I'll probably take Luke, Leia, 3PO, two sets of Elite Troopers, and then High Command.

Have been trying variations of this list, but I worry it's just got far too many vulnerabilities (guards recently came in to replace Vader):

Here comes the Stun

8 Sorin

5 eprobe

5 eprobe

2 officer

2 officer

2 officer

8 guard

8 guard

*Alternate - Swap eProbes for Temp Alliance and eHKs. I just... can't bear losing those two activations just to deny Luke/Leia their dodge roll!!

On the other hand, if I decide I don't care about winning and want to have fun (and give my opponents amusing stories after...)

Call to Harms

Dengar

eWampa

eHK

eNexu

MHD

Temp Alliance

Punishing Strike

A Wampa-tank with a MHD drip feed? HK's shooting through? Dengar wandering around being pissy and (presumably) putting bleed on stunned figures? How can you not LOVE that?

I've compe up with this merc list

7 Dengar

10 eTrandoshans

8 rHK droids+ 1 Explosive armaments

4 rNexu

4 rHired guns

1 Temp alliance

3 Gideon

2 3po

Some cheap front line for objectives(or blocking) followed eTrands and some long range backup.

Any feedback is appreciated

I've compe up with this merc list

7 Dengar

10 eTrandoshans

8 rHK droids+ 1 Explosive armaments

4 rNexu

4 rHired guns

1 Temp alliance

3 Gideon

2 3po

Some cheap front line for objectives(or blocking) followed eTrands and some long range backup.

Any feedback is appreciated

That nexu might not hold up terribly long and without any other reason to put creature command cards in it might feel like wasted points where another rhired guns would fit? You've then got even more options for smuggler cards, which are decent.

OR (controversial here) you could drop c3po for Loku and bump the nexu or hired guns up to elite. That coordinated attack / ability to shoot through LOS might make for some tasty kills.

Recently tried Loku and played against him, both times he was one shoted Nexu also has brawler which goes together with trands and deals more dmg vs hired guns. It is possible that another set of hired guns is better, the only problem that they also tend to die fast, sometimes not giving the opportunity to use cards. Will try both cases though

I'd love to see scum lists that don't NEED Threep/Gideon, but I get you that it's a hard sell. That focus, extra action + defence, everything a growing merc needs.

I think with two hired guns you might have enough of them to run slippery target - that will drive any melee opponents CRAZY.

Also - do we know when the Rebel Smuggler ally pack is coming out? as soon as 'Smuggler's Run' is in the mix, double hired guns is going to be absolutely worth the points.

Smuggler's Run is a Rebel Upgrade card, and is thus not available for use by Mercs via Temporary Alliance.

I agree that Gideon and at least one, usually two Hired Gun groups are a must in any Merc list due to the Leader command cards a mission objective mobility. Which is very unfortunate, it leaves Merc players with ~25% of their list decided at square one. What Mercs need to be competitive isn't more creatures and more lackluster named bounty hunters that FFG is feeding us with, but a Leader character with a movement ability and a second interactable Sp5 generic group.

Other than that, I don't consider Threepio as crucial in Merc lists. I prefer eSabs as my second Temporary Alliance card, since even post-nerf they bring in Stun, Blast and Sp5, all of which Mercs struggle to get elsewhere.

Smuggler's Run is a Rebel Upgrade card, and is thus not available for use by Mercs via Temporary Alliance.

Ah- good point. That massive rebel symbol should have tipped me off! Guess it means hired guns could go into a rebel deck with Saska....? If that'd even be worth it.

I've been playing Vader, 2 Elite Storm Troopers, and 2 Regular Officers with a Command deck the changes day to day. I've been considering swapping out for Snow Troopers, but I'll have to try them out a few more times first.

I really like troopers, I have since I got into the game, but I quickly realized that against the bigger units (Vader, RGC at the time--- now you can include Boba)- they just don't do enough damage, even focused and in mass.

So what would be a good alternative? Royal Guard post errata? Probe Droids? E-Web?

So what would be a good alternative? Royal Guard post errata? Probe Droids? E-Web?

I'm still in testing, but I think at least two guards is still really strong post errata because they're reasonably beefy, fast, and have a pretty good chance of stun at range 2.

That's gonna help keep people from fleeing Vader, and they don't do terrible damage neither.

A

Royal Guards are still good and can still stun. Their movement- reach- attack dice, all still very good.

I only play Rebels, so, I am going to be using Luke and Leia at the moment. I tried Fenn, but, he just died to quick and I rarely got to use his ability. And as much as I don't want too, I guess I'll be using sabs. Stun is just that good.

For Imperials.... Royal Guards are still really good against Vader (reach + stun) and other big units, because of their movement + reach. HKs are good because of their re-rolls and dice.

Plus their other uniques, Imperials have a number of answers.

Smuggler's Run is a Rebel Upgrade card, and is thus not available for use by Mercs via Temporary Alliance.

Ah- good point. That massive rebel symbol should have tipped me off! Guess it means hired guns could go into a rebel deck with Saska....? If that'd even be worth it.

Not really, no. She's pretty weak sauce by herself and brings no functionality to a list. And paying the Saska tax just to get a Merc card is pretty pointless. If you really want Smuggler's Run, do it with an elite Alliance Smuggler for the survivabiliy and Sp5. But even then I don't think it's that good, the guy you attach it to is basically a suicide runner that's worth an extra VP, to me it sounds like too much of a gamble and too obvious a strategy that you telegraph to the opponent even before the game starts.

I really like troopers, I have since I got into the game, but I quickly realized that against the bigger units (Vader, RGC at the time--- now you can include Boba)- they just don't do enough damage, even focused and in mass.

I've been playing Royal Guard Champion lists almost exclusively since February up to the latest errata, and what I found was that a black/white defense folds surprisingly quickly to massed blaster fire, especially elite Stormtroopers. Sure, it's pretty good to roll a dodge or four blocks and an evade, but those dice aren't consistent enough, due to the weight of fire eventually you start rolling crap and the troopers whittle you down. Even easier now when you can't Protecor for an extra block. Fett is pretty much a black/white defense that trades the possibility of a dodge for some extra consistency, but at the end of the day he's a 13pt piece that at best can kill a stormtrooper per round, so three stormtroopers average per game. I'm not really that concerned about him - I'll happily ignore him and mop up the other 27pts of more more squishy stuff.

That leaves Vader, and I'll grant that black/black defense plus the reroll make him pretty much impervious to all trooper attacks, barring command card shenanigans and a lot of luck. But then again, locally Vader stopped being a concern after the first tournament, when people realized that you can just don't feed him with guys and instead avoid him and do the mission objectives and/or pick off all the stuff besides Vader. Which is now a lot easier post Officer nerf.

I really think Troopers are THE archetype now. And elite Stormtroopers are the best Troopers currently in the game. It might all change once the Bantha is released, but until then, I for one welcome our new white-armoured overlords.

Recently ran:

2x Elite Stormtroopers

2x Heavy Stormtroopers

2x Elite Probe Droids

Solid list if a bit too slow for me. Heavy Stormtroopers are good, but a little slow and swingy for my tastes. Eprobes are a sleeper hit as they were pre-errata.

Trooper builds will be dominating the meta.

Recently ran:

2x Elite Stormtroopers

2x Heavy Stormtroopers

2x Elite Probe Droids

Solid list if a bit too slow for me. Heavy Stormtroopers are good, but a little slow and swingy for my tastes. Eprobes are a sleeper hit as they were pre-errata.

Trooper builds will be dominating the meta.

You need Kayn.

I find Kayn to be a little too squishy for his points. I find more bodies better.

He stands behind troopers and makes them fire... pretty solid.

Kayn is an atrociously designed and disappointingly pointless figure. Why would you pay 10 points for a guy whose entire gimmick is giving you two extra conditional attacks, if for that same exact price you can take two Elite Officers, who literally do the same thing but with less conditions to meet, and also do a bunch of other things? Or better yet, instead of giving some troopers extra attacks every once in a while, why not just take 10 points of extra troopers and get not only the extra attacks, but also the board control and activation count?

But if you really want extra attacks for your e-webs or somesuch, a pair of Elite Officers have access to the same good pool of Leader cards but with more actions to use on them, they are more activations you can use, they can grant attacks to non-adjacent figures with a freedom on targeting, they can also grant movement (crucial in an all-trooper list, otherwise you lose on objectives), they are one of the precious few imperial sources of Stun, they're harder to take out since your enemy has to spread their fire and their demise can't be Celebrated.

The only thing they don't have is the focusing gimmick - which is just that, a gimmick that will come up once in a blue moon. And can be pretty reliably replicated with command cards.

Even Kayn's unique command card is weaksauce, since there's other non-unique cards that have a very similar or identical effect.

I was very disappointed in Kayn when Twin Shadows came out. I find the idea of Stormtrooper 'lead from the front' officer seriously cool. But when it comes to playability, he's simply pointless.

Don't take Kayn if you want to play competitively. He's literally a handicap to your squad.

But if you really want extra attacks for your e-webs or somesuch, a pair of Elite Officers have access to the same good pool of Leader cards but with more actions to use on them, they are more activations you can use, they can grant attacks to non-adjacent figures with a freedom on targeting, they can also grant movement (crucial in an all-trooper list, otherwise you lose on objectives), they are one of the precious few imperial sources of Stun, they're harder to take out since your enemy has to spread their fire.

The only thing they don't have is the focusing gimmick - which is just that, a gimmick that will come up once in a blue moon. And can be pretty reliably replicated with command cards.

I agree, he's disappointing. He does have more health than 2 Elite Imperial Officers and can attack with three dice instead of two, but I don't think that's worth it. If that Firing Squad ability was a free action of some kind (shoot, move and tell someone else to shoot) then it would be a different story.

That's what I realized about Kayn too.

My inner dialogue:

What is Kayn actually giving me for 10 points? Two attacks that are conditional, plus maybe a third attack with some luck if you can use firing squad without a move action. Wait, can't I just get 3 unconditional attacks by just adding another trooper unit instead? Yep, Kayn out.

I had an old favourite of this back before RTH:

I had an old favourite of this back before RTH:

Deployment Cards

---------------------------

▪ Boba Fett

▪ Temporary Alliance

▪ Explosive Armaments

Elite Nexu

Hired Gun

▪ C-3PO

▪ Gideon Argus

Elite Trandoshan Hunter

Command Cards

------------------------

Celebration

Counter Attack

Dirty Trick

Expose Weakness

Ferocity

Merciless

Parting Blow

Pummel

Pummel

Rally

Take Initiative

Urgency

Mandalorian Tactics

Capture the Weary

Smuggled Supplies

I'd switch up the Command deck to reflect new releases, however, would you recommend removing Explosive Arms. and eTrandos for eHKs? I always found the Trandos under preformed in any map that had a long hall and this list works on liking range attacks. I would miss the blast though, which I had often used to great effect.

I'm also thinking possibly:

eWampa

eHk

2x eTusken

Temp Alliance

C3P0

Gideon

Devious scheme

It's more melee based but the HKs have a lot to hide behind and as long as I keep 3P0 with them and giving them free evades, I'm not too worried.

Both of those lists look very good. I think the eHKs will be an amazing unit paired with tanky brawlers to screen and keep the mean melee dudes away

Recently ran:

2x Elite Stormtroopers

2x Heavy Stormtroopers

2x Elite Probe Droids

Solid list if a bit too slow for me. Heavy Stormtroopers are good, but a little slow and swingy for my tastes. Eprobes are a sleeper hit as they were pre-errata.

Trooper builds will be dominating the meta.

I'm trying to figure out a list build around eProbes and eStormtroopers, too.

I don't like the Heavy Stormtroopers. They have a litte more health than rProbe Droids, that in return have recover and deal a lot more damage. Still I don't like the rProbes, because they're too slow.

3 rOfficers are better than a unit of Heavy Stormtroopers, too.