So I know the general opinion is that Wookiee Warriors aren't great thanks to gun lines, snipers, Wookiee's short range on attacks, etc.

Now, suppose there was plenty of LoS blocking terrain, and you could actually get an intact squad of Wookiees close enough to use their melee attacks, at that point, are they still not a great unit, or do they actually do a good job of putting a hurting down if they can get where they need to go? It's 3-4 models with 3 wounds, 2 black dice each on melee attacks, red dice on rally rolls, and charge.

In this perfect world where they can get where they need to be, what gear and/or training upgrades would be useful to bring with them?

I'm asking in part because our next game, we're going to try a Grand Army level Imperials vs. Rebels, and I was thinking about putting 2 Wookiee squads in the Rebel list to see how they do. I've got plenty of tall LoS blocking terrain to help them move up the table, and give them reasons to be expert climbers. 75 points for 9 wounds doesn't seem too expensive if you can deliver them to targets.

We don't really play super competitive/tournament games, it's just the two of us having fun playing casual games, so we're not trying to min/max our lists, but I'd want to find a way to make them useful, because i love the sculpts for these furry fellas.

Even in melee, they still aren't great. If you want a short range shock trooper then use Fleets. They only need to be at range 2 and are cheaper.

That said if you're deadset on them then slap on tenacity to compensate for the damage you'll be taking on the way in, Duck and Cover to help mitigate damage, and recon intel to start slightly closer. Because they rally with red dice, you can get away with them operating away from your commander. Use them to pick off isolated squads if possible. Also try and get them surge tokens whenever you can. Since you're playing rebels you should be used to this by now, but as a CIS player don't expect white with no surge to save. Ever.

They don't do great dmg in melee sadly. They really need a close combat heavy option that can give them pierce or something. 6 black dice + red from tenacity isn't bad, however they rarely get into melee without loosing 1 or 2 wookies sadly. If I go wookies that wanna get into close combat i do two 3 man squad with tenacity + duck and cover and try to make it there. However often I end up shooting anyway since range 2 is much easier than make it into melee. Another way is to go a single squad with bowcaster and use them with Chewie to soak enough wounds to avoid losing members too fast. Like pope said you should expect 0 saves from their white dice.

I remember the first time I charged a wookie warrior squad into melee. They made it intact/wounded proccing tenacity against some stormies. I rolled 5 hits, they blocked 3 and I did two wounds. They then aimed and did the exact same wounds back to my Wookies. It was then I realized the wookie warriors in optimal melee basically have the same firepower as a Z6 rebel trooper squad. I haven't used them since. In my opinion they are the worst unit in the game.

Wookies are not made to fight (even in close combat, I am very sorry to say that). They are designed to take and hold an objectif even, or recover some supplies and run. There value reside in the quantity of wounds they can absorb and there ability to keep two actions even under fire to run faster... Among the units that can win victory point on every mission, wookies is one of the most mobile one available for the rebels

I've repeatedly had stormies murder Wookiees in melee, even when the Wookiees attacked first. Their attack is mediocre at best, and leaves them very vulnerable to counter attacks. Yes, there are circumstances that work out in the favor of the walking carpets, but they are relatively few and far between.

you have to charge a unit that has already activated. They do alright, but benefit from an Aim token (not always easy to come by) and having several other threats (so they get ignored)

They usually will stick in combat for a couple of turns though, so they can lock a unit down. They do start to dwindle though and probably cost more than whatever you're locking down. (Don't charge something with melee stats that have double dice.)

They probably should have had some sort of pierce on a melee attack as well with the bowcaster due to its cost.

18 hours ago, buckero0 said:

you have to charge a unit that has already activated. They do alright, but benefit from an Aim token (not always easy to come by) and having several other threats (so they get ignored)

They usually will stick in combat for a couple of turns though, so they can lock a unit down. They do start to dwindle though and probably cost more than whatever you're locking down. (Don't charge something with melee stats that have double dice.)

They probably should have had some sort of pierce on a melee attack as well with the bowcaster due to its cost.

I totally agree. The attack pool of wookies is missing some keyword. They should have Pierce/ram .... Or even the suppressive keyword for melee. It should make sense

On 8/5/2020 at 10:23 AM, buckero0 said:

you have to charge a unit that has already activated. They do alright, but benefit from an Aim token (not always easy to come by) and having several other threats (so they get ignored)

They usually will stick in combat for a couple of turns though, so they can lock a unit down. They do start to dwindle though and probably cost more than whatever you're locking down. (Don't charge something with melee stats that have double dice.)

They probably should have had some sort of pierce on a melee attack as well with the bowcaster due to its cost.

I agree both with the way you utilize them and with the need for a keyword.

I really like to hide them behind a LOS blocker until they can pop up (with expert climber) for a range 2 full unit shot. Next turn I can ideally get that shot off again before the unit moves into cover. Finally I can move up to get into melee with that unit, hopefully charging them. It is difficult to set these scenarios up, but it is possible, especially if you have an area denial tool that funnels units to the Wookiees (saboteurs/FD turret/Luke).

But . . . with the rise of Shores and Clone gunlines, all this has become increasingly difficult. Maybe they’ll get a meaningful errata (or GAR re-release with changes???). Maybe they’ll just be an outclassed unit that can’t find a place.

I'd probably just drop the point cost 5 per model so the full squad with bowcaster comes to 90 points same as tauns. The new dualist keyword fits wookies pretty well if they wanted to give them piere in melee.

Wookies are fun to play but sadly get outclassed by cheaper units or red saves despite thier 12 wounds.