Fleet Troopers

[bswaim 118]

Looking at them i guess i don't see why they are any better then normal rebel troopers.  They get 2 dice but shorter range. 

Enlighten me please.

 

Thank you.

[Chili-52 198]

 

You're welcome!

[bswaim 118]

Lol.  I guess they don't get Fleet Troopers either. 

[Bdolfos 45]

The Scatter Gun is pretty nice.

[jgibbs2 72]

They are a more niche unit, similar to snowtroopers. They can hold corners very well, can hit harder than rebels, have better dice rolls (they have offensive and defensive surge). They also have shorter range which is a hindrance. I'll be taking a unit, as it will be fairly easy to find a situation each game where they would be better than a rebel unit, but rebels are a much better all around unit. 

[Uetur 118]

What is their other heavy weapon?  We don't know that yet but that could change things a lot.  I keep wondering will they be worth it myself but as everyone keeps saying this is an objective based game and they have significant close range firepower as a regular squad.  They crit fish pretty well as well.  A lot of turn 4+ engagements happen at closer range.  

That being said I am not sure how I will play them yet.

[Gorthaur25 130]

6 rebel troopers firing standard weapons averages to 3 damage including .75 crits.

6 fleet troopers firing standard weapons averages to 4.5 damage including 1.5 crits.

I think that really says most of it.

Don't forget that with the way cover works in this game 4.5 damage rolled is a lot better in wounds taken than the pure mathematical 50% increase over 3 damage.

[Crawfskeezen 370]

More but poorer dice, shorter range. Ready 1, Defence and Offence surges. 4 points more. I think @Gorthaur25hit most of it on the head though. In some situations they will be better than Rebel Troopers, in others they will be worse, just like Snowtroopers and Stormtroopers.

Edited May 16, 2018 by Crawfskeezen

[VAYASAN 850]

Answer is....they look so cool.

[Mep 2,291]

One tactic is to activate them end of turn, move them twice into position. Next turn, activate them first or early, move once more into final position and put them on standby near an enemy unit. They are basically a time bomb sitting there. They aren't going to be easy to use effectively and standard rebel troopers will be more efficient.

[Dwing 2,307]

Well without fleet troopers, you can't recreate Darth Vader party time from Rogue One on your painted figure shelf. 

On a more serious note, Id rather play this game with mixed units in stead of just maxing out on what ever is the most cost effective, to me that form of play kill the joy of a game pretty fast. 

Edited May 20, 2018 by Dwing

[jocke01 920]

I don't see anything that makes me want them over the jack of all trades rebel troopers in My list now.

Leia might be able to turn them into a mobile close range unit. Giving out dodge, free movement and removing supression. Will try 2 troopers with Leia.

[AintNoPoser 117]

As a pure blooded Imperial player, these do not scare me at all. Fleets are meant to hold areas down at short range.  However, with what I expect most Rebel players to do is try and take advantage of that free aim after they standby.  As an Imperial this doesn't scare me because I have you outranged. As soon as you gain a suppression token you lose that standby. It will take awhile for them to get used to that aim and standby, but as of right now, I think Fleets will be used poorly and be a waste of points. 

[Squark 2,555]

1 hour ago, AintNoPoser said:

As a pure blooded Imperial player, these do not scare me at all. Fleets are meant to hold areas down at short range.  However, with what I expect most Rebel players to do is try and take advantage of that free aim after they standby.  As an Imperial this doesn't scare me because I have you outranged. As soon as you gain a suppression token you lose that standby. It will take awhile for them to get used to that aim and standby, but as of right now, I think Fleets will be used poorly and be a waste of points. 

I think you're underestimating people- Most people realized as soon as the standby action was revealed that given the way supression works, you should almost never take a standby token if an unactivated enemy unit is in position to make a ranged attack against you (It's arguably worth it against Luke, Vader, and naked AT-RTs, since their ranged attacks are less effective than the melee attacks that would require them to move and thus trigger standby). Which is probably why a lot of people are so skeptical of fleet troopers.

[Jman444 82]

I think they just serve a more specific role than rebel troopers and maybe aren't "designed" to be spammed like normal rebel troopers. I can see using more than one but your opponent will know to just simply barrage you outside of your range.

Fleets are definitely better in tight spaces where theres a good amount of cover and LoS blocking terrain. They'll get decimated in the open though since they roll white defense dice with Imperials out ranging them. You probably want to have them hanging back behind AT-RTs (which give cover) and Rebel troopers, let them fight to get to the objective, then bring in the fleet troopers to help keep it.

But if there is an objective with cover they can get to, then they'll be pretty lethal. They can camp on an objective, by first taking a dodge action, then take a standby action which grants them an aim. You do have to worry about suppression with them when taking a standby. I can see running one close to Leia as a body guard unit. They'll be a priority target with those standby and aim tokens. Get too close or try to attack Leia? Well here comes a ton of dice at you.

Im waiting until we see what the other heavy weapon is for full judgment on the unit, scatter gun seems good but expensive since it is still limited to range 2. I'll probably just get one for the time being, I feel like Rebel troopers being a bit cheaper are still the best "bang for your buck" points wise. Even though I dont want to buy more of them haha

Edited May 17, 2018 by Jman444

[Muelmuel 774]

6 hours ago, Mep said:

One tactic is to activate them end of turn, move them twice into position. Next turn, activate them first or early, move once more into final position and put them on standby near an enemy unit. They are basically a time bomb sitting there. They aren't going to be easy to use effectively and standard rebel troopers will be more efficient.

Sounds quite good. The only issue is that the unit(s) that they try to timebomb will either move away from range 2 then shoot(except tight corners which comes back to terrain) or shoot on the fleeters first. That means fleeters which are just as squishy as rebel troopers will lose a man or 2 before they even get to return fire.  As mentioned by @jocke01 they will likely benefit from Leia's dodge charity.

Cool mini bonus to standby is that any action done by the enemy unit can trigger standby, so the enemy can take an aim/dodge action but the fleeters can then fire on them first.

Edited May 17, 2018 by Muelmuel

[TallGiraffe 3,447]

Well we know they have a 1-3 MPL with Impact 2 and Blast. Would be a nice upgrade if it wasn't exhaust, but odds are they are an exhaust. Also betting we get an article on them Friday. 

[Mep 2,291]

47 minutes ago, Muelmuel said:

Cool mini bonus to standby is that any action done by the enemy unit can trigger standby, so the enemy can take an aim/dodge action but the fleeters can then fire on them first.

Yeah, that is why that tactic is good, if you can set it up. Sooner or later they have to activate and get fired upon or they have to move another unit in to hit at long range and suppress them. It is really specialized though but forces the opponent to react rather than act.

[Crawfskeezen 370]

5 hours ago, Squark said:

I think you're underestimating people- Most people realized as soon as the standby action was revealed that given the way supression works, you should almost never take a standby token if an unactivated enemy unit is in position to make a ranged attack against you (It's arguably worth it against Luke, Vader, and naked AT-RTs, since their ranged attacks are less effective than the melee attacks that would require them to move and thus trigger standby). Which is probably why a lot of people are so skeptical of fleet troopers.

I would just like to say that I completely agree with you. But I just have an issue with your response. You totally missed the opportunity to say "I find your lack of faith disturbing." That is all.

[Mr. Ghoti 10]

7 hours ago, Muelmuel said:

Cool mini bonus to standby is that any action done by the enemy unit can trigger standby, so the enemy can take an aim/dodge action but the fleeters can then fire on them first.

Standby lets you move or fire AFTER an enemy unit within range 2 acts, not before. That unit will still be able to dodge before you shoot, or walk out of range 2, or even shoot you first and remove your standby token before you can even use it.

 

Also

11 hours ago, Squark said:

I think you're underestimating people- Most people realized as soon as the standby action was revealed that given the way supression works, you should almost never take a standby token if an unactivated enemy unit is in position to make a ranged attack against you (It's arguably worth it against Luke, Vader, and naked AT-RTs, since their ranged attacks are less effective than the melee attacks that would require them to move and thus trigger standby). Which is probably why a lot of people are so skeptical of fleet troopers.

You're suggesting to not use standby if someone can activate and possibly shoot you. So your options are to wait until more units have activated (in which standby is then useless), or stay outside of every unit's move+range increment. And that's just not possible. The mortar atst will always aim for you, the dlt storm troopers will move + range 4 shoot you, and anyone within range 2 will shoot you first anyways.

Sure thhere's a niche chance that an enemy unit will meander into range 2 without dealing with the token, but they won't do it twice.

The fleet troopers will come out to be a more expensive distraction unit. If it has a standby token, I'm going to remove it, even if there may be better targets for me.

The only real way to mitigate that is if all of your corps units are fleet troopers. Then your enemy will have to prioritise better to control centerfield.

[Indy_com 1,144]

17 minutes ago, Mr. Ghoti said:

Also

You're suggesting to not use standby if someone can activate and possibly shoot you. So your options are to wait until more units have activated (in which standby is then useless), or stay outside of every unit's move+range increment. And that's just not possible. The mortar atst will always aim for you, the dlt storm troopers will move + range 4 shoot you, and anyone within range 2 will shoot you first anyways.

Sure thhere's a niche chance that an enemy unit will meander into range 2 without dealing with the token, but they won't do it twice.

The fleet troopers will come out to be a more expensive distraction unit. If it has a standby token, I'm going to remove it, even if there may be better targets for me.

The only real way to mitigate that is if all of your corps units are fleet troopers. Then your enemy will have to prioritise better to control centerfield.

If I have a 6 figure Fleet Trooper Unit on standby with a Scattergun and they're sat on an objective which cannot be shot through, do you want to go and fight me over that objective?

Edited May 17, 2018 by Indy_com

[bswaim 118]

Thanks for all the input.   I'm getting a set of them anyway (I'm a completest)  but this has helped me thinking about how to use them. 

[Muelmuel 774]

1 hour ago, Mr. Ghoti said:

Standby lets you move or fire AFTER an enemy unit within range 2 acts, not before. That unit will still be able to dodge before you shoot, or walk out of range 2, or even shoot you first and remove your standby token before you can even use it.

Of course. I'm talking about who shoots first. So the enemy unit is in a dilemma to either fire on first action, Or aim on first action and get shot by the fleeters first and possibly lose some men before firing with the second action.

Edited May 17, 2018 by Muelmuel

[ScummyRebel 5,346]

You will want 1-2 units of them for list variation. They’re specialized units not spam infantry. Just like I only will get one snowtroopers most likely - more expensive specialized unit.

I only play Imperial, and I see the difference in how they operate from standard rebel units. It’ll be interesting to devise tactics for both.

[Contrapulator 717]

1 hour ago, Mr. Ghoti said:

The mortar atst will always aim for you, the dlt storm troopers will move + range 4 shoot you, and anyone within range 2 will shoot you first anyways.

Don't you have any LOS blocking terrain? If not, then Fleet Troopers and any other short-range units will be bad on your table.