I actually like them as they discourage fragile shooter squads and encourage melee squads, and most squads can keep up with them in terms of activations. Melee squads don't care about superstealth, so you're spending 23 points on Bacara, who does nothing against them. It is an interesting conundrum though, as Jedi really struggle against some of the newer stuff like Talon, Blast Bugs, and Daala - it'd be nice if Commandos will help balance out everything so Jedi are better again.

I certainly don't think they're broken or at a different power level than other popular squads - just the combination of Shields 2, decent hit points, and Super Stealth makes them a different kettle of fish than what's been popular at the top tables.

I think these things can all hold their own against Commandos:
- Naboo Pilots should be a nightmare for Commandos. They run up and base them, and hit them for 50 and 40 when they die. Rodian Diplomat is a good Stealth counter too.
- Thrawn + Cad Bane or Lord Vader, Morrigan Corde, etc should cake walk it. 30 damage hits, and the Republic don't have much to stop them.
- Mace and GOWK, kind of depends on Mace critting, but I think the Commandos will find Mace and GOWK tough to drop as well.
- Solo Charge might be fine - they largely deal in 30 damage hits, Mara should be able to kill a Commando of her choice no problem, and AniBomb can do some damage, especially if he can get two consecutive bombs off.
- If Commandos get big, I can see Bastila squads evolving to include Satele and Boba together (and maybe even Morrigan as well if you wanted to really push the Commando hate). I think it'd be a solid squad.
- You could construct some kind of Vong squad where they you have a smaller number of attackers dealing in really big hits - load up on Scarification etc. Chazrach swarm with Malakili's overwhelming power should smash through them too.
- Caedus is good at dealing with Superstealth (can drag stuff out into the open with SBM and get his friends to shoot it). Malgus's Face Your Destiny would be nasty for them too - he can pull out whoever he wants to have a go at, and the Commandos might struggle to punch through him. Revan and Kaan could do well too, since the Commandos like to bunch up.
- the +4 +10 for Fringe should help punch through Shields. Often have big damage dealers too, and the Commandos probably won't outactivate them.
- I still think the Snowtrooper Swarm is an option - I like to include the Security Officer in mine, so I have It's A Trap - and with 30 damage hits, I need 3 hits to kill a 60 hit point Commando on average. I might be alone on this though.

They do seem tough for other popular builds like most Mandos, most Separatists (tend to deal in 20s), probably a bunch of Rebel squads too. They do shift the meta a bit, but hopefully in a good way that opens it up.

I don't think Republic Commandos are THE gatekeeper but they certainly are good.
A long time ago another group of super-stealth Commandos dominated the battle grid - The Storm Commandos.
They were a headache back then but eventually players learned how to beat them.
Stuff like Luke's Landspeeder squads worked back then. So similar tactics should work against them.

If theiy're the gatekeeper or not, is not the point of the thread
Wanted to discuss squad ideas to counter them

Princess Leia, Rebel Commando. Can swap to Leia of Cloud City for Force Sense and keep her sweet CE. Might be worth putting into that Han Smuggler/Tantive swarm squad.

With the exception of The Hutts's post, every answer is esentially "bring force sense"

I do think the commandos are a gatekeeper. Remember a gatekeeper squad is usually not the one that ends up winning it all. But rather if your squad has no way to deal with it you're in trouble.

It reminds me most of lancers 2-3 years ago. Had to have some plan in mind, or just get lucky and miss that matchup.

Depending on the map, even Jedi could be quite screwed. Peaceful City is a shooters gallery, and they dominate on it. They can sit back and hit with an amazing number of attacks as the jedi approaches, then if the jedi lives, just lock the door and snipe any door control with Sev. I actually think they beat most Jedi squads.

I think really only force sense + powerful mobile shooters beat them most of the time.

So that's a gatekeeper. Thanks.

Super stout disruptive sure helps too.

Regardless, you have to be able to kill multiple targets after you shut off stealth. Whether that is with its a trap, Forde sense, or disruptive (with accurate or getting close).

Trading 1 commando for 1 of 2 Treadwells is a losing proposition.

And you can't bring 2 treadwellss and an MTB. It's usually init control OR anti stealth. Not both.


All that aside - map is huge. Try playing against them on peaceful city or another super shooty map. It sucks.

Thrawn coming back into fashion would be a big bane to
R Commandos. Vader beating down 1-2 commandos per round would quickly be a big problem.

Maybe the key is just having a way to kill scorch/Baccara reliably.....

Holy crap! Just realized Skybuck outactivates them. That's a problem.

Vader swap would work, he can take a few hits. Don't think Stealth n Blue would. You could swap in once, and kill 2 commandos if you're lucky, but then they would hit him a couple of times and your one hit away from death.

I am certainly not saying they are unbeatable. You just need to have a way to beat them. And a lot of top squads don't.