Review by LoboStele and Billiv15

Jawas, Tuskens, moisture farmers, and lost droids beware! Its time to pull out all those old Sandtroopers and Sandtroopers on Dewbacks! We present to you, the Sandtrooper Officer.




He provides your Sandtroopers with a little extra fire power with Deadeye and Squad Assault. Combine that with the other great Imperial CEs, for example Grand Admiral Thrawn and Admiral Piett and you have some very dangerous 8pt shooters. Darth Vader Imperial Commander can grant them a +6 defense, which can be incredibly important in dealing with figures like Yoda on Kybuck. The only downside, is that it will require you to run quite a few of the Sandtroopers to pull off, unless we get an Imperial piece with an ability like Commander Gree from the Clone Wars set. Still though, units with a +8 Attack for 30 damage is pretty impressive. Add in Admiral Piett and you can make the basic Sandtrooper a total of +12 for 40 damage! One nice thing is that you actually do not need Mas Amedda's help to boost the Sandtrooper Officer's Commander Effect, which makes him a bit more versatile than other Imperial commanders.

You can also use this guy with the Sandtooper on Dewback, who will then either have Momentum or Deadeye. Since the Dewback has 10 base damage, this can also be combined with a Czerka Scientist to gain Twin Attack (Blaster Upgrade) and the regular Sandtroopers would gain Jolt.

Finally, the Commander himself is no weakling. He has very similar stats to Commander Gree from the Clone Wars set and has the added benefit of gaining Extra Attack from Imperial Governor Tarkin without requiring the use of Emperor Palpatine Sith Lord. He is definately a welcome addition to the Imperial faction, and one that will really help make a couple of older pieces playable again.

Here are just a few ideas for squads where you could use the Sandtrooper Officer:

100 Points

IMPERIAL
40 Sandtrooper x5
37 Grand Admiral Thrawn
20 Sandtrooper Officer
03 Ugnaught Demolitionist

The Sandtroopers get a total of +11 Attack and 30 Damage with Deadeye, and have a 19 Defense. Thrawn can help swap the troopers around to pull off the big Deadeye attacks.

150 Points

IMPERIAL
56 Sandtrooper x7
37 Grand Admiral Thrawn
20 Admiral Piett
20 Sandtrooper Officer
08 Mas Amedda
09 Ugnaught Demolitionist x3

Add Mas, Piett, and 2 more Sandtroopers to change that 100 point squad to 150 points. Now your Sandtroopers can be a +15 Attack for 40 Damage with both Deadeye and Opportunist! Seven Sandtroopers helps you keep your Squad Assault bonuses longer.

200 Points

IMPERIAL
40 Sandtrooper x5
37 Grand Admiral Thrawn
26 Evo Trooper x2
23 Lando Calrissian, Hero of Tanaab
20 Admiral Piett
20 Sandtrooper Officer
13 Czerka Scientist
08 Mas Amedda
09 Ugnaught Demolitionist x3
04 Gran Raider

A little different from the 150 Point version, but Lando, Hero of Tanaab gives your troopers a lot of extra longevity. You can choose between using Mobile Attack or Deadeye depending on your situation. Use the Czerka with the Sandtroopers to Jolt enemies, and then follow up with big damage from the Evo Troopers!

200 Points
53 Darth Vader, Imperial Commander
40 Sandtrooper x5
37 Grand Admiral Thrawn
20 Admiral Piett
20 Sandtrooper Officer
15 Lobot, Computer Liaison Officer
08 Mas Amedda
06 Ugnaught Demolitionist x2

This squad banks on the Sandtroopers high Defense to keep them alive, but also gives you some Override and two options for getting Recon. This Vader can also help to tie up opponents and keep them from shooting at your troopers if it comes to it.

There are all sorts of neat options for these guys now!