After playing imperial assault, I'm feeling WotC really dropped the ball on the Star Wars licensing. I loved SW Minis but it was so unbalanced; some abilities were outright broken (accurate shot, for one). Miniature quality was sub-par with bent light sabers and a myriad of other parts could never be straightened. Character customization was absent.

I really feel like WotC wasted five years (?) of the Star Wars gaming license. :-/

I very much enjoyed WotC SWM game and I still play it with my son. Unfortunately, it became unbalanced with the Universe expansion with things like Super Stealth and Grand Admiral Thrawn. However, if you just play friendly games without the power pieces, it still is a simple, enjoyable game.

I am very much enjoying FFG's Imperial Assault, however, and look forward to many more years of gaming in the Star wars Universe.

I really enjoyed WotC's SWM, but I'm much happier with IA. I think that adding missions and command cards will allow the game SO much more flexibility than there ever was with SWM.

Furthermore, FFG is going to fully support IA with organized play (on the level of X-Wing), which is SO far beyond what WotC ever did.

But even beyond that, WotC has a track record of dropping any game that doesn't end with either "...the Gathering" or "...& Dragons." Compare that to FFG, which has a proven track record of not only supporting their games, but actually being passionate and excited about them! There really is no question about who I'd rather have piloting this spaceship. IMHO, FFG is the BEST gaming company in existence right now, and so IA has a very bright future.

I'm in for the long haul! And this is coming from a guy who was devoted to SWM for more than 8 years.

I played SWM heavily back in it's hayday, and still play it from time to time with my young son.

However, I'm looking forward to the added tactical dimensions the command cards will add to the game.

There was another thread started a while back for the old SWM players:

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/125643-who-is-here-from-the-old-wotc-community/

I wanted to like them, but between bad prepaints and bad balance, I never did get into it. So glad IA came out, now I want FFG to give me a tabletop squad level game.

I wanted to like them, but between bad prepaints and bad balance, I never did get into it. So glad IA came out, now I want FFG to give me a tabletop squad level game.

Isn't that what IA is? Or do you mean the grid-less, 3D-terrain kind of game?

I wanted to like them, but between bad prepaints and bad balance, I never did get into it. So glad IA came out, now I want FFG to give me a tabletop squad level game.

Isn't that what IA is? Or do you mean the grid-less, 3D-terrain kind of game?

Yes, that

FFG still has partial rights to the Dust Warfare (not Tactics) rules system. Would be perfect to attach the SW license to.

I am still not sure about IA it seems a lot of old swm gamers are afraid that IA is a money pit like swm and have moved on to X-wing. I am also afraid that it's going to be combo based and luck based. I do like that it seems all the minis are playable just not sure if the balance of the command deck yet. People play mini games to get away from combo based card games for a reason.

I do like they are trying to make everything they come out with playable but that is s big challenge and could really back fire in the long run. I also like that combat happens right away than in a few rounds down the round. I like that range Is not just I can see you so I can shoot. You have to plan it out. Mission vs gambit is a big upgrade for me. I am still unsure of the health of players, balance and getting stuff out with out delays which kills games.

Warmachine is one of the biggest mini games on the planet and extremely combo based, even 40k is very combination based around what wargear and what models you combine. More and more successful miniature games coming out are combo based to an extent one way or the other. IA will never be the money pit SWM was, because you know what you're buying. I'm perfectly content so far with a single core box. Before I gave up X-Wing, I felt like I was pretty much obligated to buy a lot of multiples to enjoy the experience.

When I talk combo based its the cards you can drop like in a card game making the game random not the minis you can put together like Han sc, Obi spirit, leia. You can plan for that. That's what I liked about swm you see what you get.

No reason why you can't just drop the cards. I've done that teaching my son, and we've still had great games.

I really enjoyed WotC's SWM, but I'm much happier with IA. I think that adding missions and command cards will allow the game SO much more flexibility than there ever was with SWM.

Furthermore, FFG is going to fully support IA with organized play (on the level of X-Wing), which is SO far beyond what WotC ever did.

But even beyond that, WotC has a track record of dropping any game that doesn't end with either "...the Gathering" or "...& Dragons." Compare that to FFG, which has a proven track record of not only supporting their games, but actually being passionate and excited about them! There really is no question about who I'd rather have piloting this spaceship. IMHO, FFG is the BEST gaming company in existence right now, and so IA has a very bright future.

I'm in for the long haul! And this is coming from a guy who was devoted to SWM for more than 8 years.

Amen brutha! Couldn't have said it better myself!

There is no way IA will be the money pit SWM was. Drop $225 back in the day for two cases of minis and still have gimp squads because I'd still be missing that RS Boba or CS Aura Sing....I don't miss that at all. At least if I drop $200 on IA, I will have a complete set and be competitive for the tourny scene.

It will be a while before I make up my mind. I like the IA minis less just because I have zero interest in painting minis. I get what people are saying about there being some very poorly done WOTC sculpts and paint jobs, especially after the first three sets, but at least they have colors on them. Of course, I still have my old WOTC stuff, so I just subbed in WOTC minis when I played through the campaign.

Campaign mode was a lot of fun (even though I got annihilated my first time through playing against my brother--I was Rebels). WOTC obviously never came up with any kind of scenario or mission-based play that was anywhere near as cool as campaign mode. I haven't tried skirmish yet, so I'll be curious to see. It looks like it will probably be faster-paced than WOTC was, but perhaps a bit more luck-based.

It's also going to take a while to make sure I'm using the correct line of sight rules for whichever game I'm playing, since there are some differences (I think I like WOTC's LOS rules better, but maybe I'm just accustomed to them).

WOTC obviously never came up with any kind of scenario or mission-based play that was anywhere near as cool as campaign mode.

I played scenarios from the Star Wars Miniatures Ultimate Missions and some of them where fun because they recreated the epic scenes from the original trilogy. I could try to adapt them with IA rules but at this point we don't have access to all the characters command cards.I hope IA will come up with similar scenarios.

Here is how I see it they both are different and no game is better than the other. I dont think the minis paint jobs were that bad.

One is straight forward like a comedy tv show every week is different but its really see what you get. You have your map, Character cards, Dice, Figures. Setup and go right at it. Then just need to get to gambit and kill them. .

IA is more like a Thiller TV show where there is storyline and layers to the story. Also because of the command cards there is the factor of being able to read your opp when he draws and figuring out the odds if they have the card you dont want them to have. Then there is the dice which really changes how a character fights(helps balance out melee/shooters). The maps still are a factor so you still need to study los, safe spots, and squares. Then there are misssions to help build the story and game. I think the Map/Missions are going to help make the game random like small world in a way. Then last the character deloyment cards to help show the true meat of the character. I just love the depth of the game and how many factors come into play.

There were a few things I didnt like about WOTC Lack of balanced maps, Melee vs Shooter, took to long to get in combat or able to hide aka override and When you bought a set only half of them were playable, The games were just too straight forward at times because the goal was the same every time. I think all of these are a dressed with IA. IA will have its own problems I just like that some of the down falls I have with WOTC were a dressed with IA.

I like how some of the most irritating things and difficult to explain things are not in this game. Stealth, override, accurate shot, extra count for diagonal movement, attack of opportunity (especially with flight or not), melee getting shredded before they cross the map. This game is much more straight forward in those aspects. It is easier for many to compare symbols on the dice than to do the math of attack and defense with all the modifiers that could be added on both sides.

There is always a bit of luck when it comes to die rolls. I like how the command decks and the surge options can help reduce the chance aspect of the random die roll. Positioning is very important, but with different scenarios, it changes all the time and haven't noticed the 'sweet spots' on the map that offer a superior position as you often got int he wotc maps.