I am just starting to get into Skirmish and have created my first list using stormtroopers and probe droids to use the for support and to get around terrain.

If you're going to use Kayn, you really need out of turn movement on him - you're going to need some officers who can move him into position to use his "Firing Squad" and still be able to attack with him. You could use the Vader's Finest attached to Kayn, but honestly, it's more worth it to have 2 officers and Rule by Fear instead of one probe droid because it's more versatile to move Kayn around that way. Then use Vader's Finest (if you're sold on it) on an elite stormtrooper group that way it has 3 people using it instead of just one.

So if you're wanting Kayn something like this is ok -

Kayn

2x Elite Stormtroopers

Elite Probe Droid

2x Officers

Rule By Fear

Vader's Finest (on Elite Stormtroopers)

That's 6 activations and 10 units to move around and control objectives. It gives you better utility to try and pull off Kayn's ability (it's tricky to use to its optimum level and you get pretty much the same value spread out over two units/activations and more utility from 2 Elite Officers instead of Kayn)

Quickly on the command deck:

In this list -

Squad Swarm won't work (2 elite stormtroopers is 18 points, I'm assuming you had it for the cheap stormtrooper list or for 2 elite probes)

Recovery isn't worth the action it takes to heal

You could spend those two points and two cards to put in Negation (1 pt) and Single Purpose (1 pt) to use Kayn's ability twice if you can pull off the spacing and then use to the limit to attack with him if you have the card at the same time (definitely best case scenario but it's fun!)

Also, I'd consider swapping out Covering Fire for New Orders if you have it - turns into more damage than covering fire if you ready your elite stormies another time during the game than just Kayne's command card.

And just in case you haven't had this happen yet, you can only use one Reinforcements per turn - because you can't play two of the same card during one timing instance even if they target different things. I didn't know that until a couple weeks ago.

Hope that helps a little

Come on man, don't remove Kayn because other people tell you to.

Kayn isn't *great* and he's almost definitely overpriced, but he can be fun to use and in the right situation he can deal a whole mess of damage.

I've done pretty well with:

Kayn Somos
eHeavy Stormtroopers
eStormtroopers
eStormtroopers
rOfficer
rOfficer

That's six activations, two officers to set up the position you need, a solid infantry line to play objectives, and Kayn + Heavies to dump damage on heavy hitters either directly or via blast.

Come on man, don't remove Kayn because other people tell you to.

Kayn isn't *great* and he's almost definitely overpriced, but he can be fun to use and in the right situation he can deal a whole mess of damage.

I've done pretty well with:

Kayn Somos

eHeavy Stormtroopers

eStormtroopers

eStormtroopers

rOfficer

rOfficer

That's six activations, two officers to set up the position you need, a solid infantry line to play objectives, and Kayn + Heavies to dump damage on heavy hitters either directly or via blast.

I may try your list. I played my stormtroopers list against a Banta Rider + creatures list and lost both games.

Come on man, don't remove Kayn because other people tell you to.

Kayn isn't *great* and he's almost definitely overpriced, but he can be fun to use and in the right situation he can deal a whole mess of damage.

I've done pretty well with:

Kayn Somos

eHeavy Stormtroopers

eStormtroopers

eStormtroopers

rOfficer

rOfficer

That's six activations, two officers to set up the position you need, a solid infantry line to play objectives, and Kayn + Heavies to dump damage on heavy hitters either directly or via blast.

I may try your list. I played my stormtroopers list against a Banta Rider + creatures list and lost both games.

Banthas are making quite a splash locally, too.

Trooper lists in general don't seem like a good counter to them unless you are particularly good at positioning.

Taking down a bantha is all about timing and positioning. You need to know what command cards they have access to and be ready for them. Specifically crush and jundland terror. Also knowing how they move. Don't leave your troopers in positions where more than two can be stampeded. Do you rerolls then move away from being adjacent to each other. Don't position too far forward too fast. Wait until the end of round one to get close because the bantha shouldn't move until the end of round one if they're any good with it. If it moves early pump it full of shots and take it down. If it only takes out one or two stormtroopers and some damage on some other stuff you still won that trade. If it takes down a big baddie like RGC or a full e trooper or Luke then yeah you didn't exactly win that one. But learning how to play against them goes a long way.

Taking down a bantha is all about timing and positioning. You need to know what command cards they have access to and be ready for them. Specifically crush and jundland terror. Also knowing how they move. Don't leave your troopers in positions where more than two can be stampeded. Do you rerolls then move away from being adjacent to each other. Don't position too far forward too fast. Wait until the end of round one to get close because the bantha shouldn't move until the end of round one if they're any good with it. If it moves early pump it full of shots and take it down. If it only takes out one or two stormtroopers and some damage on some other stuff you still won that trade. If it takes down a big baddie like RGC or a full e trooper or Luke then yeah you didn't exactly win that one. But learning how to play against them goes a long way.

Have you been able to win against a Bantha Rider with troopers? I am new to skirmish and have a hard time positioning Kayn Somos and the troopers on narrow maps, especially against a Bantha Rider.

I play bantha a decent amount. Part of the problem you describe is Kayn. He needs your guys to be adjacent to be using him to full effect. That's what I love about playing against him with the bantha

The other part is the narrow map parts. I love corridors with the bantha because I own them if I play right. The key would just be to not over extend but commit enough to that hall that if I go down it you're going to slaughter the bantha the next turn. Just make sure you stay out of range. The main thing is trying to get close but not too close by the end of the first round so that in the second round you just focus fire the bantha fast as you can. If you can get some good damage on it before first round is over that helps a ton. I hope I don't play you after telling you how to counter

Fizz had some good stuff to say in the bantha list discussion.