I have Descent 2.0 and most of the expansion packs already. Knowing this is descent with star wars theme is one reason I am hesitant to buy it, even though I've read that the game play is a little better.

My main issue is, how does threat work and bringing back reinforcements as the Imperial player. One thing I disliked about Descent was the lack of reinforcements, when the heroes are on a killing streak, bringing 1 monster back per turn doesn't help when heroes are killing monsters before you even use them. So is there a basic form of reinforcement per turn for the imperial player and as an added bonus can bring back an entire squad of units by using threat?

I was looking at some images of the cards, and from watching videos that explained it a little said that the cost to the top left corner was the amount to bring back the unit. Take example the storm trooper if I am not mistaken has a cost of 6, is that the cost to bring 1 storm trooper back or all that are dead? I hope it's to bring back all that are dead. I don't see how waiting 6 turns to get 6 threat to bring back 1 storm trooper is going to change anything.

Yes to both questions, you can bring back single models and whole groups, and they have different costs.

The large number is the cost for the whole unit (3 figures as represented by the lines on the left-handed side). The small 2 is the cost to bring back a single trooper in your example.

Threat increases as the campaign goes on. It is very possible rather quickly to get to a point where you can get back several basic troopers a turn, but obviously the heroes are more capable of killing them at that point =).

I am not a big Descent guy myself, but I have heard many people refer to Imperial Assault as "Descent 3.0 with Star Wars". Basically, it is a newer, even more fixed version.

FTI - The Rules are under the support section on the Imperial Assualt Page, if you want to take a gander before buying it.

My main issue is, how does threat work and bringing back reinforcements as the Imperial player. One thing I disliked about Descent was the lack of reinforcements, when the heroes are on a killing streak, bringing 1 monster back per turn doesn't help when heroes are killing monsters before you even use them. So is there a basic form of reinforcement per turn for the imperial player and as an added bonus can bring back an entire squad of units by using threat?

Not quite. Threat is a resource to deploy units. You get it every round, and can use it (and saved up thread from previous rounds) to deploy new units. There are also events within the missions that deploy units, but these are triggered by the rebels (opening a door for instance).

Now reinforcement is actually a defined game mechani. Some enemies appear in groups (Stormtroopers in groups of 3). If there is at least one of them left at the end of the round, you can spend a fraction of the full cost of the unit to deploy a new figure of that group.

But your real question is answered by the turn order in Imperial assault, which is different from Descent 2E . In Imperial Assault, one Rebel player does his turn, then you do a turn for one of your guys, then a rebel again. Rebels always start, but you get to activate a full group after one rebel completed his turn. This makes your guys much more useful and the chances of them dying before even doing something once are very slim.

I wouldn't say Imperial Assault is a "fixed" version of Descent 2nd edition. The major selling point is the theme. You'll have a lot of fanboys shouting that IA is so much better, but it's really mainly the theme (and your personal preferences). Really, I'm tired of hearing that IA is Descent 2.5 or Descent 3, or that it's a "fixed" version.

If you want a typical fantasy dungeoncrawl setting, Descent is good at that. You get to pick a character, attach a class to it, etc. It suits your D&D fighter/rogue/wizard/priest stuff that goes adventuring in some dark dungeon. The overlord gets his bag of dirty tricks (aka overlord cards).

The changes they did to IA are directly related to fitting the theme/missions more imho. Sure, you might "prefer" the changes, but they aren't necessary "fixes". Like the lack of overlord cards, or the separate activations. I've heard descent players preferring the non-separate activations so they can plan more in depth. Heroes move as a group, etc.

I'll write up a review of IA at some point. If it weren't for the fact that I got IA very cheap (and I love to paint minis), I'd have stuck to Descent. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with IA, but there is a lot of hype around this game and too much unwarranted Descent bashing.

Really, I'm tired of hearing that IA is Descent 2.5 or Descent 3, or that it's a "fixed" version.

Well there are some differences between D2E and IA that make IA seem like an updated version. Namely

• Threat mechanic
• Turn order
• Defense die (though there are still some issues with defensive abilities)
• Campaign structure (with the customizable side missions)
• Included Skirmish mode

I wouldn't say IA is that much better, but it has more content (considering skirmish) and makes for more engaging play (with the alternating turns). For players that already invested in D2E, it's probably not a good purchase, but for new players I would strongly recommend IA, mostly because it plays slightly better.

- Skirmish mode is not a valid point since we're comparing campaign rules to campaign rules. I'm not mentioning Descent's solo mode either.

- No overlord cards in IA. I really miss my Overlord cards in this game. IA does it differently, the IP gets to do things tied to a threat level, such as bringing in reinforcements.

- Dynamic class assignment to hero characters. Not the case with IA. Is this bad? No, it's different. Characters + static class fits Star Wars more and allows those specific class side missions such as looking for a jedi's lightsaber etc.

- The game has hidden information, what about replay-ability? In case of Descent, everybody sees the map layout right away at the start of a quest and can plot accordingly. Again, whatever you prefer.

- While I like the idea of the turn orders cut down in smaller chunks, I can also see merit in the bigger and clear separated turns of Descent where you move as 1 group and the Overlord messing things up with his Overlord cards.

My advice is, if you like a science fiction themed game, go with Imperial Assault. If you like fantasy, go with Descent.

And you can perfectly get both, they are different enough.

I think this game is the best thing ever. You should buy it.

Full disclosure: My opinion is biased, I have purchased 4 core sets.

I have purchased 4 core sets.

You really should check your impulse control

The game is good, but 4 core sets ... what do you need them for?

My main issue is, how does threat work and bringing back reinforcements as the Imperial player. One thing I disliked about Descent was the lack of reinforcements, when the heroes are on a killing streak, bringing 1 monster back per turn doesn't help when heroes are killing monsters before you even use them. So is there a basic form of reinforcement per turn for the imperial player and as an added bonus can bring back an entire squad of units by using threat?

Not quite. Threat is a resource to deploy units. You get it every round, and can use it (and saved up thread from previous rounds) to deploy new units. There are also events within the missions that deploy units, but these are triggered by the rebels (opening a door for instance).

Now reinforcement is actually a defined game mechani. Some enemies appear in groups (Stormtroopers in groups of 3). If there is at least one of them left at the end of the round, you can spend a fraction of the full cost of the unit to deploy a new figure of that group.

But your real question is answered by the turn order in Imperial assault, which is different from Descent 2E . In Imperial Assault, one Rebel player does his turn, then you do a turn for one of your guys, then a rebel again. Rebels always start, but you get to activate a full group after one rebel completed his turn. This makes your guys much more useful and the chances of them dying before even doing something once are very slim.

That is a lot better for the imperial player. So every time a hero goes, the imperial gets to use an entire group of units? I wonder if that will work in Descent.

Are the missions divided into 2 sections like Descent? For example as Overlord saving up Overlord cards, can be the same as saving your threat for the next part of the mission?

Another thing if the missions are divided into 2 parts, if a hero is wounded in the first part, does he turn his card over again or he stays wounded going into the 2nd part of the mission?

I have purchased 4 core sets.

You really should check your impulse control

The game is good, but 4 core sets ... what do you need them for?

2 for myself (one for a campaign and another for the extra models, cards and fiddly bits for Skirmish flexibility).

2 more I have piece parted out on eBay.

Being someone who owns both Descent 2E and IA, I enjoy both games for what each one brings to the table. However, I'm loving what IA brings along with it more, in terms of organized play and the universe it takes place in. If I could find people close to me who would play Descent more, I'd play both. As it stands, IA is where it's at for me.

That is a lot better for the imperial player. So every time a hero goes, the imperial gets to use an entire group of units? I wonder if that will work in Descent.

Are the missions divided into 2 sections like Descent? For example as Overlord saving up Overlord cards, can be the same as saving your threat for the next part of the mission?

Another thing if the missions are divided into 2 parts, if a hero is wounded in the first part, does he turn his card over again or he stays wounded going into the 2nd part of the mission?

1) Yes. A Eebel does his turn, then the Imperial Player does a turn for one of his units. Some units have multiple figures, like Stormtroopers who are up to 3 figures per unit. But there are also units that have only 1 units, like Vader.

2) Yes and no. There are no 2 sections like in Descent, but story events woven into the mission. These story events modify goals for the rebels, deploy new imperial units or do other stuff. You can however, save up threat for these events to overwhelm the Rebels. But you can't save threat across missions.

3) Since there are no parts, there is no real answer to this. Each mission a hero starts on his healthy side. Turned once, he continues wounded. Turned twice, he withdraws and can't take turns in this mission again. He is fully healed for the next mission though.

I never played descent, so I don't know if its the same as in IA, but these were big selling points for me:

1. Imperial Skill Deck :
   - The imperial player has three. And you pick one per campaign. After almost every mission each player (including imperial) receive XP. And they are very, very different.
   
2. Agenda Deck :
   Consists of:
   - Missions the players have to take next and win or else the Empire gets an awesome boost.
   - One time Events like "choose square, each hero on or adjacent is hit by explosion"
   - Other boosts for the Imperial Side, stuff like "this unit is now cheaper"
   
3. Side Mission Deck :
   - Normally you play 5 side missions (depending on the campaign) and there are 19 side missions (Including Agenda Deck) in the game.
   
4. Skirmish Modus:
   I'm a tabletop gamer, so this was a strong selling point.