I'm still trying to learn the game but I thought that you could play 2v2 in skirmish mode?

What is the difference?

I'm still trying to learn the game but I thought that you could play 2v2 in skirmish mode?

What is the difference?

Skirmish is 1 vs 1 while Campaign is an Imperial "GM" versus 2-4 Rebel Heroes

I'm still trying to learn the game but I thought that you could play 2v2 in skirmish mode?

What is the difference?

Officially skirmish is 1 v 1 but you can easily do teams. We've done 2 v 2 here before.

You could easily house rule the iconic characters into your game by just using the character cards for the heroes.

But honestly, why would you want to?

Luke, Han, Chewey, etc all have their own established backstories. They have their own canon story lines. They have their own histories. Trying to shoehorn them into this would break all of that. Oh look, despite Han being an amazing character, he starts this game off like an inept rookie with no special abilities... It feels off. And having Luke develop abilities as a jedi prior to what happened in the movies feels off. But if you move the timeframe of the game to after he's a jedi, then making him play as a inexperienced jedi feels off.

You have a whole new group of blank slates that you can build as characters in this deep universe. Use them, create a new story, create a new history. Honestly, if this game was pitched as a game where you play as Luke, Han, etc...my friends and I would have no interest in it. Honestly, I doubt they'd ever bring them along even as allies because we just simply don't want to interact with the iconic SW characters in our any of our games.

If you will NEVER touch the skirmish side of things, the ally packs are probably worthless to you. Honestly, the villain packs are too. None of that stuff comes into play unless you get the right side quest and then choose to use them afterwards. The only thing they'd add is a little more randomness to the side quests, which would be nice if you plan to play multiple campaigns.

Stick to the main expansions.

What's the point in ally packs? To get the ally figure to replace the token, get two skirmish missions, a campaign mission and some new cards.

And the Luke ally card is goddamn incredible. Easily the best Ally in the game.

The point of the campaign is not to play as the major characters, they are allies that pop up from time to time to help but are not the focus of the campaign nor will they be.

And like I said, that's a bad design decision.

That is in no way a bad design decision. Mechanically speaking , whether you call Diala "Luke" and Jyn "Han" or not, they are sound creations. Now, you can question if having the players act as so-called no-name heroes rather than characters from the movie is a bad decision thematically. I personally don't see it that way, but that's a matter of taste.

...

Even that isn't a bad decision... As per the novels which are plenty successful and the cartoon reboot Star Wars Rebels, (which is plenty popular in itself) you don't need Luke, Han, Leia and Chewie to keep the universe alive. Influx of new faces and new stories doesn't hurt anything.

in my case, it's a two-fold situation. One I hate the idea of mixing Miniatures with Represented Tokens on the same board. Get those things outta here! Next, I love the Skirmish side of the game, as much as I love the Campaign side. So, yeah...I need those (especially Han and Chewie) to properly represent on the field of battle. I think there's a solid third reason for me too, and that's simply to paint these awesome miniatures and make my games look aces.

Now sure...you really don't need them. By no sense of the word. But, as it's obviously been stated by many, there is a want factor involved here...and FFG is catering to that want. Quite nicely, I might add.

I'm still trying to learn the game but I thought that you could play 2v2 in skirmish mode?

What is the difference?

Officially skirmish is 1 v 1 but you can easily do teams. We've done 2 v 2 here before.

I'm sure there are others who have toyed with the idea, but I've been thinking up a multiplayer FFA variant for skirmish. Have some rough ideas banged out, and need some playtesting but it can absolutely be done. My guess is that the designers have already thought of this and might be holding things back for a few expansions to let the 2-player variant iron out it's kinks - if any present themselves - and to provide further replay value down the road.

The point of the campaign is not to play as the major characters, they are allies that pop up from time to time to help but are not the focus of the campaign nor will they be.

And like I said, that's a bad design decision.

That is in no way a bad design decision. Mechanically speaking , whether you call Diala "Luke" and Jyn "Han" or not, they are sound creations. Now, you can question if having the players act as so-called no-name heroes rather than characters from the movie is a bad decision thematically. I personally don't see it that way, but that's a matter of taste.

...

Even that isn't a bad decision... As per the novels which are plenty successful and the cartoon reboot Star Wars Rebels, (which is plenty popular in itself) you don't need Luke, Han, Leia and Chewie to keep the universe alive. Influx of new faces and new stories doesn't hurt anything.

100% agree. However, I will always concede that if we are simply debating the game's merits thematically, then it comes down to whether or not you want these blank slate characters to build or if you want to play as Han, Luke, etc. Given the way this game plays, I personally would not want to "level up" Han, since he seems pretty awesome as it is when the game takes place. Levelling up a "Han" type character like Jyn is a different matter altogether, and one I can get behind without a thematic disconnect.

However, some people would just prefer to play a game where all the awesome movie characters are then reduced to being rookies again by some magic spell, and that's their own personal taste. It just happens that FFG didn't want to make "that" game and gave us what we got instead. I don't think it plays against the actual design of the game in any way, especially to call it out as such. Maybe the OP should just boot up a copy of "Super Star Wars from the SNES and go on a shooting spree with Luke, Han and Chewie where it makes sense?

in my case, it's a two-fold situation. One I hate the idea of mixing Miniatures with Represented Tokens on the same board. Get those things outta here! [...]

Yes this ^. Well maybe I don't hate the idea but at least with Wave 1 the set is somehow complete. At least to me.

I'm sure there are others who have toyed with the idea, but I've been thinking up a multiplayer FFA variant for skirmish. Have some rough ideas banged out, and need some playtesting but it can absolutely be done. My guess is that the designers have already thought of this and might be holding things back for a few expansions to let the 2-player variant iron out it's kinks - if any present themselves - and to provide further replay value down the road.

Well... I don't know if I'm getting much after Wave 1. I want Wave 1 to complete the core game but beyond that I spending/saving for X-Wing future waves and don't really want another long term investment type game. If I do I've also been considering Armada.

As for the post. As above I want a more complete game and the mixture of tokens and figures just doesn't seem right to me. Also I will play far more skirmish than campaign so the extra skirmish sheets are good for me. I never expected to play Luke, Han, etc. but as the advertisement said I've always they if I used them at all they were people part of a the squad not the main characters.

Still wish it came painted though.

I'm still trying to learn the game but I thought that you could play 2v2 in skirmish mode?

What is the difference?

Officially skirmish is 1 v 1 but you can easily do teams. We've done 2 v 2 here before.

I'm sure there are others who have toyed with the idea, but I've been thinking up a multiplayer FFA variant for skirmish. Have some rough ideas banged out, and need some playtesting but it can absolutely be done. My guess is that the designers have already thought of this and might be holding things back for a few expansions to let the 2-player variant iron out it's kinks - if any present themselves - and to provide further replay value down the road.

The big problem with FFA skirmish games is players need to be motivated to not gang up on one side. This happens in battle royale heroclix all the times 3 players join together and gang up on the one loner. Mission mechanics similar to the scenarios for Armada my fix this. You could do something like figure points from the player to your right are worth double. Play to 60 points or death match. That way you are encouraged to attack the player on your right but not ally with the left. You could do somethin similar to the armada scenarios where each player has one figure chosen by another player to be worth double points etc.

No problem there as we are not doing free for all Death Matches. But rather the regular skirmish with the goal and two sides. Just with more players.

The figure packs are kind poor value if you only do the campaign game. I guess it depends on how much you're worried about having minis instead of counters. They seem really skirmish mode focused. For that I could totally see buying them. I wish they had included a unique tile or two and tied it into the campaign side missions and the skirmish boards. It would have changed the value balance a lot.

The figure packs are kind poor value if you only do the campaign game.

Eh, the new campaign missions just help to make sure that every campaign is different. It's fine.

Plus, tokens suck. Like, I don't know how people put up with them mixed in with miniatures.

The figure packs are kind poor value if you only do the campaign game. I guess it depends on how much you're worried about having minis instead of counters. They seem really skirmish mode focused. For that I could totally see buying them. I wish they had included a unique tile or two and tied it into the campaign side missions and the skirmish boards. It would have changed the value balance a lot.

I disagree. The figures are not only *way* better than the tokens, the campaign missions are quite nice, and I'm working on a way to make the skirmish maps fit into the campaigns.

I say "buy the expansions."

Well... I don't know if I'm getting much after Wave 1. I want Wave 1 to complete the core game but beyond that I spending/saving for X-Wing future waves and don't really want another long term investment type game. If I do I've also been considering Armada.

IA looks like the cheapest of the three by a long way.

I disagree. The figures are not only *way* better than the tokens, the campaign missions are quite nice, and I'm working on a way to make the skirmish maps fit into the campaigns.

I say "buy the expansions."

Oh they are way better than the tokens, just given the random nature of the side missions you might never actually draw them or have a reason to put out ally models. I kinda of feel like there needs to be a mechanism to get specific missions out. Like rebels can spend some cash to pull out their character missions, extra draws, etc. (Or maybe I'm just doing the mission phase wrong. Seems like you get 1 card turn over each time.) If it were like the open group models like troopers or another hero I could see spending the money more. Just not sure they'll see board time even if I do buy them.

Side missions are not chosen randomly, the rebel players choose any mission from the ones in the deck

Side missions are not chosen randomly, the rebel players choose any mission from the ones in the deck

You got that wrong. You pull 2 random ones at the start of the campaign and at the end of a side mission you draw 1 from the shuffled deck to replace it.

The Skirmish mode is a non-starter for me since it's two player and my game group is larger than 2. This game is only meant as a replacement for Descent 1e.

FOR YOU .

for the rest of us this game is an excellent board game/RPG/skirmish hybrid set in the Star Wars universe.

From the game description

Imperial Assault casts you and your friends into the climactic events following the Death Star’s destruction above Yavin 4, and offers two full game experiences within the Star Wars saga. In the campaign game, you and up to four other friends play a series of thrilling missions woven together in a narrative campaign, and in the skirmish game, you and your opponent muster your own strike teams and battle head-to-head over conflicting objectives. Whether you play as a hero of the Rebellion and fight alongside iconic characters like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, or command the seemingly limitless armies of the Galactic Empire, you’ll enter the Star Wars universe in Imperial Assault .

As an added bonus, Imperial Assault includes the Darth Vader Villain Pack and the Luke Skywalker Ally Pack . These figure packs mark the first expansions for Imperial Assault , adding sculpted plastic figures with new campaign and skirmish missions.

Imperial Assault contains:

• A learn to play rulebook, a rules reference, a campaign guide, and a skirmish guide
• 34 detailed plastic figures
• 59 double-sided map tiles
• Eleven custom dice
• Over 250 cards
• Over 150 assorted tokens
• The Luke Skywalker Ally Pack and the Darth Vader Villain Pack

​

The fact that you cannot play as Luke and have to play as no-names that nobody cares about is not even remotely made clear by their advertising copy. It was extremely disingenuous on FFGs part saying you get the Luke pack.

It say's play as a hero of the rebellion or fight ALONGSIDE iconic characters like luke or han. How is that disingenuous? Me thinks you just jumped the gun and made an assumption before you bought the game, and now you're disappointed because of that assumption.

It say's play as a hero of the rebellion or fight ALONGSIDE iconic characters like luke or han. How is that disingenuous? Me thinks you just jumped the gun and made an assumption before you bought the game, and now you're disappointed because of that assumption.

Not to mention you can play as them in Skirmish. Sheesh!