thejumpingflea wrote:
thereisnotry wrote:
However, it seems like a smart opponent will just sit back and let you come to him, shooting you up as you go. Then, once you defrost Han, your opponent has had plenty of time to set up his pieces in such a way that Han will last 1 round, maybe 2; either that, or the rest of your squad is gonna bet poached heavily. Half-price or not, Hansickle probably won't be worth his points most of the time.
So don't go for Hansickle. Sit in Gambit and get up on points. Your opponent has to advance. If they do you can get Han easier when you are engaged with the opponent. If they sit back and wait with him you will win by Gambit.
Yes, I'm aware of the strategic options that exist for the Rebel player. Gambit, baiting, rushing, etc. All of them can be useful, depending on your squad build. Doing a flanking run with a swoop bike or speeder bike might be useful once you lure your opponent away from Han. But what I'm saying is that he looks to be more of a strategic hindrance than a help. Either you spend 15-23pts on nothing, or you spend those points (and probably often lose them shortly afterward) in getting to him.
Furthermore, I would expect that most Han minis would be less effective off on their own than they would be with the rest of their squad. No version of Han is a stand-alone beatstick, unfortunately. Han Scoundrel relies on Spirit Obi and Princess Leia to be most effective. Spirit Obi will take all year long to get to the other side of the board (:D), while PL will be shot before she gets there. So if you take Han SC, you'll likely end up with a good fig that's stranded all alone...it could take him a round or two before he's back with his support, where he is most effective. I'm not saying he's useless out there on his own, but just less effective. Same with RH, who is best when sharing his CE with the squad's big hitters. Worth noting is that Han ST's CE is good from anywhere, so he might be useful in that way; plus, he has Stealth, which makes him harder for your opponent to guard easily...Han ST essentially requires the attention of an accurate shooter in order to guard well.
Still, though, one of the basic strategic rules of SWM is to try to avoid spreading your forces out too thinly. It seems that Hansickle puts you behind the 8-ball in that regard.
However, a benefit to using Hansickle may be that you end up flanking your opponent once Han comes alive, and that could be really useful, if/when you can make it work. Map choice will probably be a big factor in the choice to use or not to use Hansickle.
These are my opinions, and I'm open to being proved wrong in them after the set release.
But to me, Hansickle currently just seems to give too much influence to your opponent. A good opponent will be able to make Hansickle a liability for you, and not the other way around.
There is no question that Hansickle, if he sees a lot of use, will require BOTH squads to play with a great deal of finesse and strategy...and that, I think, is a very good thing.