So, is he not the best addition to Mercs yet? I mean, all the stuff that I've seen people ask for in mercs, Jabba can do. Interruptet attacks (what makes Fett better? If he shoots twice), card economy, mercs didn't have any ways of drawing before, focus, no more 3po/gideon crutches are needed. He even has a nifty new way of turning VP into currency. Am I missing something, or does he look really, really good?

There has been some talk in the general threads. I think the discussion will pick up when the Jabba pack gets its preview article. We'll probably get to see the campaign abilities as well.

He does look really really good. One thing I'm personally very interested in trying, is whether or not he'll combo well with First Strike in order to allow his double attack ability to work from turn one. Against less spammy lists, his VP gaining ability will be less powerful, and without the added points, he might find a hard time for using the extra attack in the first couple of turns against VP denial lists or more tanky lists.

On the other hand, I want to use all his other abilities more than the attack one.

As I mentioned elsewhere, I was hoping to see him at 5 or 7 points. At 6 points, he might just replace C-3PO and Gideon straight up. At 5, you'd save the point on Alliance to get some other upgrade and at 7 you'd have to make room for him. At 6, it's hit or miss. Either he's better than the two together, or he ain't (could be circumstantial for sure).

I believe we had over 2 pages of discussion in the Jabba's Realm thread. There's only a dozen of us that actually play skirmish you know Everyone else is engrossed in X-wing and accidentally post here or play campaign. I think he is reasonably balanced. I was loathing the addition until I saw how they made him and for me it is very thematic and characteristic of Jabba. I would have preferred 5 pts, then he is an auto-included. I still think Gideon is better, cheaper and moves and focuses.

Bully: A figure of your choice within 3 spaces suffers 3 strain.

Incentive - A merc figure of your choice becomes focused.

Schemes - Draw one command card.

Order Hit - (two special actions) Spend 2 VPs. A merc figure of your choice may interrupt to perform an attack. Then it gains two movement points.

Nefarious [ENDS] - When a hostile figure is defeated, gain 1 VP.

As I said before, Schemes and Incentive will be used 85-90% of the time, Order Hit is probably a once or twice a game, when you think you can take out a bigshot or someone is threatening. Nefarious Ends will always be in play which is awesome, Bully means your in trouble bc someone got too close. I still think Gideon is useful though because having 2 options to focus is great, and the movement is always useful. You could use the other Rebel option to bring in some saboteurs or something. I've used wookiees well in some lists. I don't know that Gideon in Merc armies is going away though. 10pts of support is a lot in one army, so I think some lists are still going to go for 6 pts of Gideon/3PO just because.

I'd really like to see what the Weequay Pirates do and the characters which are supposed to be Merc or Merc/Rebel in skirmish. You could do Jabba and the Rodians almost with Greedo, Hired guns and the new Ventra or whatever his name is. I'm hoping the big hulking bodyguard is like what I imagined Biv to be. Loads of weapon options and tons of health to sift through.

I definitely have some thoughts on Jabba!

First of all, he had to be priced to compete with Gideon and Threepio and offer at LEAST as much utility for the same cost. Otherwise, people won't use him. He's expensive for a solely support figure.

That brings me to my next point. He is the first truly SOLELY support figure. With speed 2, a 2x2 base, and no mobile, he's essentially stationary. This is a HUGE disadvantage in IA because positioning and board control are so huge. He is a 6 point activation that simply cannot contribute to objectives, damage, or control. Also, it means that there are a number of places in current maps he cannot go due to red lines and red dotted lines. The only other 2x2 figure is the nexu, which has mobile and can straddle terrain lines. Jabba can't. It won't be worth it to spend actions on moves when he had this awesome list of support abilities:

That means that if his abilities were not global, which they appear to be, then he would be useless. But, all of the great ones work at any range! :-D

Bully (special action): A figure of your choice within 3 spaces suffers 3 strain.

This is just his defense mechanism. He won't be able to move up and attack, so he needs the tools to defend himself if anyone comes after him. He also has a lot of HP and a strong 2 die attack with Red/Green, which will help him in that situation.

I think the next one says Incentivize. A Scum figure at any range becomes focused as a special action. Always useful, especially for powerful figures, and it works at any range.

Scheme, another special action, let's you draw a command card. Gives the utility of R2D2 without having to move goon to a terminal. Then again, he can't really get there.

Order Hit, double Special Action: A Scum figure at any range can perform an attack and then gains two movement points. This is where Jabba's g damage comes from. We haven't seen that Rancor's attack, but Jabba can grant it an extra attack on top of Brutality, then it can step on who it attacked for a crush. Or Boba or Bossk get an extra attack out of turn and can then break line of sight. If you're in dire straits, it can be used as just a global Order ability to grab a last minute objective or get a figure out of dodge. Amazing ability. Not surprised it's a double action, otherwise you could get free Focused attack each turn from a powerful figure. Victory points are a huge cost, so you'll need to be careful using it, but I bet it can change the course of a game. I'd pay 2 points to get an Extra attack of I knew I could clear a powerful figure and make the cost back and then some. Especially with an ability like this:

Looks like Nefarious Gains: when a hostile figure is defeated, gain 1 victory point. Every time you kill an enemy, you gain an Extra point. Elite Stormtrooper cards are now worth 12, 13 if he reinforced. And you get some of those points as you defeat figures, not when you clear the last figure on a card. It's like Diplomatic Mission, but it triggers WAY more often than once on Jabba's activation. Will easily let you feed Order Hit or get an early lead if your opponent has more, weaker figures than you.

He's an awesome support piece that will play differently than any figure we have so far. His stationary nature really makes him unique without making him useless. Can't wait to get him on the table.

The Nefarious ability really seems to be pushing against the trooper swarm lists that have been popular recently. I think FFG is working hard to make lists of mid-high cost unique figures more viable, which is great! You don't want every fight to be Stormtroopers vs Stormtroopers

He's a hugely synergistic & powerful figure for scum lists.

I think it's an interesting choice for scum between 6 points for Gideon + 3PO or Jabba, but in many cases Jabba's many ability will win out.

He's going to be BFF with figures having 3 attack die like Bossk (virtual 3rd die from +2 damage) or the Rancor (which we can assume based on points and size should have 3 attack dice) because his Order Hit ability costs 2 VP, but getting an extra attack + move in with an expensive figure can be easily worth that cost. Especially if you can recoup the VP with a kill.

He's basically never going to move himself, so you can stick him in the back of your deployment zone and have him be somewhat safe back there. I think this will make him much harder to kill than Gideon + C-3P0 in general.

He's a hugely synergistic & powerful figure for scum lists.

I think it's an interesting choice for scum between 6 points for Gideon + 3PO or Jabba, but in many cases Jabba's many ability will win out.

He's going to be BFF with figures having 3 attack die like Bossk (virtual 3rd die from +2 damage) or the Rancor (which we can assume based on points and size should have 3 attack die) because his Order Hit ability costs 2 VP, but getting an extra attack + move in with an expensive figure can be easily worth that cost. Especially if you can recoup the VP with a kill.

He's basically never going to move himself, so you can stick him in the back of your deployment zone and have him be somewhat safe back there. I think this will make him much harder to kill than Gideon + C-3P0 in general.

Also, if you can use a figure with Cleave or Blast to kill multiple figure with one attack, you'll completely recoup the cost because of the Nefarious ability.

Jabba is the boss.

The extra VP's will have to be taken into account when building a list.

Sitting back gaining VP's, drawing cards and handing out focus means your opponent will have to take the fight to your deployment zone. Not forgetting the leader trait and his own command card.

Jabba is one of the few characters who can shape the meta and the game.

But is it worth it to still add Gideon? Jabba+Gideon is 10 pts. Is that too much support? You'll want some heavy hitters like Greedo, Bossk and HKs but you'll need some grunts as well. I can't wait to see what the Weequay and Gamoreans do, as they may provide some health and act as terminal,sitters and support. There has to be some meat shields in the list or just more guys to roll dice and give activations. I like the eWing but they don't kill much, Trandoshans are great but seem to die due to their in-your-face benefits.

I would never spend 10 points on support. For me, it's either Gideon (and likely 3P0) or Jabba, but probably not ever both. From what I'm seeing now, it's gonna be Jabba almost every time.

At GenCon it seemed to me that people were more excited about Jabba (for competitive play purposes) than anyone else. More than Jedi Luke, even.

I think it's also worth noting that he will exert a strong influence to weaken the presence of Troopers in the meta, because of his Nefarious Gains ability. Suddenly it'll be dangerous for your opponent to field Stormtroopers, since they tend to die easily enough (even if they do get Reinforced) and so they'll be providing you with a relatively stable stream of VPs.

8 Bossk

8 rHKs

6 Jabba

...22pts, with lots of options to finish the squad. eWing Guards, eNexu? Maybe Greedo would be a decent choice if you can use Order Hit after Greedo has already attacked that round, so that he can get up to 3 attacks in one round (one for Parting Shot), likely with a Focus on at least 1 of them. Oh yeah, and don't forget the Rancor with Beast Tamer [drools]. Yeah, the Mercs are going to have a lot more squad building options in the near future! And I think that Jabba will be in many of those squads.

This is the list I am planning to run him in:

Jabba

Bossk

Dengar

Greedo

rHK

rHired Guns x 2

Devious Scheme

First Strike

I am really psyched about this list.

2x eWing Guard

Bossk + Headhunter

eNexu

Jabba

Devious Scheme

5 activations is a little bit low, but there's some flexibility there and a pretty solid trooper list. A reliable source of focus makes the Wing Guard even better, and a Focused eNexu is pretty scary too.

Single Purpose card for Jabba is going to be great value.

The way I look at it he helps Scum eat trooper lists for breakfeast. The more troopers you kill the more VP's you get and then you can translate those 'free' VP's into extra attacks for your high cost units to take down their high cost units (if any) or to finish off a squad to avoid re enforcement, which again results in VP's.

It will be a fine line to walk though and you want to keep an eye on the clock, spending VP's to fall a few behind going after a unique or medium cost group kill and falling short would be a crappy way to lose a game.. unless you enjoy gambling, then it would be exhilarating!!!

We've been asking for a true support for Mercs and they have delivered, in spades, and I am happy for the addition. You can still use C3 and Gideon if you prefer, but now at least there is an in house option.. and a great option at that.

On some of the current legal maps like Training Ground, Jabba has a huge weakness. His mobility. You pretty much have to defend that door to your deployment zone or he's a sitting duck.

On some of the current legal maps like Training Ground, Jabba has a huge weakness. His mobility. You pretty much have to defend that door to your deployment zone or he's a sitting duck.

Basically, he's better the more you can hide him in the back of your base away from any Line of Sight from your opponent.

That's not how training grounds works at all.... If it's deception game, then you can just turtle in the corner and wait for the enemy. Jabba is easily protected.

If it's Reprogrammed, then you can go collect all the remotes while your opponent wastes multiple turns and heaps of actions getting through the door and hunting down jabba in the back corner of the deployment zone.

If you go through the door too early, then the whole enemy army is still there.

If you go through later, then it's too late and you've wasted too much time and too many actions doing it.

He still has 10 health, black dice defense, an ok R/G attack and a 3strain ability. He'll take a bit of effort to kill. You're going to need to send 6 points or more at least to threaten him. 2 Hired guns aren't going to do it in a hurry.
And you should probably be taking Devious Scheme anyway to pick a better deployment zone each game. It does make quite a difference on some maps.

In fact,

Training ground is probably his best map because the access to the deployment zones is easier to protect.

Coruscant Landfill is heaps worse because both deployment zones are easily threatened and the blue deployment zone actually has very limited space where you can place Jabba. On Nelvannian Warzone a list with some fast units can easily go up through the top command room as well. Especially on Fallout where the objectives don't matter as much.

Hey, if your enemy wants to spend multiple activations to close across the field and deal enough damage to kill him, let them go ahead, he's only six points. Jabba is only 6 points, and while powerful, he'll be a chore to reach and clear while the rest of your force can be doing their own jobs and getting objectives or clearing Jabba's attackers. It will definitely be weird to get used to running a stationary piece in a game where positioning and field control is so important, but your opponent will have to sacrifice those things himself to some degree if he wants to come deal with Jabba.

Hey, if your enemy wants to spend multiple activations to close across the field and deal enough damage to kill him, let them go ahead, he's only six points. Jabba is only 6 points, and while powerful, he'll be a chore to reach and clear while the rest of your force can be doing their own jobs and getting objectives or clearing Jabba's attackers. It will definitely be weird to get used to running a stationary piece in a game where positioning and field control is so important, but your opponent will have to sacrifice those things himself to some degree if he wants to come deal with Jabba.

Yeah he's arguably harder to kill than both Gideon and 3P0 and he barely even moves

Even though your opponent can only gain 5 points for killing both rebels, Jabba is possibly the safer option, even if he gives up one more point if he does go down.

He also has 10 health with a black die defense so he isn't going to die to a single attack, it will take either multiple units or multiple rounds for your opponent to wipe him out. Then you can decide if it is worth trying to fight back (Green/Red is a great melee attack), send in some support, or just milk his last few actions to buff up your troops who are out actually solving objectives. I would think the decision will depend on how much resources your opponent has invested.

This adds a whole new dynamic to the game and new dynamics are great for keeping things fresh and interesting. We want a meta that never grows stale well additions like this help prevent 4x4 from ever returning. (I understand at this point 4x4 will never return because we do have a varied meta, but one could argue something like Trooper spam has become the new 4x4 to a certain degree).