Star Wars Legion Unit Review: The Bad Batch, Part II

Good morning gamers,

Last time, we looked at the Republic Bad Batch profile (and the various things you can include in your lists to keep them going or augment what they do). In today's post, we're looking at the post-Order-66 Bad Batch and how they operate differently on the tabletop with the loss of Crosshair and the potential addition of Omega. Let's review the profile (and how it's changed in its Rebel incarnation) before hopping into the strategy for using them.

Rebel Bad Batch: The Profile

The Bad Batch for the Rebel Alliance is a four-man unit that needs to equip 4  Heavy Weapon "upgrades" (Hunter, Echo, Tech, and Wrecker - not Crosshair).  Their only optional "upgrade" is to add Omega as a Counterpart. With 2 wounds/mini normally (3 wounds on Wrecker) and 1 wound on Omega if you add her to the squad, these guys have a very impressive 10 wounds (slightly below the Republic version's 11) and Courage 3, which makes it very, VERY difficult to both suppress this unit and punch through their wounds. With a rare-for-Rebels non-surging red saves and speed 2, these guys add an element of resiliency to your list that many Rebel operatives . . . actually can compete with, but with about half the wounds that these guys will have.

They have some unit special rules that can be summarized as ARC-Trooper-like: Scale, Sharpshooter 1, and Impervious are standard issue on ARCs, which gives these guys reliability when moving over difficult terrain/scaling walls and reducing enemy cover when they shoot into cover - these are the kinds of boosts that fill the dreams of Sleeper Cell or Rebel Commando units. Impervious gives them something against Pierce, though Impervious itself is more of a "nice when it works" kind of proposition.

They also have Steady, which is different and more flexible than the Charge that you find on ARCs (which gives ARCs a free attack action when they end a move in melee, instead of a free attack action when they end a move NOT in melee for the Bad Batch). With 1 red each in melee and 1 black/1 white at range, these guys don't look far off from their 140pt price tag (20pts cheaper than the Republic version, but only 10pts less if you add Omega), but there are more special rules to this unit . . .

Two of the units in the Bad Batch don't really add special rules to it - Hunter has the Leader keyword (last man standing) and can do a wound to a non-Commander/Operative Trooper unit at range 1 half the time as a free action. Wrecker has an extra wound (as already mentioned) and has a "rainbow roll" of 1 red/1 black/1 white at melee and at range 1-2, so his damage output is a bit higher than that of his comrades. In the Rebel variant, Wrecker has a rule that you can't take Omega as a casualty until after you take Wrecker . . . fair enough - and you want to keep Omega to the bitter end if you can anyway! Beyond this, they're not adding anything to the team (just a little extra on the side).

Tech gives the team Tactical 1 and a cached aim token and dodge token. The aim tokens are really nice because you're throwing 1 white die per mini in the unit unless you're in melee (which you don't usually want to be) - and aim tokens when you're throwing white dice are really, really nice. While I wouldn't be careless with your cached aim token, it's important to note that if you start taking damage, you're going to need to take someone eventually - and so Tech needs to make sure that cached aim token is spent before he needs to be taken as a casualty. I'd spend the cached dodge token at your first opportunity.

Our member of the default gang is Echo, my favorite of the Bad Batch. In-game, he gives the squad Reliable 3 - and while this seemed to me to be a pretty mediocre upgrade, there are few rounds in a game where I'm not spending most of if not all of those surge tokens. White dice make you happy when you see paint - and to get that paint, you might need surge tokens. Rerolling a black die that's showing a surge token is a dicey proposition (see what I did there?) - but having surge tokens means you can for-certain turn that surge into a hit. On defense, having surge tokens around is really useful - you may not roll a single surge-for-block icon, but if you do (and especially if you roll a few), you're gonna want to have a surge token around to make it work!

If you choose to take Omega (and if you have 10pts to spare, you should), you'll want to take her as a casualty second-to-last before Hunter (because you must). Omega's offense is just 2 white dice at range melee-to-2, but she allows the squad to count as contesting/controlling objectives at range 1 instead of range 1/2. This may seem like a small benefit, but many of the objectives in Legion are stationary and in most scenarios, contesting at range 1 means you can easily contest objectives on Turn 2 without overly exposing yourself and sometimes you'll be able to contest more than one objective. This is HUGE and since Rebels have to play to the scenario objectives before their units disappear, holding them at a slightly longer range is a really, really great plan.

Unlike the Republic version, the "we're not regs" special rule doesn't really come into play for these guys - there are simply no Clone Trooper units that they can share tokens with, though they still cannot benefit from Backup. The Operative slot for Rebels is a lot more competitive than it is for Republic, but even with the inability to benefit from Backup, these guys bring a lot of beef, good defense, and lots of useful keywords to the fight - all for the same price or less than most of the other red-save units they're competing with. These guys are good - though not as lethal as the Republic variant.

Okay, so these guys are pretty tough and they roll a lot of dice and get a lot of rules to make them interesting - let's see what kinds of "upgrades" we should take on these guys . . .

Rebel Bad Batch: Recommended "Upgrades" and Command Cards

Let's be clear: besides the five characters, you can't take any upgrades on this unit. However, sometimes the upgrades you take on OTHER units will help the Bad Batch tremendously. Let's take a look at a few of those below . . .

Underworld Connections (Command) on Han, Leia, maybe Jyn/Luke, BUT NOT Lando

The simplest upgrade that you want on your supporting cast of characters for the Bad Batch is Underworld Connections. Whether this is so that you can use Allies of Convenience to get a second Mercenary unit in your Operative (or Special Forces) rank or if you want to be able to issue orders with the commander to the Bad Batch (them being Mercenary and all), Underworld Connections is an easy 5pt add that gives you a LOT of power.

Han and Leia (and to a much lesser degree Commander Luke and maybe Jyn Erso) can utilize the issuing of orders to the Bad Batch pretty well with some of their command cards, but they're also likely to be Commanders that you lean into anyway, so if you're going to have them in your list, you might as well take Underworld Connections for your Command slot (or one of your Command slots in Leia's case).

You do not, however, need this upgrade if you're taking Lando, since he comes with Allies of Convenience on his unit card and that will give him the ability to issue orders to the Bad Batch without Underworld Connections (which is really only relevant on his 3-pip, any generic Rebel command cards he plays, and possibly on his 2-pip), as well as allow you to include the extra Mercenary slot somewhere in your list. Lando is good value. :)

Portable Scanner on Leia (or any Corps unit who's walking with the Bad Batch)

The Bad Batch is going to have a hard time getting tokens in a Rebel list, so if you have Leia or anyone who can afford to spend an action doing Take Cover 1, you can get a little more life out of this already-hard-to-clear squad with a Portable Scanner. On Leia, you're going up to Take Cover 3, which makes her a very good choice for helping herself, the Bad Batch, and one other critical unit - but if you were taking a 40-point Corps unit with nothing else to do but run around and hold objectives, running behind the Bad Batch and boosting them is not a bad option (though keeping up with a Steady unit might be hard).

2-1B Medical Droid (Personnel) on just about any Corps unit

Again, if you have a Corps unit that isn't assigned to do anything in your list, being a medic caddy is quite useful. Since Treat allows you to resurrect defeated minis instead of healing a damaged one, you can actually bring Wrecker or Tech back (likely your first two casualties) for one last hurrah - or several last hurrahs if you have more than one medical droid in your list . . . though that's gonna be pricey.

Shriv Suurgav (Pilot) on any Heavy unit (and maybe a Backworld Medic)

In a similar vein to the Portable Scanner upgrade, you can get a free dodge token from Shriv, who might function as your required Commander as well. If he's piloting an A-A5, you could pay for a Backworld Medic too, which would give you the benefits of the 2-1B Medical Droid AND the Portable Scanner for slightly fewer points . . . and on a FAR more resilient chassis. Shriv and the Backworld Medic does make the A-A5 a tempting target for anti-armor rounds, but hey, that's fire not going towards the Bad Batch, right?

As we move into Command Cards, there are several characters that can bring extra power to the Bad Batch. The Bad Batch themselves have We Do What We Do, which gives them a bunch of boosts - Speed-3 always because Hunter will always be alive, Reliable 4 instead of Reliable 3 if Echo is alive (and he should be the second-to-last one you take), Tactical 2 instead of Tactical 1 if Tech is alive, Inspire 1 if Omega is alive (and if you brought her), and Suppressive to all of their attacks if Wrecker is alive (which means you could split-fire and have Omega shoot with her double-white-dice bow, Wrecker shoot with his "rainbow roll", and the other three shoot with their black/white pistols and generate three shots, each with suppressive. That's a lot of suppression coming out!

Ploy is also very useful for the Bad Batch - not only because they can use it to put their order token on the card, but also because if you have a single order token of a different type clogging up your order pile (like a solitary Commander token amidst a sea of Operatives, Corps, Special Forces, and Support), you can put that order token out of your bag and use it when you feel like it. The other generic Mercenary command cards can potentially be useful too, but likely only if you've leaned into other Mercenary units who benefit from aims and dodges (like double Ewok Skirmishers).

If your second Operative slot contains the newly-revamped Jyn Erso (who has taken Underworld Connections in her Command slot), then the Bad Batch can benefit greatly from both Trust Goes Both Ways and Rebellions are Built on Hope. The first allows both Jyn (who generates Dodge tokens) and the Bad Batch (who generate Aim tokens) to benefit from each other's token generation, so long as they stay relatively close together. To get maximum use out of these tokens, you want the Bad Batch to move first (move-move-shoot, generating 2 aim tokens with Tactical 1), so Jyn has her offensive boosts in place before her turn. You'll then want to follow up the Bad Batch's activation with Jyn right away so she can move-shoot and give 1 dodge token to the Bad Batch. If there aren't going to be good options for Jyn to attack, you can always go with her first to throw two dodge tokens on the Bad Batch, but honestly I think you want to get some damage out of both units on this turn if you possibly can.

Rebellions are Built on Hope is an interesting get-the-Bad-Batch-out-of-Trouble maneuver, giving them Danger Sense 2, Indomitable, and immunity to being suppressed/panicked. This can be great if the Bad Batch is already under fire OR is about to be under fire - and usually you will want Jyn to NOT get an order this way so she can duck into safety and get a free dodge token from Independent: Move and Agile 1.

If you took Leia (with the Portable Scanner and Underworld Connections), then you can get a particularly powerful attack move with Somebody has to Save Our Skins, which allows Leia and the Bad Batch to activate back-to-back. Leia takes a sniping shot at someone and then uses Take Cover 3 to throw out dodge tokens on nearby friends. The Bad Batch then does the follow-up punch to bring Leia's target to its knees (or knocks it out entirely) before they get to respond. You can get slightly less goodness now out of No Time for Sorrows, since it doesn't provide a move action, which means the Bad Batch won't trigger Tactical 1 from the movement they'd get. Still, sometimes a little extra movement is just what you need.

If you want a slightly "better" two-pip for the Bad Batch, consider Reckless Diversion from Han Solo (with Underworld Connections). Han can issue orders to himself and the Bad Batch, activate first, and then force every enemy unit to pile-drive into the Bad Batch, who naturally go last and hope for the best at staying alive (you might consider ALSO having Leia in this build . . . or Shriv). So long as the Bad Batch are "caught" out in the open, your opponent's damage will have to be funnelled into them. And unless they can kill both Hunter and Omega (good luck with that), they may not be able to deal damage to any of your other scoring units that turn.

Finally, you can get a little utility out of Lando's new 3-pip Idiot's Array, which gives a free surge-to-crit conversion and a free hit-to-crit conversion if the Bad Batch get a blank, a surge, and a hit in their attack results . . . and if they've got most of their dice in their attack pool, that's quite likely to happen. Free offensive surge conversion is great, but this is only going to help them a little - nothing dramatic at all. Lando's Guidance ability might help your Corps unit with a med bot and portable scanner keep up though - and you might occasionally get a free move action with the Bad Batch at the start of the round to help them get into a better position. Best I can tell, the "speed-1 move" that you get from One Step Ahead isn't a "move action," so it won't trigger Tactical 1 (just like No Time for Sorrows no longer triggers Tactical).

Okay, let's apply all of this with some lists!

Rebel Bad Batch: Sample List and Strategy

Our first list is a 14-act list that takes the Shriv/Medic strategy to the next level, fielding Shriv as our Field Commander in a bus, adding in ANOTHER bus, and getting the stock-standard equipment of 3 AT-RTs, 1 Sleeper Cell/2 Ewok Slinger squad, 3 SX-21 Rebel Troopers, 1 naked Fleet Trooper unit, and the Bad Batch with Jyn (who provides some interesting synergies, as laid out above):

• The Bad Batch with Omega
• Jyn Erso with Underworld Connections and Prepared Supplies
• 1x Fleet Troopers
• 3x Rebel Troopers with SX-21 Troopers
• 1x Rebel Sleeper Cell with Astromech
• 2x Ewok Slingers with Forest Dwellers
• 3x Rebel AT-RTs with Rotary Blasters
• 1x A-A5 Speeder Truck with Shriv Suurgav, Backworld Medic, and Heavy Laser Retrofit
• 1x A-A5 Speeder Truck with Backworld Medic and AG-2G Quad Laser

The list has a good mix of punchy troops (Sleeper Cell, 3 SX-21s, some Ewoks, and Fleets - any of whom can ride in the two buses on the first turn) to support the splashy heroes (Jyn and the Bad Batch) and a full armored contingent of 5 vehicles. I think this list has staying power and should be able to punch hard - and saturate your opponent with threats so he doesn't know what to strike first!

Our next list is a 13-act list that does the shenanigans approach a little harder by giving us Han, some resilience on Bad Batch with Chewie (who we haven't talked about yet in this post - mostly because Guardian 3 is just kinda boring), and some modified versions of the previous units:

• Han Solo with Underworld Connections and Up Close and Personal
• The Bad Batch with Omega
• Chewbacca
• 3x Rebel Troopers
• 1x Rebel Sleeper Cell with Astromech 
• 1x Ewok Slingers with Forest Dwellers
• 3x AT-RTs with Laser Cannons
• 2x A-A5 Speeder Trucks with Backworld Medics and AG-2G Quad Lasers

This list allows you to use Change of Plans on the first turn if you want to in order to gimp your opponent on an important Turn 1 play, but also allows you to draw fire to the Bad Batch (who can't benefit from Backup anyway - but CAN benefit from Guardian 3) with Reckless Diversion for a turn. Han's 0-pip card can be a pain and if it also generates tokens on Chewie, they can provide some good supporting damage to the Bad Batch (and really the rest of the list) that turn.

I have opted for Notorious Scoundrels (a great first-turn play if you cancel your opponent's card with Change of Plans) over We Do What We Do, mostly because I haven't been impressed with the output of We Do What We Do for the Rebel variant of Bad Batch - Precise 2 and Tactical 2 with the boost to Speed 3 and Suppressive on three pretty good die pools makes this particularly good on the Republic version, but for the Rebel one . . . yeah, I'm not as impressed. Being able to either play Change of Plans twice against a particularly Command-card-dependent list or being able to use Reckless Diversion twice (on Turns 2 and 4) is really slick and gives us a lot of options.

Rebel Bad Batch: Final Review

And that's the Bad Batch! They're super fun to use and while I don't think they're quite as strong as the Republic version, I think they're very hard to remove and the 6" control radius that they get from Omega is super good. I'm a fan and a believer (but if you'd prefer to run other characters in this slot, there are definitely alternative competitive options).

Next time, we're moving to the Republic and looking at the Republic Chewie profile. This guy uses the same model as the Rebel version (though I based my Chewie from the Echo Base Defenders set as the Republic one and am looking forward to the Heroes of the Rebellion set to add the Rebel variant of Chewie to my lists) and provides some pretty interesting options for Wookiee-related lists. We'll see what there is to like about this guy (and whether to run him with an LGM pal as well) next time - until then, happy hobbying!