Snow Troopers - a little underwhelmed

[Hrathen 1,463]

Don't get me wrong, I still love snow troopers.  Have to be my favorite type of storm trooper.  Not so much troopers in cold weather gear, but Vader's own 181st legion that lead the charge against the Rebel base.  You have to know that the troops that lead the attack are going to be better than the ones stationed inside the Death Star.  I mean how much fighting did you expect Stormtroopers to face inside the Death Star.  I just wanted the cold troopers to be better, like roll black dice on attack or something.  The relentless ability is okay, but I'm not even sure it makes up for the slower movement.

 

[ShadowKite 337]

Well they are equipped with the same weapon as normal stormtroopers, so it makes sense that they would also have white dice. I personally think the Steady keyword easily makes up for their slower speed. To me, they don't appear to be so much better or worse than normal stormtroopers that it's a no brainer to take one over the other, and I think that's good.

I'm pretty excited for these guys. I know what it's like to anticipate a favorite unit or character in a game and not have it live up to your expectations, though, so I can relate.

[Rammstein117 227]

I'm glad they aren't better, if they were no one would use regular stormtroopers. They just have a different playstyle...

[Nihm 209]

With the deployment cards and condition maybe they "resist" harsh weather or something like that?

[wintermoonwolf 145]

....i am just happy to see some more STORMIES....

[wintermoonwolf 145]

....it would be fun to see some Snow Stormies with the heavy gun (forgot the official name)....that fired at the MF in ESB before it escaped!...

[juxstapo 239]

E web, we will defiantly see the e web , probably as a support choice

I love the minis, but is there any crunch reason to take them? For the alternate heavy weapons I guess? Wonder if a flamer will be worth the slow and steady thing...

Man I love squads in tt wargames

Edited December 21, 2017 by juxstapo

[Jabby 1,042]

Two speed 1 movements are better than 1 speed 2 movement. So by move+move+shoot (from steady) they cover more ground than a stormtrooper move+shoot

[Ralgon 1,005]

1 hour ago, Jabby said:

Two speed 1 movements are better than 1 speed 2 movement. So by move+move+shoot (from steady) they cover more ground than a stormtrooper move+shoot

^this, or they get to aim/move/shoot in the same round or refresh the ion trooper/move/shoot which the rebs can't. Add 6 points for targeting scopes and they get precise back as well. It's not black dice but 3 rerolls ON THE MOVE is a much better profile than regular stormies for advance and capture.

 

Until we see the rebel equilivants they are pricey but for it they are flat out better than storm troopers in their speciality (mobile rather than campers), particularly for disrupting armor.

Edited December 21, 2017 by Ralgon

[LennoxPoodle 191]

Let's not forget that they can move+shoot+move and thus move in los, shoot and then move out of sight. That's **** powerful. Luckily they don't have the good ranged special weapons which brings me to the next topic:

Why did they give them the flametroopers? Theese guys should have been either an extra flametrooper squad (special forces slot) or aviable for all tastes of stormtroopers. Binding them to snowtroopers is sad. But I am unhappy with the special weapon choices in this game anyway, which doesn't belong into this topic.

[Susanooo 113]

i guess SNOWtroopers get FLAMEthrowwer to warm warm themselves and their enemy in cold enviornment I still want to see death and shoretroopers. And these snowtroopers feels like assault squad while regular stormies are more defencive sniping unit(with that upgraded trooper with range 4, red dice weapon)

[Tabletop Oddity 64]

8 hours ago, Nihm said:

With the deployment cards and condition maybe they "resist" harsh weather or something like that?

If this was the case, the sensible place would be to be on the unit card wouldn't it? I guess it could be on the condition card that "Snow" troops ignore it but seems unlikely I think sadly.

[AldousSnow 822]

 

"Clone Marines (or Galactic Marines, Snowtroopers, Cold Assault Troopers, or Flamethrower Troopers) are specially-trained Clone Troopers who wear unique thermal-coated armor meant for extremely cold or hot temperatures on certain planets or worlds."

 

Although they started as "Snowtroopers" in ESB, and in some eyes will remain like that, they are, in canon, a part of a much larger group of specialty troopers. They can also be seen fighting with, and against Ki-Adi-Mundi in ROTS. Much like we see the T-47 Airspeeder as a "snowspeeder", these "snowtroopers" are technically more "extreme weather troopers". They often contain flamethrower troopers, as their armor is already equipped for the high temperatures related with that weapon.

So seeing a "snowtrooper" on Tatooine or Sullust would actually make sense, though their armor color could vary to match the environment. 

[AldousSnow 822]

 Much like all other troopers, they started as clones and transitioned into human soldiers. They are one of the few units to keep their armor design from the Republic to the Empire.

[svelok 6,487]

The Stormtroopers have Precise and faster movement, plus longer range high-damage special weapons. They want to rush to a good spot, camp there, and Aim/Shoot most turns to maximize their swingy dice; I'd guess.

Snowtroopers have Steady and slower movement, with shorter range suppression/ion based special weapons. They want to Move/Move or Dodge/Move most turns, using Dodge or a second movement to keep them safe while they advance towards the enemy, and getting a free attack after their move as they get close; which they can use to suppress or ionize the enemy position.

Fielding them together should be pretty fun, or you could take Vader/Veers/Snowtroopers and have Vader lead the Snowtroopers marching directly at the opponent while Veers hands out support to free all of them up for double-moves.

[Extropia 1,475]

I think they look great as an alternative to Stormies. Alternatives are what the game should aim for, because if something is better, why take the worse thing?

They both serve a role...similar but different in important ways, so there's space for both.

If they manage this with the Rebel version, I'll consider it a good sign for the games balance.

[Sk3tch 571]

I think Snowtroopers look good on paper.

So after your standard Stormies take an objective and distract the enemy, a few Snowtroopers move up slowly into covering range then continue to push and provide a solid offensive wall of moving cover. 

Looks at least usable, if not then seriously strong. 

 

My major complaint is Snowtroopers are going to look bloody awful on a desert map. 

[LennoxPoodle 191]

Well they are named cold weather assault stormtrooper, so they are clearly not extreme climate troopers and instead specifically meant for cold climate. I understand that they originally were the same thing as flametroopers, but they obviously branched out. I wouldn't mind flametroopers having the same insulating cloth and armor (just with another thermopack, if having one at all), but I resent seeing snowtroopers on Endor for the purpose of having flametroopers.

[MandoBard 139]

7 minutes ago, Sk3tch said:

I think Snowtroopers look good on paper.

So after your standard Stormies take an objective and distract the enemy, a few Snowtroopers move up slowly into covering range then continue to push and provide a solid offensive wall of moving cover. 

Looks at least usable, if not then seriously strong. 

 

My major complaint is Snowtroopers are going to look bloody awful on a desert map. 

Do neutral bad terrain clone wars colors like this then

43 minutes ago, AldousSnow said:

 Much like all other troopers, they started as clones and transitioned into human soldiers. They are one of the few units to keep their armor design from the Republic to the Empire.

 

[juxstapo 239]

As everyone pointed out, theyre a subset of an old clone trooper speciality. Gonna base mine temperate just like my stormies and call them heavy troopers or some such.  The cowl and kama give some interesting potential for unit marking variations.

[player1750031 841]

11 hours ago, Rammstein117 said:

I'm glad they aren't better, if they were no one would use regular stormtroopers. They just have a different playstyle...

How much different though? They're still a trooper unit with similar upgrade slots, and anti-tank weapon and an anti-personnel weapon. Plus they're very climate-specific and will stick out like a sore thumb on most tables and alongside other units. It's nice we're getting new stuff announced, but I'd prefer the first couple waves included stuff that's different from the core box and stuff that's less specific thematically. Royal Guards come to mind. And if they abslutely had to have a second 'trooper' unit, why not Death Troopers for a more elite choice with different equipment or dismounted Scout Troopers with some cool recon abilities?

Edited December 21, 2017 by player1750031

[Jabby 1,042]

52 minutes ago, AldousSnow said:

 Much like all other troopers, they started as clones and transitioned into human soldiers. They are one of the few units to keep their armor design from the Republic to the Empire.

Hey waddya know? Thats how I’m going to paint up mine!

[Sk3tch 571]

38 minutes ago, MandoBard said:

Do neutral bad terrain clone wars colors like this then

 

I'm going to have to I guess. That looks pretty awesome tbh. 

Still my main point was about how viable the unit is. 

[Copes 225]

38 minutes ago, player1750031 said:

How much different though? They're still a trooper unit with similar upgrade slots, and anti-tank weapon and an anti-personnel weapon. Plus they're very climate-specific and will stick out like a sore thumb on most tables and alongside other units. It's nice we're getting new stuff announced, but I'd prefer the first couple waves included stuff that's different from the core box and stuff that's less specific thematically. Royal Guards come to mind. And if they abslutely had to have a second 'trooper' unit, why not Death Troopers for a more elite choice with different equipment or dismounted Scout Troopers with some cool recon abilities?

Quite different. 

In a game like this, I think nuances to movement strategy will be notable at high levels of play. There is a big difference between move + shoot + move or aim + move + shoot versus just being able to move + shoot or aim + shoot or dodge + move. Stormtroopers will be able to advance quickly, but will be canon fodder while doing it. Snowtroopers, alternatively, will advance slowly but be dangerous to attack during that time. 

We shall see, all speculation of course. But there is a difference that will impact listbuilding and the metagame.

[Col. Dash 48]

Where did you guys see the stats of snow troopers? Any indication they are going to have faction themed army lists yet? Say a Snowtrooper army and regular trooper army as opposed to generic army list mix and match crap?