Trying to make Merc work. Help please!

By TheUnsullied, in Imperial Assault Skirmish

Two lists I want to try and get some thoughts from the community on. I haven't done any testing on this so its all in the air right now.

CORE

13 - 1 x Boba

11 - 1 x (E)HK Droid

1 - 1 x Temp Alliance

2 - 1 x C3P0

3 - 1 x Gideon

30 Total

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10 - 2 x Wampa

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8 - 2 x Hired Gun

2 - 1 x Explosive Armament

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6 - 1 x (E)Hired Gun

4 - 1 x Hired Gun

TLDR - Is the core set worth trying out and what should I use my extra 10 points on?

personally i'd go with the eGun and regular gun combo.

I think the biggest problem with any Boba list, is that Boba just doesn't do enough damage to bring.

Sure, he's survivable, but he'll generally just be ignored and they'll kill everything else you have, leaving you with a single figure that can maybe kill an elite stormtrooper per shot if you're lucky.

I think any potentially sucessful merc list needs Gideon and 3p0, though maybe swap out 3p0 for Alliance Smuggler when that comes out. You also probably want a set of hired guns just to pick up objectives on certain maps, or run to a far off terminal.

That's 10 points for 3 activations, which leaves you with 30 to work with. Ideally, you can get 4 more activations, since most lists now have 6, and having 7 is a small advantage.

With those 30, you can do a lot of wildly different things.

Here are a couple random suggestions:

3x hks = 24, eNexu=6

3x wampa = 15, eNexu = 6, hk = 8, devious scheme = 1

I don't know if any of these are actually viable, but this is how I would go about building a merc list at the moment.

Maybe you could build a list with Boba and play with the intention of sniping off a few points and not giving away any points of your own. You'd definitely have to play that very differently from how most battles go down.

Edited by DTDanix

not sure how good this would be but you could drop the HKs to a regular and put in two elite nexu with beast handler to be able to attack people in their deployment zone on your first activation on a lot of maps.

I think having both Boba and (e)HKs is too expensive at the moment. If Scum get some infaction cheap Focus, then maybe, but at the moment it's hard not to ally at least one of Gideon and C-3PO (if not both) and you need some meat as well. Some bodies on the board, especially for HKs I think.

I think the biggest problem with any Boba list, is that Boba just doesn't do enough damage to bring.

Sure, he's survivable, but he'll generally just be ignored and they'll kill everything else you have, leaving you with a single figure that can maybe kill an elite stormtrooper per shot if you're lucky.

Maybe you could build a list with Boba and play with the intention of sniping off a few points and not giving away any points of your own. You'd definitely have to play that very differently from how most battles go down.

Edited by ThatJakeGuy

Okay so after some of the feedback these are the lists I'm going to try out in a couple different variations. I really want to make Boba and at least some HK's work and I think the focus from Gideon and 3P0 is irreplaceable.

So my Core right now is

13 - Boba

1 - Alliance

2 - C3P0

3 - Gideon

Also for reference EA is Explosive Armaments and TC is Targeting Computer

19 - Core

16 - HK x 2

5 - Tusken, Hired gun + TC/EA

19 - Core

11 - (E)HK

10 - Wampa x2, Tusken x2, (E)Hired Gun + Hired Gun, Hired Gun x2 + EA & TC

19 - Core

8 - HK

7 - Trandoshan

6 - (E)Hired gun, Tusken + TC/EA

After some back and forth I'll let you guys know what I think works out best. If anyone else play tests a similar list I'd love to know their thoughts as well.

Tried Core + Dengar + eTuskens + Trandos

Couldnt possibly manage to use Dengar to its full potential (if he has any?) Hes pretty slow and has low accuracy (3-4 to be safe) so if he gets into battle theres almost no way he can hide/run away so dies very fast.

Core + HK + eNexu + eTuskens

Was pretty fun but suffers from lack of hitpoints

Tried something else cant remember. Will have to try Core + eTuskes + eTuskens + trandos sometime in the future too

Okay so after some of the feedback these are the lists I'm going to try out in a couple different variations. I really want to make Boba and at least some HK's work and I think the focus from Gideon and 3P0 is irreplaceable.

So my Core right now is

13 - Boba

1 - Alliance

2 - C3P0

3 - Gideon

Also for reference EA is Explosive Armaments and TC is Targeting Computer

19 - Core

16 - HK x 2

5 - Tusken, Hired gun + TC/EA

19 - Core

11 - (E)HK

10 - Wampa x2, Tusken x2, (E)Hired Gun + Hired Gun, Hired Gun x2 + EA & TC

19 - Core

8 - HK

7 - Trandoshan

6 - (E)Hired gun, Tusken + TC/EA

After some back and forth I'll let you guys know what I think works out best. If anyone else play tests a similar list I'd love to know their thoughts as well.

You can only put targeting computer on droid/vehicle/heavy weapon. Hired gun and tuskens are not those.

I'm thinking of running the following

IG-88

Trandoshan Hunters

Trandoshan Hunters

Nexu

Nexu
Hired Guns

Devious Scheme

Beast Tamer (when it's out)

Gives me 6 activations, 9 models and two super fast cats that can now pick up objectives, interact with terminals etc... Devious Scheme guarantees 2nd turn Initiative and my choice of deployment.

I did some rough plans and I can get a huge amount of VP early with just the Nexu rushing for objectives on most maps. Depends if they get shot and killed of course but they'll rarely get caught. For example, for the smuggler's goods.... I can use both Nexu to pick up and return 2 objectives by the end of turn 2 (30VPs). They would be difficult to catch/stop. While the rest of the list goes hunting or attacks the 3rd objective. And all that for 9 points.

They are with them because they are part of that point setup I'm trying. I'm obviously not putting the TC on Hired Guns over the HKs or Boba. It was because that was was being bought with the leftover points I had at the end of that unit. Not necessarily because I'll attach them there.

Edited by TheUnsullied

How about a different approach?

Core - 19
eWampa - 8
eNexu -6
eHired Guns - 5

Focus/move the Nexu with Gideon, Focus Boba with C3p0

Then go and move your Wampa and eGuns to safe spots to wait for Round 1 to end (I doubt they will see action round 1) Move Focused Boba to take a shot long range (Which he excels at) and provoke your enemy to move against him. Once you've drawn them out to Boba, move your Focus'd Nexu to pounce on the attacking force, adding damage to the one Boba hit or cleaving him for the death. Then you start next turn you get what attacks you can with the Nexu, run and gun with Boba, and have the Wampa move of anything the Nexu left alive and in it's wake. Boba goes and joins the Guns for objectives or long range shots.

So my Core right now is

13 - Boba

1 - Alliance

2 - C3P0

3 - Gideon

Will have to try Core + eTuskes + eTuskens + trandos sometime in the future too

That sounds pretty good, actually. As they are 7 points each, you could go with any combination of eTusken Raiders and rTrandoshans ...

Edited by DerBaer

On all of the current rotation maps, it is either impossible or very difficult to get more than 13 points of objectives, meaning that you HAVE to kill Boba to win.

Given that Fett can't be everywhere at once and chances are the rest of his crew won't be very numerous nor fast, I think I can safely assume having a significant numbers/speed advantage in most of the mission objectives. Only one that's really problematic is Deception Game.

Also, you don't have to score 40Ps to win. Having just one point more than your opponent when time is called is just as good. And my experience is that tournament games go to time a bit more often than not.