Cue the Training Montage!

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... I wrote a similar article about prepping for an Armada tournament. I was confident in my list and my prep work. I had a list that I had nailed down months before and had a winning record with! I was as ready as I could've been... and I went one and three. I did not make the cut. But now! I have taken the opposite approach. LVO is less than two weeks away and I have not decided what the hell I am going to play. I've narrowed it down quite a bit, but not fully. In this post, I will talk about my options and go over why I am stuck between lists.

The "For Sures"

Han Solo and Chewbacca

Han and Chewie are a pair that I've used a lot, even before Legion 260. I brought them to my first-ever Legion tourney in Cherokee '23. As a matter of fact, a lot of stuff in my current 260 list was used in my Cherokee list. With the changes to cover, Han has gotten a lot better. His gun is back to where it used to be, pushing two wounds through almost every time he shoots. He is capable of wreaking havoc on the opposition. With games lasting only five turns, his durability has gotten better as well. If you can keep shots off of him for one or two turns, he can be nigh unkillable in the latter rounds. Another small benefit of fewer turns is that his Command Cards have gained a bit of power in my opinion. Sorry About the Mess gives you guaranteed priority for a turn, which if timed right, can throw your opponent off if they tried to win priority with a one-pip. Change of Plans has gotten a lot better. In Legion 260, you usually have turns two and three to get your opponent on their back foot. I, and a lot of others, have found that whoever walks out of turn three with the best position will likely win. One of the best ways to secure that footing is by using high-effect Command Cards and Han can easily disrupt that with CoP.

There's not a lot to say here for Chewie. He is just always good. There are very few Rebel lists out there that wouldn't benefit from Chewie. Guardian three is awesome, especially when you're running around with high-priority glass-cannons cough Fleets and Sleeps cough. These days, Protector is an upgrade that I don't feel terrible cutting. There will always be times where I wish I had it, and times where it was a completely useless five points.

Din Djarin and Grogu

As many of you know, I am quite possibly the Biggest Din fanboy in this community. Since he came out, I have played fewer than 15 games without him, out of somewhere north of 150. At this point, I am just shooting myself in the foot by not bringing him. Conveniently, he has also gotten a lot better in Legion 260. Between the cover changes, fewer rounds, and the change to the Hunted keyword, he and Grogu are easily Rebels' top one or two OPs. I could talk about him for a long time, so I'll stop here. I need him, non-negotiable.

At least four Fleet Troopers

Fleets have been my go-to Corps since 260 dropped. I played a lot of them way back in the day, but for the better part of the last three years, I have been playing exclusively Veterans and Mk2s. With Vets getting side-graded and the game leaning into a more aggressive state, I felt like it was time for a personal change. Rebel Troopers are fine, but not really my speed. Fleets are where it's at. The Scatter Gun adds a significant amount of killing power to my list. Sure, range two can be a chore to get to, but that's not an issue when you have four to six units! kinda. Threat saturation is the name of the game for me, I don't like to mix Corps, ever. I don't even like to give half of them a certain upgrade and not the other. For me, it's all the same or it's nothing. The extra body has been a game-changer for me. Throwing twelve dice with Pierce 1 is awesome and the one extra wound for only seven points can make an unexpectedly huge difference. Love these guys.

Two Sleeper Cells

Like every Rebel player and their mothers, I am running Sleeper Cells. I want to get my fun out of them before they get nerfed. There is no reason they should be this cheap, in my opinion. Yes, they are the definition of a glass cannon, but they're a little more cannon than glass. I have seen these guys one-shot more units than anything else in the game. They consistently force 7-10 saves and very frequently swing to 12. The R4 is a must for them, the free dodges just for moving are awesome. I think you can stop at just the R4, but I also like to add Prep Supplies for a little extra defensive power. If they can weather the first big shot and only take 1-2 wounds, then you're in a very good spot.

The "Eh, I Don't Knows"

Tristan Mandos

Tristan Mandos are a unit that I have played a lot of. I love them. They are probably still my all-time favorite Rebel SF unit. There are a lot of pros with them. Speed 3, Suppressive, Lethal, Blast, Impact, Nimble, and Surging Red Saves. All of these things add up to a fantastic unit and one that I am surprised not to see more often. However, there is one con. There is not a single variation of this list that includes Mandos and hits twelve activations. Maybe it's a little silly, but the move from 11 to 12 acts feels huge to me. It's hard to give up, but might be worth it for my sweet, sweet Mandos.

Slingers

Cheap N' Gud!

Nuf Said.

AT-RTs

Ugh. I really really really want to like RTs in this list. They're so cheap and they give me access to both Range 4 and Impact. The mobile LOS blocking is also a potentially huge bonus if I get stuck with a bad table. All that said, in order to get these two, I have to drop two Fleets. "But, Wait? That's not such a bad trade!" you all say in unison...

WRONG! (maybe) Here's the big downside. If I make this trade, I lose upwards of 18 dice per turn. EIGHTEEN. PER. TURN. That's potentially 72 dice over the course of four rounds. Now, this game is not all about who throws the most dice but let me tell you this. When it comes to Fleets and Sleepers, it is. If I have six Fleets and you kill three of them (and you will kill three), I still have three to cause issues. If I run four and you kill three of them, I have but one lonely fleet to do exactly nothing with before he gets blown off the table. I said it before, and I'll say it again: For me, Threat Saturation is the name of the game.

The Lists

List One

This is my first option. This is my "Throw as many bodies at the issue as possible" list. There are some upgrade swaps that can be made, but nothing super major. There is likely one thing here that might stand out to you as a little bit questionable... Do I really need all six Fleets to have Impact Grenades? Probably not, but as I said earlier, I like my corps to be identical. They are my only real impact option and if I see any Double Snail ExD or Tempest I am screwed without it. As soon as I run only three of them with 'nades, those three will die first and I will be SOL. I really don't feel like I need/want to use those 9 points anywhere else so I don't mind much either.

Pros: 12 Acts, Lots of Bodies, Lots of Attack Dice, good home POI babysitter (Slingers).

Cons: Only two possible attacks beyond range two, susceptible to suppression and Standbys.

List Two

A very similar list, but with a small change that makes a huge difference. I trade the Slingers and a Fleet for Tristan. Tristan fixes some of the shortcomings of the previous list in the form of Longer Range, Impact, and More Courage 2. One issue I have with this list is three timing-dependent SF units and poor order control. Tristan gives me another very good Objective piece for all of my Primaries and Secondaries. Even though I lose one Fleet, Tristan has Lethal so my potential overall Pierce Value stays the same. Suppressive can also be a huge upside in this new world. For those numbers guys out there that are likely curious, the effective wounds difference between Slingers+Fleets and Tristan is 1.1 effective wounds, in favor of the Fleets and Ewoks. 16.3 and 15.2 to be exact. Minor enough a number that it doesn't really need to hold much weight in this comparison.

Pros: More ranged attacks, faster units, more Courage 2, better objective play

Cons: eleven acts, not a ton of Impact, fewer bodies

So, these are my two current choices, give or take a few upgrades. The one change that I might make to both of them is Assault in favor of Whistling Birds. Its Order Control or Potentially huge swings against big swuads. I'm still not sure which is better.

I would love to hear your thoughts on both of these options! What do you like? what don't you like?

P.S. for Adam and Ryan: I will NOT, under any circumstance, be putting Vets in this list. Stop trying. Fleetz 4 Lyf!!!