... to feed Swarm Leader, of course.

I appreciate the optimism, but we already have A-wings for that.

There's lots of reasons to use R3. Just not any good ones. That's still the case.

The word "good" was no where in the opening post

That would mean the ship with R3 would have to attack before swarm leader. You would need high PS ships with R3 and lower with SL. In other words...try again!

R3 is really just so terrible it's not even funny.

R3 could go from zero to hero if he just granted an Evade token if you *rolled* one or more [eyeballs] on an attack.

The one thing R3 definately does, is shut down Lightened Frame.

Actually made a "swarm" out of an A, cassian (the leader), and kaman carting around experimental interface jyn and chopper

No need to go near that wretched waste of cardboard that is r3 astro

The one thing R3 definately does, is shut down Lightened Frame.

That's an interesting point. On a Striker or Bomber, anyway. Being able to "throw away" the useless red dice before it triggers Lightweight Frame is a niche use, but worth remembering.

I dunno. My brain says Swarm Leader's still not a great use for it; assume you've got two 'decent' aces with R3 Astromechs, then a low (ish) PS pilot with swarm leader:

1. You risk your 'big gun' being taken out at high pilot skill
2. You're not garuanteed for R3 to trigger - each ace has somewhere between a 15% and 70% chance of triggering R3 (depending on whether you have a target lock or not and whether you're at range 1 or not), so in practice you're probably only getting one bonus die on the deal.
3. The two higher PS aces are therefore not carrying shield-regeneration droids. Yes, if they get whomped they could spend an evade defensively, but it's not then there to fuel swarm leader.
4. For Swarm Leader to work, your 'support' ships need to get arc on the same target as your 'leader'; most astromech-carrying ships aren't the best at pointing their nose in the right direction.
5. 2 x R3 Astromechs and 1 x Swarm Leader is 7 points - so whilst it's probably worth an extra attack die, it's ultimately cost you the same as a heavy laser cannon, just spread across multiple slots on multiple ships.

For the sake of a thought experiment:

• Wedge Antilles - Opportunist, R3 Astromech, Integrated Astromech
• Wes Janson - Veteran Instincts, R3 Astromech, Integrated Astromech
• Jek Porkins- Swarm Leader, R5-D8, Integrated Astromech

The one thing R3 definately does, is shut down Lightened Frame.

That's an interesting point. On a Striker or Bomber, anyway. Being able to "throw away" the useless red dice before it triggers Lightweight Frame is a niche use, but worth remembering.

I dunno. My brain says Swarm Leader's still not a great use for it; assume you've got two 'decent' aces with R3 Astromechs, then a low (ish) PS pilot with swarm leader:

1. You risk your 'big gun' being taken out at high pilot skill
2. You're not garuanteed for R3 to trigger - each ace has somewhere between a 15% and 70% chance of triggering R3 (depending on whether you have a target lock or not and whether you're at range 1 or not), so in practice you're probably only getting one bonus die on the deal.
3. The two higher PS aces are therefore not carrying shield-regeneration droids. Yes, if they get whomped they could spend an evade defensively, but it's not then there to fuel swarm leader.
4. For Swarm Leader to work, your 'support' ships need to get arc on the same target as your 'leader'; most astromech-carrying ships aren't the best at pointing their nose in the right direction.
5. 2 x R3 Astromechs and 1 x Swarm Leader is 7 points - so whilst it's probably worth an extra attack die, it's ultimately cost you the same as a heavy laser cannon, just spread across multiple slots on multiple ships.

For the sake of a thought experiment:

• Wedge Antilles - Opportunist, R3 Astromech, Integrated Astromech
• Wes Janson - Veteran Instincts, R3 Astromech, Integrated Astromech
• Jek Porkins- Swarm Leader, R5-D8, Integrated Astromech

,

I think R3 was intended to balance a too-cheap version of Lightened Frame, and both cards ended up getting overnerfed.

R3 could go from zero to hero if he just granted an Evade token if you *rolled* one or more [eyeballs] on an attack.

I am not a fan of all those fix it posts, but … can't resist.

Replace the evade token with a shield token and he becomes a hero.

The problem is that a non-unique, shield regeneration ability for just 2 points is.....I'm not going to jump immediately and say overpowered but I'd feel very cautious about it.

At the same time, having a non-unique shield regeneration would be nice. It's sometimes irksome that an astromech slot is 99.99% reserved for R2-D2 or R5-P9.

The problem is that a non-unique, shield regeneration ability for just 2 points is.....I'm not going to jump immediately and say overpowered but I'd feel very cautious about it.

At the same time, having a non-unique shield regeneration would be nice. It's sometimes irksome that an astromech slot is 99.99% reserved for R2-D2 or R5-P9.

It would basically only be relevant on ships which currently have their own issues as those ships which are okish and have an astromech socket are glued to stress bot or R2-D2 or R5-P9. Better X-Wing and E-Wing generics via an Astromech socket would have been a fine thing.

The only "concerning" thing would be TLT-Y-Wings, but they dig at 26 pts with the R3 which prevents you from spamming 4 in that config (which would be indeed "op")

4 Rockie Pilots with R3 and Vectors would be for sure fun.

The only "concerning" thing would be TLT-Y-Wings, but they dig at 26 pts with the R3 which prevents you from spamming 4 in that config (which would be indeed "op")

4 Rockie Pilots with R3 and Vectors would be for sure fun.

As long as R3 remained "primary weapon only" then Y-wings aren't exactly an issue.

I'm hoping to try Jess Pava with Swarm Leader, alongside two Grey Y's with TLT, R3, and BTL-4 title, plus a Proto-A.

The Ys just throw away the primary Eye, gain an evade, and have it for Jess, who can then throw a five-dice primary, auto rerolling at least 2, with her Y-flanks.

Not the best list, since it assume you can get tqhe target in LoS of tw Ys and an X, but will hopefully be fun!

Y-Wing + TLT/Dorsal + R3 Astromech + Title + Vector thruster. Barrel roll or not, fire primary, hope for 1 eye, cancel eye, get 1 evade, and then turret.

No need to go near that wretched waste of cardboard that is r3 astro

Are you so salty all the time because your cards are too thick?

I'm hoping to try Jess Pava with Swarm Leader, alongside two Grey Y's with TLT, R3, and BTL-4 title, plus a Proto-A.

The Ys just throw away the primary Eye, gain an evade, and have it for Jess, who can then throw a five-dice primary, auto rerolling at least 2, with her Y-flanks.

Not the best list, since it assume you can get tqhe target in LoS of tw Ys and an X, but will hopefully be fun!

That is an interesting idea, it's a shame she doesn't have an EPT slot natively. I'd like to toss R2-F2 on her in that sort of set up.

I wonder if this could work:

Red Squad Vet: Swarm Leader, R2 Astro, Integrated

Red Squad Vet: Draw Their Fire, R3 Astro, Integrated

Red Squad Vet: Draw Their Fire, R3 Astro, Integrated

Bandit Squadron Pilot

The Swarm Leader is an obvious target so giving the other two Draw Their Fire may help to spread the damage around; if not the Crack Shot is always good. All the T-70s are PS4 to help with maneuvering and you can fire in which ever order you please to, hopefully, activate R3 for the Evade tokens. The Bandit is because I had 12 points left and didn't want to invest them into the T-70s and a blocker is always helpful.

I like the idea of the R3 with Juke. Could try three Red Sq. V's with that. Or two with Wes Janson.

I like the idea of the R3 with Juke. Could try three Red Sq. V's with that. Or two with Wes Janson.

If you are going to go all in on R3 by taking Juke with it you might as well go ahead and take Comms Relay to up the usefulness of any token that comes from R3. Maybe toss in a ship that can prime the evade token pump for them with Jan Ors as well. I'm not sure what to do with the 9 extra points.

I like the idea of the R3 with Juke. Could try three Red Sq. V's with that. Or two with Wes Janson.

If you are going to go all in on R3 by taking Juke with it you might as well go ahead and take Comms Relay to up the usefulness of any token that comes from R3. Maybe toss in a ship that can prime the evade token pump for them with Jan Ors as well. I'm not sure what to do with the 9 extra points.

Red Squadron Veteran (26)

Juke (2)

R3 Astromech (2)

Comm Relay (3)

Integrated Astromech (0)

Red Squadron Veteran (26)

Juke (2)

R3 Astromech (2)

Comm Relay (3)

Integrated Astromech (0)

Ezra Bridger (20)

Swarm Leader (3)

Jan Ors (2)

Total: 91

Not if you have a swarm leader, because he'll be eating those evades every turn to shoot. You might as well save the points for a different tech.

I might suggest Sensor Clusters. Because you're not going to be spending focus attacking, you might as well allow for spending it on the defence - which makes your evade generators harder to take out.

Juke is a possible trick, but you're investing heavily in triggering effects off an evade you might not generate.

Jess as a Swarm Leader was a nice idea - as she gets a force multiplier off having wingmen anyway.

• Jess Pava - Swarm Leader, R2-D6, Pattern Analyser, Integrated Astromech
• Red Squadron Veteran - Juke, R3 Astromech, Sensor Cluster, Autothrusters
• Red Squadron Veteran - Juke, R3 Astromech, Sensor Cluster, Autothrusters

Also - good thought on the attack shuttle. It's cheap, has native evade, and can easily get the extra action economy to feed a swarm leader - Sabine might be a good Swarm Leader wingman, as might Zeb.

if r3 was 0 points it would be a cool x-wing fix, or 1 point and can be used with secondary canons would also be cool for y -wings

I like the idea of the R3 with Juke. Could try three Red Sq. V's with that. Or two with Wes Janson.

If you are going to go all in on R3 by taking Juke with it you might as well go ahead and take Comms Relay to up the usefulness of any token that comes from R3. Maybe toss in a ship that can prime the evade token pump for them with Jan Ors as well. I'm not sure what to do with the 9 extra points.

Red Squadron Veteran (26)

Juke (2)

R3 Astromech (2)

Comm Relay (3)

Integrated Astromech (0)

Red Squadron Veteran (26)

Juke (2)

R3 Astromech (2)

Comm Relay (3)

Integrated Astromech (0)

Ezra Bridger (20)

Swarm Leader (3)

Jan Ors (2)

Total: 91

Not if you have a swarm leader, because he'll be eating those evades every turn to shoot. You might as well save the points for a different tech.

That assumes that every time a Red Vet gets R3 to trigger, they'll have Ezra's target in arc (or that Ezra will have a shot). With Jan, Comm Relay, and Ezra being PS4, Ezra can Swarm Leader before the Red Vets activate if they have evade tokens (either from Jan or a previous round's R3) or he can wait until after they attack if they don't.

I don't like all of the unmodified attack dice that are probably going to get thrown with this list though. I think you really lose a lot to build around making R3 useful. If you are just looking at making squad that maximizes Swarm Leader then you would probably be better off starting with 4 prototype pilots and having 40 points left to splash around. Having 4 ships with evade tokens increases the chances of that two of them will have the Swarm Leader's shot in arc. You also end up with a more durable source of evade tokens.