36 minutes ago, Tvboy said:

Idk, she's too similar to Jyn tbh. Both are quick, sneaky pistol wielders and have very similar hair and costumes.

I think we'll probably have settle for using Jyn together with BT and 000 via Jawa and Temp Alliance.

We literally have evil twins of R2 and C3P0 being added to the game, but you're complaining that Aphra is too similar to Jyn (a character we don't already have anyway) because they're "sneaky pistol wielders and have similar hair and costumes", a comment that is as vague and confusing as it is untrue. I mean, I hate to be that guy, but.... come on...

edit: Oh, Odan, not Erso.

She may be the fan's favorite, I just think from a gaming aspect, she doesn't add anything, as was just pointed out, we have Jyn already, give her a fix

Ah, I had thought he was referring to Erso, not Odan.

I mean, as an archaeologist, I think she could add more to this game than we even need. Say that the Empire could cash in three artifact tokens for an increase by the threat level- and Aphra can spend an action to roll a blue dye and collect as many artifact tokens as surges, but she has to do so only on active deployment points.

That already makes her an incredibly unique figure for this game. I hardly think it's fair to say that a unit doesn't bring anything to this game when we haven't seen a deployment card yet, especially when we're getting yet another 3 Jedi, 2 of which aren't terribly groundbreaking.

that's fair, I was only thinking of the skirmish side of things, I don't do the campaign much. Usually there are no Imperial characters on the campaign side of things, just folks that show up (ie, vader, weiss, sorin,terro, etc.

I've never read a Star Wars comic, so personally I would not be super-interested in Aphra any more than I'm interested in the two new droids. But at the same time I really don't understand the argument that she wouldn't add anything to the game just because she's similar thematically to Jyn (who is rarely played in any case, but I digress).

Why did we need Weequay pirates? They're just generic troops with guns and we already had Wing Guards as generic troops with guns. What made the Alliance Rangers any different from the Rebel Troopers or the Echo Base Troopers? I mean for all we know they could be literally the same Rebellion soldier wearing different costumes. What separates them from a design perspective? What does Leia bring to the battlefield that's different from a character like Gideon and/or Fenn; aren't they all just trooper commander types that also like to mix it up a bit?

What I'm trying to highlight is that in all of these cases the characters are very similar to one another but the units that are based off of those characters are wildly different. When Hoth came out I guarantee that nobody said "why are they releasing Leia in this Star Wars game, we've already got the trooper-commander archetype covered". Same with Aphra. If people like Aphra as a character from the comics (and based on this thread I'd say that it seems like quite a few would) then they're not looking to play with Jyn Look-Alike Odan, they're looking the play with the Star Wars character they already love.

25 minutes ago, buckero0 said:

that's fair, I was only thinking of the skirmish side of things, I don't do the campaign much. Usually there are no Imperial characters on the campaign side of things, just folks that show up (ie, vader, weiss, sorin,terro, etc.

I mean that's fair- I wasn't saying that's exactly what she would be, only giving an example of how easy it would be to make a character unique. Maybe Aphra could spend her artifact tokens for VPs in skirmish or something.

22 minutes ago, ManateeX said:

I've never read a Star Wars comic, so personally I would not be super-interested in Aphra any more than I'm interested in the two new droids. But at the same time I really don't understand the argument that she wouldn't add anything to the game just because she's similar thematically to Jyn (who is rarely played in any case, but I digress).

Why did we need Weequay pirates? They're just generic troops with guns and we already had Wing Guards as generic troops with guns. What made the Alliance Rangers any different from the Rebel Troopers or the Echo Base Troopers? I mean for all we know they could be literally the same Rebellion soldier wearing different costumes. What separates them from a design perspective? What does Leia bring to the battlefield that's different from a character like Gideon and/or Fenn; aren't they all just trooper commander types that also like to mix it up a bit?

What I'm trying to highlight is that in all of these cases the characters are very similar to one another but the units that are based off of those characters are wildly different. When Hoth came out I guarantee that nobody said "why are they releasing Leia in this Star Wars game, we've already got the trooper-commander archetype covered". Same with Aphra. If people like Aphra as a character from the comics (and based on this thread I'd say that it seems like quite a few would) then they're not looking to play with Jyn Look-Alike Odan, they're looking the play with the Star Wars character they already love.

Well said. Is there redundancy in games like this? Well, sort of. We don't have any units that are complete clones of each other, but there are some that serve very similar purposes. If Aphra (who would likely either be Merc or Imperial anyway) is somewhat similar to Jyn in that her hair and outfit are similar (they really aren't, tbh) then she's different enough as long as she has different attack dice or abilities. Which, as I explained in my last post- we don't know her abilities, so it's downright silly to say she'd be redundant.

1 minute ago, subtrendy said:

Well said. Is there redundancy in games like this? Well, sort of. We don't have any units that are complete clones of each other, but there are some that serve very similar purposes. If Aphra (who would likely either be Merc or Imperial anyway) is somewhat similar to Jyn in that her hair and outfit are similar (they really aren't, tbh) then she's different enough as long as she has different attack dice or abilities. Which, as I explained in my last post- we don't know her abilities, so it's downright silly to say she'd be redundant.

If "similar outfits" was a criterion we used to judge whether to bring in new characters, we could throw out about 70% of the imperial faction and I could have saved myself a lot of frustration trying to paint with the colour white

2 hours ago, Tvboy said:

Idk, she's too similar to Jyn tbh. Both are quick, sneaky pistol wielders and have very similar hair and costumes.

I think we'll probably have settle for using Jyn together with BT and 000 via Jawa and Temp Alliance.

Ha, I was thinking this too. Actually, if I didn't have to buy a second core box to get another Jyn figure, I'd consider using some green stuff to give Jyn a leather cap and paint here like Aphra and then work on a fan-made deployment card.

Yep, I'd happily have Dr Aphra in IA, but if she arrived before Zuckuss and 4-LOM, well... I'll, erm... Well, I'll have a big sulk, that's what I'll do!

4 hours ago, subtrendy said:

I have a hard time seeing how Aphra's one of the "worst Star Wars Characters of all time"- I'd say she's mediocre at worst. Having read all of the Vader trades, though, I think she turns out being incredibly interesting.

Remember when people hated on Ahsoka in CW and then grew to love her? She had a pretty good rise. I see Aphra eventually going the same way.

4 hours ago, subtrendy said:

I'd say she is already there, looking at how well her book is selling.

Plus she was recently fan voted to get a new figure release (not IA, those other less-fun figure packs that made Lucas all his money back in the day... whatever they're called)

1 minute ago, Majushi said:

Plus she was recently fan voted to get a new figure release (not IA, those other less-fun figure packs that made Lucas all his money back in the day... whatever they're called)

Someone should set up a poll to see who should get a new ally pack. It would be fun to see who wins.

39 minutes ago, VadersMarchKazoo said:

Someone should set up a poll to see who should get a new ally pack. It would be fun to see who wins.

Definitely

If someone wanted to start a poll, here are some characters that we don't have yet. It's not an exhaustive list and I stuck to the timeframe in the current IA Era:

OT:

General Solo

Wedge Antilles

Captain Antilles

4-lom

Zuckus

Mon Mothma

Admiral Ackbar

Nien Nunb

Yoda

Marvel:

Dr. Aphra

Black Krrsatan

Sana Solo

Eneb Ray (Rebel Jail version)

Shara Bey

Kes Dameron

Rebels:

Sabine Wren

Captain Rex

Kanan Jarrus

Ezra Bridger

Hondo

Zeb

The Bendu

AP-5

Agent Kallus

Commander Sato

Thrawn

Ruhk

Rogue one:

K2SO

Jyn Erso

Cassian Andor

Chirrut Imwe

Baze Malbus

Orson Krennic

Saw Gerrera

Saw Gerrera partisan

General Merrick

Bodhi Rook

Death troopers

Books:

Gadren (Baselisk; Twillight Company)

Namir (Twillight Company)

Rae Sloane (Various)

General type:

Baselisk

Sullustan

Other aliens?

Other Droids?

Other Creatures?

cybernetic Ranco

Legends:

Mara Jade

I had to look up who this Dr Aphra is.

yeah, I'd say no. Actually, I'd say, I really hope not - in the strongest terms.

She's the Star wars Renee Belloq, from the few pieces I have read about the character, background, history and motivations... very (bottom) third tier character. I'd prefer a Jar Jar Binks character before this one.

If FFG wanted to bring the gender balance back into play for the Imperials, then a few Officers and Commanders are a better choice. These box expansions are perfect for nemesis characters (regional Governors and the like).

4 minutes ago, TheEldarGuy said:

I had to look up who this Dr Aphra is.

yeah, I'd say no. Actually, I'd say, I really hope not - in the strongest terms.

She's the Star wars Renee Belloq, from the few pieces I have read about the character, background, history and motivations... very (bottom) third tier character. I'd prefer a Jar Jar Binks character before this one.

If FFG wanted to bring the gender balance back into play for the Imperials, then a few Officers and Commanders are a better choice. These box expansions are perfect for nemesis characters (regional Governors and the like).

I got two words for gender balance. Mara Jade. Of Vader's list, I find precious little I would be interested in. Zuckuss, 4-LOM, Black Krrsatan, Thrawn, and maybe Wedge. Hera is the only Rebels character I like. Jyn Erso = Jyn Odan. I see no reason for any of the cast of Rogue One, since the fictional heroes are playing the same role essentially.