It looks like I might have the opportunity to run a four player skirmish game soon - three new to IA players and myself. I thought a 2v2 skimish mission might be the way to go. I have one of every set and figure pack released for IA (plus an extra Jawa and Terro pack). Can any of you suggest four lists to put together that are:

1. Reasonably balanced - if one list is the 'worst' then I'll take that one, but the other three should be roughly equal.

2. Can be made from a collection that includes one of each box set and figure pack (+extra Jawa and Terro packs)

3. Relatively straight forward to play (not too many figures that have lots of abilites in any one list)

Also open to suggestions of which four player map to play on. As I understand things, there was one in each of Hoth, Jabba and Heart expansions.

Thanks for any input!

I think that you are going to want a lists from these factions, 2x Rebel, Imperial, Mercenary.
You'll probably want each list to have a focuser(Gideon, C-3po, Jabba) Besides the Empire, Give them either Thrawn, or Some other support-like figure.
if you don't want your guys to have focusing guys, than my suggestion is null, but anyway...

Give 1 Rebel List Jedi Knight Luke, maybe one more jedi(you'll probably want Ezra or Kanaan), a focuser, and some ranged support(Mak, Alliance rangers, fenn signis) Give it force user/leader/the good any figure command cards.

Give the 2nd Rebel List Han(with his fix), Jyn Odan, A focuser, alliance smuggler, other smugglers, and some kind of shock troopers(E.G. Heavy hitters, such as the Echo Base troopers or a jedi or something) and give it smuggler, leader, and some good Any figure command cards.

Give the Imperial player Vader(with fix) Thrawn, maybe palpatine and some death troopers, ejet troopers, and so on, and give them trooper, leader, and imperial force user command cards.

Give the mercenary player Ig-88(with fix) Jabba, weequay pirates, maul, and any other good mercenary figures you might have. Give em hunter, brawler and any left over force user cards you may have.

Please keep in mind these are just some lists that are supposed to be good with changes I've thought up, so I definitely won't be mad if you decide not to use any of these. Give them a map with a hard to reach objective, if it's possible, make the objective one thing so there's lots of fighting in one central area. my group likes to make up maps and usually has no objectives, so I have no clue what any of the four player maps are....

I hope my advice helps you out... somehow
Ps, I'd like to see how this fight goes down, it'll probably be interesting with four new players.

Your untested friend, Arctic.

Edit: I hope I didn't make these too elaborate, if your looking for less abilities, than go with mostly generic forces, and you should probably not use fix cards... anyway hope this helps

I think that the hardest part for you is going to be putting together command decks that are both legal and in any way balanced. For instance most of the best 0-costs come from the core but you'll only have two of each - I'd think that you should have enough 0-costs to fill out four lists numerically, but if you're doing 2v2 you'll want to try to split up the good ones (particularly Take Initiative) as evenly as you can between the two teams.

To minimize the duplication of command cards otherwise (i.e. you can't have four people bring assassinate) you'll want to try for lists with different archetypes. Maybe something like this?

1) Vader and other stuff (maybe Thrawn, jets, riots, deathtroopers, etc.)

1st off, this is very StarWars-y (always a bonus when someone's playing their first game!). Also, it's a bonus that most of the cards that work with Vader (brawler, imperial force user) aren't needed by any other lists.

2) Rebel Heroes (Han Solo and friends)

Lots of ways you can go here, but I'd almost always start with Han Solo, Gideon, and C-3P0. A more competitive list would probably next add Drakotta, but for your purposes you could also opt for theme instead and bring along Chewbacca. From there season to taste (maybe something like Rangers for some more offensive pop, or Leia or Jedi Luke if you want to go all theme)

I'd probably give this list the On the Lam and Tools for the Job command cards

3) Mercenary Hunters

Start with Jabba, IG-88, Greedo, then throw in literally anything else in scum that you think looks fun or interesting (weequays, Vinto, Onar, Hondo... even lothcats or Nexu if you're feeling creature-y). Lots of options here, including using a jawa to bring in droids that aren't used elsewhere like R2D2 or BT1. Honestly I would just go with whatever characters you think your friends would find the coolest.

These guys would also get the hunter cards that weren't used above, like Assassinate and Heightened Reflexes

4) Spectre Cell

This is a great list for something like this - it's really thematic (especially if they've watched the show) and there's a million ways that you can go with your command cards (so basically they get the leftovers ) . And now that FFG has errata'd the card it's not overpowering like it used to be.

Like I said it might be a challenge filling out the command cards, especially the zero-cost ones, but I think you'll be able to make a decent go of it. I don't know which of these lists is worst or hardest to play - maybe take the rebel list for yourself, particularly if you lean towards the thematic side? Honestly though I think all four sides should be a lot of fun. Good luck!

How experienced are your players playing board games in general? In general for new players, keep the abilities at a minimum. Getting too many tokens on the board can be a bit overwhelming. Rather use pieces that are kind of vanilla like the Echo base troopers and that adds interesting abilities like Fenn Singhis, Bossk, Leia and the Inquisitor. Also, I would stay clear of pieces like fixed Han and fixed Vader. Better to add the fixed cards later. Same for command cards, keep them straight forward. Instant and simple effects.

I can share the lists I use for demo play.

Rebels:
Hero Luke
Leia
Fenn Signis
Echo base troopers
(add either Alliance smuggler or Rebel high command if the list needs a bit of boost)

Prime command card: Grenadier

Imperial:
Kayn Somos
Inquisitor
Stormtroopers
BT-1
Elite Probe Droid
(Add Rule by fear if handicap is needed)

Prime command card: Reinforcements

Scum:
Boba Fett
Bossk
Elite Jawa
BT-1
Elite Probe Droid

Prime command card: Assassinate

All lists are filled out with simple command cards. Think Jump jets, Blitz, Mitigate, Hard to hit etc. No hard to use, timing chritical, end of turn or begining of turn things. I also use a lot of the character specific cards in the cases where they are at least decent and not too complicated.

If I were to suggest a forth one, I would probably suggest an AT-ST list. It will be harder to play and not be great on a lot of missions, but I assume you will be playing sort of to the death anyway? Or what missions were you planing on using? Or better since you have all the box sets: AT-DP + Palp may be interesting.

Edit: Maybe this can be quite fun:
AT-ST
Emperor Palpatine
eHeavy Stormtrooper
rJet Trooper
rProbe Droid
rImperial Officer

Prime command cards: Simple Vehicle and Heavy weapon cards.

Thanks for all the input. Below are the lists I put together:

(Rebellion)
Deployment Cards (9) - 40 points:
• Kanan Jarrus (8)
• Zeb Orrelios (8)
• Sabine Wren (7)
• Ezra Bridger (7)
• Hera Syndulla (4)
• C1-10P (3)
• Spectre Cell (2)
• Trusted Ally (1)
• Heroic Effort (0)
Command Cards (15) - 15 points:
Dying Lunge (2)
Element of Surprise (0)
Field Tactician (1)
Force Surge (2)
Heart of Freedom (2)
Hit and Run (1)
I Can Feel It (0)
Karabast! (1)
Knowledge and Defense (2)
Learn by Example (1)
On a Mission (0)
Protect the Old Ways (1)
Pummel (1)
Pummel (1)
Wild Attack (0)
Activations: 6, Figures: 6, Total Health: 62, Attack Dice: 16, Top Speed: 4.

Four Player Rebel Luke Leia List (Rebellion)
Deployment Cards (7) - 40 points:
• Luke Skywalker (10)
• Fenn Signis (9)
Echo Base Trooper (Elite) (8)
• Leia Organa (8)
Alliance Smuggler (2)
• Rebel High Command (2)
• Balance of the Force (1)
Command Cards (15) - 18 points:
Brace for Impact (1)
Burst Fire (2)
Call the Vanguard (2)
Celebration (0)
Concentrated Fire (1)
Covering Fire (3)
Deadeye (0)
Grenadier (3)
Hour of Need (0)
Inspiring Speech (2)
Officer’s Training (0)
Planning (0)
Rally (0)
Reposition (1)
Son of Skywalker (3)
Activations: 5, Figures: 6, Total Health: 47, Attack Dice: 15, Top Speed: 5.

(Mercenaries)
Deployment Cards (7) - 40 points:
• Boba Fett (13)
• Bossk (8)
Weequay Pirate (Elite) (7)
• 0-0-0 (4)
• R2-D2 (3)
Jawa Scavenger (Elite) (3)
• C-3PO (2)
Command Cards (15) - 15 points:
Against the Odds (0)
Assassinate (3)
Cruel Strike (0)
Eerie Visage (1)
Element of Surprise (0)
Glory of the Kill (1)
Heightened Reflexes (2)
Mandalorian Tactics (3)
Opportunistic (0)
Price on Their Heads (1)
Stimulants (0)
To the Limit (0)
Toxic Dart (0)
Trandoshan Terror (2)
Triangulate (2)
Activations: 7, Figures: 8, Total Health: 57, Attack Dice: 14, Top Speed: 6.

(Empire)
Deployment Cards (6) - 40 points:
• Kayn Somos (10)
• The Grand Inquisitor (9)
Stormtrooper (Elite) (9)
• BT-1 (6)
Probe Droid (Elite) (5)
Targeting Computer (1)
Command Cards (15) - 15 points:
Ballistics Matrix (1)
Celebration (0)
Covering Fire (3)
Devotion (0)
Hunt Them Down (2)
Of No Importance (0)
Rally the Troops (3)
Rank and File (1)
Reinforcements (2)
Reinforcements (2)
Self-Defense (0)
Set a Trap (0)
Shared Experience (1)
Targeting Network (0)
Urgency (0)
Activations: 5, Figures: 7, Total Health: 59, Attack Dice: 18, Top Speed: 5.

I checked the sticky but didn't find anything, is there any good skirmish guides for noobs? I am mainly a campaign player, but i would like to learn skirmish.

On 10/8/2019 at 11:59 AM, Viperho said:

I checked the sticky but didn't find anything, is there any good skirmish guides for noobs? I am mainly a campaign player, but i would like to learn skirmish.

Have you read the skirmish guide in the core box and played the demo scenario in that guide? It gives you premade lists and command card decks to play with in the booklet.