Republic Musings, Pt. II

Units the Republic needs.

Well, today is the day.  The Clone Wars Core Set has officially been released, and if you don't have one yet, you hopefully soon will.  If you read the last article, you know what's coming in this one.  Last time I thought about the future of the Republic in Legion and rejected a few unit ideas for a variety of reasons, be they balance issues, lore accuracy, or my plain old simple bias.  This time, I'm going to talk about units that I think would greatly benefit the Republic as a game faction, and possibly bring something new for the game.

Begun the Clone War, has.  Lead your troops to victory, you shall.

Unlike the normal "X unit would be so cool!" posts, hopefully, I can justify why these units would benefit the game in general, and the Republic Faction in particular.  I can't guarantee I'll always be able to do that, but I will try.  To keep things somewhat clear, I'll organize this by unit types.  I will not mention characters, as those are usually pretty obvious, and usually fill out two categories (Commanders and Operatives).  We all want Mace, Anakin, Padme, and Fives in the game, so there's really no need to go into detail on them.

Subfactions

Gungans/Naboo
Let's start with the most controversial option: Gungans.  With the Gungans and Naboo Security, FFG has a perfect opportunity to dive into subfactions.  Gungans and the Naboo fought the Trade Federation in Episode I, and later fought the CIS during the Clone Wars, meaning they fit the time period.  They were used by the Republic to supplement the GAR in both the EU/Legends and in the current canon.  And, most importantly, they offer a unique style of gameplay and unit structure, with an emphasis on close range and melee weapons, with shields and even Deflect being available all the way down to the Corps level.  People may not be the biggest Jar Jar fans, but he and the Gungans would bring a lot to the game, and be pretty iconic.  The Naboo would also be interesting, as they could represent more than just the guys in Episode I; repainted, their security forces could represent any number of planetary security forces or militias called up to fight the war on the Republic's behalf.  They'd also be quite different than the Gungans or Clones in play style, and very similar to the Rebels in the sense that they'd be light and fast attack units.  While there is some danger with faction identity problems with subfactions, I hope that the Gungans and Naboo are eventually brought into the game.

"Wesa make a grand subfaction for your army!"

Commanders

Generic Jedi
If you read the last article, you know I am very much against Jedi Knight squads.  I feel that for a squad of 3 or more minis, it would be difficult to make them feel like Jedi but still be balanced.  The solution to this problem would be to have generic Jedi Knights as both commanders and operatives.  Their stats could be scaled down slightly from Obi's (say, 1R/2B/1W, Pierce, Critical, Impact 2) to make them cheaper, yet they would still feel like the space monks we all know and love.  A benefit of a generic Jedi is it allows players to bring in their favorite Jedi well before they receive the official treatment, or allows for some custom character creation.  The command chards available to a generic Jedi could also be an interesting departure from the norm.  Instead of just having faction cards, the Generic Jedi and generic Clone Commander could share two of their three cards but have one that specifically works for them, with another character.  For the Jedi, this could be something like "Guardians of Peace and Justice" and work for that unit, and another Jedi character.

Leading from the front, just like a good General should.

Generic Clone Commander
In a similar vein, I'd like a generic Clone Commander.  This guy would serve many of the same benefits as the generic Jedi but be the natural clone counterpart.  For fans of Fordo, Wolffe, or Cody, this would be a good way of getting their hero into the game early and encourage cool paint jobs and customization.  As I said above, the generic Clone Commander could have its own unique command chard, something along the lines of "Brothers in Arms" which works with it and another Commander or Operative Clone Trooper.

Pick your Commander, and lead your troops.

Operatives

ARC Troopers
This one is again a continuation of the last article.  In case there is any confusion, I want ARC Troopers in this game.  I just want them to feel like actual ARCs rather than slightly better regular troopers.  As such, they should be in smaller units, either solo or in two-man teams similar to the strike team, but without the heavy weapon.  For their abilities, I think building them a mini Boba Fett would be both logical and interesting.  Have two of their cards give them special weapons (flame thrower and/or electro whip taser, or possibly an area effect ion pulse), while the third gives a bonus to friendly troops.  This could be as simple as X number of surge tokens, or more interesting like they gain Surge to Hit/Block for the rest of the round.  This could be limited in a variety of ways, but would still be interesting to see.

"We're here to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and these helmets make chewing bubble gum really awkward!"

Jedi Knight Operative
Not all Jedi were meant for leadership roles, and some would make better operatives than commanders.  This would be still yet another way to have Jedi in the game other than grouping them into squads.  In the operative role, I think their command cards should grant them extra Force powers, or allow for extra actions during their activation.  Additionally, if limited in this way, the operative should have a slightly higher attack pool or a reduced cost.

"Leading troops isn't my style, but going undercover and falling to the dark side?  That's my specialty!"

Corps

Galactic Marines
This one should be a no brainer for anyone who knows the least amount about the various subtypes of Clone Troopers.  Galactic Marines would be the Republic's third corps option, and I think they'd make for great close combat specialists, along the lines of Fleet troopers.  As we see them with a flamethrower during the Geonosis arc of TCW, that would make sense, making them a hybrid of Fleet Troopers and Snowtroopers.  Additionally, since this was a unit known for achieving victory despite heavy casualties, their courage value would need to be at least 2.

"And that's what you get for calling us Snowtroopers!"

Special Forces

Clone Paratroopers
I'll admit to being biased on this one, due to my own background.  That said, Clone Paras would bring a unique skill set to the game, as they would be a combination of Deathtroopers and Rebel Patfinders.  Infiltrate makes sense, though I could see them gaining their own keyword, such as "Airborne" that allows them to make a Rapid Reinforcement-like deployment in during the game.  It would also be cool if when paired with Rapid Reinforcement, they could make a single action on deployment, be it an attack, move, or something like dodging.  This would fit with Paratrooper's historic role of dropping on top of defended positions, and immediately plunging into the fight.  As Ace pointed out during our discussion, Paras should also have the "LGOP" keyword (look it up) that would prevent them from panicking if they were outside of a commander's bubble.  The counter to all of this awesome stuff would be their cost and their reduced range of weapons.  A DC-15 would be the heaviest weapon they should get, and even then, it might need to be reduced to range 3.  This would leave them vulnerable to heavy vehicles, or getting caught in the open.

"What do you mean Purge troopers are stealing our helmets?"

Clone Commandos
Do I really need to go into these guys?  I mean, if you've ever played Republic Commando, read any of the books, or even seen these guys in Battlefront II, you know what level of badass you're dealing with here.  I would make these guy hyper lethal, with a solid melee (maybe even pierce on those vibroblade gauntlets) and weapon configuration cards that would allow the entire unit to snipe (without pierce mind you) at, at least, range 4 if not range 5.  They would also have a close-range grenade launcher config with Impact and blast, much like Deathtroopers.  The downside would be they could not have a squad larger than 4 figures, and they'd still only be 1 health apiece.  Gen focused fire, and you'll start to lose very expensive minis, which is pretty thematic on how they are described in the books.

"Play Vode An.  I'm not asking again!"

Temple Guards
Fine, you guys want Jedi squads?  Here you go.  Temple Guards could be the Republic's melee SF unit.  Give 'em an OK attack, and no pierce, and a single Force power for the lot of 'em.  Unlike Knights, we really don't see these guys in action, so a reduced power version wouldn't be lore breaking, nor would it be as hard to balance.  The plus side with them would be they'd have Guardian and Inspire, and maybe a keyword that lets 'em use dodges in Guardian like Kenobi.  Two health apiece and three minis would give the unit a fair amount of meat to chew through.  Their upgrade could be a senior guard, and instead of a weapon, he gives another Force upgrade slot, and maybe even Master of the Force 1.

"Aint nobody besides Darth Vader, Cade Bane, and a bunch of others gonna get past us!"

Senate Guards/Commandos
I could see Senate guards as a ranged attack version of the Temple Guards.  Give them a high guardian value, decent attack, and fair defense.  Like with the Royal Guard, a melee centered upgrade could be interesting, as it would make them a defensive jack of all trades.  Senate Guards would naturally be a shoehorn for Entourage keywords on Padme or if Chancellor Palpatine ever was introduced into the game. I can see them being used to take hits for Jedi characters while they move forward into range, while at the same time taking shots on their own.

"Our helmets have plooms, your argument is invalid."

ARF Troopers
I'll admit that I didn't originally include Advanced Recon Force troopers in my write up.  I really didn't know how to include them, but I decided that one role really hadn't been filled out yet: snipers, scouts, and saboteurs.  These guys would essentially fill the same role as the GCW's Scout Troopers and Rebel Commandos.  I'd give them red defense die, but a mediocre attack.  Their main role would be to harass, or possibly babysit an objective.  If an indirect fire ever comes out, they might make excellent forward observers.  To further their recon role, it would be interesting to see them have "Spotter" and help generate aim tokens for other units.

"See those guys at range 5?  Shoot 'em!"

Jet Troopers
This is another one that I wasn't originally going to include, but decided to just to get some opinions.  These guys would basically be Phase II clones with Jump 2, speed 3, and an Ion rifle for their only heavy weapon.  Their main advantage would be that they can move really, really fast and ignore terrain for one of their moves.  This would give the Republic a hypermobile infantry unit, but one that lacks teeth against anything besides droids and vehicles.  I worry about their balance with objectives like capture the supplies, however, as three of these units could rapidly grab a box or three and dip out.  What do you think?

"Training?  Nah, knowing how to use these things is genetic!"

Support

AT-RTs
This is another one that should be a no brainer.  AT-RTs were, before Battlefront II(2), only seen during the Clone Wars.  While I understand why they weren't in the core set, the RT really needs to come home to the Republic faction.  If FFG is worried about "faction identity" and having the same or similar units in multiple factions, there are a few ways they could differentiate them.  The easiest would be weapon hardpoint upgrades.  For the Republic, give them the laser cannon, and a light repeating blaster that throws a couple of black and a ton of white dice, and that's it.  At the same time, issue an errata for the Rebel upgrades limiting them to Rebel use only.  If they wanted to go any further, they could increase the RT's defensive die a bit, while also increasing the price, or do a combination of price changes, Armor to Armor X, and better defensive die.  Finally, they could add a keyword like Jump to them, as we often seen Republic AT-RTs hopping around like freaking frogs.  There are several ways to make them different if that's the important thing and no real reason why the Republic should lose out on one of its main vehicles.

Uparmored frogger from hell.

Clone E-Web/EWHB-12
This is another unit I'll admit my bias on; I love E-Webs.  I "won" an RPQ with a pair of them in my list, and developed a list where I ran 3, and loved it.  As such, I personally would love to see the E-Web, or it's slightly tweaked Clone Wars version, the EWHB-12, come over to the Republic.  The weapon has several appearances in TCW, and in the EU/Legends as well, so its not completely out of left field.  As far as stats and price, I think the Imperial version is pretty close to what we should see.  Naturally, tweaks would need to be made to the price to account for Clones being on the gun instead of Snowtroopers, but those should only be a couple of points.  The attack pool should be similar, though if they want to drop the red die to add another black and white, it would likely work.  For upgrades, the Clone E-Web/EWHB-12 would be a great chance to include new ones.  One that would work great would be a generator upgrade that increases your attack range by 1, at the cost of only throwing half your die.  It wouldn't be broken, but it would help the Republic start to get a stake in the Range 4 game.

"Don't worry, I can hold 'em off.  I've got a Space Maxim!"

Blurrgs
Blurrgs are another one that should be a no brainer.  With Tauntauns making quite the splash, and Dewback riders gnashing their teeth in vain over the delay, all four factions will likely get their own Creature troopers eventually.  For the Republic, at least for non-Gungan Republic forces, blurrgs make as much sense as anything else.  Their appearance in the upcoming Mandalorian only helps make the case here, as they'll be one of the few options that will have received both the animated and the live-action (well, CGI) treatment.  Blurrgs are also interesting as we see Clones ride them, though I personally hope that instead of Clone riders, we get Twi'lek or other native troops riding them.

I bet they smell bad on the inside and the outside!

Heavy

Delta-7 Jedi Starfighter
This may come as a bit of a surprise for some people; it certainly came as a surprise to me.  The Delta-7 would make an excellent heavy for Legion.  It would give the game another aircraft, but one that wouldn't be overpowered like an X-Wing or Y-Wing likely would be.  At 8 meters long, it's a little over 2 meters longer than the T-47, less than a meter longer than the Occupier, meaning it could likely fit on either base quite easily.  While that may sound long, the Delta-7 would have far less mass than the Occupier, and most of the mass it does have would be towards the rear, where the supporting peg would be.  It's usually armed with only the two dual laser cannons, though we do see it drop bombs during the 2003 Clone Wars series.  Besides being iconic, the Delta-7 would make for an interesting place to put more Jedi pilots, and possibly to create some non-vehicle specific pilot options for the Republic.

Sleek and deady, protecting the peace one war at a time!

AV-7
Finally, some true artillery.  Likely on the upper end of what we can expect in Legion, the AV-7 Antivehicle cannon would make for a great unit to introduce indirect fire into the game.  We see it being used in this role in the 2008 Clone Wars cartoon, and it was quite effective in that role.  Though FFG has shown reluctance in introducing indirect fire, the AV-7 expansion could handle this in a variety of ways.  Easiest would be to allow it to use the line of sight of units with the "Spotter" keyword to make an attack.  If that's too open or easy, there are other ways of addressing it.  When making indirect fire attacks, the defender could always have the benefit of heavy cover, to simulate the inaccuracy of artillery fire.  Instead of using Spotter, a new keyword could be created, such as "Forward Observer," which would be either organic on a unit, or given through a comm upgrade.  Another option would be to have both the AV-7 and the forward observer unit require an upgrade called "Fires Net" to make the indirect shot.  However it is done, indirect fire could be introduced to Legion, and the AV-7 is the unit to make it happen.

And they said indirect fire isn't part of Star Wars! 

AT-AP
Like the AV-7, the AT-AP is probably at the upper end of what we should see in Legion.  Standing at 11 meters, the AT-AP is a couple of meters taller than the AT-ST.  This would, of course, make it the tallest unit in the game.  It would also be one of the heaviest armed, with a 360 turret-mounted medium laser cannon, and a chin-mounted dual-light laser cannon, and then its main gun: the hull-mounted mass driver.  As FFG is doing with the Saber tank and the AAT, the mass driver could be a munitions hardpoint, allowing the player to customize exactly what it does, and how it operates.  I would think a mechanic could be introduced that requires the AT-AP to have its third leg down to fire the mass driver, while at the same time limiting the mass driver to being fired only once every other turn. To make up for this, the mass driver would be an extremely powerful weapon, likely able to hit the enemy at range 5.  This is fitting, as the AT-AP in lore was referred to as the "sniper tank."

Is that a mass driver cannon, or are you just happy to see me? 

Misc
There are of course more options for the Republic.  The Gunship, for instance, is incredibly iconic and would be an amazing unit to see, but practicalities make it somewhat difficult to introduce.  The Eta II Jedi interceptor is another good option, but would likely overlap the Delta-7 too much to be really unique, and I personally prefer the Delta-7 more.  Finally, units like the AT-XT would be awesome but likely won't happen because they belong to the now-defunct EU/Legends stories, rather than the Mouse-approved canon.  Maybe one day we'll get them, but at the moment, I doubt it.

It might not be canon, but the AT-XT is one sexy walker.

Final Thoughts

Well, you made it to the end!  Congrats on sitting through part two of my musings.  Hopefully, it wasn't too painful!  What do you guys think?  Do you like my ideas for units, or am I hopelessly off the mark?  Let me know!  If you enjoyed the article, check us out on Facebook.  We're just a couple of likes away from hitting our first milestone of 100 likes, so everyone helps!

Thanks for reading!

Republic Musings, Pt. I

Units the Republic doesn't need.

With the official release of the Clone Wars Core Set this week, the Republic has been on my mind.  While I'm sure most people are excited to finally get the long-awaited troopers put together and painted, and play Obi's "Hello There!" card, I've been looking more to the future of the faction.  I'm sure Master Yoda would hit me with his cane for not having patience and keeping my mind on what I'm doing, but I thought I'd share some of the thoughts I've had on what future expansions and units for the Republic could look like, and a few examples of what I hope they don't look like.

How most of us will be playing the Republic for the immediate future: Kenobi leading from the front.

What shouldn't be added to the game

Though unpopular, this seems to be the place to say what I don't think should be added to the game.  These are here for a variety of reasons, be it balancing issues, their size, or simply that I don't really know what role they would fill that wouldn't be redundant.  I've argued some of these points before, but I'll argue them again here.  Feel free to disagree with me, I just think these units don't fit the game, or simply shouldn't be out anytime soon.

Jedi Knight Squad
This seems to be a popular idea for a variety of reasons, and I have to say, I think it is one of the worst ideas for a unit I've ever heard.  Jedi are supposed to be extremely powerful; even the much-maligned Clone Wars-era Jedi Order had some of the best-trained warriors, I mean, keepers of the peace, the galaxy has ever seen.  To have a unit feel like a Jedi in the game, they would need to have a pretty solid attack, Pierce, be immune to pierce, have deflect, and a Force upgrade slot.  That's fine for a single mini-unit, but when you start to add in other minis, it gets ridiculous.  Even if you only have pierce 1 on the lightsaber (which is horribly low), that stacks, and you'd end up with a relatively high Pierce value.  I've yet to hear a way to introduce this into the game that wouldn't leave your characters as glorified Wookiees or Royal Guardsmen, and yet be balanced.

"Hey, Obi, you hear they want a full squad of Jedi?"  "No, Mace, I haven't.  That would be silly."

Large vehicles
This one is pretty obvious; large vehicles shouldn't be in the game.  As cool as they could be, the practicalities of having them on the table would be problematic, and balancing them would be a nightmare.  In that category, I'll include the AT-TE, the Juggernaut, and large fighters like the V-19 Torrent, the Y-Wing, and the ARC-170.  While cool as terrain pieces, they simply don't fit the scale of Legion as units, and shouldn't be brought in.  A sliding scale could make them work, but it's far from ideal.  If these vehicles must be included, doing so as terrain pieces work better, and could be done as either wrecks or as complete vehicles.

As cool as the Turtle walker is, it just doesn't fit the scale of a movable unit.

Medic Droids
This one is a bit nit-picky, as I really do want the Republic to have access to medics.  Instead of surgical droids like they did with the GCW factions, I really hope they give us honest to goodness combat medics.  At the very least, the image of a surgical droid rolling across the battlefield is a bit ridiculous; more importantly, the Republic is the only faction that has on-screen medics, both in Episode III, and in the TCW show.  More interestingly, I think that Republic medics shouldn't have the noncombatant limitation.  Republic forces are likely going to be outnumbered on almost every game they play; it doesn't make sense they would have guys that can't really contribute besides handing out motrin and bandaids.  As such, their medics should be able to fight as well as heal, though they would have to be priced accordingly.

I'm not a droid!  And I will shoot you!

Palpatine/Sidious
Another unit I've seen tossed around a lot is the idea that the Senate needs to be brought into the game, either as an alternate Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious, or some sort of anti-Jedi character.  I have to ask, why?  Darth Sidious wouldn't be all that different than Emperor Palpatine, and he never led troops into battle for either side.  Chancellor Palpatine could be an interesting support unit, but the same problem remains: he was a politician, not a commander, and shouldn't be shoehorned into the game.  The only way to bring ole Sparky into the game would be as an objective (capture the Chancellor, anyone?) and even then, its a stretch.

The Senate when he finds out you want him to go fix a Moisture Vaporator.

Qui-Gon Jinn
If you're like me, you thoroughly enjoyed Qui-Gon in Episode I.  He, more so than Obi-Wan or Yoda, was our first real taste of what a Jedi Knight was.  That said, we need to remember that Qui-Gon didn't fight for the Republic in the Clone Wars because of a little problem: he was dead.  Whoops.  As iconic as he is, there are dozens of other Jedi that would work so much better than him and should be brought into the game well before him.  I can see a time when Qui-Gon would fit in the game, but its well down the road.

Sorry, Qui-Gon, being alive is a prereq for being in the Clone Wars.

ARC Trooper Squad
This is another one I've argued about many, many times.  If you can't tell by my username, I'm quite fond of ARC troopers.  I really like them as a concept, and most of their original appearances were awesome.  That said, I really don't want to see a full squad of ARCs in the game in the same manner as Death Troopers or other SF teams.  That role can be reserved for Clone Commandos or other units. ARC troopers should be something different; ideally Operatives.  I could see them operating solo or in two-man teams.  (which is how they were used the majority of the time in both the EU and Canon)  They would also be a great upgrade, though the recently revealed Captain and the older Officer upgrade takes the majority of that role now.  I'm likely as not going to be disappointed with the direction FFG takes with these, but it was worth including now just so I can complain later.

ARC Troopers, so badass they don't need a squad to wreck shop.

Swamp Speeder/Infantry Support Platform
I'll admit, I'm incredibly biased on this one.  I just hate how the ISP looks.  It's an uparmored airboat, and not something that makes sense to me considering the other vehicles in the Republic's inventory.  In Legion, I'm not quite sure how it will find its own niche; its too big to be a heavier BARC speeder, and the Saber Tank is better as a repulsor tank.  Though it could be shoehorned in as an analog for the Landspeeder, Naboo security units have a variety of offerings in that area that would serve the role better.  The Swamp Speeder is often forgotten, and I for one hope that Legion forgets it as well.

"This thing sucks, let's get a cooler ride."

Darth Jar Jar
OK, OK, this one is a joke.  I really don't expect we'll ever see Darth Jar Jar in the game.  But that's not a bad thing.  The theory is a funny one that makes you think for half a second, but that's it.  It shouldn't be taken too seriously, and those that do need to lay off the death sticks.

"Messa a funny joke, but shouldn't be taken seriously."

Final Thoughts

While there are certainly others I'd rather not see, those are the big units that I think the Republic would be better off without, at least for the time being.  What do you think?  Anything I missed, or are you absolutely convinced that the game needs a squad of ARC trooper Jedi Knight Darth Jar Jars?  Let us know!

Stay tuned for part II on Friday, units that I think the Republic does need!

First (Small) Tournament with the Republic

Sorry for the delay in getting articles up!  I had one ready to go about my preferred Imperial list, and the day before I was going to put it up, they announced the points changes.  Kinda makes my thoughts on things like Strike Team snipers a little less accurate in the current rules.  Oh well.  Hopefully, this will make up for it, at least in part. 

The tournament in question was a small part of Recruits, a gaming con in Lee's Summit, MO.  This was the first year Legion featured as part of it, and all the credit for that goes to Matt Overstreet for working his butt off to get it done.  The prizes were excellent, the tables looked good (I sadly didn't get pictures of all of them, just the ones I played on), and it got a lot of attention from people passing by as part of the convention.  The one major downside of the event was the size.  Counting the TO, we had a total of 5 people there to play, down considerably from the 9 or so that had signed up.  That certainly does limit the scope and scale of this write-up, but hopefully, it'll still shed some light on how the Republic did at the tournament.

My List: 

Obi's Crew (799/800)

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Force Reflexes, Hope, Aggressive Tactics, Endurance)
Phase I Clone Troopers (DC-15 Phase I Trooper, Recon Intel)
Phase I Clone Troopers (DC-15 Phase I Trooper, Recon Intel)
Phase I Clone Troopers (DC-15 Phase I Trooper, Recon Intel)
Phase I Clone Troopers (DC-15 Phase I Trooper, Recon Intel)
Phase I Clone Troopers (Z-6 Phase I Trooper, Phase I Clone Trooper, Recon Intel)
Phase I Clone Troopers (Z-6 Phase I Trooper, Phase I Clone Trooper, Recon Intel)
BARC Speeder

Commands:Ambush (1), Hello There! (1), Push (2), Knowledge and Defense (2), Assault (3), General Kenobi (3), Standing Orders (4)

Deployments: Major Offensive, Battle Lines, The Long March, Advanced Positions
Objectives: Key Positions, Intercept the Transmissions, Sabotage the Moisture Vaporators, Breakthrough
Conditions: Rapid Reinforcements, Minefield, Limited Visibility, Clear Conditions

Obi's Crew, ready to go!

As there are not exactly a ton of options for the Republic at the moment, none of my units should come as much of a surprise.  My choice of upgrades is where the debate really lies.  We'll start with our Civilized Warrior, General Kenobi.  Young Ben here is the centerpiece of the army.  He's the one that has all of my Pierce, Impact, and heavy-hitting command cards for the list.  His attack is relatively weak (in my opinion) but he makes up for that by being incredibly defensive, and by being the best "commander" (role, not unit type) Jedi in the game.  I've found that Force Reflexes should be stapled on to him, as you almost always want at least 1 dodge token, while Endurance helps considerably in keeping Kenobi from getting bogged down by suppression.  Finally, Hope, while limited, is one of the only means the Republic has at damage mitigation and should be considered for that reason alone.

For my Clones, I tend to prefer the DC-15 over the Z-6.  While the ceiling of the Z-6's damage output it higher, it is far too variable for my tastes.  I can't say how many attacks I've made with the Z-6 where its dice contributed nothing to the ultimate result, while double blanks on the DC-15 are rare.   That said, the Z-6 is very effective using Fire Support, especially if it can do so with a unit that has offensive surges.  For that reason, I include a mix of weapon types in my army, rather than double down on one or the other.

Game 1

The first round was against Scott, who was, oddly enough, also playing Republic.  This was my first Republic mirror match, and Scott's first game ever.  Fittingly for our armies, we were playing on a Geonosis themed table.  Though I didn't get the details of his list, he was using 4 troopers and 2 BARCs along with Kenobi.  We played Breakthrough with Clear Conditions and Long March, so the game rapidly became a slugfest, and we both deployed our guys roughly on line.  Recon Intel naturally gave me a bit of an advantage here, as I could push up into some defensive positions, and generally be ready to engage him without having to move all that much. 

Geonosis Battlefield, the start of round 2

I won't try to give a blow by blow account, as I didn't take the notes I should have.  Few tidbits are that fire support can be brutal when it's going both ways, and catching squads in the open becomes crucial.  Token sharing is also a huge deal for Clones, and something to be considered at all times.  With the Empire, if I had a chance to use an Aim token, I took it, to reroll however many dice I could, or to fish for crits at times.  With the special rules of a Clone trooper, however, you have to think about that.  Why spend it now for a single die when you can wait and use it on your next attack?  Being able to stack aims really helps a Z-6 attack earn its points back.  Still not guaranteed, but it can come in handy.

Never fun to stare down at Fire Support waiting to happen.

One little anecdote I will report was on the epic, Obi vs Obi fight that went down pretty much smack dab in the middle of the battle.  We both knew what was going to go down, so we both played "Hello There!".  I won the roll, but activated a different unit instead, hoping Obi would get to use his free attack from the Standby token he gained from "Hello There!" decided to charge in, and attack, which I was able to mostly block, and even dealt a wound back to him through Soresu Mastery.  I then triggered my own Standby, and dealt another wound on him, but took one myself from his Soresu Mastery.  When both sides have it, it's no joke.  I waited for a few activations before going back at it with Obi, (I didn't want to leave my Kenobi out in the open waiting to be shot) and was able to land another pair of wounds, but the fight wouldn't wrap up until the next round, when my General was able to finally finish his evil twin/clone.

There can be only one!

The game went to time and came down in my favor.  Aside from the points disparity, my BARC had somehow survived and slipped into his deployment zone, scoring the only VP of the game.

Game 2

Game two was against Josh, and it was both a blast and one of the closest games I have ever had.  He was playing as Rebels, with Leia, Chewie, two Vets, and Mk. IIs, two Z-6 squads, two 1.4FDs, and a single AT-RT.  Boy was I out activated!  Worse yet, we ended up playing Sabotage the Moisture Vaporators, and he had won the roll to be Blue Player!  Thankfully, we had Advanced positions, so I was able to combine that with Recon Intell to pretty quickly close the gap from the get-go.  We also had Rapid Reinforcements, though I'm not sure if that helped or hindered me, since we mostly played only half of the table. 

I'll admit, I was more than a little bummed to play Vaporators.  I tend to think it is the most lopsided objective card, as the Red player has to be extremely aggressive, while the Blue player kicks the can, and holds tight.  As someone who prefers to play defensively (or at least advance methodically) this one is a hard game for me.  I mentally tried to brace myself for losing from the beginning of the game.  I had played Josh once before at an RPQ, and he's a solid player.  I wasn't going to be able to out activate him this time, which had helped me in our previous game, and I wasn't going to be to try some flashy tricks to confuse him.  So, I decided that I had lost the game before round 1 started, but I was going to try and see how close of a game I could make it. 

Main engagement area, early game, I'm fixing my Vaporators, and pushing towards his.

Thankfully for me, we decided that the tuffs of trees were LOS blocking, which meant that we both only had narrow firing lanes with which to shoot one another.  As he had the longer-range weapons (his DirectTV cannons)this helped me considerably and kept him from being able to focus fire any one unit.  The game didn't start well.  I tried to take a Vets unit out from the beginning, but after getting it down to one guy, I just wasn't quite able to finish him off.  Worse, I started taking casualties pretty quickly.  I was able to rush the Vaps, and get one of them fully repaired by the end of the first round, but the squad repairing the other started losing guys.  It was down to half strength (three guys) by the end of the first round.  I deployed my Clone Paras to act as meat shields for the guys fixing the Vaporator, and they served that role admirably, but barely lasted into the second round.  Josh used his activations wisely, and almost succeded in taking the squad out that was fixing the generator.  In fact, if he hadn't pointed something out, he would have eliminated the squad.  As I mentioned above, the squad was down to three guys, and he rolled three hits.  My defense die turned up two blanks and a surge, and while I had a surge token, I actually forgot that there were three guys in the squad, and said they were dead, and grabbed the two guys by the Vaporator as casualties.  I was just starting to complain that I had a surge token but it wouldn't help to use it, when he pointed out that I still, in fact, had a guy one the table.  Whoops!  Spending that surge (which it had curtesy of Aggressive Tactics) allowed the squad to live long enough to finish repairing the generator, tieing up the game.  Excellent sportsmanship on Josh's part, and one reason I enjoy playing him.  We both tend to be a bit more understanding of flubs like that, as earlier in the game he had forgotten some triggers with his Rebel Vets, and we had belatedly applied them.

  Already down two activations by this point., but both of my Vaporators are fixed.

With the game tied, it was down to a slugging match.  While Clones generally shine in this, I was by this point down two activations, I had a squad almost dead, and my BARC was on its last thrusters.  Thankfully, Josh got a bit too aggressive here and had a squad run into melee with Obi-Wan to try to tie him down.  I played Hello There, and gave Obi a very nice stack of tokens, including a standby.  Thinking Obi was contained by the trooper unit, Josh pushed Leia and Chewie up to attack my troops, and hurt one of my remaining units pretty badly.  However, that was all I needed for Kenobi, who used his standby to kill the troops (actually a squad leader and an astromech) he was engaged with, and then, on his activation, aim, and charge Chewie.

With the squad engaging him dead, Obi charges into Chewie.

Obi was able to deal several wounds to Chewie and left him at two health.  Meanwhile, my clones decided to introduce the Princess to their blaster bolts, and they almost had her down to nothing by the end of the round.  Chewie valiantly took one for her, but that left him with only a single bit of health left.  The enraged Wookie tried to take down the Jedi Master he was engaged with, but Obi's expert defense (and a stack of dodge tokens) only allowed a single hit to get through. Early the next round, Obi finished off Chewie.  Josh's plans took a bit of a hit when Kenobi had eliminated the troopers he was engaged with, and then attacked Chewie, but the next round he at least had a plan.  Before Kenobi could finish off Chewie (I intentionally waited until there were few units that could shoot at Obi) Josh activated his remaining trooper squad and had them standby, saving that action for Kenobi.  I expected him to try and shoot at me, but Josh didn't want to run the risk of losing guys to Kenobi's Soresu Mastery, and the free Dodge I had, so instead of attacking, he pulled his guys back they wouldn't get engaged.  Instead, Obi merely walked up to the Vaporator.

With Chewie dead, Josh spends his standby to run away from Obi.

Meanwhile, my Clones had finished off Leia and were now engaging Josh's AT-RT.  My BARC had absorbed entirely too many activations, but it finally bit the dust.  Now it down to just Obi and a handful of clones.  One unit was down to a single mini, but it could still generate tokens, so I hid him behind a sand dune, and started aiming and dodging with him.  That helped get a few wounds on to the AT-RT, and kept the troops alive a bit longer.  The final round began, and ended, with me playing Ambush, and activating Obi-Wan.  He repaired the Vaporator and then charged into melee with the rebel squad.  As soon as it was clear that I could get into melee with them, Josh conceded the game.  He was down a VP by that point, and his last chance to do anything was the single trooper squad now engaged with only a slightly wounded Jedi.  While he may have been able to finish off Kenobi (which was a pretty big if) he likely wouldn't have been able to do that and damage the vaporator again.

The game-deciding move: Obi repairs damage on the vaporator, and charges into combat with the last Rebel trooper squad.

And with that, the tournament was over.  Though originally intended to be a three-game tournament, the lack of players had reduced it to a two-game, last man standing type tournament.  I ended up with the first-place prize, and Josh took second.

Me (left) and my amazing opponent, Josh.

The prizes, a tournament try and a gold Challenge coin.

I love this coin.  It's so over the top I love it, and the Latin text makes it feel suitably cool and silly.

Conclusions

The last game was closer than I would have preferred (credit to Josh, who played a great game) and really came down to that last, abortive round, and his unfamiliarity with the Republic as a faction.  I think Republic players (as well as CIS players) will benefit from that unfamiliarity quite a bit over the coming months, but it'll wear off eventually.  It's only a matter of time before counters are developed for the Republic, and that's going to be a tough challenge to overcome without more units.  As it stands, there's not much I can think of that I'd like to change on my list; everything works the way it was intended to. 

If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

Mekanika Garrison Paintable Tray Review

The following is NOT a paid advertisement

As anyone who has played in a tabletop gaming tournament can attest to, it's a bit of a pain moving your stuff from one table to another.  Besides the hassle of packing everything up, moving it over (without dropping a die, mini, or card), valuable game time is wasted setting up at the new table.  Even if you're careful, at least once per tournament I'll someone go back to their last table and ask if they found a die/mini/whatever because they are missing something after their move.  Different folks have tried different solutions, from piling up everything in a big bag or stacking it on the lid of a tackle box to MDF trays or something similar.  My original solution was piling up everything on a cafeteria tray I acquired from somewhere.  It worked but was hardly ideal.  Thankfully, Mekanika has a solution, the Garrison Paintable Tray.

The Tray

The Good

The tray, unlike some others, was designed for Legion from the ground up.  The insert it comes with fits Legion bases quite nicely, and the slots fit all the necessary accessories as well, with room to spare.  The tray isn't limited to Legion however, as Mekanika's website shows that versions for other games, including X-Wing, will be available "soon."  The mix of compartments in the main tray allows you to sort out a variety of items.  I personally prefer to separate my dice into their respective types, but the compartments would also serve well to separate various tokens.  The largest compartment serves to hold cards, deployment markers, or even aftermarket items like objective hologram tokens or reminder aids.  I've even seen it used as a dice tray, though there are a few problems with that particular use, to be discussed later.  While a minor thing, the styling on the tray fits the look and feel of Star Wars, and allows for some cool paint jobs.  Nobody wants to carry around their wonderfully painted army around in an ugly tray after all. 

The empty tray, fully painted.  

In the semi-current Legion meta, with activation spam a real thing, it should be noted that the Garrison tray has plenty of room for almost anything you can put on it.  From 13 activation trooper spam to dual heavy lists, the tray makes carrying the units around a lot easier.  I found that it also helps the setup time for games considerably, as even after moving to a different table, my dice, movement templates, and range rulers are all in the same spot (relatively speaking) after every game. 

Fully loaded up with my 13 activation "Meta Spam" list. 

The loaded tray, with everything in its proper place.

The Bad

Arguably the worst feature about this tray is the price.  It's not cheap, at $59.99 plus shipping.  Production times can also be a bit of a drag, as it took a while longer than I expected to receive mine.  Thankfully my questions were quickly answered and the tray shipped as soon as it was finished.  Most of the other issues I've had are pretty minor.  I found that primer doesn't always want to cling to the plastic used, and I had some issues with my plastic primer peeling.  Maybe I just didn't give it long enough, or perhaps it just takes longer for the primer to bond to the plastic used in the tray than I'm used to.  The size of the tray also makes carrying it with all your other Legion stuff a bit of an issue.  It doesn't fit well into my BattleFoam case no matter how I angle it, and since the troop insert is loose, I'm always worried it'll fall out if I carry it separately. I am considering trying to make it work with a MOLLE laptop case, however.  If that works, I'll include an update down the line. 

The final thing I'll complain about is also minor, but it's one of those design issues that could easily have been solved with a bit more work, and that is that the troop insert doesn't fit flush with dice.  Granted, this is likely a problem of my own making, as the textured compartment inserts were originally loose before I glued them down.  With them taken out, the insert may, in fact, sit flush, but it's a bit odd that the use of dice and the inserts wasn't taken into account.  By necessity, the tray would be a bit thicker, but that would be a small price to pay for a bit more secure of a system.

The Ugly (or at least questionable)

Finally, the random issues that aren't bad, but could have an impact on your opinions of the tray.  The first one is a matter of use; because the lid/troop insert does not firmly attach to the body, I don't see much of a point in bringing it to casual game nights.  If I'm going to take the time to pull everything out and set up, there's no need to add another item to the table if it doesn't really serve.  Thus, if I'm not changing tables, I really don't see a need for the tray.  There are likely ways to fix the problem ranging from magnetizing to using rubber bands, but I've not experimented with them yet.  We'll see if that changes my opinion on the general use of the tray or not.  As it stands now, unless I'm changing tables, or won't have space on the table to organize my dice/rulers/templates, I don't really use this.  This really does limit the tray's use to tournaments and larger, 2v2 or Grand Army games.  The second issue that should be considered is that while the textured inserts into the various compartments are removable, they can also fall out if not secured.  For me, personally, I think this limits you to either permanently leaving them out, or gluing them in place.  Not a huge problem by any stretch of the imagination, but something to think about.  Finally, as discussed before, is the problems of using the tray as a dice tray.  Without the large compartment's textured insert, this would likely not be a problem.  With it, however, dice are frequently cocked and require being rerolled.  Again, this is likely a problem of my own making, and could probably be easily solved by an appropriately sized piece of felt in place instead of the textured insert, but that's probably not something you'll think of until after you've tried it the other way.  If you intend to use the large compartment as a dice tray, make sure you try it out a few times before gluing the insert in place.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I'm pleased with the Garrison paintable Tray.  It works well as the tournament tray it is intended to be, and honestly, most of my complaints about it are over it not being perfect in other uses or me not thinking about how I could have done other things with it in the first place.  If you're looking for a quality tray to use at tournaments, you could certainly do worse than Mekanika's offering.

First thoughts on the Republic

Turns out Clones are pretty good.

To those of you that don't know, I'm a huge fan of the Clone Wars.  I don't just mean The Clone Wars show or the more recent offerings.  I mean I'm a fan of pretty much everything we've seen of the Clones Wars from Episode II all the way to the upcoming revival season of The Clone Wars, with a special shout out to Dark Horse Comic's Clone Wars stories in their Republic line.  Even my most common user name comes from a character in those comics.  So, needless to say, I was ecstatic when I first heard the Clone Wars would be coming to Legion.  And now that the Republic is (sorta) out, I can say that they live up to the hype.

The Clones

I should note what the Clones are not at this point.  They are not broken, in a way that a certainly Mandolorian chosen one can feel like at times.  They are also not cheap, with their cheapest unit being over 50 points at this point.  They are also not quite as user-friendly as the Empire is, as the lack of natural surge to hit or block naturally means you have to plan ahead to maximize their use.  Unsurprisingly, Clones are not numerous either, as the possible options for armies are limited to 3 units right now, and even by the time everything comes out, there will be a total of 6 units with a few varieties of heavy weapon and personnel upgrades.

What the Clones, and by the extension, the Republic faction as a whole, are a solid and adaptable addition to the game.  As often pointed out, the basic Phase I Clone Trooper squad offers the advantages of both the basic Rebel trooper squad and of Stormtroopers.  It's weird actually having a legitimate choice between heavy weapons right now between the Z-6 and the DC-15, and I'm enjoying running both for the moment, though I do tend to run more DC-15s at a 2/1 or 3/2 split.  The split allows for a nice mix of capabilities, from range 4 fire to sheer numbers of dice.  The ability fo the clones to share green tokens allows different units to support one another, and that's not even going into Fire Support.  Fire Support obviously has its ups and downs.  On the downside, you're giving up an activation, and for a faction built around expensive units, that's not a good thing.  Played at the wrong time, it'll leave you open to a lot of risk-free moves my your opponent later in the round.  On the plus side, Fire Support really helps maximize the advantages of both heavy weapons.  Chucking a fist full of dice at units like Sabine or Tauntauns really helps overcome solid defenses and can simply delete units off the board.  During my first 800 pt game, I used fire support to nuke Leia off the board on Round 1, even with a dodge token.  Granted, that was a case not likely to repeat itself in the future, but the potential is there.

Fire Support also allows you to keep units that have taken massive casualties in the fight.  The unit touching the objective was down to two minis (commander and DC-15 gunner) but kept fighting through Fire Support for several rounds.

On the downside, Clones really need to stay together to be effective and share their tokens.  They also need support in the form of surge tokens from their commander.  Without natural surges, the dice are more fickle than they are on a lot of Imperial or Rebel units, and you will often find yourself at the mercies of the dice gods in both attacking and blocking.  The Republic has a ton of opportunities to pass out surge tokens, but you have to play them at the right time, and more importantly, remember to play them.  Forgetting to play Strict orders on a key round can result in weak attacks and more casualties. 

How things can look when you remember to play the cards right.

General Kenobi

Which brings us to Mr. "Hello There" himself.  I'll admit to not being a huge fan of most of the commanders in Legion before now.  Units like Vader and Luke were almost all offensively minded units that offered little support, while units like Krennic forced you into using certain units and play styles.  Veers and Leia, and their mini-mes in the form of the generic commanders seemed to offer the best mix of support and offensive ability, but even that was lacking.  Obi changes all that.  Although his actual attack is relatively weak, just a double rainbow with Pierce/Critical/Impact 2, he has a nice mix of Force powers, a command slot, and a training slot.  This allows you to customize him to meet your needs and expectations.  If you want him to be a character hunter (for say, a Cyborg or two) Hunter is a great option.  Tenacity is of course, also a great option, because who doesn't want an extra red die?  I've tried both and found that Tenacity is probably the better choice in general because it helps Young Ben make up for his lack of offensive power.  That said, if you can get a wound on Sabine or Vader before charging into melee with General Kenobi, the free aim token is almost always useful. 

Kenobi, I've found, should not be used by himself.  Where Vader needs other units to absorb fire, Kenobi wants to absorb fire for other units.  His command cards also want him to be surrounded, either by enemy or friendly units.  Naturally, choosing when to launch your Meme-powered Kenobi missile into the enemy lines is a major command decision.  Do it too early, and you'll find your commander surrounded and alone while doing so too late will probably leave either him or your supporting troops too weak to fight him off.  As with Sabine and Luke, Obi wants something along the lines of a last/first activation order when you do decide to unleash him.  He's great at blocking a ton of incoming fire, and Guardian 3 allows you to keep a lot of Clones on the board that would otherwise die. 

If Obi does have a fault, its that he doesn't have any natural means of removing extra suppression, either from himself or from others.  Upgrades like Hope are nice, but take a Force slot that you'll probably want to spend on Force Guidance, Reflexes, or Push.  As the Phase I clones only have courage one, this leaves your army very susceptible to suppression, though the ability to mitigate the lack of actions by sharing green tokens is handy.  Though not as big of a handicap, in my opinion, the lack of a gear slot on Obi-Wan means that you won't be able to shrug off as many hits as Luke or Sabine.  No Emergency Stims for Kenobi.  The game today came down to him fighting a snow lizard over a key position on his last health, and his the single die he rolled came up blank. 

Poor Kenobi, maybe you should go home and rethink your life. (or rather, death)

The BARC Speeder

Last, and possibly least, is the BARC speeder.  I'll admit that I'm not a fan of this unit's archetype.  Essentially a single mini version of the Imperial speeder bikes with slightly better defense, the BARC fulfills the role of a fast attack cavalry unit.  It can hit hard, but its limited health does leave it very vulnerable to a bad roll of the dice.  Cover 1 naturally is also nice, but there are a ton of units in the game now with Sharpshooter and Pierce, so I don't expect the BARCs to be a major factor in my lists moving forward.  It's entirely possible that others will make better use of them than I will, but it's a matter of them not fitting my preferred play style.  My only real experience with them is taking out a strike team, but losing my BARC to a unit of Tauntauns in two activations.  The snow kangaroos are fast enough to keep up with the BARC, and even to run it down when you have the sidecar attached, and Sharpshooter 1 means it's all up to your red dice to keep you alive.  (and I'm pretty sure my dice hate me)

 "Fly faster, these guys smell really bad...."

That said, for the moment, Republic players pretty much have to play the BARC.  It does have its advantages, with the sidecar weapons slots offering more dice, and its natural surge-to-hit, the only Republic unit with that ability in the game thus far, means it can always make maximum use of the dice it's dishing out.  As with Speeder bikes and the AT-RT, it's probably best to run BARCs in at least pairs, so they can double-tap units they run across.  Because of their potential speed, they can be used to run down lone sniper strike teams and even to make an attempt of eliminating units holding an objective in your opponent's rear area.  If you like fast cavalry style units, you'll probably find a place BARCs in your army.

Looking towards the future

At the time of writing this, the Republic has three units announced (not counting Artoo and Threepeo), Rex, Phase II Clones, and the Saber-Class Fighter Tank.  I'm excited about all three and may start proxying in Rex using a 3D printed Phase I ARC trooper I already have.  (told you I'm a huge Clone Wars fan)  Rex will likely find a place alongside Kenobi in my lists, as he helps to correct the Jedi General's lack of Inspire and he looks like a solid unit in his own right.  I'm interested in Phase II Clones as well, but will as good as they are, I'm not sure how much better they'll really be over Phase Is.  The Fighter Tank will be an insta-buy for me, but that's for pure nostalgia reasons, and I'm still on the fence about how effective it will be.  This only leaves the Phase I personnel/heavy weapons upgrade pack, and we don't have enough information for me to really judge how it will affect things, other than offer some new, and potentially awesome heavy weapons.  Regardless of how things shake out, I'd say that the Republic is off to a good start, and I'm looking forward to getting in more games with them in the coming months.