I'm still not totally sold on the fleet troopers, mainly due to their range 2. However, I think having 2 units will likely be better than just one.

Just wondered what people's opinions are on this, especially those who have tried them out already on online simulators.

My opinion is that they are very very map dependant. Range 2 is really short on units with courage 1, white attack dice with surge aren't great even when you shoot two.

Their special rule is meh: standby is a rather crappily implemented rule.

Their special weapon However is great: two red surge to hit pierce one on the shotgun is perfect to threaten even big guys and vehicles, especially bikes.

Dunno yet about the next weapon though. So who knows. But I believe them to be good occasionally. Maybe not two boxes.

Hopefully they prove out better; I really like the models and want them to be good to see more play. The fleet troopers in IA are some of my favorite models, but they aren't very good in that game (of course none of the early release troopers are very good in that game anymore).

My board has a lot of cover, but I am still only going with one set, primarily because I am providing both sides and money only goes so far. It will give me some variety, and if it turns out I really like it I can buy more.

Personally I’d proxy them with something before investing your cash...

10 hours ago, Ghost Dancer said:

I'm still not totally sold on the fleet troopers, mainly due to their range 2. However, I think having 2 units will likely be better than just one.

Just wondered what people's opinions are on this, especially those who have tried them out already on online simulators.

If you are wanting a pack, Id probably start with one and then just proxy a second to see if you like two. I can see where two would be better than one, especially if something comes into range 1-2 of both fleet troops, that could be deadly.

Remember that Han and the Rebel commandos are coming out this summer though, so probably best to save and put your extra money towards them instead of a second fleet troopers right now.

Im just getting one for the time being since Im waiting to see how Han and Rebel commandos will play out. But I like the fleet trooper sculpts so they'll be fun to paint up and try out. Adds some variety to lists and will look cool next to the other Rebel units on the table.

In the end you can always add a second pack in a month, or even a year! no biggy.

I'm doing just one box for now too. I think they have potential, especially since I play with a lot of terrain, so if I find i like them I can buy another box later. No need to rush. It's not like they're a limited release.

The other weapon has been spoiled (guy in Italy got one early and posted on Reddit):

33pts, Range 1-3, Exhaust, Blast, Impact 2, 1 black 2 white.

If it wasn't for exhaust, that would be such a good weapon...

Thanks for the replies, looks like most people are only getting 1 (to begin with at least).

I saw the other weapon - very disappointed its another exhaust, makes it less desirable. It looks like all the expansions have 1 exhaust weapon.

38 minutes ago, colki said:

The other weapon has been spoiled (guy in Italy got one early and posted on Reddit):

33pts, Range 1-3, Exhaust, Blast, Impact 2, 1 black 2 white.

If it wasn't for exhaust, that would be such a good weapon...

19 minutes ago, Ghost Dancer said:

Thanks for the replies, looks like most people are only getting 1 (to begin with at least).

I saw the other weapon - very disappointed its another exhaust, makes it less desirable. It looks like all the expansions have 1 exhaust weapon.

It is a great weapon! You realize you can throw 12 white dice and a black with impact 2 and blast for 88 points.

And you get the surge

1 hour ago, colki said:

The other weapon has been spoiled (guy in Italy got one early and posted on Reddit):

33pts, Range 1-3, Exhaust, Blast, Impact 2, 1 black 2 white.

If it wasn't for exhaust, that would be such a good weapon...

Bit confused why an ion weapon doesn’t give out ion tokens?

42 minutes ago, Barney said:

Bit confused why an ion weapon doesn’t give out ion tokens?

Because it isn't an ion weapon? It's a grenade launcher.

1 hour ago, Tirion said:

It is a great weapon! You realize you can throw 12 white dice and a black with impact 2 and blast for 88 points.

And you get the surge

You can do that, but next turn you have to Recover if you want to do it again. Which means you're either not shooting or not moving. And if you were suppressed, then you have to choose between Recover, Shoot or Move. So probably its a weapon you'll only get to use 2-3 times in most games.

It also outranges the rest of your squad, so at least sometimes you'll JUST be firing those 2 White dice and 1 Black die.

20 minutes ago, SwdPwnzDggr said:

Because it isn't an ion weapon? It's a grenade launcher.

Ah I see, got confused that the one on the Rebel troopers and this are both mpl-57.

18 minutes ago, Jake the Hutt said:

It also outranges the rest of your squad, so at least sometimes you'll JUST be firing those 2 White dice and 1 Black die.

Or you can split fire with it.
Range 3 blast is still great regardless.

1 minute ago, Deuzerre said:

Or you can split fire with it.
Range 3 blast is still great regardless.

Thats a good point. And the weapon does have utility. Although I feel like most of the time you'll be benefiting from Blast OR Impact, not both.

I still don't like the exhaust. I don't feel like the weapon is powerful enough to warrant it.

20 minutes ago, Jake the Hutt said:

You can do that, but next turn you have to Recover if you want to do it again. Which means you're either not shooting or not moving. And if you were suppressed, then you have to choose between Recover, Shoot or Move. So probably its a weapon you'll only get to use 2-3 times in most games.

It also outranges the rest of your squad, so at least sometimes you'll JUST be firing those 2 White dice and 1 Black die. 

I think in most cases you would just hold off firing it until your squaddies were in range. Adds blast to the whole volley which should add 2 extra hits effectively

6 minutes ago, Ophion said:

I think in most cases you would just hold off firing it until your squaddies were in range. Adds blast to the whole volley which should add 2 extra hits effectively

Right. Thats certainly ideal. But my point was that its poor synergy. It's the only range 3 option in a range 2 unit, so you want to take advantage of it's range when you can. But it has Exhaust, so you also want to save it for when you can get the most out of it. But also, the longer you wait to fire it the more likely you are to be suppressed and unable to have teh actions to perform a Recover next turn (or have to choose between Recover and Move or Shoot).

I think it is weaker than the shotgun. 2 red pierce 1 is just too good for 12 points.
However, that grenade launcher will add a great tool to make the unit more versatile: Great against speeder bikes that are already its primary target (compulsory moves are one of the only "practical" ways of getting standby to work properly), increasing the "threat range" of the unit that could otherwise be ignored, decent anti-armour potential... It's a good machine.

I was pretty excited to finally get some new troopers for my Rebels but God these are disappointing. I see these getting wiped out and never getting a shot off.

15 hours ago, Deuzerre said:

My opinion is that they are very very map dependant. Range 2 is really short on units with courage 1, white attack dice with surge aren't great even when you shoot two.

Their special rule is meh: standby is a rather crappily implemented rule.

Their special weapon However is great: two red surge to hit pierce one on the shotgun is perfect to threaten even big guys and vehicles, especially bikes.

Dunno yet about the next weapon though. So who knows. But I believe them to be good occasionally. Maybe not two boxes.

2 white dice is already more damage than 1 black. With the added surge they are a reasonable upgrade in damage (3 hits for 4x fleet troopers vs. 2hits for 4x rebel troopers) with the trade off being a shorter range.

The heavy weapons only increase this. You're killing 3-4 stormies on average with no cover or tokens for 5x fleet + shotgun vs. 2 for 5x rebels with z-6.

With the grenade launcher, you can expect to inflict 2-3 wounds behind heavy cover due to blast whereas rebel troopers with ion you can expect to inflict one. More damage against vehicles too.

If you can negate the range disadvantage they could be very good at clearing then holding objectives I reckon.

Move them up behind AT-RTs and give them environmental gear so they can scramble over terrain unhindered.

13 hours ago, migs6000 said:

I was pretty excited to finally get some new troopers for my Rebels but God these are disappointing. I see these getting wiped out and never getting a shot off.

This is my concern

Like any unit in a wargame, you should not think about how they operate in isolation in a"glass car park" environment. If you don't properly support a unit it won't perform well. If you do, you have a decent chance of getting value out of them. In games where I have fought against Fleet troopers (on Tabletop Simulator) they have often functioned as a decent deterrent simply by using standby, or as a unit I have needed to commit more than one squad to properly dislodge. Tactically, they do not need to be scoring many kills to be useful, and their utility can be drastically elevated by terrain.

10. How else do I run a Grand Army with maximum Fleet Troopers?

1 for every Flamer AT-RT you'll be pairing it with. Charge!!!!!