So I was just wondering how long your avg game lasts and if you feel skirmish is too short?

My thoughts on the matter are this:
At the Chicago Regional zero of my games went to time all of them were over in 3 rounds or less. The one game that was close to a full three rounds took the longest. Even that game by the end of the 2nd I felt if RGC died I had the game. the others didn't last longer than 30 mins and all went 3 rounds but in the middle of the second we knew who the winner was.

It just felt like you setup move a few guys some what attack turn 1, really attack turn 2 and because of missions its over by round 3 but you knew by turn 2 who won. That just feels way too fast for me. Right from setup you could kind of see how things were going to go and were kind of figured out in the first 4 moves of the first round. That was not a lot of fun for me to know what was going to happen that early in a game.

Other than my games at the Regional most my games on the core maps went like this Round 1 just movement and a little attacking, Turn 2 is stil movement but by the middle of the round into the middle of round three is where the meat is. The middle of round 3 to the middle of round 4 is where end the game happens. Is this more normal for people? That extra round of play really mattered.

I feel a lot of this is because of how small the Core maps and how the core missions work compared to some of the Wave 1 maps. All my games on those maps last into round 4 and sometimes even go 5 rounds. That feels a lot more like a game. Is this true for others?

Games for my usually end near the end of round 3 or early to midway through round 4

I do prefer the bigger maps, just because there's more to do. Yes, the size of the maps matters for speed, and the smaller maps in the Core set will therefore lead to quicker games.

However, I think that by far the bigger factor for the speed of a match is the experience of the players. I've played some matches where it feels like I could read a book between my turns...and then I've played other matches where we're done in 30-40 minutes but it's been 4 or 5 rounds.

Personally, I don't mind if a match is done by round 3; I just want to see combat happen!

I have games go to round 4 easily and sometimes longer, but we tend to play some what defensive, due to our destructive lists and knowledge of each other.

If we aren't playing a fetch quest, my games tend to last at least 4 rounds, usually closer to 6. I play very defensive though.

About an hour. Usually it's easy to tell a winner quite quickly, but a lot of the time playing it out can make for a close game or the tides may turn!

I would definitely say that once I learned the game, and not counting set-up, none of my games has lasted an hour.

I am rather poor at jigsaw puzzles, so sometimes assembling the board is harder than the game itself!

After finishing the campaign I have, over the last 2-3 weeks really got into the skirmish mode. I've mostly been playing my brother. We set the new Mos Eisley cantina map up a couple of nights ago (playing skirmish card A - DRINKS AND DEALINGS) and had a download after the game. We both discussed how once the 40 points had been achieved (by me) it kind of felt a bit flat (thematically) to walk away from the setup with some heroes and villains still poised for attack in the cantina.

We decided to play again but added the variant that once the 40 points had been achieved (by whomever), in order to win, the player then had to get ALL of their remaining character back to an ENTRANCE token that we set up in each deployment zone at the start of the game. We both felt a bit of a buzz because he had achieved the 40 points and then was getting chased down by my characters as he tried his hardest to get three figures back to his zone token (some of whom had weak speed).

He managed it but it sure was fun and I did snipe off one of his figures.

We both unanimously agreed that this added a bit of excitement to the ending of the game that was lacking in the first few we played on this map. Lasted a tad bit longer too.

I love this game...

Very different from map to map, and what list I face. Sometimes it goes really fast, but I would say on average the games last about 30-35 minutes, not including setup.

When planning my list I try to look at the missions and the deployments then plan what I am happy to lose turn 1 and then on from there. I normally plan for a 4 turn game incase I fall behind early.

I have only been playing for a week and my first game was a horrible loss that took 2 hours and was maybe 5 turns.
In the two events I played in this weekend I am already getting games done inside 30 mins.

I feel that due to the mechanics of how VP's are scored, the deployment zones, size of most maps and game mechanics it is fairly easy for a good player to pounce on a mistake which in a game of the size of IA snowballs very quickly.

That is not a criticism as I feel that you should be punished for mistakes and in a highly competitive environment if one mistake costs you the game than so be it.

All of that leads to a fast paced 30-40 + 20 for set up game meaning you can easily do 70 minute rounds at events with very very little run over. Ask any TO and they will tell you what a godsend a game like IA is.

Kris