“Jabba, you’re a wonderful human being.”

–Han Solo, Star Wars: A New Hope

The galaxy lies in thrall to the Galactic Empire. No matter which planet you live on, the Empire’s laws define your life and are brutally enforced by faceless Stormtroopers. At least, that’s what the Empire would have you believe. It may be true on Imperial Center and some of the inner planets. But the truth is, if there’s anything stronger than fear of the law, it’s cold, hard galactic credits. In the Outer Rim, the Empire is no more than a nuisance to be avoided—the real power lies with the criminals and crime lords who rule these planets. And few criminals are more feared and respected than Jabba the Hutt.

From his palace on Tatooine, Jabba the Hutt holds sway over a significant portion of the Outer Rim, employing smugglers, bounty hunters, and enforcers to increase his wealth and keep the Empire away. Soon, you’ll be able to bring Jabba into your games of Imperial Assault with the Jabba the Hutt Villain Pack. Like other Imperial Assault figure packs, this expansion offers a detailed, beautifully sculpted plastic figure of Jabba the Hutt, alongside all the cards you need to support your campaign or skirmish games, whether you’re playing with the new Jabba’s Realm expansion or not.

Today, we’ll enter Jabba’s palace halls and see what awaits within this Villain Pack.

Jabba’s Empire

Though Jabba has grown to rule an extensive domain, his true power does not lie in his own speed or strength of arms. You’ll immediately notice that in Imperial Assault, Jabba the Hutt only has a speed of two, making him one of the slowest units in the game. Furthermore, although he can strike relatively hard, rolling a red die and a green die, he can only make melee attacks, which means it’s fairly easy for the Rebel heroes to stay out of his reach.

Despite these martial disadvantages, Jabba the Hutt has still formed a criminal empire though his cunning, his ruthlessness, and his vast reserves of credits—scheming in the darkness and hiring others to do his dirty work. If you bring Jabba into your team of Mercenaries, you’ll soon learn that combat skills are the least important aspect of Jabba the Hutt. Unlike every other unit in Imperial Assault, Jabba the Hutt features no surge abilities. Instead, the campaign version of Jabba the Hutt offers an awe-inspiring array of four separate abilities that he can trigger by spending an action. Each of these abilities gives you another way to control the unfolding battle and keep the heroes from achieving their objectives.

You may target a nearby hero with Bully, forcing that figure to automatically suffer three strain. You could put out an Execution Order, allowing another Mercenaries figure—anywhere on the map—to interrupt and perform an attack. You can provide a Financial Incentive, letting any friendly figure recover two damage and become focused. Or, you could simply Plot, increasing your threat by two and giving you the freedom to bring more reinforcements into play.

As you can see from the list above, you have a staggering amount of options with Jabba the Hutt, making him one of the best supporting figures in the game. And if all that weren’t enough, Jabba is part of a larger Hutt Syndicate, meaning that you gain a point of influence if Jabba is still on the map at the end of the mission. If the Rebel heroes decide to concentrate on defeating Jabba, they’re expending valuable actions that could be spent elsewhere. But if they don’t, you gain more influence to be spent on Agenda cards like the new set included in this Villain Pack.

One of these Agenda cards simply introduces a new Agenda mission, entrapping the Rebels in Jabba’s machinations. Others, however, can be used to gain a surprising advantage. On Jabba's Orders can be played when you deploy a Mercenaries group, giving additional accuracy and armor-piercing attacks to all figures in that group. Or, you may play Head-Hunting, quickly taking down a healthy hero by ordering an Imperial figure to attack the same hero twice. No matter what you spend Jabba’s influence on, he’s a worthy adversary for any group of heroes to face in an Imperial Assault campaign.

Death Mark

Although Jabba the Hutt features different abilities in campaigns and skirmishes, he’s no less of a schemer during a skirmish mission, effortlessly orchestrating your strike team’s operations. In fact, Jabba maintains all of his raw stats in his skirmish version, but his lineup of action abilities looks dramatically different.

First, Jabba still bears his Bully ability, forcing a nearby figure to suffer three strain. In a skirmish, however, you can pair this ability with Under Duress, allowing you to vaporize your opponent’s entire Command deck in just two actions, if he chooses to discard cards rather than suffer damage. Jabba’s other actions have also been changed to reflect the different nature of the skirmish game. By using Incentivize, you can select any Mercenaries figure on the map and cause it to become focused, or you may Scheme to draw a Command card in the middle of the round. Finally, you can use both actions on Order Hit, spending two victory points to let a Mercenaries figure perform an attack and gain two movement points! Obviously, you don’t want to spend too many victory points in this way, but it’s partially outweighed by Nefarious Gains: whenever a hostile figure is defeated, you can gain an additional victory point.

Though Jabba the Hutt is undeniably powerful as a commander and a leader, his criminal ties may give you other ways to get the victory points or Command cards you need through the Black Market. This skirmish upgrade invites you to choose a friendly Smuggler to suffer one strain at the end of each round. If you do, you can reveal the top card of your Command deck and either: spend victory points equal to the card’s cost to draw it, discard the card to gain victory points equal to its cost, or return the card to the top of your deck. Essentially, Black Market gives you much more control over how you gain victory points and Command cards throughout the game, ensuring that you can adapt to the battle as it evolves.

Three new Command cards introduced in this Villain Pack also promise to find their way into the Mercenaries’ unique bag of tricks. If you’re planning to destroy your opponent’s Command deck as soon as possible, you may include Shoot the Messenger —by playing this card when a hostile figure was defeated, your opponent must discard the top three cards of his Command deck. To help defeat enemy figures faster, you may go straight for the jugular with Assassinate, which simply adds three damage to the results of your attack! Or, you could choose to play Jabba’s personal Command card, Blood Feud. This card marks an enemy unit, and whenever you attack a figure in that group, your attack deals one extra damage, helping you cut through enemy defenses and destroy your foes faster than ever.

I Shall Enjoy Watching You Die

The Empire may hold sway over the galaxy, but the Hutts and their ilk rule the Outer Rim. Bring a new type of lawlessness to your games of Imperial Assault with the Jabba the Hutt Villain Pack and pre-order your copies of these expansions at your local retailer today!