Republic Squadrons - ARC-170

The strongest Republic squadron at anti-ship attacks, the ARC-170 is a terror to behold.  Behold it with me!

Shown with Delta friend!

What if we gave it.... MORE guns?

There's a lot to like in the ARC-170 stats.  2 blue bomber dice is a darn near guaranteed 2 damage (0.75 each, adds together to statistically be 1.5, but should improve to near 2 under Bomber Command Center), the 7 health is very strong, the counter-1 is a nice deterrant to attacking them, they roll the same dice as a V19 without the Swarm, and they clock in at 15 points! That's really all solid!

But we have to notice the speed 2.  You need an answer for the fact that your ARCs are the slowest things possible you can field.  They're tanks and don't die easy, but they are very SLOW tanks.  The in-faction easy answer is Hyperspace Rings, but you can also bid for second and take 3 objectives that force them to come in to you. Please note this plan ensures that you've bid so highly you will not be outbid no matter what, because if you're given first, your ARCs are going to need SEVERAL turns to close that gap.  So enjoy your squadron list with a 20-odd point bid for second! Yeah, it doesn't feel great and probably isn't.  You CANNOT ignore that speed 2, because B-wings that aren't sped up are sad B-wings.  It doesn't change even if I give them 2 more health and counter 1.

Assuming you've found a way around that speed 2, be aware that running over your ARCs is going to cause a heck of a bad time and result in them getting put in the back corner OF SHAME where they really won't be contributing much.  You can undo ALL the hard work you put in if/when you end up running them over.  The only current Republic ways of pushing them faster are either the Hyperspace Rings, Fighter Coordination Team on a Pelta, or All Fighters Follow Me! on a Flag Bridge.  I NEED to stress to you that you need a plan for these squadrons and getting them into the fight, because without that plan you're asking for a lot of trouble.

You can tell he's odd, he's showing his face

Odd Ball!  A lot of upgrades on him for only 8 more points.  Brace and evade defense tokens, better anti-squadron (give him Flight Controllers and he's a baby Delta!), and the ability to reroll 2 dice if he had moved that turn (which means he needs to be activated by a squadron command or the previously mentioned Fighter Coordination Team).  It's a lot of help onto the ARC platform, but I can understand if 8 points doesn't immediately materialize as you're list building.  The evade, as I'll mention throughout the GAR squadron articles, can be used to reroll close range attacks, like anti-squadron ones.  None of these are mandatory upgrades, of course, but they all help the ARC do its job better, so he's fine.  The other nice thing (pointed out to me by ExplosiveTooka) is that by taking Anakin Y-wing and Oddball, you can make a case for not necessarily NEEDING Bomber Command Center, if those are your only 2 aces (maybe one more Arc if you're feeling fancy, and have the Nevoota Bee).  Points in GAR lists always end at a premium for me, so I can understand this notion.

I have no idea how this thing becomes a B-wing, but that's what it seems to turn into alright.

How to Use Them:

Like all GAR squads, they love the Nevoota Bee, and rerolling swarm against ships DOES combine with Bomber Command Center.  Giving the ARCs Swarm turns them into heavier V19s, but realistically they'd much rather be firing on your opponent's ships.  They're NOT BAD at most of what they do (this is my nice way of saying "ugh you can have them do anti-squadron attacking straight but i'd rather you buff them a lot first instead if you're really determined to have them do that job") and hit ships very well for their cost, but ensure you're planning a way to get them into the fight sooner rather than later and they'll do good work for you.