I don´t have the Tantive IV and therefore I´m missing the very popular C-3PO crew card. I want to make a Fat Han build and it seems every single Fat Han tournament list out there includes C-3PO. How much am I sacrificing by using the good old Chewbacca crew card instead? Is Fat Han even viable without C-3PO? I´m really looking forward to the Lando crew card that will be coming soon, but are there any other good options for the 2nd crew spot (assuming you use gunner or Luke for the 1st)?

If you can think of a good Fat Han build that doesn´t use C-3P0 I would very much appreciate if you responded to this thread.

Jan Ors, Chewbacca either is a good alternative.

I tabled someone last night just using a recon specialist. Han is good, even without all the buffing

You need four rounds of shooting for C-3PO to be better defensively than Chewbacca. In games where you are receiving focused fire Chewbacca might be a better choice than C-3PO especially if the card you get rid of is a nasty face up crit.

Fat Han's not a new thing; C3PO as crew is just another variant of a list that's been around since the Millennium Falcon first came out. The original Han Shoots First build looked a little something like this:

Han Solo - Marksmanship, Gunner (or Luke Skywalker), Chewbacca, Engine Upgrade - 62 (64)

Most of these cards come with the YT-1300 box, and it gives you good, reliable damage output and plenty of damage modifiers. If you want a more versatile build you could go:

Han Solo - Millennium Falcon title, Push the Limit, Gunner (or Luke Skywalker), Nien Numb, Engine Upgrade - 60 (62)

hey i just realised that you could take 3PO, Jan Ors, the Falcon Title, and PTL, and get TWO evades and 3PO every turn, making you even more annoying. superb.

Yeah I could easily see Chewy working as well if not better the 3P0. If your oppnent targets the Falcon 1st (which he should), Chewy is better. If he targets the Falcon last, 3PO is better. That being said, he is one point more, but since most of the Fat Han builds I see include Luke, you can easily pick up a point there by switching to Gunner or just knock one point off your escorts.

I think 3PO is chosen more for two reasons:

1. He is 1 Pt cheaper.

2. Late game when you are able to avoid two hits a turn with Evade/3P0 100% of the time, it can really shut down an enemy list when they are down to just one or two ships.

The real reason Fat Han is thing now days is the Z-95. You can now spend 64 points on Han and still have 36 pts left for decent escorts. Prior to the Z-95s there weren't many good options for 36 pts for rebs. Nowadays you can fit 3 Z-95s or a Z and an X/B or some mix of A-wings with a Refit or if you feel wacky you can fit a solid ewing in.

The other things that made fat Han more prevalent is Corran Horn can make up for a two ship attack

Something like this:

http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/141256/flatulating-han

hey i just realised that you could take 3PO, Jan Ors, the Falcon Title, and PTL, and get TWO evades and 3PO every turn, making you even more annoying. superb.

Recon Specialist instead of Jan Ors, then put Jan on a HWK or YT-XXXX nearby. Up to 3 evades and 3PO every turn.

hey i just realised that you could take 3PO, Jan Ors, the Falcon Title, and PTL, and get TWO evades and 3PO every turn, making you even more annoying. superb.

I wonder if Flight Instructor and Determination might not be a better choice since swarms tend to be one of the YT-1300s weak points. I could see Flight Instructor paying off in the early game when facing lists that have some sort of low PS swarmish components. It's not dependent on being able to take actions so you still get some bonus even when blocked. It's not a very good card when facing higher PS opponents. You also aren't going to need to worry about having to ditch a stress every turn.

Determination is cheap and may not kick in every game. In the games where it does come into play it is easily worth at least 5 points.

I don't think buffing up the toughness of Fat Han beyond what is commonly run is really the most effective use of points, but I'd think if you are going to do that focusing on Han's bad matchups is what you'd want to do.

hey i just realised that you could take 3PO, Jan Ors, the Falcon Title, and PTL, and get TWO evades and 3PO every turn, making you even more annoying. superb.

Recon Specialist instead of Jan Ors, then put Jan on a HWK or YT-XXXX nearby. Up to 3 evades and 3PO every turn.

Jan Ors only effects a single token per round, so you'd only get 2 evades. If I wanted to use Jan to augment the Falcon's defenses I'd probably put her on a B-Wing instead of a Hawk or an ORS for the better offensive output.