Good morning gamers,
I've spent the better part of the year talking about the Republic in Star Wars Legion and Centaur has written up articles on the various units he's been using for the Rebels, but as we close in the end of the year, I'm going to write about three Rebel units I've been trying to make work recently: Commander Luke, Rebel Troopers, and Rebel AT-RTs - or put differently, the stuff from the core set.
The best place to start with the Rebels if you're interested in also collecting the Empire is the core set (otherwise, you should do what Centaur did and just get the Echo Base Defenders set). If you're starting with the core set, your first lists will probably start with Luke - and Centaur has already done a review of the best upgrades for Luke (and I basically agree on all of them) in the context of the Echo Base Defenders list, which is probably one of the better ways to actually run this version of Luke. While I originally wrote this article complaining about Luke (but also trying to give him a fair shake and give an honest take on "how to run him"), the changes he got with the Legion 2.6 (or "Legion 2.0") revamp have changed a lot about what I originally wrote - let's see what the OG Rebel hero has to offer (especially in comparison to other force users in the game)!
Luke Skywalker, Hero of the Rebellion: The Profile
Commander Luke went from having 2 Force upgrade slots and 1 Gear slot to having 1 Force, 1 Command, 1 Training, and 1 Gear slot - which means he traded 1 Force slot for 1 Command/1 Training, which is a good thing when you don't have Master of the Force. As is the case with about half of the force users in the game, Commander Luke has no Master of the Force, which means he can only use an exhaustible Force upgrade once without performing a recover action - and none of Luke's Command Cards give him a recover action during the Issue Orders phase.
Luke also has four keywords that are pretty standard on most force users: he traded Deflect for Block (gains surge for block against all attacks when he spends a dodge token), Jump 1, Charge, and Immune: Pierce. While these will rarely give Luke an advantage over other force users, the addition of Sharpshooter 1 with an improved pistol (more on that in a moment) and Inspire 2 give you some really interesting options for Luke.
Luke also has some pretty hero-standard stats with a red defense die, 6 Wounds/3 Courage, and Speed 2. His lightsaber is still pretty good, though it changed from 6 blacks/Pierce 2/Impact 2/surge for crit to 2 reds/3 blacks/Pierce 1/Impact 2/surge for crit. He also has a pretty unique blaster option (which went from 2 red with Pierce 2 to 1 red/3 black with Pierce 1/Long Shot/Sharpshooter 1). With a 30pt points drop (from 150 to 120), Luke is in a pretty decent spot relative to other force users who lack Master of the Force.
Echo Base Defenders
Luke is the only force user available to the Echo Base Defenders battle force - and while you don't necessarily need a force user in every list, utility abilities like Jedi Mind Trick/Force Push or defensive abilities like Force Barrier can be very, VERY helpful. Commander Luke is one of three force users available to the Rebellion and he's technically the cheapest as well . . . and he's the only option for the Echo Base Defenders . . . so maybe there's a place for him . . .
. . . but Centaur doesn't think so - and honestly, with all of the points-efficient units you already have in that list (Rebel Veterans, FD cannons, Leia, Han, and Chewie), I'm not sure that you NEED Luke in your lists. Still, this version of Luke is, in my opinion, far more likely to see playing time in an Echo Base list than he is in a normal Rebel list. We'll dig more into why this is some other time, but for now, we'll look at the upgrades you can take on Luke and which options rise to the top of the pile . . .
Luke Skywalker: Recommended Upgrades and Command Cards
Luke now has access to four (instead of two) upgrade types, which means our options for him have grown . . . a little. It's important to note that Luke is the only Force user in the game with access to Gear upgrades, but as we'll see, the pickings are pretty slim there.
Force
When I play with Obi-Wan in Republic lists, I'm always torn between Force Barrier, Force Push, and Battle Meditation. Barrier helps keep your units alive (really useful when you have elite infantry around you - which the Republic always does), Push helps you move enemy units into tactically advantageous positions for you and/or tactically disadvantageous positions for your opponent (which is really useful too - but also got really expensive in the new edition), and Battle Meditation makes sure the orders you want issued get issued no matter what command card you play. I think most competitive players would favor Barrier and Push, but I generally favor Barrier and Meditation instead . . . but by all means, take Push if you want it.
When I'm running Yoda, I'm torn between Force Barrier, Force Push (or Jedi Mind Trick if I lack the points for Push), Burst of Speed, and Force Guidance. While easily the weakest of the set, Force Guidance is a really great ability for any list that has lots of hungry white dice on offense . . .
Luke is in an oddly different position, however, from these two heroes: yes, Barrier is super useful in a Rebel list where any time you need to roll defense dice you probably have a worse chance of succeeding than failing, but the units you can keep alive on the Rebel side are not as elite (usually) as those you'll find in Republic lists. Push is always useful - and especially so when you have someone like Luke in your list who has Charge (and potentially a free attack action on the turn he plays Son of Skywalker, which we'll talk about shortly). Battle Meditation is a pretty useful ability, but you generally want Luke to have an order token so he can go when he needs to go - which might be first, last, or right after he's saved a unit's bacon with Barrier. Force Guidance has some play, but only if your units don't already surge on offense - Rebel Veterans, Rebel Commandos, and most of the heroes surge on both offense and defense already, but Luke can only surge on defense if he has a dodge token handy (so he can at least help himself).
Prior to Legion 2.6, I basically had two Force upgrade pairings for Luke: Force Barrier with Force Lift and Force Push with Force Guidance. If you want Luke to keep the units around him alive, you take Barrier and Lift; if you want Luke to be able to manipulate your opponent's pieces (probably in a more offensive role), you take Push and Guidance.
But where in the outer rim did Force Lift come from? Well, Lift had three advantages if you were running Luke defensively in a Rebel list. First and foremost, it gave you a barrier (horizontal heavy cover) that you could place near Luke at the start of the game. If you had vulnerable pieces that really want to have cover to help them stay alive (which basically all Rebel units want), Force Lift was very useful. It's also very cheap at 5pts . . .
Second, Force Lift could be tapped to move the barrier (or a different barrier) to a new location within range 1 - which meant that Luke could manipulate the location of your barrier (and potentially other barriers if you were playing with Fortified Positions as your battlefield condition) to make sure your heavy cover moved with your army as you maneuvered the board. This was VERY useful, since positioning with Rebel lists was (and still is) key.
Third, Force Lift was one of those upgrades that you could benefit from every turn without having to perform a recover action. Yes, you couldn't move the barrier without recovering, but if the barrier was set up where you needed it for the rest of the game, you didn't care anymore about Lift being exhausted. Barrier, Push, and Force Guidance all require you to recover in order to be useful - but the usefulness of Force Lift started on turn 1 and would continue to provide usefulness throughout the game, regardless of whether Luke recovers.
You may have noticed that the past few paragraphs are all in the past-tense - and that's because with the release of Legion 2.6, Force Lift is no longer in the game. It's gone - bye-bye - along with several other upgrades that just didn't work out with the new rules pack. This is a bit of a shame in my book, but it is what it is.
Force Guidance on Luke is still great if he's going offensive, since he can give himself a surge token (and possibly a surge token to someone else - like a Z-6 squad or a Wookiee squad) to help keep himself alive. If I'm dive-bombing Luke, I could try to use Force Push to manipulate my matchups, but I think if you're going to take Force Push, you really need to get use out of it every turn (so putting it on Commander Luke isn't nearly as good as putting it on Operative Luke).
Previously, you could actually do a pairing of upgrades with Luke (Barrier + Lift or Push + Guidance), but now you need to choose. I think there's a legitimate place for Luke to use Force Barrier in Rebel lists still (and even more so now that cover is far less reliable at saving wounds) and there's definitely a place for Force Guidance too. Beyond that, there's theoretically a use for Battle Meditation if paired with Underworld Connections and a good mercenary unit that you want to receive an order token every turn (like, the Bad Batch).
Since Luke doesn't have Master of the Force, he can safely take Burst of Speed to help him move faster on one turn - like when he plays Son of Skywalker. This is more expensive than some of the other options, but could give you the positioning you want on a critical turn.
One final Force upgrade that bears noting is Hope: this isn't a great Force upgrade in general, but Luke has Inspire 2 already, so paying 3pts to make him Inspire 3 (and perhaps +8pts to get Lead by Example to make that Inspire 5) could go a long way towards countering a suppression-heavy meta (or one that splits fire a lot in order to get a lot of shots on units - like the Bad Batch). You can probably do better with 10-15pts spent on your Force/Command upgrades than the 11pts you'd be spending for Inspire 3 on these two upgrades, but it's still a thing you could do.
Command
This is a new slot for Luke - and it's a good one on a number of levels. First off, if you need Improvised Orders in your list to get some order token control, it's probably going to have to be on a Commander - and with certain Rebel commanders not having Command slots (oh Cassian . . .), it's great that Luke finally got one. Most of the good Rebel command cards only issue orders to the heroes that play them, so having Improvised Orders can be helpful in making sure that a unit that needs to activate now can do so.
Like other heavy-hitter heroes who don't want to be killed on the approach, Luke can also take Esteemed Leader, which is particularly helpful if you've chosen to spam out Corps units (as they can each gain Guardian 1 while near Luke - and are probably providing him with Backup as well). For 5pts, this is also a great command upgrade.
As was previously mentioned, there's a case for getting Inspire 5 with Lead by Example and Hope, but it's a skew tactic at best. Aggressive Tactics could be really good, but it very much depends on whether or not you're going to get out 4+ order tokens - and if you have the points for the upgrade as well (if you're running Echo Base Defenders and have a bunch of HQ Uplinks, this isn't a bad idea). Similarly, Vigilance could be really good, but it's also very expensive and list-dependent. Finally, if you plan to issue orders with Battle Meditation to friendly mercenary models (like the Bad Batch), you'll need to take Underworld Connections - it's also a great upgrade for getting a cheap second squad of Ewok Slingers into a list.
Gear
As far as gear upgrades are concerned, there's only one that I take (and I always take it): Prepared Supplies. A cached dodge token is really useful when you have Deflect - and Luke is the only force user with the ability to get a cached dodge token. When paired with some of his command cards that can give him a dodge token when he's issued an order, this gives him a better chance than most of actually being able to get the surge conversion on defense. There's probably a world where Recon Intel, Targeting Scopes, or Environmental Gear are better than Prepared Supplies (all of which were highlighted by Centaur in his post earlier in the year), but I'd rather just have Prepared Supplies. Admittedly, if Recon Intel is paired with Burst of Speed, you could get a CRAZY first turn if Luke played Son of Skywalker and got a free speed-1 scout move, followed by two speed-3 moves that prompt two melee attack actions (or a free speed-1 scout move, one speed-3 move and two blaster attack actions) . . .
Training
Luke's Training upgrade slot is a great addition - and whenever you have a force user with a training slot, you at least consider taking Tenacity. For 6pts, an extra red die in melee once you've taken a wound is really sweet, but Luke's lightsaber gets less mileage out of it than most force users because he only has Pierce 1.
If you're looking for a more defensive build for Luke, Defensive Stance is a great choice for making sure he has dodge tokens to avoid taking damage and make the Block keyword work (and it can be flipped to Offensive Stance so Luke can get aim tokens if you prefer - perfect for getting Long Shot/some rerolls with his pistol or making sure those 2 red/3 black dice in melee actually land five hits).
Depending on how heavy you're leaning on Luke's command cards, Seize the Initiative might be a good one to take - if you have all six of Luke's cards, he'll only need it on the turn he plays My Ally is the Force (more on this card later), but since he'll benefit from the boosts of the command card if he has this upgrade, it's not a bad shout.
Finally, if you don't think you can trigger Block very reliably, you can default to Into the Fray, which will give him a surge token each time an enemy unit activates within range 1 of him. This is not as reliable (and basically as expensive) as Defensive Stance (since the dodge tokens from that are giving him full surge conversion AND blocking a hit), but it's cheaper and doesn't require Luke to go first (though you have to get surge faces for them to do anything - and your opponent needs to have units near you).
Command Cards
Luke has six command cards - three that are provided by his Commander variant in the Galactic Civil War core set and three that are provided in his Operative pack - and they're all useful, though the Operative pack ones require some finesse to use well. If you plan to lean hard into using Luke, you can certainly take all six of them. Luke's 1-pip command cards are really good - Son of Skywalker allows Luke to perform a free additional attack after he performs an attack, which allows him to perform an aim-move/charge-attack-attack against an enemy unit on a critical turn - or a scout-1-move-move/charge-attack-attack against an enemy unit on the first turn if he's given the Recon Intel upgrade. This is pretty powerful with his lightsaber, but can also be used to perform a lightsaber attack against a weakened unit and a blaster attack if he kills the unit he charged (or he can perform two blaster attacks without charging if you don't need the movement - his blaster is about as good as his lightsaber now).
You Serve Your Master Well is a 1-pip command card that allows Luke to either pick a friendly non-Commander/Operative unit or a suppressed enemy non-Commander/Operative unit and perform a free move or attack. This is particularly good for objective play where you might need an extra friendly unit to move near an objective marker (or move an enemy unit away from an objective marker), but can also be used to just get a little more oomph out of one of your nearby Corps or Special Forces units - or borrowing an enemy unit that's very close to Luke that can blow a hole through another enemy unit (or leave an objective so you can secure it). Of the three Operative command cards, this is probably the least nuanced and can at least be used to get a quick extra shot in from your gunline while your opponent is closing in (since having a friendly unit at range 1 of Luke is quite likely, especially if you chose a Force Barrier/defensive build). If you plan to bring Luke in your list (either version), both of these are excellent command cards.
Luke's 2-pip command cards are a bit more hit and miss. I really like My Ally Is the Force, which allows Luke to issue orders to two Trooper units (which could be himself, but doesn't have to be). When this command card is played, all friendly troopers who receive an order gain a dodge token - but unlike other command cards, you don't have to be issued an order by the command card, you just need to receive an order. So . . . if you have HQ Uplinks on Comms Techs embedded in Rebel Veterans or on Rebel Pathfinders/FD Cannons, they can gain dodge tokens this round as well. Additionally, Commanders or Operatives who took Seize the Initiative can also gain dodge tokens - and anyone who doesn't have these options just needs to be close to Luke for Barrier (and two of them can get dodge tokens from the orders issued by the card). Pretty slick.
Ahsoka, Luke, and Rebel Veterans are the clear winners for this card, since Ahsoka has Defend 1 (which means she'll start the round with two dodge tokens), Luke has Block (which requires dodge tokens in order to gain surge for block), and Rebel Veterans have Coordinate: Emplacement Trooper to make sure those Mark-II Medium Blasters or FD Cannons you have nearby are also getting orders/dodges. Sheesh, that's a good 2-pip . . . I'd always take this one.
Luke's Full of Surprises command card is also good, but I think it's much better on Operative Luke than Commander Luke - and it's probably best to play after Luke has jumped into melee. Luke gets a dodge token when the command card is played (this is the second time he's been able to generate at least one dodge token - and Luke can actually issue the order to someone else with Battle Meditation and still get the dodge token) and anytime he defends himself, he rolls extra white defense dice based on how much higher his Courage value is over his suppression tokens.
Luke is more likely to pick up suppression tokens if he's being shot at than if he's being targeted in melee, so the ideal situation is to play this card the turn AFTER he jumps into something big with Son of Skywalker to avoid being pummelled in return. Ideally, he'll also have no suppression tokens (which could happen if he does a recover-move/charge-attack-attack on his Son of Skywalker turn) so that he can roll 3-4 extra defense dice, depending on whether you have Commander Luke or Operative Luke. Even if you're supporting your gunline, Courage 3 without any starting suppression means Luke should be able to shrug off some damage each turn from shooting should he not be in melee.
Luke's 3-pip cards are less good but not bad. The Return of the Jedi command card issues Luke a dodge token (but only if he gets the order) and allows each friendly trooper unit within range 1-3 of him (so . . . probably everyone) to remove 1 suppression token. This is better than Inspire 1 (which targets a single friendly unit at range 1-2), but not as great as Vader's Master of Evil command card that applies 3 suppression to every enemy unit at range 1-2 . . . which is just bananas. This is also one of two command cards that Luke has that issues orders to units other than himself, so in that respect, it's quite good (and particularly so for any Courage 1 Corps units you have nearby). Is it better than Assault (or a lot of other 3-pip command cards)? Hard to say - it very much depends on how much you need the suppression removal (and to a lesser extent, how important that dodge token is).
Finally, the I am a Jedi command card issues an order to just Luke and he gains surge for block and cannot perform attacks. In trade, when he is issued an order (so don't hand that off with Battle Meditation), he can choose up to 2 enemy trooper units at range 1 of him who cannot perform attacks either. Clearly, this is intended to say, "I won't get my heavy-hitter this round, but you won't get two of yours (trooper heavy-hitters, that is)." Because Luke has to be at range 1 of both enemy trooper units, this is probably also a command card that you want to use when you're engaged in melee - but it doesn't necessarily have to be to prevent the unit that Luke is engaged with from pummelling him. No, it can instead be used when Luke dives into an enemy gunline to prevent the heaviest hitters in the gunline from shooting at your friends. If used by Commander Luke, you'd probably do well to perform a dodge action to stay alive and either a second dodge action if you're engaged or a move action to tie someone down if you're not engaged. I think this one is too niche for me, but a skilled player can get excellent value from it.
Commander Luke also benefits from other command cards - while paying for both Luke and Ahsoka is costly, Ahsoka benefits greatly from Luke's My Ally is the Force command card (as has already been mentioned) and Luke benefits from Ahsoka's Swift Protector 2-pip command card (where Ahsoka gains Guardian 2 and Luke can gain a dodge token each time he's attack so long as he's within range 1 of Ahsoka) and A New Beginning (which gives Ahsoka Inspire 2 and allows her to recover, while Luke gains his choice of an aim or dodge token - you're probably taking the dodge token). A New Beginning can easily replace Return of the Jedi, while Swift Protector is probably replacing Full of Suprises.
Since Commander Luke doesn't have the Master of the Force keyword, Cassian's Volunteer Mission command card is excellent, since Cassian, Luke, and potentially one other Operative/Special Forces unit (maybe Ahsoka?) can perform a free recover action, gain Danger Sense 1, and can pick up a suppression token to trigger Danger Sense (+1 defense die every time they are attacked). While more situationally useful, Cassian's Last Stand command card is an easy way to get dodge tokens on a damaged Luke (up to 3 of them) OR get an aim and possibly 1-2 dodge tokens on a damaged Luke (if you want to deal damage a bit more reliably).
If you field Luke with Chewbacca (and in all probability, Han Solo as well), Chewie's 1-pip command card, Common Cause, allows Luke and Chewie to activate one after the other. This is a great way to deal a one-two punch to your opponent with Chewie's blaster and Luke's Lightsaber or pistol - and Luke's force abilities can be used to augment Chewie quite a bit (if you go the Barrier route, you can make sure Chewie has some damage mitigation, while the Guidance build can give Chewie - and himself - a surge token to help on defense). This provides some really good tempo flow for you - and it's one of very few 1-pip command cards that issues orders innately to more than one unit (though you don't want Luke passing around the order token with Battle Meditation or this card will only work when Luke activates first).
If Han is also in your list, Reckless Diversion is an interesting option, allowing you to force units to attack Luke instead of other units in your list . . . which might not end so well for Luke, but it COULD keep vulnerable scoring units from being killed. If Luke has Chewie to Guardian hits off of him - and ideally a medical droid to get wounds that get through off of him - you could see a lot of fire being avoided (especially if Han goes first and Luke is the only remaining unit with a faceup order token). Plus, Luke has a red defense die - most Rebel units don't have that (vehicles included), so funneling as much damage to Luke as possible is probably winning you something, even if he takes a lot of hits.
If you're running Leia Organa, Luke could get some movement out of No Time for Sorrows, but he can also perform a back-to-back activation with Leia on the turn she plays her 3-pip command card, Somebody Has to Save Our Skins. Luke would then be one of two other units to get an order token, so if you had Rebel Veterans in your list, they could still get an order token from Leia. If you have Common Cause and Somebody Has to Save Our Skins in your command hand (with Luke, Chewie, and Leia - which is probably only happening in an Echo Base Defenders list), you could potentially have back-to-back activations from Luke and Chewie on one turn and Luke and Leia on another turn . . . this could swing the cadence of the game quite dramatically (there are other synergies that could arise here as well, but we'll save that for a later post).
Speaking of the Echo Base Defenders battle force, the 2-pip battle force command card Courage of the Rebellion is yet another command card that allows Luke to perform a recover - and since you can only get free recover actions from Cassian otherwise, having this in the EBD battle force is really, REALLY helpful for Luke. Depending on the heroes you take, however, this may be competing with a LOT of other 2-pip command cards (especially since My Ally is the Force is super strong when all the Corps units you can get are Rebel Veterans).
Finally, if you're running "just Luke" and don't have any of these other characters, there's some value you can get out of the generic Rebel 3-pip command card, Covering Fire. If you have 3-4 Rebel Veterans in your list (which would allow you to coordinate with both Mark II Medium Blasters and FD Cannons), each time one of those Rebel Veterans performs an attack while at range 1-2 of Luke, Luke can get a dodge token. This is particularly good if you're trying to dissuade your opponent from attacking Luke (either because he's a valuable scoring piece, or just to keep him from being killed). This technique does require your Corps units to be alive and active, but Luke can benefit from it.
Well . . . that was a lot . . . so let's wrap this up with a list!
Luke Skywalker: Sample List and Strategy
I've chosen to showcase Luke in an 11-activation Echo Base Defenders list - and this one is focused heavily on gaining order control and blowing the enemy off the board as quickly as possible. Luke is in defensive mode and is joined by Leah, Han, and Chewie (you can view the list on Tabletop Admiral here): Luke Skywalker with Force Barrier, Defensive Stance, and Prepared Supplies
Han Solo with Up Close and Personal
Leia Organa
Chewbacca
2x Rebel Veterans with CM-0/93 Trooper, Comms Technician, and HQ Uplink
Rebel Veterans with CM-0/93 Trooper and Rebel Veteran
Rebel Veterans with CM-0/93 Trooper, Rebel Veteran, and Smoke Grenade
2x Mark II Medium Blaster
2x FD Laser Cannon Team with HQ Uplink and Overcharged Generator
The list focuses heavily on keeping the two Rebel Veterans with HQ Uplinks within coordinate range of the Mark IIs - and as many units as possible should be at range 1 of Luke or Chewie. Leia is present for support, keeping suppression off our Courage 1 units and providing chip damage where she can. Thanks to being able to issue orders to six of our units every turn with HQ Uplinks/Coordinate, we don't have to worry about order control that much (we'll have 3 commanders, 1 operative, and 2 corps in the pool BEFORE we issue orders with command cards).
Luke brings Son of Skywalker to the table and My Ally is the Force, the former allowing him to be a damage powerhouse (5 order tokens of 3 types in the pool) and the other making sure that he and Leia start the round with a dodge token each (4 order tokens of 3 types in the pool). Any Rebel Veterans who issue themselves orders with their HQ Uplinks (and the four emplacement troopers) will also get dodge tokens, so this is a pretty good first turn option to avoid chip damage on your Prepared Positions units (you might want to issue the orders to the squads of Vets who don't have HQ Uplinks so all of your starting units have two dodge tokens).
We've also taken the one-two punch combo of Change of Plans/Notorious Scoundrels to mess with our opponent's second turn command card choice - and if we play Change of Plans/Common Cause on the third turn, we can REALLY delay the arrival of a good command card until the game is nearly over (or the game times out) AND golly can Chewie and Luke deal some damage as we transition from defending our friends to slugging it out with the enemy. If the following turn prompts Luke to use Son of Skywalker (or if we play Son of Skywalker on Turn 3 instead of Common Cause), there's a good chance we could clear a LOT of units over two turns with these guys.
If you're not playing EBD, you could also use Luke as a first-turn dive-bomber, dealing tons of damage up front to buy you some much-needed time later in the game. This approach doesn't use Rebel Veterans (or anyone with Prepared Positions) - instead, it leans into the Agile 1 mechanic on Rebel Troopers so your army can start off the board but still get 2 dodge tokens when they're done moving. This strategy also relies on a first-turn Son of Skywalker play with Luke, focusing most of his upgrades on getting onto the board quickly and then dealing vast devastation (which you can see here): Luke Skywalker with Burst of Speed, Underworld Connections, and Recon Intel
Cassian Andor with Duck and Cover and A280-CFE config
Din Djarin with Din's Flame Projector, Din's Amban Rifle, and Grogu
IG-11 with Bounty Programming
K-2SO with Jyn's SE-14 Blaster
Rebel Troopers with Rebel Trooper Squad and Prepared Supplies
2x Rebel Troopers with 2-1B Medical Droids and Prepared Supplies
Rebel Troopers with Prepared Supplies
3x AT-RT with AT-RT Laser Cannon
This list also has 12 activations, but relies on Luke jumping in on the first turn to muck up the enemy's positioning. With a Scout-1 move (4" straight forward) and Burst of Speed to improve Luke to Speed 3 (8" move) and Charge, Luke can move 20" up the board in a single turn and can perform two attack actions to absolutely obliterate a unit on the turn he arrives. If your opponent didn't push up far enough for this to work, you can Scout-1, aim, and shoot with 18" range from Long Shot.
You can follow this up on the following turn with My Ally is the Force (so Luke and a friend - probably Cassian) can gain a dodge token - and you can get some extra dodge tokens with The Hand Thing when you need them. Cassian (and K-2SO near him) will also be able to pick up tokens this way, so this can be used as a way of protecting Cassian/K-2SO if they got hurt on the first round OR as a way of ditch-effort saving Luke.
Your other command cards are better for later in the game - This is the Way is a great way to get a close-range shot (with pistol and flame projector, ideally) with Din while he's performing his special Amban rifle action (as it gives him a move action, which triggers Relentless), Sacrifice can be a great way to use K-2SO as a tank for the friends you'll have operating nearby, and Anti-Capture Protocols can just sit in your command hand - though it's not a bad Round 2 card if Luke isn't in danger and no one can kill IG-11.
The AT-RTs provide mobile line-of-sight blockers and long-range firepower to assist the two bounty hunters and Cassian to deal damage across the board. With Luke causing trouble early and the potential for two bonus VPs from Bounty, the hope is that the Rebel Troopers and AT-RTs are able to focus on securing "safe" objectives while they and the characters force enemy units to clear off of objectives. If you can get a leg-up at the start of the game, you might be in good shape to be ahead on VPs when the game ends.
Luke Skywalker, Hero of the Rebellion: Final Review
I love that Luke got a points drop (more so than other Force Users did) and I think if he's run without Force Push, he can be a pretty decent hero for his cost. It's hard to change gears from the Republic Force Users to using Luke, but he's got some features that the others don't have and that I like a lot.
Overall profile review: 3/5 stars. I think not having Master of the Force (and Relentless) does limit Luke's overall effectiveness, but Force Barrier in the new edition is good for Rebels, as is the opportunity to funnel attacks towards himself (and deal quite a bit of punch up close or with his pistol).
Next time, we're turning to the original Rebel Corps unit: Rebel Troopers. These guys have gone from stellar status to absolute garbage status to possibly okay status for most players, but I like them. Join me as we walk through my short-but-hard journey of finding builds for these guys that I like (and how they've changed with the new edition). Until next time, happy hobbying!
