Unit Summary
Offense (Surge to Hit)
Average Ranged Output = 2.50 Hits
Average Melee Output = 2.50 Hits
Average WoundsRebel Trooper (White
with surge)Stormtrooper (Red, no
surge)Melee1.671.25Melee + Aim2.221.67No Cover1.671.25No Cover + Aim2.221.67Light Cover1.040.78Light Cover + Aim1.571.20Heavy Cover0.580.44Heavy Cover + Aim1.000.75
Defense (White with Surge)
1 Wound – 4 Model Unit
33.3% Save
Durability = 6 Defensive Rolls
Defend 1 – Each time this unit is issued an order, it gains a Dodge token
Utility
Speed 2
Courage 1
Coordinate: Emplacement Trooper - After a unit with the coordinate keyword is issued an order, it may issue an order to a friendly unit at range 1 that has the unit name or type specified by the coordinate keyword.
Unit Analysis
The Rebel Veterans come into the game at a solid 48 points per unit. Thanks to their long service, they have gained Surge-to-Hit with their A-280 Blaster Rifles and Defend 1 instead of Nimble. This makes their defense more proactive, since a unit in Heavy Cover can negate 3 hits from most units without needing to be activated first. However, lacking Nimble means that the Dodge token is only going to help against one attack. This means Rebel Veterans may need to be more reactive in order to survive. Taking Rebel Veterans is also a means of accessing their Detachment, the Mark II Medium Blaster Trooper. This unit will be discussed later in the article, after the upgrades section. It is also worth noting that the Coordinate: Emplacement Trooper ability is not limited to the Mark II, making this unit capable of issuing orders to the FD turret as well.
Upgrades
Unique
Heavy Slot (1)
CM-0/93 Trooper
Average WoundsRebel Trooper (White
with surge)Stormtrooper (Red,
no surge)No Cover1.000.75No Cover + Aim1.451.10Light Cover0.720.55Light Cover + Aim1.090.82Heavy Cover0.670.50Heavy Cover + Aim1.000.75
General
Personnel Slot (1)
Rebel Veteran is situationally recommended on this unit. Like many Corps units, including an extra generic is a matter of preference.
Rebel Officer Upgrade is situationally recommended on this unit. A courage buff to any unit is useful, and Take Cover means this unit can be paired with a Rebel Soldier unit and give it a Dodge token while providing decent individual fire support.
R5 Astromech Droid is situationally recommended on this unit. The Mark II Medium Blaster Cannon’s Fire Support pairs well with vehicles, so it’s very possible that creating a pod of a vehicle, Rebel Veteran with Astromech, and Mark II Medium Blaster unit could be highly potent.
2-1B Medical Droid is situationally recommended on this unit. Like other Corps, the choice to take a Medic is often dependent on other, more valuable units.
Rebel Comms Technician is situationally recommended on this unit, as in addition to adding an extra body and gun, this gives access to a comms slot. This should be taken to give access to one of these upgrades…
Comms Slot (if Rebel Comms Technician is taken)
HQ Uplink is recommended on this unit. The 2-for-1 orders gained from the synergy between this card and Coordinate cannot be overstated. It is rare for players to want to issue orders to corps units via their command cards, so there is a strong argument for taking a comms technician with HQ uplink. This feels strongest on low-pip turns where access to Mark II Fire Support is crucial (Brains and Brawn comes to mind).
Long-Range Comlink is not recommended on this unit. With only Courage 1, this unit should not be beyond Range 3 of a Commander at any given time, lest they Panic.
Comms Jammer is not recommended on this unit. Much like Grenades, this upgrade is more useful on assault units, where its debuff can affect the greatest number of enemy units.
Comms Relay is not recommended on this unit. If this unit does not receive an order token, it does not Coordinate with a nearby Emplacement trooper.
Linked Targeting Array is illegal on this unit (but not the emplacement trooper detachment).
Training Slot (1)
Overwatch is situationally recommended on this unit. Since the Mark II also has Sentinel, it is very possible to create multiple overlapping fields of Range 3 fire with Standby.
Endurance is situationally recommended on this unit. This is a solid choice, given the Veterans still only have one courage. It almost guarantees they will enter any given turn with no Suppression, and for a much cheaper cost than an Officer.
Hunter is not recommended on this unit. A lack of Aim-related keywords and a mediocre attack pool make this unit a somewhat weak option for this upgrade.
Tenacity is not recommended on this unit. This is not an aggressive melee unit and playing it as such is unlikely to be successful, so this upgrade has little merit.
Duck and Cover is not recommended on Rebel Veterans. With no Low Profile or Danger Sense, the benefits from this card are minimal.
Gear Slot (1)
Recon Intel is situationally recommended on Rebel Veterans. Because of the way detachment is described during the Deployment Phase, in which you can deploy up to a speed-1 move away (even outside the deployment zone), giving Recon Intel to Veterans allows the Mark II to be deployed even further forwards.
Environmental Gear is minimally recommended on Rebel Veterans. It’s a cheap upgrade that adds a bit of mobility. It’s probably not going to be missed if you don’t take it.
Grappling Hooks is minimally recommended on Rebel Veterans. It’s a cheap upgrade that adds a bit of mobility. It’s probably not going to be missed if you don’t take it.
Emergency Stims is not recommended on this unit. While this unit is more expensive than other Rebel Corps, it is still very low on the Medic ROI chart. Adding to this a mediocre offense, there is little benefit to equipping such an expensive upgrade.
Targeting Scopes is not recommended on Rebel Veterans. Without the CM-0/93, they average 2.5/4 hits, meaning that the extra reroll granted by Precise 1 is often wasted.
Grenade Slot (1)
Grenades are not recommended on Rebel Veterans. This is not an assault unit, which gains powerful benefits at Range 1. Therefore, Grenades have minimal benefit.
Mark II Medium Blaster Trooper
Unit Summary
**Note that this unit requires the Rebel Veterans in your list in order to be fielded and counts as a corps unit contributing to your maximum count of 6.
Offense
Average Melee Hits = 0.63
Average Ranged Hits = 2.50
Average WoundsRebel Trooper (White
with surge)Stormtrooper (Red,
no surge)Melee0.420.31Melee + Aim0.580.42No Cover1.671.25No Cover + Aim2.221.67Light Cover1.050.78Light Cover + Aim1.571.20Heavy Cover0.580.45Heavy Cover + Aim1.000.75
Defense
3 Wounds
33.3% Save
Durability = 4 Saves
Utility
Speed 2
Courage 1
Sentinel (range 3 standby)
Fire Support - When another friendly unit performs a ranged attack, a unit
that has the fire support keyword and a faceup order token may add eligible weapons to the attack pool.
Detachment: Rebel Veterans - During the “Deploy Units” step of Setup, a unit with the detachment keyword must be placed at speed-1 of a unit leader from a friendly unit that has the unit name or type specified by the detachment keyword.
Unit Analysis
This unit is the first unit so far to have the keyword Fire Support. This allows it to contribute its dice to an attacking pool, so long as 3 conditions are met. It must have a face-up order token, and it must have both Range and Line-of-Sight to the unit it is attacking. It also contributes its Critical 2 keyword to the pool, which has marginal benefits on large pools, but significant advantages on small pools that lack Surge-to-Crit. After through calculations, and with the assumption that most instances involve shooting into heavy cover, it was found that unless a unit has Sharpshooter, extremely large dice pools benefit most from Fire Support. So, the top five options for Fire Support from a Mark 2 from a purely mathematical standpoint are…
- AT-RT
- Fleet Troopers
- Rebel Commandos with Sniper
- Wookie Warriors with Bowcaster
- Rebel Pathfinders with Bistan
An honorable mention must be given to Leia, who came in 7th place. Considering her Sharpshooter 2 and Surge-to-Crit, combining her with the Mark II gives a respectable 7 black dice that ignore cover. This is further exacerbated if a player also includes Chewbacca and plays Brains and Brawn. This particular combination is statistically likely to take a Death Trooper unit from full health to gone in a single attack.
Upgrades
General
Comms Slot (1)
HQ Uplink is situationally recommended on this unit. Though it’s probably preferable as an add-on to a Rebel Comms Officer in a Veterans unit, there isn’t anything preventing a player from taking this upgrade on both units (besides points), giving Fire Support on 2 turns without needing to Recover.
Long-Range Comlink is minimally recommended on this unit. While not useless, many characters benefit from Fire Support boosting their attacks, so keeping the Mark II far away from them is inherently risky.
Linked Targeting Array is not recommended on this unit. Initially, it would seem that if a player intends to be issuing orders to Veterans, and by proxy, the Mark II, the free aims granted by Target 1 could really benefit. However, if the Mark II is going to be using Fire Support, it cannot spend this Aim Token, and thus, the points are wasted.
Comms Jammer is not recommended on this unit. This upgrade is more useful on assault units, where its debuff can affect the greatest number of enemy units. The Mark II has no compelling reason to get any closer than Range 3 of the opposition.
Comms Relay is not recommended on this unit. Receiving face-up order tokens is essential for Fire Support and using this card ability prevents that from occurring.
Scope
Currently, it is difficult to classify the scope of Rebel Veterans. A premium point cost combined with a lackluster Heavy option means that most commanders will opt to take a Z-6 Rebel Troopers squad instead. However, Rebel Veterans do give access to the Fire Support option of the Mark II which can synergize well with certain units, if properly protected. Veterans are designed to make a player think outside the box. These are not Corps that are designed to be spammed en-masse. Instead, Veterans and Mark II’s reward careful planning and synergistic combos. These units likely will not be seen in the standard Luke Leia gunline lists, but instead will force creativity and non-traditional unit pairing to make optimal use of fire support.
It is also worth noting that, should a player feel inclined to include one or more FD cannons, Rebel Veterans make good pairing units, as using Coordinate ability can pull the Support tokens right out the bag of random. The FD is also a reasonable choice to combine with Mark II Fire Support and having both Emplacements near each other allows for continued Coordinate synergy, even if the Mark II dies.
We will be keeping an eye on these two units very closely over the next several months. There is no telling right now how powerful certain fire support combos can be. We may see this unit be used to allow for Han or Sabine to really pack a punch, or to make Chewie significantly stronger. As we see interesting tips and tactics unfold, we will update this article. We believe that it is worth noting that a fully kitted up veteran squad with the heavy, and the mark 2 detachment has two less effective health than two z6 squads and is likely less efficient together for the points. Because of the vulnerability of the MK-2, it pairs really well in lists that include Chewbacca as he can prevent it from being removed from a large hitting attack. Fire supporting into Chewie, or Leia's Brains and Brawn card with Chewie, can lead to a very deadly shot.
Suggested Mark II Combos --- Damage Output Chart
Brains and Brawn (Leia Organa)
Average WoundsRebel Trooper (White
with surge)Stormtrooper (Red,
no surge)No Cover6.205.33No Cover + Aim7.156.00
AT-RT with Flamer (vs a 5-man unit)
Average WoundsRebel Trooper (White
with surge)Stormtrooper (Red,
no surge)No Cover5.854.38No Cover + Aim6.675.00
Fleet Troopers with Scattergun
Average WoundsRebel Trooper (White
with surge)Stormtrooper (Red,
no surge)No Cover5.754.60No Cover + Aim6.575.20Light Cover5.054.10Light Cover + Aim5.884.70Heavy Cover4.373.58Heavy Cover + Aim5.184.18
Wookie Warriors with Bowcaster
Average WoundsRebel Trooper (White
with surge)Stormtrooper (Red,
no surge)No Cover5.404.35No Cover + Aim6.255.00Light Cover4.723.85Light Cover + Aim5.584.47Heavy Cover4.003.30Heavy Cover + Aim4.883.95
Rebel Pathfinders with Bistan
Average WoundsRebel Trooper (White
with surge)Stormtrooper (Red,
no surge)No Cover5.073.81No Cover + Aim5.864.38Light Cover4.403.30Light Cover + Aim5.153.87Heavy Cover3.752.80Heavy Cover + Aim4.503.37
Rebel Commandos with Sniper
Average WoundsRebel Trooper (White
with surge)Stormtrooper (Red,
no surge)No Cover4.904.00No Cover + Aim5.754.60Light Cover4.203.45Light Cover + Aim5.054.10
Fleet Troopers with MPL
Average WoundsRebel Trooper (White
with surge)Stormtrooper (Red,
no surge)No Cover4.603.45No Cover + Aim5.334.00
AT-RT with Rotary Cannon
Average WoundsRebel Trooper (White
with surge)Stormtrooper (Red,
no surge)No Cover3.752.80No Cover + Aim4.553.40Light Cover3.102.30Light Cover + Aim3.882.90Heavy Cover2.501.85Heavy Cover + Aim3.252.45
Counter-analysis
To put it simply, the Mark II is incredibly vulnerable to being shot off the table. In many cases, the only reason the Rebel Veterans are on the table is to put that Emplacement on it as well. If an opponent is running of the top 5 synergistic units for the Mark II, removing it from the table will likely put a damper in their “power turns”. With only 3 health and a 1/3 chance of making a save, any attack pool that can force it to make 4+ saves are likely to take it from full health to gone in a single activation.
Additionally, Rebel Veterans only gain defensive bonus when they are issued an order. Any other time, they are Rebel Troopers with slightly higher offense, but since they lack Nimble, an overall lower defense. This means on turns where they are not issued orders, a reasonable amount of firepower should remove their threat with relative ease.
All images found in this article are property of Lucasfilm and/or Fantasy Flight Games.
