So we are about to finish up our 3rd campaign in the next week or so. The first campaign we played everyone just picked what characters seemed "cool" to them and we all learned as we went. For the second campaign we decided to switch things up and include the 2 heroes we didn't run in the first campaign. In the campaign we are finishing up now we tried to break as many things as we possibly could and just make it miserable for the Imperial player, thus far we have succeeded.

But that got me thinking, how have other people built their hero squads for campaign? Do you go in with a story in mind? Do you try to make sure all your heroes compliment each other well? Do you try and crush the evil empire by uniting the most impressive show of force you have available?

I must say in our current Campaign we have won things pretty handily. Our only loss came when we got a little too over confident in one of the story missions and weren't prepared for a story twist that then proceeded to wreak our day. Gideon and Garkhaan seem to work VERY well together and the addition of Jyn and Fenn mean that we have a huge amount of action economy and blast to force the Imperials to spread out. I doubt our buddy playing Imperials is having as much fun as we are

Campaign 1:

Jyn, Diala, Garkhaan, Mak

6 Rebel Wins

5 Imperial Wins

Campaign 2:

Gideon, Fenn, Jyn, Mak

7 Rebel Wins

4 Imperial Wins

Campaign 3:

Gideon, Fenn, Garkhaan, Jyn

(through 7 mission)

6 Rebel Wins

1 Imperial Win

Only played through once, and because we knew nothing about the game rules (hadn't played it yet!) our players chose the heroes with models/artwork they thought looked cool. (In this case, Diala, Fenn, Gaarkhan, and Mak; I'd have gone for Jyn personally but I was the Imperial player).

Nobody's at all interested in Gideon, no matter how "effective" he may be. An old guy who makes everyone else have more fun while presumably doing not much heroic himself? Yawn.

When Twin Shadows turns up, I'm not sure if the hero players will want to stick with the same characters, as they're attached to them (though they'll have to start again with 0 XP, so I doubt they'll do that), or whether we'll mix it up to include Jyn, Gideon and the two new characters. I'll probably leave it up to the players themselves rather than try and force the decision.

Even though we now know the rules inside out, I strongly suspect people's decisions will still be based on "rule of cool" rather than effectiveness, though. Not much point being efficient if you're bored.

I guess I am the odd one out then, because I love playing as Gideon. Being able to sit back and control the entire flow of battle is amazing to me. I agree that he isn't for everyone because of how passive he plays, but man do I love telling everyone else what to do

I look for a balanced squad that can take on most challenges and cover most bases:

Fenn - Can take on large groups, act alone or with other heroes. Amazingly high damage when built correctly.

Diala - Good for single target tough guys (and later on large groups) who can also bring support for the other heroes in rerolls and focus.

Gideon - Support galore when built well, two commands a turn with him gaining 4 movement points, can hand out a surge when needed or recover another heroes strain.

Mak - More single target damage but with useful objective upgrades too.

The biggest weakness is the strength test but with Diala handing out a focus beforehand and one reroll on the test you can get by.

For our first campaign, where I was the imperial, my friend went with the rule of cool with a little dash of synergy. In his words:

Gaarkhan - Powerhouse from the start

Diala - Bring down the toughies as a Jedi

Fenn - Lone wolf to bring down groups

Mak - I love snipers

Good combos I can think of right now:

• Fenn/Mak/Gaarkhan + Gideon
• Diala + Battle Meditation + Jyn/Mak
• Fenn + Rebel Elite + Diala + Force Throw against 3/5 HP targets

Though this does depend on the imperial class. Subversive Tactics seems to throw a wrench into all combos equally (because you are loaded up on strain all the time).

@OP: With your current team how are you guys dealing with armour? Currently I feel I need either diala or mak to do the cracking, I'm curious to know how it works without either of them.

Interesting ideas. In our current campaign I'm running Gideon (totally awesome!), and we have Fenn, Mak and Diala. Of the four heroes, Diala is by far the weakest link. I don't know what it is but she seems to have a glass jaw, or simply draws all the Imperial hate to herself. The guy playing her gets pretty down about it. How do you build her to play a good offensive role?

Of the four heroes, Diala is by far the weakest link. I don't know what it is but she seems to have a glass jaw, or simply draws all the Imperial hate to herself. The guy playing her gets pretty down about it. How do you build her to play a good offensive role?

I'm a little confused, you mention her being weak defensively, but then you ask how to build her up for good offense, so I'll answer them one at a time.

Defense: I found Diala to be one of the tougher characters to kill. Her life is right in the middle and she can be tough to hit as well. Her default ability, Foresight, is pretty great. Since she has a 1/6 change of rolling a dodge, you effectively make it a 1/3 chance every time you need to defend (if you have the endurance available). As far as her class cards, Defensive Stance, gives you 1 free block in addition to rerolling the dice. So even if you roll nothing on the white die, it's still one block. Art of Movement is the next best defensive option. It gives you 1 extra speed and you can move through hostile figures and difficult terrain at no extra movement cost. She who fights and run's away...

Offense: Diala is a beast. Stun (available as a defualt [surge] ability with the Plasteel Staff) is your best friend. You should stun every opportunity you can, esp. on the tougher characters. If you manage to win Shu Yen's Lightsaber, that's a weapon much better suited to dealing damage, with a 3 pierce surge option. Any of the [melee] items you can buy are also great to increase her offensive potential. Pair any of those up with Dancing Weapon, and you have a very lethal option at your disposal. Way of the Sarlacc speaks for itself. Get surrounded and unleash of every enemy adjacent to you. Snap kick can most definitely take out a wounded Storm Trooper.

Of the four heroes, Diala is by far the weakest link. I don't know what it is but she seems to have a glass jaw, or simply draws all the Imperial hate to herself. The guy playing her gets pretty down about it. How do you build her to play a good offensive role?

I'm a little confused, you mention her being weak defensively, but then you ask how to build her up for good offense, so I'll answer them one at a time.

Good point. I guess the problem is that for how much damage she takes, she doesn't seem to be dealing a whole lot. Moreover, she is the only melee hero in our party, so she is fighting up close and personal, while the others (especially Mak) hang back. It's a recipe for disaster because she becomes the prime target. You have some great suggestions about which class cards to pick to improve her. Of special note, my friend ditched the Plasteel Staff the first chance he got, so we haven't seen any stun from her: Diala's been using a Vibro-ax, I think, and it's been alright. Maybe it's just the way he plays her? Hard to tell since we only play once a month.

Moreover, she is the only melee hero in our party, so she is fighting up close and personal, while the others (especially Mak) hang back.

In both the campaigns I've been part of, Gaarkhan has also been part of the party. When I was the Imperial I tended to avoid him unless I knew I could wound him because of his Rage (which usually left him un-damaged until later in the mission when more Imperial units were deployed). That somewhat forced me to focus on Diala since she was always up front with melee attacks.

When I was part of a Rebel team, the girl controlling Diala used her speed (art of movement) and defense (foresight) to really mess up the Imperial. She never replaced the Plasteel Staff, but augmented it with the Balanced Hilt item (available for purchase if you're lucky enough to draw it). She was guaranteed 1[surge] to add to an attack every round. Between that and her innate ability to roll damage and surge, it was pretty easy for her to stun a character every time she attacked.

Of the four heroes, Diala is by far the weakest link. I don't know what it is but she seems to have a glass jaw, or simply draws all the Imperial hate to herself. The guy playing her gets pretty down about it. How do you build her to play a good offensive role?

I'm a little confused, you mention her being weak defensively, but then you ask how to build her up for good offense, so I'll answer them one at a time.

Good point. I guess the problem is that for how much damage she takes, she doesn't seem to be dealing a whole lot. Moreover, she is the only melee hero in our party, so she is fighting up close and personal, while the others (especially Mak) hang back. It's a recipe for disaster because she becomes the prime target. You have some great suggestions about which class cards to pick to improve her. Of special note, my friend ditched the Plasteel Staff the first chance he got, so we haven't seen any stun from her: Diala's been using a Vibro-ax, I think, and it's been alright. Maybe it's just the way he plays her? Hard to tell since we only play once a month.

Then give her a range weapon too....she can sit back and shoot. If imps come close, then they may not just target her anymore.