I hosted a casual skirmish night at my FLGS last night, and was delighted to get a call on the way there that my copy of Twin Shadows I put on hold was waiting for me, along with the new figure packs.

Without giving it too much thought, I threw together the following list, just to get the feel of the new figures:

Biv Bodhrik

Saska Teft

C-3PO

R2-D2

Elite Rebel Sabs

Boba Fett (via Saska's Shady Contacts ability)

Command deck was a few standbys (Urgency, Take Initiative, etc.) with unique figure cards and some of the new cards thrown in for flavor.

We played the new Mos Eisley Cantina map (with the "A" scenario where you get 2 VPs per interaction with a contact). Simple scenario, but actually a fun bar brawl.

I lost against my friend playing a General Weiss/Stormies/Royal Guard list, which was kind of hilarious thematically when Weiss planted himself in the middle of the cantina, making navigating around the bar a bit trickier. But honestly, I wasn't driving after VPs as much as I was trying to "kick the tires" with the new figures.

Some initial thoughts...

I really enjoyed playing with all the new figures. R2-D2 left alone at a terminal is insane, effectively giving you 2 command cards every round, more if you use his special command card.

Saska's Unstable Device ability is just fantastic, especially against clumps of troops, and having a decent base attack in combination with Unstable Device is a great value for her price. Sure, sometimes the yellow die comes up with no hits, but I'm a huge fan of anything resembling a Blast ability.

C-3PO was a very pleasant surprise -- yeah, he's fragile, but he has Cower, and often my opponent had to decide if it was worth burning an attack just to get 2 points vs. a white die that can be rerolled. I think he's going to be an auto-include in almost any Rebel deck I build. And his special command card might be a game saver in the right moments.

I loved playing with Boba Fett... I think we're gong to see a lot more Scum lists thanks to him. I don't know how he'll shake out in the long term meta, but man, is he fun to run around the board.

Finally, at least for the moment, Biv has eeked past Luke as my favorite single Rebel figure. For 9 points, I almost wonder if he's under-priced. Close and Personal is a crushingly amazing ability, and having 3PO follow him around getting him focused every round just made it more so. We'll have to see how things go in the long run, but boy, as a first impression, he is a brillaint addition to the Rebels.

Really looking forward to playing with this set more.

Very cool! Thanks for the play report! I've already proxied Boba a few times, and I think he'll be solid for a long time. And yeah, same thing with those droids...I really like how they're low cost and therefore easy to fit into a variety of squads.

A list I can't wait to play is this

Saska 6

Biv 9

Elite sab x2 14

Elite nexu 6

Gideon 3

C3po 2

40 pt

I think having that much area damAge with biv as your main guy could work.it plays a lot like my gencon squad but instead of Luke and the reg sabs I have Nexu biv and saska. I think its not a tier one build but it can play with the big dogs now with the pass.

I am a big fan of Saska and the droids. Boba I think will be fun to play but not sure he is that great in a rebel squad. Biv I think is great. With c3po as a weak mans hans but a glass cannon when up close.

The problem with biv is his health which c3po and him being near more guys helps with.

That is a huge weak point he has. I am a fan but like Luke over him still

Love that list, Johnny B - I might have to give that a go soon.

And yeah, Biv's health is definitely a concern, but if you're getting him in the fray (which should be always), at least he has the +1 block, and it's just so great having a big hitter like him on the Rebels side. I think you'll also find scenarios where his sacrifice of 9 points may well be worth it if he's taking out higher point figures.

I think we're really going to see some fun lists in the coming days.

I think with the pass biv is a great counter to Weiss, rgc, chewie, amd vader when he is a shooter. So I think he might see more play than I though at first

I'm really not sure what to think of Biv.

He's definitely an offensive powerhouse: Close and Personal's attacks average 3 damage and 1 surge and 4 1/6 damage and 1 1/3 surges, and since his surge abilities both add 1 damage, you can consider an uncanceled surge to be a damage, so an evade is only as good as a block. If his target has a single black die for defense, he'll average 6 1/6 damage for the two attacks. That's enough to kill a regular E-Web Engineer, Heavy Stormtrooper, Probe Droid, Snowtrooper (when we get Return to Hoth), Trandoshan Hunter, Tusken Raider, Echo Base Trooper (again, when we get Return to Hoth), or Stormtrooper, and even an elite Stormtrooper. If he's focused for the melee attack, that ups the average damage for the entire action to an even 8 after blocks, enough to put down almost any black die-rolling generic (only elite Royal Guards would survive, on average).

On the other hand, having less health than his cost is a red flag. I wouldn't go so far as to call him a glass cannon (because he might hit me with his gun, then shoot me with it if I did), but he isn't the most durable investment. Yeah, he has a defensive ability that helps his durability, but it requires he be near multiple enemies, who would be wise to focus their fire on such a powerful but vulnerable threat. His traits don't give him a lot of command card synergy in Rebel lists (Diala and Gaarkhan are the only other brawlers, and I don't think there are any other hunters). He plays much better with Mercenaries, though -- maybe a list with Biv, 4 regular Trandoshan Hunters/elite Tusken Raiders, and R2-D2 could work.

I'm mad that they added Boba to this game. Because now I'll never be able to run a list without him.