Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Clone Commander

Good morning gamers,

We've already looked at Obi-Wan Kenobi, Phase I Clone Troopers, and ARC Troopers for the Republic and now we're turning our attention to the lowly Clone Commander. Generic heroes are great options in Legion (though they can be outclassed in some lists by a named hero - who usually has Nimble or Spotter, actually) and the Republic one is one of my favorites. If you're getting into the Republic, you probably want their generic command cards and a Clone Medic, so chances are good you have the Clone Specalists pack. That also means . . . you have a cheap Commander option - let's dig in and see what he's bringing to the table!

Clone Commander: The Profile

The Clone Commander has a pretty . . . boring profile. Some of his stats are pretty standard for a Clone - the Clone Trooper keyword, red die save, no surges on offense or defense, Speed 2, 4 Wounds, and Courage 2. 4 Wounds is pretty low, but this is an unnamed guy - it's fine that his wounds aren't great. His combat capabilities are fine - 3 black dice at range 1-3 for his blaster and 2 red dice in melee is eh, but pretty good if you're starting a Fire Support (especially with Sharpshooter 1).

Pick one, maybe two, of these upgrades - but Clone Commanders are just fine without upgrades too . . .
Photo Credit: Legion HQ

Frankly, I don't shoot much with this guy, because if you're taking him, you're doing so for one very clear reason: you want Direct: Corp Clone Trooper and Bolster 2 (for 1 action). Being able to issue an order to a Corps Clone Trooper within range 1-2 is really good - especially if that unit has Fives in it (which will Coordinate with another Clone Trooper unit - not restricted to Corps). Even if you don't have Fives, being able to guarantee that a unit can use Fire Support because it received a faceup order token is really good - and for 60pts, this guy's pretty cheap and easy to slot into a list.

Bolster 2 isn't something you'll need to trigger every turn (and you may not have the action to spare to use it), but since most Clone units don't innately surge on offense or defense, they're pretty surge-hungry (especially if they're rolling massive amounts of dice). A Clone Commander will need to activate early if he wants to get the surge tokens on the board, but the fact remains that if you want surge tokens for a surge-hungry army, this guy is a pretty decent option for it.

Because Bolster 2 costs an action, my usual play with this guy is either move-and-Bolster or Bolster-and-move. The "move" is basically just so he can keep up with the army as it slowly advances towards an objective (or to get behind cover if you're being targeted by a bounty hunter/some other sniper unit). While Sharpshooter 1 is great and all (more on this a bit later), I try not to shoot with this guy . . . like at all. He's a support character and that's what he's good at. Period.

Let's talk upgrades and command cards now!

Clone Commander: Recommended Upgrades and Command Cards

Command

This is, I think, the most valuable upgrade slot the Clone Commander has. Depending on what kind of Corps units you're running, you might find value in Strict Orders (which is great for Courage 1 Phase I Clone Troopers, less necessary if you have Courage 2 Phase II Clone Troopers) or Improvised Orders (which is great if you're going to have a thick order pool, far less necessary if you're going to be handing out all of your order tokens most rounds). Because of his low health, Esteemed Leader isn't a bad option, especially if you plan to hand out surge tokens with Bolster to Corps units that are within range 1. Finally, because Direct involves issuing an order, taking Commanding Presence allows you to increase the range of your order issuing with Direct to range 4, instead of range 1-2 . . . so if you're not in a tight ball, you can do that? I guess?

All of these command upgrades cost 5pts, so if you've budgeted for one of them, you can get any of them. Lead by Example isn't a bad option either (Inspire 2 is great - especially if you ALSO have Strict Orders on someone like Padme or Cody), since you're going to try to stay within range 1 of 2 units anyway for Bolster (and at range 1-2 for Direct). At 8pts, this is slightly more expensive, but not horribly so. I wouldn't jump for Vigilance or Aggressive Tactics - you're better off giving these to someone like Obi-Wan or Yoda who will be issuing more than three orders anyway.

Training

This slot is probably the least necessary for a Clone Commander, but there are some hidden gems here. Since I don't like performing attack actions with this guy, upgrades like Hunter, Tenacity, Up Close and Personal, and Overwatch are dead on arrival for me. Upgrades like Duck and Cover and Endurance play hard into the suppression mechanic, which usually won't be an issue for someone who's trying to stay out of sight, so I don't bother with these either.

Like all Clones (and especially those that are in dodge-heavy lists), Situational Awareness isn't a bad option, as it can give you some play against crits if you have a dodge token handy (probably from Padme, could be from another Clone - or from yourself if you perform a dodge action). I feel like Offensive Push could be useful (not so you can use the aim token, but so someone else can use the aim token when you perform your repositioning move), but it's pricey. Seize the Initiative could be good too, but I generally don't feel like I struggle to have order tokens on the board with this guy in tow, so I usually pass on this.

Gear

Since our goal is to generate tokens for our team and not move over anything weird (or shoot at anyone), the only gear upgrades I look at are Electrobinoculars (which gives someone within range 1 an aim token) and the Portable Scanner (which gives someone within range 1 a dodge token). This action would be taken instead of a move action (or a Bolster action), but if you're already in a safe spot, it allows you more flexibility on who gets an aim/dodge token than if you just took the aim/dodge action yourself. I consider this to be fat, though, so if you're looking for points to cut from your list to get something else, I'd look at this upgrade slot before anything else.

Command Cards

Any command cards you take with this guy will also be available to any of the other Republic characters, so there's nothing unique about this guy per se. The most unique one that he has is the generic Republic two-pip (Air Support), which allows a Clone Trooper Commander unit (or a field commander) to perform a Beam 2 attack at range 4+. If Clone Commanders were the only Commander options with the Clone Trooper unit type, he'd be a shoe-in for this option - but since both Clone Commander Cody and Clone Captain Rex are Clone Troopers (and one has Surge for Crit and the other has Sharpshooter 1 AND Surge for Crit), either of those guys are good options over this guy - and both have an additional health, better offensive capabilities, and some tactical play options that rival Bolster 2 (but probably not Direct). Still, Air Support's beam weapon attack (1 red/2 black) with Sharpshooter 1 is pretty good - and better than a Field Commander will do.

The Republic one-pip (Synchronized Offensive) is very list-dependent - if you have a vehicle in your list, it'll work out great (since it issues a free order to a friendly Clone Trooper unit at range 1-2 of the vehicle), but if you don't have a vehicle, it's not better than Ambush. The Republic 3-pip (Attack of the Clones) has been mentioned before in our review of Obi-Wan Kenobi and is a great way to get some extra surge tokens out (or remove suppression tokens), but I think Obi-Wan is better at using this than a Clone Commander, since he might be able to send one of those orders to a non-Clone Trooper unit with Battle Meditation (if you like that upgrade, which I do).

A Clone Commander can technically play all three of the Wookiee command cards as well (I'm not going to write their names here - saving that for the Wookiee Chieftain post), but needless to say, you won't get any of the special text on those cards, so Ambush, Push, and Assault are better options.

Clone Commander: Sample List and Strategy

When we looked at Obi-Wan, we ran him with Padme Amidala. The list we're looking at today basically swaps Padme for a Clone Commander (who does a different kind of token generation). You can view the list here on Legion HQ if you want.

• Obi-Wan Kenobi with Force Barrier, Battle Meditation, Aggressive Tactics, and Defensive Stance
• Clone Commander with Strict Orders and Portable Scanner
• Phase I Clone Troopers with Fives and Clone Medic
• Phase I Clone Troopers with RPS-6 Trooper
• Phase I Clone Troopers with Z-6 Trooper and Phase I Clone Trooper
• 2x ARC Troopers with DC-15X ARC Trooper
• ARC Trooper Strike Team with Echo
  

This list is trimmed down and gives the Clone Commander his chance to shine. With Direct: Corps Clone Trooper, you want that guy tucked in behind Fives, who is ideally working with an ARC Trooper squad or another Clone Trooper squad (probably the Z-6, could be the RPS-6). Once the Clone Commander is in a good tucked-away position, he can spend both of his actions performing Bolster 2 (handing out 2 surge tokens to friendly units at range 1) and Take Cover 1 (handing out a dodge token to a friendly unit at range 1).

Your command cards are all going to be issued by Obi-Wan to capitalize on Aggressive Tactics, but since you know that 2 order tokens are going to be present on the board from the Clone Commander's Direct, you also know that you'll be able to hand out 3-4 surge tokens with Aggressive Tactics regardless of which command card you choose. If those command cards generate surge tokens (like both 3-pip command cards do), it's not hard to flood the board with surge tokens so that your Clones can turn basically any surge result they get into a success. With Obi-Wan tanking for the team, it's not hard to make this work.

There are only two things that I feel are missing from this list: a Clone Captain for the Z-6 Trooper squad and Boil (probably in the RPS-6 squad). The Phase I Clone Trooper with the Z-6 could be upgraded to either of these guys by dropping the Portable Scanner - if you want to do that, be my guest. As for me, I like having this guy sit near Obi-Wan, since Obi-Wan is his best chance of not being killed by a bounty hunter - and make no mistake, he's a very tempting target!

Clone Commander: Final Review

This guy does what you want a cheap commander to do - he gives you a valuable Command slot, he's cheap and easy to slot into a list, he can generate 1-2 free order tokens, and he's decently defensible for being cheap. I think he competes as a tactical hero with Padme a bit - and if you're willing to downgrade Fives to a different heavy weapon, you can pay for a more expensive hero over a Commander (like Padme or Cody).

Overall character review: 4/5 stars. These guys are easy to get, easy to put together, have two different model configurations, and are fun to use on the battlefield. I like them and am happy that the generic chap has a solid place in a GAR list.

Next time, we're pivoting our discussion back to Jedi and talking about a hero that I love, but don't use much anymore: the Wookiee Chieftain. This guy hits hard and has a lot of really good bits in his profile, but unless you're running the Wookiee Defenders battle force, you're probably not running him much in a GAR list. We'll look at what he does for your army (both GAR and the Wookiee battle force) next time - until then, happy hobbying!