It's tough to figure out what you should get if you are new and want to be able to compete, especially since a lot of older stuff is no longer viable but some still is due to new cards being released. Here's recommendations for what to buy based on the faction you're looking to run to avoid wasting money.

All factions:

Core
Jabba's Realm
Heart of the Empire

Rebels:

Han Solo
R2/3PO
Alliance Rangers
Chopper/Hera
Alliance Smuggler

Empire:

Emperor Palpatine
Captain Terro
Agent Blaise (for Zillo Technique)
Kayn Somos (for Rule by Fear)

Mercenaries:

IG-88
Jawa Scavenger
Jabba
Greedo
R2/3PO

I'd almost argue against buying the core. Hear me out as this is a little confusing, but most people in a competitive list are only going to use Gideon and Imperial Officers from the core. I like a lot of the figures from the core set but most of them are not in your competitive lists.

If you go on ebay, for $30 you can get yourself a Gideon or set of 3 imperial officers (and the faq Alt Art cards if you want) a set of dice and some tiles. You can even buy a set of command cards on the cheap. I purchased the printed out mats and have used them for all of my playing up until the last map rotation. I've played all scenarios at least once, but rarely on the tiles. If you have someone else you're going to be playing with, they probably have the tiles already as well.

So I would almost skip the Core

I like Probe Droids, but I'm the only one who has played them in the last 3 years in my store. Stormtroopers I haven't seen in 18 months. Vader is nice now, but he can be purchased online as well. Core Luke, Fenn Signis, Ghaarkan, Nexu, AtSt, Trandos, etc don't see the table. I've seen some cutesy lists with Jyn and Mak as filler but they could easily be played without.

In fact, most of the new players that have recently started within the last 6 months have bought either HotE or Jabba's Realm and a couple of other ally/villains and just started playing.

I have to agree, Tvboy. Most of the boxes and packs are the absolute must haves.

Rebels: Sometimes you might want to add a second (or even third) Alliance Smuggler.

Empire: Emperor Palpatine and Captain Terro are great, but no must haves.

Mercenaries: Jabba and Greedo are great, but no must haves. And I would like to add Hired Guns to that list.

33 minutes ago, buckero0 said:

I'd almost argue against buying the core. Hear me out as this is a little confusing, but most people in a competitive list are only going to use Gideon and Imperial Officers from the core. I like a lot of the figures from the core set but most of them are not in your competitive lists.

If you go on ebay, for $30 you can get yourself a Gideon or set of 3 imperial officers (and the faq Alt Art cards if you want) a set of dice and some tiles. You can even buy a set of command cards on the cheap. I purchased the printed out mats and have used them for all of my playing up until the last map rotation. I've played all scenarios at least once, but rarely on the tiles. If you have someone else you're going to be playing with, they probably have the tiles already as well.

So I would almost skip the Core

I like Probe Droids, but I'm the only one who has played them in the last 3 years in my store. Stormtroopers I haven't seen in 18 months. Vader is nice now, but he can be purchased online as well. Core Luke, Fenn Signis, Ghaarkan, Nexu, AtSt, Trandos, etc don't see the table. I've seen some cutesy lists with Jyn and Mak as filler but they could easily be played without.

In fact, most of the new players that have recently started within the last 6 months have bought either HotE or Jabba's Realm and a couple of other ally/villains and just started playing.

Yeah, the pricepoint of the Core box and the limited figures available in Core for Skirmish use is a big problem. But if the player wants go to Regionals or any other official FFG competition without a Core box, that player will have to buy:

• 3 official roll-out maps ($30/each)
• Whatever Core set figures he/she needs ($30)
• Dice plus enough status tokens & object tokens ($13 for the dice, ?? for the rest)
• Total: more than the $100 cost of the Core Box

And that leaves out all the zero cost cards that come with Core that see a lot of use: Urgency, Fleet Footed, Take Initiative, Celebration, Element of Surprise, Planning

1 hour ago, DerBaer said:

Mercenaries: Jabba and Greedo are great, but no must haves. And I would like to add Hired Guns to that list.

Jabba is probably a must have because if you're running Mercs, you're going to want the Assassinate command card.

By the time most players decide they want to jump into competitive skirmish, they will likely have already bought the Core anyway. The core set is also the only way to get Darth Vader, the most important figure in Imperials, and a suite of staple command cards. This is more of a guide for starting players to know which content they should focus on acquiring after they've gotten into the game.

Jabba is on there mostly for the Assassinate card for Merc lists, but he is also a solid support figure in his own right. I think Greedo is a key figure in any Merc list that doesn't (or can't) run 2 groups of Weequays.

I think without being able to run 2x Jet Troopers, Imperials are going to have to substitute at least one of those figures. Also I just didn't like that Empire got off with such a short buylist.

GIA

2 hours ago, DerBaer said:

Mercenaries: Jabba and Greedo are great, but no must haves. And I would like to add Hired Guns to that list

Hard to build a Merc list without Greedo and/or Hired Guns in my experience.......GIA

2 hours ago, wannabepudge said:

Hard to build a Merc list without Greedo and/or Hired Guns in my experience.......GIA

Surprised i dont see more lists with both?...too many weequays, not enough rhodians!

Gotta agree, Greedo is pretty much must-have for Scum and so is Jabba for Assassinate (since if you're running Scum you're almost certainly running Hunters).

5 hours ago, cnemmick said:

Yeah, the pricepoint of the Core box and the limited figures available in Core for Skirmish use is a big problem. But if the player wants go to Regionals or any other official FFG competition without a Core box, that player will have to buy:

• 3 official roll-out maps ($30/each)
• Whatever Core set figures he/she needs ($30)
• Dice plus enough status tokens & object tokens ($13 for the dice, ?? for the rest)
• Total: more than the $100 cost of the Core Box

And that leaves out all the zero cost cards that come with Core that see a lot of use: Urgency, Fleet Footed, Take Initiative, Celebration, Element of Surprise, Planning

yeah I was thinking $30 for the whole lot

dice $7

Core Command Cards $8

tiles if you want them $17

gideon/officers/jyn/vader whichever you want is $7-12

It kind of depends on the list you're trying to build. I'm not against buying the Core, I've bought 3 of them myself at one point or another, I'm just saying if I was young and just wanted to play, I'd start with HotE or Jabba or both and whatever pack I wanted and play some smugglers or jet troopers etc. and you can really ease into it, especially if you don't have to buy the mats or tiles, you don't NEED the core.

Hello! I am hoping for a little bit of help. I am having trouble choosing between Rebel Troopers, Rebel Saboteurs, Echo Base Troopers and Alliance Smuggler. I have the core set, twin shadows and hoth expansions with many other ally/villain packs. I also prefer the campaign. Any suggestions or advice? Thank you so much!