Hey everyone, I am just starting out and am wondering at some build choices for a droid army.

How many units of droids do people use? What weapon upgrades and comms do you give them?

How many activations are wanted/needed?

Is the new tank any good?

Thank you in advance for any polite replies.

Great questions. The new tank has not been released so the only people that know how well it works have proxied it in their games or played it on tabletop simulator on Steam.

My favorite team prior to the B2s was: 797 points and 10 activations. It is a very difficult team to beat. With vehicles emerging more competitively the rockets are strong. Droidekas when run together and flank are good at causing troops to lose activations and sometimes panic. Grevious kills the pods and stays behind cover, popping out to get a gun shot off then moving back behind cover until an opening presents itself.

General Grievous (Aggressive Tactics, Tenacity, DT-57 Annihilator)
B1 Battle Droids (E-60R B1 Trooper)
B1 Battle Droids (E-60R B1 Trooper)
B1 Battle Droids (E-60R B1 Trooper)
B1 Battle Droids (E-60R B1 Trooper)
B1 Battle Droids
B1 Battle Droids
Droidekas
Droidekas
Droidekas

My new favorite team with the b2s is this:

Count Dooku (Force Reflexes, Saber Throw, Force Guidance, Aggressive Tactics)
B2 Super Battle Droids (B2-HA Trooper, B2 Super Battle Droid)
B2 Super Battle Droids (B2-HA Trooper, B2 Super Battle Droid)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper)
Droidekas
Droidekas

This team is much more difficult to play, but to me, it also more fun. I love Dooku, his cards are some of the strongest cards in the game. B2's are nuts but you want to keep them in cover and out of melee. I LOVE the blast gun on them. It is so strong. I usually flank with the droidekas, but with this team I run the droidekas up the middle to draw away fire from the B2's and to allow the b2's to get into position.

Once the commando droids drop its going to be really cool and the STAPs will be mediocre, but perfect for a horde type army.

I'm also new to the game and only have 2 core sets and the B1 upgrade pack. But I've been running this list (or very similar versions) with pretty good success so far:

@Sekac

I wouldn't say people are against the Droidekas, they just feel about 5-10pts too much and don't jive with the other trooper units well. You almost never have commands to give them so linked targeting array doesn't come into play as often as you'd like.

7 hours ago, buckero0 said:

@Sekac

I wouldn't say people are against the Droidekas, they just feel about 5-10pts too much and don't jive with the other trooper units well. You almost never have commands to give them so linked targeting array doesn't come into play as often as you'd like.

That's a kinder assessment of droidekas than I've been reading on here but I don't disagree on any particular point, I just like them anyway.

As I said though, I own what I own. I cannot field a list that includes more models than I have now so an amount of bloat is inevitable. The linked targeting arrays are certainly disposable, but they're cheap enough that if I only use them once or twice, I'm fine with it.

On 4/2/2020 at 2:42 AM, weebaer said:

Great questions. The new tank has not been released so the only people that know how well it works have proxied it in their games or played it on tabletop simulator on Steam.

My favorite team prior to the B2s was: 797 points and 10 activations. It is a very difficult team to beat. With vehicles emerging more competitively the rockets are strong. Droidekas when run together and flank are good at causing troops to lose activations and sometimes panic. Grevious kills the pods and stays behind cover, popping out to get a gun shot off then moving back behind cover until an opening presents itself.

General Grievous (Aggressive Tactics, Tenacity, DT-57 Annihilator)
B1 Battle Droids (E-60R B1 Trooper)
B1 Battle Droids (E-60R B1 Trooper)
B1 Battle Droids (E-60R B1 Trooper)
B1 Battle Droids (E-60R B1 Trooper)
B1 Battle Droids
B1 Battle Droids
Droidekas
Droidekas
Droidekas

My new favorite team with the b2s is this:

Count Dooku (Force Reflexes, Saber Throw, Force Guidance, Aggressive Tactics)
B2 Super Battle Droids (B2-HA Trooper, B2 Super Battle Droid)
B2 Super Battle Droids (B2-HA Trooper, B2 Super Battle Droid)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper)
Droidekas
Droidekas

This team is much more difficult to play, but to me, it also more fun. I love Dooku, his cards are some of the strongest cards in the game. B2's are nuts but you want to keep them in cover and out of melee. I LOVE the blast gun on them. It is so strong. I usually flank with the droidekas, but with this team I run the droidekas up the middle to draw away fire from the B2's and to allow the b2's to get into position.

Once the commando droids drop its going to be really cool and the STAPs will be mediocre, but perfect for a horde type army.

I think you should not wield saber throw in dooku as you can either use it or the force lightning.

On 4/5/2020 at 2:24 AM, kenjack167 said:

I think you should not wield saber throw in dooku as you can either use it or the force lightning.

Ive played it both ways. It is too strong with his 1 pip to not include it for 5 points. Range 2, 5 black, 3 red, surge to crit, pierce 3, impact 2, scatter, and 3 suppression tokens. It is a squad/hero killer.

Well, for now one of the best CIS lists is 'Double the Fall' (Grievous, Dooku and 6 B1s, all packed up) - but it takes some skill to use.

For a beginner, I'd go with either commander, a bunch of B1s and a droideka or 2. This is a suggestion for someone just with 2x core set (some cards don't come with it, but the community generally lends upgrade cards for a game) and the upgrade pack:

General Grievous (Strict Orders, Aggressive Tactics, Endurance, DT-57 Annihilator)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid, HQ Uplink)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid, HQ Uplink)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid)
B1 Battle Droids (E-60R B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid)
B1 Battle Droids (E-60R B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid)
Droidekas
Droidekas

Commands:
Ambush (1), Trained in Your Jedi Arts (1), Push (2), Supreme Commander (2), Assault (3), Crush Them! (3), Standing Orders (4)

Use Grievous as a stalking cat, going from tall terrain to tall terrain until you can get some juicy target on your fingers. Droids with E-5C just advance (keep those with HQ Uplink behind the others), while those with E-60R can stay a bit afar and shoot at tanks/big stuff (try to keep them at range 3 of enemies, though). Droidekas flank to kill enemy capturing objectives or just harassing.
Always keep a chain of B1s at range 1, so all of them would get order tokens when the first one gets it. And this list still has 8p for you to spend as you wish.
Also, it's really important to read the most up-to-date Rules Reference!

---

Now, to directly answer your questions:

Hey everyone, I am just starting out and am wondering at some build choices for a droid army.

Roger Roger! 💪

How many units of droids do people use? What weapon upgrades and comms do you give them?

As many as possible. As the saying goes: activation control is a **** of a drug!
If you wish, you can fill your troop slots with B1s. B2s are more expensive and don't pass orders - so, at most 2 of them are advisable. Droidekas are so-so in my opinion, but still work.
For upgrades, let's go through the slots (cards with an * don't come in the CW core set).

Comms: HQ Uplink is really important - one is necessary, 2 are good. They're perfect for the turns you use the commander's 1-pip card or if you make a mistake and your droids are too far to get an order from your commander or the chain order is broken (that is, your droids are farther than range 1 from each other). The other Comms upgrades... meh. If you manage to give Droidekas orders a lot, Linked Targeting Array* goes well with them. Comms Jammer* could find a use for spinny Droidekas closing in an enemy unit you don't want to receive an order token, Comms Relay* defeat the entire purpose of activation control, Integrated Comms Antenna* isn't that useful because Long-Range Comlink is better and only 2p more expensive (although I wouldn't use it in anything besides Droidekas).

Weapons: Grievous' pistol is a must. Heavy weapons for B1s too! The E-5C is the most versatile of them, while the E-60R has a niche use against units with the Armor rule (mostly tanks, speeders and walkers); E-5s* can help against cover and the Radiation Cannon* is terrific against anything not-vehicle... sadly, it is only range 2 and is the most expensive B1 heavy weapon; I wouldn't advise using it after you get your hands on B2s.

Gear: this is a non-existent slot for Droids - except for the Electrobinoculars*. This eats up an action to give another unit an Aim token; could be useful, but its real use will come when the BX strike teams show up. I wouldn't recommend using it for now.
Training: as of now, only for Grievous. Duck and Cover* is meh on him, Endurance* is superb, Tenacity is good, Offensive Push* isn't bad, Overwatch* is useless in him (pistol is range 2 max) and Hunter... although it is good, only works against troopers with a wound token (basically, commanders, operatives and imperial guard/wookies).

Command: Commanding Presence is meh, Esteemed Leader could help both commanders (but forces them to walk near the troops), Improvised Orders* is not really needed for CIS (activation control, remember?), Strict Orders* is REALLY good and Aggressive Tactics was made for CIS.

Force: oooh boy, some of these are GREAT! Let's start with the most praised of them all - Force Push. This card is a staple on Dooku, simple as that. Force Choke saves up activations, so (for me) it's another staple on Dooku. Force Reflexes is good, but can be traded for Saber Throw if you want a more aggressive Dooku. I don't see many people using Force Guidance, but giving out MORE surges can have some niche use I don't know (cue in the Oprah meme). Battle Meditation is reverse Long-Range Comlink (and usually not worth it). Anger*, while cool, has way more competitors for Force slots and see no much use in CIS. Fear can be interesting - but, again, other more powerful cards compete with it.

How many activations are wanted/needed?

At least 8. Warhammer 40k has a golden rule: ' boyz before toyz ' - that means you want more people on the table than more upgrades/expensive stuff. Fewer activations mean too many upgrades and/or too many expensive units. CIS is the horde army and devianting from that won't do you any favors. As we don't have cheap commanders, you cannot really make a good 11/12-activations list right now. 8-9 are the average (Double the Fall list has 8 units, while the one I made for you has 9); with the BX strike teams coming in July, CIS will manage to do sound 10/11-activation lists.

Is the new tank any good?

Y E S. It's gorgeous, it's chonky, it's good. Get one.

---

A final tip: join the Legion discord for more tips and tricks and use this website to create lists.

On 4/8/2020 at 6:50 AM, Vector Strike said:

A final tip: join the Legion discord

Where at?

1 hour ago, Applebottom said:

Where at?

Try this link: https://discord.gg/KXjSrA

Where did you guys get your 'new' tank? I've been waiting over 2 months for mine.

On 4/8/2020 at 3:50 AM, Vector Strike said:

Well, for now one of the best CIS lists is 'Double the Fall' (Grievous, Dooku and 6 B1s, all packed up) - but it takes some skill to use.

For a beginner, I'd go with either commander, a bunch of B1s and a droideka or 2. This is a suggestion for someone just with 2x core set (some cards don't come with it, but the community generally lends upgrade cards for a game) and the upgrade pack:

General Grievous (Strict Orders, Aggressive Tactics, Endurance, DT-57 Annihilator)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid, HQ Uplink)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid, HQ Uplink)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid)
B1 Battle Droids (E-60R B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid)
B1 Battle Droids (E-60R B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid)
Droidekas
Droidekas

Commands:
Ambush (1), Trained in Your Jedi Arts (1), Push (2), Supreme Commander (2), Assault (3), Crush Them! (3), Standing Orders (4)

This is, unfortunately, entirely too many B1s for just 2x core set.

That list calls for 36 B1s without heavy weapons, only 28 are provided (including the binoculars).

Triple droidekas is mandatory, though you're short components. I use X-wing shield tokens for the 3rd squad.

On 4/11/2020 at 3:50 PM, buckero0 said:

Where did you guys get your 'new' tank? I've been waiting over 2 months for mine.

My FLGS' distributor already had mine way back in February and only got the green light to send them over last week, it seems.

14 hours ago, Sekac said:

This is, unfortunately, entirely too many B1s for just 2x core set.

That list calls for 36 B1s without heavy weapons, only 28 are provided (including the binoculars).

Triple droidekas is mandatory, though you're short components. I use X-wing shield tokens for the 3rd squad.

****, you're right about the B1s and core sets. You'd need to get a third one for that (and triple dekkas)!

Honestly triple Droideka isn't worth it at the moment, and I believe the same holds true for B1 x 6. Pick up a unit (ideally) two of B2s and you'll be set with two core sets and Dooku. Once the tank, Cad Bane, BX Commandos and eventually STAPs come out, we'll really have some creativity with lists.

On 4/13/2020 at 2:37 PM, Mokoshkana said:

Honestly triple Droideka isn't worth it at the moment, and I believe the same holds true for B1 x 6. Pick up a unit (ideally) two of B2s and you'll be set with two core sets and Dooku. Once the tank, Cad Bane, BX Commandos and eventually STAPs come out, we'll really have some creativity with lists.

How would you make a list with your suggestions?

I really enjoy this list

Dooku (Aggressive Tactics, Force Choke, Force Push, Force Reflexes) - 240

Grievous ( DT-57, Tenacity, Strict Orders) - 196

B1 (E-5C) - 54

B1 (E-5C) - 54

B1 (E-5C) - 54

B1 (No upgrade) - 36

B2 (B2-HA) - 80

B2 (B2-HA) - 80

This gives you 8 activations and 6 additional points for a bid or wiggle room for upgrades. If you cannot get two boxes of B2, you can run five units of B1 with a B2. The B2-HA is amazing because it ignores cover and gives some anti vehicle. As for commands, you only take Grievous 1-pip and everything else is Dooku's (he is your commander for all other cards).

Thank you very much for the suggestion. I already have 2 boxes, I've just been struggling with figuring out how to play them - I haven't felt like they've been worth the cost running them with the fifth droid..

Yeah, that last droid is a bit of a tough sell. I rarely take it. The B2-HA is such money though. I don't consider the other option.

I appreciate both points; the B2-HA being more valuable than it's alternative and I'm not the only one who feels that the fifth B2 is ...lackluster, at best.

Any thoughts on him or how to run Bane? It feels like he was designed to play "cat and mouse" in a similar method to Grievous or Snowtroopers - the former using Scale and the latter sharing the Steady ability - peek out from behind cover, take a free shot, and duck back out of LoS. I want to take Hunter and his Gauntlets so he can be a little more aggressive if the situation presents itself, but he appears to be too fragile to put anything but Duck and Cover in his Training slot.

I'm not really thinking too much about Cad Bane until I have the whole picture. I do think he may pair better with Grievous as Dooku is more expensive, but time shall tell.

I think a lot of Cad Banes utility is going to be in his command cards. One of them we haven't seen and the deployment one, we don't know how it works (6 Bane tokens) if half of them explode turn 1 and do damage, that may be the reason to take him and the fact that he can deploy pretty much anywhere on 3/4 of the board.

By the way, how do you run Grievous effectively? I'm looking to learn how to play droids, I've mostly played clones with some Rebels mixed in there and I'm still trying to get a feel for them.

Grievous really plays best like his film/cartoon counter part. Stick in the shadows for protection, strike when the best opportunity arises, then run and hide. If you let him get shot up (especially with suppression being so accessible) he'll lose actions, which really hinders his play. If he is a side kick to Dooku, he can be run more cheaply, but if he is to be the only commander, I think Strict Orders and Endurance are requirements.

Ok, that is exactly how I thought he was supposed to be played but I have to say I'm a little disappointed - I was hoping that he was going to be an absolute melee monster, especially with his 1 pip. Thanks for your tips, Mokoshkana.

Quote

800/800

General Grievous (Strict Orders, Endurance, DT-57 Annihilator)
Count Dooku (Force Choke, Force Push, Force Reflexes, Aggressive Tactics)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5C B1 Trooper, B1 Battle Droid)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5s B1 Trooper, HQ Uplink)
B1 Battle Droids (E-5s B1 Trooper)

Commands:
Trained in Your Jedi Arts (1), Fear, Surprise, Intimidation (1), Supreme Commander (2), Double the Fall (2), Assault (3), You Disappoint Me (3), Standing Orders (4)

This is a pretty successful separatist list called Double the Fall. It's been around for quite some time and run by some great players. If anything is the standout droid list - this is it.

Whatever build you do, aggressive tactics is super important for droids to have. It is basically a mandatory requirement because it increases your efficiency so much.

with this particular list the wave of droids will march up the board while dooku and grievous sneak as close as they can. if you can pull off the perfect waterfall of Grievous 1 pip immediately into dookus 1 pip it is absolutely devastating.