Good morning gamers,
This month's focus is on Ewoks and we're starting off with "the good squad", Ewok Slingers. For reasons that I cannot fathom, these guys have more rules, a ranged attack, and take up a Special Forces slot . . . and yet cost fewer points than their melee-oriented cousins, Ewok Skirmishers (more on them next time). They came up 3pts since their release at the start of Legion 2.6, but they still come in 2pts under their melee brethren . . . and as Mercenary units, I'm always tempted to throw two of them into my Rebel lists (along with Lando or someone else with Underworld Connections). Let's look at what these guys have to offer in one of the Rebellion's toughest force-organization slots (and why they're so good in Rebel lists)!
Ewok Slingers: The Profile
These guys are 38pts and start with 6 bodies - that's basically the same cost as most of the Rebel Corps options, but with +2 guys. As a result, their profile lags behind the Corps a bit - 1 Wound/Courage 1/Speed-2 (how?) is pretty normal, but non-surging white saves isn't great and no innate surge option on offense isn't normal for Rebels. Don't let this fool you, though: with Target 1 and Independent: Surge 1, these guys will get some kind of green token every turn, regardless of whether you have order control on them or not. Additionally, having Low Profile and Unhindered makes them a nightmare to drag out of area terrain. They are a Mercenary unit, so you can only have one of these in your list normally (and issuing them orders is hard), but having at least one unit with Allies of Convenience (innate to Lando and available to anyone with a Command slot by taking Underworld Connections) allows that specific Commander/Operative to issue orders to them AND opens up a second slot for you. Two squads of these guys doesn't have to be that expensive - and will probably come in below the cost of other similarly-sized units.
Their attack profiles don't look great at first glance - 1 white in melee and 1 black at range is fine-to-bad, but 1 black each at ~6pts/model is a whole lot better than the 10-12pts/model that you get from Rebel Troopers/Veterans (plus with the option for an aim token occasionally or a surge token most of the time, these guys might have a better offensive profile than most bare-bones Rebel Corps units - heck, most Rebel Special Forces units too!). All in all, it's a pretty punchy unit for not a lot of points - a glass cannon, yes, but a lot of firepower on a budget!
