https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/10/3/as-you-wish/

Can anyone reason why he suggests to put Targeting Computer on the HKs? They already have that built in.

you cna re-roll two dice with that as well I guess? Limited use though

I guess that too. Two blue dice are not that reliable for (max) damage and yellow even less with 50% chance of coming up with single symbols, so two attack rerolls have a good chance of giving benefits compared to just one.

Bossk being an auto-include in every single Merc list? Not a single mention of Hired Guns? HKs fulfilling the same role as Rebel Saboteurs? Under Duress being on par with the best squad builds in the meta?

Yes, I know regional metagame is a thing, but at this point I'm seriously starting to wonder if I've been playing some kind of altogether different version of of the game...

I don't think he meant that the HKs filled the same role as the Sabs (even though he used that phrasing). I think he meant that they, like Sabs, used to be auto-includes but are now just very viable options. As to Bossk being an auto-include, well, I was surprised by that. Not that he isn't good, but he isn't great enough to be an automatic choice for me.

Still, I think this article was on-par with the previous ones. It gives someone new to the hobby a nice, friendly handhold to pull themselves into skirmish with. It offers a good base to start with and gives two interesting options. It didn't sing the praises of this faction being the most distinctive, offering the most varied lists, as I would have liked. Nor did it hype the upcoming arrival of Jabba and the rancor like I thought it would. But still, this was an easy entry point for newbies to jump in with, so for that reason I'm glad they're doing this.

-ryanjamal

I agree that HKs are more of a "must include" than Bossk... but that's also what I like about Bossk. He's so well balanced that he's not a must pick, but still incredibly strong. He's a perfect mix of strengths and weaknesses, at a very affordable cost.

Having a second re-roll is rarely worth the cost.

I'm also surprised that the Beast Machines list doesn't have Devious Scheme... that's a huge part of the mega bantha double activation jungland combo.

This article wasn't near as bad with Global Sweeping generalizations as the first two.

I guess they wanted so ring a little more succinct with some details, an example of a list or two, and mention of some ways to play the games. It's not really intended to be a cover-every-base type article.

The first two really chapped me in that he came off sounding like there's only one or two lists worth playing and you have to include these in your list or you suck. One of the things I've loved about this game besides its awesome mechanics, is that you can almost take anything and make a good list if you play your deployments well, some thing are really strong and synergize well, but I've even played some silly lists and performed way better than expected if you play to the strengths of those cards and play the mission.

Some of the early stuff is an up-hill battle to use but everything Hoth-on is solid and at least 80% of the stuff before that is playable and useful

Agreed with most of the stuff here, I think Zach is great and obviously communicates well but it's obvious from these articles and his guest appearance on Vader's Finest that he doesn't actually play the game much.

Having said that the articles are great to point new players towards and they will get a lot out of them, once they've progressed a little they'll figure out the bits that aren't quite right.

I find generally some of the podcasts talk a lot and make sweeping statements about viability of various bits but don't seem to play the game as much as some of the guys on here. (Notable exception on this is new orders they do seem to play a fair bit and do a lot of testing)

Think we need to be careful with believing everything that's written, spoken about, of watched, there's no substitute for playing those lists yourself and finding out your own opinions.

It's good for marketing and new players if the new players has gotten into skirmish after they already bought the campaign. They'll have all the stuff anyway, and can invest in Bossk and start playing.

Bossk IS amazing, after testing a lot with Jabba, he is a stable in my lists for sure. I wonder why he didn't mention Greedo, but I guess it's because he isn't really beginner friendly.

He didn't mention hired guns, because they suck.

Generally he has some good points, and it's a good place to start with either of his now 6 lists, if you're looking to get into the game.

For more seasoned players, it's not very useful information. But fun enough reads anyway.

This thread alone is evidence that a lot of it is opinion. We know that you can make a lot of lists work that might seem inferior to others if you are more comfortable playing them than what others would deem 'cookie cutter' builds. The best advice is to just get out there and play, you will quickly realize what units you like and what you don't like working with. These articles have been good to get the game some front cover FFG exposure though. There is a lot of traffic going through this site and if they directed even a few our way then it is a bonus. I have been tough on these articles in the past, but I have to admit that tearing them to shreds in front of the new posters might steer them away from playing as it makes things over complicated. I do agree that they probably could have picked someone more knowledgable about the game for the job. Has anyone here thought to contact FFG and offer to write some opinion pieces? Or even just making their own thread on this forum?There are a few posters in this thread I would love to see this kind of article from.

If you are a new player or a player wanting to start and are reading this, take the lists in the articles and start playing with them. Realize that you can tweak whatever you want, maybe it is just one command card or maybe it is 3 deployment cards. But the important part is just figuring out what you like and most importantly what you have fun with. Not everyone wants to grind it out and not everyone wants to rush the tempo, the best part about this game is the customization.

That's what I said in response to the others. There are several knowledgeable posters here who have way more experience and I feel a more balanced opinion on where the game is. I would have preferred that FFG reach out to someone who at least takes an active roll here on the threads.

This thread alone is evidence that a lot of it is opinion. We know that you can make a lot of lists work that might seem inferior to others if you are more comfortable playing them than what others would deem 'cookie cutter' builds. The best advice is to just get out there and play, you will quickly realize what units you like and what you don't like working with. These articles have been good to get the game some front cover FFG exposure though. There is a lot of traffic going through this site and if they directed even a few our way then it is a bonus. I have been tough on these articles in the past, but I have to admit that tearing them to shreds in front of the new posters might steer them away from playing as it makes things over complicated. I do agree that they probably could have picked someone more knowledgable about the game for the job. Has anyone here thought to contact FFG and offer to write some opinion pieces? Or even just making their own thread on this forum?There are a few posters in this thread I would love to see this kind of article from.

If you are a new player or a player wanting to start and are reading this, take the lists in the articles and start playing with them. Realize that you can tweak whatever you want, maybe it is just one command card or maybe it is 3 deployment cards. But the important part is just figuring out what you like and most importantly what you have fun with. Not everyone wants to grind it out and not everyone wants to rush the tempo, the best part about this game is the customization.

We may be doing something similar as either an article on our website, or as an actual podcast episode. something about getting started in Skirmish.

I would love to see an updateable encyclopedia kind of thing for command cards. Concise paragraph on each one, why it's good/bad/not quite what it should be, and updated every once in awhile. Tags to synergies. And includes fun combos/tricks. If this exists somewhere does anyone know and I just haven't seen it?

I would love to see an updateable encyclopedia kind of thing for command cards. Concise paragraph on each one, why it's good/bad/not quite what it should be, and updated every once in awhile. Tags to synergies. And includes fun combos/tricks. If this exists somewhere does anyone know and I just haven't seen it?

I've not seen anything like this at the moment MasterChief.

I'm looking at doing some YouTube/Patreon videos on command cards but we're probably all doing small things in isolation. Potentially could do a job if we grouped together but I'm not sure what that'd look like (And potential issues with differences of opinion on the usefulness of various cards etc.)

There would be many differences of opinions of command cards, with a few exceptions(Take Initiative, Negation), and probably quite a few that none of use have adequately tried(Harsh Environment, Provoke). Still it would be an interesting project.

Provoke can be amazing, I used to have it as an auto include and still think carefully about it in most lists, can be a game winner

I would love to see an updateable encyclopedia kind of thing for command cards. Concise paragraph on each one, why it's good/bad/not quite what it should be, and updated every once in awhile. Tags to synergies. And includes fun combos/tricks. If this exists somewhere does anyone know and I just haven't seen it?

Is there even an app or something that let's you search by command card? The IA-armies.com is great, but its not as useful on the go. The one IAapp I have from amazon is great, but the search functionality is not very useful.

the Wikia page on IA is not as updated or visited as well. I guess we don't have the ravening hordes that Xwing has to build their webpages.