So many, many threads discuss the seemingly definite release of Jedi Luke and/or General Solo. How would they do this while:

a.) Making the figure unique

b.) Not negating the original figure?

Obviously, with timeframes the originals would be available in campaign differently from the new ones, but what about skirmish?

Farm-boy Luke is primarily ranged and special for melee. I assume we would see Jedi Luke be primarily melee and special for ranged, but force throw is already a generic command card. Maybe mind trick, as I don't recall that being a card yet. Obviously, you wouldn't be able to use both in the same list, and it seems unlikely that we would get another Luke specific command card a la Son of Skywalker without a rule limiting you to one or the other. But what other differences? Increase health, increase defense, increase cost?

Smuggler Han is already relegated to 'he sucks' status by most, so I imagine any improvement on Han would have to:

a.) cost more, which is already a disincentive for Han.

b.) have better abilities, which would make smuggler Han even less attractive.

So what will they do?????

General Solo could just be cheaper but more support oriented. Since now he is 'less solo' and actually cares about the rebellion.

Jedi Luke will probably just be melee only but with high speed or a charge/jump etc.

I don't see why you can't use them in the same skirmish list. Its not like Skirmish cares about lore/continuity.

A General Solo might have some sort of leader ability I'd think. Solo has the leader trait already, but if he had some sort of leader ability that'd probably make him usable.

I think Jedi luke would probably hit like a truck, and have a force choke or mind trick type ability. I wonder if he'd keep inspiring.

Wherever things go in the future i'd like to see some sort of shift that encourages more unique units in squads rather than lots of generics.

A General Solo might have some sort of leader ability I'd think. Solo has the leader trait already, but if he had some sort of leader ability that'd probably make him usable.

I think Jedi luke would probably hit like a truck, and have a force choke or mind trick type ability. I wonder if he'd keep inspiring.

Wherever things go in the future i'd like to see some sort of shift that encourages more unique units in squads rather than lots of generics.

What do you mean by "unique units in squads". Do you mean more people using unique units in their skirmish armies, or do you mean squads of uniques, like Zuckuss and 4Lom being a single unit, or General Solo coming with a pair of rebel troopers on a single card, something like that.

General Solo could just be cheaper but more support oriented. Since now he is 'less solo' and actually cares about the rebellion.

Jedi Luke will probably just be melee only but with high speed or a charge/jump etc.

I don't see why you can't use them in the same skirmish list. Its not like Skirmish cares about lore/continuity.

I've always been more a fan of a few uniques supported by a couple generics. I find it to be more diverse then starting at the same names ask the time. If rather we not shift away from that like X-wing did and focus on making the squad leader to support groups choices more open to creative building. I think it would be fine to have several armies that are all named and others that are all generic to still be viable though as that is part of the Star Wars feel.

As for alternate sculpts and cards I'm all for it. I want rotj Luke yesterday in fact. But I strongly disagree that for command cards you couldn't have multiple different cards, for the same character, in the same deck. C-3PO is already worded to support that very design in fact. And you'd still be paying for it in points so there shouldn't be an issue in balance. Now you could make some characters command cards better fit one version than another and hedge players away from playing both in that way.

On the issue of 'clone' units, like having two Luke's on the same team, that's not going to be an issue. Since the format of deployment cards is that the characters full name is the card name, but then the card has a sub title that denotes the version. So no two Luke's could be in the same list because of how the unique rule is worded, and you still choose which version of Luke you want to bring. +Luke Skywalker(Hero of the Rebellion) and +Luke Skywalker(Student of Yoda) would be very doable. It's straight out of the magic rules for planeswalkers/legendary Rebel essentially.

As for cost and hedging out a previous or later version, that's a meta design thing. Two different Hans should have two different strategies, that clash differently with opponents strategies. Luke(Jedi Knight) could be a cheaper one at like 7 points, have Force User/Brawler types, roll RRB melee, and get to reroll his one white with 10hp and that be it. That wouldn't necessarily be good, but if my game is hurting because I'm getting smeared in close combat, here's a guy I could swap out for from eSabs or something and have some different functionality and command choices for.

It's not about the one Hero displacing his other versions, it's all about a unique game object not displacing ANY other game object, unique or not. The name is insubstantial to the pieces design.

A General Solo might have some sort of leader ability I'd think. Solo has the leader trait already, but if he had some sort of leader ability that'd probably make him usable.

I think Jedi luke would probably hit like a truck, and have a force choke or mind trick type ability. I wonder if he'd keep inspiring.

Wherever things go in the future i'd like to see some sort of shift that encourages more unique units in squads rather than lots of generics.

What do you mean by "unique units in squads". Do you mean more people using unique units in their skirmish armies, or do you mean squads of uniques, like Zuckuss and 4Lom being a single unit, or General Solo coming with a pair of rebel troopers on a single card, something like that.

I mean more unique units in their skirmish armies.

This isn't a huge deal like it was when X-wing first started. It's just unfortunate that great units like Chewbacca or Vader aren't used because at the moment its much more effective to run an equal points worth of generic guys.

I can't see either new unit being cheaper than the previous unit. A Jedi Luke HAS to be more powerful than a non-Jedi Luke, and thus must cost more. Han, possibly cheaper... if they castrate him and make him lose his blaster. Otherwise, better abilities must equate to higher cost.

Son of Skywalker is already an awesome card, and the way it is worded at the moment would apply to any future versions of Luke. So if Jedi Luke comes with a second unique command card, then he would be pretty OP IMO.

A new Han shouldn't be allowed to miss when shooting.

I think, and I could be wrong, That he misses almost every shot in A New Hope, but in ESB and ROTJ he's 100% accurate.

Sure Shot: When attacking at least one DAMAGE result may not be cancelled.

idk. i have no idea. But i'm really looking forward to seeing what the designers cook up.

I can't see either new unit being cheaper than the previous unit. A Jedi Luke HAS to be more powerful than a non-Jedi Luke, and thus must cost more. Han, possibly cheaper... if they castrate him and make him lose his blaster. Otherwise, better abilities must equate to higher cost.

Not necessarily... they can reduce the cost of Jedi Luke but still have him be more powerful in otherways. Just remove Luke's ranged attack and make him pure melee. Probably get rid of Inspiring too. Basically turn him into a melee attacker from a ranged support.

For General Han Solo they could just get rid of Return Fire and nerf his surges a little and give him another support ability instead. Typically support units cost cheaper than more combat oriented units since they need help to reach their top potential.

I can't see either new unit being cheaper than the previous unit. A Jedi Luke HAS to be more powerful than a non-Jedi Luke, and thus must cost more. Han, possibly cheaper... if they castrate him and make him lose his blaster. Otherwise, better abilities must equate to higher cost.

Not necessarily... they can reduce the cost of Jedi Luke but still have him be more powerful in otherways. Just remove Luke's ranged attack and make him pure melee. Probably get rid of Inspiring too. Basically turn him into a melee attacker from a ranged support.

For General Han Solo they could just get rid of Return Fire and nerf his surges a little and give him another support ability instead. Typically support units cost cheaper than more combat oriented units since they need help to reach their top potential.

But being true to the movies, Han should not be a support unit but a strong ranged attacker. Should he have some support skill, sure, but IMO he needs to be more bang for his buck in general. Which leads again to increased cost.

As far as Jedi Luke, we have a suitable comparison figure to look at in terms of melee strength... both Vader and RGC cost significantly more than current Luke. So either he'll be strong but fragile or strong and increased cost. But reducing his resilience will greatly reduce his value, when he should be as good as Vader, just in different ways.

I'm thinking he should have a RGY attack roll with surges for pierce 2, and cleave 2, and roll a BB defense. He should have foresight, a lunge ability would be nice giving him one MP and attack (more mobile than Vader, with less strength, so increased movement with no second attack), and I would fully approve a battle meditation ability (no action required) giving him auto focus if he did not attack that round. But that all means higher cost.

Flavor-wise he is slightly less powerful in attack than vader, more about planning and mobility. No recover because he's just too good at this point.

I can't see either new unit being cheaper than the previous unit. A Jedi Luke HAS to be more powerful than a non-Jedi Luke, and thus must cost more. Han, possibly cheaper... if they castrate him and make him lose his blaster. Otherwise, better abilities must equate to higher cost.

Son of Skywalker is already an awesome card, and the way it is worded at the moment would apply to any future versions of Luke. So if Jedi Luke comes with a second unique command card, then he would be pretty OP IMO.

I can't see either new unit being cheaper than the previous unit. A Jedi Luke HAS to be more powerful than a non-Jedi Luke, and thus must cost more. Han, possibly cheaper... if they castrate him and make him lose his blaster. Otherwise, better abilities must equate to higher cost.

Not necessarily... they can reduce the cost of Jedi Luke but still have him be more powerful in otherways. Just remove Luke's ranged attack and make him pure melee. Probably get rid of Inspiring too. Basically turn him into a melee attacker from a ranged support.

For General Han Solo they could just get rid of Return Fire and nerf his surges a little and give him another support ability instead. Typically support units cost cheaper than more combat oriented units since they need help to reach their top potential.

But being true to the movies, Han should not be a support unit but a strong ranged attacker. Should he have some support skill, sure, but IMO he needs to be more bang for his buck in general. Which leads again to increased cost.

As far as Jedi Luke, we have a suitable comparison figure to look at in terms of melee strength... both Vader and RGC cost significantly more than current Luke. So either he'll be strong but fragile or strong and increased cost. But reducing his resilience will greatly reduce his value, when he should be as good as Vader, just in different ways.

I'm thinking he should have a RGY attack roll with surges for pierce 2, and cleave 2, and roll a BB defense. He should have foresight, a lunge ability would be nice giving him one MP and attack (more mobile than Vader, with less strength, so increased movement with no second attack), and I would fully approve a battle meditation ability (no action required) giving him auto focus if he did not attack that round. But that all means higher cost.

Flavor-wise he is slightly less powerful in attack than vader, more about planning and mobility. No recover because he's just too good at this point.

Han goes from 'screw the rebellion, i got my own problems' to 'we have to defeat the empire' in the span of the original trilogy. Looking at his original card, it already fits the original Han we see in A new hope. In RotJ he becomes more of a leader, since he 'leads' the Rebel team on Endor.

As for Jedi Luke, you are asking for too much and yet want a reduced cost. You can't have both or he'll be OP. And even though he is in Star Wars lore, that doesn't work well in multiplayer games.

I can't see either new unit being cheaper than the previous unit. A Jedi Luke HAS to be more powerful than a non-Jedi Luke, and thus must cost more. Han, possibly cheaper... if they castrate him and make him lose his blaster. Otherwise, better abilities must equate to higher cost.

Son of Skywalker is already an awesome card, and the way it is worded at the moment would apply to any future versions of Luke. So if Jedi Luke comes with a second unique command card, then he would be pretty OP IMO.

This is a fallacy in game design. A separate version of Han, from a later point in the story, where yes he could be 'stronger', does not mean in the design of your game, the game piece has to be also stronger, and more expensive because it is stronger. The great limiter here is the card space. This is a concept you see in many games. WOTC's Magic, different forms of the same planeswalkers, from different points in their lives, are costed appropriate to their abilities that they have ON the card.

Exactly. We have how many different versions of the same planeswalkers now? Some newer versions are even cheaper costing than the older ones. And despite those cards being depictions of those planeswalkers in later years, they aren't always stronger (Jace the Mind Sculptor anyone?). They just have different abilities with different costs.

In fact, I'd say Han Solo is even easier to rationalize to NOT be stronger in RotJ compared to Luke and MtG's planeswalkers. Han was in carbonite for years so he might have some lingering sight problems andhe never did any training in the OT or anything else to 'buff' his skills like Luke did.

Honestly, I would be happy if they moved "Inspiring" from Luke to Han. In my experience "QuickDraw" super rarely triggers.

For Luke, in the spirit of his conflict with the emperor, I would give him an ability where he throws down his lightsaber and refuses to fight

Honestly, I would be happy if they moved "Inspiring" from Luke to Han. In my experience "QuickDraw" super rarely triggers.

For Luke, in the spirit of his conflict with the emperor, I would give him an ability where he throws down his lightsaber and refuses to fight

Or how about Jedi Luke abandons the galaxy and hides on some ridiculous mountain somewhere after the warranty on his synthetic hand has expired so he can't get new skin applied?

Luke ability:

Self Blame: If all friendly are defeated, you are also defeated.

Luke Ability: Like Father, Like Son

Once per mission, you may block a shot from pistol with your hand. This attack does no damage.

For Luke, in the spirit of his conflict with the emperor, I would give him an ability where he throws down his lightsaber and refuses to fight

In epic duels, Luke had a card called "I will not fight you" and it made both people discard any cards in their hands with attack value greater than 1.

So you could have a command card that made both people discard any command cards that cost 1 or more. You have to decide when it's best for you to play it, but even in a pinch it could save you even if you have to discard some cards too. Depends on what type of list you're playing against.

For Luke, in the spirit of his conflict with the emperor, I would give him an ability where he throws down his lightsaber and refuses to fight

In epic duels, Luke had a card called "I will not fight you" and it made both people discard any cards in their hands with attack value greater than 1.

So you could have a command card that made both people discard any command cards that cost 1 or more. You have to decide when it's best for you to play it, but even in a pinch it could save you even if you have to discard some cards too. Depends on what type of list you're playing against.

Which should be countered with "It is unwise to lower your defenses" which immediately removes Luke from the board, but grants Luke's player 10 morality points which are redeemable for... well nothing, but might make them feel better.

Omg u said, Epic duels, my forum career is complete now.

Haha, I loved some epic duels back in the day. Miss that game! I got two copies for 7.99 each at a KB toys going out of business sale back in 2003!

**** WHAT A STEAL!

I got epic duels for christmas a few years back. Super fun. I had never played it when it first came out.

I'd like to see a General Solo Ally Pack that includes command cards that improve the original Solo (or can be used with either version of solo). This would be an excellent opportunity for FFG to get wave 1 Solo back into the skirmish game. I also think a command card for a Solo/Chewie combo would be awesome, something like:

If Han and Chewie are both deployed and one of these figures suffers damage, both figures become focused (limit once per round).

Or a Skirmish Upgrade card: "Golden Rod" Use when deploying Han Solo (scoundrel) to receive C3PO at no additional cost.