Well, we are more than 1/2 way through the U.S. regional season (at least 15 of 24 complete).

At first the Imperials took a commanding lead with various seemingly overpowered and high activation Imperial Officer / Royal Guard combos (sometimes with filler to taste).

But lately, Rebels have evened things out and by my count it's Imperials 8, Rebels 7.

Seems like things were not as bad as I and others seem to think (except, perhaps, for Scum). I've been to two regional (played in one, and TOed the other), and the Luke/Rebel Saboteur (with additional filler to taste) combos are pretty impressive (even the hands of an average player, but especially in the hands of a good one).

No doubt IOs and RGs are powerful, but the Luke/RS combo is also pretty powerful, and things are looking a little more balanced now.

Remember, we only have 1 wave so far, but this seems pretty good given the game is still in its infancy. Given this, the number/variety of figures being played and winning doesn't seem that bad.

Don't get me wrong, there may be some other balance issues (i.e., the smuggled good scenario and that X on the white dice... both seem to have a larger impact on the game than I, at least, enjoy... but at least the former is an easy fix if they just rotate that map out). But, two of three sides seem to have a few (at least slight) variations of some very competitive squads.

If things continue this way, it seems FFG wasn't so far off after all. What do folks think now that we have a little more experience with the game under our belt?

I think the proof is in the pudding, and we can (hopefully) move on from all the sky-is-falling claims.

Edit: it's nice to see a thread with a more positive outlook for IA's future. I think it's a fun game right now, and more options and list diversity are going to make it even more fun.

The problem is that you need 4 cores for 4/4, 2 cores for 9act and 3 sets of Sabs for Rebel Blast. Meaning you need to borrow or it will cost you to have a top tier build. I think thats the biggest reason we have not seen a lot of 4/4 or rebel blast until late.

Also Rebel high act was just not seeing play which kind of hurt having a scissor/paper vs Rock meta when all their was Rock. As people have stated only the core and Wave 1 are out so we are going to have a limited meta.

The meta is what I thought it was going to be back in march: High act NU Imperials, Imperial Mains: Weiss, Vader, RGC, and Rebel Blast.

I don't think that is too high of a buy in at all, especially for a competitive game and especially since you don't have to be competitive with BOTH rebels and Imperials (you can pick one). And, there is always borrowing as you mentioned (I ran the AZ regional and was happy to lend figures/cards to 3 of the 16 players).

Anyway, I posted this tread because I was among those that really thought things were imbalanced. But, after playing in the CA regional, and running the AZ one, I don't feel that way anymore. Like I said, it's only wave 1 (so there is only so much you can do), and it just took folks a while to figure out a counter.

I look forward to seeing what happens at future regionals (hoping it stays close to 50/50... who knows, rebels could even take the lead if a greater proportion of folks start playing them).

The white dice can be annoying, especially when rerolls are involved on a high point character.

There are plenty of ways to damage a figure without them rolling defence dice but none of them are significant enough to make the problem go away.

People keep talking about the rebel saboteur blast being great, but their ability to stun is just as good or better. The combo of them is just amazing. As for the white dice, it is always a gamble. You always remember when your opponent rolls 5 'X's in a row, but do you even remember when they roll 5 straight 'Blanks'?

I'm glad to see that things aren't as heavily out of balance as people have been worrying about, and am really looking forward to the scum getting a bigger figure and some more cheap units soon. Hopefully we will see some more mixed lists because of the new units too.

Edit: couple of spelling mistakes

Registration for Nationals in Germany started 9th of June. They announced a maximum of 32 players and they are fully booked by now.

Registration for Nationals in Germany started 9th of June. They announced a maximum of 32 players and they are fully booked by now.

Do you know why Nationals in other countries is limited to 32? is this a FFG thing or per national event?

I think, they didn't expect as many people to register and I believe they have limited room. I'm pretty sure, it's not an FFG thing. I think, it's even possible, that they'll increase the maximum number of participants.

And I didn't want to complain! I'm just happy, that this game has gained so many fans that fast here in Germany.

I think, they didn't expect as many people to register and I believe they have limited room. I'm pretty sure, it's not an FFG thing. I think, it's even possible, that they'll increase the maximum number of participants.

And I didn't want to complain! I'm just happy, that this game has gained so many fans that fast here in Germany.

I was just wondering since the UK limited it to 32 and it sold out too.

It comes down to space.

The UK national was at the UK games expo, there was a hard cap on players due to space.

You couldn't really move to a different venue to accommodate more players.

If the organisers had known a lot more people would have played they may have put in for a bigger room before the other events at the expo snapped them up.