First off, let me say I've been hoping something like this would happen for quite some time. I love tactics games and managed to entirely miss SW Miniatures when it was out, only learning about it some years later. Imperial Assault has captured my imagination for tactical combat in the Star Wars Universe.

I've been wondering about possible uses for the game. The first thing that springs to mind is using SW:IA as a tactical map for Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion or (soon) Force and Destiny. Though the range bands might not blend as smoothly as D&D does to the miniatures, I think it would help illustrate situations for the game master.

Next, with X-wing well established, Armada on its way and now Imperial Assault added to the wargaming list, I was wondering about Super-Campaigns (sort of like Games Workshop with the old Eye of Terror campaign for the 13th Black Crusade, that spanned 40k, Epic and Gothic.) Imagine an IA game that is a boarding action on a capital ship, an X-Wing game to either shuttle in reinforcements or make attack runs on the ship, and an Armada game that rotates around that all-important central ship.

Finally, I'm wondering about the future of the game. Will it eventually open up to non-gridded terrain (like Dust Tactics to Dust Warfare) to allow for more conventional and larger scale battles? Will the Clone Wars eventually be a part of it (or whatever time era Episode VII+ are supposed to take place in)? We've already seen that FFG release some awesome extended universe stuff (thanks for Kyle and the Moldy Crow, by the way) and I'm sure we'll see some of them making an appearance (man, I hope I see some dark troopers).

The options for the game seem near endless, and I'm fascinated to see how the game progresses and evolves.

I absolutely plan on combining IA with X-wing, Armada, and my EOTE/AOR campaign.

The minis games will all act as sort of mini-games for the RPG. The actual PCs won't be involved, but the Rebel forces will represent some of their contributions to the overall campaign against the Empire, sort of like the Fort Condor mission in Final Fantasy VII, if that makes any sense.

i have my SW:IA bow from essen yesterday and reading the 1st paragraf it states that the basegame story is just after the rebels destroyed the star destroyer, and allot is played on yavin4

im planning to play the introduction game tomorrow ( saturday ) with some friends, and we where also planning to combine all sw games together, like playing xwing and skermish together at the same time, as in troops on the ground ( sw:ia ) can desable communications of disable shields of a capital schip in the spacebattle part or activate bombs, launch rokets ect to give advantages there and visa versa , like that you can fully emerge both games together , something allong those lines, we are not quit sure yet

Could you take a picture and PM me the skirmish rules please.... I am soo jealous lol

I doubt anything official will blend the products, but there are certainly possibilities. Most of it will need to be created yourself unless some superfan with a lot of spare time can put something together.

IA could very easily be used to suppliment EotE and the other RPGs though. Having 3D characters and detailed/colored 'mat' to play on would certainly help the immersion factor immensly. I don't think I'd use the IA rules to play EotE though. They aren't going to blend well. Just ignore the hexes and roll with it.

I could imagine a combo system to this effect...

If you remember the old Rebellion game. Set up a number of planets that have various statistics (resources, max garrisons, etc) and create a map. Now you can build your fleet of armada ships and invade other systems. Armada combat for control of the system.

At that point, you'd need to invade the planet. Without a solid system for that right now (The old SW mini game could work if you had an extensive collection), you could use X-wing to handle the invasion phase. Fail the invasion, and you could still blockade the planet and attempt another invasion later.

IA could be used to run spec force teams for special missions. These could have premade campaigns, or run as skirmishes. The idea would be that you could send in a spec force team to disrupt defenses and perhaps reduce the resources of a planet, or make an armada ship inactive for the next round, or a set point total of X-wing ships inactive for the invasion phase.

Building Armada fleets, or X-wing invasion forces, or sending spec force teams would all take resources generated by the planets you control.

You could even have nuetral planets with their own defenders.

Would be pretty epic to play something like that. But nailing down all the details would be duanting, and then balancing it all.

I doubt anything official will blend the products, but there are certainly possibilities. Most of it will need to be created yourself unless some superfan with a lot of spare time can put something together.

IA could very easily be used to suppliment EotE and the other RPGs though. Having 3D characters and detailed/colored 'mat' to play on would certainly help the immersion factor immensly. I don't think I'd use the IA rules to play EotE though. They aren't going to blend well. Just ignore the hexes and roll with it.

I could imagine a combo system to this effect...

If you remember the old Rebellion game. Set up a number of planets that have various statistics (resources, max garrisons, etc) and create a map. Now you can build your fleet of armada ships and invade other systems. Armada combat for control of the system.

At that point, you'd need to invade the planet. Without a solid system for that right now (The old SW mini game could work if you had an extensive collection), you could use X-wing to handle the invasion phase. Fail the invasion, and you could still blockade the planet and attempt another invasion later.

IA could be used to run spec force teams for special missions. These could have premade campaigns, or run as skirmishes. The idea would be that you could send in a spec force team to disrupt defenses and perhaps reduce the resources of a planet, or make an armada ship inactive for the next round, or a set point total of X-wing ships inactive for the invasion phase.

Building Armada fleets, or X-wing invasion forces, or sending spec force teams would all take resources generated by the planets you control.

You could even have nuetral planets with their own defenders.

Would be pretty epic to play something like that. But nailing down all the details would be duanting, and then balancing it all.

Oh, yes, this this this. This is exactly the kind of thing that I would love to use; especially considering I have some friends playing the RPG and other friends playing the skirmish games. It would be great to use as a way to connect all of my Star Wars gaming together.