212th Clone Troopers - Unit Guide

Our favorite boys in orange! The 212th Attack Battalion is one of the most popular and well-known units in the Grand Army of the Republic. It is probably only slightly less popular than the 501st Legion. The 212th was a unit of clones led by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Commander Cody.

Not so coincidentally, they work extremely well with both Obi and Cody in Shatterpoint. At first glance, they seem no better than the 501st and therefore not worth the 4 points cost, but that is definitely not the case. I think, so far, the 212th is one of the units AMG got closest to their actual lore depiction. Effective, no-nonsense, sharpshooters. They do an excellent job at both holding objectives and doing damage. Let's talk about why.

• 4 Points Cost
• 0 Force
• 7 Stamina / 2 Durability
• Supporting | 212th - Clone Trooper - Galactic Republic - Trooper

As usual, I'll start this bit by saying: 4 points is the ideal spot to be sitting in right now. It's a little worse for Support units due to the fact that there is not currently a 3-point Secondary. This means 4-point supports cannot be taken in a squad with a 7SP primary unit.

7 Stamina is quite low. There are a few good ways to buff them defensively, but I would recommend not letting them get engaged by Melee units or Primaries. Use Hunker tokens, defensive abilities, and Heals to keep them alive and relevant. Their main objective is to score, keep that in mind when you're positioning them. I try to keep them on my backlines holding down the fort while my Primaries and Sercodaries go in into the fight. 2 Durability means that they're guaranteed at least 2 activations, more than likely 3+.

Their Tags are mostly irrelevant so far, except for Galactic Republic. The Galactic Republic tag is currently one of the best in the game because it allows them to benefit from Obi and Ani's Identity abilities which will significantly boost their durability.

Defensive Maneavuer - This is their bread and butter. I don't use this all the time, but when I do, it does incredible amounts. I usually use it on them for the first turn almost every game just to gain some ground, get some cover, and get them into the middle with Rex or Cody. I would avoid using it on them unless you feel like you absolutely need to so you can save the Force for Rex, Cody, or your Jedi to use. I will also note that Take Cover -> Advance -> Defensive will get you about halfway across the table, use it with caution.

Coordinate Fire: Pin - By itself, Coordinated fire is a decent ability, however, the condition that is associated with each unit greatly affects how good it actually is. CF: Pin is amazing. Pin is the second-best condition in the game and very handy to have access to. This is good for a few reasons. First, a lot of other Republic units have Pin on their combat trees which means this ability will just add one damage to the pool. Second, other Republic units also have a ton of Shoves on their combat trees. Pin your opponent and then shove them as far away as you can and they'll be sorta stuck there for a little while. If they don't want to be stuck they either have to waste an action or find a lucky heal. Either way, you win.

Brothers in Arms - This is one of the best reasons to justify using Force for their Defensive Maneuver. Their main job is to sit on and score objectives and this helps them do that a lot better. It's an Innate Ability so if you have a hunker token it's always on, which is excellent when you consider that they want hunkers for stuff like Obi's Knowledge and Defense anyway.

Bullseye Training

As simple as it is, I actually really enjoy this stance. It's exceptional for a Supporting unit and really easy to use! So far, it is the only Stance with a No-Branch Combat Tree, essentially just a straight line. I like that it sorta adds to the effect of them being no-nonsense soldiers. They just wanna kill some droids and go back to Kamino, who can blame 'em?

You're getting 6 attack dice at range 5 and 4 in melee. Sure, that is fewer dice than the 501st get, but that is essentially irrelevant when you look at Combat Trees and Expertise. Their Ranged attack expertise is pretty incredible for a Support unit. Guaranteed extra damage at each level plus Crits, when you go higher, is wonderful. Their Melee attack expertise is, well, complete garbage. Not that I think it should be good anyway. Keep them out of engagements at all costs. Keep them sitting on your home points and chipping away at enemies near Mid-board.

Their Combat Tree is wonderful. It's very easy to use since there are no branches or choices. It's maxing out at 6 damage on only 4 successes! If you manage to also roll 4 expertise, you can get up to 8 damage. They also have Pin, Shove, and Expose on their tree. The thing I really like about this is that if they both shoot the same unit, the first clone set's them up with Pin and Expose and then the second one comes in and does a really good amount of damage to your target.

Defensively, they're not terrible. You really need to have Hunkers on them as much as you can. They're only rolling 4 Defense Dice at range and 3 in melee. They do not want to get shot, especially without some form of cover. Luckily, you want to bring them with Obi-Wan anyway, so Hunkers and Heals are a dime a dozen. This is also all the more reason to keep them out of Melee at any cost. 3 Defnse dice, or 4 with Hunker is not good. With one half-decent swing from a primary in melee, they'll be wounded. Just keep them back.

I would, in general, recommend keeping your 212th back to cover your home objectives. They do not want to be engaged, especially with a Primary or Secondary unit. If someone tries to threaten your backline they can cover you pretty decently and since there are two of them you'll be able to keep your objectives safe from a single character unit or safe from 2 sometimes since ties go to whoever had control already, excluding the case of Inquisitor Supports.

Squad and Strike Team Ideas

Before I wrap up today's article, I am just going to cover a few different Squads and Strike Teams I have tried, I recommend trying, or I think could be good.

Pure Clones

• General Obi-Wan Kenobi
  • Commander Cody
  • 212th Clones
• General Anakin Skywalker
  • Captain Rex
  • 501st Clones

They can do some good work with this list. They really like being around their buddy Cody. His rerolls help their offense immensely. Rex, Obi, and Ani all have heals to spare.

The Bad Ending

• General Obi-Wan Kenobi
  • Padawan Ahsoka
  • 212th Clones
• Darth Vader, Jedi Hunter
  • Captain Rex
  • 501st Clones

They like handing out as many pins as possible. With that, they can help Vader and Obi maintain board control. They can also be used to sit back and hold the back/midline while your Primaries and Secondaries go aggro and leave 'em in the dust.

Defensive Gunline

• General Obi-Wan Kenobi
  • Commander Cody
  • 212th Clones
• Luminara Unduli
  • Captain Rex
  • Clone Commandos

This list is designed to get as much out of your clones as possible. Through Cody's Support Rerolls your Clones should be putting out a good amount of damage and conditions. Add all that in with Lumi's heals, Obi's Hunker abilities, and Rex's Hunker heals, and you have a very tanky gunline that hits like a truck.

That's all I have to say about the 212th Clone Troopers! They are my favorite Supporting Unit so far and I can't wait to see what future releases help them out even more!

Thanks for reading!