10-11 token characters.

Yea, but, we are talking about some major characters here. Obviously just thrown in to appeal to the masses.

And obviously using Descent as a comparison isn't an excuse. Why do we have to compare the two systems to begin with?

So it's clear my point isn't resonating. I tried to be as logical as possible. I tried my best.

Ah well, I'm off to pick up the game right now anyways

Now excuse me while I finish up my Battle of Hoth game. I'll include 1 detailed figure of Luke... man it's awesome. But I'll just throw in a bag of white pebbles for the stormtroopers. You guys clearly don't mind. It's a stormtrooper! Look at it! It has nothing to do with the mechanics of the game, perfectly acceptable. Goodness, if I included all the stormtroopers that would cost me a fortune, so it's obvious why I used the pebbles instead.

Now who wants to send me some money

Hmm, I may be interested. Would you be planning to release the Executor expansion boulder for this game?

Will the Executor boulder be on scale to the pebbles?

If I preorder it now what assurance will I have I will get it by Qrt 1, 2018? And yes August 30, 2018 is still acceptable to me as Qrt 1, we are all friends here.

Actually I was just bluffing, if you have a Star Wars logo who am I to deprive you of my money?

TAKE MY MONEY!

This argument is silly. Yes, we have stand-in chits for some of the units for now. Right until FFG releases the first wave of expansion packs, and then we will have all of the models and then some.

Clearly, money is not an issue, since most of the people complaining about the minis are also advocating increasing the price so they would be included. As an added bonus, when they are released, those minis will come with even more stuff, like command cards, skirmish scenarios, etc. Woe is me! I don't have everything ever right now! Down with the establishment!

Seriously guys, grow up. FFG released the game early and it is a horrendously awesome value even with a few cardboard chits.thrown in to flesh it out. Get over yourselves, wait the 3-4 months and then we will have all the minis.

Except it isn't a miniatures game. It is a board game that happens to use miniatures

If it's not a miniatures game, then why I is FFG listing this forum under "miniatures" and not "board games"?

Except it isn't a miniatures game. It is a board game that happens to use miniatures

If it's not a miniatures game, then why I is FFG listing this forum under "miniatures" and not "board games"?

Because of Hasbro's licensing rights.

Look the game is basically Descent with a few bonus modes. Descent is under board games. A week ago so was this forum.

And Descent has all the bosses and allies represented as tokens in the actual expansions. It hasn't stopped Descent from selling well.

You're really nitpicking about not getting all the miniatures?

Have you seen the absolute garbage that other manufacturers have released with the Star Wars license?

The Imperial Assault core set comes with higher quality components than any Star Wars board game that has come before it and you're really going to gripe about not getting every single figure?

Maybe Disney should give the license to WizKids.

I'am french so escuse my english

I want add my point of view. Many people say in this post : "the miniature are not obligatory, you have token to play".

So, but, you can play at Warhammer 40.000 with token too......

No you can't. At least not properly. The rules require models and 3d terrain to properly use the line of sight rules.

There are some actual halfway houses, like X-wing, which doesn't actually need models mechanically (it is based on Wings of War, which initially just used pictures of planes on card), but doesn't have a board as such, just a playing area with 2d terrain. Whether that is a board game, card game or miniatures game is difficult to quite pin down (though in this case you actually do need the miniatures because they didn't provide cards this time).

Except it isn't a miniatures game. It is a board game that happens to use miniatures

If it's not a miniatures game, then why I is FFG listing this forum under "miniatures" and not "board games"?

As others have said, licensing issues. This game has actually switched back and forth twice between board games and miniatures in the forums, and as others have said is essentially a repackaged Descent, which is still listed as a board game. Now, even if it is a bit of legal wangling, it isn't really going to affect Hasbro, as Hasbro will never release a game like this, (even though it was an obvious choice of subject matter for this kind of game) and FFG aren't going to release "Risk Star Wars" or similar. Ok, if FFG released a Twilight Imperium style Star Wars game I could certainly see legitimate reasons for Hasbro to be pissed off.

The only reason why the figures are in separate packs is to earn more money.

We can estimate the cost of the only figures to $ 20/30 dollars more for the basic box .

From there, FFG 's approach may be objectionable .

Do we not all have a passing investment in FFG making money from the game so that content keeps flowing. There seems to be a huge degree of self entitlement creeping in which I've seen turn video gaming toxic!

Only question I ask is does the product represent value for money, of course there may be a licensing premium for that but fundamentally as consumers the choice is ours, don't agree with marketing strategy then vote with your wallet!

I think the miniatures versus board game argument is a little pointless but I'm definitely in the latter camp given the mechanics of the game and in that respect the components are excellent. If this was a genuine miniatures game I think the quality would be considered poor.

Anyways game looks great and can't wait to get stuck in.... happy Imperial Assaulting!

My problem is not with the boxed game. There's a lot of minis and MANY MANY hours of game time in it. I feel like I get what I paid for.

The real problem for me is that the value og the ally/villain packs seems low. Combined the packs are going to as much as the base game costs and they do not nealy providede the same amount of content or game time

So your argument is that you would rather pay the combined price of the core set and all the packs right now?

I like the opt-in model. I'll buy everything they roll out for this game for sure. But I don't mind doing it in bits. For now I'll enjoy the game fully, because that's what's available to me. When the packs arrive, I'll enjoy it again with them. Definitely play the added mission. And probably replay the missions from the core set with the pack minis. For me this will keep the game alive for me. Even if it's part of FFG's marketing scheme.

Full mechanical value in the core game and opt-in for esthetics. That works very well for me and I can't follow the argument, that some would completely remove the characters from the core set (and basically remove a whole lot of play value) just because the minis aren't in there. That just seems like bad logic and it wouldn't even lower the price of the core set.

The only reason why the figures are in separate packs is to earn more money.

We can estimate the cost of the only figures to $ 20/30 dollars more for the basic box .

From there, FFG 's approach may be objectionable .

Yes, they want to make money. They also want to make a popular and well-selling game. If you increase the price point a lot of people may not have pre-ordered, by keeping the cost (somewhat) down you can get more core set purchasers and make the game more available to everyone. Then those with the income and desire can get the extra figures. This is also money driven as a lower price point will generate more sales, but is it a bad thing?

No, my argument is simply that the box is good value, the packs are bad value.

The marketing scheme itself is not bad. I very much like, as you say, the idea of buying the core mechanics in the box and buying extra for flavor. You just do not get a lot of flavor for your money.

I would think adding two skirmish missions 5-6 command cards and a campaign mission is well worth 10 bucks. I mean in the LCG we pay 15 bucks for as few as 5 new objective sets. With X-wing you pay 15 for one ship and a few cards. You are still gaining quite a bit for your cost. The cost set comes with 30 missions if you just divy that up there about 3 bucks a pop if you play campaign only, plus the figure which evidently is a big deal to some players. Skirmish modes included in each ally pack are just icing on the cake

I would think adding two skirmish missions 5-6 command cards and a campaign mission is well worth 10 bucks. I mean in the LCG we pay 15 bucks for as few as 5 new objective sets. With X-wing you pay 15 for one ship and a few cards. You are still gaining quite a bit for your cost. The cost set comes with 30 missions if you just divy that up there about 3 bucks a pop if you play campaign only, plus the figure which evidently is a big deal to some players. Skirmish modes included in each ally pack are just icing on the cake

You get a lot for your 10 dollars I just think people don't want to pay 100 dollars and then now right away they need more. It makes them feel like the company is money hungry which is really not the case.

It's also not right away. More likely February as they are still at the printers and then need to go on the boat and ship out. It's 6 weeks from boat to store normally.

i get the annoyance of chits over minis, but not to stressed. the game looks fun, sort of doom/descent and tannhauser all in one.

the expansion kits are not to expensive in the scheme of things, which in itself makes the game good value for money.

Selling less that £8 is not practical, and tbh FFG have done the individual minis is so many games at about £9 I am used to it.

I picked my copy for £65 and if you look at what you get with the SW branding it is excellent value.

Excellent value indeed. I guess everyone gets into a game--and at varying levels of investment--for different reasons and with different goals, but for me, I LOVE Imperial Assault and I have no problem whatsoever with buying more expansions and Ally/Villain packs over time.

But maybe that's because I am a person who played WotC's SWM, which also included the continual purchase of new content several times per year. I'd rather have a "living game" that requires regular investment of money than a "dead game" that no longer has new developments and changes, and that also (likely) has less of a gaming community. I see my gaming hobby as a direct replacement for what some other guys throw their money into: their car, or hunting, or clubbing, or whatever. I'd rather spend my discretionary income on a game that I love than on anything else.

...And so that's why I have no problem whatsoever with FFG's business model. It's also why I have no problem paying for the Ally/Villain packs as listed. I can recognize why other people think differently, but that's what I was saying with the second sentence of this post.

I played my first game today. (or rather; we played two!) with my wife and a good friend of mine/us.

The consensus among us three was that the game provided EXCELLENT value for the money spent..

If the tokens bother you, just get the WotC figures until the other stuff comes out. FFG is going to milk this any business would. If you doubt that, look how they are packaging the new epic raider to force people who want to make their tie advanced ships better (read: playable).

Like you, I have no interest or ability in painting so I will be subbing in my wotc figs, which are identical in size from what I can tell.

All im gonna say is it could be worse. the game could be like Arcadia Quest where you basically buy the box but all of the so-called "extras" arent even available to be purchased. at least FFG is letting you buy them, and ultimately the way they are doing this is no different than how they do Descent anyway, which IS the system IA is based on. The only people who REALLY care are the skirmish people it seems like and you should know by now that it was going to be expensive anyway.

I think I would be much less annoyed about the expansion figures if it wasn't so obviously all about the money. It's like they're rubbing our noses in it. Rather than compiling an actual expansion set with figures that go together and an over-arcing storyline, they're doing them all piecemeal, which just furthers the insult. At least with day one DLC for computer games they often will eventually do a 'game of the year' edition with all DLC included for one discounted price. That's how I feel this should have been approached. Core game... then in a couple months or a year put out a new box with a cohesive concept (like a 10 mission story that involves Han and Chewie teaming up with some rebels to take down a group of bounty hunters) rather than "play as Han for $7". Just feels cheapened and more like an incomplete original product IMO.

You don't need the expansions to play as Han! Use the token or a different mini if you just cannot use the token for whatever reason. The game box has everything you need to play.

Going to have to throw my lot in with the 'don't add extra minis to the core' team.

The game has everything it needs in order to play and have fun. If the design and mechanics of the game aren't enough to stand on their own and make up for a few tokens that aren't miniatures, then this game probably isn't for you. If you're into collecting miniatures of SW characters, there are lots out there.

* * *

Now I'll throw in my two cents as a business owner who is also a consumer in this matter. Business owners have expenses and those expenses need to be covered in order to stay in business. As well, if a business isn't profitable, it's not really worth being in business for a lot of owners. As a consumer, you need to decided whether the price of something is worth paying for, taking into account the cost to make it - and thus the paying the company what they need in order to cover their investment - as well as what the company is taking over top of that in profit.

Given these particular circumstances, I totally understand FFG's approach to this and can sum it up in easy point-based notes:

• FFG released as many miniatures (which are a greatly increased cost to them over cardboard tokens) as it figured it could in order to get the miniatures feel as well as keep the game within a particular price point.
• FFG included TWO iconic characters in the core as a bonus for at least two reasons:
  • to infer added value (which could potentially be removed later to reduce costs in later printings)
  • to provide an example of what to expect in an expansion pack, ie. firgure, command cards, etc.
  • FFG did NOT provide packaging for several reasons
    • More packaging = more printing = more cost
    • More packaging = more space in the box when shipped
    • No packing means less incentive to re-sell the packaged product
• If EVERY iconic character was represented in the core game (Leia, Han, Chewie, R2, C3PO, Jabba, Emperor, Darth Maul, Mace Windu, Boba Fett, Mara Jade... And several others) then the game would cost in the neighbourhood of $300 which is an enormous pill to swallow for a game's release. That doesn't even include the rebel sabateurs, etc. Remember, it's not as though designing the miniatures and the cards, modling and printing is free.
• Allowing the characters to come as mini-expansions allows for the game to grow (in size and price) gradually... Things can be tested properly, investments can be made $10 or $20 dollars at a time.
• Gradual mini-expansion roll-outs keep the game *FRESH* much like with other collectable games, the right balance of releasing new content allows old content to shine for a period of time while continually adding new content to the mix so things don't get stale.

* * *

So all in all, it would've been great to see this game cheaper (who doesn't like spending less money?!) or to have more mini's included for the same price. That being said, I think FFG was reasonable in what they charged and considering how WELL DESIGNED the game is, I'm *very* happy with my investment so far and eagerly looking forward to spending my money further.