Good morning gamers,
Last time, we looked at Ewok Slingers, who are a fabulous model that the Rebels (and the Bright Tree Village battle force) have access to in their Special Forces slot. Today, we're looking at Ewok Skirmishers (who can't actually skirmish with people) who are a Corps option and . . . fall quite a bit short of their cousins. Let's see what these guys bring to the table and see if we can suss out why they cost 2pts more than their Special Forces counterparts.
Ewok Skirmishers: The Profile
The best way to think about this unit's profile is that they're like B1 Battle Droids (who we'll be looking at in the next few months): they have non-surging white saves, 1 wound/courage 1, and they've got 6 minis by default. They cost a little more than B1s at 40pts/squad and trade Coordinate: Droid Trooper for Low Profile and Unhindered . . . which is interesting, sure, but also makes you really dependent on terrain to take any advantage of your rules. They're also mercenaries, so issuing them orders is pretty difficult unless you're running Lando, Wicket, anyone with Allies of Convenience (which you might take via Underworld Connections so you can take an extra squad of Slingers), or any of the Ewok heroes in Bright Tree Village. Thankfully, they do not have Self-Preservation, so they can benefit from any Commander's Courage to keep them from panicking. The Slingers have the same profile, but also pick up Target 1 and Independent: Surge 1 . . . and somehow, they cost 2pts less?
On offense, these guys don't have a ranged option but have 1 black die/model in melee . . . which is to say that their melee profile is the same as the Slinger's ranged profile and is better than the Slinger's melee profile by 0.25 hits/model . . . how in the heck are these guys more expensive? Is the ability to provide backup while they're not supressed that valuable? I don't think so. Anyway, this is a fine-not-great melee pool and while we'll be looking at ways to increase your damage output, one could make the argument that the base value isn't good enough to make the investment worth it. I leave that to you to decide.
Ewok Skirmishers: Recommended Upgrades
These guys can certainly be run vanilla at 40pts and that's not bad. If you do want to splurge a little, you could invest in a few of these upgrades (or really hog out on three of them).
Heavy Weapon x1
The only option you have is the Axe Ewok - and if you take one particular Training upgrade, this guy is probably worth it. For slightly more than one-third the cost of the unit, you add 1 red die (slightly better than one attack die) and Pierce 1 (fabulous). If you have points to spend, this isn't a bad upgrade.
Personnel x2
The super-squad does make sure that the unit actually gets into melee with enough weight that it might matter - but it's also expensive and might not be worth your time. If you want to add this, do it - otherwise, leave it at home. I will say that if you want to take the Axe Ewok, you might very well consider taking the super-squad to make sure he doesn't die before he arrives.
You can also take a Trapper, but like the Slingers last time, this is a pretty expensive way to get "yet another guy" - so while having one Trapper in your list is good for the command card access you might want in Bright Tree Village, I don't think you need him in any other units (and certainly not outside of Bright Tree Village).
Training x1
Up to two of your Ewok Skirmishers (your Slingers can take it, but they don't want it) can take Call to Arms, which gives them Charge. For 60pts, an Ewok Skirmisher Squad with an Axe Ewok and Call to Arms is a reasonably decent melee unit - and while you could also super-size it, that would bring you to 88pts . . . and I don't know that this unit is as good as other units that land at that value and are focused on melee (BX Commandos at 70pts with vibroblades, ARC Troopers at 70-92pts with the Medic, Clone Captain, or the Jedi Guardian squad leader, or Riot Control with Kallus and the Security Droids for 90pts). These guys will throw plenty of dice, but they die SO quickly. For 60pts, though, I think these guys are good - if you can shield them from harm on the way in.
You could also get Forest Dwellers (especially if you have a Trapper in the unit OR if you've taken three of these squads and one of them is running as a 43pt drop to hold rear objectives and cause trouble), but that upgrade is really undercosted for what it does, so if you have the space for it, it's certainly worth taking.
Ewok Skirmishers: Sample Lists and Strategies
Our first stop is a Bright Tree Village list - and to make sure I don't just reprint the list from last time, I'm showcasing a modified version of Andrew Terrell's Top-8 Worlds 14-act list, which features three vanilla Ewok Skirmisher squads (leaning much more into Rebel Troopers and Ewok Slingers to support the heroes in the list). I had to drop one of the Improvised Orders to account for that upgrade being made unique, but also Wicket got a price drop, so we had some extra points:
- Logray with Improvised Orders and Secret Ingredients
- Wicket with Forest Dwellers
- Han Solo
- Leia Organa with Seize the Initiative
- C-3PO
- 3x Ewok Skirmishers
- 2x Rebel Troopers with MPL-57 Ion Trooper and Astromech Droid
- 2x Ewok Slingers with Ewok Slinger Squad
- 1x Ewok Slingers with Ewok Slinger Squad, Ewok Trapper, and Forest Dwellers
- Chewbacca AT-ST
Our second list is a standard 14-act Rebel list that features two Ewok Skirmishers as cheap objective campers - I'm not convinced that a 6-man squad of Ewoks is better than a 4-man Rebel Trooper squad, but we're showcasing them here alongside "Han-Taun", "Cassian-Super-Fleets", Triple AT-RTs, and some Rebel Officers/The Bad Batch for keeping our army going. The Rebel Officers have been chosen because the Ewok Skirmishers can benefit from both Dauntless and Reinforcements, which can keep them going even when they're suppressed:
- Rebel Officer with Frontline Commander, Heavy Blaster Pistol, and Thermal Detonator
- Rebel Officer with Proven Tactician and Underworld Connections
- The Bad Batch with Omega
- Han Solo, Reluctant Hero with Tenacity
- 1x Fleet Troopers with Cassian Andor, Scatter Gun Trooper, and Fleet Trooper Squad
- 2x Rebel Troopers with Astromech Droid
- 2x Ewok Skirmishers
- 2x Ewok Slingers with Forest Dwellers
- 1x Rebel Sleeper Cell
- 2x AT-RTs with AT-RT Flamethrower
This list is interesting - it has aim support from the Rebel Officers, the Rebel Troopers can remove some of the damage from their AT-RT flamers, and of course you have the damage output from Cassian's squad, Rebel Sleeper Cell, Han (who will be playing his new 1-pip in the first or second turn), two squads of slingers, and of course, the Bad Batch. This list has some tricky command cards it can play to mess with your opponent, though as is usual for most Rebel lists, their order control is not great.
Ewok Skirmishers: Final Review
I think either this unit costs too much or the Slingers cost too little - it's boggling to me that the Slingers are better in almost every way and cost 2pts less for a squad of the exact same size. The Skirmishers have the potential to be dangerous in melee, but I don't know if that's worth it due to how fragile this unit can be.
Overall Unit Review: 2/5 stars. This unit needs a facelift, a points drop, or just needs to look like a better choice relative to its competition (which certainly includes Rebel Troopers and Ewok Slingers in Bright Tree Village, but might also include Rebel Commandos, now that they've gotten some changes). There's a lot of room to improve on these guys, but they can fill in and sit on an objective if you need them to.
Next time, we're headed back to the Republic to examine their newest Corps trooper option: Clone Marksmen. These guys appear on paper to be the "Rebel Veteran" Clone unit and that might mean that they struggle to find a place when compared to Clone Trooper Infantry, but I think these guys are really cool. We'll dive in and see what you can do with these guys (and what they offer that Clone Trooper Infantry do not) next time - until then, happy hobbying!
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