Squad building

Can you field a full squad of Clone Troopers?

Yes on skirmish missions, once clone recruitment unlocks — story missions still require Hawks.

Confirmed

Confidence: Confirmed
Verified: 15 August 2026
Version: pre-release (no retail build)

The short answer

Yes on skirmish missions, once clone recruitment unlocks — story missions still require Hawks.

In full

What that means when you are planning

There are two separate things people mean by this, and only one of them needs unlocking. Clone armour is a cosmetic available from the start on almost any Operator, so a squad that looks like clones is available immediately. A squad that actually is recruited Clone Troopers waits for the recruitment options to unlock during the campaign.

The cosmetic route has a limit worth knowing: aliens cannot wear the helmets. A Twi'lek's lekku and a Weequay's head shape rule them out, so those Operators wear the set without its helmet — and since the helmet is what applies the clone voice filter, they keep their own voices too.

Phase I and Phase II design sets are in the base game. ARC Trooper armour comes with the Deluxe edition's Grand Army of the Republic pack. Battalion patterns include the 501st, the 41st and the 212th.

What we don't know yet

The game has not been released. These are open questions we have chosen not to guess at.

When clone recruitment unlocks.
Whether recruited clones have distinct stats or Talents from other Custom Operators.
Which alien species can wear which helmets — one previewer confirmed the limit for a Weequay and inferred the rest.

Can you build a full squad of astromechs?: Yes, on skirmish missions — but not on story missions, because Hawks is required there. A pre-release achievement requires completing a mission with four astromechs.
Do clone helmets change an Operator's voice?: Yes. Wearing a clone helmet applies the voice filter.
Is Hawks required on every mission?: On story missions, yes. Skirmish missions allow any combination.

Where this is covered properly

Sources

Answering the Internet's Biggest Questions about Star Wars Zero Company
Electronic Arts · Tier 1 — Official · accessed 6 August 2026
Supports: Squad limit of 4, with additional characters controllable in certain missions; roster starting at 7 and capped at 20, raised by Den upgrades, story progression and authored Operators joining; no species or faction weapon-proficiency advantage; Clone Trooper and astromech recruitment; permadeath default and toggleable; Hawks required on story missions. The headline itself is the evidence for the game's abbreviation: "Answering the Internet’s Biggest Questions about SWZC"
First look at clone customisation in Star Wars Zero Company
Split Screen: Star Wars · Tier 3 — Hands-on preview · accessed 11 August 2026
Supports: 1:12–4:56 — aliens cannot wear clone helmets; Phase I, Phase II and the Deluxe ARC Trooper sets; three colour channels on standard armour and four on ARC; 501st, 41st and 212th patterns; helmet, body, gloves and lower body slots with boots fixed
Zero Company full character creation
RuthlessNightsister · Tier 3 — Hands-on preview · accessed 11 August 2026
Supports: 1:07–14:15 — the creator's full species list including Rodian; per-species options; ten Custom Operator voices against two each for Hawks, clones and astromechs; blaster patterns applied per part; weapon mods visibly changing the model; the explicit statement that all of it is the start-of-game set only
I played Star Wars Zero Company — my honest thoughts
EckhartsLadder · Tier 3 — Hands-on preview · accessed 11 August 2026
Supports: 3:18–12:36 — no hunker-down action, so a spare AP goes to Overwatch; astromechs carrying three utilities and extra uses of each; Trick able to negate some injuries along an upgrade path; twelve galaxy zones; super battle droids telegraphing a rocket one turn ahead; many of the 150+ planets being text-only