First, since there is no sub-forum for tactics or gameplay, I thought this might be more fitting here than in General, if you have a suggestion for another subforum you are welcome.

I'm planning on starting a series of posts, partly to "spam the spammers", as was suggested elsewhere here with actual SWM content and partly because I really love to talk about SWM (because it's the second best thing after playing the game, which I sadly almost never get the chance to do ).
The thing is, in most discussion I feel a little left out, because I'm an "old fossil", stuck in the past, I only have minis up to "Force Unleashed" and didn't even collect Prequel minis, mostly because of budget reasons, collecting all even back then, I found too overwhelming.
I have no intend to ever use V-Sets, because I don't want to make my old minis obsolete, I like the state of balance in which my very personal game is (played with my collection, because I know no one else with minis), where even most minis from Rebel Storm are viable options.
Still the game is far from "dead" for me, I visit the site almost daily, thinking about uses for my minis or rechecking rules.

So I wanted to talk and inspire discussion about more general things and gameplay elements, that are not tied to the current meta or something, something that would be (hopefully) of interest to anyone and especially newbies to the site, who likely never have used V-Sets either.

Let's start with "Spotter":

I have 3 minis with Spotter: the Duros Explorer, the Hoth Trooper on Tauntaun and Garindan. I never used them in practice (like so many other of my minis), but would really loke to try.
The problem I see in using them is, how do I make them survive long enough to let them make use of Spotter?
Since Spotter is used with combined fire, which replaces the turn for the mini, you will have to place it in a viable spot for Spotter in the round before.
Even if you place it last, which I think would be suggested, it becomes a vunerable priorty target the next round.
If your opponent wins initative he might kill your spotter before you have a chance to use him, or just move the intended victim for the SA move away, forcing you to reposition your Spotter mini in the current turn.
So, how do you use Spotter, without relying on pure luck?

Things that help (imho):
- Defensive abilities like Evade and Stealth, even though you have to "give up Stealth", in regards to the distance to the target mini
- Intiative related abilities like Recon, to let you pull of Spotter, before your opponent acts
- An Accurate Shooter to use Spotter with, so you have more legal targets for Spotter

I know the above is pretty rough and general, I hope others with more experience join in with more detailed suggestions, tips and insights. Feel free to correct any wrong assumptions on my part, which may very well have happened with my limited experience.

Great idea for jump-starting the forums!

Spotter has always just been a nice to have for me, it's nice in a swarm squad when you have a commander that gives it to otherwise ineffective pieces to beef up your larger attackers. I tend to play heavy melee/Force Powered squads though.

Since we're only looking at early sets, I'll say to not forget about the Aqualish Spy. While he doesn't have Stealth, he's got 40 HP and 16 Def, so your opponent actually has to dedicate a bit to take him out. These guys were amazing when paired up with Aurra, Han, or the Fetts back in the day.

In any case, when you use spotter, you really shouldn't be using them to rush out to get the bonus (unless it's a critical moment/clutch play). How a spotter should be used is as a punishing defensive wall. Position them so that when your opponent tries to close the gap, it'll mean that they'll take increased damage, either by ignoring the spotter and getting hit by the bonus damage, or by going after the spotter and putting themselves out in the open for easy pickings.

When I was playing in the massive campaign a couple years ago the Rebel leader was a stand out, but I think it takes that kind of special rules or restricted type for spotter to work well.

that would be sneaky