Yes, that Han Solo. I believe Han Solo of Hoth has three limiting factors that keep him from seeing play as much as he should.
One, there are so many great versions of Han Solo, and playing one of those means not playing Han 'o Hoth.
Two, his point cost (while probably about right for his stats and abilities) places him in an awkward zone when it comes to squad building. Usually, by the time you're ready to add a piece that functions like Han Solo of Hoth to your squad, you have less than 33 points left. He's not worth enough to build your whole squad around him, but he costs too much to just throw in at the end. It's the same reason decent minis like E522 Assassin Droid (32), 4-LOM, Bounty Hunter (33), Antares Draco (33), Chewbacca, Enraged Wookiee (34), and Quinlan Vos, Infiltrator (34) don't see as much play as they should.
Three, he doesn't have Accurate Shot. I think he functions fine without Accurate Shot (although, obviously, he'd be a stronger mini with it--he'd also be stronger if he had Master Tactician and Disintegration). Unfortunately, Accurate Shot is kind of Han Solo's trademark ability in SWM. We were able to overlook it's absence on Han Solo in Stormtrooper Armor because he had a killer CE (and he could still get Accurate Shot from Prince Xizor). But Han Solo of Hoth is relegated to always shooting normally legal targets, and that's just difficult to swallow.
But here's the Outside the Box challenge: Create three squads (100, 150, and 200 points) using Han Solo of Hoth and try to make them as competitive as possible. The competitive meta isn't as nailed down as it used to be, so just try to think of a top tier squad at the given point level, and how your squad would beat it.
Here are my squads:
33 Han Solo of Hoth
29 Luke Skywalker, Jedi
14 Princess Leia, Rebel Hero
10 Massiff
8 Wicket
6 Ugnaught Demolitionist x2
(100pts. 7 activations)
I decided to use 3 different main synergy providers for my squads. In the 100 point squad, I'm using Princess Leia, Rebel Hero. Her commander effect allows Han to move 2 squares after he defeats an enemy (without losing his Double Attack). Luke benefits from it as well. Basically, Luke and the Massiff provide some melee interference so that Han and Leia can take shots from the back. Wicket can help the low-ish attacks hit bigger targets in the right situations.
39 Luke Skywalker, Legacy of the Light Side
33 Han Solo of Hoth
23 Jarael
20 K-3PO
16 Elite Rebel Commando
7 Leia Organa, Senator
12 Ugnaught Demolitionist x4
(150pts. 10 activations)
In the 150 squad, I decided to use K-3PO as the main synergy provider for Han. I also added an Accurate shooter (Luke) and a melee piece (Jarael) that benefit greatly from the swap as well. Leia is great swap fodder, because she's often untargettable. The Elite Rebel Commando and Ugs provide good door control and pad out the activations. There's an added element of anti-Droid ability in this squad between Shockstaff and Ion Gun that could come in handy against future Grievous Droid squads.
58 Boba Fett, Mercenary
45 Garm Bel Iblis
33 Han Solo of Hoth
21 Luke Skywalker, Young Jedi
12 Deena Shan
9 General Dodonna
8 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Spirit
8 Juno Eclipse
6 Ugnaught Demolitionist x2
Garm Bel Iblis:
26 Golan Arms DF.9 Anti-Infantry Battery
4 Mon Calamari Tech Specialist
(200pts. 12 activations)
This squad is all about giving your opponent other targets to worry about while Boba and Han provide the damage output. Garm's CE works for Boba, Han, and Luke. I chose Luke Young Jedi because he's the cheapest piece available to the Rebels with Lightsaber Deflect. Adding Obi-Wan Jedi Spirit makes him the same cost as Luke Jedi, but I'm willing to trade Block and Knight Speed (and a small reduction in stats) for Alter and Jedi Mind Trick. Luke's role in this squad is interference and annoyance. In fact, that's the role of the Golan and the two Disruptive girls too. Each of these characters are hopefully annoying enough to warrant your opponent's attention and to keep the fire off of your heavy-hitting shooters. I've found Dodonna to be very useful with Boba Merc in the past. He can run out at the end of the round and attack, then run and hide next round if I lose initiative.
So anyway, those are my squads for this Outside the Box challenge. Feel free to take the challenge. This week, any squads built using Han Solo of Hoth will be featured on the Outside the Box page.
