Dengar, Bossk, Boba, and IG-88.

Before I buy these guys and pay a friend to paint them. It seems pretty good, Bossk is kind of nuts and so are the others.

they are fun, they are not competitive

they are fun, they are not competitive

What is not competitive about them?

I kind of need pointers on what the top meta squads are. I imagine that spamming storm troopers or an equivalent amount of rebel troopers is top tier, but what else?

To win a skirmish you need more than simply having strong models. Even if you had four strong figures (IG certainly isn't, Dengar is debatable), you would suffer heavily from lack of activations and lack of bodies.

Skirmish games are won by being able to count. Usually to 40, but much less in a timed tournament match (where you just need to have counted to more than your opponent by the time the round is called). Getting points include objectives, which tend to require bodies. The same does terminals, which you will need to get the command cards to fuel your list - or the very least to prevent your opponent from doing so.

Even if all the above was not the case, you need activations or you will give your opponent free range to maximise his actions without having to worry about you retaliating or moving your figures to safety.

The problems with this list:

4 activations so your opponent will always go last plus it makes it hard to go after objectives.

Not a great squad to utilize "Take Initiative" which is one of the stronger if not Strongest command card in the game

You dont have anyone to sit at a Terminal so you will see much less Command Cards than your opponent. Command Cards wins games

Bossk and Fett are awesome with some good support. Dengar and IG88 are not the support they need. Bossk and Fett are great in skrimish while the other two are not ones I typically want in a skirmish list. Dengar is debatable though.

Troopers (Rebel and Imperial) will tear through this list no problem because they have more attacks and can utilize the command deck better since most use some kind of Leader. I would think this list would even have a difficult time against the all Hero Rebel lists just because again they are getting more activations and thats what boils down to the biggest problem with this list.

Play the 4 Player Skirmish from Return to Hoth (you can play it with 2 players each controlling two lists) and divide those into two 40p Lists. I think FF should publish more 4 Player Maps, some Figures raise in Value if the overall Point Value is higher.

But for the normal Skirmish, just try it. I can imagine sniping units and point denial might be work. It doesn't have to be super competitive to win once in a while

Dont forget you can choose to skip your turn if your opponent has more ready cards than you.

Dengar, Bossk, Boba, and IG-88.

Before I buy these guys and pay a friend to paint them. It seems pretty good, Bossk is kind of nuts and so are the others.

With Bossk's price being so aggressive, the value of the others drop substantially. Boba is the only one there who can make up his points, and its difficult to get him to do so. His speed and durability are the biggest draws, as he can peak around a corner, pepper a target, and then hide, in addition to the automatic block/evade when he does get attacked. Dengar is terrible, and IG-88 can be annoying with his Assault/Relentless but wasn't worth NEAR 12 points before Bossk. Quite simply, they all cost too much before, but with Bossk at 8 points, there's little reason to play any of them anymore.

Plus, with only 4 unique figures, you'll be hard pressed to deal the requisite damage needed to win a game and you won't have the map control you need to win via objectives. You'll likely lose 2 of them in the first engagement.

Luke is basically the only 2 digit cost unique that is worth his cost. All others are too much. Choose one, generally one that's 10 points or less, and fill in with Troopers, Creatures, or Support. Biggest exception to this is the Twins list, which includes Luke and Leia and generally some Troopers. Also, Gideon, R2D2, and C-3PO are your friends. Most rebel lists include at least 2 of these, and you'll generally be better off if you Temp Alliance 2 of them into basically any Scum list, also. Haven't played much since Bespin, but you should be able to build a good list with one Hunter (Bossk), some Wing Guards, and either Trandoshans or HKs. Throw in a cheap support if you can fit it.

Activation economy isn't as important as it once was, but it still matters. 4 Figures can't do much. You'll most often want 5+ activations, with 8+ figures on the table.

I thought about this yesterday and if they simply dropped Boba Fett to 10 pts (bc lets be honest, he isnt better than Luke, but I would say on par with Luke) and IG-88 to 8 pts (he is close to Bossk level then) and then you got yourself 7 pts that you can insert the infamous Temp Alliance with 3PO/Gideon or even just simply insert some rWing Guards or rTrandoshan Hunters.

~D

I played this list, won 1 out of 3 games with it. It suffers from everything mentioned here, lack of activations is a BIG one as you have to decide between controlling a terminal and doing the mission objective. We played on the Hoth missions and it was very difficult. I had to basically choose to either skip the mission objective of to control the terminals. The only map this worked on with this list was where you turned in the broken robots. Because I was controlling the terminals I controlled the drop off spot. I was able to focus fire with my guys when I could and took down all but the other guy's boba.

Fun list, but not competitive.

agree with most of the above, man Dengar needs some accuracy and recover

Mercs in general are left out in the cold when it comes to additional movement actions and focus abilities. I'm okay with not having certain traits within a faction (being more hunter/brawler oriented than trooper/leaders) but having some access to focus without having to put Gideon and 3PO in a list would be great. (i need those slots for eAlliance Smugglers anyway)

I'm certainly hoping that 4-LOM will be a support hunter for Mercs. It would be really nice to get rid of Gideon/3PO. Hell, he could even be worse than those two at around 3 points and I'd be happy to get rid of them. Saving the point on Temporary Alliance alone would be nice!

I'm certainly hoping that 4-LOM will be a support hunter for Mercs. It would be really nice to get rid of Gideon/3PO. Hell, he could even be worse than those two at around 3 points and I'd be happy to get rid of them. Saving the point on Temporary Alliance alone would be nice!

I'm hoping 4-LOM will be a version very similar to Mak's deployment card (for 3 pts): long range sniper. And Zuckuss will be similar to the likes of Murne/MHD-19 or even Gideon for 4 pts.

Then that'd give you 6 activation uniques for 40 pts (if they lowered Boba and IG-88 to what I suggested in an earlier post).

~D

good ideas guys

i would love some support type characters for Mercs, and I would love some Not-Gideons.

something to create some focus and hidden support or recovery support.

they are fun, they are not competitive

What is not competitive about them?

I kind of need pointers on what the top meta squads are. I imagine that spamming storm troopers or an equivalent amount of rebel troopers is top tier, but what else?

Here's my buying guide/guide to the meta from a different thread (For Skirmish):

All Factions: Most of the "power" is in the generic units. Most lists revolve around groups of generic units, occasionally with Unique hero backup.

Essential expansions: Twin Shadows, Hoth, and Bespin. The "big boxes" have not only the tiles needed to play in the tourney rotation maps, but also essential command cards, skirmish upgrades, and units. Can be found for cheap on Miniature Market and Amazon if you don't care for the MSRPs.

Rebels: Rebels have the best command cards and command card manipulation (Get better ones with Balance of the Force, draw more with R2 and Rebel High Command, shuffle them back in with Leia). On the actual field of play, Saboteurs, Troopers, and Echo Base Troopers backed up by Gideon, 3PO, Luke, or Leia are generally the best bet. Use your command cards and easy access to focus to make your units that are generally worse than their Imperial equivalents shine.

Another new list is Spies. With Davith, Leia, and Saboteurs it is possible to make intense control lists that can prevent your opponent from doing anything with command cards. If you like playing "Control" lists in other games, this is the archetype for you.

Essential Expansions: Leia (Both for the figure and the map), Rebel Troopers (Come with Reinforcements and Grenadier, which are great in all factions), Rebel Saboteurs (one of the most powerful groups in the game right now), R2-D2 & C3PO (powerful support units).

Scum: Scum have two major avenues right now: Beasts and Strain/Harmful Conditions. With Nexu and Bantha with the Beast Tamer upgrade, backed up by HK Droids, it is possible to shred entire lists in two rounds. Temp Alliance to bring in Gideon or sprinkling in some Tuskens to use with Jundland Terror is a great way to pad out these lists.

The trickier path with Scum is strain. With Bossk, Trando Hunters, Wing Guards, and the Under Duress upgrade (Forcing opponents to discard 2 cards instead of one to avoid damage from Strain) it is possible to have an entire deck of command cards gone in 2-3 rounds, after which point all the strain you are dealing translates to direct damage. These lists have low movement scores, causing them to be a little worse at the objective game, but excellent at the "Kill everything in sight" game. Their viability in tournaments will depend on the next rotation, but in combat-focused skirmish scenarios they can be amazing.

Essential Expansions: Return to Hoth (Those HK droids are amazing), Bantha Rider (lots of beast upgrades and command cards), Bossk (great strain command cards as well as Bossk himself).

Imperial: The quintessential Imperial list (and the one I mainly play) is Troopers: 2x Elite Stormtroopers plus other units like Officers, Royal Guards, Probe Droids, or occasionally you will see Royal Guard Champion. This gives you access to Reinforcements and Grenadier. My personal favorite list is: 2x eStorm, Royal Guard, 2x eProbe, 2x Officers. The Elite Probe Droid can do massive damage, and the Troopers, with rerolls, deal some of the most consistent damage in the game.

According to some reports coming out, the other great archetype in Imperials will soon be spies. Using ISB Infiltrators and Agent Blaise gives access to the excellent command card manipulation abilities of the Spy command cards combined with the ability to get many attacks out of the Infiltrators.

Essential packs: Rebel Troopers (Grenadier and Reinforcements), Stormtroopers (another Elite Stormtrooper card and an essential skirmish map), Agent Blaise (Figure and spy cards), ISB Infiltrators (Figures and spy cards).

I hope this long winded analysis helps!