A Comprehensive Guide to Two-Stepping

Welcome to my blog! If this is your first time here then I would ask that you quickly pause and read my intro so as to better acquaint yourself with what is going on here. If you're a return reader, then thank you.

I know I promised in my last article that I’d write about the state of the Shadow Collective, but I had a last minute hunting trip pop up and so I chose to delay that article until I can give it the attention it deserves. Until then, please enjoy this guide on playing one of the most popular corps units in today's meta.

So let’s say you’re a conniving supreme chancellor of a Galactic Republic and you’re looking to “up your game” of galactic domination. How might you do that? Why, by upgrading your mind controlled clones into Phase II, that’s how! Everyone knows that budget constraints are no limit for a government looking to fund their war machine! So for only a few more credits than a Phase I unit of clones (I’ll write about them eventually) these Phase II troopers will ensure that your personal vendetta against those space wizards is carried out to a “T.”

As always, I'm going to give my general reflections on the unit and then follow that up by breaking the article into three sections. After this I will point out synergies within the faction I think you should consider. The three sections are:

1) Listbuilding decisions that you should be making. These are what I would consider to be the optimal builds for a unit and the best way to invest your 800 points. If you're looking to do well with your list and do it "right" than you should start here.

2) Listbuilding decisions that are "neat." This section will be comprised of build choices that are either sub-optimal (but not terrible) or that offer fun and interesting interactions that may not be obvious at face value. The options presented here could easily be part of a tournament winning list, but probably shouldn't comprise the entirety of it. Neat "one-offs" that offer great value can often distract or surprise your opponent and give you an edge that did not exist previously. Alternatively they may provide solutions to issues that your list struggles with or simply "budget" versions of other entirely different units.

3) Listbuilding decisions that you should not be making. These are the decisions that I don't make and won't advocate for you to make either. While I am by no means infallible, I do believe these are the decisions that cost you games. You've only 800 points to spend in an army; don't waste them on prodigal decisions that hamper your ability to respond to your opponent. I won't cover every poor decision you could be making, but I will cover those that I see others making and advocating for that I disagree with.

First of all, what a cool picture. It just fills you with a desire to find a forgotten hill on a disgusting, humid, literal backworld planet, and then boldly die on it. Florida jokes aside, it’s truly a pity we didn’t get those kamas as part of the sculpts. Battle kilts on fully armored troopers are quite drippy.

Anyways, I should point out three elements that Phase II Clone Troopers have before we discuss listbuilding choices. The first is their offensive/defensive profile. Rolling red dice on defense and black dice on offense means that just like their Phase I brethren, these troopers are the most premium corps available in the game. A 50% chance of success on their offense and defense dice gives you the ability to stand your ground in a pitched battle and make game-swinging gambles when the circumstances call for it. This premium quality does come at a price though. At sixty points it is the most expensive corps unit in the game (and it used to cost more before points reductions). Sixty points does however buy you a training slot; without getting ahead of myself too much I'll just note that this slot is a shell of its former self.

Secondly, these hombres are courage two. Courage two means you can largely operate without a commander’s oversight since the possibility of panicking is much lower than the standard corps unit option. This high level of courage greatly boosts your chance of taking both actions when you activate. Each white defense die rolled has a 33% chance of landing on a symbol. If you roll two white defense dice you should mathematically have a 66% chance of finding a symbol, this means you’ll get that second action even when you start your turn with suppression tokens matching your suppression value.

The third element I want to highlight is their keywords. I’m not going in depth on their usage, but I will point out their value from a listbuilding perspective. Surge tokens are good no matter how you use them, especially when combined with the “Clone Trooper'' keyword. Reliable 1 can make your gunline demoralizing to play against provided you find the right dice results and have tokens to spend. The more surge tokens you bring (Reliable or Aggressive Tactics) the more you boost your shieldwall of white plastoid armor. If a Phase II unit takes enough hits to leave only the squad leader alive, he can still be more useful than another corps units through his token sharing abilities.

Fire Support is also a force multiplier, but you’ve got to be intentional about setting it up. You can Fire Support other clone troopers, but it’s best utilized alongside another heavy hitter in your list that brings Surge:Hit or Crit. Combining your Clone Trooper keyword with Fire Support allows you to punch well above your weight even if the only option you can piggyback off of is another clone unit. Due to the price of Phase II’s (and a variety of strong heroes), it’s unlikely these guys will compose the majority of your army.

1) Listbuilding decisions that you should be making.

The Phase II Mortar Trooper

This is my favorite build for Phase II’s. I enjoy playing it and I dread seeing others do the same. The Suppressive keyword has sorta fallen out of the meta, but with the “newish” panic rules it’s arguably more powerful than ever. There is a very real possibility that you can panic an opposing trooper unit on round six after their activation is complete and deprive your opponent of any opportunity to score that objective. (I’d love to see a new rules interaction to circumvent this “feels bad” occurrence, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.) Suppressive weapons also double down on the signature clone gunline playstyle by ensuring you get all of your actions and your opponent struggles to get theirs. It’s not foolproof, but generally whoever takes more actions wins in a miniatures game. Please note that the price of the mortar is currently 18 points instead of 25 and seems to get lower in about every other points drop.

The damage output of this build isn’t bad either. The Legion Dice Calculator estimates you’ll find 3.7 hits with this combo and jumps to almost five with an aim token (not too hard to come by in a clone gunline). Critical 1 also offers some light anti-armor/anti-cover tech that’ll really be felt over the course of six rounds. A shot with just the Phase II mortar has a roughly 50% chance of finding a single critical result and forcing your opponent to roll a save despite their cover or armor. It’s not a strategy you should build your list around; but these soft answers to hard questions give you a fighting chance in a variety of matchups. However you’ll need to be smart about lining up those shots and Cumbersome isn’t going to make it any easier for you. The mortar has less of a hurdle than the HH-12, but it’s still not a very mobile squad. I like to bring Recon Intel to mitigate this shortcoming but if you’re bringing Breakthrough in your battledeck, then this build might not be for you.

I’ll finish by noting that although Overwatch is a viable option for this build, I’ve never seen it used to great effect. There was a time and a place where Overwatch was oppressive and I'm glad those days are over. Frankly I don’t see a reason to bring any training upgrade other than Situational Awareness on Phase II clones. I myself don’t run Situational Awareness often (I prefer vehicle led Republic lists) but it can be used well in a range four “poking” list that once again doubles down on that signature clone gunline playstyle.

Phase II’s with the Clone Medic

The Clone Medic is the only medic in the game with such a small capacity for wounds. The flip side of this is that the Clone Medic is a combatant. He’ll add a meaningful black attack die to your pool each time you shoot instead of just standing there and thinking evil thoughts. For only 15 points (errata) this fifth trooper is mathematically the same price as any other man in the squad while still bringing a small heal factor with him. Sometimes giving an extra wound is more valuable than removing a second wound. This Treat 1: Capacity 1 can be used on Clones, Jedi or Wookies and is a better bargain when integrated into a Phase II squad compared to a Phase I squad. Installing a medic into Phase I squad is by no means a bad idea, but their wounds are worth 13 points a piece instead of 15 in a Phase II team.

Furthermore, the Phase II squad will bring a surge token with them each round which will further protect their already expensive price-per-wound ratio.

I’ve not attached a heavy weapon upgrade to this build because my focus is on pointing out the value of including the medic in a Phase II squad. However, when a heavy weapon is present the resulting squad can hit like a truck.

The Z-6 Rotary Blaster

I’ll be honest, I’m not convinced this weapon belongs in “Listbuilding decisions that you should be making” category. Obviously this is my own personal bias, but I just don’t care for it much. I find that there are better options in the faction for generating large dice pools and blowing through cover. But if you are playing the 501st battleforce, then you’ll have no real option other than to run this weapon in some capacity.

I don’t want to rain on the parade too much so I'll note that just like any other large dice pool this thing has a chance of going ham when the time/luck is right. Typically you’ll find just over four hits with this combination, but there’s always the slim possibility you’ll find ten. The sheer number of dice also means you have a greater chance of finding natural critical results to help your fight against armor if you’ve gotten nothing better to shoot at.

In the past I've taken Offensive Push to give an average of one more hit to the attack pool, however I no longer advocate for that approach. Since the price hike on all relevant training upgrades I've decided to leave Offensive Push in my binder in almost every circumstance imaginable. I’ll touch on a “neat” alternative to this dilemma when we get to the “neat” section.

2) Listbuilding decisions that are "neat."

Clone Comms Technician with an Emergency Transponder

And just like that, we’re in the “neat” section. This build is kinda janky, but it does have value. The Comms Technician is now priced at only 11 points which means that his price-per-wound ratio is four points better than that of his squad mates. If you pair this new Comms slot with an Emergency Transponder you can get a pseudo Phase I Specialist in a Phase II unit. Or if you prefer a different term, “The Offensive Push we have at home.” I certainly wouldn’t fill my list with this combo (and I'd bring a heavy weapon as well) but mathematically there is value here. Compared to a squad with the “extra” trooper and Offensive Push my proposed jank combo is four whole points cheaper. Such savings!

There are two downsides to an Emergency Transponder that I need to point out. Firstly you must not be issued a face-up order token. While not the end of the world, this could potentially screw with your order issuing if you need to set-up a Fire Support as a contingency plan. The second is that it exhausts. This is the worst of the two downsides but is also negligible in my opinion. While a Phase I Specialist and Offensive Push can both be recovered, you’ll often never get the opportunity.

Sadly the biggest downside to this combo is the fact that Republic listbuilding is just so strapped for points that fun experiments like this gobble up points and thus take away the must-haves from other units. Fifteen points for an extra wound and a green token (Phase II’s are unlikely to choose the suppression option) still isn’t as great of a bargain as the medic is. But let’s be honest, you needed an excuse to use your Comms Technician anyways.

Prepared Supplies and Situational Awareness

I’m not going to dwell here long, but this combo is pretty self explanatory. Phase II Clone Troopers are expensive and these cards keep them alive. Please note that I think these cards are valid as a combo or as singular additions. Whether brought alone or as a pair these cards are a small price to pay to keep your troopers on the table. Five points for a dodge token is pretty spicy if we are talking price-per-wound ratio. Situational Awareness makes this more potent when combo-ed or when brought solo in a list with plentiful dodges from clones or exemplar units.

Boil the Guardian

I’ve gone ahead and combined this with the Mortar since their strengths play well together. Scout 1 works great with a Cumbersome weapon and range four pairs well with a unit that prefers to stay just behind the front lines. In case you weren't aware yet, Boil is good stuff. The ability to pull wounds away from key targets with the Guardian keyword means your opponent is splitting up their damage potential instead of removing units from the table.

I’ve ranked this build as “neat” because Boil in a Phase II unit is very expensive, 93 points in fact (with the mortar). I know I keep bringing up the metric, but price-per-wound a Phase I is cheaper to field, especially when you intend to wound it to the brink of death. Furthermore, the DC-15 long gun of the Phase I Clones is just as effective at range four poking. While it is true that the Surge token from Reliable 1 gives you an additional ⅙ chance of avoiding a wound, I'm still not convinced that Phase II’s are the best place for Boil (feel free to prove me wrong though). A Phase I team with Boil and a DC-15 long gun is 91 points and the same team with an RPS-6 launcher is only 88 points. Slim margins, but the Grand Army of the Republic is always striving to save whatever points it can in listbuilding.

The training upgrade on the Phase II team does allow for Boil to bring Protector and thus gain more utility out of his ability. However this build (Phase II, Boil and Protector) is 80 points! This means your price-per-wound ratio is now 20 points; you’ll be unlikely to find another clone trooper who costs the same and justifies your use of Guardian. Guardian does work with heroes as well, but medics are just cheaper. I can barely recommend Boil be equipped to a Phase II squad and I don’t advocate for the Protector training upgrade being tacked onto the top of that.

Phase II’s with Echo and aim support

I’m hemmin’ and hawin’ on even putting this build in the “neat” category. Truthfully it might be a decision you shouldn’t make, but some folks have done awful well with it so I've bumped it up a tier and included it here.

Like any sniper Echo wants two things: aim support and Sharpshooter. At face value the Phase II’s don’t offer him either of those, but the training upgrade slot does give him options. Not good options, not options I’d advise choosing, but options. Even without training upgrades Echo feels more at home in a Phase II squad than a Phase I. Neither unit will offer him sharpshooter, but Phase II’s will give him courage two meaning together they can either aim/shoot or move/shoot to get the best of their points.

Without an aim token this build is going to find four hits on average. If you do have an aim token, you’re likely going to spend it on Lethal 1 instead of re-rolling. This means that if you’re shooting into heavy cover at range three you’ll likely be dealing two wounds to your opponent if you spent your aim token on Lethal 1. Two wounds is great, but you’re paying 102 points for this combo. A Phase II Mortar team is only 78 points and with an aim should push three wounds past cover. Against white dice this is the same damage output and only slightly less against red defense dice. Echo’s value is in his ability to stay at range five and deal 1-2 wounds per round (while in a strike team). Closing to range three in a full Phase II squad doesn’t up his damage output and only increasing the chances of taking return fire.

Reliable 2 is a fun mechanic, but with Critical 1 in your attack pool you’ll likely be sharing those tokens or spending them on defense. Echo is much better off in a full ARC team for only six points more (or a strike team for 36 less), but if you're out of special forces slots then this is technically an option. It’s not terrible, it’s just sub-optimal.

3) Listbuilding decisions that you should not be making.

Fives with the Phase II’s

Since we’re already on the topic of named clones, let’s talk about Fives. On paper and on the table Fives is a great addition to your army. An extra courage, an extra order and an attack pool almost as strong as the rest of the squad combined. What’s not to love? The issue I take with this build is the combination of two premium-priced parts does not necessarily lead to an even better result. For 100 points the un-aimed attack pool is only offering 4.1 hits (aimed is 5.1). If you compare this to the Z-6’s 4.2 hits (w/aim 5.2) you’ll realize that the Z-6 is a better build for 13 points less.

Courage 3 on a corps unit is frankly overkill. That’s the same level of courage as Obi-Wan or Anakin (unit’s you’ll likely be bringing anyways) but without the utility of those heroes. Unlike a single model hero (take Iden for instance) your firepower will diminish with each wound taken. Reliable 1 will help with this, but this squad build is just too pricey. If you’re up against snipers or large dice pools you’ll quickly find the squad left with only two models and offering your opponent an easy 100 points. I’d much rather see the build my local scene calls “Fives and Co.” for only three points more. It’s a Phase I team with Fives and a Phase I Specialist. You’ll get another wound, an attack die and an exhaustible token battery for only 103 points. “Fives and Company” will also allow you to get two aim tokens during your activation which can really catapult your offensive potential.

If you’re running 501st then you’ll have no other choice than to take this build; and frankly that’s one of my issues with the battleforce.

The Clone Commander personnel upgrade

At this point you're probably catching on to the idea that expensive additions to expensive squads aren’t that great of a choice. The Clone Commander has come down in price to 18 points, but it’s still an expensive pill to swallow. Compared to the Rebel or Imperial officer upgrades the Clone Commander is frankly quite a bargain. It’s priced only slightly higher and brings both Reliable and Inspire to your army. However this fifth trooper only exacerbates the all too common issue in Republic listbuilding, expensive units with only a few sparse points left to go around.

If you’re looking to add more surges to your army, then Anakin, Echo or even Padme will be a better way to find that Reliable keyword. Furthermore Inspire 2 can be bought for only eight points on a variety of units (including Padme, the only operative with the command slot).

The Engineer

Technically a better purchase in a Phase II team than in a Phase I because the extra wound/attack die is valued as 13 here instead of the 10 points over on the Phase I’s. But if you’ve been playing this game competitively for any length of time you’ll already know that no one brings this upgrade. I think there are a variety of reasons for this but I'll just mention two.

The first is that Republic is really only fielding two vehicles in current tournaments. Those vehicles are mostly naked BARCs and a few Raddaugh Gnasp Fluttercrafts. Neither of those units are typically entrenched in your own battleline (therefore too far away to be repaired) and neither of them have wounds that are worth 14 points (literally and figuratively). The current state of the meta is trooper heavy and vehicles are having a very tough time cutting it as more than flanking units. Due to the new cover rules and the defense focused meta, vehicles are being pushed to the sidelines in favor of six man corps units or special forces units. I’m sure that the meta will shift within a year or two and vehicles will return, but until then you’re better off not spending points on repairing them.

Secondly, if you’re gonna be repairing them, R2-D2 does it better. With Repair 2:Capacity 2 The True Hero of the Clone Wars not only fixes your technicals faster but does so at an ever-so-slightly cheaper rate (13.75 points per repair instead of 14, such savings!). Additionally R2-D2 also brings an extra and cheap activation to a faction that struggles to acquire either. You’ll notice that R2 isn’t popular either, but that isn’t the point of this article.

The “Extra” Man

I can keep this one brief and point out that for 1-2 points more there are a variety of options that give you not only the extra body but also abilities on top of that. Whether it’s a medic, mechanic, Boil or even Waxer literally any of the other personnel upgrades are better than this one. I’d love to see many of the generic personnel upgrades in this game get the Cache treatment in order to breathe some viability back into them. Until then, just leave this upgrade in your binder.

Waxer the Sub-optimal

I’m honestly not sure how this upgrade survived playtesting at this price point. In a Phase 1 unit his Disciplined ability has more value, but with the downtrend of Fives it’s harder than ever to hand out extra orders. And for Phase II’s that Disciplined keyword is clearly overkill in a unit that already has Courage 2. The largest issue with Disciplined on Clone Troopers is that Fire Support already offers a handy way to avoid panic on heavily suppressed units. Fire Support doesn’t let you move or interact with objectives, but it already offers such an incredible “fix” for panic that Waxer isn’t necessary.

Scout 1 is neat when combined with Recon Intel for a speed two move, but honestly if you’re charging up the field on turn zero you better be bringing the Phase I DP-23 Trooper and blasting on turn one. Frankly Waxer is gonna need to be cheaper before I'll ever even field him. It’s not that his abilities are bad, it’s just that they are overpriced and given to the wrong corps units.

Targeting scopes

If you’ve read the blog before you’ll know I have a vendetta against this upgrade. It’s mildly useful in a clone ball since you can access more aim tokens than the usual, but it’s still pricey in a faction that is strapped for points. Just leave this at home and bring Prepared Supplies or Offensive Push instead.

Electrobinoculars/Portable Scanner

I think these upgrades are excellent for Clone Troopers to equip, but those better be Phase I Clones. Phase II’s are pricey and they better be justifying their cost by slugging it out with your foes instead of charging up another squad or hero by exerting their actions with these upgrades. There are times (thanks to the clone token sharing rules) where it is better to have aim/dodge tokens dedicated to a squad instead floating around amongst your other clones. However it is for precisely this circumstance that Exemplar exists. Simply use a Phase I team to supercharge those starry eyed lovers instead of a Phase II team.

There is a small off-chance this is viable in the 501st, but your hands are tied and you’ve got few options with that battleforce.

Naked Clones

Speaking of having your hands tied, don’t take this “build” outside of the 501st. But also don’t take this build in 501st either, or even the 501st for that matter. Honestly just don’t take naked Phase II’s when Phase I’s will do the same for less.

Synergies to Consider:

The Phase II Clone Troopers don’t have many synergies to note, but that’s because they are solid all-rounder units. As always, most of these synergies are minor but should still earn themselves some thought on your part.

Mortars and Intercept the Transmissions

I’m going to jump on a little soapbox here and sing the praises of the mortar over multiple battle deck cards. The first is how the new suppression/panic rules work with objectives. Intercept gives you the opportunity to find your opponent in the middle of the battlefield and suppress them to the point where they can no longer score objectives. This opportunity exists for other objectives as well, but this is the most notable one due to the triple-scoring nature of the transmission points. Intercept is also one of the top two most common objectives to be played (Key Positions is the other one) and in my opinion one of the best balanced objectives. Chances are good that both players will be including it in their battledecks.

Mortars with Hostile Environment/War Weary

The synergy is obvious here. Suppressive is bad for troopers and these battlecards make it worse. Be careful to mitigate your own panic danger with Fire Support and these conditions can give you the upper hand in a game.

Hemmed In and Mortars

Your weapons aren't so cumbersome if you never have to move them. This deployment allows you to begin the battle far upfield and gives you a very generous space in which to build your clone ball during turn zero. Together these advantages mean that round one you are set to shoot and your support units won’t be spending their actions moving instead of supporting. Of the synergies mentioned, this one is actually quite strong and you should strive for it whenever you can.

Mortars and Long Gun Wookiee

This is the last mortar synergy, but it’s my favorite to use. Wookiees aren’t very popular outside of the new-fangled battleforce, but Suppressive is better when taken in numbers. Personally I find the Long Gun to be the best heavy weapon option for Wookiee Warriors since they can make meaningful contributions to the battle during rounds one and two before they have to commit to the charge. If your opponent is getting pummeled by multiple Suppressive weapons then their ability to respond to either your Wookiee charge or gunline will be hampered. In short, this is another avenue to bring Suppressive weaponry.

Before we leave this topic I'd like to point out that if you're bringing the Wookie Defenders battleforce then this is probably one of the very few viable ways to include Phase II clones into that battleforce.

Exemplar Units

I won’t dwell here long; I just wanted to point out how surge tokens from Reliable stack with the tokens flowing off of Padme and Anakin to create irritating masses of sheer dice modification. If you’ve literally ever played against a meta Republic list you’ll already know this, but I'd be remiss not to mention it.

Cody’s 1 Pip command card

Ok, I lied. It’s time to talk again about how great the Phase II Mortar Trooper is. More Suppressive = More Better (unless, ironically, you’re playing against Droid Troopers). If you read the picture above you’ll see the Suppressive synergy quickly. Please note that the Suppressive keyword does not stack, so you’ll need units other than your mortar to be making the shots. If you need to perform a move before attacking (triggering cumbersome while at it) then this card could also return some of the utility you just lost.

Movement command cards

So like, I love the Mortar and I'm not apologetic about it. It’s also the easiest card to find synergies with because it has a rather obvious weakness in cumbersome that it needs to overcome. Lucky for you, we’ve got movement cards. Take a quick peek at the cards above and you’ll notice that all of these cards give you small movements that can lead to big advantages. Both Padme and R2-D2 allow for sweet, sweet command phase movement that is frankly a little wasted on a mortar team just looking for shots. These cards should really be used for tactical retreats or repositions. Outside of Cody’s card you shouldn’t really plan on using these cards to move your mortars into position, but the possibility is always there.

The 501st Battleforce

This is less of a synergy and more of an observation, but this battleforce "works" with Phase II's because you have literally no other choice. The command cards that it grants aren't great, (one of them got missed in playtesting and still has Marvel Crisis Protocol terminology) but they are at least better then the hot mess that is Leia's "A Beautiful Friendship."

That's it for today's article, but please check back in a few weeks for our next one. If you disagree, tell me below in the comments or email me at thecarolinaholochronicles@gmail.com. Hot takes are both welcome and encouraged.

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