Hello everyone I am looking to possibly get into this game and have a couple questions.

I will probably mainly play bounty hunters and maybe a couple Droids or lesser characters that could accompany them. I will probably play more skirmish than campaign. Could you guys break down my best purchases as far as starter sets, blister packs and maps that I should probably get.

I am not overly concerned with price as I will likely get anything that someone makes a good point for. So I'd you could list essentials and then lesser needs and I would greatly appreciate it.

Well, I'm more campaign-oriented, so someone else should probably help you build your list, but from what I've heard, bounty hunters aren't great on their own. However, the mercenary faction is fine, as far as I know. What that encompasses is all non-Rebel/Imperial aligned factions, as well as non-sentient monsters. So, you have a pretty varied pallet compared to Rebel and Imp players- HK droids, trandoshans, rodians, Sandpeople and jawas, rancors... there's a ton of variety in building your lists. And, of course, bounty hunters.

In campaign, I've really enjoyed using Dengar. Bossk and Boba seemed pretty weak to me, and from what I hear they're even worse in skirmish. However, people may have changed their opinions with the release of Jabba himself, who can make your merc figures more potent.

Than, there's IG-88, who is getting a neat little skirmish upgrade in an upcoming blister pack (jawas).

But yeah, I'm sure skirmish people could give you more pointers on how to field bounter hunters effectively.

Thank you for your honesty. I have never really looked at these before just a few people at the store I play destiny at play.

Is there a field allowance to the hunters is there a point to buying multiples of say Bossk or IG-88? Is there ever too many trandoshans or jawas?

Again, rules are slightly different between campaign and skirmish, but I believe these are the field allowances for skirmish-

- Only one unique figure per team (so, can't field 4 Bossks, for example)

- 4 regular non-uniques per team (I believe this is the correct number). So, you could throw in 4 regular trandoshans (often notated as rTrandoshans)

- 2 elite non-unique units per team (Again, not 100% on that number, but I believe it to be correct). So, if that's right, you could have 2 elite trandoshans in a list (notated as eTrandoshans)

In most cases, if you're looking to field the max of a non-unique unit, buying 2 copies of the box it came in (or multiple copies of the blister) will be necessary. Sometimes you'll need 3 or more. But honestly, it's generally fun (and advantageous) to have more varied lists, anyway. I currently have 1 of each expansion and blister (with the exception of the dewback rider/Captain Terro, as it's reconfigurable into two entirely different figure types, so I got 2).

subtrendy is correct with the Regular (4) and Elite (2) limitations.

As for the ESB Bounty Hunters, we have IG-88, Boba Fett, Dengar and Bossk so far.

Of these, only Bossk has ever really been considered good to strong. (He can do well, but can die easily, and certainly better than Dengar)

As subtrendy pointed out, the upcoming Jawa pack will have an upgrade for IG-88 which should make him a little more playable.

If you are looking to do skirmish only it may be worth getting the scum figures you want on ebay instead of buying a box, and then pick up the playmats for the current skirmish missions that are tournament legal...

A Scum hunter (this is a trait that some figures have) list with Bossk at its core (or IG88) would probably be just what you're looking for. You'll want the core obviously, and then Jabba, Jabba's Realm, and Bossk to start. There are others to get to beef up the list some (Hoth for HKs and Negation, Greedo for Primary Target and, well, Greedo, etc.).

But id start there and see how you like it. Welcome to IA!

-ryanjamal

If you're interested in both bounty hunters and droids, the soon-to-be-released Jawa pack might be of interest to you as well. For one, the elite lawa lets you bring in droids from other factions into your mercenary lists (so you could run some bounty hunters alongside, say, the probe droids that come in the core box). Perhaps even more importantly, the pack includes an upgrade card for IG-88 that makes him significantly more powerful in skirmish. If you're a fan of IG-88 and want to use him in any sort of competitive setting you'll want to pick that up.

Jabba's Realm gets you several great Mercenary figures for skirmish

regular and elite Weequay, elite Gammorean Guards, Rancor. That's 30pts and there are some upgrade cards available. You can also sprinkle in any of the 3 unique characters. All three are great for skirmish Onar, Shyla and Vinto.

Grab the Jabba pack and or Greedo and Bossk are great additions.

This is the easiest way to get started in skirmish in my opinion.

You're going to get lots of list building advice on here. The advice no one will give you (but me) is, don't buy models you don't like, and do buy models you do like. It sounds obvious but people forget it all the time. Boba Fett is allegedly a waste of points. If you like the figure, buy it anyways. You'll never find the motivation to paint figures you dislike, and you won't enjoy your games as much (even victories) if your army list bores you. This is supposed to be fun. I'm making Hoth skirmish armies. If that means leaving out an awesome rebel squad because they aren't dressed for the snow, so be it. The only roll out map I'm going to bother with is the Nelvanian Battlezone or whatever they're calling it. I too, don't care about SPENDING money on this game. But I refuse to WASTE money buying toys I don't like.

I'm assuming you are buying the starter set. Some skirmish oriented folks seem to skip it. It has so many map tiles and the weird dice, and at least a start on your "neutral forces" army that I couldn't recommend skipping it. It is hard to run an army (for any game, not just IA) of all uniques in my experience. The core game comes with 2 squads of trandoshans, which unlike most other neutral squads really have the bounty hunter "look". The nexu's are nicely made, though I tend to dislike prequel stuff. The core game will also give you "loaner" armies of 40 points of rebels and Imperials, and let you try out the IG-88 rules in friendly games. It's the best value going.

The obvious next choice is Jabba's Realm. It has the most bang for your buck in terms of sheer numbers of neutral forces. But just because it is the most obvious choice doesn't mean it's the right choice. If your theme is "Star Wars Bounty Hunters " and not simply "Star Wars Aliens with Guns" then get Return to Hoth instead. The HK droids look more "bounty-huntery" than pig guards and the rancor do! Plus you'll get the Dengar rules to start playing him immediately in home games, and the wampas can still be used in your army like the Nexu's in a pinch.

But if by Bounty Hunters you DO mean assorted scum and villainy, get Jabba's Realm. You'll get the rules for Jabba for home games, and 8 more sqauddies (gammoreans and weequays) and the Rancor. I don't plan on playing neutral forces much but I had to get this box because of the Rancor. Also, the three HEROES in the Jabbas Realm box count as neutral forces in skirmish, NOT rebel. So you'd get a mandalorian faux-Boba Fett, a faux-Greedo, and an aqualish. It's a lot of plastic for your army if you are open to using stuff like skiff guards.

I wouldn't waste my time with the small boxed expansions in your particular case. The only bounty hunter themed item to be found in them are rules but no minis. You'd have to go buy a "real" Boba Fett eventually anyways if you found you wanted to include him in your list.

Maps: wait until you've played awhile to buy more than one printed rubber skirmish map. If you get one on sale or used or something, just to speed setup on days you feel lazy, that's great. Otherwise don't bother, the core game and any single boxed expansion will give you enough cardboard maps to play on for a long time, at least in friendly games. I think Jabba's Realm will give you the carboard version of at least one current tournament map.

As far as the wee little packs of extra guys go... I mean obviously Bossk, Dengar, IG-88, Greedo and Boba Fett fit your theme. There's also a squad of Rodians you can pickup to give you more non-unique choices. But here's the thing. The Hero/Villain expansions are a TERRIBLE dollar value compared to the boxed expansions. So be careful which ones you buy, and play a few games using the cardboard IG-88 from the core game before committing to that figure unless you want to collect him anyways.

I want to thank everyone for their input. I have a lot to digest but I think the one thing I do not have to overlook is buying the core set.

I know I will buy all of the single blister bounty hunters and the Jawa pack sounds good. I know I just don't want to jump into this like I did x-wing and have stuff that I will never touch.