Hey all. This is a question for Sep players (and maybe Rebels too). I see a lot of Rebel lists running naked Rebel troopers for their bare minimum 3 core. I'm wondering if this is viable for Separatist armies as well, running 3 naked B1s instead and maybe an HQ Uplink on one for activation control. They wouldn't be contributing much in the way of dice and good keywords, they'd just be more bodies to throw at objectives. I know Reb Troopers have a little more staying power with Nimble and surges, does the extra health from more minis in the B1s compare to that? Or are the heavy weapons something Sep lists cannot do without? With Cad Bane out and BXs/STAPs on the way, there are a lot of cool toys I'd like to fit into a list and any spare points are useful, at least until we get the cheap commanders next year.

Sure, 108 pts. But what else will be in the list? STAP seem fairly easy to knock out and can't capture objectives. You could build heavy BX list.

You've got to have something offensive, something to capture objectives

7 hours ago, buckero0 said:

Sure, 108 pts. But what else will be in the list? STAP seem fairly easy to knock out and can't capture objectives. You could build heavy BX list.

You've got to have something offensive, something to capture objectives

2-3 STAPs seem like they'd be useful for scoring in Breakthrough, Bombing Run, and in Payload as a fast harassment tool to peel units off the bomb cart. I could pad a list like that with BX sniper strike teams, Cad Bane, or B1 squads with heavy weapons. I guess the question becomes: are B1s with heavy weapons able to contribute something to a STAP list before they get wiped off the board? Or should I skip the heavy weapon, run the naked squads, and invest more points in "better" activations (fully kitted BXs, Dooku with all Force slots filled, Cad Bane with his weapon/training upgrades)?

They will get blown to smithereens in all cases. if you are using them to control objectives they will have no staying power at all. you need to bring more than 3 b1 squads to a 800 pt game so you have more squads than your opponent and have some activation control

Naked B1s are the way to go! At best get the extra trooper.

16 hours ago, Han Singular said:

2-3 STAPs seem like they'd be useful for scoring in Breakthrough, Bombing Run, and in Payload as a fast harassment tool to peel units off the bomb cart. I could pad a list like that with BX sniper strike teams, Cad Bane, or B1 squads with heavy weapons. I guess the question becomes: are B1s with heavy weapons able to contribute something to a STAP list before they get wiped off the board? Or should I skip the heavy weapon, run the naked squads, and invest more points in "better" activations (fully kitted BXs, Dooku with all Force slots filled, Cad Bane with his weapon/training upgrades)?

What do you see your BX droids load-out looking like?

I haven't been as enamored with the STAP droids as others. I guess I'm not convinced of their staying power as they have to move to get the dodges and there are a lot more crit-making units these days. I also don't think they can camp out on objectives because of their speeder rule. They'll have to move speed 3.

I'm with you though, I don't particularly care to use the b1s either. I don't know if I'll be buying 3 boxes of BX droids though. (I say that but I did cave in and get 2 of their tanks. That's the best tank in the game for my money)

25 minutes ago, buckero0 said:

I also don't think they can camp out on objectives because of their speeder rule.

I don't think that's what he or anyone else was saying.

8 hours ago, buckero0 said:

What do you see your BX droids load-out looking like?

I haven't been as enamored with the STAP droids as others. I guess I'm not convinced of their staying power as they have to move to get the dodges and there are a lot more crit-making units these days. I also don't think they can camp out on objectives because of their speeder rule. They'll have to move speed 3.

I'm with you though, I don't particularly care to use the b1s either. I don't know if I'll be buying 3 boxes of BX droids though. (I say that but I did cave in and get 2 of their tanks. That's the best tank in the game for my money)

7 hours ago, arnoldrew said:

I don't think that's what he or anyone else was saying.

Right, I'd only run STAPs in numbers >1 if I were building the list with those objectives in mind (Breakthrough, Bombing Run) just because those speed-3 Speeder 1 moves look so nice in those scenarios. Outside of that I would agree, I'm not sold on their staying power either. My droidekas have been eviscerated in their wheel forms (nearly) every time I've dared try to send them out, I'm hoping I won't be having any flashbacks trying to run it again with STAPs.

With BX loadouts, I've only looked at a few from the other threads on here but these seemed viable:

BX Strike Team (20) + Sniper (30) + Offensive Push (4) = 54 points, seems good for activation padding and I don't have to be too worried about missing activation control with Offensive Push.

BX Commandos (68) + Sniper (30) + Offensive Push (4) + Deflector Shields (18) = 120 points, with dodges, cover and shield tokens it could have some serious staying power for stationary objectives or even Payload. Maybe an HQ Uplink for another 10 for re-upping shields and Offensive Push, but even before that this unit is super expensive and I'd have to run those 3 naked B1s to even consider adding this to a list.

BX Commandos (68) + Tenacity (4) + Vibroswords (6) = 78 points, I have 0 experience with melee units beyond Dooku and Grievous, but it seems like with Charge, Scale, and Impervious saves these guys could get into melee with minimal losses and disrupt units on objectives.

I'd include the Saboteur combinations but I feel like they would have to have a list built around them rather than something you can just throw in. I could definitely be wrong about that, I haven't seen Rebel and Imp lists that use Saboteurs.

I agree with you about the AAT, I am so tempted to snag another one off of Amazon before they're sold out again. I know that one Gencon Double AAT list had to run 6 naked B1s to make room and that line of thinking prompted me to ask about them.

22 hours ago, 1st Due Apparatus said:

They will get blown to smithereens in all cases. if you are using them to control objectives they will have no staying power at all. you need to bring more than 3 b1 squads to a 800 pt game so you have more squads than your opponent and have some activation control

Yeah, this has kind of been the case with the lists I've brought against my Republic friend. Before Vital Assets, I would basically just swarm objectives with six core B1s on the key turns and hope that the cover + their collective health was enough to hold out for 1-2 turns. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but it was always disappointing to see an 8-droid unit scrubbed down to just the unit leader or worse in one turn due to fire support. I can definitely pump a list up to 9-10 activations with the new releases, and that's why I'm wondering whether the heavy weapons are worth the same or less compared to the new stuff that seems to do well outside the activation control bubble, like STAP Coordinate pods with their own HQ Uplink, or BXs being able to Dodge/AI: Move and Charge and still get stuff done.

17 hours ago, Memorare said:

Naked B1s are the way to go! At best get the extra trooper.

I think this is what I'll be doing once the new expansions drop. That extra trooper slot will also come in handy once we get the specialist upgrade packs a ways off.

I don't think heavy weapons are required on B1s, but I don’t love them completely naked either. They need to have some role. The only time I take them completely naked is with Esteemed Leader on Dooku, but really, EL is mostly that squad's upgrade, not Dooku's.

Otherwise, a naked squad as a backline HQ uplink squad works too. They don't need to be in fighting range, just out, but keeping those coordinates flowing.