I understand peoples desire to see locales and other things from the movies, but I don't think fantasy flight should put them in unless it is a really good reason.

Leia would make a good ally, much like Luke, Han, and Chewie but many seem to want the mivir heroes to be playable in this game. I don't think that is appropriate. This game is not about those heroes' story, we see that on screen, but about the new characters FFG have created.

The desire for Jabba is understandable, again because he was in the movie, but you have to think: what would he do? In the movie he sat there, talked/yelled and died. I would rather see a new hutt character created. Perhaps a younger hutt with less influence that is not as corpulent and trying to rise in rank of his kajidic. This would make a more interesting opponent than Jabba, and fit into the game better than trying to shoe horn in Jabba. The mission that has the hutt if won by the rebels let's them deploy mecenary forces in a campaign. If the empire player wind, they do so for cheaper.

Iconic characters from the movies should be kept as allies at most. We should get some new heroes created. I'd love to see a Mon Calamari Character, as well as some more female heroes. Jyn and Diala are fine, but I want a badass female soldier like this:

If FFG introduced a new hutt character they would include a jabba token in the box. That way you could use the hutt model as jabba until you bought the jabba expansion. Just like using the AT-ST as the general.

I'd love to see a new hero or two.

Maybe a Sullustan Slicer who can deactivate (or, with enough experience take control of) imperial droids, and whose main weapon is a mine laying/grenade throwing dynamic.

I'd also love to see some Noghri Death Commandos, because, well... they're Noghri Death Commandos.

I know the possible permutations of weapons/dice only goes so far, but I'd also like to see a lot more diversity in weapons as expansions come out. Something like the S-5 Heavy Blaster that offers nice short range damage with a way to pass difficult terrain (with the attached grappling hook). Or the T-21 Light Repeating Blaster that reduces movement but gives the character some serious firepower . EDIT: I guess I somehow missed the T-21. Still other options here, like the DLT-19.

I'll take a stab at this.

I think they should split their efforts along a few different lines.

First more heroes to enlarge the range of options. Many of the new heroes could be effectively clones of existing heroes with a slight tweak and a new model (ie a female wookiee, or a sullustan male scoundrel). Nothing game breaking, nothing over the top, just give people more options because many people who will get into this kind of game have and idea of what they would like "their" go to hero to be.

Secondly add more goons of various sorts. Primarily these should be more stormtrooper options, like snowtroopers, and scouts, but I would also like to see some models appropriate for members of an underworld group.

Third, add a big box expansion that swaps the roles with heroes being imperial agents, and the rebels being the goons. That would allow for a major expansion path in the breadth of models available to the game and easily double the longevity.

Oh and if FFG is really smart they would be tossing in tie ins to their full fledged rpg so people who want to transition over to that would have an easy stepping stone, AND people who are into the full fledged rpg would support this product line for the models that they can use when playing that game. Tie ins would be adding starter character sheets for new hero models with stats for the rpg, and perhaps brief writeups on variants to campaign missions to turn them into rpg material for Age of Rebellion. Just think of this as a way to make two closely related groups support a single product line and as a result support the creative staff making new content for both.

Bodha, The only issue with that is the current RPG does not use miniatues. It is all theatre of the mind. FFG would have to create a whole ton of new models to work for the rpg. While it could be done, that crossover doesn't work well as a business plan. If they were going to do something like that for the rpg, they probably would have done it for x-wing already.

Mulletcheese, I can't think of a way to use Jabba as a model. He didn't do anything. He didn't use any weapons or vehicles. I proposed a new hutt character be created in place of jabba, so as to have more creative freedom. I'd rather see a new character that can see some use than a model for a character that would have absolutely no reason to leave his throne room.

The Jabba issue is simple. Make one model with multiple deployment cards. So the mission could use one deployment card for the arch-nemesis of an underworld campaign, but when you port the model over to Skirmish, you can use that deployment card or you can use the Jabba deployment card. No need to invest in producing two models, and if a person wants to field both Hutts in one squad, they buy the pack twice.

Here are some images of Hutts from the Clone Wars:

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQpv_PO1Kl-2IcRe6NB4z6IOQ9sIX7SFOmScLEI_63-2z6aCFTcTA

Now, can you tell which one looks like Jabba? There is only one. It would be extremely lasy design to do a Jabba deployement card with a generic model or vice versa. That still hasn't answered my question of WHAT WOULD JABBA do as a character in this game, that couldn't be accomplished by another, new, Hutt character? The only thing I can think of is provide a cameo.

I would like more grunt type pieces. For example, navy troopers, techs, imperial army forces, rebel commandos, imperial commandos. Would also like more heroes while we are at it.

Not every mission are you going to run into stormtroopers and royal guards.

Maybe some missions for specific heroes, but you are running it with a bunch of rebel grunts.

All this Jabba talk takes me back to why I would totally go ga-ga over a Shadows of the Empire big box, akin to Descent's Shadow s of the Empire Nerekhall. Bring in a full-on new campaign in comparable size to Core, but the twist now is that the class deck for the Imperial player is like a class deck for a Scum player (which would thematically represent Black Sun).

Using Black Sun as your "faction" versus a Jabba the Hutt deal lets you run your figurehead character (Vader for Imperials, Xizor for Black Sun) as an actual combatant in the game, whereas a Jabba figure would just kind of awkwardly sit there. I'm not doubting that a Jabba figure couldn't do something different in the campaign, but it would still need to be usable in Skirmish to keep the business model going, unless they just included a Jabba model in the box, and he was more like a piece of furniture, like the dead Marine in Space Hulk.

I can feel confident in predicting that a small box expansion akin to Lair of the Wyrm in Descent will come next, and probably flesh out the Imperial ranks a little better, but a full-on Scum faction based "big box" is what the game will need to make Skirmish a little more dynamic than just "Iggy Pop, 2 Nexu, 2 Trandoshans".

It would be extremely lasy design to do a Jabba deployement card with a generic model or vice versa. That still hasn't answered my question of WHAT WOULD JABBA do as a character in this game, that couldn't be accomplished by another, new, Hutt character? The only thing I can think of is provide a cameo.

Do you think that is lazier than what they did with Weiss? Personally, it wouldn't bother me. But I think they need Jabba, even if he is just a cameo.

But I think there are things Jabba can do that may not fit with other Hutts. For example, Durga doesn't really pose a threat until well after RotJ, which is beyond the scope of this game, so including Durga could be an option as another Hutt. How do Durga and Jabba differ?

One key difference between Jabba and Durga is their influence. Jabba was able to hire the best bounty hunters in the galaxy (as evidenced by the fact that many of these are the same bounty hunters that Vader hired). I could imagine an ability that buffs Bounty Hunter units. Maybe he gives them a reroll on attack. That sort of ability would be out of place with Durga. On the other hand, maybe Durga allows you to recruit Imperial Officers to your squad even if it's normally not permitted since he worked with members of the Imperial Remnant.

Speed is another difference. We've seen Jabba on his bed thing and we've seen him walk around. Durga was so corpulent he needed a hoversled. Maybe that would grant him more mobility than Jabba.

Jabba often had his underlings executed for failing. He wouldn't kill them himself, he'd order others to do it. An ability granting allies an out-of-turn attack fits with his history. Durga, on the other hand, had no qualms about executing his own men personally or using blasters. However, Durga was in charge of a construction operation, so perhaps he would have an ability more like the regular Imperial Officers and grant moves. In skirmish, this would help get objectives faster as opposed to defeating enemies and this difference seems to fit personality differences between Durga and Jabba.

How about attack type? You could make Jabba a melee attacker and Durga a ranged attacker. That would also make their attack dice different since Durga would need the blue die. I could imagine Durga going blue red because of his straightforward nature. I imagine Jabba as having at least one yellow and having interesting and sadistic surge abilities because Jabba was more of a thinker and deceiver. We could make it even more interesting. We could give Jabba red yellow and an ability that reads, "After the attack is resolved, cancel all damage dealt." This would allow Jabba to put stun conditions on figures without needing to deal damage, which may not feel thematic since we never see Jabba personally fight.

Could you create a brand new Hutt character that does all the same things as Jabba? You could. But I think that would be sloppy design. Rather than create a new character and then try to figure out where an established character goes, it makes more sense to start with Jabba, and then figure out how to make the new Hutt different. Maybe it's a cybernetic Hutt, or a Hutt scientist. There are lots of possibilities beside "Hutt crime lord."

Here is my argument for more Snow Troopers and Scout Troopers .

My personal Wishlist:

Characters:

1: A Droid Engineer/slicer with Droid companion(akin to Necromancers from Descent)

2: A Grey Jedi Ally/Hero/Villian

3: A Teras Kasi master who fights with only his 8 limbs.

Big Box Campaigns:

1: Jabba's Palace

2: "Dungeon Crawl" style campaigns for ship boardings or Spice Mines of Kessel

3: 1-4 player Co-op

Other:

-Speeder Bikes

-Jetpacks

-1-time use items like Explosives buy-able during the Supply phase

-Alternate models/cards for generic mooks like Stormtroopers, Trandoshans, ect

-Accessory packs for Terminals, door, crates, terrain, ect

Most of all I'd like to know the release date for the IG-88 pack because that little token does not do my favorite droid any kind of justice

My personal Wishlist:

Characters:

1: A Droid Engineer/slicer with Droid companion(akin to Necromancers from Descent)

2: A Grey Jedi Ally/Hero/Villian

3: A Teras Kasi master who fights with only his 8 limbs.

Big Box Campaigns:

1: Jabba's Palace

2: "Dungeon Crawl" style campaigns for ship boardings or Spice Mines of Kessel

3: 1-4 player Co-op

Other:

-Speeder Bikes

-Jetpacks

-1-time use items like Explosives buy-able during the Supply phase

-Alternate models/cards for generic mooks like Stormtroopers, Trandoshans, ect

-Accessory packs for Terminals, door, crates, terrain, ect

Most of all I'd like to know the release date for the IG-88 pack because that little token does not do my favorite droid any kind of justice

As popular as Jedi are with the fans, I have to disagree about that particular point. The whole idea of the Civil War Era is that the Jedi are all but extinct. I realize that they had to include one in the core box, and I'm fine with that, but we don't need them shoe-horned into expansions, even as allies. As I see it, we'll no doubt get different versions of Luke, Leia, Vader, Palpatine and (eventually, probably) Mara Jade and some kind of Inquisitor.

Remember, thematically, the Sith and their evil Force User minions are the majority.

Otherwise, I'm 100% behind you on the other things.

As popular as Jedi are with the fans, I have to disagree about that particular point. The whole idea of the Civil War Era is that the Jedi are all but extinct. I realize that they had to include one in the core box, and I'm fine with that, but we don't need them shoe-horned into expansions, even as allies. As I see it, we'll no doubt get different versions of Luke, Leia, Vader, Palpatine and (eventually, probably) Mara Jade and some kind of Inquisitor.

Remember, thematically, the Sith and their evil Force User minions are the majority.

Otherwise, I'm 100% behind you on the other things.

I agree that Jedi were almost non-existent during this time, but I can't help but think that adding in an anti-hero style hero that either side could recruit would be pretty cool. But yes, technically Jedi shouldn't even be this era at all save Luke/Yoda/Obi-wan.

I agree that Jedi were almost non-existent during this time, but I can't help but think that adding in an anti-hero style hero that either side could recruit would be pretty cool. But yes, technically Jedi shouldn't even be this era at all save Luke/Yoda/Obi-wan.

Apologies, I misread your point to mean that there should be a Jedi Ally or Hero or Villain, I didn't realize you meant it in a "shifting allegiances" sort of way.

As I've often remarked, we can all take some serious cues from Descent's releases as to how this one's going to roll off, and those familiar with Descent will recall that such a thing was done in one of the expansions. It was a male Dwarf Thief and a female Human Magic-user. The details escape me, but the point was, in that campaign, you could actually have the outcome of certain quests move that character to the Overlord or the Hero side as a Lieutenant (for the Overlord) or Ally (for the Hero players). There was also actual Hero sheets for them, which could not be used if you were playing that specific campaign.

So obviously, in the context of Star Wars, I would look at this hypothetical character as a Force-Sensitive being that comes into the story as part of a campaign module, and the idea is that both factions are fighting for possession of the character's soul, in the metaphorical sense, where they could be good, then turn to the Dark Side or vice versa, or BOTH in the course of the campaign.

Naturally, making them work in other campaign settings might prove difficult, as it would make their use too "rulesy" and upset the flow, plus, how do you justify them as a Hero turning to the Dark Side? Do they just join the Imperial player and literally move across the table? Could be interesting, but if it ever happened, I'd hope they'd restrict it to a specific time band just so it doesn't bog down other campaigns.

For skirmish, it's a no-brainer, just make the deployment cards and go.

My wish list?

(1) Hoth.

(2) Snowtroopers (for Hoth)

(3) Rebel Base on Hoth.

(4) Maybe a wampa? (for Hoth)

(5) also, Hoth.

Hoth was my favorite Star Wars battle scene, hands down.

If I had a dollar for every time I played the Hoth map on "Star Wars: Battlefront 2," I would have my own Tauntaun (which I would cut open, crawl inside, take a nap, then buy another one).

Having a big-box expansion like Descent with lots of tiles, Snowtroopers and Rebel troopers, maybe a large rebel turret to battle the (special edition!) Snow At-St's...

I can't wait.

Do you think that is lazier than what they did with Weiss? Personally, it wouldn't bother me. But I think they need Jabba, even if he is just a cameo.

But I think there are things Jabba can do that may not fit with other Hutts. For example, Durga doesn't really pose a threat until well after RotJ, which is beyond the scope of this game, so including Durga could be an option as another Hutt. How do Durga and Jabba differ?

One key difference between Jabba and Durga is their influence. Jabba was able to hire the best bounty hunters in the galaxy (as evidenced by the fact that many of these are the same bounty hunters that Vader hired). I could imagine an ability that buffs Bounty Hunter units. Maybe he gives them a reroll on attack. That sort of ability would be out of place with Durga. On the other hand, maybe Durga allows you to recruit Imperial Officers to your squad even if it's normally not permitted since he worked with members of the Imperial Remnant.

Speed is another difference. We've seen Jabba on his bed thing and we've seen him walk around. Durga was so corpulent he needed a hoversled. Maybe that would grant him more mobility than Jabba.

Jabba often had his underlings executed for failing. He wouldn't kill them himself, he'd order others to do it. An ability granting allies an out-of-turn attack fits with his history. Durga, on the other hand, had no qualms about executing his own men personally or using blasters. However, Durga was in charge of a construction operation, so perhaps he would have an ability more like the regular Imperial Officers and grant moves. In skirmish, this would help get objectives faster as opposed to defeating enemies and this difference seems to fit personality differences between Durga and Jabba.

How about attack type? You could make Jabba a melee attacker and Durga a ranged attacker. That would also make their attack dice different since Durga would need the blue die. I could imagine Durga going blue red because of his straightforward nature. I imagine Jabba as having at least one yellow and having interesting and sadistic surge abilities because Jabba was more of a thinker and deceiver. We could make it even more interesting. We could give Jabba red yellow and an ability that reads, "After the attack is resolved, cancel all damage dealt." This would allow Jabba to put stun conditions on figures without needing to deal damage, which may not feel thematic since we never see Jabba personally fight.

Could you create a brand new Hutt character that does all the same things as Jabba? You could. But I think that would be sloppy design. Rather than create a new character and then try to figure out where an established character goes, it makes more sense to start with Jabba, and then figure out how to make the new Hutt different. Maybe it's a cybernetic Hutt, or a Hutt scientist. There are lots of possibilities beside "Hutt crime lord."

To quote the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.

What this meana is that there are probably millions of other characters that can be used, rather than use ones like Jabba, who at the height of his power at the time if this game, wouldn't bother putting himself in harms way for no reason.

Me? I want an AT-AT expansion. One big, prepainted (hopefully) model in the box, a bunch of new tiles to make it playable, and a special scenario or two along with the box. If anyone has ever played Horrorclix, I'm thinking of something along the lines as the humongous Cthulhu miniature and scenarios that came with it.

Also, I would also be in favor of a Jabba mini. The WoTC SW: Skirmish game had a Jabba mini. I don't remember what his special abilities were though, but he was able to move, attack, etc.

Do you think that is lazier than what they did with Weiss? Personally, it wouldn't bother me. But I think they need Jabba, even if he is just a cameo.

But I think there are things Jabba can do that may not fit with other Hutts. For example, Durga doesn't really pose a threat until well after RotJ, which is beyond the scope of this game, so including Durga could be an option as another Hutt. How do Durga and Jabba differ?

One key difference between Jabba and Durga is their influence. Jabba was able to hire the best bounty hunters in the galaxy (as evidenced by the fact that many of these are the same bounty hunters that Vader hired). I could imagine an ability that buffs Bounty Hunter units. Maybe he gives them a reroll on attack. That sort of ability would be out of place with Durga. On the other hand, maybe Durga allows you to recruit Imperial Officers to your squad even if it's normally not permitted since he worked with members of the Imperial Remnant.

Speed is another difference. We've seen Jabba on his bed thing and we've seen him walk around. Durga was so corpulent he needed a hoversled. Maybe that would grant him more mobility than Jabba.

Jabba often had his underlings executed for failing. He wouldn't kill them himself, he'd order others to do it. An ability granting allies an out-of-turn attack fits with his history. Durga, on the other hand, had no qualms about executing his own men personally or using blasters. However, Durga was in charge of a construction operation, so perhaps he would have an ability more like the regular Imperial Officers and grant moves. In skirmish, this would help get objectives faster as opposed to defeating enemies and this difference seems to fit personality differences between Durga and Jabba.

How about attack type? You could make Jabba a melee attacker and Durga a ranged attacker. That would also make their attack dice different since Durga would need the blue die. I could imagine Durga going blue red because of his straightforward nature. I imagine Jabba as having at least one yellow and having interesting and sadistic surge abilities because Jabba was more of a thinker and deceiver. We could make it even more interesting. We could give Jabba red yellow and an ability that reads, "After the attack is resolved, cancel all damage dealt." This would allow Jabba to put stun conditions on figures without needing to deal damage, which may not feel thematic since we never see Jabba personally fight.

Could you create a brand new Hutt character that does all the same things as Jabba? You could. But I think that would be sloppy design. Rather than create a new character and then try to figure out where an established character goes, it makes more sense to start with Jabba, and then figure out how to make the new Hutt different. Maybe it's a cybernetic Hutt, or a Hutt scientist. There are lots of possibilities beside "Hutt crime lord."

Here is the thing about hutts, they are fat because they don't have to do anything. Unless a really good reason, Jabba is content to sit in his palace letting minions do thingd for him. This does not sound like an interesting character for the game.

To quote the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.

What this meana is that there are probably millions of other characters that can be used, rather than use ones like Jabba, who at the height of his power at the time if this game, wouldn't bother putting himself in harms way for no reason.

I think we're on slightly different wavelengths. Thematically, you are right. It would be a little strange to have Jabba in a battle. But then, I find it hard to believe the hero characters in this game can attract the attention of Darth Vader himself. Doesn't that feel a little forced to you?

I'm thinking about this less from a perspective on theme, but more from a perspective of marketing. If they want big-hitters from the movies to make cameo appearances (like Han, Luke, Chewbacca, and Vader) Jabba seems like an obvious villain to follow up with. It maty not make the mos thematic sense, but I think it can be done in ubique and interesting ways. My post was mainly pointing out that having two hutts wouldn't necessarily be redundant.

EDIT: edited for clarity

FFG will seriously fail me if there is no Dark Forces campaign box eventually.

I'd really like to see more fleshed out characters. I wanna know each character's personality and history (beyond just a quick blurb on their character specific missions). Like I said earlier, I'd like more characters to chose from, but I'd also like a half-page bio on each character. More detailed characters makes the game more of an RPG, and helps the player immerse him/herself into the world.

Luke isn't just Character X who can use the force a bit and has a lightsaber. He's a brash kid who's spent his whole life wanting to be more than just a moisture farmer. He spent every extra credit he had growing up to supe up his speeder and T-16. He bickers with his uncle, and dreams of following his best friend into the rebellion.

All of that stuff comes from BEFORE the plot of A New Hope. I know the argument of letting the player develop the character with the story, but I wanna know the starting point.

Does Jyn get along with Gideon? Is DIala prideful, thinking of herself as a Jedi? What's the story behind a soldier (the quintessential 'team player') becoming a 'Lone Wolf'?

It doesn't take much to create a decent bio for the characters, and it would really improve the Star Wars-yness of the game, as well as the RPG elements to the game.

I agree with Jimmy. I also hope for Mini-Campaigns like in the Descent Small Box expansions. It lets us play an entire campaign, or at least feasibly possible to play an entire campaign in a single sitting.

Personally, I plan to combine IA with Armada on a small scale for a few fast battles. a few squads and the CR90 makes for exciting blockade runs for some of those story and side missions. X-Wing seems to be too fat lately, but I admit the models are way cooler and they have freighters.

a sniper type imp. trooper squad would be nice and a rancor themed mission (maybe as a side mission card?) would be the mission my game-group would stack the mission deck just to play it each time we started a new campaign.

I think we're on slightly different wavelengths. Thematically, you are right. It would be a little strange to have Jabba in a battle. But then, I find it hard to believe the hero characters in this game can attract the attention of Darth Vader himself. Doesn't that feel a little forced to you?

I'm thinking about this less from a perspective on theme, but more from a perspective of marketing. If they want big-hitters from the movies to make cameo appearances (like Han, Luke, Chewbacca, and Vader) Jabba seems like an obvious villain to follow up with. It maty not make the mos thematic sense, but I think it can be done in ubique and interesting ways. My post was mainly pointing out that having two hutts wouldn't necessarily be redundant.

EDIT: edited for clarity

Personally, I don't see jabba as a 'heavy hitter'. He was in one movie, and nothing more than a side mission for the heroes, where he is killed.

Vader IS a heavy hitter, recognizable from being in all three movies. He hunted down Jedi, and the mission he is in, he is just trying to get to Luke.

I do see your side of things, but if the powers that be just wanted to use things from the movie, why did they invent new characters?

If a new hutt character can be made that can work for both factions based on the outcome of a mission, I think that has more potential than just using jabba for the sake of using jabba.

(5) also, Hoth.

I have been crusading for a Hoth Expansion since the Imperial Assault announcement at Gen con in August, you have my vote.