Echo and Tech - Unit Guide

Echo and Tech are the Brains of the Batch. Tech was known for his incredible intellect and breadth of knowledge on almost any topic in the galaxy. Echo, on the other hand, was a cybernetically enhanced ARC trooper who joined the Batch much later than everyone else. He was used as a sort of tactical computer for the Seppies during the Clone Wars after he was assumed KIA during the Citadel mission.

In the game, that translates to the two of them being a very good support unit and being only somewhat decent in combat. Even though they are the weakest fighters in the Batch, there are still plenty of reasons why you should bring them. Let's talk about why.

• 4 Points Cost
• 0 Force
• 7 Stamina / 2 Durability
• Support | Bad Batch - Clone Trooper - Galactic Republic - Scoundrel

Four points is the right spot for them. Not only because Hunter is an eight, but it does actually make sense from both a power-level perspective and a lore perspective. This puts them in the most flexible spot for the Republic. Once again, this flexibility is a bit "useless" since they're always with Hunter or Obi-Wan.

Seven stamina is a bit on the low side. It puts them well within the single-shot wound range of most combat primaries and a few secondaries. They, like the rest of the Batch, frequently have access to many heals, protection, hunkers, etc. to keep them in the fight.

They have the same tags as Hunter and Wrecker. Therefore they can fit very well in Bad Batch lists, Republic lists, or Scoundrel lists depending on the rest of the team. I would still never take them without Hunter personally, except maybe with Obi-Wan.

Forward Planning - I'll be honest, I have used these two in over 30 games at this point and I've still not used this ability a single time. I'm sure there are situations where it can be helpful but none of them have come up for me yet. The issue with this ability is that removing your opponent's control from an objective does not inherently mean you will gain control of it. It also has no effect on determining control at the end of a turn, so if you use this ability on an objective that your opponent has a character on, and you don't, it's just a waste of the force cost. This ability does not provide any way for you to gain control, it just removes control. If you have to shove a body off and go contest a point to control it, this ability does not change that. If you have to wound two things and displace another and then and then and then, this ability does not change that. The only use case where this ability actually does something potentially useful is by stripping control from a back point objective that your opponent left alone and you, for some reason, can't or won't go contest. That's it. There are no other circumstances where this ability actually functions in any quantifiable way except being a waste of one force.

Okay, I was not trying to be overly negative. Apart from this one ability, I think Echo and Tech are great and have a spot in my Batch lists forever. So let's move on to their useful stuff, shall we?

Keep a Low Profile - It's got a new name, but this is just Defensive Maneuver. Not that it's a bad thing for them to have. Defensive Maneuver is a very helpful ability and can sometimes win struggles, especially with these two. That extra little Dash is almost always helpful and the Hunker is excellent. I use this more frequently with them than other clones, but still not every activation.

Forward Planning - This ability is great, I love it. Being able to remove a Pin or Strain from an activating unit is very helpful. I tend to use this ability every single time that I can before they're wounded, there's no reason not to. Once they have one wound/injured token, I will only generally use it for Pins and Strains on Primaries if I absolutely have to. Otherwise, it's probably not worth the price. I'll harp on this a little bit later, but this ability is the main reason why I generally split the two of them up on the table, rather than keep them together.

The Brains of the Batch - As with all of the Batch, this ability is their defining ability. (sidenote: I love that all of them have an ability called "The X of the Batch" that all of said abilities are their owner's most defining ability.) This ability is the main reason why I don't feel bad using Defensive Maneuver on them. If I choose to spend that one force, it's like getting a Dash, Hunker, and Focus all in one. Add Kenobi into the mix and it's like getting all of that plus a second Dash, a Heal, and extra dice in melee. All of that for one force is an absolute steal! Once we look at their stance you'll see why this Hunker can be very important for them. This ability is the main reason why many people say their best spot is with General Obi-Wan. I don't think that is their worst spot, but personally, I think they still work better with Hunter. Now, with that said, my favorite Batch list is Hunter+Obi so I get the best of both worlds.

Stance

This stance is good. At first glance, it might not appear to do much, but that is not really the case in my experience.

It starts off with six attack dice at range four and six in melee. Their Ranged expertise is pretty good. They get a crit at every level which is very nice. They get an additional strike at three or more and an additional damage at four or more. Their melee expertise is not as good since it does not generate any extra dice results until three or more and no crits until four or more. It can still do some work if you need it to, but they prefer shooting.

There is a weird detail about both charts and it has to do with the way they interact with Hunter's identity. With the way that the dice math works out, they effectively don't get the Bad Batch bonus from Hunter's identity unless you roll exactly zero or three expertise icons (even rolling three is meh). As a reminder, Hunter allows them to change one failure into a strike or expertise. With the other Batchers, there are more options and situations where you may or may not want the extra expertise. With Tech and Echo, unless you're disarmed, roll zero, or roll three initial expertise, you should almost always take a strike. To me, this feels a little bit sad since it just makes them feel like a regular Clone unit. If you're disarmed, adding one gets you a crit. If you roll zero, adding one gets you a crit. If you roll one, adding one does nothing. If you roll two, adding one does the same thing as adding an expertise. If you roll three, adding one actually makes you choose between the extra strike or extra damage (usually the extra strike is still better). If you roll four or more, never add an expertise.

Their combat tree is seemingly a little weak at first glance but it's actually quite good in my experience. It tops out at only four damage or five with expertise. Now, remember, they are a support so basically everything in this part can be doubled. That means they can do up to ten (twelve possible) damage and four shoves to one unit. That's very good. They generally get three or four successes when I use them. Thanks, Hunter. So you can generally rely on at least three damage, a strain, a pin, and a shove from each of them. The big part about this tree for me is easy and reliable access to shoves or heals, depending on what you need at the time. Normally, I would be salivating at the sight of a free active ability on the tree. However, they want to have a hunker before they shoot, which means I am using defensive maneuver before they shoot a lot. You can't use the same active twice in one turn so that only leaves their other active, which is fine? Like, if you're gonna use it at all, doing it for free is ideal, but it's still very situational.

Defensively, they are quite good. They get five defense dice at range and four in melee. In practice those numbers are usually plus two or three. If they have one Hunker token they go to eight defense dice at range (sometimes more) and five in melee, unless Obi-Wan is there, then six. That is incredible for a support unit. Not many things in the game can so easily roll eight defense dice. Their defensive expertise is fine at one or two and great at three or more. One block at one or two is okay, but not amazing. Two blocks and a heal at three or more is very good. Overall, they are fairly defensive as a unit but they really need at least one Hunker to survive.

Tactics

Let's very briefly talk about what to do with them. There's not a whole ton to say here.

I like to split them up so that Forward Planning has a wider effective range. I don't recommend rushing them forward or ever sending them past the midpoint of the table unless you really need to. The only situation where I could see justifying it is to remove a condition from a primary later on. If they whiff a defense roll, they will get wounded. Once they're wounded they're kinda useless except for holding back points. So, don't let them get wounded.

Squad and Strike Team Ideas

Echo and Tech can fit in a bunch of different lists, but if you don't have Hunter or Obi-Wan, you're likely better off with another unit.

Defensively... Offensive?

Primary: Clone Sergeant Hunter
- Secondary: Wrecker and Omega
- Support: Echo and Tech
Primary: General Obi-Wan Kenobi
- Secondary: CC-7567 Captain Rex
- Support: Republic Clone Commandos

This has been my most successful list with Echo and Tech in it. The option to have Hunkers on Hunter, Wrecker, and Techo in melee is incredible and has made all of them feel almost impossible to kill. With how many extra abilities and actions they can get during their activations, I have not felt too bad about Taking Cover with them fairly often. Rex does Rex things, most notably, giving out heals when the Batch Take Cover and potentially giving Hunter a Dash + Hunker. I think the commandos could be ARFs if you want, but this list for me is out of a premier list where the ARFs are in another squad. Obi-Wan also loves it when Techo removes a pesky condition from him.

Business is BOOMIN'!!!

Primary: Clone Sergeant Hunter
- Secondary: Wrecker and Omega
- Support: Echo and Tech
Primary: Hondo, Honest Businessman
- Secondary: Jango Fett, Bounty Hunter
- Support: ARF Clone Troopers

This list is a lot of fun. I think right now, it is one of the only lists where Hondo actually works. Give the Batch or Jango some extra dice -> kill something -> shove them away -> take no strain ->???->Profit. I think there might be a small argument for Cross over Jango here, but since Cross is not a Scoundrel it's a bit of a tough sell for me. Techo benefits from the extra dice a bit less than the rest of them since they usually only need four successes, but what I like about them here is that if you fail to avoid taking the strain, you can use forward planning to remove it later on.

Overall, I think Echo and Tech have a solid place in every Bad Batch list and many Obi-Wan lists. They can be a bit difficult to get value out of but everything in this game tales practice to use well. I hope I have given you some good insight on how to use them effectively.

Thanks for reading!