Plans and Preparation - Squad Reactions

They have now shown Luminara, Barriss, and the Clone Commandos. I will talk about how I think they'll all work 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.

Primary - Jedi Master Luminara Unduli

• 8 SP - This is where I expected her to be. Some people, including me,  thought there was a chance she would be our first 9 since the Commandos could've been a 5.
• 3 FP - I think this is to be expected for most force users. I can't see many who deserve a 4 or a 2.
• 9 Stamina - This is an okay spot to be in considering her abilities, but be careful. She's liable to get wounded in 2-3 swipes pretty easily.
• 3 Durability - ^

Full Recovery - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 2 FP. Choose an allied unit within range 3. The chosen unit removes all [damage] and conditions from itself. This is an insane ability. I'm honestly surprised it only costs 2 Force tokens. I think if there ever was a reason to bring Luminara, this is it. She is going to add so much to Republic lists' defensive capabilities.

Sprint - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may [dash]. This is good, I like all of the units that have ways to effectively double move during their activations. I can't help but wonder why this isn't just Force Speed instead, but I suppose being able to move that little extra could make Full Recovery a little too good.

Precise Strike - This is a Reactive Ability with a cost of 1 FP. After this unit makes a combat action, it may use this ability. Choose an allied Galactic Republic Supporting Unit within [range] 3 of a character in this unit. If the chosen unit's order card is in the order deck, each character in that unit may [dash]. If the chosen unit's order card is not in the order deck, one character in the chosen unit may make a 5 dice attack. I think this is a pretty cool ability. The extra offense is always good and in a game where positioning will win or lose you the game, I think the extra movement is also insanely good. I can see this being a pretty popular ability with her, but it will take a bit of setup to keep your Supports nearby.

Flow of The Force - This is an Identity Ability with no cost. Once per turn, when an enemy unit becomes wounded, after the effect is resolved, one allied character may [dash]. — When an enemy character wounds an allied unit, after the effect is resolved, a character in another allied unit may [heal] [heal] [heal]. — You may look at the top card of your order deck before revealing an order card or choosing to activate a unit from reserve. Woah that's a ton of different stuff. Let's break it down by clause.

1. Very good. Free dashes on anyone are solid. All you have to do is wound an enemy which should happen semi-frequently. This, to me, feels like a really good snowballing effect. Wound -> dash means, in theory, that dashing will either help you score or help you wound again later, which in turn will give you another dash, etc.
2. Yet another healing ability. In all of my games so far I haven't had a unit removed. I have had quite a few units become wounded, mostly my Jedi. I like the thought of the trade here. When one big unit becomes wounded I can heal another one 3 times to try and pick up their slack. That or using this on back capping supports to keep 'em scoring.
3. Solid, there's no reason to ever ignore this ability if you have a card in reserve. This could maybe come in handy with Obis' ability to reserve himself and put the other reserved card on the bottom.

Form II Makashi

This seems to be her more damage-oriented stance. Giving her 7 attack dice in melee and 0 at range. She also hets 5 defense at range and 6 in melee. Her attack expertise is good, it's by no means the best we've seen, but it'll get the job done. Her defense expertise on this stance is not very good, but once again it'll get the job done. Her attack tree here is the more damage-oriented one, it caps out at 8 possible damage and a decent slew of both offensive and defensive abilities. If I'm being completely honest, I don't see much of a reason to use this stance unless you need something wounded and this is the only way to do it.

Form III Soresu

This stance is her more ability and defense-oriented one. She's throwing 6 attack dice in melee (one less than Makashi) and zero at range. She goes up to 6 Defense dice at range and in melee from Makashi. Her attack expertise is the same as Makashi, but her defensive expertise is very different. Her 1 expertise is good, Critical -> Strike is an amazing ability to have. When you roll more expertise she gets the addition of Strike->Fail, this is especially good when you consider that she can do that to the same die, so she effectively has Critical -> Fail like Obi-Wan. Her attack tree is also quite defensive. It only caps out at 6 damage, but you can get upwards of 5 heals which should be pretty incredible.

Overall, I am very very very excited to get Luminara on the board. All of my games so far have used Obi-Wan and I think she will be an excellent partner for him in nearly every list. What I like about her is the ability to just throw heals out like nobody's business. In one activation, she has the potential to hand out 8 + Full Recovery. I think she is going to add a ton to Republic lists, but I still think she may still be handy otherwise. All those heals on Maul could be pretty neat.

Secondary - Barriss Offee, Jedi Padawan

• 4  PC - This was what most expected. This is a good spot for her since every other Republic Secondary so far is a 4.
• 0 FP - This is a little bit surprising to me since she is a force user, but I think they said something like only primaries would add force points. I wouldn't have minded if she or Padawan Ahsoka added 1-2 FP though.
• 8 Stamina - 8 is somewhat low. 8/2 is one less than Cody and Rex and the same as the future 104th Clone Troopers and Bo Katan. It's not terrible when you consider that she will usually be alongside Luminara who can do some major healing.
• 2 Durability -^

Force Push - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 2 FP. Choose a character in this unit and an enemy character within [range] 3 of the chosen character. Push the chosen enemy character [range] 3 away from the chosen allied character. This ability is insane on Asajj, so I would assume it will be the same on Barriss. Any ability or effect that allows you to move your opponent's characters in nuts, especially in a game where positioning is everything.

Force Speed - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may [advance]. Like I said with Luminara, any ability that gives you extra movement is good. Once again, this game is all about positioning and any ability or effect that helps you with that is very valuable.

Slip Away - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. When another allied Galactic Republic character targets an enemy character that is engaged with one or more characters in this unit with an attack, this unit may use this ability. One character in this unit that is engaged with the target character may immediately [reposition]. If it does, this unit gains [hunker]. This is also an ability that we see on Asajj (it's like foreshadowing...). I like it, I like the idea of being able to run out of engagement and then gain a hunker. Pair this with Obi-Wan and she can just shimmy and gain that free hunker!

Faithful Padawan - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. When an enemy character is engaged with a character in this unit and a character in another allied Jedi Primary Unit, characters in this unit and characters in that allied Jedi Primary Unit add 2 dice to [melee] attacks targeting that enemy character. — After this unit makes a recover action, each allied unit within [range] 3 may remove one [damage] or one condition from itself. More healing! More offensive buffs to Jedi! Woo! I like everything about this ability. Boosting her and other Jedi primaries just for chillin' near each other is dope. Obi-Wan can now roll up to 13 attack dice in melee! I also really like the fact that she helps you action economy with your whole strike team. If you need a recover on a unit that doesn't want to waste the action, just wait around for Barriss and she can recover everyone!

Form III Soresu

This stance is surprisingly good. She gets 6 attack dice in melee and zero at range. She gets 4 defensive dice at range and 5 in melee. Her attack expertise is quite nice for a secondary. I am not a huge fan of needing 5+ expertise to get to the bottom of her chart, but it's not that much of an issue. Her defensive expertise is also decent, I like the repositions on it. Her attack tree is okay, it caps out at 6 damage but you do get a different ability every single square. If you're lucky enough to get 5 successes then you can get a free Force Push or Force Speed.

Overall, I like Barris. I think she is going to add a ton of utility to Republic lists or any list for that matter. I am not sure who I will like more in clone lists between Barris and Padawan Ahsoka, but I am excited to try her out individually and with others. I think she is going to be one of the most mobile characters we've seen or maybe will see.

Support - Clone Commandos

• 4  PC - Some people were anticipating 5, but I'm glad they're a 4. I like that they can be swapped pretty interchangeably with most of the other Support units.
• 0 FP -
• 6 Stamina - Am I the only one who seems to think this is a little bit crazy? I feel like nothing should be this low except Ewoks or something. In the games that I've played so far, doing 6 damage in one attack has not been that uncommon. They do have protection, but that still only makes the total needed 7, which is a pretty easy 1-2 shot.
• 2 Durability -^

Defensive Maneuver - 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 the same as all of the other clones. It is extremely good for positioning and incredible for their defense, especially alongside Obi-Wan.

Coordinated Fire: [Damage] - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. When another allied Galactic Republic character makes an attack as part of a combat action, before dice are rolled, this Unit may use this ability. If the targeted character is within Range 5 of a character in this Unit, the target unit suffers [damage]. Just like with all of the other coordinated fires, this will take a slight bit of setup. If you can manage to proc it, it can be quite good. Adding even just one extra damage is pretty incredible.

Ascension Cables - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. Characters in this unit have Scale. I like this, I think it should add a ton to their overall mobility. This pairs extremely well with Defensive Maneuver since with scale they can Climb instead of Dash.

Brothers in Arms - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. When this unit has one or more [hunker], characters in this unit have Steadfast. I like this, Steadfast is a good ability. I like that they have a ton of mobility, but that mobility is useless if you can't stay on the objectives.

Commando Armor - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. Characters in this unit have Protection. This is maybe a part of the reason why they only have 6 stamina, but I still feel like 7 would have been fine. From what I've seen on the table, protection is a very good ability against small damage pools and plinking. It loses a good bit of utility against bigger swings like lightsabers or Sharpshooters.

Commando Training

This is quite a good stance for a Support. 6 Attack dice at range and 5 in melee is nothing to scoff at. 5 Defense dice at range and 4 in melee is also quite sturdy, but I would avoid sabers like the plague. Their ranged attack expertise is decent, Crits are always nice to have. Their melee expertise is okay, it's slightly worse than their ranged, but that makes sense. Their defensive expertise is pretty good, 1:1 blocks for your first 2 expertise is pretty nice. I do wonder why their 3+ spot only gives them one block, but a reposition is also quite good. Their attack tree is solid, it might be the best Republic Support Tree. Capping out at 8 damage with 5 successes is pretty damn good. The Pin, strain, and reposition are also very nice additions to this tree, but it does seem like they're going to shine as pure damage dealers.

Overall, I am also quite excited to field Commandos. These guys are something I've wanted in Legion for a very long time and I am super happy to finally get them on the table in any capacity. I think these guys might take the most effort to learn out of all of the Supports so far. Learning to balance when to play offensively or defensively with them is going to affect your success with them much more than with other units. I worry that a lot of their effectiveness is going to rely more on luck than other units do. They feel like they could be one of those units that when they're good, they're really good and when they're bad, they're abysmal. Time will tell.

I am super stoked to be getting this whole squad on the table, I think they will all add something very helpful and unique to many strike teams. To be completely honest, I would be surprised if Luminara, specifically, isn't still one of the top meta picks in a year. Barriss and the Commandos look to both be some of the most mobile units we will see in the near future and I think both, with a little bit of heal support, will be amazing additions to the Clone Wars Era roster.