So...the AT RT is actually pretty darn good at brawling...and very durable.

What do you guys think about fielding them without any guns? It can sit back and camp an objective, with such a low threat profile and high durability, it's unlikely to ever take any fire. If someone tries to creep a unit of troopers up on it, it will maul them pretty good in close combat, and take very little damage in retaliation from anything but Vader/Luke.

And it's not entirely useless at shooting. With an Aim token and offensive surge, it might be able to get a suppression token out here and there. Thoughts?

well it still has a 2 white die gun *snickers*

But in all seriousness, i'd only consider it if you could squeeze something clutch into the list by saving the 20-50pts the 1-2 ATRT's would spend on guns. If you're trying to brawl with it, flamer is kinda mandatory because if it didnt quite get melee it will torch the crap out of its target instead.

I'm actually considering running 3; 2 with Flamethrowers and 1 with nothing as the Lead/linebreaker.

Being able to squeeze a third one in there definitely constitutes as "clutch" lol.

Might be a good idea.

I know trooper figures get "stuck" in melee and can't leave without doing the withdrawal maneuver but what about the Rt, it doesn't get stuck in, so can it still be shot at?

Engaged is one of those odd rules in this game.

Troopers can only be engaged with Troopers, so whoever the ATRT charges technically isnt engaged either.

As a result, both can be shot at and both can freely move away. Also no pile in move because theres no engaged kicker.

I feel they should change that to only be vehicles w/o a melee because its really, really weird atm.

Ah, right. I forgot about that. The ATRT cannot "engage" anyone so they don't HAVE to fight it in Melee combat. Ok so this is not as good as I first imagined. ****.

4 minutes ago, Rocmistro said:

Ah, right. I forgot about that. The ATRT cannot "engage" anyone so they don't HAVE to fight it in Melee combat. Ok so this is not as good as I first imagined. ****.

No It's better, because the AT-RT can leave melee combat with a move action and your enemy doesn't get to pile in to get as many melee attacks as possible.

Hrm. That's a good point. Rebel Troopers are actually the same in melee/ranged, and Stormtroopers are actually better in melee than shooting.

The troopers can still melee-move before they attack back, that bit is just under "Melee" not "Engaged"
Also even if they arent in base contact they still contribute their melee dice (last small paragraph in the "Melee" section, pg 32).

Really the only boon the ATRT has is it can just back up freely (or move forward if its front notch isnt blocked by a trooper mini, since they cant move through units).

Melee vehicles are weird....

edit: actually i just realized something, if they arent actually engaged, the ATRT can still flamer the unit hes touching...
ok seriously FFG needs to tweak those rules for melee vehicles...

Keep in mind, @Vineheart01, vehicles travel along the movement tool, so the model it's meleeing doesn't need to be on the notch to block its movement.

touche. So moving forward out of melee woudl be difficult.

Melee vehicles are better than you think. You can move and overlap a trooper, displace it, and give it a suppression. Move into base contact with another trooper, and now you force a melee. Then you can attack, and potentially add another suppression. At this point, the unit is panicked and runs away.

If you only put 1 suppression on, the unit still loses an action.

If it's in range of the commander, well, you're better off with a flame thrower.

@kaffis and @Vineheart01 - I may be complete wrong here, so please correct me if i'm not mistaken, but if it's meleeing troopers then they wouldn't block movement, but would themselves be displaced by the movement?

No displacement only happens if a comp move overlaps the bases.

In this scenario were talking about an ATRT, which doesnt have a comp move, simply slugging up to a unit and smacking them with its feet in melee.

Currently only Speeder Bikes and the T-47 can displace.

@Vineheart01 - Displacement is caused by all ground vehicle movement along it's path, but only the end position of a compulsory movement of repulser vehicles.

RRG p. 25

2 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

Currently only Speeder Bikes and the T-47 can displace.

That is incorrect.... ground vehicles can displace troopers as per page 25 of the Rules Reference.

Its just that Repulsar vehicles can only displace during their cumpolsary moves, not during normal movement.

Missed that.

Relooking over displace apparently i misunderstood it. Now im kinda confused on that, it sounds like the ATRT can walk right into a unit, displacing them and causing suppression, then meleeing them because he parked right on them? The only way im seeing to dodge that is if the leader was displaced, then he is placed up to R1 away from his original position (which could easily get away from melee) but the supression token is assigned if ANY mini is displaced....

i feel like im missing something. That is...wonky as ****...

The AT-RT player can avoid this by not crossing the Leader but ending in base contact with it if it wants to Melee the unit.

Remember that Vehicles can't be engaged or engage... so it can move to displace a troop or two (giving a suppression token), end in base contact with an enemy model, and then decide to do a ranged attack on the Trooper unit for another suppression token if they hit! ?

Right but the idea of this thread was running an ATRT nekkid...which..it is actually sounding like is a VERY feasible idea.

Move, (displace/suppress), and then beat them up with Claws.

9 minutes ago, Rocmistro said:

Right but the idea of this thread was running an ATRT nekkid...which..it is actually sounding like is a VERY feasible idea.

Move, (displace/suppress), and then beat them up with Claws.

I think it is a potentially viable tactic, as long as you pick the correct targets. If you are trying to charge a unit with Impact Grenades, things won't end well for the AT-RT.

You could try running a screen of 2-3 AT-RTs kitted out this way to block LoS to your Troopers if terrain/cover is scarce. Kind of odd to think about using a spindly walker for this tactic but it is (or was) a standard tactic for infantry and armor.

I've been wanting to try an AT-RT with a flamethrower and a comms jammer, although with just he comms jammer, if you can get a suppression on the unit via displacement, that could make for one unit tied down.

Definitely a unit worth playing with and that has lots of builds that need exploring.

Since an AT-ST or AT-RT is the unit leader, it can both displace and start a melee. Move the vehicle up the template to overlap a single trooper, but also place it so it will be in base contact with a different one. This will force the displaced trooper to be moved and put a suppression token on the unit. Since you are in base contact, all the minis move into base contact with you. Now you can attack with melee.

I think this tactic will be fairly easy to execute because you can make a partial movement. It's also going to be ridiculously powerful by panicking troops with a single activation.

PG 44

For units that consist of a single mini, that mini is the unit leader.

PG 32

If a unit has a melee weapon, it can start a melee by moving into base contact with an enemy miniature. To start a melee, a player must follow these steps in order:

1. Move Unit Leader: The player performs a move, moving their unit leader into base contact with an enemy mini.
2. Move Other Minis: Maintaining cohesion, the player places each other mini in the unit that started the melee into base contact with enemy minis that belong to the same enemy unit that their unit leader is now in melee with.
3. Opponent Moves Minis: Maintaining cohesion, the player’s opponent moves any of their own minis that belong to the unit that is now in a melee (that are not already in base contact with an enemy mini) into base contact with minis from the unit that started the melee

PG 25

To displace a unit, players perform the following steps:

1. Set Aside Minis: Any displaced minis are placed to the side of the battlefield without disrupting other minis or objects on the battlefield. If a unit leader is displaced, a player should mark its original position using a spare token.
2. Move: The ground vehicle mini that displaced the trooper minis continues its move as normal, unimpeded by the minis it displaced.
3. Place Units: The player who did not move the vehicle takes all of the displaced minis (both friendly and enemy) and places them back on the battlefield.

• Each mini must be placed in cohesion with its unit leader.
• If a unit leader was displaced, it must be placed within range 1 of its original position. After the leader is placed, any minis of that unit that are not in cohesion are placed in cohesion; this could cause a mini that was not displaced to be moved.
• When placing a displaced mini, it cannot be placed in base contact with an enemy mini.

Just to point out, since an AT-RT cannot engage or be engaged by troopers, if you have an AT-RT in melee with an enemy trooper unit, all of your units can still shoot at that enemy trooper unit.

I've run them with no guns before and they do alright. Alot of their success depends on objectives and terrain though. Tall buildings, with choke points.... they'll do nicely.

It is going to be interesting to see how the tactics for each unit evolve as more standard size games are played as opposed to the learning games. I now my group got tired of the learning game rather quickly.