To B2 or Not To B2...That is the Question

By Lochlan, in Army Building

795/800 (8 activations)

Commanders:

- Count Dooku (205): Force Reflexes (10), Force Push (10), Force Choke (5), Esteemed Leader (5) = 235

- General Grievous (175): Aggressive Tactics (10), Strict Orders (5), Endurance (6) = 196

Corps:

- 2× Battle Droids (36): E-5C Trooper (18), HQ Uplink (10) = 128

- 3× Battle Droids (36): E-5C Trooper (18) = 162

- Super Battle Droids (48): B2-ACM Trooper (26) = 74

I used this list last night, and while I managed to barely squeak out a win on points, the B2s didn't contribute much. They weathered some incoming shots decently well, but they only got off one attack before eating a Tauntaun ram and getting wiped out (which my opponent actually wasn't happy about as that opened the Tauntauns up to a lot of B1 fire). A unit of B1s would have been cheaper, but probably would have done less damage, and likely would have died just as quickly, if not even faster. I don't see B2s getting much table time once BXs come out, but for now, I can't decide if I like them as an endpoint for the coordinate chain. I'll definitely need to get more reps in to make up my mind, but until then I'm curious what others have found with them so far.

B2 need the B2-HA heavy weapon. It is soooooo much better due to blast (and impact is something lacking for CIS). I was pretty sure B2 were going to be substandard in 800 pt games, but I have grown to love them. I run two squads with the B2-HA upgrade and four squads of B1 (with two minimum squads to act as objective grabbers).

1 hour ago, Mokoshkana said:

B2 need the B2-HA heavy weapon. It is soooooo much better due to blast (and impact is something lacking for CIS). I was pretty sure B2 were going to be substandard in 800 pt games, but I have grown to love them. I run two squads with the B2-HA upgrade and four squads of B1 (with two minimum squads to act as objective grabbers).

I haven't tried the HA yet, but just from its stats on paper, I doubt I ever will. Blast is certainly great, but the range 3 can actually be a detriment due to AI, it averages fewer hits than the ACM despite being more expensive, and, unless you are spending actions to recover (when B2s almost always need to move and shoot), it can only be fired every other turn. The impact is nice, but the B1's E60R is way cheaper and longer range, and blast is usually not necessary against armor. Plus I am taking HQ Uplink on some B1s anyway, so having to recover on a couple of them isn't really a hindrance. If I had the points to spare to replace the ACM with an HA, I would probably add an extra B1 mini instead.

I really want the B2's to be good so figured I would take them for a spin. My list is certainly not an optimal list, and I'm definitely a novice at this game so far but I played a game with this list the other day, I did manage to get Timely reinforcements as a battlefield condition so managed to airdrop the full 5 man B2 squad in just beyond range 2 of an enemy squad while also being R1 of a B1 unit to get co-ordinated and a surge from Tactics.

Suffice to say it was a lot of fun walking in and unloading with 3R4B4W with a surge token on a Snowtrooper squad with no cover haha

795/800 (8 Activations)

General Grievous (175 + 26 = 201)

--Strict Orders (5), Esteemed Leader (5), Tenacity (4), DT-57 Annihilator (12)

Count Dooku (205 + 25 = 230)

--Force Choke (5), Force Push (10), Aggressive Tactics (10)

B2 Super Battle Droids (48 + 42 = 90)

--B2-ACM Trooper (26), B2 Super Battle Droid (16)

B1 Battle Droids (36 + 20 = 56)

--E-5s B1 Trooper (20)

B1 Battle Droids (36 + 20 = 56)

--E-5s B1 Trooper (20)

B1 Battle Droids (36 + 18 = 54)

--E-5C B1 Trooper (18)

B1 Battle Droids (36 + 18 = 54)

--E-5C B1 Trooper (18)

B1 Battle Droids (36 + 18 = 54)

--E-5C B1 Trooper (18)

Still maintaining near-perfect activation control is also pretty amazing for the list. Having said that I think I would agree that the B2's melt too quickly with their terrible defence dice so on any other deployment that’s not timely reinforcements you probably lose too much of their firepower before they actually get to shoot, then they can be neutered even further if they are engaged in melee, I was quite disappointed that they didn’t get red attack dice in melee.