Yesterday I went to my local game store with intentions of buying the core set. It wasn't available then again the store was pretty picked over and waiting for another shipment. So I grabbed Boba Fett and my daughter picked up Hera and Chopper. I told the store owner to email me when he had another Core set in. I know for sure I am going to get IG-88, Dengar, Bossk, Greedo and Jawa's. My daughter will be getting Han, Luke, Chewie, Leia. So my question is for whatever reason characters, upgrades, maps etc which next larger expansion best compliments those characters. We will mostly be playing Skirmish unless I make a custom campaign for her and I since she is 6.

If you're primarily playing Skirmish, then you also need to consider that for variety's sake, figures that are released after the Core wave often require map tiles from one of the other box expansions.

Boba Fett requires tiles from Twin Shadows to make his skirmish map, for instance.

Dengar and Leia need Hoth tiles. Not sure about the newest release, as mine won't be in my hands until tomorrow.

In any case, if you want to best compliment those characters, Jabba's Realm is pretty much the new entry point for Skirmish once you've gotten your Core. You would also do well to pick up either Alliance Rangers or Echo Base Troopers if you want to use the characters you bought to play out a Rebel list, as those two packs have pretty solid units in them.

The Jawa pack contains a nice upgrade for IG-88 that makes it run much more fairly for its cost in Skirmish.

Rangers have "Heightened Reflexes" for a Skirmish command deck card which is pretty well a must-have for any Hunter list.

For additional flavour, if you bought the Jabba's Realm box, you'd probably want to pick Jabba the Hutt up as well, though if you're just playing between the two of you, his token should suffice, but if you want the miniature and the Assassinate command card, it's in his pack.

Traditionally, each figure pack that releases alongside a boxed expansion will only require tiles from that box and the Core to make the Skirmish maps contained within, so if you picked up the Rangers and Jabba along with Jabba's Realm, it would only ask for Core and Jabba's Realm tiles.

I would use that general philosophy to guide your purchasing if you're playing skirmish casually.

For campaign play, given she's 6 years old, one of the smaller boxes like Twin Shadows or Bespin Gambit might yield a better campaign experience, as they are fairly linear affairs with only 4 missions to get through, and without all the extra mission deck building the longer campaigns require.

I'm waiting on the App, then I'll be all over this game. I think my daughter would still eat the figures at this age, but the fact yours can play at 6 is encouraging.

I would start buying early for those who are waiting for the app, as most board games go and this thread proves, IA can get picked over pretty quick. I'd buy it, put it up on the shelf and start slowly gathering the other components you want. When the app hits this game will be sold out world wide and waiting on re prints will drive you craazzzyy!!

@FrogTrigger

I would second the idea of getting some core components now.

Regarding the app, my gut tells me that GenCon in August is when we're probably going to get any real update on what's going with it. Either it'll be there for demo, releasing that week/soon after, or they'll have it mentioned in their InFlight Report with a more specific release date/overview of features.

Getting the stock you want can be easier or harder depending on where your chosen SKU's are in the reprint cycle. When the app launches though, I'd expect a spike in interest in the game, which means those Core Sets are going to go out of stock all of a sudden. If you know you're 100% in when the app comes out, grab the Core now and keep it aside until then. At least that way you're good to go on Day 1 without running around online trying to order from somewhere. I wouldn't go too HAM on buying expansions though, as it's a BIG game at this point, and if your goal is campaign play, it would be easier to get the app in front of you and expand from there to personal taste.

Maybe pick up a pack or two that looks cool to you, but otherwise I'd stick to the Core and sit on it until then. It's only a couple of months away so you wont have it collecting too much dust.

One thing to consider for skirmish is that for the Rebel side the core gives you a bunch of uniques but no regular troops aside from the tokens. If you're fine with the tokens then you're good to go, but if you want figures then you'll want to pick up a couple other packs like the Rebel Troopers (which also come with good command cards). Alliance Rangers and Echo Base Troopers are good additions.

C3-PO R2-D2 is also a solid pack.

If your daughter wants to play Rebels, then staple characters are Gideon (Core), C-3P0 (exp pack), and either Jedi Luke (exp pack) or Obi-Wan (exp pack). If youre going Scum, then Id recommend getting Jabba's Realm for Weequay and Jabba the Hutt (exp pack). If going Imperial, Core for Stormtroopers and then Cpt Terro and Dewback (both come from same exp packs) and Agent Blaise (exp pack) are good.

~D

If there's certain figures or types of model your daughter is keen to use, don't be afraid to pick up stuff from the Star Wars Miniatures range. They're prepainted, less fragile, and there's a huge range to choose from.

You can easily proxy them in to the game. It worked well with my 7 year old when he first started, we bought about 20 scum mercenaries, mostly based on the cantina scene or jabbas henchmen, and use the Hired Guns rules for our skirmish games. It looks much more fun and was a much easier way to keep his interest than multiple models in identical poses etc..

You might want to try this, Automated Imperial - RedJak , out I'm guessing that the app will function in a similar way.

If you just intend to play casually for fun with your daughter, I probably wouldn't go too hard on the big boxes. Yes, some of the figure packs require those for the maps - but you'll soon have plenty of options. Buy what would be fun.

For Rebels I'd consider:

R2-D2 & C-3PO pack. Both are fun, good and cheap to play with giving you a few more models than just 4 mains.

Alliance smuggler. A super utility dude to open doors etc. Gives more value to your Hans, and Lukes by not wasting their pricey actions on opening doors.

Lando is a fun and good figure as well.

For Mercs I'd consider:

Jabba! Very fun, very thematic and great model.

Jabba's Realm comes with a lot of goodies, BUT you should realize that starting to field Weequays etc. will quickly annihilate your daughters squad of famous dudes.

In skirmish, you can do whatever you want. My 5&7 year olds played for hours on a map they built themselves from the core pieces. The expansions can be played on any map. Only competitive play requires certain maps or tiles. For Young'uns I spent all last summer playing IA with and without command cards. You can mix things up as you need and water down the rules to a certain point for simplicity's sake.