Clone Force 99 - Squad Reactions

They have now shown Hunter, Wrecker, Omega, Tech, Crosshair, and Echo. I will talk about how I think they'll all work both together and individually. You can still consider this article speculation since everything can be way different on paper than on the table. Eventually, I will be writing Unit Guides on most/all of the units in the game, but that will have to wait until I can get some playtime in with them.

Buckle up, this is a very long one.

Hunter - Primary

• 8 SP - I think this is the best spot for him. I could've seen him being a 9 to allow the other characters to be more powerful, but I am happy with 8.
• 3 FP - The standard for 8SPs. I have a feeling this team is going to be hungry for Force, so ideally pair him with another 3 or a 4.
• 9 Stamina/ 3 Durability -  I think this is fine because of his defensive abilities which we will look at shortly. He is also a part of the most defensive faction, so he has easy access to Hunkers and other such abilities.

We Prefer Going to Them - This is a Tactic Ability with no cost. At the start of this unit's activation, choose another allied Clone Trooper unit. One character in the chosen unit may [dash]. If the chosen unit is Bad Batch, that character may instead [advance]. Simple and effective. Like almost all of his abilities, this one really wants you to use it on another BB unit. Luckily, he's not SOL if you throw him in a list without other BBs since his abilities also call out Clone Troopers. I like this a lot and I think it will make him flexible.

Striking Distance - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. One character in this unit may [dash] and then make a 5-dice attack. An extra move and an extra attack?! This ability is very good and I am a huge fan of it. I foresee wanting to proc this almost every time I activate Hunter, and I don't see any downside to doing that. This will make Force Economy for his teams very tight.

Enhanced Tracker - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. When an enemy Primary Unit makes a move action, after all moves have been resolved, this unit may use this ability. One character in this unit may [dash] toward a character in the enemy unit. This Ability is both Thematic and quite good. Extra moves are always good, especially if they're free. This ability is still board-state dependent, but if you need it, I see no reason why you shouldn't use it. Once he is wounded or injured, I think there is still a conversation, but I would not use it very often for 1+ FP.

It's Hard to Compete With a Jedi - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. When a character in this unit defends against an attack, it may reroll up to two of its [failure] results. If this unit has [expose], it may instead reroll all of its [failure] results. Woah! More rerolls for GAR. I love it. This ability is simply fantastic. There is literally no downside to this and it will help you every single game (unless your dice are microwaved). The fact that this ability gets better with Expose is wonderful. He is going to feel like a tank with defensive rerolls and I cannot wait.

The Leader of the Batch - This is an Identity Ability with no cost. When an allied Clone Trooper character makes an attack as part of a combat action, it may change one [failure] result to a [strike]. If the character is Bad Batch, it may instead change one [failure] result to a [strike] or [expertise]. I cannot express in words how much I love this ability. Rerolls are one thing, but straight-up dice fixing is another. This ability is going to feel great for pretty much any list he is in. If he's alone, then he helps himself with defensive rerolls and offensive dice fixing. If he's accompanied by a Jedi and 4 other Clone or Bad Batch units, then almost your whole list will be hitting like a truck with disgusting consistency. At first glance, this might be one of my favorite Identity Abilities we have seen so far, easily top 5.

Huntsman

This seems like his more damage/combat-oriented stance. He's getting 7 attack dice at range and 6 in melee. That is a really solid starting point, especially if you consider dice fixing. Defensively, he's sporting 6 dice at range and 5 in melee. His ranged attack expertise is very good. Crit generation at every level in addition to extra damage and extra moves at 3+. Charts going up this high usually feel bad to me, but since he will be able to fix his dice to expertise, he should be able to get up to the free moves pretty often. His melee expertise is okay, but not as good. He does not get any crit generation until 3+ but, like I said before, that will maybe not be a huge issue. The defensive expertise here is solid, but not flashy. With his defensive rerolls I am glad that his expertise is not too amazing because I feel it could have gotten out of hand fast. With that said, considering his rerolls, you should be able to get a decent amount of 2+ expertise rolls which will net you +2 blocks, a heal, and potentially a dash. The combat tree here is solid too. It tops out at 8 damage or 9 with expertise. He also has access to up to 2 shoves, expose, strain, reposition, and 2 heals. I like this stance, a lot.

Knife Fighter

This is seemingly his more effect-oriented stance. He is sporting the same dice as before, but the ranges are swapped, leaning this stance more toward melee. His ranged expertise here is okay, but not great. It is very similar to his melee expertise from before but with added damage at 1-2. His melee expertise is incredible. It has everything I want out of a combat expertise. Extra moves, crit gen at every level, and some conditions. This is insane and I cannot wait to see how it feels on the table. The defensive expertise is the same as Huntsman. His combat tree here is also quite good. It tops out at 7 damage or 8 with ranged expertise. That is a bit lower than before, but he still gets 2 shoves, strain, and either a dash and one heal or a reposition and 3 heals! Extra moves, Heals, and Shoves! I like the previous stance a lot, and I tend to prefer ranged stances, but this stance is incredibly good looking. I think I will thoroughly enjoy using this on the table.

Overall, I am very very excited about Hunter. He looks like he will be in my top 5 units in the game after a first look. I hope he does not disappoint on the table. I love the fact that he is designed to help out regular clones but will help his Bad Batch Buddies even more. His stances look disgusting and I can't wait to get him rolling some dice. His miniature is also one of the coolest-looking we've seen so far.

Secondary - Wrecker and Omega

• 4 PC - Honestly, I would not have been surprised if these two were a 5PC and the supports were 3PC, but I am not mad about 4/4 at all. This is still the most flexible spot for Secondaries to be in.
• 0 FP -
• 10 Stamina/ 2 Durability - Sitting at 10 with all of the defensive abilities they get is very good. They should prove to be pretty tanky.

Bulldoze - This is a Tactic Ability with no cost. At the start of this unit's activation, one character in this unit may [dash]. If it ends this movement within [range] 1 of one or more enemy characters it may [shove] one of those characters. More free moves! And it gives them a little shoves bonus! I love how much these Bad Batchers are going to be moving. They seem like some of the most mobile units yet. That shove could prove to be very good once you add it to the potential two that Wrecker gets from Boom!

Hahahaha, Yeah!!! - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 2 FP. Action: One character in this unit may make a [ranged] attack. Oh, Mama! How do these guys keep getting better and better? Two FP for an extra ranged attack? Don't mind if I do. Obviously, this ability is very good, but let me just math out a little part of it for you. Their tactic and two attacks on Boom! means that they could potentially shove a character five times in one activation. FIVE TIMES. Oh, that Vader isn't where you want him? Here, let me coordinate fire [Expose] him, attack him twice, and Yeet him across the map, thanks. Love it

I Wasn't Sneaking... - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Choose an active objective within [range] 3 that you do not control and an enemy unit contesting that objective. Roll 5 attack dice. The chosen unit suffers [damage] for each [critical] and [strike] result in the roll. Then, if the chosen unit was wounded by this effect, gain an additional momentum token. Yet another ability that I love. This is incredible! Being able to do damage while ignoring defensive abilities is very good as we've seen with Jango Fett. The fact that this ability then also gives you a chance to gain two momentum from a wound is nuts. As much as I like this ability and as Valuable as extra damage is, I will still probably not use this ability unless my target is <5 away from being wounded, just so I can proc the latter effect.

The Muscle of the Batch - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. While this unit is not wounded, allied Bad Batch characters within [range] 3 have Steadfast. While this unit is not wounded, allied Clone Trooper characters within [range] 3 and allied Scoundrel characters within [range] 3 have Protection. This ability is like having a diet Mace Windu around. I love Mace's ability and I feel the same way about this one. Range three is rather small, but any bigger and it would be too good. Once again, I very much like that this ability helps Clones and Bad Batch, to a higher extent. It also helps Scoundrels, which I like a lot. This should not be surprising if you've seen the Bad Batch TV show. I am, at the time of writing, just not sure what Scoundrel I would pair with them.

Boom!

This is a very good-looking stance. 6 Attack dice for both and 5 defense dice for both is a good start. The ranged expertise is not bad either. They get a respectable amount of strikes at lower levels and start getting crits at 2+. Normally, I would complain about this, but with Hunter around this should be less of an issue since they can fix their dice. The melee expertise is good, but not too flashy either. Crits at both levels is always nice, but there's not a lot going on. Their defensive expertise is... not good. I do not like not seeing any blocks until 3+. That is a very rough way to start your expertise chart. Once you do get to 3+, you're still only getting one block which is straight-up bad. Luckily, they have lots of Stamina. The Combat tree here is the best part, in my opinion. it tops out at 6 damage or 7 with melee expertise If you go for only 5 damage you can get a Pin, 2 Shoves, and 2 Dashes, which is incredible. The value of extra moves in addition to moving your enemies cannot be overstated, especially when you get to Pin them where you push them.

Tuning Out Distractions

This is their second stance and it is also pretty good. It has the same dice setup as the Boom!, which is good. The ranged expertise is okay, but not great. Extra damage at all levels is solid, but no crits until 4+ blows. In melee, their chart is not bad at all. Crits at both levels in addition to a strike with extra damage at 3+. Their defensive expertise is significantly better on this side. They get a block at every level, Crit manipulation, and a Dash. The combat tree is solid. It tops out at 6 damage or up to 8 with expertise. They have a chance at potentially doing any of the conditions, which I love. A Shove, 2 Heals, and a Repsotion also show up on this tree. All 3 of those effects are very good when you need them. I like this stance a lot.

Overall, I am surprised how much I like these two. There is a ton of flavor on this card and a lot of it is very very good. I cannot wait to get them on the table and see what they can do. I could see slotting them into many GAR lists w/ or w/o their brothers.

Secondary - Crosshair

• 4 PC - This tracks, considering what Wrecker and Omega are.
• 0 FP -
• 9 Stamina/ 2 Durability - Not bad. He is a part of arguably the most defensive faction so 9 stamina is not really that low. Obi-Wan says hi.

Trick Shot - This is a Tactic Ability with no cost. At the start of this unit's activation, if no characters in this unit are engaged, choose an enemy unit in LOS. The chosen unit suffers [damage] and removes all its [hunker]. Oh, this is nice. This feels like it is supposed to emulate a sniper shot, which is both thematic and very good. The damage part is a good way to help him potentially do more wounded, but the Hunker removal does not help him. It can, however, help his team. Removing Hunkers for everyone else is a nice touch since he does not care about cover. I don't think it will be too difficult to keep him unengaged.

Find the Shot - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1FP. Each character in this unit may [climb]. If any characters [climb], this unit immediately makes a focus action. This is a solid ability for his kit. He will want to Focus on every activation he is going to shoot, and this helps with that. I think using this ability will usually be better than just Focus -> Shooting since movement is everything in this game.

Relax, I'll Handle This - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. When a character in this unit makes a [ranged] attack as part of a combat action, before dice are rolled, this unit may use this ability. During this attack, each time the attacker would resolve a [heal], it may instead choose to remove one condition from an allied unit that is engaged with the defending character. This is probably his worst ability, and it's still not bad. I would say this is very situational, but when the situation arises, you're going to be glad you can pull this off. Hard to say when exactly it will be good since it seems pretty game-state-dependent, but I'm sure there will be times.

The Deadeye of the Batch - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. Characters in this unit have Sharpshooter [2]. When a character in this unit makes a [ranged] attack, the target does not benefit from cover. Just like Gar, Cody, and now Gwarm. These kinds of abilities are great. It is both thematic and extremely useful. Denying cover is incredible and, if you bring ARFs, you can expose them, denying most defensive abilities. This is why you bring Crosshair. If you are not leveraging this ability every time he activates, or at least every time he shoots, you're better off taking someone else. As mentioned before, this ability also gets exponentially better when you factor in GAR abilities like Coordinate Fire. He will be one mean shooter and I cannot wait to use him.

Bad Play

This stance is looking just as good as his ability suite does. He is getting 7 ranged attack dice but that should ALWAYS be 10 dice from Focus + SS2. His melee is set at 5, which is probably fine in a pinch, but not where he wants to be. He gets 5 defense dice for both. His ranged expertise, as to be expected, is quite good. Crits at every level with an additional damage at 2-3 or a reposition at 4+. If you have Hunter around, getting at least to the 2-3 level should not be too hard. His melee expertise is also as expected. It's not bad by any means, but not the best. Like his die pool, it will do work in a pinch. Defensively, his expertise is rather solid. Blocks at all levels in addition to Crit->Strike at every level is very nice. The combat tree is solid as well. It tops out at 8 damage or 9 with expertise or 10 if you count the damage from his Tactic Ability. He also has what seems to be a common Bad Batch setup of a Pin with 2+ Shoves. Pin+Shoves are incredible and with all of them having access to it, they will be a nast objective playing force. He also has access to up to 3 heals and a reposition. The Heals are great for his reactive ability if you can set it up.

Overall, I am very excited about Crosshair. I think he is going to be seen in many lists, Republic, Bad Batch, or otherwise. I am a big advocate for Cody, but seeing what Crosshair is (and what Cody should've been) makes me feel like Cody is staying put on the shelf for a while. I cannot wait to get him the table and see what he is capable of.

Support - Tech and Echo

• 4 PC - Once again, this is not surprising. This allows them to match the rest of the box and allows them to be in the most flexible GAR Support PC slot.
• 0 FP -
• 7 Stamina/ 2 Durability - Eek! This feels kinda scary low. Clone Commandos are at 6 Stam but always have access to Protection. Hopefully, the defensive abilities these two have will keep them alive and unwounded.

Fight Smarter, Not Harder - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Choose an active objective within [range] 3 that is controlled by an opposing player and remove one of this unit's [hunker]. If any [hunker] were removed, remove the opposing player's control token from the chosen objective. I like this ability a lot. Messing with objective control is always good. The stipulation that they need to drop a Hunker should not be too bad since they have ways of easily generating them. It does feel a little bit weird since they will have to remove any hunker they have when they activate -> Generate another hunker -> remove it to use this ability. I'm sure it will not be that big of a deal and certainly is not a bad idea since objective shenanigans can be game-winning.

Keep a Low Profile - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may [dash]. If any characters [dash], this unit gains [hunker]. This is just Defensive Maneuver with a new name. Def Man is very very good, especially in the GAR. This is one of those easy ways for them to generate Hunker tokens, but you can also always Take Cover.

Forward Planning - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. When an allied Primary unit within [range] 4 or an allied Secondary Unit within [range] 4 starts its activation, this unit may use this ability. The activating unit may remove one condition from itself. I like this a ton. There are a lot of BB abilities that are leaning into condition removal which seems pretty handy. Since this ability has no cost, there is not really any downside to using it until they are wounded or injured. Just plain good.

The Brains of the Batch - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. While this unit has one or more [hunker], characters in this unit add 1 die to their attack and defense rolls. Another Hunker related ability! These guys are just itching to get slapped in an Obi-Wan list. I love the fact that hunkers will help both their offense and defense. If you also have Obi-Wan then they will be rolling lots of extra dice, which should help them a lot considering their measly 7 Stamina.

Military Intelligence

They get 6 attack dice at both range and in melee, but with Hunker, that becomes 7. Defensively they get 5 at range and 4 in melee (+any extras). Their ranged expertise is not bad at all. A Crit at every level in addition to a strike at 3+ and damage at 4+. They might put in a decent amount of work. In melee, their chart is not as good, but still not terrible. Extra damage at every level is nice, but they get no Crits until 4+. Luckily, if you have Hunter, then that should not be too hard to do. Defensively their chart is pretty standard. It is not flashy but it will get some work done. The combat tree is good-ish. It tops out at only 4 damage or 5 with expertise, which might be one of the lowest we've seen. They also get the BB staple of Pin+Shove(s) which is still very good even if they don't hit as hard. Heals, Strain, and Reposition are all good and also all make pretty regular appearances on other BB Stances. The big thing for me is an Active Ability Icon! This is another very interesting way for them to proc their Objective manipulating ability. Since this will happen when they attack, it will happen after they add the extra attack dice from Hunker. Activate->Low Profile -> Shoot w/ extra dice -> Fight Smarter -> Advance towards the objective to gain control. That sequence seems like it will be pretty good if you can pull it off.

Overall, I am fairly excited about these two. Not nearly as excited for them as I am for Hunter or Crosshair, but I think they will still be very good in the right list. I need to play with them a bit before truly determining how I feel but I have a feeling that I will like them. It all depends on how often (and how clunky it is) I can activate their Smarter, Not Harder ability.

I think this Box is the one I've been the most excited about since Mace Windu came out. If you couldn't tell by the 3,186-word essay I've just crushed out at midnight. Bad Batch is likely going to be my main list for a while. I am thinking something like Obi+Rex+ARF(or Comms) paired with Hunter+Crosshair+Techo.

Thanks for Reading!