To Snipe, or Not to Snipe?

CahoonM -

In the last 6 or so months, almost every list I've made whether Rebel or Republic, has included Snipers. I find both Rebel Commandos and ARC Troopers to be some of the coolest, most fun, and best units in the game. It's been making me think a lot recently about how the factions rate against each other in terms of parallel units (Genric Commanders, Basic Corps, etc).

Rebels have Commandos, GAR has ARCs, CIS has Commando Droids (BXs), and Empire has Scout Troopers. So far, all four of these units have followed very similar design philosophies and can mostly be compared side-by-side in a vacuum. They are all what I would consider each faction's "Generic" special forces units.

I'll start by briefly covering each unit and its heavy upgrades before pitting them against each other.

This is a bit of a long one, so buckle up!

Rebels - Rebel Commandos

  • 48 Points Naked
  • Courage 2
  • Surge: Hit and Surge: Block
  • Low Profile, Scout 2, and Sharpshooter 1 (SS1)

I'll try to be as unbiased as I can, but I really like these guys. They are probably in my top 5 Rebel Units. I find them to be quite versatile. They can play objectives very well, pack a sneaky punch, and act as a reasonable tank. I like them in Pairs or Trios but don't run them much alone.

  • 43 Points w/ Saboteur or 48 Points w/ Sniper
  • Courage 2
  • Surge: Hit and Surge: Block
  • Heavy Weapon Team, Low Profile, Scout 2, and Sharpshooter 1 (SS1)

These guys used to be my go-to filler. If I had 50-100 points to spare on something it was always one or two of these. That was until Ewok Slingers came out, but I can get into that later. Strike Teams are still very good these days, but they got a slight nerf in the January rules update via wound allocation. In addition, the cover rules changes have also been a bit of an issue for them. With more heavy cover around than before, you now need to get 2 hits or 1-2 crits for the sniper to be doing much other than suppressing.

Heavies

This is the more popular choice and for good reason. The Sniper is a lot easier to utilize in most armies. The Galactic Civil War (GCW) Snipers both have native Pierce and High Velocity. Both keywords are integral to how these units do their jobs. This Sniper has the worst dice of the 4 generic sniper options. It is slightly balanced out by having Surge: Hit on the unit card and a native range 3 attack.

You don't see Saboteurs very often, but in the right hands, they are devastating. I have used them a handful of times and it has always been a boatload of fun. They're more difficult to utilize due to the fact that they are not really a Heavy Weapon per se, but more a of Special Weapon. With heavy cover being extra common these days, I could see them having a bit of a renaissance due to Surge: Crit and Blast.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoy Rebel Commandos in all forms. I will rate them 7.5/10 on my arbitrary scale.

Empire - Scout Troopers

  • 48 Points Naked
  • Courage 2
  • Surge: Block
  • Low Profile, Scout 3, and Sharpshooter 1 (SS1)

Full Scout Trooper units are not something I saw on the table much until Remnant and Tempest both came out. Actually, I don't know if I ever saw them on the table until then. I am no Empire player, but I will try my best to cover these guys. I think they're actually quite good. They are one of the few units in the game that I think are mostly viable when naked. 8 Black dice at range 2 is sneaky good and they are able to get up close without taking too much damage via Low Profile. They suffer quite a bit from not surging on offense, but they have semi-reliable dice to make up for it. I will do a math comparison later. They are also one of the few trooper units in the Imperial arsenal that have white saves instead of red.

Strike Team

  • 46 Points w/ Saboteur or 48 points w/ Sniper
  • Courage 2
  • Surge: Block
  • Heavy Weapon Team, Low Profile, Scout 3, and Sharpshooter 1 (SS1)

This unit still acts as the go-to filler unit for a lot of Empire players I know. They have maintained or even increased popularity after the nerfs due to Boba Fett's Rule with Respect. Sure, they still suffer a little bit from the wound allocation changes, but they put in good work when used correctly.

Heavies

Just like the Rebel Sniper, these guys have native Pierce and High Velocity. This makes them rather frightening to dodge factions like Rebels or Pyke SC. They have slightly better dice, but no offensive surge. I will do the math on that later.

For some reason, this Sab did not get points cut as the Rebel one did. This one is arguably worse since it lacks the Impact keyword, instead gaining Suppressive. The dice math out almost equally, but this Sab has a lower ceiling.

Overall, I think both versions of this unit can be quite good. I think the full team is absolutely terrifying in the right hands, but the lack of offensive surge hurts. I will rate them at 8/10.

Republic - ARC Troopers

  • 66 Points Naked
  • Courage 2
  • No Surge
  • Impervious, Scout 2, Tactical 1, and Sharpshooter 1 (SS1)

ARC Troopers are literally the entire reason I picked up Legion in the first place. I think they are some of the coolest-looking models and a fairly good unit. They had a bit of a hard life after some major nerfs, but they're mostly back now. I am both excited and incredibly fearful when I see these boys on the table. If piloted well, they can be one of the most devastating non-force user units in the game. They lose Low Profile but gain Red Saves and Impervious. They also gain Tactical 1, which is just a straight upgrade from the GCW units. They've got both an R2 and R3 attack on the card, and both are pretty good. Personally, I like to really stuff upgrades on these guys when I use them, but I've seen high-level players use them with just the Sniper.

Strike Team

  • 55 Points w/ Sniper, 64 Points w/ Fives, or 66 Points w/ Echo
  • Courage 2
  • No Surge
  • Heavy Weapon Team, Impervious, Scout 2, SS1, and Tactical

Fairly similar to the bigger unit. I think these guys don't see as much play because they cost the same as naked BARCs and because of the wound allocation changes. I still like them quite a bit. I think they're good for holding down objectives and being a token generator for your other clones.  

Heavies

Unlike the GCW snipers, this guy does not have native Pierce. Immune: Deflect is neat, but doesn't come up super often and Lethal is good, but a bit harder to proc if you only have 1 aim. The dice are better than both of the GCW snipers, but with no Native Pierce, it could be a wash.

Unlike the GCW units, ARCs do not come with a Saoteur option. Instead coming with 2 named clones: Echo and Fives. Echo is the more popular choice. He's got all the same keywords as the basic sniper but gains Critical 1, Leader, and Reliable 1. He also has 2 Red dice and 2 Wounds. He is fantastic with either a Full Team or Strike Team, but you'll see him more with the latter.

Fives is also quite good. He is less popular than Echo, specifically on ARCs. He appears significantly more when he's with Clone Corps. I have had some decent success with him in a Strike Team as a sort of Token and Order battery, but It's not the greatest use of 80 points.

Overall, I really like ARCs. I think they are super cool and I am glad they've been seeing more table time lately. I will rate them 8.5/10

CIS - BX Commando Droids (BXs)

  • 66 Points Naked
  • Courage 2
  • Surge: Hit
  • AI: Dodge/ Move, Impervious, Scale, Scout 3, and SS1

By far the least popular choice on this list is BX Commandos. They suffer mostly because they're simply less useful and efficient than Magnaguards. The only real argument for BX vs Magnas is the Saboteur, which has actually seen some decent tournament play recently. AI: Dodge, Move is not too bad, but sometimes makes it difficult for them to get an Aim when they need it. One of their big draws used to be Scale, but since that was hit in the CRB, most units with native scale have not shown up nearly as much.

Strike Team

  • 50 Points w/ Sniper or 48 Points w/ Saboteur
  • Courage 2
  • Surge: Hit
  • AI: Dodge/ Move, Heavy Weapons Team, Impervious, Scale, Scout 3, and SS1

Not a bad filler, but it still suffers mostly from the faction it is in. CIS has some of the cheapest units in the game, and if you need a filler unit, 38-point B1s are likely a better grab than 50-point Sniper Strikes. I still think there is a good case for them if you are really wanting to run triple Sabs or even Triple Vibroswords.

Heavies

Following the pattern here, BX's have the best generic Sniper dice. They have the same keywords as the ARC sniper, but they also gain Surge: Hit. On paper, you might expect this sniper to be one of the most popular due to its dice, but it's actually the opposite. This Heavy suffers because of the unit it's attached to. The benefits of good dice do not outweigh the losses of not bringing Magnas at this point in time.

Maybe this sounds crazy, but I think this Sab is the best option of the 3 that we have. The Rebel one is pretty close to this one, but I think Poison is very good. Poison is an underrepresented keyword in Legion. I really love the design space of it. It seems like it might hurt that this Sab lacks Surge: Crit or Impact, but it wants to attack fleshy targets anyway, so it's not a big deal.

Overall, I'll give BX's a 6/10.

Comparison

Okay, that took a bit longer than I originally intended, but we're finally at the point of this article: to see once and for all who is the best pick in a vacuum (or maybe in faction too).  #1=4 points,#2=3, etc. Ties are awarded the points they would've won at that level.

Native Attacks

All but one of them have one native attack pool and all but one have attacks at R3. For simplicities sake, I will compare all of them at both R2 and R3. For all of these attacks, we will measure both Forced Saves (FS) (essentially how much paint you can expect) and Expected Wounds (EW).

Follow Along here: https://www.tellmetheodds.net/

Range 3 (against Red Saves, in the open)

  • Rebel Commandos - 1 Black/e, Surge:H
    • FS - 2.5
    • EW - 1.2
  • Scout Troopers - N/a
    • FS - 0
    • EW - 0
  • ARC Troopers - 1 BLack/e, No Surge
    • FS - 2.0
    • EW - 1.0
  • BX Commandos - 2 White/e, Surge:H
    • FS - 3.0
    • EW - 1.5

This is a little bit surprising, I was anticipating Rebs at the top, but simple dice math would indicate BX #1. This is likely the least impactful comparison because nobody is really running full teams with no heavy options. Obviously, Scouts are at the bottom because they are max range 2 with no heavy.

Range 2 (against Red Saves, in the open)

  • Rebel Commandos - 1 Black/e, Surge:H
    • FS - 2.5
    • EW - 1.2
  • Scout Troopers - 2 Black/e, No Surge
    • FS - 4.0
    • EW - 2.0
  • ARC Troopers - 1 White + 1 Black/e, No Surge
    • FS - 3.0
    • EW - 1.5
  • BX Commandos - 2 White/e, Surge:H
    • FS - 3.0
    • EW - 1.5

This is not terribly surprising, I assumed ARCs and Scouts would push to the top at a closer range. I like that ARCs and BXs are equally comparable at R2, but BX also has a better R3 shot.

Range 5, Sniper, 1 Aim, Red Saves, Heavy Cover

  • Rebel Commandos - 1w1b, Surge:H, SS1, Pierce 1
    • FS - 0.7
    • EW - 0.7
  • Scout Troopers - 2b, No Surge, SS1, Pierce 1
    • FS - 0.7
    • EW - 0.7
  • ARC Troopers - 1r1b, No Surge, SS1
    • FS - 0.8
    • EW - 0.4
  • Echo - 2r, No Surge, SS1, Critical 1, 1 Surge Token
    • FS - 1.1
    • EW - 0.5
  • BX Commandos - 2r, Surge:H, SS1
    • FS - 1.0
    • EW - 0.5

This tracks exactly what I was thinking. It follows the dice order exactly, which I find interesting. It's no surprise that Echo is the overall winner here, but in order to be fair, I will only be ranking the generic units.

Full Team w/ Sniper, Maximum Strength, Optimal Range, 2 Aims, Red Saves, In the Open

  • Rebel Commandos - 5b1w, Surge:H, Pierce 1
    • FS - 5.2
    • EW - 3.7
  • Scout Troopers - 10b, No Surge, Pierce 1
    • FS - 6.9
    • EW - 4.5
  • ARC Troopers w/ Sniper - 1r5b4w, No Surge, Lethal 1
    • FS - 5.3
    • EW - 4.4
  • ARC Troopers w/ Echo - 2r4b4w, Critical 1, Lethal 1, 1 Surge Token
    • FS - 6.5
    • EW - 5.2
  • ARC Troopers w/ Fives - 7b4w, No Surge
    • FS - 6.4
    • EW - 3.2
  • BX Commandos - 2r8w, Surge:H, Lethal 1
    • FS - 5.6
    • EW - 4.6

The math here is a little bit weird, but for the second aim on ARCs and BX, I auto-used it for Lethal instead of rerolling. It's once again not much of a surprise to see ARCs at the top here. They are the most expensive of all these units so they belong up there.

Overall Points (Forced Saves)

  1. BX = 14
  2. Scouts = 11
  3. ARCs = 10
  4. Rebs = 8

Overall Points (Expected Wounds)

  1. BX = 13
  2. Scouts = 12
  3. Rebs = 9
  4. ARCs = 8

BX tops both charts?! This is a very interesting finding. The least used is, in a vacuum, the best option of the generic units. Scouts are consistently second, which is not super surprising. I am a bit surprised to see ARCs and Rebs trade the spots for both FS and EW, but with that native Pierce and Surhe:H, it's not too surprising that Rebs do more wounds.

Now, one more thing to measure before I wrap this silly little article up. The most important factor is the one I have not really talked about and that is price. Which unit is doing the most wounds per point? Let's find out.

For this, we will use the data on expected wounds based on the last chart. This is also only factoring in the cost of the Sniper Heavy. (Cost/EW=Result)

  1. Scouts = 16.89
  2. BX = 20.43
  3. Rebs = 20.54
  4. ARCs = 22.05

I am not surprised to see scouts at the top. 17 points per wound (on average) is not that bad at all. I am also not too surprised to see ARCs at the bottom since they are notoriously expensive. The middle two did surprise me a little bit. I figured BX would be #3 here since they are also generally pretty expensive, but, based on the charts, they do a lot more damage than I was anticipating.

Of course, there are a ton of other metrics to be measured which are major factors to consider—defensive tech, objective play, synergy, etc.

Anyway, this was quite the ramble. If you read the whole thing, thank you! If you have any input or if I got any math wrong, let me know!