Hi, so a close friend of mine likes to play IA Skirmish with me, he's deep into another game we play and I'm deep into this one so we like to share our components and it saves both of us a lot of time and storage. I've been working on building two competitive lists for the upcoming tourney season out of just my components and wanted to run them by you all. We've done this a few times in the past successfully at local tournaments and it has definitely gotten easier the more pieces that have come out (and fixing old characters!).

My goal with these two lists is basically to stay as polar opposites to try and make sure we don't have any unit or command card overlap, seems pretty obvious. Here are the lists:

Han and Chewie - This is the list I will run

11 Chewbacca w/ Wookie Avenger
10 Han Solo w/ Rogue Smuggler
5 Jyn
4 Hera
3 Gideon
3 R2D2
2 C-3P0
2 Alliance Smuggler

CC List:

3 On the Lam
3 Debts Repaid
2 I make my Own Luck
2 Run for Cover
1 Smuggled Supplies
1 Negation
1 Blitz
0 Element of Surprise
0 Planning
0 Take Initiative
0 Urgency
0 Positioning Advantage
0 Officers Training
0 Celebration/Toxic Dart

We've seen variations of this list popping up all over the internet at different regionals. Once they fixed Han and Chewie I knew I was going to run at least one, Jyn has always been a huge favourite of mine both in the campaign and skirmish and I love support characters like Hera, R2 and RCP. I've been back and forth on plugging Jedi Luke into this list, which changes the landscape of the command cards somewhat. But I love the fact that Chewie is not only an absolute beast but synergizes with this build so much better than Luke. I've played a few test games so far with Chewie and I've found he needs to be played aggressively and trying to utilize that free slam to finish off figures with the unmitigated damage. Is he better than Luke at cost of figure vs value? No. But is he better than Luke in THIS list? I think so. What do you think? In my Luke variation it is basically the same as what everyone else is running except I use RHC instead of a second Smuggler, so it drops the activations from 8 to 7 but maintains that extra card draw.

I know lots of people are running the multiple Smugglers, and if I really thought it was a difference maker I'd go out and buy another one, but right now I'd like to try and just build the lists with what I have. I love having command cards, I find that I've always done best running lists that have the ability to draw more cards than their opponent and that is where R2 comes in. I also love that R2's card draw is instant.

Vaders Wild

13 Vader w/ DBH
8 Palpatine
7 Terro
7 E. Jet Trooper
2 R. Officer
2 R. OFficer
1 Zillo

CC list:

3 Grenadier
2 Overrun
2 Call the Vanguard
2 Force Surge
1 Tough Luck
1 Force Jump
1 Deathblow
1 Face to Face
1 Dark Energy
1 Ferocity
0 Element of Surprise
0 Planning
0 Rally
0 Take Initiative
0 Force Rush

My friend has experience playing with Terro and Jets, he really loves both units so it seemed natural to build them into this list. I think this is a pretty good build in that you get a bit of the twin towers up front effect with Palp in the back throwing orders around and being able to take quite a bit of damage himself. This list you either rush both right up the middle into the action or can split them to get a good dual push for objective control. If they focus Vader, Terro will spam his AOE, if they focus Terro he will drop faster than Vader, but it will still give Vader the freedom he needs to do some serious damage.'

I really like the Jet Troopers for dmg and/or objective control and the officers are great to run objectives and help move figures around the board, especially off the hop. Most importantly to me they can hold terminals to help with card draw. Zillo is well Zillo, will help keep everyone alive a little longer, especially with all the black die on this list.

The command cards are a bit of a challenge with this list because there are so many different traits going on, so that is one thing I don't like about it.. but on the flip side when you have Zillo, cards in your hand are never useless even if all of the characters that can use it are gone..

One last list I was looking at instead of Terro is basically the same as what RL was running in his thread, I love the synergy of the command cards for these units.

Heavy Metal Palp

10 E. Sentry Droid
9 AT-DP
8 Palpatine
7 E. Jet Trooper
2 R. Officer
2 R. Officer
1 Zillo
1 RBF

CC List:

3 Grenadier
3 Lure of the Dark Side
2 Overrun
2 Repair
2 Call the Vanguard
1 Shared Experience
1 Armed Escort
1 Fuel Upgrade
0 Element of Surprise
0 Planning
0 Rally
0 Take Initiative
0 Urgency
0 Ready Weapons
0 Targeting Network

This list is all about getting the AT-DP in position and keeping it alive by adding to its defense and repairing damage. Then using Palp and hopefully good card draw to hand out extra attacks. If they focus the AT-DP then you can pincer with the Sentry Droids and Jet Troopers, if they ignore the AT-DP they are going to get blown up. I really love how the command cards synergize between the Jets, Droids and AT-DP. Again though as with most Imp lists, its a list that really relies on those protective command cards to be effective but doesn't have a lot of card draw :/

For your Rebel list, you could consider dropping the Smuggler for RHC and Heroic Effort (0pt).

Both great lists that I've tried. In general I find Terro very squishy and hard to hide, especially on Nal Hutta. He really needs to come in close to do any good. I think a double jet list would be stronger.

57 minutes ago, NeverBetTheFett said:

Both great lists that I've tried. In general I find Terro very squishy and hard to hide, especially on Nal Hutta. He really needs to come in close to do any good. I think a double jet list would be stronger.

My bet is that he doesn’t have a second elite card (I don’t), but if you post in the forums for other people who are going to lend you the card, I’d bet that someone would loan you the card for that day.

-ryanjamal

1 hour ago, ryanjamal said:

My bet is that he doesn’t have a second elite card (I don’t), but if you post in the forums for other people who are going to lend you the card, I’d bet that someone would loan you the card for that day.

-ryanjamal

I'll second this. If there's something else that you think will push either list over the top, just ask people if they have an extra.

My recommendation would be to play a practice game with a second eJet as a proxy and see if he likes the lineup better. If he likes Terro better, you're all set. If he likes the double eJets, then you can try to borrow one and have Terro ready as a fallback. With the number of people running rebel Han there's bound to be several copies of the eJet deployment card sitting unused in cars or boxes on tournament day.

5 hours ago, FrogTrigger said:

Han and Chewie - This is the list I will run

11 Chewbacca w/ Wookie Avenger
10 Han Solo w/ Rogue Smuggler
5 Jyn
4 Hera
3 Gideon
3 R2D2
2 C-3P0
2 Alliance Smuggler

CC List:

3 On the Lam
3 Debts Repaid
2 I make my Own Luck
2 Run for Cover
1 Smuggled Supplies
1 Negation
1 Blitz
0 Element of Surprise
0 Planning
0 Take Initiative
0 Urgency
0 Positioning Advantage
0 Officers Training
0 Celebration/Toxic Dart

After playing 3 games in a row against this list with just a few command cards different, i've come up with this incredible statement which will prolly make you mad:

Chewie performs better than Han.

Starting by saying that we played on Nal Hutta mission B and Mos Eisly mission A, and i play an imperial list with Vader and 2x eJets, Chewie has always been able to 1shot one Jet with each attack of his (a focused strike from chewie dealt 8 final damage, otherwise he just went in and with one normal strike and/or free slam he gets the job done), while Han does that only sometimes when focused. Besides, Chewie is harder to kill than Han, a lot harder, I usually kill Han with 2 sabre strikes of Vader's, with Chewie instead i had to attack him 4 times before killing him. Chewie is free to move without the need to have 3PO always on his back, which allows you to focus more on who needs protection / focus, and i close my consideration by saying that chewie's command card is really great, really really great.

I'm seriously considering to actually replace Han with Chewie and to invest his 10 points into a comeback of the rangers.

49 minutes ago, erlucius90 said:

After playing 3 games in a row against this list with just a few command cards different, i've come up with this incredible statement which will prolly make you mad:

Chewie performs better than Han.

Starting by saying that we played on Nal Hutta mission B and Mos Eisly mission A, and i play an imperial list with Vader and 2x eJets, Chewie has always been able to 1shot one Jet with each attack of his (a focused strike from chewie dealt 8 final damage, otherwise he just went in and with one normal strike and/or free slam he gets the job done), while Han does that only sometimes when focused. Besides, Chewie is harder to kill than Han, a lot harder, I usually kill Han with 2 sabre strikes of Vader's, with Chewie instead i had to attack him 4 times before killing him. Chewie is free to move without the need to have 3PO always on his back, which allows you to focus more on who needs protection / focus, and i close my consideration by saying that chewie's command card is really great, really really great.

I'm seriously considering to actually replace Han with Chewie and to invest his 10 points into a comeback of the rangers.

Totally believable. Chewy seems so versatile, including a reliable stun.

My issue with Chewie is range. He really has to be in the fray to be effective, whereas Han I can hide and keep him protected while getting his points out of him. But the problem there is that I really can’t let Chewie be the first to die, so I can’t just rush him up.

I’ll admit I need to play him more, but Han has been more versatile in my experience.

Give us more Wookie cards, FFG! I want to make this work. :-)

-ryanjamal

1 minute ago, NeverBetTheFett said:

Totally believable. Chewy seems so versatile, including a reliable stun.

Yeah, that’s stun can make him worth it for sure.

-ryanjamal

14 hours ago, ryanjamal said:

My issue with Chewie is range. He really has to be in the fray to be effective, whereas Han I can hide and keep him protected while getting his points out of him. But the problem there is that I really can’t let Chewie be the first to die, so I can’t just rush him up.

I’ll admit I need to play him more, but Han has been more versatile in my experience.

Give us more Wookie cards, FFG! I want to make this work. :-)

-ryanjamal

Rotation maps (Nal Hutta aside ofc) help you with range. Plus, that free slam is a pain in the *H*utt, trust me when i say Chewie is so much better when he's close and personal than distant.
As for range, since 3 times out of 4 he's focused, consider he has the same range of BT-1 because the dice are the same (4 range or something alike).
Still, Chewie never missed a shot and never missed a kill.
I've made a rebel list with Chewie instead of Han, wanna give it a try?

2 hours ago, erlucius90 said:

I've made a rebel list with Chewie instead of Han, wanna give it a try?

Yes, indeed. Chewie and Drok, Wookiees on a war path!

-ryanjamal

Recently tried Chewie, Drokatta and a Wookie Warrior squad along with standard rebel support. Was quite funny and furry. The Warriors were good at getting in the way and threatening some attacks. If he killed them, Chewie would go ahead with Life Debt.

For your Vader list you could try eRiots instead of terro. You're brawler and melee cards will have more targets and I think looking for a fight is a must have. But you will only have the 2 jets as ranged for palpatines extra attack whereas getting a melee attack off is often difficult

1 hour ago, ryanjamal said:

Yes, indeed. Chewie and Drok, Wookiees on a war path!

-ryanjamal

http://tabletopadmiral.com/imperialassault/lists/3754/

Thanks for all the feedback, and all the Chewie love Interesting dropping HanSolo (so hot right now) for Alliance Rangers and keeping Chewie. I don't think many people were thinking that could happen a few months ago, Chewie got no love.

Double Jets instead of Terro is very effective, and he has actually played that in the past by borrowing a card, but there is no guarantee that we can get that card again so I figured it was better to plan without it. The Riot Troopers instead is interesting and allows me to drop the Creature card as well. And Riot Troopers opens the door for Reenforcements if I can make it work..

Any suggestions on the command cards for either list?

Alright so we've done some practicing and some tinkering and the lists have changed a bit, I've switched out Chewie and R2 for E. Rangers and RHC, running a lot more hunter cards now.

For the Imperial list I switched out Terro for E. Riots and added the good brawler cards into that CC deck. I find those E. Riots are awesome, I generally might only get one attack with them each, sometimes none, but they soak a ton of damage and put a bit of panic into my opponent as they slowly advance with Vader. It also keeps people off Vader. With the right characters Vader can go down, and will, especially when left exposed as he kind of has to be to get across the board. The Riots tend to draw attention away as an 'easier' target, but that block token is deceptively effective, especially paired with Zillow, as is a well timed brace for impact. And when they DO connect that auto weaken and re roll makes them super effective. I also love that I can add in more brawler cards to the deck without having to worry about getting to use them on just one figure. The classics are still good, parting blow actually won me a game, but Face to Face and Looking for a Fight are great value cards.

Updated list:

13 Vader w/ DBH
8 Palpatine
7 E. Jets
7 E. Riots
2 R. Officer
2 R. Officer
1 Zillo

CC:

3 Grenadier
2 Reinforcements
2 Call the Vanguard
2 Parting Blow
1 Pummel
1 Brace For Impact
1 Deathblow
1 Face to Face
1 Dark Energy
1 Blitz
0 Element of Surprise
0 Planning
0 Looking for a Fight
0 Take Initiative
0 Force Rush

The only thing I am currently not liking about this list is Palp. I find him to be difficult to use to set up the combinations I want to. If you move him up he gets picked off relatively fast. If you hold him back he is out of range of the E. Riots for sure, but most of the time Vader as well (unless I burn Force Rush... and even then). 8 points is a lot for one figure that may or may not have an impact on your match. When Palp clicks, he can be huge, extra attack for Vader, well placed Force Lightning, finish off those pesky 1 health figures.. but like I said he is still tricky to get his full value out of. Another set of E. Jets or E. Riots seems like it would be much more effective, than add in Rule By Fear or another 1 point card. Problem is as the first post says, I am trying to do this with one set of everything. I don't play enough to buy another Jabba's Realm or HOTE... borrowing is tough as major tournaments I play in will be out of town where I don't really know anyone. Also that depends on that person to show up with the card, which if that falls through I am in hot water and all the practice could be down the drain. So I have been trying to think what else could land in that spot.

If I drop Palp and an Officer I can fit in the E. Sentry Droids, which give me a nice option of covering fire for my advancing melee ranks and compliment the mobility of the E. Jets nicely, freeing them up to run objectives or pounce in to finish off distant troops. It does take me down to 5 activations however. Some of my current CC's will blend well like Grenadier, Call the Vanguard, but I would have to re tool to bring in any decent Droid cards.. and that starts to feel like I am mixing to much into one pot, spreading the points thin. I could go back to Terro, he doesn't really need any additional command cards besides maybe Ferocity and comes in with RBF or another 1 point card. Another option might also be R. Royal Guards, something classic but they benefit from all the Brawler/Melee cards, have good speed and lend their block to Vader and the Jets. But that seems a little to melee heavy for me.. E. Stormies then? E. Heavies? See what I am doing to myself here? Jump in any time lol.

As for the Rebels.. well obviously the majority of the testing has come against this imp list, but I am finding it hard to enjoy this list. I find that when I do win, it is very close. So I made the switch with the E. Rangers and hunter cards to add some punch and spread the damage out a bit. Initially I liked this list and am comfortable with the E. Rangers, I've used them before. But against someone like Vader I found this list hard to win with. You can take Vader down with Han, if you have the right cards to avoid his big swings and time it right, but un focused E. Rangers are no help. I also tried taking Jyn out and throwing Ko-Tun in there but Vader would just heat seek her down and wipe her off the board in one round. I also can't run two Call the Vanguards if I am running E. rangers and my friend is running his E. Jets, so that really hurts the E. Rangers IMO as that is a very powerful potential game changing card. So now I am basically back to the drawing board with the Rebels. I like Han, a lot, but maybe I am just not playing him right to get the full potential. I like RCP (including Hera), I like the Smuggler running objectives. It's that last piece I can't quite get to fit. Looking for suggestions on that. My last 'competitive' tourney was before the Iggy fix and I ran Jedi Luke w/ the E. Rangers. So maybe Jedi Luke is an option with Han, I haven't given that a lot of play yet.

I also thought about running an Iggy list instead of Rebels, then I can still focus on hunter/smuggler cards and droid cards that won't affect my other list, something like:

12 Iggy w/ FotK
7 E. Weequays
6 Onar
5 Vinto
4 Greedo
1 TA
3 Gideon
2 C3P0

But I haven't given a lot of practice to this list yet. It is definitely a lot easier to run two separate lists now a days with one copy, but still has it's challenges for sure.

the guy who won the Toronto regional had a similar list but he subbed out Palp for another eJets and Rule by Fear