A Buddy of mine wants to try the game out, but he is a bit turned off by the pricing of the big boxens in IA. So basically i set a challenge to build a complete squad from four Ally packs only. Complete with a command deck. I have a coupe of decent ones, but the challenge was kind of fun so i thought i might as well extend it to the greater have mind.

what would you build (squad + cc deck)?

Edit: Sorry, I read your post as how you could get a Core + 4 A/V competitive enough to play in events like quarterly tournaments. That's not what you meant, right? Are you just looking for fun Core + 4 lists?

So is the Core set part of this too, or only 4 ally/villain packs?

Jedi Luke (12), Han (12), Chewie (15) which leaves you with 1 pt.

- a 3 figure list isn't going to scare anyone and with the packs only you don't get the benefits of the Han fix and the Chewie "fix" which come in Heart of the Empire.

- You can't make a legal CC deck, as there are 24 pts to pick from but only 15 cards.

http://tabletopadmiral.com/imperialassault/11023c80000000000000000000000012154c11134d4b4f144e9a9b9c

Jedi Luke (12), Han (12), Elite Alliance Rangers (12), Hera (4) = 40 pts.

- solid 4 activations, but again the Han fix is missing

- You can't make a legal command deck with only those 4 packs. you can only include 13 cards and you have to have 15.

http://tabletopadmiral.com/imperialassault/023c088100000000000000000000004d4b4c4f4f95944e9a969b9cb1

If you haven't already, make an account on tabletopadmiral.com and in your profile you can select the packs you "own". This will limit what is shown in the list so you know you are looking at only what comes in those packs/boxes.

If you have the core box, rebels are probably your best option.

These are all good options to work with:

Luke (12) (blister)
3P0 + R2 (2+3) (blister)
Hera + Chopper (4+3) (blister)
Rangers (12) (blister)
Gideon, Mak (3+3) (core)
Jyn (5) (core)
alliance smuggler (2) (blister)
Ahsoka (8) (Blister)

Luke + Ahsoka is probably the cheapest starting point. Han is really good right now, but you need his fix from Heart of the Empire. Alliance rangers are good, but they need some command cards from Jabba's realm and Jabba's booster to really maximize them. All the units with smuggler traits really need On the Lam from Jabba's realm.

It's gonna be hard to put together a Merc list without Jabba's realm unless you want to run beasts, in which case these are your choices
Bantha (9) (blister)
elite Nexu (6) (core)
Gideon + temporary Alliance (3+1) (core)
Hera (4) (blister)
3p0 (2) (blister)
elite Jawa (3) (blister)

Forget running imperials, the top Imp lists need two sets of elite Jets and only 1 comes in Jabba's realm. They also really benefit from Heart of the Empire.

With either of these options you're still going to be missing some core command cards like "negation" from Return to Hoth. But this advice is just for top tier meta lists, you can put together a lot of just fun lists without buying everything.

Darn, should have been even more clear about this. No core set, four Ally/Villain packs only. Basically, meeting the command deck Numbers Calls for at least two packs with five command cards in them, meaning set 1 or double packs if i recall correctly....

The core set comes with map tiles, damage and condition tokens, lots of very strong command cards (in fact two copies of each) and dice. You can make a list without it, but you're missing a lot of other components. The core set is a good value considering all that it comes with. I'd definitely recommend you start there. It also has a very good campaign mode. If you just want to try out skirmish without spending a lot I recommend you download vassal and play online. It's free and it's a full simulator that can give you a taste of the game

2 hours ago, Ram said:

Darn, should have been even more clear about this. No core set, four Ally/Villain packs only. Basically, meeting the command deck Numbers Calls for at least two packs with five command cards in them, meaning set 1 or double packs if i recall correctly....

Man, you are really cutting our legs off here!

I got one for you.

Royal guard champion

Elite stormtroopers + cross training or vader's finest

Elite ISB infiltrators

Agent blaise

Zillo technique

Should be able to make a workable command deck from those packs depending on how many copies stuff comes with.

It is a 39 point list so you can have the bid to have your opponent start with initiative.

Edit:

Gah, I was close on the command deck. best you can do is a 14/14 command deck, or a 15/14 command deck, but you can't make a 15 card command deck But hey, for 4 purchases of 15or less dollars, I would say that is not terrible. It has all the spy cards that you want as well, and with 3 spies you can comm disrupt the big cards.

I have another one:

Ig-88 + FotK
Boba fett
EJawa
BT-1 + explosive armaments
000 + trusted ally

Gives you a 40 points list, but again, the command deck is hosed. there are no 0 point cards in those packs.

Edit:

Figured I would put this in an edit so it doesn't take another post.

Another one:

Jedi Luke + motivation
eRangers
eEcho base troopers
Hera
Chopper

Terrible command deck choices. there are only 13 cards between the 4 packs for a value of 9 points.

There is just no way around it really, You kind of need the command cards from the core set. I'm sure they would be easy enough to find online from a campaign only person.

You're going to be at $60+ getting 4 blister packs. Jabba's realm is right at the same price point. I get the sticker shock on the big box, but they do pack some value in there. If you get JR, and you'll have plenty of hunter options. Command deck will be much easier to figure out. For command cards, There are 2 copies of a lot of staples (take initiative, element of surprise) in your core set you could loan if you felt like it.

this looks fun to me

8 Shyla
8 eGam
7 eWeequay
6 Onar
5 Vinto
5 rWeequay
1 upgrade of your choice

4 minutes ago, Fightwookies said:

You're going to be at $60+ getting 4 blister packs. Jabba's realm is right at the same price point. I get the sticker shock on the big box, but they do pack some value in there. If you get JR, and you'll have plenty of hunter options. Command deck will be much easier to figure out. For command cards, There are 2 copies of a lot of staples (take initiative, element of surprise) in your core set you could loan if you felt like it.

this looks fun to me

9 Rancor
8 Shyla
7 eWeequay
6 Onar
5 Vinto
5 rWeequay

While you can make an entire, very solid, merc list from just jabba's, you won't get a lot of the staple hunter cards. Assassinate comes from the jabba blister.
heightened reflexes comes from rangers.

Also, the rancor is 10

Good suggestions all, thanks a bunch!

I know that the value of the boxes in general, both core, Jabbas and Heroes are a lot higher then purchasing four packs only. Basically I have (at least in theory) 400 SEK (~$45-50) to "work with" and I more or less only want to see if I can get it done in any way. TBH, I am not sure it can be done. As many of you say, there are very few 0 cost command cards in the ally packs.

My best attempt is basically:
4 Hera+ 3 Chopper - Adding 5 command cards, 4 of them zero cost (CC cost 2 total) as well as the very versatile Hera and a decent chopper.
Jedi Luke - Adding 3 command cards, 2 are zero cost (CC cost 1 total) and adding a nice tank. Will suffer highly from not having SoS...
Alliance rangers - Adding range and 3 good command cards (CC cost 4 total).

And from here with 9 Points remaining and 8 CC Points remaining and still needing Another 4 command cards, the chioce is between Rebel troopers, Rebel sabs or Han if dropping Chopper. Pretty much only the troopers will pull it off so I guess that is my squad. But with all the multipiece packs, I will be over my budget anyways so I Think I am in one heck of a tough spot...