The Road to Worlds – Part VII – Victory and Death

Welcome back to the Road to Worlds! At this point you all may have lucked out and gotten an extra year’s worth of content in this series as it’s starting to look like Worlds won’t happen until 2021. So let’s dive in on the latest into my “Worlds” preparation.

When we last checked in with each other I was playing a list with Captain Rex, Padme Amidala, R2D2, and C3PO in Round Robin in Invader League. I have since then made single eliminations and transitioned to a list that I believe is far more powerful. Today we’re going to talk about this list as well as the more common variant of it: “The Rexstar”.

Let’s take a look at the Rexstar first:

The Rexstar

800/800

Clone Captain Rex (Aggressive Tactics, Recon Intel)

R2-D2

Phase II Clone Troopers (Z-6 Phase II Trooper, Overwatch)

Phase II Clone Troopers (Z-6 Phase II Trooper, Offensive Push)

Phase II Clone Troopers (Z-6 Phase II Trooper, Overwatch)

Phase II Clone Troopers (Z-6 Phase II Trooper, Overwatch)

Phase II Clone Troopers (Z-6 Phase II Trooper, Offensive Push)

Phase I Clone Troopers

Arc Troopers (Strike Team) (DC-15x ARC Trooper)

Arc Troopers (Strike Team) (DC-15x ARC Trooper)

Arc Troopers (Strike Team) (DC-15x ARC Trooper)

Note: Points Values used in this article are the points values currently being used in Invader League

This is our traditional Rexstar list that is presently the most represented (and winning-est) list in Invader League. Many notable and impressive players are playing it to great success. So why are people landing on it?

1. Clone Standby sharing – This list builds on the Republic concept of green token sharing and turns it up to 11. With 3 copies of overwatch it allows you to project standby bubbles at range 3 and in many cases your opponent will not be able to knock the standbys off. The Phase I clone trooper unit can funnel its attack into the Phase IIs by taking a standby, upgrading a 52 pt attack into an 80+ one.
2. Take that Clankers – With offensive push on two Phase II units you can move and shoot two units at range 4 – which means you have an effective range of 5. Alongside aim token sharing this allows for a devastating range 4 attack.
3. Surge Token saturation – The amount of Phase IIs in this list allows you to basically have red surging saves across your army. Before you take into consideration Aggressive Tactics you’re putting down 5 surge tokens plus 1-4 depending on which command card you play.
4. R2D2 – R2D2 allows you to bank an extra victory point and increases the activation count to 11.
5. ARC Trooper Strike Teams – These guys are downright amazing. Tactical allows them to get easy aim tokens out to your army and the fact that they have critical 1 allows you to push piercing shots through cover or armor more often than not.

All of these things gives you an extremely durable, flexible, and lethal gunline that can handle just about everything that gets thrown at it. Its ability to just shoot its opponents off the table allows it to take a non existent bid and focus on pressuring it’s opponents rather than playing directly to the objectives.

So Mike – What did you change?

Let me introduce you to:

The ARCstar

795/800 (10 activations)

Commanders:

 – Captain Rex (90): Aggressive Tactics (10), Recon Intel (2) = 102

Operatives:

 – R2-D2 (35) + C-3PO (15): = 50

Corps:

 – 3× Phase II Clone Troopers (60): Z-6 Trooper (27), Overwatch (4) = 273

 – 2× Phase I Clone Troopers (52) = 104

Special Forces:

 – 2× ARC Troopers (72): DC-15x ARC Trooper (31), Overwatch (4) = 214

 – ARC Troopers Strike Team (21): DC-15x ARC Trooper (31) = 52

Note: Points Values used in this article are the points values currently being used in Invader League

 

Yup, that’s right – Two Full Squads of ARCs. Why you ask?

Because Full ARCs are beast mode.

But seriously – they are really good. Here’s why:

1. Impervious – The main threat to GAR lists are sniper rifles with pierce. If your opponent can connect with enough piercing units your high armor saves can start to dwindle considerably. Giving the best two units(and therefore the most likely to take fire) an additional layer of protection against the number one threat to a standard Rexstar is huge.
2. Flexibility – Full ARCs can do work at any range band and with Take that Clankers they can expand that flexibility further. A full ARC shot at range 2 is 10 dice with lethal and sharpshooter 1 – this pool is awesome and should not be underestimated. At Range 3 they can be extremely devastating as well.
3. Tactical – They have built in, always on, Offensive Pushes! You don’t need to take Offensive Push for Take that Clankers, you’ve already got it.
4. A Fully aimed(5+ aim tokens) shot early on turn 1 is fairly easy to pull off with Take that Clankers. With the 4 aim tokens from your tactical scouting units (Rex + 3 ARCs) plus the additional aim token from the unit closing the gap, full arcs can project their ranged 2 pool at a little under range 5 from your deployment zone on turn 1. This is devastating and you can do it twice.
5. Since you don’t need to take offensive pushes – you get to take 2 more copies overwatch. This allows you to spread your standby sharing awesomeness even father AND it gives you standby shots from full ARCs. Ever wanted to have pierce and sharpshooter off your standby shots? Look no farther.

In my first match of Invader League Eliminations I do not believe my opponent saw this coming – I basically gutted two of his four phase II units before they had ever taken an activation. My opponent conceded on turn 2 when he felt he had to charge his Kenobi into my waiting Call Me Captain lines because he had lost the gunline battle before it began.

It should be noted that you can always keep this in the tank as well if you need to. Sometimes (like if you’re blue on vaporators) you just don’t need to secure a huge advantage early on. Regardless, full ARCs are super powerful and this list does not lose much over a standard Rexstar to take them.

One thing to note – It’s extremely important you don’t send your ARCs off doing their own thing. It can feel like a good idea because they feel super elite, but they really need the surge, dodge, and aim token support from their fellow clones to make them amazing. These units are the tip of the spear – they aren’t for going solo hunting.

If worlds were to happen today – this is what I’d be bringing, but I’ll likely be shooting to perfect it in the coming months. I’m sure there are variations on this formula that have yet to be discovered. Maybe we’ll find a few for next time.

I hope all you Republic fans out there are excited, because ARC Troopers are as good as they seem.

And if you aren’t a Republic fan, well, bring some pierce – or a lot of it.

 

Until next time –

May the Dark Side be with you, Always

Mike/Dash