by Are you looking for an effective Republic army list? Does the competitive scene appeal to you and would you like to shine in big tournaments? In this article, I share with you the best Republic Army lists of 2023. They all finished in the top 8 of the biggest Star Wars Legion tournaments held in Europe and the US.
Foreword
I’ve asked Enguerrand, an excellent painter and Republic player, to comment on some of the lists. Enguerrand has won many tournaments with this faction in Belgium and is therefore a Republic expert. He regularly wins prizes for best painter too (the minis in the picture are his). Thank you for your help, Enguerrand, and I look forward to seeing you at another tournament!
To discover the command cards and battle deck associated with the lists, visit the LegionHQ link.
| Beginner’s alert: Beware of unit cost updates |
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| Some lists may be worth more than 800 points at the time you view them, making them illegal for tournament play. This may happen after the units cost update, which generally takes place once or twice a year. Please note that this is not done systematically for all Star Wars Legion units. Only the ones Atomic Mass Games deems to be over-performing (or under-performing) in tournaments. To find out the current value of the lists presented in this post, please check them on LegionHQ. The corresponding link is provided below each screenshot. |
Yoda and triple ARC troopers
The version with Padmé
Performance:
This list was played by Michael Barry at the US Florida Crucible tournament in October 2023. He won the tournament, which featured no fewer than 64 players.
Explanations (by Enguerrand):
The idea behind the Padmé and Yoda combo is to generate a lot of green tokens in one game turn. This is because Yoda can trigger Padmé’s Quick Thinking ability through his Guidance ability. With this trick, Padmé ends up with two Dodge tokens and two Aim tokens (+ potentially another Aim or Dodge token with her second action).
The aim of this manipulation is to supply the ARC Troopers with the Aim tokens so that they make a clean attack roll. Furthermore, it ensures profitable Fire Supports in the process. Normally, you’d prefer to add the Fire Support dice pool to a unit that converts its surges natively. But in this case you have so many green tokens that the ARCs make excellent targets. With this option, you’ll benefit from their Sharpshooter 1 and Lethal 1 keywords.
There are of course other techniques for generating a lot of green tokens, such as :
- Yoda’s pip 3 (can be played twice if you manage your cards well);
- Native sharing of green tokens between Clones;
- Tactical 1 keyword on ARCs;
Just imagine the number of green tokens you can pull from your bag in one turn. It’s amazing !🤪
Tactically, the list is played in packs. You advance your troops by block. Once within reasonable range of the enemy, Yoda can step out of line (with his Pip 1) to annoy the opponent or capture an objective. Don’t forget that his Guidance ability works on ALL actions, including mission actions. If your opponent doesn’t know about this trick, you can use it to sneak up on them. Those who know this trick will try to neutralise Yoda as quickly as possible. This will be hard though as the Jedi Master will remain in the Clone bubble for as long as possible.
The list has a sturdy profile but, on the other hand, it is sorely lacking in activations (only 8). This means that your opponent will often play last to take advantage of this weakness. Like many Gunline lists, it struggles to deal with Oppression-type lists. And if you’re attacked on all fronts, even Yoda won’t be able to get you out of this predicament…
The version with Cody
Performance:
List played by Michael Barry, ranked 3rd out of 59 entrants in the US PAX Unplugged tournament in December 2023.
Explanations (by Enguerrand):
A variant of the previous one where we replace an ARC unit with Cody. In this case, you want to play him like Bossk. In other words, he will be fed by a lot of Aim tokens and will be able to fire many times from one end of the table. If he’s backed up by Fire Support, he’ll have access to a substantial dice pool. This dice pool is all the more threatening because Cody converts attack surges into critical hits. Very useful for managing enemy vehicles.
The version with a Clone Commander
Performance:
List played by Ricardo Dossena, first of 32 players in the World Open Qualifier Italy tournament in November 2023.
Explanations (by Enguerrand):
In this version, it’s Padmé who gives up her spot to a Clone commander. The immediate advantage is that the Clone Commander has at least one Fire Support per turn, since he has the Direct Order: Clone Trooper Unit ability. As he is cheaper than Amidala, he saves you a few points in the list which can be used to equip other units. For example, ARCs benefit from the Situational Awareness upgrade, which is a huge plus.
Compared to the other versions, this list generates 3 to 5 green tokens less per turn. This isn’t as bad as one could imagine though as the Clone Commander provides 2 surge tokens through his Bolster 2 ability. What’s more, Yoda provides two or three extra surge tokens per turn with the Aggressive Tactics upgrade. In the end, Padmé’s absence doesn’t weigh that heavily on the army. As Ricardo’s result shows, this list has nothing to envy the other versions.
Gunline Anakin with Pykes
The lists below are based on the Gunline archetype with Commander Anakin and two troops of Pykes. There are several variants:
The version with Padmé
Performance:
This list was played by Sam McHenry at the US PAX Unplugged tournament in December 2023. It enabled him to win the 59-player tournament. It should be noted that Sam McHenry had already played a similar list at the American NOVA Open tournament, which took place 3 months earlier. At that time, he reached the finals in that 59-player tournament.
Explanations (by Enguerrand):
The list based its strategy around the Exemplary keyword, present on both Anakin and Padmé, in order to feed the Pykes soldiers with Dodge tokens. This allows them to withstand numerous enemy attacks. But they won’t be untouchable! Faced with enemy sniper fire containing the keyword High Velocity, the Pykes won’t be able to use Dodge.
Of course, Pykes can also be supplied with surge tokens, which makes their attack reserve (7 black and 1 red) even more spicy! The Capo is an almost compulsory upgrade in order to gain an surge Chit at the start of the turn and because it increases the troop’s morale to 2. This is important both to ensure better use of the Pykes’ Danger Sense ability and because these spice sellers won’t be able to benefit from Anakin’s morale in the event of a glitch.
Speaking of the Jedi, Anakin plays a defensive support role in this list. This is evidenced by his Force Barrier and Defensive Posture upgrades.
The version with Padmé and a Capo
Performance:
Played by Yyck Otto, a finalist among 60 players at the German Im Norden tournament in November 2023.
Explanations (by Enguerrand):
In my opinion, this version is nicer as Pykes Soldiers benefit from an extra source of green tokens thanks to their Capo and his Aid keyword. This greatly strengthens the Pykes but, on the other hand, the other units are distorted. Unlike the other list, Anakin has a more offensive profile, as implied by the Sabre Throwing upgrade. This is an excellent upgrade for the Chosen One as the synergy with Fire Support is monstrous: Pierce 3 on a Clone attack pool with an RPS (or Mortar if it had been present) can wipe out a squad in one shot.
Combining the Authoritative keyword with the Seize the Opportunity upgrade allows Padmé to give an order to a Phase I or II troop either to obtain green tokens or to pull out a Fire Support even when a low pip card is played.
Finally, the last advantage of playing with a Capo is that you can use the Ploy command card to place Anakin’s order token on it and avoid his flawed card “Not a Story the Jedi Would Tell“.
The version with Cody
Performance:
List was played by Aryhas, ranked 5th out of 152 participants in the French Championship in September 2023.
Explanations: coming soon.
Gunline Anakin with Phases I
Performance:
- list played by Tim Veldhuis at the US Las Vegas Open tournament in January 2023. This writer from The Fifth Trooper blog finished 4th in this 143-player tournament!
- list played by Austin Miller at the Florida Crucible tournament in October 2023. He came 3rd out of 64 players.
Explanations (by Enguerrand):
Purist version of the lists presented previously. The principle remains the same: feed the Clone units with green tokens to obtain lethal attack pools. The advantage of the Clone Commander and Fives is that at least two orders per turn can be distributed systematically. Obviously, the idea is to guarantee one Fire Support for Anakin’s activation. The other one could possibly be used for Echo or Padmé. It depends on the situation. Both transform surges natively, which greatly improves the probability of hits from the attack pool. By removing Pykes from the list, there is also greater synergy between Clones as all Phase I troops will be able to draw on each other’s Dodge tokens. This increases the clone tribal aspect of the list.
Triple BARCs
As the name suggests, the lists below feature 3 BARC units. These motorbikes bring excellent mobility and speed to the army and offer a huge advantage in Breakthrough or Bombing Run scenarios.
The version with Yoda and Chewbacca
Performance:
- Played by James Birkhead at the English Milton Keynes: GT tournament in August 2023. He finished 6th out of 96 participants.
- Played by Cesar Fuentes at the Lone Star Open 2023 in July 2023. He finished 2nd in this tournament with 32 entrants.
Explanations:
There are many synergies between Yoda and Chewbacca. The main idea of the list is to use Chewbacca as Yoda’s mount thanks to the Size Matters Sometimes command card. With this card, Yoda can move faster: not only does his speed increase from 1 to 2 (since that’s Chewie’s speed), but Yoda can also use his Guidance ability to move Chewbacca once more. In short, the Jedi Master finds himself in the opposing ranks in no time for some guaranteed carnage!
The version with Anakin
Performance:
This list was played by Johannes J-I d at the German Im Norden tournament in November 2023. He finished 3rd in the 60-strong competition.
Explanations (by Enguerrand):
The strategy of the list is the same as the other lists with Anakin: buff the squads with green tokens. However, the three BARC units provide protection from the worst mission card for the Gunline lists, namely Bombing run. The main problem with Clone lists played in packs is mobility. BARCs solve this problem. Personally, prefer a BARC unit over a Phase I troop. It has the same resistance, shoots better (a more generous dice pool converting surges) and is more mobile. The problems with BARCs on the other hand are:
- they have to move every turn;
- they do not share green tokens;
- they can’t score in at least half of the game’s objectives.
Battle Force
501st – Anakin & Rex
Performance:
This list was played by Frazer Eden at the English Milton Keynes: GT tournament in August 2023. He finished 7th out of 96 participants.
Explanations (by Enguerrand):
Despite being the iconic duo, Rex and Anakin don’t work well together in Star Wars Legion. They both need a Clone Commander for an extra order control and surge tokens. But this isn’t possible because rules forbid 4 Commanders. As for how the list works, you’re beginning to know the drill: we’re loading up the clones with green tokens and abusing the Fire Support keyword to the max. Rex though brings several advantages to the classic Anakin Gunline strategy:
- Its pip 1 Call me Captain to either play it defensively against an Oppression-type list or to possibly play it aggressively during an opponent’s weak turn. This card also works as a scarecrow in the sense that the opponent will try to neutralise it quickly (like by going in close combat to take away the benefit of its card).
- Its pip 2, which gives you a more lethal turn with 2 units firing at range 4 during when played.
- Greater mobility when deployed thanks to his Scouting Party ability.
Anakin will clearly play a support role with the Force Barrier upgrade, green tokens and Sabre Throw. The idea is to dissuade the opponent from coming too close, at the risk of getting a huge backlash with Fire Support. The advantage of the Battle Force for Anakin is that he has access to the 501st’s pip 3. This command card makes it easier to manage suppression on Anakin.
The absence of mortars is deplorable and the 8 activations don’t make the list easy to play.
Wookiee Defenders
Performance
This list was played by Richard Lavery at the US PAX Unplugged tournament in December 2023. He finished 4th in this 59-player tournament.
Here’s how it works:
The simplicity of this list is what makes it so appealing: overwhelm opposing troops with Wookies that engage quickly in close combat. All basic Wookies are equipped with the Recon Intel upgrade in order to deploy even closer to the ennemy. What’s more, being a battle force, this army list follows special rules: the first time a miniature from a Wookie soldier unit is defeated each turn, that unit can move at speed 1. In other words, the hairy beasts will be on your opponent in no time!
Summary
There is no much room for diversity here as the same units are used over and over again. I think this is sad for the Republic. Where are Obi-Wan, R2D2, Captain Wookies, the Swoop Bikers, the Raddaugh Gnasp Ornithopter, the TL-TT and all the tanks?! Yeah I know, everything is about meta. But it’s time for the Republic to reinvent itself… and to see Mace Windu on the gaming tables! Unbelievable, right ? The game’s about to celebrate its 6th year and there’s still no official announcement about him.
