Fleet Troopers – Unit Guide

This guide will be an updated look at the Fleet Troopers for the Rebel Alliance and how to use them. While we did cover them in the past a lot has changed and the ways you will use them are quite different.

In the movies, we really only see them briefly for a few minutes before they are unceremoniously either shot to death by Stormtroopers or captured. Like all loyal soldiers to the Rebellion, these guys are still your workhorse and their sacrifice is what helps you win games. Short range and potentially deadly, Fleet Troopers will help clear out anyone who tries to get too close.

Strengths

• Throw an absolute ton of dice at a target, potentially doing a lot of wounds.
• Good special weapon options
• Cheap as a basic rebel trooper squad

Weaknesses

• Delicate, like all rebel troopers
• Extremely short range.
• Inaccurate if not properly supported.

Overview

40 Points: After a price cut they cost the same as a squad of Rebel Troopers which makes them a lot more affordable than before. They are far more specialized in their use, but when put in that role they will outperform the basic guys.

Defense: White with surge. You know the score with rebels. Unlike your other troop options they do not get anything that helps them with Dodge tokens like Nimble or Defend so you need to be even more careful about keeping these guys out of harms way.

Offense: DH-17 Blaster Pistol Range 2, Two White, Surge to hit. These guys throw out a lot of dice, and in Legion that means a lot. Since each hit only deals 1 damage, more dice means more damage…in theory. We’ll get to that, but white dice without support aren’t your friend.

Courage 1: They’re rebel corps what did you expect? Standard practice applies, avoiding leaving them where they will take a lot of fire and don’t let them get out of sight of their commanders.

Ready 1: If you take Standby action, you get an Aim token. Definitely helps with your white dice and gives you a bit of a clue on how these guys are meant to be used.

Upgrades

You have some upgrades to look at. There is of course the bonus trooper which might be worth considering given that’s two more dice in your pool. Most importantly though is the two specialty guns that are both pretty solid, even if you’re more likely to use one than the other.

MPL-5 Barrage Trooper

With Blast and Impact 2 and an 11 point drop down to 22 points the Barrage trooper is probably a lot more useful than it used to be. In addition to being cheaper, Armor has become a much bigger concern in the competitive space than when Fleet Troopers first debuted. It’s also a very flexible multi purpose weapon. The Impact 2 obviously is an ok anti-armor in a unit not usually great at anti-armor. You can fish for crits when throwing as many dice as you do and Blast makes them much better against the infantry they’re meant to be used against. One final perk is it’s Ranged 3 meaning you can at least blast something even if its outside range 2. However unlike the DLT-20a on Rebel Troopers or CM-93/0 on Veterans that isn’t as much of an improvement as it seems. Those guns keep your troopers out of range of counter-fire, this still requires you to walk right into it.

The achilles heel is that it has to be tapped to use and Rebels don’t have easy access to free recovers. It makes it a really tough sell as actions are precious especially when you only get Courage 1.

Scatter Gun Trooper

Oh yeah, this is the good stuff. Two red dice, Pierce 1 and no tapping required. At 23 points it’s a bit costly but synergizes well with the intended goal of the Fleet Troopers which is to make swiss cheese out of enemy troopers. Its Range is the same as your troopers so you’re still stuck with the problems that come with Range 2 but this is a great pick: It takes what your Fleet Troopers are meant to do and makes it better.

Other Upgrades

Usually Grenades are not worth it on rebel troopers. They require you to get uncomfortably close and when you’re already shooting with black dice then it’s not worth the risk. Fleet troopers are a possible exception worth looking at because their Range 2 guns mean they need to get close anyway. Fragmentation and Concussion grenades are both helpful and cheap upgrades with Fragmentation giving surge to crit (Great for any pool where you’re throwing a ton of dice) and Concussion letting you ignore cover. The problem with a lot of white dice is how swingy it is, you might roll hot and get a ton of hits or get squat. Being able to ignore cover or getting some more crits in can go a long way in leveling the playing field so more of those hits connect. They’re inexpensive and if you have a few spare points might be worth tossing in but it generally won’t be a priority.

Precision Scopes are a possibility in the equipment slot if you have points to spare. Fleet Troopers are very hungry for aim tokens and you may not always have an easy to access a ton of them. The next best thing is to optimize their use so they can reroll more tokens. This is a potentially solid pairing with the A-A5’s Unorthodox Tactician, who can hand them the free aims they need.

Strategies

Rebel Veterans and Rebel Troopers are both very flexible jack-of-all-trades infantry that plays well into the rebels glass cannon playstyle. You can bring 3 of those guys with or without upgrades and they will get the job done in a variety of situations. Fleet Troopers are not that. It doesn’t take much to work out how Fleet Troopers’ limited range enters the equation as a potential problem that needs to be worked around.

Despite having pistols, mechanically these guys are basically shotgunners. Lots of short range pellets firing in a blast at whatever gets close to them. So you have to really work with them and the terrain to find an ideal way to use them. You also probably don’t want to field only Fleet Troopers. You’ll need a mix of these guys and something with more long range to keep the threats varied. There are two major ways you’ll want to use them and it depends on how much you want to pay.

Holding the Rear Guard

This is basically replicating what they did at the beginning of A New Hope (hopefully you will be met with far better success) and likely what was intended for them by the developers. You find a good piece of line of sight blocking terrain to hide behind that still gives you a good line of sight to the objective, or covers a throughway an opponent might take to get to the objective and get your standby in. That throws a free Aim token your way. Then you wait.

You can do this with or without any bonus troopers, or throw some upgrades in. If you think you’re going to use them on guard duty it’s probably best to skimp on the upgrades. This is not the most efficient use for them and generally speaking the reason you do this is to save points on corps so you can dump more into your characters, Special Forces and vehicles. If you want to do it this way, that’s totally fine. It’s underestimated how important a deterrent can be that even if it fails to kill a single model the whole game, the fact it kept the enemy away is what matters. At 40 points for a squad that’s cheap enough that its fine if it doesn’t necessarily carry its weight. This mode pairs well with force users, who can force push enemies into their Standby range.

Going in Hot

What if you’re not so content with just sitting back and waiting for an enemy who may never come? Want to take the initiative? You can do that too, but it’s gonna get risky, expensive or possibly both.

First you’re going to want to take some upgrades. A scatter gun is essential and an extra trooper isn’t a bad idea either to maximize your firepower. This is usually what you’re doing with Rebel Troopers or Veterans but instead you’re going to bring some extra hot blaster rounds to the enemy.

From there the strategy is going to be very terrain dependent. If there’s a lot of area terrain or line of sight blocking terrain this is going to be good for you. Move from cover to cover and keep those straightaways in sight at all times, if anyone gets close you blast them. Definitely support them with a good marksman hero who can hand out aim tokens like Cassian (with K2) to keep the heat up because as stated above you simply aren’t going to be able to hit much if you just fire blind. While this strategy is inherently more dangerous than holding back you don’t want to risk too many bodies. Your men are precious and every loss hurts you a lot more than it would as say, droids.

The newest edition to the Rebel Alliance, the A-A5 Speeder Truck aka the “Party Bus” is great for taking this strategy to the next level. The Speeder Truck allows you to forsake much of the arduous jumping from cover to cover and barrel them right into the heat of the action.

As a closed transport you unfortunately don’t get to do any cool drivebys with them but it does offer a nice protective shell until they get there. Shriv Surgav and the Unorthodox Tactician make a great pair for your fleet troopers to ride along with, since they can hand out their tokens to the unit they’re transporting. You can see where this is going.

When the game starts put your fully kitted out squad inside of the transport and move up the field cautiously but with alacrity. Once you can move within range 2 of something have the Unorthodox Tactician hand out an Aim Token and Shriv hand them a dodge (skip the suppression). Then kick down the door, get out and start blasting. Once the dust has cleared you can either get them back or use the bus as mobile cover.

This is a legitimate way to use a unit that otherwise might not see a lot of action, and people will often underestimate it because they expect to see a Luke Skywalker or the like in the bus instead. If you have any other ways to give out or otherwise improve aim tokens, like a nearby commander with Electrobinoculars and Targetting Scopes on the unit. How much you’re willing to invest is going to be up to you. It’s always worth considering that putting too many points into one unit is going to drag down the rest of your army and make this more of a target. So probably don’t include all these things, just something to consider in various combinations to taste.

Conclusion

The Fleet Troopers are an interesting breed. While the other rebel corps are quite versatile and capable of firing from a relatively safe distance you need to think tactically and be willing to take a few risks to get the most out of them. You probably will not want to take all your corps slots with these, or you’ll lack the long range firepower you need to cover these guys moving up the field. You likely will want to settle for just 1-2 and use them to supplement your other corps squads.

With some strategy and luck these guys will pay for themselves and help provide a deterrent against forces who would stand against you. Alternatively they can be a high-risk-high-reward option for those who’d rather take the fight to the enemy as close as possible.