Firstly, I KNOW I can’t put together a competitive army list. A.) I’m very new to IA:skirmish, and B.) my collection is very small. (Core and Heart for boxes, plus all three blister packs for Heart, Weiss, the RGC, and Rebel Troopers for the Core, the Spectres with Lothal to follow, and the Inquisitor.)

Initially, I was looking only at campaign, and I found for their limited appearances, my old Wizards of the Coast minis made fine proxies for the allies and villains, as I hated the idea of using cardboard tokens. Of course, the sculpts rarely compare to FFG’s, and I can paint a lot better than Wizards did, so in time I expect I’ll replace a lot of those.

Ive been eyeing skirmish more lately- it gives more opportunities to play with favorites and iconic characters, new and old. My first experiment ran a Rebel squad led by Ahsoka and Gideon, supported by Luke. For a very suboptimal list, they rocked it. Ahsoka is very effective, in my limited experience.

My biggest barrier- getting the hang of sorting and selecting command decks. Even with my small collection, the supply is huge compared to the small sampling which will be of use to any one list.

Unfortunately, online list builders don’t help, as my collection supplies both me and my opponents. So, unless I want to simply deny access to certain cards and give myself an unfair advantage, I don’t know how to use such a quick method.

The command deck is the most time consuming part of both list building and set up, so far. Nonetheless, I think the command deck adds enough to the game that it’s worth the trouble. It really fleshes out the list and let’s figures shine. “Son of Skywalker” gave Luke a great chance to shine as the hero of the Rebellion, facing down two trandoshans after finishing off a sentry droid to defend a terminal for the alliance. (He was finally defeated, but only when BT-1 entered the area and he still held on long enough for support to arrive and deny control to the Empire...)

i was hesitant to mess with skirmish. I kept telling myself the simplicity of Wizards’ d20 miniatures game was plenty good (and it still is for larger battles which would suffer under the weight of IA), but after giving in to temptation, I love how well IA:skirmish plays and how well it captures character and feel.

Now I have to expand my IA wishlist to get more skirmish missions, command cards, etc...

If it helps, command deck selection becomes easier with a bit of practise. Lots of cards are auto includes in most lists if you have them, such as element of surprise, take initiative etc. Then in the beginning before you get a lot of cards, using the character specific cards (like the son of skywalker you mentioned) can make it easier on you aswell. Note that these generally dont result in the most competitive of decks, but then again that isn't what you are shooting for (yet) anyway.

Then if you have a certain theme going in your squads, like troopers or hunters, you can include the cards that require those traits. Once again, won't be the most competitive if you just add those, but it is quick and easy, and generally results in a fairly equal deck if you have to build for two.

Then to finish it off there are some decent cards that you get two off that work in any deck, like planning, or the +1 movement card and urgency. Once you identify those cards, you can use them as baseline for all the decks, so you dont have to make too many decisions when you build a new one.

Once you have a bit of practice with the deckbuilding and/or you expand your collection a bit, you can start messign with the command deck for real, but untill then these simple guidelines should suit you just fine, especially if you use them for both players.

2 hours ago, Isnigu said:

Then to finish it off there are some decent cards that you get two off that work in any deck, like planning, or the +1 movement card and urgency . Once you identify those cards, you can use them as baseline for all the decks, so you dont have to make too many decisions when you build a new one.

And the best news is that most of the best 0-cost cards, including the ones that Isnigu mentioned, come in the core box and come in duplicate, meaning that you should be able to include them in both lists even if you're building for two.

First of all, welcome! Second, feel free to proxy command cards that you lack duplicates of for your second list.

@MarekMandalore great to hear you are jumping in! As was mentioned, list building gets much easier once you've done it a few times. If you check out the pinned article in this section, there might be some good infor in there for deck building and other things.

If you are only playing casual games (not in a tourney), you should look into making some printed proxies of the cards you deem necessary. I know there are some threads around this forum talking about the storage of Command Cards and might have an already created document for printing purposes.

I think most of the command card images can be found here:

http://imperial-assault.wikia.com/wiki/Command_Card

All of the feedback is appreciated. I’m not particularly thrilled with proxies for command cards, as fine an idea as that is, at least until I pick up some card sleeves for the mini sized cards. Sleeves should help to conceal what the cards are so that it isn’t obvious when a proxy is up for draw or in hand.

In any case, the command cards aren’t a problem- just a new mechanic to get used to. I’m coming from X-wing and Armada, where your upgrades are all assigned and in play from the beginning of the game, so a variable, semi-randomized side deck of disposable upgrades will take some getting used to.

On 9/7/2018 at 8:24 AM, MarekMandalore said:

All of the feedback is appreciated. I’m not particularly thrilled with proxies for command cards, as fine an idea as that is, at least until I pick up some card sleeves for the mini sized cards. Sleeves should help to conceal what the cards are so that it isn’t obvious when a proxy is up for draw or in hand.

In any case, the command cards aren’t a problem- just a new mechanic to get used to. I’m coming from X-wing and Armada, where your upgrades are all assigned and in play from the beginning of the game, so a variable, semi-randomized side deck of disposable upgrades will take some getting used to.

It's one of the most fun things that sets IA apart from those games. It means that even when playing with the same lists, you can have very different games based on what cards are drawn. And just like predicting an opponent's hidden maneuver in X-Wing, playing around the cards in the opponent's hand will become easier the more you learn about the game.

As long as both players so not play very similar lists (deployments), then most of the command cards you need twice are in the core box twice (Take Initiative, Fleet Footed, Element of Surprise, ...).

The only card I would absolutely want in every deck, that is not in the core box twice, is Negation. But actually, Negation is the ONLY component from Hoth, that I use regularly (I sometimes use Targeting Computer). So I would really think about proxiing this one in casual games.

If I decide I NEED Negation, I’ll have to consider proxying. Hoth isn’t near the top of my list for IA purchases, so it’ll be a while before I grab it, if I get to it in general. Since I already grabbed the Spectres, the Lothal box is next on my list to provide the tiles and such to properly make use of the skirmish missions they came with.

After that, Jabba and Bespin plus the associated figures. In the meantime, as a casual player, I can happily proxy deployment cards if I have minis for them. (May not be totally correct, but I’m happy using the Wizards Bespin Luke for my Jedi Knight version, and between the Core and an Alliance trooper ally pack, I have enough deployment cards to field the 3 IA troops plus another 6 pulled from my Wizards collection...)

I’ll avoid proxies for command cards until I can sleeve them and therefore keep it secret who has what cards in hand. But there’s nothing hidden about what deployment cards a player has in skirmish, so proxies don’t cause the slightest problem.

@MarekMandalore

I've played some games at home making both decks, and for things like Negation I just proxy it by using another card that I know nobody is going to use. Like I'll take Diala's command card or something (when nobody is using Diala), and for that game we just both know that that card is Negation. On the one hand it adds one more thing to remember, but on the other hand you don't need to worry about sleeving/printing/etc.

Also, depending where you play locally, most casual face-to-face will allow proxy for things like Negation. Even Store Championships are considered casual play events and most players there will have no problems letting you proxy or borrow what you need. (Ask me about Biv Cup 2018 sometime!)

And you don't have to print up a card and stick it in a sleeve - just put a card in your deck that has no business being there (like Vader's card in your Spectre Cell CC deck). It does get more difficult to juggle more than one card proxied in this way, I'll admit.

On 9/11/2018 at 9:23 PM, cnemmick said:

Also, depending where you play locally, most casual face-to-face will allow proxy for things like Negation. Even Store Championships are considered casual play events and most players there will have no problems letting you proxy or borrow what you need. (Ask me about Biv Cup 2018 sometime!)

And you don't have to print up a card and stick it in a sleeve - just put a card in your deck that has no business being there (like Vader's card in your Spectre Cell CC deck). It does get more difficult to juggle more than one card proxied in this way, I'll admit.

I agree. As a TO, I'd be cool with it. I usually suggest the same thing, like take some crazy off card and then it reminds you of what it is really supposed to be.

Most players in my community either are willing to lend you the card (even if you contact them in advance) or have no issue with proxies. We want to play!

I see quite a lot of proxies for negation in my environment - people are reluctant to buy Hoth just for this card. It is not rare to see both of opponents with proxied negation (as the state of the game is, every competitive deck needs this card)