I got sucked into playing it a couple weeks ago. The premise seems fun, though it seems way more complicated than xwing in terms of jumping in.
The campaign aspect is very cool, though there's not as much "skill" involved as in xwing as you're mostly just moving around squares and hoping for good dice luck.
I would still probably get into armada first if I had the time and money.
I'm primarily an X-Wing player, but campaign imperial assault is super fun. Especially with the full 5 people. I think I'm in the middle of 4 campaigns, and each one being different and fun. If you do get into it, just use the starter for a few months. There's PLENTY of stuff to keep things different. If you really REALLY want the different side missions... then get 1 of each expansion.
I'm really mixed on Skirmish though, and mainly because of the white die. Its ... just *TOO* random. And I think that's the biggest complaint you'll find about the game.
I got sucked into playing it a couple weeks ago. The premise seems fun, though it seems way more complicated than xwing in terms of jumping in.
The campaign aspect is very cool, though there's not as much "skill" involved as in xwing as you're mostly just moving around squares and hoping for good dice luck.
I would still probably get into armada first if I had the time and money.
There's a decent amount of skill and tactics in choosing which figures to move in what order, how they affect line of sight, and how to keep your opponent's abilities from triggering. It's actually more than I'd like for a campaign. Make one bad move and the wookiee or smuggler end up killing half you troops before the get to do anything.
Too true. Heck just learning to defeat Fenns blast effect is hard to pull off at first. Lots of strategy when you get real into it.
My game night group just finished our second game of our first campaign. It was the Han Solo side mission. We definitely enjoy the game but we need to plan to play it more often. We hadn't played since the first game 2 months ago.
I like it, though because I don't own it learning and remembering all the rules is difficult especially when I am expected to learn and know all the rules (which means I was elected to be the Imperial player). My group considers me to be one of the better people and learning and teaching games. It's a bit of a challenge but it's fine by me, I've won 2 campaign missions so far. I want to try out the Skirmish mode still.
All in all I'd give it a solid 9/10.
9 instead of 10 for a few reasons.
It takes longer than I think it should to set up.
There are so many components and cards needed in the campaign (some sets of cards need to be in the same order every time) that it's a bit annoying making sure you have everything out before you start. You definitely have to write some extra things down that won't fit on the campaign sheet.
Expansions means that while it is a game I would love to have in my own collection, I don't want to spend money on all the figure packs. I don't mind expansions normally, especially because of Fantasy Flight's great distribution model. I already have X-Wing however and I would prefer to widen my collection of games for a while rather than buy expansions.
It still gets a 9/10 and I've considered purchasing just the core set way more than once. As it stands right now, someone in my game group owns it and has been purchasing the expansions as well. No need to get it any time soon.
I've just started my second campaign. The first was excellent and all but one of the missions went down to the wire, so they seem very balanced. The second campaign is only just starting, but has already thrown up different missions. I've only played the skirmish once, which was fun and it needs more play. However, the x wing players in the campaigns have generally felt that x wing is still a better and more fun game.
In terms of essential expansion packs, it depends on how much you want to play skirmish, but in the campaign we have used saboteurs and General Weiss the most.
Just keep in mind, though, that you'll ideally want a group of 4-5 players who can meet regularly to play through a 12-game campaign.
This is hard for some people to get to happen, especially if you're at a point in life where your friends have hard-to-predict family and job responsibilities.
Yep and yep! This is the killer for me. I'd love to get into this game but .. well .. ^ that!
Yeah this.
I bought Descent 2nd ed a few years ago and managed to get through most of the base campaign in s few sessions, so went out and bought most of the expansions (yes a lot!) and can you guesswhat happened ??
It can be very hard to get the same 3-4 people organized to get through a campaign so it really depends on your group.
Me Id rather spend the 8hours on Twilight Imperium
Fun enough game but sufferes from the same problem as Descent in that if you have the ideal number of people on hand to play it you have enough people to play an RPG.
I really really like IA. Alot. However it's not exactly popular in my area so I seldom get to play it. I really like the Skirmish mode in particular, as I like a quick 1 on 1 battle, and usually don't have the ability to commit to a lengthy campaign.
I really really like IA. Alot. However it's not exactly popular in my area so I seldom get to play it. I really like the Skirmish mode in particular, as I like a quick 1 on 1 battle, and usually don't have the ability to commit to a lengthy campaign.
There's a vassal module of the skirmish game if your interested.
Fun enough game but sufferes from the same problem as Descent in that if you have the ideal number of people on hand to play it you have enough people to play an RPG.
You can play the campaign with only two players as long as the rebel wants to control 1-3 extra characters. Thats what we did.
You can play the campaign with only two players as long as the rebel wants to control 1-3 extra characters. Thats what we did.
There are rules for powering up single characters too, but it's not as much fun as having a proper full group.
Me Id rather spend the 8hours on Twilight Imperium
Oh gees, my respect for you almost instantly dissipated. Thank goodness you added the word 'Imperium' at the end of that sentence. 
Me Id rather spend the 8hours on Twilight Imperium
Oh gees, my respect for you almost instantly dissipated. Thank goodness you added the word 'Imperium' at the end of that sentence.
Hahaha yeah IKR. Them **** emo vampire trash films had to go and can use generic Sci-Fi names for the titles.
Eclipse is another great game like TI but takes about half the time, if your into space empire building games
They did an exceptional job with the branching campaigns. The skirmish game is just meh though.
We're in a very university/college driven market where I live, so a huge core of our gaming community isn't here right now.
That said, there's a few of us that manage to get in one night a week of Star Wars gaming - and we're alternating in a three-week cycle for X-Wing, Armada, and Imperial Assault. We don't have enough regulars right now for campaign, so we've been playing a ton of IA Skirmish. The general consensus is that it's right on the same rank as the other two.
There's been some comment about it's a bit flat in terms of units, and that's true for both Armada and IA right now. Some of the Hero characters for IA have helped, but the big expansion isn't here yet, and that's true for the major wave that's coming for Armada. I feel that both will fundamentally change their systems, and really show what they can do.
Overall, I'm very pleased with IA and Armada. Yes, it was a Bantha-weight of money to pay for them all, but I haven't had any regrets for doing so.
No interest in the skirmish game.
I am in love with the campaign game, but I loved Descent already. I highly recomend it.
Though, I think my love will shift to the Ninja Turtle version next year.
Ninja Turtle version next year.
A TMNT version of Decent/IA? Please tell me more.
I have all three FFG Star Wars miniatures games and find it hard to pick a favourite out of them. They all bring something different to that table.
I've played a full campaign of IA and a number of skirmish games and love it just as much as X-Wing.
The campaign is a blast, although it can be tough getting a group of 4-6 played together regularly to really get the most out of it.
Having played a number of other skirmish games (40k, Heroclix etc) the scale and rules of IA are manageable, the timing of activations, positioning of your figures and the use of command cards to give you extra abilities all provide plenty of strategic depth.
I'd probably agree with some of the other comments about the balance at the moment, but as more units get released there we will be far more build options. The boxed expansion coming out this month will add two more units for each faction which will help no end.
All in all, I'd recommend it, although building a decent collection of all three games (especially when you don't specialise in one faction) can get expensive!
https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/180771/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-shadows-past
Next year. By the guy who did Descent 1st and Doom, so I would expect it closer to those than Descent 2nd/IA. And based on my favorite continuity of TMNT ever. Pretty much if you have something you loved from a version of TMNT, IDW has probably incorporated it into their books.
Getting the chance to play it is hard for the campaign, but it is a lot of fun if you do. I like it in part because I can't seem to get people to play missions in X-wing, so for the same reason that the epic campaigns with the GR75 and CR90 were my best X-wing experiences.
Well if I every get my Raider I have a order of Imperial Assault and all of wave 1 and 2 coming with it ....... Someday....