We've certainly reached a point in the game where players who own at least one of each expansion and blister have a huge amount of variety. Also, it seems unlikely that, as cool as HotE is, that it'll be many new players' choice for their first expansion.

With those things in mind, I wonder if we're going to see the HotE story missions have a much more strict limitation on mixing Mercs in with Imperials. We've already seen this with some missions in previous boxed sets- but from the description of the conflict in HotE, I can almost see Merc and Imperial troops on Coruscant not working together at all.

In fact, given the sort of standoff between the three factions, it might be an interesting idea to offer mission-specific allies in the form of Merc and Imperial units (I know that certain expansions have done stuff like this before). It'd be neat to see the Rebel heroes working alongside a Royal Guard Champion to take down IG-88, or to have the Rebels team up with Maul to try to survive Vader's onslaught.

Just a thought. I'm sure having less flexibility in open groups would frustrate some Imperial players, but I think it fits the flavor of the campaign really well. Plus, it's not like this is some new mechanic- it would just be an expansion on an already existing one.

2 hours ago, subtrendy2 said:

We've certainly reached a point in the game where players who own at least one of each expansion and blister have a huge amount of variety. Also, it seems unlikely that, as cool as HotE is, that it'll be many new players' choice for their first expansion.

With those things in mind, I wonder if we're going to see the HotE story missions have a much more strict limitation on mixing Mercs in with Imperials. We've already seen this with some missions in previous boxed sets- but from the description of the conflict in HotE, I can almost see Merc and Imperial troops on Coruscant not working together at all.

In fact, given the sort of standoff between the three factions, it might be an interesting idea to offer mission-specific allies in the form of Merc and Imperial units (I know that certain expansions have done stuff like this before). It'd be neat to see the Rebel heroes working alongside a Royal Guard Champion to take down IG-88, or to have the Rebels team up with Maul to try to survive Vader's onslaught.

Just a thought. I'm sure having less flexibility in open groups would frustrate some Imperial players, but I think it fits the flavor of the campaign really well. Plus, it's not like this is some new mechanic- it would just be an expansion on an already existing one.

I guess I'll play devil's advocate.

1) I don't see why the empire and mercs wouldn't work together on this. Or more to the point, why they Imps wouldn't hire Merc's to help track down the relic. After all, Merc's are supposed to have a pretty strong presence and network on Coruscant (1313 and all) they would be an invaluable ally. I don't think Maul should align with the Emperor based on his contempt for the Sith so that'll be interesting to see how they work this dynamic.

2) I wouldn't be surprised to see more than a few folks go straight to HotE as their first expansion. After all, it is first in the IA timeline. Sort of how folks new the the SW movies may actually start with the prequels (not that I'd suggest this).

All expansions expect you to have the core box only. You can't get a good play experience if you restrict use of its few units with HotE missions.

2 hours ago, a1bert said:

All expansions expect you to have the core box only. You can't get a good play experience if you restrict use of its few units with HotE missions.

I know it's already at the printer, but what I really would have liked would be a deck that focuses on the imperial faction.
You can't deploy mercenary units (or at increased cost), but your other imperial figures gain synergies. With the core box and HotE, there should be enough figures to make that work. The core box has a ton of imperial figures right out of the box.

13 hours ago, VadersMarchKazoo said:

I guess I'll play devil's advocate.

1) I don't see why the empire and mercs wouldn't work together on this. Or more to the point, why they Imps wouldn't hire Merc's to help track down the relic. After all, Merc's are supposed to have a pretty strong presence and network on Coruscant (1313 and all) they would be an invaluable ally. I don't think Maul should align with the Emperor based on his contempt for the Sith so that'll be interesting to see how they work this dynamic.

1) The way I'm reading it, it seems like somewhat of a 3-way fight. Rebels v Empire v Maul. So, I guess it's possible that only a few missions would be restricted by faction, but I really don't like the idea of the Empire controlling Maul at the same time as Imperial units.

OR (and seriously, I don't see this as likely at all, but it would be cool) this could be our first 6 player campaign, with Mercs completely representing their own faction in the game. That would be incredibly cool, but I don't see it happening.

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2) I wouldn't be surprised to see more than a few folks go straight to HotE as their first expansion. After all, it is first in the IA timeline. Sort of how folks new the the SW movies may actually start with the prequels (not that I'd suggest this).

6 hours ago, a1bert said:

All expansions expect you to have the core box only. You can't get a good play experience if you restrict use of its few units with HotE missions.

2) True, I could see that. But when I look at what people want to pick up first, it's generally not chronological on here. Seems like a lot of people skip Twin Shadows in favor of either Return to Hoth or (more recently) Jabba's Realm. After all, Jabba and Jedi Luke have quite a draw.

But even so, even with just the Core set and a single expansion- that should be enough to field single faction missions. Maybe not a ton of variety allowed, but it's totally possible.

3 hours ago, jacenat said:

I know it's already at the printer, but what I really would have liked would be a deck that focuses on the imperial faction.
You can't deploy mercenary units (or at increased cost), but your other imperial figures gain synergies. With the core box and HotE, there should be enough figures to make that work. The core box has a ton of imperial figures right out of the box.

That kind of class deck would be really neat. I wonder how it would work in other campaigns, though- would you think it would only restrict Merc open groups, and allow any Merc starting and reserved ones?

I remember that there was at least one single-faction "no mercenary units allowed" mission in the core game, so I'm not worried about the limited number of components being an issue. I guess it might be more of a problem for a merc-only mission, but in theory you would still have enough figures for a mission with trandos, nexu and the new shapeshifters even if you didn't have anything else.

22 minutes ago, ManateeX said:

I remember that there was at least one single-faction "no mercenary units allowed" mission in the core game, so I'm not worried about the limited number of components being an issue. I guess it might be more of a problem for a merc-only mission, but in theory you would still have enough figures for a mission with trandos, nexu and the new shapeshifters even if you didn't have anything else.

Ah yeah, I suppose that would be a little limiting. I guess IG-88 could show up every now and then, too, and I'm sure Maul would be a frequent appearance.

But yeah, I'd expect most missions, especially most later missions, to be more Imperial focused if this was the case.

Talking about Open Group restrictions - one thing I am kind of surprised is not implemented in a mission setup, is having some missions with restrictions on total points (figure costs) allowed in the Open Group list vs just a straight number (or a faction limitation). In some cases building a mini "skirmish list" in your open groups might be more fun than just picking 3 deployment cards. Or conversely, what if it said you had to take a minimum of x points in the Open Group? Thus maybe forcing the IP to choose some uniques or other items that you might not normally use? I certainly wouldn't want every mission to be this way, but it might be a fun twist for something different on a couple missions.

I only have the Core set, so maybe later expansions do have this setup?

46 minutes ago, totalnoob said:

Talking about Open Group restrictions - one thing I am kind of surprised is not implemented in a mission setup, is having some missions with restrictions on total points (figure costs) allowed in the Open Group list vs just a straight number (or a faction limitation). In some cases building a mini "skirmish list" in your open groups might be more fun than just picking 3 deployment cards. Or conversely, what if it said you had to take a minimum of x points in the Open Group? Thus maybe forcing the IP to choose some uniques or other items that you might not normally use? I certainly wouldn't want every mission to be this way, but it might be a fun twist for something different on a couple missions.

I only have the Core set, so maybe later expansions do have this setup?

Not a bad idea, either.

Part of the reason I rarely bring along units like Ugnaughts or (now) Jawas is because, while they'd be easy to deploy, they take up a full Open Group spot. If we had point max they'd definitely see more play.

Not crazy about point minimum, though- seems like it'd be more restrictive with not much payoff.

3 hours ago, subtrendy2 said:

1) The way I'm reading it, it seems like somewhat of a 3-way fight. Rebels v Empire v Maul. So, I guess it's possible that only a few missions would be restricted by faction, but I really don't like the idea of the Empire controlling Maul at the same time as Imperial units.

Yeah, I see your point. I look at this similar to the wampa in RtH. Several times, my rebels asked, why isn't he attacking the Imps also? Actually, I think it would have been fun to build some of these complexities into the game. It'll be interesting how they treat Maul in this respect.

But...I don't see the need to restrict Merc's in general. I think Maul is a bit of a lone-wolf (as are many of the Mercs). In general, the Mercs are an "every man (woman or other) for themselves" grouping with no real loyalty. Moreover, in the game many mercs aren't even mercenaries or bounty hunters, they are just a rag tag grouping of scum and creatures that don't really fit into the Empire or Rebellion. Likewise, I have no issue with some mercs working for the Imps while others do not, perhaps even shooting at one another.

1 hour ago, VadersMarchKazoo said:

Yeah, I see your point. I look at this similar to the wampa in RtH. Several times, my rebels asked, why isn't he attacking the Imps also? Actually, I think it would have been fun to build some of these complexities into the game. It'll be interesting how they treat Maul in this respect.

But...I don't see the need to restrict Merc's in general. I think Maul is a bit of a lone-wolf (as are many of the Mercs). In general, the Mercs are an "every man (woman or other) for themselves" grouping with no real loyalty. Moreover, in the game many mercs aren't even mercenaries or bounty hunters, they are just a rag tag grouping of scum and creatures that don't really fit into the Empire or Rebellion. Likewise, I have no issue with some mercs working for the Imps while others do not, perhaps even shooting at one another.

True, while some merc units could reasonably have been hired by the Empire (Trandoshans, Hired Guns, any of the Bounty Hunters) some do seem like strange allies (Tusken Raiders, Jawas, most of the creatures). I guess my group's always had this assumption that they're working with the Empire for a common cause, at the very least.

But with the new expansion, I guess I just get the impression that they're more of a third faction. Here's from the announcement article:

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You'll find three new heroes ready to join the Rebellion, aided by the talented Force user Ahsoka Tano. You'll maneuver through the crowded city, pursued and confronted by Imperials at every turn. And you'll find the Emperor isn't the only major player working against you. The former Sith, Maul, has sent a Clawdite Shapeshifter to pursue the artifact, and any face in the crowd might hide the Shapeshifter's true identity.

Granted, it sounds from that like Maul doesn't have so much an army of Mercs, as a shapeshifter or two... yet, it still seems as if they're not on the same side as the Imperials. Maybe I'm just projecting what I've seen of Maul from TCW and Rebels, but I'm very interested in seeing how this is handled.

Maybe, in the campaign, there will need to be 4 Rebels, 1 Imperial AND 1 Scum! That'd be crazy, huh?

2 hours ago, subtrendy2 said:

Granted, it sounds from that like Maul doesn't have so much an army of Mercs, as a shapeshifter or two... yet, it still seems as if they're not on the same side as the Imperials. Maybe I'm just projecting what I've seen of Maul from TCW and Rebels, but I'm very interested in seeing how this is handled.

It's not unprecedented to have a Merc play both sides in a campaign. I can think of a particular mission where a certain merc would have switched sides mid-mission and fought for the rebels if certain conditions were met (didn't work out that way for my rebels).

10 minutes ago, VadersMarchKazoo said:

It's not unprecedented to have a Merc play both sides in a campaign. I can think of a particular mission where a certain merc would have switched sides mid-mission and fought for the rebels if certain conditions were met (didn't work out that way for my rebels).

True (and I'm very excited to get to that eventually), but neither sides is a whole other issue.

20 hours ago, VadersMarchKazoo said:

Yeah, I see your point. I look at this similar to the wampa in RtH. Several times, my rebels asked, why isn't he attacking the Imps also?

Lucy Lawless taught us that when you can't explain something in a show, a wizard did it. But for Star Wars, SWTOR taught me it's shock collars. Always shock collars.