Rogue Squadron- ARC Troopers

Welcome to Rogue Squadron, pilot! In this series, we will be looking at different squadrons you can fly in Fantasy Flight Games X-Wing miniatures game. We give you the squad, what expansion pack all of the upgrades come from and then give you the lowdown on how best to fly it. Strap in and get ready to fly.

Lock S-Foils in Attack Position

Barnes and Noble had a fluke buy one get one free sale that included the new X-Wing stuff. Tried to grab another pack of each of the multi-ship sets but the Servants of Strife sold out between adding to the cart and checking out. So I grabbed the Republic one and threw in a fourth ARC. Because I wanted to fly four of them. Though, I’m regretting the Guardians of the Republic. I really don’t like the V-19’s.

I’ve toyed with a lot of variants on running four ARC’s. Some are built around the cardboard I have, so what I could legally take to a tournament (two ARC’s are Rebel variants). So instead of giving one squad and some thoughts on flying it, I’m going to give multiple condensed squads and a few thoughts.

All Wings Report In

104th Lock Battalion

4x 104th Battalion Pilots
- Synchronized Console
- R3 Astromech
- Freelancer Slice

Locks everywhere! Each ship can hold two locks, pass locks to the rest of the squad and burn a lock on defense to jam their target.

Their biggest weakness is being Init 2. Before they get those locks they’re just generic ARC’s. Which isn’t nothing; nine health with two arcs to attack from is still trouble. But with synchronized console, if one of them can get a lock, then they can pass it off to whoever needs it the most.

Hefty 104th Battalion

4x 104th Battalion Pilots
- Shield Upgrade
- R2 Astromech

This is similar to the first one in that it’s all Init 2 generics but it trades offense for beef. Every ship has an extra shield and the chance to regen two. You want to do strafing runs with these guys. Make one a tempting target, have it fly away and then recover while your opponent is forced to switch targets.

The biggest problem with this list is that ARC’s aren’t particularly good at running away. Their four straight is red and they don’t have boost. Plus the rear arc means that while running they could still shoot, making the weapons disabled from the R2 Astromech painful.

Init 3

Jag
- R3 Astromech
Sinker
2x Seventh Squad Veteran

This one is all about being Init 3. Sinker gives them all rerolls if you fly him right. Jag gets the locks. But mostly they shoot before any Init 2 hefty lists and four Phantoms can’t Init kill them.

And being tournament legal with two ARC packs and two Rebel ARC’s. I only have cards for two of each generic but you can also fit the two named Init 3 pilots in the squad with them.

Synergy Support

Jag
- R3 Astromech
- Synchronized Console
Sinker
- Synchronized Console
2x 104th Battlation Pilot
- Synchronized Console

This is a hybrid of Init 3 and the Lock Battalion. You have Jag and Sinker at Init 3 working to get earlier shots in and giving a slightly better chance to be in range to lock by moving later. Jag plus the group’s Synchronized Console is able to grab a lock for the group if any of the others are shot first. But if they’re not, or Jag pulls a Biggs, then Sinker is still handing out rerolls.

7th Fleet Gunners

3x 104th Battalion Pilots
- 7th Fleet Gunner
104th Battalion Pilot
- Commander Cody

This list looks to maximize pure firepower. You have the maximum number of 7th Fleet Gunners available to boost your offensive dice. This allows for your opening salvo to be 15 attack dice instead of 12. That gives you a good chance to melt a ship. Recovering the gunner charge can be tricky but often you’ll have at least one ARC that is going to end up being a blocker. Recover that charge and send that ship ahead to get in the way, not caring that its weapons disabled because it won’t be shooting anyways.