I want to play a NR squad at my LGS for the LotF Release Tounrey, they said that it was most likely gonna be 150 pts, so i made this squad up (kinda ironic that this is the set where all the NR's good pieces will be coming out)

Mara, Jedi 45
Garm Bel Iblis 45
Han, RH 35
Jaina 25
Activations 4

Bad activations I know, but I really wanted the pieces I chose. Jaina and Mara both get extra boost from Hans CE (mara has potential 160 damage, Jaina potential 80 damage) Garm gives Jaina the ability to move 5 and double attack and can bring in reinforcements to fit the opponent's squad.

Possible Reinforcements

Rebel Leader and Elite Hoth Trooper: EHT and Han can combine fire to help with Jain or Mara's already awesome damage output.

6 Rebel Troopers: for activations

3 NR Troopers: for beefier troopers if you dont need the activations

NR Commander and:
....NR Trooper
....2 Rebel Troopers
NR Commander gives Careful Shot +4, if I used this as Reinforcements I would probably use the 2 Rebel Troopers.

OK, i might be switching my squad to this

YoD
Kota
Shaak, JM
Uggie x4
150, activations 7

Low on activations and no init control, but YoD with Kota can deal massive amounts of damage, Shaak is the main melee fighter, YoD is there for Force Stun and as a Force Battery (and the occasional use of his other Force Powers), and Kota is there for his Force Repulse 5. With YoD, Kota can use this every 3 rounds (assuming they dont use force for anything else). When YoD dies, Kota (or Shaak) can get 6 extra FP and MotF +1. With Kota, youll be able to pull off another Repulse (unless he dies) With Shaak, youll be able to Block/Riposte/move 2 extra another time every round. Thrawn can really hurt this squad, though if you face him use Shaak and Kota to remove him.

Which squad do you think would do better?

You're venue is doing a constructed event for the Release Tourney? Most LGS do a Sealed event using boosters from the newest set for Release Tourneys. So you may want to check and see whether they are doing constructed vs. sealed.

Eh...with Garm's Reinforcements, it isn't too bad activation wise. Probably depends mostly on your local meta though. The biggest problem is that unless you bring in a Rauntaun with Garm's reinforcements, you have absolutely no initiative control, so the likelihood of using those Cunning/Advantageous attacks drops substantially.

No, Jaina can only move 3 and Double Attack. Check the FAQ for TFU pieces. It specifically says you cannot combine Garm's CE with using a FP for Move Faster, Knight Speed, or Master Speed.

Not terribly bad, but if you just want combine fire pieces, MCTS are MUCH better than the Elite Hoth Trooper. Plus, you get 2 more activations out of that.

Again....using the MCTS would get you 7 activations instead.

Not a bad option. Might also consider MCTS and Elite Rebel Trooper as two options.

And don't forget, as long as your venue's tournament is on March 28th or later, pieces from LOTF will be legal for DCI tournaments, so there may be new Rebel and NR pieces that you'll want to try out.

Hope all of that helps out.

thanks Lobo. I have 2 LGS (though they both are about 40 minutes away ) one is doing constructed and the other is doing sealed. I dont know what day the constructed is, but i wanted a squad just in case. Thanks for the tips, forgot about MCTS

What about dropping Garm for Lobot and a swarm of Uggys? That way you can have almost guaranteed init through the MTB and get to use Mara and Jaina's Cunning all the time.

garm is very useful for allowing Jaina to move and attack twice with her insane power. Plus, i dont own Lobot

You can't combine fire on Jaina's attacks because she's has Melee Attack. Also, Han Solo, Rebel Hero doesn't benefit from the Rebel Leader at all in a New Republic squad. He's not a Rebel and he's not a follower. So all he'll add to Mara's attack is +4 Attack. He's one of the better shooters in the game, anyway, so he shouldn't be combining fire with anyone.

True about Jaina and Combining Fire, but wrong about Han and the Rebel Leader. Sure, he'll still only give +4 to the attack bonus, but the Rebel Leader's CE gives Spotter 20 to all Rebel Allies, so Han would get the Spotter 20. So, if he combined with Mara, he'd grant her +4 and 20 damage on her next attack.

ya, and it helps with Mara cause no melee. Thx shinja about combining with Jaina though.

Except for one thing - in a NR squad, when Han is brought in through Affinity, he is no longer a Rebel - he becomes a NR character. The Rebel Leader's CE absolutely applies to Rebel Allies - but it just happens that Han is NR, not Rebel. Check out the definition of Affinity.

DOH! Good catch! I know that one quite well actually, as I had to convince one of my local guys that with Princess Leia and Han Scoundrel brought into a NR squad, he couldn't use Leia's CE to give Han the extra attacks.

good point! Lobo, you got any advice for the Bomb squad? I think im leaning more towards that now but i want some advice before i make any decisions

Well, the Force Bomb squad (lol, bomb squad) has a ton of damage potential, but it's pretty fragile. Will you run into B&B at all? Because with decent rolling, B&B will shred this (read: as long as Thrawn doesn't get 1's for init). Han Cannon or San Hill squads will give you grief as well. At 150 points, there are still too many 'meta' squads that have 9-11 activations that you have to be able to deal with on fairly equal footing.

It's really funny, because as 200, you can almost get away with squads that only have 8-9 activations now, and still do REALLY well, but 8 activations at 150 will still get you in trouble against some squads.

Heck, I was running a squad with 9 activations yesterday and had a heck of a time with an Ozzel squad and a swarm of Imperial Navy Troopers. Now, of course, your Kota Bomb would take out those troopers without too much trouble, but you'd have to set it up at the end of one round, and wait...while you get attacked 10+ times at a +13 for 20 damage. Neither Kota, Shaak, or Yoda can stand up to that very long.

Just a couple things to consider.

Thanks for the input. The main squads that people play are

CIS Droids (Mainly normal battle droids)
Rebels (Luke HoY with support)
Republic (Depa, Gen. Windu, Aurra, and Boba BH)
Stormy Swarm with Piett

and a couple others but no B&B