I am diehard Rebel player that's been trying to get back into skirmish lately, so I've picked up Han Rangers as my competitive list. I want to be able to play on Vassal but everyone on there is ridiculously good and I currently can't even play a game without getting steamrolled on turn 1 because I'm so bad at positioning and the Vassal crowd is so great at making crazy long range LOS trick shots and hiding their figures from LOS. Normally I'm an aggressive player that likes to get in people's face and contest objectives aggressively, so it's been a bit of a challenge playing this list (my other fun list is Ahsoka/Davith/Drokotta).

Anyway, every time I've played on Nal Hutta I get stuck on the water side, and I've noticed that the other deployment zone has way more hiding spots going into the middle of the map, like the diagonal red squares. How am I supposed to play the list when I get stuck on the water side? Where is the best spot to position the Rangers and Han optimally? Please help me suck less so I can maybe start playing against the Vassal players without getting completely curbstomped. I especially struggle against the high activation Scum lists.

Here's the list I'm working with for reference:

Han Solo

elite Alliance Rangers

Hera

Gideon + testing Diplomatic Mission

C-3PO

R2-D2

rAlliance Smugger x2

Balance of the Force

Weequay player here, also curious to see what the community thinks.

Rebel player here, also curious how to win from the top.

Everything player here, let me know when you figure it out too.

Empire player here, I, too would like to know! The map is a cesspit swamp and needs to not be a map.

How to win from the water side: play mercs, run devious scheme, pick the other side

I'll play you on vassal and I'm not super good. I have won on the water side before though.

Usually what I do is grab a beer, watch the destruction, and hope for a better map in the next round. Helps keep the mind fresh.

11 hours ago, Fightwookies said:

Usually what I do is grab a beer, watch the destruction, and hope for a better map in the next round. Helps keep the mind fresh.

Alcohol and wookiees = scary

It's definitely harder, but I've seen some success using Alliance Smugglers as body shields. The -2 accuracy they get for defense is great when your opponent has to make such long range shots in the first place. Slightly less effective in a Ranger mirror match. Against Imperials you probably want the water side anyway if you have a choice, to deny easy objective points for the enemy jets.

As has been mentioned, block with your smugglers. Make sure you are rolling the white die that always come up dodge! I'd recommend a guy, but it seems he swindled me, as they seem to always come up blank.

Han
E Rangers
Hera
Gideon
C3P0
R2
R Smuggler
R Smuggler
RHC

Put Planning, Black Market Prices and Officer Training in your deck, draw your complete deck by the end of round 2 and blow your enemy up with all the stacked hunter/smuggler cards.

Or just roll dodges like Kenny.

Set up the map at home and dry run your first turn over and over. Search for all the hiding spots. Make a plan for where to run your dedicated mission grabbers. Find out, how to set up your deployment perfectly, to achieve that.

4 hours ago, DerBaer said:

Search for all the hiding spots

Hiding spots? This is a Nap Hutta term I do not understand

I’m definitely not the best player out there, but I did win a Regionals defeating Vader - Emp in the final from the water side. Also won against Ahsoka, Obi, Rangers during Swiss.

My list was Han, Chewy, 8 activations.

I usually make sure my smuggler can reach the objective on the far left and Chopper the terminal. Then I go for a setup with c3po for defense to the right, where I can threaten the left lane and swing in the middle. Against long range I’ve often opted to move a focused Chewy into the deep middle cove turn 2 or double move turn 1. Looking to take long range shots with a focused Han while generally playing for objectives. I’m not saying this is a brilliant plan, but it’s been enough to lure my opponent far enough out to where the map is more even sided.

On ‎20‎.‎04‎.‎2018 at 9:01 AM, DerBaer said:

Set up the map at home and dry run your first turn over and over. Search for all the hiding spots. Make a plan for where to run your dedicated mission grabbers. Find out, how to set up your deployment perfectly, to achieve that.

Having said that, my Rebels lost vs scum hunters in exact that setup in a tournament just yesterday.