Star Wars Imperial Asault

Tremendous Star Wars board game that sees a team of 2-4 players taking on 1 other player who controls the Imperial forces. In a similar vein of board games like Super Dungeon Explorer, Imperial Assault takes the foundations that Fantasy Flight put together with their X-Wing and Armada games and takes it to ground combat between the classic hero and villain units of the Star Wars Original Trilogy. One player takes on the role of the Empire: spawning enemy combatants and essentially fulfilling the Dungeon Master role as in D&D. The other four potential players pick up the role of the Rebel Alliance and have to brave a series of campaign missions against the Imperial player. The two teams compete throughout the campaign (which runs across a few main missions and some optional side missions) earning experience and in-game credits along the way that can be used to purchase item cards or added abilities for both teams. Players can also unlock "hero" and "villain" characters to use in the campaign such as named classics like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader (who are included in the core game). Aside from the 5 player campaign, there is also a 2 player skirmish mode where the two players build a custom army not unlike in a Warhammer game and then compete to finish certain objectives before their opponent. Both modes of play are a blast and give great variety to the game. The core game is a beast and worth the asking price. It comes with a cluster of two sides map pieces that can be fit together like a giant puzzle in different combinations. Each mission for both the campaign and skirmish modes provide instructions on how to assemble the various maps. The game comes with a handy introduction booklet (good for getting started, but unfortunately vague on certain rules), a more in depth rule book, an introduction just to the skirmish, and a booklet that contains all of the campaign missions. You'll also get the core set of figures including the six starter player characters as well as the basic Imperial and Mercenary units: Stormtroopers, Probe Droids, E Web Gunners, Nexu creatures (from Episode 2), Imperial Officers, Royal Guards, Trandoshan Hunters, and the large AT-ST. Again, the core game now also includes Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker as well as their separate mission cards for use in the two game modes kept separately along with fold out papers that contain their campaign and skirmish mission instructions (think of these two as included expansions). Aside from the gorgeous miniatures, you'll have plenty of game tokens (red tokens for damage points, large red tokens for five damage points, blue tokens for strain points, markers for status effects like stun/bleed/focus, door tokens that can be set up on the maps, markers with corresponding stickers to attach to the various miniature groups to distinguish them from each other, and various other tokens to use for mission objectives). There are also numerous types of card decks that feature such things as in game items, character abilities, the missions you'll play in either campaign or skirmish, command cards that give you certain abilities in skirmish mode, as well as the deployment character cards for your individual units. Perhaps the best part of the game for me is the manner in which short one to two hour campaign missions can be strung together for a larger experience. Unlike, say, Super Dungeon Explorer which is a single game instance that can take from as quick as an hour to as long as three or four hours, Imperial Assault is designed so that you can get a few "quick" missions in at a time while keeping track of your larger campaign progress. Also, all players accumulate experience and rewards after a campaign mission so even if the Rebel players lose and the Imperial player wins (or vice versa) one team is not immediately at a major disadvantage in terms of loot and items. It is only during the final mission of the campaign where the winner takes all. The only real downside to the game is the developer's proliferation of expansion packs. There are currently four main expansions (Bespin Gambit, Twin Shadows, Return to Hoth, and the soon to be released Jabba's Realm) that add new map tiles, player characters, enemy types, and game rules into the experience. The deeper pool of player characters are only available in these four pricier expansions. All four have their perks and weaknesses, but most of them are worthwhile. The bigger money pit for fans of the game are the individual character packs. Numerous character units with corresponding miniatures, campaign and skirmish missions, and new cards have been released as single expansions. Some of these are better than others and a handful are rather rare and in-demand (Boba Fett, Imperial Guard Champion, IG-88, Han Solo). I would not recommend buying the rarer expansions through Amazon as they are only available through secondary vendors who have jacked up the prices (my choice of vendor is either Fantasy Flight themselves or Cool Stuff Inc). The biggest pain about the expansion characters is that there are a number of characters for the core game and each main expansion who are purposefully sectioned off so you have to buy them separately. These characters actually will show up in the campaign missions you already have, but will have to be played using mere tokens that come with game. An example is Han Solo and Chewbacca who both show up in the core game here but are not included as miniatures. If you actually wanted to play them in your campaign as anything other than flimsy cardboard then you'd need to hunt down the separate character packs (which then leads to you having duplicate deployment cards for the characters). Overall this isn't a make or break deal for me. Fans who love the game and want to collect all the models or support the developer will probably want to grab up certain character expansions anyway, but for those who might not want to spend any money past the core game you won't be forced to as the game does include those stand-in tokens for you to use in lieu of the miniatures. The only major drawback is that skirmish mode in the core game only comes with a single map that has two variants to play on it. Each one of the character expansion packs come with new skirmish map suggestions and instructions so if you want variety in that mode you need to shell out for those various packs. Overall the game is a blast and one of my favorite board games.

This is a great big-box war campaign game for multiple players with lots of nice looking models. I'm going to be comparing this game a lot to Space Hulk, so I apologize if you're a fan and it seems like I am beating up on that game a lot. I remember buying Space Hulk 3rd Edition a few years ago, and while I had lots of fun painting up the models for it, convincing my friends to trudge through the immensely complex rules was always a daunting task, and if I could actually convince them to finish the game they usually said "it was neat but I wouldn't play it again." The fact that it was a 1v1 game didn't particularly help matters either, since it wasn't exactly a hit at parties. Imperial Assault takes Space Hulk's appeal of the big box war game, and does it in a way that is approachable for new players and is actually great for a group. I've been playing through the missions fairly regularly with my friends, and everyone is always genuinely excited to set up each map. If you are playing for the first time the rules can take a little bit of work to learn, but they quickly become second nature and are easy to remember after your first play. It has a training mission that's perfect for learning the ropes, and once you know how to play it's very easy to introduce people to the game. One of the best things about the game for me is that players get to work on a team. Like Dungeons and Dragons you will have one player as the "dungeon master" controlling the Imperial forces, and several players each controlling a Rebel heroes who are individually much more powerful than most individual Imperial units. The difference here is that unlike Dungeons and Dragons, where the Dungeon Master may fudge certain parts of the game's rules in secret for the sake of pushing the players through his narrative, the Imperial player is just as bound by the rules as the Rebel players and all rolls are done in the open. However, there are still secret conditions and surprise events that will only be known to the Imperial player, and he is the one who reads the mission briefing and all the events from the mission book. If the Rebel team loses a mission, the game is not over, but rather it has some kind of effect on what will happen in the next mission, so the Imperial player is still encouraged to play hard and not go easy on the Rebel team. There is also an extra set of rules for skirmish gameplay which are competitive 1v1 battles for two players, though to be honest I haven't tried it yet. Even if you have friends who have never played a game like D&D, this game might just be the gateway drug to get them hooked on campaign tabletop gaming. In terms of what you get in the box, this game is very impressive. You get lots and lots of detailed miniatures, and unlike the more fragile polystyrene models included with Space Hulk, these are made of a slightly softer material with a bit more give so you don't have to worry about your friends breaking them. That unfortunately means they're not as detailed or sharp looking as Citadel miniatures, but they still pack some pretty impressive details, and the AT-ST chicken walker is quite a beast of a model. If you like to paint miniatures and you're a Star Wars fan, then I can say you should probably buy this game right now because you'll have plenty to work with (I highly recommend investing in some battle foam if you are painting the models, though). There's also tons of playing cards in two different sizes to represent characters, weapons, items, events, etc. which look very nice and really do a good job at keeping the rule book slim (something I wish Games Workshop would have done with Space Hulk). Beyond that you get a bunch of double-sided interlocking environmental tiles, some doors, various counter tokens, a turn counting dial, and a set of specialized dice. These are the same dice used in FFG's Star Wars RPG system, and while they are a bit odd looking at first, once you learn how to use them their usefulness becomes obvious. It's a very good dice system for a game that involves both ranged and melee combat, and it keeps things moving fast without requiring much interpretation by the player. Lastly, there's the expandability aspect of Imperial Assault. There are many expansion packs and additional characters that are being released for the game, so buying the initial game box could very well be considered the starting investment for a new hobby. There are lots of fan-favorite characters that are sold in separate packs, as well as game expansions that include new missions and such. You could potentially be playing and painting this game for a long time depending on how much you are willing to spend on those additional materials, although even judging the game just on its own, I would say it's a solid addition to the game collection of any Star Wars fan, or even board game fans in general. You get plenty of quality game content for what you pay, and the experience of playing the game with all its miniatures, special dice, cards, etc. is something you and your friends will not soon forget.

This game is a lot of fun. I will caution you that it is very overwhelming when you first try to read the rules and play. There are a ton of things going on, and a ton of tokens and cards, etc. However, if you follow along with the book and play the tutorial quest, and then start with the first introductory mission to the campaign, everything falls into place. It also includes a really handy quick reference rule index, that is alphabetized. If you need to look up the specifics something, you can flip right to it, rather than having to leaf through the whole instruction book, looking for where it is referenced. There is also a lot to set up, and break down each time you play. The box is not designed to assist you with this. Several people suggest getting a tackle box, and after getting one myself, it took the setup/breakdown process from pretty time consuming to only a few mins. That aside, the game is great, and a lot of fun. The miniatures are all incredibly detailed, I was even inspired to learn how to paint them, something I've never attempted before. It isn't necessary, but i enjoy the game so much, that I want to make those figures pop. The game is setup in a campaign structure, which is really cool. As you play the outcome of the campaign changes based on what random sidequests are drawn, and whether or not the rebels or imperials win each individual story mission, which provides a lot of replayability. It also has a skirmish mode, if you just want to go head to head with another player, and not get into the story/campaign. The game is pretty pricey, but once you open the box, and see what you are getting, and the quality of the figures, etc you see that it is worth every penny. You will not be disappointed. P.S. If you, like me are interested in painting the figures, check out this gentleman's youtube channel. He walks you through painting step by step. Filmmaking aside, I don't have a painting/artistic bone in my body, and I am really pleased with the results. https://www.youtube.com/user/Sorastro

I love this game. It can be played almost like a traditional board game, PLUS it has a great skirmish mode. What's not to like!? Only one thing, and it cost it a star. The included figures are fantastic, but they are made of a plastic that is, apparently, easily distorted by heat. Most of the fixes are easy... Dip Vader's lightsaber in some hot water and bend it back into shape. Hold until it sets. BUT.... my AT-ST had some fairly serious heat sagging at the front where the chin turret is mounted. Very annoying. HOWEVER, this also fixable. I just held it under full-hot tap water for 20 seconds and then then bent the "mandibles" back into shape. I then held it under cold water until it set. It was a fairly easy fix, but I've been messing with plastic figures for YEARS. Newbies might not know how to fix it, and might just be disappointed at the "poor quality." I'm not not FF can really fix this problem, since the plastic they use is a good balance between flexibility and detail. Something more resistant to heat might be too brittle. But it is something folks should be aware of.

I enjoy this game because the narrative, events, maps, etc. really set it up and the minis help your imagination. It's pretty cool even if your group doesn't get super into it. However, it is pretty simple to lightly roleplay your character or add some extra flavor to how attack phases happen. I feel like this game is a mix of XCOM and DnD on rails. I like this approach since the few times I've played DnD usually the DM hasn't really prepared all that well and half of the time I feel like we aren't doing anything or progressing the story. The biggest con I've noticed is some missions are heavily biased to Imperials or Rebels. You definitely need to do some tweaking to make it a fun experience. There are several times I forgot to do something as the Imperial player making it easier or harder for the Rebel players. You can easily add extra rewards as you go through the campaign though to make up for it. The rules are a little difficult since the Learn To Play isn't as useful as the actual rulebook in my opinion. Several times I've had to turn to forums for special circumstances too since some of the rules are very vague and it's hard to figure out what exactly should happen. I definitely would watch a how to play on YouTube.

Fantasy Flight Games has been putting out some absolutely wonderful games recently and Imperial Assault is no exception. For those familiar with hardcore board games recently, Imperial Assault is essentially a Star Wars version of Descent. You play an ongoing campaign of a team of players (the Rebel heroes), against a single villain player who controls a number of characters (the Empire and Bounty Hunters). Winning a campaign mission brings rewards to the winner and penalties or complexities to the loser in future missions. Some missions also have secondary objectives that are not required to complete the main mission, but when completed yield rewards or a failure to complete them might have other consequences. Players can buy and find gear, level up with new abilities, and just become awesome in general as the campaign continues. The game can also be played in Skirmish mode, essentially a battle between two or more players. The mode is still enjoyable but lacks the ongoing fun of growing and leveling characters through the story. For those looking at this who are used to playing a game of Monopoly now and then or don't have a lot of experience playing games you can't find at Wal-Mart or Target: games like this have a lot more rules and are a lot more involved (yes, more involved than Monopoly). Buying and displaying this game will declare to the world for you that, yes, you are a nerd and that is ok. If you are dead set on getting this game, find a local board game store or a friend with it and sit through a few games to make sure it is something you want to delve into. Once you get into it, this game is fun. For those adapted to the current board game market: this game is awesome. If you love Descent and a fan of Star Wars, it is a no-brainer. Just be prepared to have an overwhelming urge to pull out your Citadel paints and paint the currently unpainted figures.

There really isn't much more I can say that already hasn't been said a thousand times about Imperial Assault! Imperial Assault is a living board game, which means the choices, battles, experience, equipment gained and lost though out the game will carry on till the end. If you always wanted to try a table-top game like D&D, but didn't have the want or time to sit down and read through a library of books, or if you ever wanted to live your own Star Wars adventure but never knew how, this game is perfect for you! Most of the game is ran through a free, downloadable app that helps walk you through set up. One person will play as the Empire/baddies and everyone else will play as the Rebels/heros as pre-set scenarios set you up against each other. Rebels will have a goal of what to do and Imperials will do their best to stop them while also running a fair game for both sides. The game is made up of turns where everyone has a few actions to do, like movie, use an item, fight an enemy, interact with an object, etc. At the end of each scenario, the players actions can change what happens next for them, a mission might allow them to add a hero to their ranks or a garrison of soldiers to help fight for them. Same thing with the Imperials, they to can field more troopers or hire bounty hunters to help fight off the rebel scum! At the end of the day, Imperial Assault is one of the best, if not THE best Star Wars game. The amount of depth, choice and customization is only complimented by the large number of expansions the game offers. So if you are just starting out in board games, a long time veteran of the scene, or just a Star Wars fan, Imperial Assault is a must have!

If you can get this on sale, it's an auto pickup if you plan on playing any RPGs or wargames that are miniatures agnostic sci-fi, or for Star Wars stuff. The included models paint up well and you get a good variety of Imperial baddies, rebel heroes, and even a pair of Nexu. I've gifted this a few times to friends and it never disappoints. If you're starting out and need some minis and tiles, this set is great. I haven't "played," the game/ruleset that comes with Imperial Assault, but it's just extra cheddar on top of a great value box of models.

I really enjoy this game. My wife and I play the skirmish together which is a nice quick version of the game for two. We are also playing the campaign with more players and it's a lot of fun. As the imperial player it's important to gauge the Rebel players. If you are crushing them constantly, it's good to pull some punches to keep things even. It depends who you play with, because the Rebels can definitely dominate and cause headaches for the Imperial player. Overall a very fun thematic game with a lot of replay value.

Imperial Assault is going to cost you a lot of money. It's a big heavy box packed full of miniatures, cards, tokens and dice. What's more, you're going to find it very hard to resist buying all of the expansions as characters that are used in the campaign would otherwise be represented by boring flat tokens. Then, with the new Twin Shadows expansions on the way (and Boba Fett as a further expansion pack) it's going to eat up more than it's share of your board game allowance. But that's okay. Because it's worth it. When Fantasy Flight put out X-Wing a few years ago I got suckered in and have since spent way too much money on additional ships. Whilst I love the game, I hardly ever get to play it and as such feel like I'm just a slave to the FF marketing machine. Imperial Assault though is a game that I'm almost happy to throw my wallet at, as since I got it, I've barely played anything else. First of all, I've never played Descent (the game engine that this is heavily based from), so my review is from the perspective of someone fairly experienced with board games but fairly new to dungeon crawlers. In Imperial Assault, you combine modular tiles to create numerous classic Star Wars environments and attempt to complete objectives. IA is split into two modes: Campaign and Skirmish - with both providing a healthy amount of content for different situations. Campaign is undeniably the bulk of the game, with one person taking command of the Imperial forces and up to 4 others taking charge of an individual Rebel character. Combining a decent chunk of story and flavour, the Rebels will uncover an Imperial plot over the course of about 10 missions and develop their characters over time, gaining new skills, items and even allies from the Star Wars universe (like Luke and Han). At the same time, the Imperials will slowly add new tricks to put up their sleeves and become more powerful over time. What's more, the missions have branching paths meaning that the next mission you play will depend on the outcome of this one, giving the game a lot of replay value. This mode is fantastic and created with a lot of love for the franchise. Each mission feels authentic and varied, with objectives that change throughout the missions and multiple triggers that activate new chunks of story and Imperial deployments. It's incredibly exciting/terrifying when someone opens a door and suddenly Darth Vader arrives to spring a trap. After each story mission you'll also play a side mission, which could focus on an individual Rebel character or something totally divergent and these are always fun with interesting rewards. All of this will keep you hooked until the final mission where both sides will be at their maximum strength and the victor will be decided for the campaign. By the time you've finished this one campaign, you may very well have already put 20 hours into the game and quite likely might want to start another one, switching characters and roles. Then when you're in the mood for something with less commitment, or simply can't get the full group together, you can play Skirmish mode which puts two sides against each other in a one-off battle. The base game comes with 3 maps with 2 missions on each, all of which have fairly different mission objectives and still manage to include some backstory and theme which is admirable. Each side is able to build teams based on their faction cards deployment costs and a deck of Command cards that gives interesting bonuses during the battle. This mode actually has a fair amount of depth to it and can become especially competitive for one-on-one bouts. Unfortunately the Rebels are quite limited in terms of miniatures and might have to resort to using flat tokens unless you buy the expansions. I do have a few criticisms, but they're merely things to take into consideration rather than severely damage the game. Firstly, this is another example of FF's poor box insert designs ( a pet-hate of mine) which doesn't do a great job of organising the many many many components you'll have to store. Secondly, the campaign that we've played so far has been heavily weighted towards the Imperials - which isn't so much a criticism of the balance of the game as I've seen online many Rebel teams dominating - but more a balance of the group that you play with. We've actually had to resort to a handicap as the other players were starting to get frustrated with constantly losing which obviously isn't ideal. This is something that will fluctuate with who you play with and how good they are at these games, but I'd say try to always keep it light-hearted and enjoy the experience rather than play to win. Overall though, Imperial Assault is a fantastic package that is impressive from top to bottom. It's an expensive box, yes, but it's almost impossible not to get your moneys worth as you'll likely play this a lot more than other big games on your shelf. Also, I recommend getting 4 other friends together and each pitch-in to buy the base game, that way the cost is cheap and you'll make sure that the same group sticks together to play the full Campaign. The gameplay itself is fun and fairly straightforward in the beginning, with much of it's depth and complexity arriving over time as your characters grow in abilities - giving the game a helpful learning curve. The artwork is incredible and the production values on the whole are sky-high.. this is about as good as it gets when it comes to board game design. I think it's time for you to buy Imperial Assault.

Si eres fan de las saga de Star Wars te va a gustar, las reglas son complejas al principio pero una vez que vas avanzando ya te acostumbras, viene en inglés y si tienes que entender un poco el idioma, pero con la app aprendes rápido y se vuelve dinámico

Great product. Great fun. Our family loved it. Incredible value for money.

This game is rated no. 3 on board game geek. It's not that easy to find (although expansions are). It's an excellent dungeon crawler game with a Star Wars theme. Has cooperative play, as well as head to head and campaign mode. The parcel was delivered promptly.