I have loved Han Solo ever since the YT-1300 came out (okay I loved him a long time before that, but you know what I mean).

Ever since the first time I played with him with Luke Skywalker as his crew member I have just loved it. Of course now Han is so popular we have a whole build named after him, HSF. But it basically just means Take Han he is awesome.

I have found that the key to playing Han is to play him defensively. Take the Falcon Title card and evade every action. Also do everything in your power to stay away from as many enemies as you can. Ideally you only have to face one TIE at a time. (you have a good chance to kill it before it even gets to shoot.)

Since my first games, I usually take a gunner instead of Luke (I have the Slave I ship now so I can). But my most recent discovery is the Flight Instructor. Since Han is pilot skill 9 he is going to get to re-roll a focus or blank almost every time he get's shot at. Yes, with only one agility dice he will likely still get hit plenty, but it will seriously reduce the number of shots he takes, and with his tons of hits, it might just be enough to keep him alive.

(PS: everyone who ever puts Marksmanship on Han is simply wrong.)

(PS: everyone who ever puts Marksmanship on Han is simply wrong.)

Tell that to the Squint players when Wave 2 came out.

whats the general consensus on Flight instructor ? should I take him over Chewie ?

whats the general consensus on Flight instructor ? should I take him over Chewie ?

Expect Chewbacca to repair more damage than FI prevents.

I have loved Han Solo ever since the YT-1300 came out (okay I loved him a long time before that, but you know what I mean).

Ever since the first time I played with him with Luke Skywalker as his crew member I have just loved it. Of course now Han is so popular we have a whole build named after him, HSF. But it basically just means Take Han he is awesome.

I have found that the key to playing Han is to play him defensively. Take the Falcon Title card and evade every action. Also do everything in your power to stay away from as many enemies as you can. Ideally you only have to face one TIE at a time. (you have a good chance to kill it before it even gets to shoot.)

Since my first games, I usually take a gunner instead of Luke (I have the Slave I ship now so I can). But my most recent discovery is the Flight Instructor. Since Han is pilot skill 9 he is going to get to re-roll a focus or blank almost every time he get's shot at. Yes, with only one agility dice he will likely still get hit plenty, but it will seriously reduce the number of shots he takes, and with his tons of hits, it might just be enough to keep him alive.

(PS: everyone who ever puts Marksmanship on Han is simply wrong.)

On a defensive Han you will get more mileage out of Flight Instructor than you will with Chewbacca. Han, PtL, Recon Specialist, Flight Instructor, and Millennium Falcon is extraordinarily difficult to bring down.

On the other hand, I believe you are better served with Gunner. So you either find one more point to change Flight Instructor to Gunner, or find 2 points to change Recon Specialist to Gunner. All 3 builds are decent, but I am afraid the pure defense Han gives up too much offense. He doesn't do you a lot of good if he survives an extra turn but doesn't hit anything.

On a defensive Han you will get more mileage out of Flight Instructor than you will with Chewbacca. Han, PtL, Recon Specialist, Flight Instructor, and Millennium Falcon is extraordinarily difficult to bring down.

On the other hand, I believe you are better served with Gunner. So you either find one more point to change Flight Instructor to Gunner, or find 2 points to change Recon Specialist to Gunner. All 3 builds are decent, but I am afraid the pure defense Han gives up too much offense. He doesn't do you a lot of good if he survives an extra turn but doesn't hit anything.

How? I don't understand how being able to reroll focus results and recon specialist combo. I mean, against a Tie-Swarm maybe. But against any list not made of all PS1 and pilots it's pretty useless.

Why do you say that? The primary weakness of YT-1300s is swarms. Massed fire from numerous opponents is what brings YTs down. This is the point where FI is most effective. You have an evade token and a focus (or two if you have Recon Specialist) to defend yourself against high-PS ships. That should be enough to get you through the first few attacks. At that point, you have FI to help you defend against the next few shots, which are very likely to be low PS (since the high PS guys have already fired).

If you use your focus token on offense (very common), then FI provides you with a small amount of defense against PS 3+ and almost doubles your defense vs. PS 1 or 2. If you have a focus token (or two) left over when the low PS ships start shooting at you, FI suddenly becomes VERY effective because you can reroll blanks and use tokens for eyes.

FI is nowhere near as cost efficient as Push the Limit, for example, but it is worth its 4 points. If your ship is already generating an evade plus one or two focus, you can use those tokens to "fill in" the space where FI is ineffective (and use FI to fill in where the tokens would have been ineffective). Basically, the reason FI is nice is that it is effective where tokens are not, and tokens are effective where FI is not. So it complements a defensive Falcon build nicely.

Why do you say that? The primary weakness of YT-1300s is swarms. Massed fire from numerous opponents is what brings YTs down. This is the point where FI is most effective. You have an evade token and a focus (or two if you have Recon Specialist) to defend yourself against high-PS ships. That should be enough to get you through the first few attacks. At that point, you have FI to help you defend against the next few shots, which are very likely to be low PS (since the high PS guys have already fired).

If you use your focus token on offense (very common), then FI provides you with a small amount of defense against PS 3+ and almost doubles your defense vs. PS 1 or 2. If you have a focus token (or two) left over when the low PS ships start shooting at you, FI suddenly becomes VERY effective because you can reroll blanks and use tokens for eyes.

FI is nowhere near as cost efficient as Push the Limit, for example, but it is worth its 4 points. If your ship is already generating an evade plus one or two focus, you can use those tokens to "fill in" the space where FI is ineffective (and use FI to fill in where the tokens would have been ineffective). Basically, the reason FI is nice is that it is effective where tokens are not, and tokens are effective where FI is not. So it complements a defensive Falcon build nicely.

I've never agreed with taking the evade action for the YT. It's a tank, it can take the damage. What it needs to do is dish it out! TL or Focus seems like the better way to go each round. While I love Marksmanship on Han, an argument can be made for PtL as well. Focus and TL in the same round to insure maximum damage!

Why do you say that? The primary weakness of YT-1300s is swarms. Massed fire from numerous opponents is what brings YTs down. This is the point where FI is most effective. You have an evade token and a focus (or two if you have Recon Specialist) to defend yourself against high-PS ships. That should be enough to get you through the first few attacks. At that point, you have FI to help you defend against the next few shots, which are very likely to be low PS (since the high PS guys have already fired).

If you use your focus token on offense (very common), then FI provides you with a small amount of defense against PS 3+ and almost doubles your defense vs. PS 1 or 2. If you have a focus token (or two) left over when the low PS ships start shooting at you, FI suddenly becomes VERY effective because you can reroll blanks and use tokens for eyes.

FI is nowhere near as cost efficient as Push the Limit, for example, but it is worth its 4 points. If your ship is already generating an evade plus one or two focus, you can use those tokens to "fill in" the space where FI is ineffective (and use FI to fill in where the tokens would have been ineffective). Basically, the reason FI is nice is that it is effective where tokens are not, and tokens are effective where FI is not. So it complements a defensive Falcon build nicely.

I don't think it's worth the points personally. That's what, 10 points of upgrades on the falcon with a stress every turn, negating it's manueverabiliy, which is the Falcon's greatest defense. I can see it as a counterbuild for Tie-Swarms, but it'll get wrecked against most rebel lists, and is still going to have issues against swarms. Defense on the Falcon seems to be a losing strategy...

Well, the OP stated that he enjoys using a defensive build for Han Solo, and was looking for input about maximizing his defense using Flight Instructor. Rather than debate the merits of a defensive build in general (since the OP has stated his preference for it), I tried to answer the question he asked and give him a rundown on the effectiveness of Flight Instructor in his build.

I have run defensive Falcon builds, and in the end I can easily recommend Flight Instructor as a valuable addition to them. I would certainly rate FI over Chewbacca, and did what I could to explain my reasoning. Whether the entire list concept is something he should be utilizing, that is a different question than the one posed by Hrathen.

Fair enough. But his understanding of Flight Instructor was way off to begin with. Granted the best Defensive Falcon is already Chewbacca, making the crew card redundant. Thoughts on R2 or C3PO over Flight Instructor?(paired with Recon Spec...

I cannot imagine any upgrade that could be more useful to a 1 Agility, 13 hp ship than C3P0. You should always be able to save at least 3 or 4 damage with him. An outstanding return on a 3 point investment.

I've never really been a fan of Gunner, especially because of the proliferation of B-wings in my area.

As to your build with flight instructor, If you are going to take PTL on Han I suggest Nien just so you can drop the stress a lot easier because once Han gets predictable most players will start blocking him very easily. Your flight instructor build, on top of evade I find very interesting. Evade stops a damage each turn, and flight instructor works wonders against low ps swarms. With Nien you can fly more erratically so you don;t necessarily have to worry about being focused down. Pair that Han up with a Chewie Falcon with DTF and you might have your opponent pulling his hair out.

-Just from my experience with a PTL Han, its almost never worth it to Target Lock just because Han already has a reroll mechanic. So the Falcon title opens up evade or the Engine Upgrade opens up more movement shenanigans without giving up your action with something like Expert Handling.