Why are Wing Guards never on the tables? I don't see any glaring issue with them. Is it because you can get two eeequays for a mere 1 point more? Can someone enlighten me?

having 3 figures is nice, but each figure's health seems so low these days. I think the elites are more usable. You can maybe get some solid value out of Keep the Peace if you play it right, but the Mercs have so many great options that it's tough to sink 9 points into them. Guardian cards are relatively weak, and Mercs don't have any other trooper options for command deck synergy.

Wing Guard want to stay behind stronger units to cause Strain to your opponent, but they lack a surge for Accuracy that would help them land shots from behind the front lines.

I've used them to decent effect in strain oriented lists. The regulars mind you. You take two copies of "bodyguard" to force your opponent to use a focused shot on an already weakened target, and it works out decently.

They don't do enough damage, Trooper/Guardian doesn't have enough synergy in scum, they die in 1 hit and they don't have enough range. There are just so many better options.

Compare eWing Guards to elite stormtroopers:
surge +3 accuracy is better than surge for recover 2 on a 5 health unit with no defensive bonuses
Last stand is better than keep the peace.
Trooper is way better in the imperial faction than the merc faction

And yet, even the elite stormtroopers are not good enough to see the table.

Running bodyguard cc and regulars with IG88 could be really annoying.

4 hours ago, TheWelcomeMat88 said:

Running bodyguard cc and regulars with IG88 could be really annoying.

Very much so!

22 hours ago, brettpkelly said:

Compare eWing Guards to elite stormtroopers:
surge +3 accuracy is better than surge for recover 2 on a 5 health unit with no defensive bonuses
Last stand is better than keep the peace.

Yup. This is the primary reason. Wing guards were designed when the eStormies were the benchmark unit in the game. They just aren’t anymore.

22 minutes ago, Fightwookies said:

Yup. This is the primary reason. Wing guards were designed when the eStormies were the benchmark unit in the game. They just aren’t anymore.

I'd argue E Stormies are still the benchmark as far as costing units and comparing what is possible for power levels at certain prices. It's just that there are currently a lot of leanings towards at least a few squads/deployments in every army that are strong enough to either one shot an E Storm or use a card to finish it off, so the tradeoffs for an Imperial player to bring some more beefy and expensive troops like E Jets and E Riots is worth it. All that to say, the meta is just leaning towards a place where the E Storms can't do enough usually because their 9 points of cost are divided out among too many bodies. But they're theoretically still worth 9 points of stats/intangibles. Maybe with a few more trooper cards there will be some extra synergy that makes them more worth bringing again, though it's possible that ship has sailed. I'd also argue they'd be worth it if you didn't give up points for figures that die vs. whole deployments like it used to be, and you could run the third trooper away to save the whole squad's points from being lost. But I personally never want to go back to that.

30 minutes ago, Masterchiefspiff said:

I'd also argue they'd be worth it if you didn't give up points for figures that die vs. whole deployments like it used to be, and you could run the third trooper away to save the whole squad's points from being lost. But I personally never want to go back to that.

My only regret is that I have but one like to give.

You're absolutely right that the scoring changes are a huge factor in why eStormies (and similarly costed groups) aren't as playable now. That was a massive change (for the better) in how the game is played. In the vacuum as a 3 cost figure, their stats are still pretty good. If they would release a new deployment card with only 2 figures in a group...

3 hours ago, Fightwookies said:

My only regret is that I have but one like to give.

You're absolutely right that the scoring changes are a huge factor in why eStormies (and similarly costed groups) aren't as playable now. That was a massive change (for the better) in how the game is played. In the vacuum as a 3 cost figure, their stats are still pretty good. If they would release a new deployment card with only 2 figures in a group...

At 8 cost theyd be absurd value.

I think a compromise could be an option. That all figures but the last one gives less point and the last one gives the remaining. Probably not a great option rulle handling wise, but the old nine point 3 low HP deployments need help...

I think the problem is more along the line of the power curve, and the ability to do outrageous amount of damage in one shot

Back then there aren't that many units around when doing 2-3 damage per shot is the norm. This is partially why eStorms were great: they are able to withstand at least 2 shots + free focus + run the last guy away. Although the last one has been errata'ed. Leia was a great option: solid attack + recycle CC + free evade + give someone else free attack

Nowadays it's not uncommon to do like 6-7 damage per shot with all those Hunter CCs and Focus going around. People don't like to bring in figures like Leia because she might get one-shotted. Can you imagine being able to one-shot a 8HP figure with free evade when she was initially released back in wave 5?

When Bossk and Inquisitor was initially released people were crying out they were OP. Nowadays Bossk becomes tier-2 and TGI dropped to tier 3 because of units like eWeequays and AT-DP that can consistently do 5-6 damage per shot