Rex is a great character on screen and he stays awesome in Shatterpoint. I value versatility highly and Rex is my favourite 4-cost secondary so far because he can do absolutely everything.
CC-7567 Captain Rex is available in the Shatterpoint core box.
Main card
Rex comes in at 4PC which is the cheapest we've seen for a secondary. He's a great option to slot into many squads because they'll all have space for him.
Abilities
For a secondary, 9 stamina and 2 durability is par for the course. Rex is just fine on the health front.
Get a Move On, Soldier is his tactic ability. A range-agnostic, out-of-activation dash for any Galactic Republic character is great on its own, plus that character gets a hunker. In an army with lots of Galactic Republic characters this will give you a lot of flexibility to contest objectives, get supports into Coordinated Fire range, or move your jedi up the field. Without friends it's still a great ability if Rex uses it on himself.
Defensive Maneuver is a pretty standard clone ability. One force for a dash and a hunker is pretty good value, but if you need to save your force you don't feel bad skipping it. Once Rex is injured you're probably not spending 2+ force on this unless absolutely critical.
I'm Always First, Kid is the ability I've used the least on Rex. It's a fine ability, 5 dice will average 4 success prior to defense with 0.8 of those being crits. Against a defender with good dice or cover you might not do much. However, we'll see later that Rex has good damage or shove options early in his tree. If clone supports can't quite do what you need, Rex follow-up can finish a unit off or push them away from an objective. It's an ability that's nice to have in your back pocket, but I find I'd often rather save the force.
Bring It On, Clankers combos fantastically with Get a Move On and Defensive Maneuver. To make best use of it in a clone-heavy list you'll want Rex fairly central since the range 3 bubble is deceivingly small. We also see again why Rex doesn't need synergy. Even with no clones or GAR friends around, he can Get a Move On, Defensive Maneuver, and take cover for 3 hunker tokens and 3 heals, while still having an action left to attack or move. However, you probably don't need to move because he's already done two dashes and a shove. You could also swap out take cover for a focus action to get a more potent attack. Really the possibilities are endless. The whole kit ties together really well.
Brothers in Arms is another standard clone ability (RIP Cody) and it's especially good with Rex. He has a lot of access to hunker tokens which will turn on steadfast. Being harder to push around is great for the objective game.
Tactical Supremacy
A big part of Rex's flexibility is that his attack and defensive profiles in melee or at range are identical, and it's a good profile to boot! Both charts have 2 hits for 1 expertise, which is money, backed by 7 dice you're looking at 5.2 successes before cover on average with 1.4 of those being crits. Even just 1 success past defense means you can shove an enemy, or 2 successes for a double shove which can overcome steadfast. If you'd rather just do damage then you can go along the top of the tree for 2 double-damage squares right away.
Defensively I'd put Rex middle of the road. Clone armour is an OK expertise tree and 5 dice ain't bad. When I want to run attack simulations, Rex is my choice for a stand-in good, but not great, defender.
Synergy & Wrap Up
+ Pros | - Cons |
Can work well solo or in a team | Defense is good but not great |
Lots of mobility | Crit generation is only OK |
Flexible attack tree | |
I honestly struggled writing up cons for Rex. He's super good because he can do what you need him to do. Sometimes a "jack of all trades" is a bad thing because you're a master of none, but in a game with random order activation having someone who can do a lot of things is very useful. If you are trying to run something super synergistic I don't think Rex is so good that you must include him, but I also don't think he's a terrible one-off. Most lists can use a guy motoring around the flanks healing and pushing people.
Synergy wise Rex's best friend is General Obi-Wan Kenobi. Rex has great hunker generation which combos well with Obi's Knowledge and Defense ability. Those two make a great addition to any strike team in my opinion. Beyond that, Rex obviously likes other clones with hunker access (501st, 212th, Commandos) to get extra heals off and trigger I'm Always First. The more Galactic Republic units around the better to give options for Get a Move On.
It's still early in the game, but I see Rex being a staple of competitive lists for a long time.
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