In terms of the commanders I'm having a hard time working out where Han fits in the trio of rebel leaders or, more to the point, why I'd pick him over the other two. Leia is much better at supporting trooper units around her by removing suppression and giving out dodge tokens while bringing a handy orbital bombardment. Her shooting attack isn’t too bad either. And she’s cheaper than Han by 30 points while keeping the same stats.

On the other hand we have Luke who is the Rebel’s best chance of killing enemy troopers quickly while still being supportive to surrounding troopers with his command cards and superior morale. He’s pretty handy against everything, very mobile and one of the few elements that’s going to slow Vader down. Battle meditation, force pull and mind trick are all really useful.

Then we have Han. I know we’ve still got a command card left to see but his shooting looks to be on a par with Leia unless you get two squads at range 2 of him because most of your enemies are going to be in cover. I like the command cards I’ve seen with him in terms of messing with the enemy’s plans and improvised orders will be handy with the soup of spec ops, support, corps and heavy units I’m probably going to end up with plus he has slightly better defense than the other two. Considering his points cost, I’m finding it hard to justify taking him over either of the other two.

The thing is, I probably will end up using him because he best represents my normal play style in terms of his command cards (and I can proxy in Kyle Katarn, the true hero of the rebellion) so I could really do with working out his relative strengths.

Pierce 2 on two red dice surge to crit on two different targets that get -1 cover. Ouch. That's generally 3 dead guys even in heavy cover considering you have a decent chance of doing crits, and a good way of getting rid of speeder bikes.

Rerolling defence dice that are white surge -> Pretty neat defence honestly, statistically better than a red dice. He also improves his cover when in cover, which means he's going to be quite good in some terrains your other troops don't necessarily want to get in.

Where did you get to see the command cards? I haven't.

Killing speeder bikers IS one of my goals in life. I hate those guys.

3 minutes ago, Deuzerre said:

Where did you get to see the command cards? I haven't.

On the 'Shooting First announcement you can read 'reckless diversion ' in the main image and they have a link to 'sorry about the mess'.

Ah, yes.

Well, reckless diversion is by itself a massive card on critical rounds where you want to secure objectives/ have a target you don't want your foes to shoot at.

19 minutes ago, Deuzerre said:

Ah, yes.

Well, reckless diversion is by itself a massive card on critical rounds where you want to secure objectives/ have a target you don't want your foes to shoot at.

It will certainly help keep my AT-RTs and airspeeder alive. Like I say, the commands are pretty handy. 'Shoot first' will be handy for getting some suppression and casualties down on the enemy before legging it as well.

I'm not sure what the point of your post is. You say you can't justify taking him, and then you say you'll be taking him because he fits your play style. That means he's filling a need in the game which is a justification on why to take him.

Are you wanting to take him and you just don't quite understand what it is you're liking about him? Maybe something you can't quite put your finger on, so you're coming here for us to tell you why you like him? That's my guess, but I could be totally wrong, what with this being the internet and all.

If that is the case, don't worry about it. He will prove his usefulness in time or he won't. Either way, you can still play him and enjoy him and even win with him.

The commanders are often dictated by the type of units you will be taking and the point costs need. Luke is a heavy hitter first, commander second. Leia is a commander first, a trooper second. Han can dish out some pain while not being as expensive as Luke. You may need those points for something else in your army. Leia may be too much of a support and you'd rather have Luke and Han hit hard and fast rather than turtle down. All depends on the objectives and the point of your army.

His damage against trooper units is actually on par with Luke, assuming you have two separate targets. He could easily drop 3-4 troopers per turn in range 1-2. Yeah, he’s not going to do much against Vader or vehicles, but he’s cheaper.

It will be interesting also to see what sort of upgrades fit into the chevron upgrade slot (and what that last command card is).

2 hours ago, Orkimedes said:

His damage against trooper units is actually on par with Luke, assuming you have two separate targets. He could easily drop 3-4 troopers per turn in range 1-2. Yeah, he’s not going to do much against Vader or vehicles, but he’s cheaper.

It will be interesting also to see what sort of upgrades fit into the chevron upgrade slot (and what that last command card is).

Well we know the duck and cover one adds a suppression so he can get heavy cover fairly easy.

I see Han as an incredibly powerful commander once you get into Range 1-2. Play him like you would Fleet Troopers - move close to an objective, get behind light cover, and unleash. I don't think he will perform well as a Solo Commander - in my mind he is an excellent second Commander to either Luke or Leia. I think Luke or Leia can both work on their own, work with each other, or work with Han. I don't think Han will operate solo since he needs to get so close to the action to be impactful.

19 minutes ago, Copes said:

... I don't think Han will operate solo ...

INCONCEIVABLE!

4 hours ago, Orkimedes said:

It will be interesting also to see what sort of upgrades fit into the chevron upgrade slot (and what that last command card is).

Maybe it's a "sidekick/Lieutenant" for Chewie to attach to him making a mini-unit...?

Oh - hang on - the one in the spread is "Duck and..." and is some defensive buff. Looks to be a mundane equivalent to Force Powers.

12 minutes ago, ABXY said:

Maybe it's a "sidekick/Lieutenant" for Chewie to attach to him making a mini-unit...?

Oh - hang on - the one in the spread is "Duck and..." and is some defensive buff. Looks to be a mundane equivalent to Force Powers.

Yeah, looks like that’s what he comes with. Seems like a pretty special sort of upgrade though (only other time it appears so far is on the commandos). I bet we will see some nice cards for it.

9 minutes ago, Orkimedes said:

(only other time it appears so far is on the commandos)

Ah... an additional 'elite trooper' skill.

A way to make Special Forces a bit more customisable.

Iiiiiiinteresting!

I somewhat agree with the idea that Han sits in an awkward spot. Sure his damage output is great so long as he is close and so long as he can target too things and so long as he can do that without also getting close to a Jedi character who would cut him to pieces...

sure you can team him with another character but he’s stil expensive... if you don’t need him as a commandersince you already have one is he doing as much damage as the equivalent points in troopers or vehicles? I dunno. Nothing shown yet grabs me about Han or makes me think I would replace leia or Luke.

Not to mention that the model is ugly as ****...

10 minutes ago, beefcake4000 said:

I somewhat agree with the idea that Han sits in an awkward spot. Sure his damage output is great so long as he is close and so long as he can target too things and so long as he can do that without also getting close to a Jedi character who would cut him to pieces...

sure you can team him with another character but he’s stil expensive... if you don’t need him as a commandersince you already have one is he doing as much damage as the equivalent points in troopers or vehicles? I dunno. Nothing shown yet grabs me about Han or makes me think I would replace leia or Luke.

Not to mention that the model is ugly as ****...

Yeah, that is one hideous model. The paint job they previewed isn’t helping.

He certainly seems like he will be difficult to use properly.

9 hours ago, Vandallorian said:

I'm not sure what the point of your post is. You say you can't justify taking him, and then you say you'll be taking him because he fits your play style. That means he's filling a need in the game which is a justification on why to take him.

Are you wanting to take him and you just don't quite understand what it is you're liking about him? Maybe something you can't quite put your finger on, so you're coming here for us to tell you why you like him? That's my guess, but I could be totally wrong, what with this being the internet and all.

If that is the case, don't worry about it. He will prove his usefulness in time or he won't. Either way, you can still play him and enjoy him and even win with him.

I was more interested in how other people would justify him, which I have now to a point.

Hiding Han behind an AT-RT flamethrower and forcing my opponent to shoot Han standing behind it, in cover, will certainly help get it where it wants to go. That said, Leia allowing it to be activated twice in a row is still arguably stronger in that scenario thought there are always variables.

Like others have said, I think Han will be a good secondary commander to either Luke or Leia and will shine in this position rather than alone.

Pairing him with Luke will allow for a really aggressive play style- use Han to charge in with troops on one flank, while Luke moves in with faster units like vehicles on a second flank. Han can also direct fire towards him and his units with the reckless diversion command card, allowing Luke to come in with his units and lay down some damage.

Pairing him with Leia will be a good combo as well, he can be the attacking commander while Leia hangs in the back and does her tactical stuff. Plus with his command cards being able to put a wrench into the opposition's plans a bit, he will be a higher priority target than trying to go hunt down Leia.

Running him alone is also not terrible, it just seems like he does better when there's lots of cover available so if you're using lots of terrain, he'll probably do fine.

I dont think it matters where he "fits in" at this point since the game is so young still. Im sure we will see future units combo well with him being a sole commander.

Id love to see Chewbacca as a unique special forces unit that has abilities that are asymmetrical to Han's- like Han is better at close range and in cover, while Chewbacca could be better at being in the open and shooting at long range.