[For context, this is after the semi-final round of the Galactic Escalation Tournament in the Spring of 2024, where both Gandalfthegreatestwizard and myself played the Heroes of Endor and lost to NR and Mando/Fringe squads, respectively.]
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I'm writing this post as a blog, of sorts. (I apologize in advance for all of the inevitable comments in parentheses--such as this one--this is just how my brain works.) I'm not trying to accomplish or push anything, and I'm also not complaining at all. It's just me processing my thoughts out loud. I'd be curious to hear what others think too (especially Gandalf/Joe, who was the other Rebel Hero player in this event). If you played against our favorite SW Heroes, what was it like? Did it feel unfun or suffocating? Was it an exciting game, or was it kinda ugly?

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Well, those new Rebel Heroes of Endor...they were fun. I enjoy the variety of squads they can build and tactics that they can employ, the various movement tricks that they have, and the fact that we can finally play the core SW heroes in competition without getting completely destroyed. Both of these semi-final matches were close (at least judging by the score): Matt's NR beat Joe's Rebels 382-357, and Drew's Mando/Fringe beat my Rebels 361-329. They were exciting matches! But these Rebel Heroes are so incredibly fragile! I guess that's a good reflection of how they worked in the original movies too...they only barely snatched victory from the jaws of defeat--twice. It makes for good cinema, but not necessarily for effective gameplay.

As it comes to my own experience of playing them (first at the Spring Thaw Regional and now in the GE tournament), I honestly find them very difficult to play. When I used to run my Mando squad, it was fairly comfortable and smooth after a while. I knew what it could do and I knew how to position my (very small number of) characters in such a way that they could make things happen. It wasn't necessarily easy, but it did feel complete. By contrast, when I'm playing the Heroes of Endor they definitely don't feel complete; it almost always feels like I'm just on the outside edge of effectiveness, on the verge of defeat, or just a single die roll away from devastation.

Can they make a good squad? Yes...two versions of this squad in the Top 4 of this event is not nothing. Of course, there's the question of how much our choice (Gandalf's and mine) to play them was due to flavor and how much it was due to anticipated competitive effectiveness. We know that the new and hot stuff gets played in these tournaments (the casual and semi-competitive ones), and so it's not surprising that we saw the new Rebels in this event. But are they good enough for top-tier competition? I think they're probably Tier 1.5 at best. They have some good tricks and tactics available...but they collapse very easily once they start to take some respectable damage. Chewie is their "disruptive tank" and he has a measly 100hp, which evaporate very quickly when someone gets adjacent. Evade helps them vs shooter-focused squads, but even then, it's not too difficult to get around that (as my match vs Drew's Mando/Talon squad demonstrates). And they're virtually helpless vs strong melee squads (Laura absolutely trounced me at the 150pt level with her Sarro/Raskta combo). So I think Tier 1.5 is accurate.

That's probably a good thing, since the game is not fun when one piece or squad is overpowered or dominant whenever it shows up (:cough:Jabba:cough:). If the Heroes of Endor were Tier 1.0 then nearly everyone would play them. (Well, everyone who was willing to apply the time and effort of learning them, anyway.)

I was the person who had the initial vision for these revised Heroes of Endor (Leia, Han, Luke). The new Leia that we have is very close to the first version that I suggested to the V-Set 25 designers (thanks to them for seeing the potential here!). And I was the lead designer for the new Han and Luke in V-Set 26. During that whole process I was very cautious because I didn't want to create broken characters or an unbeatable squad. It looked very strong in playtesting, so we curtailed both Han and Luke in subtle yet significant ways. I think that, in the end, we accomplished our purpose: we created a new way to run the Rebel Heroes in competitive play using the Versatility mechanic, without breaking the game. Mission accomplished! But...they still feel incomplete. I've found Han to be exceedingly difficult to use effectively without GMA...and yet Lando Infiltrator is 21pts of garbage once the game starts. (I originally intended Luke to give GMA to HoE allies, but that felt too strong so we replaced that with the Force Ghost CE.)

So they feel incomplete. What, then, do they still need? I'm not sure.
--Things that increase durability (Damage Reduction, Doctrine of Fear, SSM, etc) don't make sense from a flavor perspective.
--Perhaps they could use an easier way to deal 10dmg (and not risk 30!!) to Leia/Chewie in order to trigger their cool effects?
--I think it's crystal clear that the HoE allies need a way to gain GMA from a non-garbage piece.
--I originally thought that the 38pt Chewie was still good enough to be used...yep...but with no defenses outside of Evade he falls really quickly. Maybe they need a new Chewie, who himself has Versatility? That would be really cool. Why did Chewie not get a medal at the end of Episode IV, and why does he still not have a version with Versatility? Why do we hate him so much??!?1? lol Seriously, though, a 43pt Versatility Chewie with more durability and a GMA CE...that would be cool.
--More Rebels with the Hero of Endor identifier? Yes, that would be cool. What were the names of the Commandos who were part of the Battle of Endor? Crix. Perhaps Lando/Nien/Ackbar if we want to include the dudes in space.
--Soresu Style Mastery for all Heroes of Endor! No, no, NO! lol
--Rapport -10 for Unique Rebel Allies? Yep, that'll solve it. While we're at it, let's give them all Plasma Bolt -4 too!

Okay, this is getting ridiculous now. :)

Anyway, pulling things together at the end:
Were they fun? Yep!
More effective than before? Yep.
Good for the game? Yep, from what I have been able to gather.
Do they still need some attention? Yes, I think so...maybe not right away, but I think they would benefit from some more love in the future.

Thanks for reading, if you've made it this far. I'm very curious to hear the thoughts of others on this too.

I largely agree with you, Trevor. They're heaps of fun and borderline competitive, though tricky to play. It's certainly a squishy squad (it helped me at 350 to add Ahsoka to give Defensive Stance to Luke, Han and Ben, but I doubt she slots in as well at 200). Like you, I found that sticking with the original Luke HoE was helpful against melee squads because of his Djem So and Overwhelming Force. But yes, it feels like you need Lando Infiltrator for GMA but then he does nothing else for the squad (Han in Carbonite wouldn't work nearly as well here as it does in Prison Break). RE: making more Heroes of Endor, even if we think of the Heroes as strictly the main 6, you could still make a Lando or Commando or Ewok etc that helps the squad somehow. Maybe Lando doesn't get the Hero of Endor tag himself, but he definitely aided them by leading a squadron to distract the Imperial fleet. A new, beefy Chewbacca is also a good call (even though I think the 38pt Chewie isn't so bad, and can be fun with Raddus- but he doesn't tend to stick around for a second turn after charging in). Some kind of Bodyguard mechanic like you have with Resistance Chewie and Han might also help with keeping them alive longer.

How is the damage output for Luke? He's only got double attack and 20 damage with no boosts I can see.

Cool, so he's not hitting for 100 or anything but he can get damage boosts. Looking at him he looked more like a Darth Zannah, "you can't kill me" type piece. With Defense, Lightsaber protection, renewal, and light spirit mettle.