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!
There are really only two upgrades that I'd consider taking for these guys - but we'll go through the motions and showcase some others that have promise.
Heavy Weapon x1
Don't take the Axe Ewok in this squad - we'll look at his use case next week, but paying nearly half of the cost of the whole unit to add one model just isn't worth it. 1 red die in melee with Pierce 1/Impact 1 has value, but not in a unit that doesn't want to me in melee. Leave this guy out of this squad.
Personnel x2
Similarly, the Ewok Trapper isn't that great in this unit - 10pts for a single model when the rest of the unit is just over 6pts/model isn't a good deal either. Since the only rule the Trapper gives you is the ability to take another training upgrade (you already have 1), the only justification for taking this more expensive extra body is to pay even more points for this unit. Alternatively, for 27pts, you can get +4 Ewok Slingers with the Ewok Slinger Squad, which brings the whole squad up to 10 models AND retains the just-over-6pts/model cost that you get in the unit normally. Take this if you have the points, or don't take it if you're strapped for points.
Training x1
The go-to upgrade for me on this unit is Forest Dwellers - the Ewok Slinger Squad is great, but I don't always have 27-54pts for "supersizing" my Ewoks. But 3pts to get Scout-1 and a dodge token on the first turn is incredibly good - and since Ewoks (for whatever reason) are Speed-2 and not Speed-1, getting a Speed-1 move before your standard move gives these guys a threat range that is slightly greater than half the board, which won't always make a difference, but with more scenarios allowing closer deployments (usually "Breakthrough" and "Outlfank", sometimes "Contact, Contact!"), having a 22" threat range with 6-10 black dice is actually quite nice.
There might be a world where Mission Objective or Up Close and Personal are better upgrades than Forest Dwellers for this unit, but I think that would be more true if there was a limit on how many copies of Forest Dwellers you could take. In the Bright Tree Village battle force, there may be an argument for taking Endurance so you can shed suppression tokens, but you'd have to be running pretty light on Inspire for that to be a good choice.
That's it for the upgrades - let's take a look at some army lists to see how these guys fit into the mix!
Ewok Slingers: Sample Lists and Strategies
Our first stop has to be Bright Tree Village, where these guys are basically forced to take a front-row seat. I've decided to lean all-in on the super-size squad options, but not for the Ewok Slingers. You certainly could do that if you wanted to, but I've opted for two super-sized Rebel Troopers and two super-sized Ewok Skirmishers in a 12-act list that features most of the Commanders and AT-ST Chewbacca:
- Han Solo
- Leia Organa with Portable Scanner
- Wicket with Forest Dwellers and Tenacity
- Logray with Herbal Medicine and Secret Ingredients
- 1x Rebel Troopers with MPL-57 Ion Trooper and Rebel Trooper Squad
- 1x Rebel Troopers with SX-21 Trooper and Rebel Trooper Squad
- 3x Ewok Slingers with Forest Dwellers
- 1x Chewbacca (in AT-ST)
This list has some very interesting tricks in it - Leia and Wicket probably want to start off by playing A Beautiful Friendship (after Change of Plans?) so they can generate an extra order each turn. You have the Brains and Brawn command card to lend Leia the Chewie AT-ST attack profile to augment her already good blaster, as well as some sneaky Bright-Tree-Village-specific command cards to get Suppressive/Immobilize 1 on some of the slinger shots OR to give all three Slinger units Relentless/Dauntless. This is an interesting alternative first-play with the Slingers, since it would allow them to Scout-1 then move-move-shoot - this would definitely be stronger if they were super-squads though.
As we pivot to a more traditional Rebel list, I've got another 12-act list that features Han-Taun/Lando alongside a Rebel Agent, Cassian-super-Fleets, some Rebel Troopers with Astromechs to fix our vehicles, a pair of Ewok Slingers (thanks to Lando), 2 AT-RTs, and 2 Landspeeders - it's a fast list that hits hard:
- Lando Calrissian with Seize the Initiative
- Han Solo with Up Close and Personal
- Rebel Agent with Reluctant Hero, Strike Team Leader, Heavy Blaster Pistol, and Thermal Detonator
- 1x Fleet Troopers with Cassian Andor, Fleet Trooper Squad, and Scatter Gun Trooper
- 2x Rebel Troopers with Astromech Droids
- 2x Ewok Slingers with Forest Dwellers
- 2x AT-RTs with AT-RT Flamethrowers
- 2x X-34 Landspeeders with M-45 Ion Blaster, HQ Uplink, Strike and Fade, RPS-6 Rocket Gunner, and Unstable Astromech
This list probably wants to start off by playing Change of Plans so that you can mess with your opponent's planned command card. You'll want to Divulge (but not play) Corellian Spike to keep Lando safe, but your next card could be Standing Orders (issuing the order to Han, popping Seize the Initiative with Lando, and tapping the HQ Uplinks on the Landspeeders to get those out of the bag) OR it could be Battlefield Reconnaissance to also get an order on the Rebel Agent, relying on the pass token to help you get better positioning. You could also, of course, play See You in Hell, which would work like Standing Orders, but you'd also get an extra order on Han. However you want to do it, the list can come out fast and hard and deal quite a bit of damage.
Ewok Slingers: Final Review
I really like these guys, but I do think they need to go up in price. If they stay where they are, the melee guys need to come down to 35pts instead of 40 - there is no universe where those guys should cost more than Ewok Slingers. As it is, these guys die quickly if you leave them out in the open, but also throw a decent amount of dice when they shoot - that's a good design for a unit and I think they're really good (though probably too fast).
Overall Unit Review: 4.9/5 stars. The Speed thing and the cost-less-than-Skirmishers just barely doesn't make this a 5/5 unit - they're really fun, they're really good, but they're not broken and I highly recommend getting some . . . though they're very, very pricey.
If you enjoyed this (short? Ewok-sized?) article, let us know in the comments below! Next time, we'll be flipping to the other side of the coin and looking at Ewok Skirmishers. My opinion of these guys is not as good, but I think there's still some ground to be explored with them. Find out what to take on these guys and what to leave at home next time - and until then, happy hobbying!
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