Actually i Like Most of these ideas. Primarily the Highlighted ones.

I would be interested in more epics. The epics and the BHC figures are my favourite vset pieces.

I still would like to see multiple activation characters like the AT-AT, but an epic Sith Lord, not a big piece of machinery.

Also we still need a force dependant epic yoda and palpatine so I can play the scene from ROTS, maybe with the ability to pick up stuff and throw it around to hit each other.:)

Rather than more epics, I would much rather see dual pieces like

Han and Chewie
Obi and Ani
Jango and Boba

etc.

Boba only puts out 80 damage a turn if he stays mobile, 100 with deadeye. That's okay but not great. He definitely has a decent CE, but not as good as others.

Lah can be beaten handily by The Ganner, though without a decent squad to back him up he can struggle against non-Vong squads.

Lord Hoth is definitely one of the tougher matchups.

However, if the format is an Epic point total only, and thus more than one Epic is allowable, the Ganner and Boba would probably be one of the better pairings.

Well as I've frequently run the Epic 500 at FrostyCon and on other occasions I've seen some really innovative builds but the propensity of competitive players to run OR is irresistible. I wouldn't limit pieces but would continue to limit # of acts and CE's to help things out, I think new Epics would further balance things out as the six pieces from Ep II gave us Boba and The Ganner. Plus the ability to run double Epic is also enticing.

I've spoken about this before, and the reason for the OR's dominance at 500 is two-fold: Hoth's CE and Bastilla's ABM. Both of those are tremendously huge at 500pts, and when they're together they become just insane. If there is a 500pt epic tournament, Hoth/Bastilla is the gatekeeper. There's not much that can beat it, and it crushes just about anything else.

I think the main issue isn't even so much Hoth's CE...it's Bastilla cancelling all of the opponent's CEs. CEs become more important as the point ceiling increases, which makes ABM and Disruptive therefore all the more effective in the same way. For example, a Republic squad built around Yoda (GMA, Double Att), FloBi (Extra Att) and maybe Anakin (Momentum) is a very decent option at 500pts. However, it literally falls apart when it comes up against Bastilla. ABM is fine at 200...it's broken at 500. Therefore, my suggestion for any 500pt tournament is to either ban Bastilla or else make it that ABM no longer cancels CEs, but only gives a dmg boost (still quite good). Limiting the # of CEs allowed in the squad does NOTHING to hinder the OR, since they don't need more than 1 or 2 CEs (Hoth's and maybe Revan's) to thrive.

I agree that banning isn't the best path. Bastilla doesn't need to banned at 500pts, but if you want to have a non-OR-dominated event, then something has to be done about her. Both of the suggestions you list are solid (suppressing only 1 CE is probably the better choice). It all depends how much of an advantage the OR has in this format. I just think it's simplest to prevent ABM's boardwide CE-squashing at 500pts in the first place, thus my suggestion that it only offers a dmg boost, with no CE-squashing at all.

As for my "nothing" statement. Yes, it's a big word. However, as I said, the OR really needs very few CEs at 500. Arguably, they can get by just fine with just Hoth's CE, though they improve a lot when you add Sith Revan's swapping CE, coupled with his MT. Beyond Revan and Hoth, though, I can't think of any super-important CEs that the OR hugely benefits from in 500...maybe Kavar, or the Senator? Those are valuable, but if the entire competition is limited to 2 CEs, then the OR will be doing more than okay with just Revan and Hoth to work with. Compare that to the Imperials, or NR or Republic or Seps and you'll quickly see how lowering the CE count actually helps the OR's chances, because the other factions rely more heavily on multiple CEs than the OR does at 500.

Here is what I have in mind when I say that OR doesn't need lots of CEs to be effective at 500:

--Evillll--
138 Lord Hoth, Leader of the Army of Light
62 Boba Fett, Bounty Hunter
62 Darth Revan, Sith Lord
47 Mira
36 Atton "Jaq" Rand
35 Zuckuss, Bounty Hunter
33 Bastila Shan, Jedi Master
29 Carth Onasi, Old Republic Soldier
23 Jedi Crusader
10 Corellian Pirate
8 R7 Astromech Droid
5 Salacious Crumb
6 Mouse Droid x2
6 Ugnaught Demolitionist x2

(500pts. 16 activations)

Is there a more effective squad at 500pts that uses only 2 CEs? Maybe Vong, with the two Lahs and a Yammosk would be solid, but I'm not sure how they'd deal with all the heavy ranged firepower that this squad would be tossing out there. NR with Mara and Luke GH might be decent, but then they're losing Dodonna, who provides one of their few advantages at 500pts.

Anyway, my point is that, at 500pts, OR is not hurt by a CE limit as much as the other factions are.

You don't need it to cost 28...just 21+ (so no Lobot option). You don't want it to cost 20 or less, because that will completely screw OR squads moving forward, and Bastilla really isn't that much of a problem at 200.

IMHO, it should also have some other function, so that your squad is not lacking when you don't have to face Bastilla (or Atris); maybe give it Door Shatter or Bodyguard. A 40hp (or 50hp) bodyguard that costs 21pts and neuters ABM and Atris' FM would be worth it at 500, but overcosted at 200.

I really like the concept!

Re: Bastilla

I have never played the 500 but that may be the format where Bastilla becomes limited to 6 squares.