Imperial Assault really is ridiculously hard on the Rebels. After stomping my group in 4 straight games, they've given up. Aside from deliberately making dumb moves an Imperial Player, is there no other way to soften the blows? Even if so, I fear it may be too late. Like srsly, its EASY to simply defeat/wound 4 heroes.

Generally it is easier at first for imperials. Beginning of the campaign both sides have to remember mission first. for rebels it isnt about killing. It's running and gunning while getting the job done. remind your rebels to learn to let go when it comes to making a run for the terminal or killing my last stormtrooper. every mission counts and over time those few losses at the beginning can snowball and set them back further down the campaign.

These threads always fascinate me. I feel like there's almost a 50-50 split in the debate about which side is over powered. In these same forums a brief search turns up posts for both sides, which implies to me that there's some close balance.

A few things I would tell your rebels: Focus on the objectives.

Don't wait too long to buy skills; the 4-point skills are great, but 1 & 2-point skills can be game changers (especially things like Fenn's Tactical Movement).

The only mission that matters is the last one; you can lose all 10 before the finale, but strong play there can still swing the campaign... I've seen it happen firsthand.

I agree with what the others are saying, focus on the mission. If the rebels try to kill every enemy they will lose. As the rebel I find if you can kill an officer or probe droid before they take their turn it can make a huge difference. I very rarely attack an enemy unit if it's already taken its turn that round.

They should also accept that a few ppl will get wounded each mission. it's fine and often a good idea to be aggressive once you are wounded as I find the imp player will often ignore you while trying to wound the healthy Rebs,

is there no other way to soften the blows?

Play with the Technological Superiority class deck as Imperial Player. It's the only one that starts out weak and finishes strong. We talked about this in our current podcast a bit. The other decks are either very potent early game (Military Might) or straight up horrible for the Rebels (Subversive Tactics).

Overall I think the core box campaign has some issues balance wise. For the victory conditions chosen, it's too long and there are no goals inbetween that would prop up morale. But that's to be expected for the first release and the expansions (especially next year) will flesh out the game much more!

I've had the opposite experience. I know the tactics of the game very well (I won my skirmish Regional, going 6-0), and yet my 3 boys seem to win 80% of the time in the Campaign. They're using Fenn, Diala, and Gideon. Diala ends up wounded just about every time. Fenn often does too, because he likes to use Havoc Shot twice on his turn, which tends to leave him out in the open to take a beating. Gideon just got his 4xp talent, Master Stroke, which makes them even stronger now. They have played Descent 2.0 in the past, and so they've learned the value of teamwork and cooperation (that took a bit to learn, with 3 kids under 10 yrs, at the time).

I do think one of the keys for the Rebels is to focus on the objectives, over anything else. Kill the stinkin' Imperial troops when you can (especially the ones that haven't activated yet that round), but you've gotta handle your objectives or the Imperials will steam-roll you by sending fresh new troops each round, in an unlimited supply. And don't worry about the crates so much...they're nice, but they're a detriment if they keep you from accomplishing your mission objectives.

I've had the opposite experience. I know the tactics of the game very well (I won my skirmish Regional, going 6-0), and yet my 3 boys seem to win 80% of the time in the Campaign. They're using Fenn, Diala, and Gideon. Diala ends up wounded just about every time. Fenn often does too, because he likes to use Havoc Shot twice on his turn, which tends to leave him out in the open to take a beating. Gideon just got his 4xp talent, Master Stroke, which makes them even stronger now. They have played Descent 2.0 in the past, and so they've learned the value of teamwork and cooperation (that took a bit to learn, with 3 kids under 10 yrs, at the time).

I do think one of the keys for the Rebels is to focus on the objectives, over anything else. Kill the stinkin' Imperial troops when you can (especially the ones that haven't activated yet that round), but you've gotta handle your objectives or the Imperials will steam-roll you by sending fresh new troops each round, in an unlimited supply. And don't worry about the crates so much...they're nice, but they're a detriment if they keep you from accomplishing your mission objectives.

I have only played one campaign on the hero side with 4 heroes. But all I have read this game is unbalanced towards the heroes if less than 4 heroes are used.

That makes sense.

My wife is currently playing a two hero campaign (she uses garkkhan and fenn), and it is nearly impossible to wound either of them. The legendary bonuses are just ridiculous and don't balance having two additional heros with less HP. At least then you could do enough damage to wound without being able to rest/lone wolf out of trouble. We are going to try one person controlling four heros instead for the next campaign.

I don't think it's a problem with balance between sides. I think the problem is that once one side has a 2-3 wins in a row, the rewards tend to ensure more victories, and the effect just snowballs into one side becoming far stronger. That said, it's important to create a strong rebel team with good synergy, Gideon makes a huge difference here.

Every time this topic comes up, I have to ask -- which Imperial deck are you playing, and against which heroes?

Subversive is incredibly strong; Tech is relatively weak, though it starts to shine toward the end. On the Rebel side, Fenn is a beast, Jyn can be a tactical powerhouse if used well, and Gideon can also be a huge force multiplier with the right build and strategy.

So if you're using Subversive and the Rebels are using relatively weaker heroes, that alone may explain your imbalance (assuming you've ruled out any rules mistakes or large skill differences between the teams). Conversely, when Imperials complain of always losing, I think it tends to turn out that they're using Tech against the likes of Fenn.

I have found that during most games, I have to resist the urge to make the 'best' move as Imperial Player. I can often immediately spot when the heroes make a small error and can see a way to exploit it. I've had to change my perspective of the game to draw upon my RPG background and when I feel the Heroes have made solid moves and good planning, if the dice havent been kind to them, I will make less optimal moves. Its the only way they seem to have a chance. If they make huge mistakes or get drawn in to combat for too long, i'll up my game to lock them into losing.

Nevertheless, i'm going to watch a few gameplay videos just to ensure i've been doing everything correctly.

One question: when the heroes are selecting a side mission, are they allowed to ask about details such as victory conditions or whether the mission is timed? We have been playing that they can only read the mission card before selecting and thus do not know the particulars until they have committed to that mission.