fire Support. Cheap and effective, but bear in mind Rex and his Scouting Party. Also, if you're planning on doing a mortar-oriented gunline, it's not as attractive.
Targeting Scopes (4 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. Not bad, as it helps reroll all those black dice you'll be chucking. It's better if you took the Z-6, because that boy is gonna roll a lot of misses.
Ascension Cables (4 pts) - Until the end of your activation, you gain scale. This is especially useful to get your troops into position, or traverse a dense battlefield. You can't really go wrong with this one.
Grenade Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Concussion Grenades (3 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die, that ignores cover. You already throw black dice with your ranged weapons, but if you're super worried about cover, here you go. You only need to throw one to make the entire attack ignore cover. This obviously won't be useful if you plan to use a gunline.
Fragmentation Grenades (3 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 red die with surge to critical. Now we're talkin. Superior to your DC-15A's and melee, with critical surge to boot. Definitely worth a look, if you plan to be aggressive.
Impact Grenades (3 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die and Impact 1. If you know you're fighting against an AAT/AT-ST or two, these aren't a bad choice. If your opponent has no viable armored targets, then this is obviously wasted.
Smoke Grenades (2 pts.) - Exhaust this card to gain Smoke 1, allowing you to put a smoke token out within range 1, and line of sight, of your unit leader- each smoke token grants +1 cover to every unit whose leader is within range 1 of it; it also grants that bonus to any unit those units shoot at (the blind effect works both ways).
EMP Droid poppers (3 pts.) - Range 1 with 1 black die, and an attack pool that includes them gains Ion 1 (just one, not one per grenade). If you know you're facing CIS- especially one heavy with droidekas or AATs- these can be worth taking. You just need to throw one to trigger it, so you can fire your your weapons, as well.
Tactics
For 8 more points a squad nets you one more Courage, Reliable (automatically get one free Surge Token at the start of each Activation Phase), and a Training slot over your basic Phase I Clone Troopers.
They're essentially the same as the Phase I clones, but with slightly different weapon options and the free surge token. They also look cooler (Subjectively)! You also have the option of mucking around with Training upgrades, of course, which can be very nice. Basically it boils down to what heavy weapon you take with them. Z-6 lets you use them much the same as your Phase I's, while the mortar more or less forces you to use them for gunline.
Special Forces
Up to 3 Selections
ARC Troopers
(78 pts.) "One shot, One kill." These are Advanced Recon Commandoes, an elite force made up of clones who proved themselves on the battlefield. These are what Fives and Echo, from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, were.
Upgrade Cards
Heavy Weapon Upgrades (x1 Slot)
DC-15x ARC trooper (31 pts.) - an elite version of the DC-15 that fires one red and one black at range 1-5 with Immune: Deflect, Critical 1, and Lethal 1 (spend one aim token to give the attack "Pierce 1"). This is really good, and gives an ARC Trooper squad some really good firepower.
Fives (36 pts.) - Unique. Designated CT-5555, or "Fives" for short, from the Clone Wars cartoons, he was known for his fierce loyalty to his clone brothers, even if it ran against the wishes of his Jedi commanders. He has 2 health, fires 2 black dice at range 1-3, increases the squads courage by 1, and becomes the units leader. He also adds the Coordinate: Clone Trooper keyword to the squad, meaning they can issue an additional order to another Clone Trooper squad when they, themselves, are issued an order. Generally, Fives is better used in a corps unit, for his bonuses.
Echo (40 pts.) - another unique clone from the cartoons, designated CT-1409 or "Echo". He has 2 health, becomes the unit leader, and throws 2 red dice at range 1-5 with Critical 1, Lethal 1, and Immune: Deflect. Echo also has Reliable 1, meaning the squads he's in gains one surge token at the stat of the activation phase. Really good, as it's just a flat better DC-15x ARC Trooper.
Training Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Duck and Cover (4 pts.) - You can intentionally gain 1 Suppression while being shot at, for cover. Not too worth it, because ARC Troopers will either be too far back not to be consistently shot at, or you'll not want to receive more suppression than you can manage.
Endurance (6 pts.) - At the end of your activation, remove 1 Suppression for free. This can be really nice, as ARC Troopers really want both of their activations.
Hunter (6 pts.) - When attacking a wounded trooper unit, get 1 free aim token. This is very nice, because of the hand blasters that ARC Troopers have at their disposal. Not only that, but more token sharing and the ability to better activate Echo's Lethal.
Overwatch (4 pts.) - Gain Sentinel, making your standby range 1-3. This has surprising potential on an ARC unit. If you plan to play more reactive, than this can be nice.
Tenacity (4 pts.) - When making a melee attack, while you are wounded, gain 1 red attack die. Arc troopers can be great in melee, even against units with pierce, so this isn't that bad. There are more versatile options, though.
Offensive Push (4 pts.) - exhaust to gain Tactical 1, which is gaining a free aim token after making a standard move. This stacks with their Tactical 1, for Tactical 2. You want this upgrade.
Situational Awareness (2 pts.) - You gain Outmaneuver, meaning you may spend dodge tokens to cancel crits. This can make ARC Troopers even more durable, but other upgrades are probably better to take. They're already durable enough, as is.
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. This isn't necessary due to a certain training upgrade that exists. Tactical 2 is far better than the ability to spend an action to give another unit an aim token.
Emergency Stims (10 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 (2 pts.) - Gain Unhindered, allowing you to ignore difficult terrain. This is generally nice, if terrain is a big problem.
Grappling Hooks (1 pts.) - Gain Expert Climber, allowing you to clamber without rolling dice or taking wounds. For a single point, this is always a nice investment.
Recon Intel (2 pts.) - Gain Scout 1, allowing you to make a speed-1 move after you deploy. Stacks with the Scout 2 the unit already has for Scout 3. Worth taking if you don't want to dish out the points for the jump packs. Or both...
Targeting Scopes (4 pts.) - Gain Precise 1, allowing you to re-roll 3 dice when you spend an aim token. This can be very nice for the same reason Hunter is.
Ascension Cables (4 pts) - Until the end of your activation, you gain scale. This is especially useful to get your troops into position, or traverse a dense battlefield. You can't really go wrong with this one.
JT-12 Jet Packs (10 pts) - As a card action, gain Jump 2. Lets your ARCs bounce around and be where you want them to be, without having to worry about terrain. Plus they look awesome.
Grenade Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Concussion Grenades (3 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die, that ignores cover. You're ARCs are throwing enough dice to mitigate it how useful these are at this range.
Fragmentation Grenades (3 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 red die with surge to critical. ARC Troopers are throwing 1 black and white die at this range, anyways, so these really aren't too useful.
Impact Grenades (3 pts.) - Range 1 attack with 1 black die and Impact 1. Against vehicles, this can be extremely useful for your ARC Troopers.
Smoke Grenades (2 pts.) - Exhaust this card to gain Smoke 1, allowing you to put a smoke token out within range 1, and line of sight, of your unit leader. Each smoke token grants +1 cover to any unit whose unit leader is within range 1 of it; it also grants that bonus to any enemy unit those units shoot at (it works both ways).
EMP Droid poppers (3 pts.) - Range 1 with 1 black die, and an attack pool that includes them gains Ion 1 (just one, not one per grenade). If you know you're facing CIS- especially one heavy with droidekas or AATs- these can be worth taking. You just need to throw one to trigger it, so you can fire your pistols or DC-15x and maximize damage.
Comms Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Comms Jammer (5 pts.) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders. This can be very useful if you're getting this close to the enemy, but that's generally not where ARC really want to be.
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. ARC Troopers will want any orders you give them, so this is a hard pass.
HQ Uplink (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow a unit to issue an order to itself. ARCs really do enjoy having orders, but this may be too expensive after everything else has been added.
Long-Range Comlink (5 pts.) - You always count as being within range of your commander. This can be very useful, with some of your commanders being very aggressive.
Tactics
Take one of the most badass non-Jedi/Sith warriors in the galaxy, clone him a million times, give those clones the best weapons and gear around, and then form the best of them into a hyper-elite unit with even better gear, and what do you get? Advanced Recon Commandos, or ARC troopers. Captain Rex was one of the first ARC troopers, so they've got a lot in common.
They have Impervious (grants extra defense dice if they're hit by something with Pierce) and Scout 2 (free movement-2 move after deploying). They also have Sharpshooter 1 (reduce enemy cover by 1) and Tactical 1 (gain a free aim token after moving). Each has one wound, and the unit has courage 2. They throw red dice without surge on defense. For offense, they each throw one black and one white in melee, and carry pistols that do one black and one white at range 1-2, as well. Their main weapon is a DC-15A which throws one black at range 1-3 just like a normal clone soldier.
These are used similarly to their counterparts in other factions, except they are more ranged focus than any other. All of their special weapons are range 5, except for Fives, but he is better used on a corps unit for the dice and rules he adds. A full unit can cause havoc on any battlefield and be annoying to displace.
Support
Up to 3 Selections.
BARC Speeder
(60 pts.) Before the deathtrap that is the 74-Z speeder bike, came this hefty piece of military hardware (In canon, Imperial scouts are said to prefer the BARC over the 74-Z. Wedge can also be quoted, in the Imperial Handbook, saying even he doesn't like driving one of those things).
Upgrade Cards
Comms Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Comms Jammer (5 pts.) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders.
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 (5 pts.) - You always count as being within range of your commander.
Crew Upgrades (x1 Slot)
BARC Ion Gunner (22 pts.) - Puts a clone with an Ion gun in the sidecar. Reduces your maximum speed by 1.
BARC Twin Laser Gunner (15 pts.) - Puts a clone with a machine gun in the sidecar. Reduces your maximum speed by 1.
BARC RPS-6 Gunner (21 pts.) - Puts a clone with a rocket launcher in the sidecar. Reduces your maximum speed by 1. This is the only one that doesn't have Fixed: Front, Rear restrictions.
Tactics
A fast and potentially heavy hitting repulsor vehicle, having the ability to take a side car with a flexible selection of gunners means you can customize this unit to fight various types of threats. Ironically, bringing a side car to slow it down can be seen as a bonus, allowing the vehicle's compulsory move to not send it screaming across the board. As of the November 2020 RRG, compulsory moves can be done at the start or end of an activation, allowing for more flexibility, in this regard, too.
Sporting a Red Dice for defense allows the speeder to take more damage than its contemporaries. Having Cover 1 only adds icing onto this cake, too. 2/3 of the Side-Car options are locked firing arcs, with only the RPS-6 being exempt from this. While expensive when kitted out, upgrading it with an HQ uplink or Linked Targeting array can give you the most bang for your buck. Generally, its role on the battlefield will be determined by what the side-car has been upgraded to. The naked bike is a bit lack-luster, sporting a red, 2 black (arsenal 2 works with regular blaster), and white dice for offense. It does however sport surge to hit, which can make for some hilarious fire-support bombs.
AT-RT
(65 pts.) Pretty much the same as the Rebel one, but slightly better because it's manned by an elite ARF clone rather than a random rebel dude.
Upgrade Cards
Hardpoint Upgrade (x1 Slot)
AT-RT Laser Cannon (10 pts.) - range 2-4 firing one red and two black with Fixed: Front and Impact 3. This is a pretty good anti-tank gun, although the minimum range means you need to make sure you keep your distance. Still, if your opponent brought an AT-ST, this should do a decent job of plugging holes in it.
AT-RT Rotary Blaster (20 pts.) - range 1-3 firing five black dice and with Fixed: Front. Pretty solid, no frills anti-infantry weapon. With the built-in surge to hit of the AT-RT, it can be quite mean.
AT-RT Flame Thrower (20 pts.) - range 1 firing two black with Fixed: Front, Blast (ignore cover), and Spray (add its attack value to the pool once for every visible model in the target unit). Pretty brutal flame thrower attack if you can get close enough to use it.
Comms Upgrades (x1 Slot)
Comms Jammer (5 pts.) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders. Meh. Could be useful to screw with Confederacy B1 droids daisy chaining orders, while you're roasting them with the flame thrower.
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. This probably isn't super useful since, in all likelihood, you're actually going to want to make sure this unit gets that order.
HQ Uplink (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow a unit to issue an order to itself. A solid choice to ensure it gets an order, even though the Command card you're using is troopers only.
Long-Range Comlink (5 pts.) - You always count as being within range of your commander. Situational, and not very helpful on smaller battlefields. Could be useful if you're doing a wonky scenario, like one that includes the Disarray deployment.
Linked Targeting Array (5 pts.) - Gives you a free Aim token when the unit is issued an order. Aim tokens are always nice to have, especially with the gobs of black dice this guy can throw.
Tactics
The Clone AT-RT is very similar to the Rebel version, but with some minor changes. It comes with the same 6 health, 4 resilience, and white defense die. However, instead of having surge to crit, the Republic At-RT has surge to hit and defend. This means it sacrifices some anti-cover and vehicle firepower for slightly better defense. It also still has speed-2 movement, but also gains Scout 1, allowing it perform a speed-1 move after deploying. The Armor, Climbing Vehicle, and Expert Climber keywords remain. The driver wields a rocket launcher, firing 1 black and 2 white dice with Critical 1 and Impact 2, as well. The walker, itself, throws 3 red dice in melee with Impact 1.
At-RTs can fit any combat role you need them to, with each of their hard points. The Flamer can deal with infantry units; The Laser Cannon will easily threaten any armor on the board; While the Rotary Cannon is a great middle ground, even though it does have lesser anti-tank potential.
The Clone variant costs more than it's Rebel cousin, but is still cheap enough to not really hinder list building. Taking one or two for specific purposes isn't a bad idea, if the BARC speeder isn't calling out to you.
Heavy
Up to 2 Selections.
TX-130 Saber-class Fighter Tank
Finally some firepower for the Clones!
For the same basic cost of an AT-ST you get a solid hover tank with the same gun (2 black, 2 red, 2 white with range 1-4, Impact 2, Critical 1 and Fixed: Front). The tank can be upgraded to have two more weapons upgrades (see below for more details), and comes with Arsenal 2 so you can always fire two of them. The tank comes with the Armor rule to ignore all non-critical hits, 9 wounds and a 6 damage threshold, while throwing red dice without surge on defense. It's pretty tough, being one of two tanks in the game throwing red defensive dice (the other is the droids' AAT). It also has the new Outmaneuver rule, which allows it to use dodge tokens against critical hits. Although it's described as being "particularly nimble for an armored vehicle", it moves at the same speed-2 that most other tanks move- it hovers though, so it does have a little advantage when it comes to clearing terrain, plus it can make a "strafe" move (which is a special move that lets it slide to the left or right at speed decreased by 1).
It does have some downsides though. It has Weak Point on its sides and rear, meaning if an enemy manages to shoot it in those arcs, they gain Impact +1. Also, like the Clones it's supporting, it can be pricey, especially if you go big on the bells and whistles.
Upgrade Cards
Pilot Upgrade (x1 Slot)
Aayla Secura (5 pts.) - Your tank gains Inspire 2 and Field Commander, allowing you to make the tank your commander after you play a neutral command card like Standing Orders.
Plo Koon (9 pts.) - Exhaust as a free action to gain Agile 2 for the rest of the activation; Agile 2 grants 2 Dodge tokens after making a standard move. Make a double move to gain a whopping four Dodge tokens!
Veteran Clone Pilot (7 pts.) - Exhaust to allow your tank and a friendly Clone Trooper unit within range 1 to share Aim, Dodge, and Surge tokens; and then ready this card during the End Phase.
Hard Point Upgrades (x1 Slots)
TX-130 Beam Cannon Turret (30 pts.) - range 1-4 doing 2 red dice with Beam 2- after attacking, may make two additional attacks using only this weapon. The new targets can't already have defended and must be within range 1 of the initial target.
TX-130 Twin Laser Turret (14 pts.) - range 1-3 doing 3 black with Critical 1. A low cost alternative to the beam cannon, it loses range and punch.
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.
High Energy Shells (8 pts.) - Exhaust to make an attack with Cycle Range 2-4. Critical 1, High Velocity Fixed: Front 2 Red dice and 1 white. This is your go-to when a Jedi/Sith or anyone relying on Dodge tokens (hint: Tauntauns) needs to be deleted now. Just remember to fire other guns elsewhere- High Velocity only works if all weapons in the attack pool have it.
Bunker Buster Shells (12 pts) - Exhaust to fire an attack with Cycle, Blast. Scatter Fixed: Front Range 1-2, 1 black and 3 white. 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., reduced to 5 pts. by rules errata) - Prevents enemy units at range 1 from receiving orders. Since you're vulnerable to attack from the rear facing, and your main gun has a minimum range of 2, you shouldn't take this.
HQ Uplink (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow a unit to issue an order to itself. Useful, for the turn you need that unit to activate when you need it to, or to get a surge token from Aggressive Tactics.
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., reduced to 5 pts. by rules errata) - You always count as being within range of your commander. Situational, and not very helpful on smaller battlefields.
Tactics
How best to use the tank goes here.
Unit Upgrade Boxes
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. Yours are Pending.
Tactics & Building
Buy everything you don't have options yet.