Friday, January 12, 2018

Unit Guides: AT-RT

The AT-RT is a versatile light vehicle that can outfitted for a variety of fire support roles.

Statistics

If you are the type of person who feels that quantitative analysis "sucks the fun out of the game," feel free to skip this section.

An AT-RT costs 55 points before upgrades.
With a wound threshold of 6 and a resilience of 4; it can take 6 wounds before it's completely eliminated. After taking 4 wounds, it receive some form of severe damage.
It has Armor and a white defense die, which means it automatically cancels hits and has a 16.7% chance to block the remaining crit results.
The AT-RT moves at Speed 2, though it should be noted that with a slightly larger base it is a tiny bit faster than Speed 2 trooper units. With Climbing Vehicle and Expert Climber the AT-RT is more agile than other ground vehicles (so far the only other ground vehicle is the AT-ST.)

The AT-RT has 2 different weapons, with the ability to equip a third. Its A-300 Blaster Rifle has a mere 2 white dice, but since their offensive surges count as crits, each die has a 37.5% chance to hit. This gives an average of .75 damage (includes 0.5 crits.)
In melee its Grappling Claws attack is more powerful and consistent. With offensive surges counting as crits, you can expect an average of 2.625 damage (including 0.75 crits.)
Statistics of each Hardpoint weapon upgrade are included in the Upgrades section.

Total Hits vs. % Chance; Black = Melee, Red = A-300 Blaster
The probability distribution for each of the AT-RT's native attacks is shown above (see the Upgrades section for a probability distribution and discussion of the different available Hardpoint weapon upgrades.) 
With their Grappling Claws, AT-RT's are reasonably capable in melee combat, with a nearly 67% chance to roll 3 damage, and just over a 95% chance of rolling at least 2 damage. With Impact 1, it is capable of damaging armored vehicles as well.
On the other hand, the A-300 is unimpressive. While the Most Probable Result is 1 damage at about a 46.9% chance, it is almost as likely to miss completely (~39% chance.) Any of the possible Hardpoint upgrades are much more powerful- however, they all have Fixed: Front, so if your target is outside your front firing arc then attacking with the A-300 may be your only choice.

In these guides I have used the average number of hits required to destroy a unit, which I call "Effective Health Points", as a measure of a unit's survivability. Because the Armor keyword allows the AT-RT to cancel all hit results, and therefore only suffer damage from crit results, I will instead use "Effective Health Points (Armored)" or EHP(A) for short. This is the average number of crits needed to destroy an armored unit. Like EHP it is also calculated by dividing the unit's wound threshold by it's defense die's probability of turning up blank.

An AT-RT has 7.2 EHP(A)As you can see, an unmodified white defense die does little to prevent damage; you can only realistically expect it to block 1 crit over the AT-RT's lifespan- maybe 2 crits if you're lucky.  Its Armor means it is well protected against small arms fire, though you shouldn't expect it to last long against weapons with ImpactAt an average 0.5 crits per attack, it would take a standard unit of 4 Rebel Troopers around 15 attacks to destroy an AT-RT. However, an HH-12 Stormtrooper (which has Impact 3 and averages 1.875 crits against armored units) would expect to destroy it in only 4 attacks (or fewer if the rest of the squad manages to contribute 2 or more crits.)


Upgrades

The AT-RT is capable of taking 2 different upgrades: 1 Hardpoint and 1 Communications.

Hardpoint Slot


Total Hits vs. % Chance; Solid Black = Flamethrower (attacking 1 mini), Dotted Black = Flamethrower (attacking 4 minis), Red = Rotary Blaster, Green = Laser Cannon
The majority of the AT-RT's firepower comes from whichever Hardpoint upgrade you decide to equip. Without a Hardpoint upgrade, the AT-RT's ranged attack is very weak. If you include an AT-RT in your army, you should always bring a Hardpoint upgrade. When choosing this upgrade, you should consider the role you want your AT-RT to perform in your army, whether this is attacking entrenched enemies, area-denial and/or holding ground, laying down suppressing fire, anti-armor support, etc.



The cheapest AT-RT Hardpoint weapon available, the AT-RT Flamethrower (25 pts) may also be the most difficult to use effectively. This is because it is limited to range 1, and so will require getting quite close to your target. However, it is by far the AT-RT's most effective option for dealing with large trooper units. The Spray keyword means you add 2 black dice for each mini, while Blast lets you ignore any cover they might have, so that you can quickly turn groups of infantry into ash.
After converting surges to crits, each pair of black dice adds an average of 1.25 damage per defending mini (of which 0.5 are crits.) Against a unit of 4 Stormtroopers, you'll be rolling 8 black dice with an average of 5 damage! However, because your attack pool depends on the number of minis you're targeting, the flamethrower is much less effective against units with only 1 figure.



While the Flamethrower is an excellent anti-infantry weapon and the Laser cannon excels against armor, the AT-RT Rotary Blaster (30 pts) is a bit more generalized. Range 1-3 means it is much more threatening at a distance compared to the Flamethrower. Its 5 black dice (with surges becoming crits) yield a respectable 3.125 average damage, which includes an average 1.25 crits. This is strong against unarmored units even if they only consist of a single mini, and for a weapon without Impact you still have a decent chance of damaging armored units too.



The AT-RT Laser Cannon (35 pts) is the most expensive Hardpoint weapon the AT-RT can take, and it has 2 major selling points: Impact 3 and the ability to hit targets at range 4. It's 1 red and 2 black dice average 2.125 damage. This is obviously less then the Rotary Blaster, but when attacking against armor every hit will count (as Impact 3 will turn them into crits.) If you feel your army needs more punch against armor, then equipping a Laser Cannon to your AT-RT is a possible solution. However, if you already have sufficient means to deal with armor then you are probably better off with the Rotary Blaster or the Flamethrower.

Communications Slot



Equipping a Long-Range Comlink (10 pts) will allow you greater tactical flexibility, as you won't have to worry about keeping your AT-RT within range 3 of your commander(s) to issue commands to it. Whether it's worth the points will depend on just how inclined you are to issue orders to your AT-RT while separating it from the rest of your forces. Keep in mind that other upgrades like Battle Meditation or Commanding Presence can achieve a similar effect.



A Comms Jammer (15 pts) can help you disrupt your opponent's plans, as his units will either have to avoid coming too close or face the prospect of being unable to receive orders. Though expensive, this can make your AT-RT more effective at area denial, discouraging enemies with dangerous melee or short ranged attacks from getting too close your trooper units. Keep in mind that commander units like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker can still issue commands to themselves though. It could also be a natural fit if you have equipped your AT-RT with a flamethrower, since you will be looking to get within range 1 of enemies anyway. 


Preliminary Conclusions

Remember that AT-RTs are support units: on their own they won't gain you any victory points. Their value comes primarily from their ability to 1) deny your opponent points and 2) protect your troopers from enemy threats. Don't be afraid to sacrifice an AT-RT on behalf of your footsoldiers; if your opponent is expending time and effort trying to destroy them rather than your troopers, than this is usually a good thing.

The AT-RT's precise role in your army will depend on how it's outfitted:

A flamethrower AT-RT is generally very dangerous against trooper units but needs to get in close to them. It is probably best suited for leading the charge against enemy troopers that have taken up a defensive position. Deploy it in front and keep it between enemy troopers and the rest of your army, or between enemy troopers and strategically important points on the map (i.e. objective tokens.) Position aggressively, get in close, and torch enemy infantry.

On the other hand, a laser cannon AT-RT usually has little reason to get in close, as it's main weapon becomes unusable at range 1. Since it has Impact 3 you will naturally want to use it against enemy Armor. It is also good for laying down suppressing fire against enemy troopers, and since you can hit targets at range 4 you can begin suppressing and thinning the ranks of a trooper unit that isn't yet close enough to fight back. Once you have a good target in your sights you might simply aim and attack, content to bombard your opponent from long range.

Bridging the gap between these two playstyles, a rotary cannon AT-RT foregoes specialization in favor of versatility. If you are taking an AT-RT simply to fill out your army with some fire support (rather than specifically anti-armor or anti-infantry support) then this variant will probably suit you best.

In all cases the AT-RT is a cheap armored threat that doesn't suffer as many movement limitations as other ground vehicles.

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