Hi all, just picked up IA for 50 bucks and was wondering what expansions to get first. Seems like the rebel and imperial troopers are used a lot so is that a good buy for my first expansions? Thanks

Well the storm troopers aren't out yet, but if you pick up either a Rebel Trooper OR Rebel Saboteur, along with a Royal Guard Champion, and an IG-88, you'll definitely have enough for a decent squad in each faction. Not a great squad probably, but enough to cut your teeth on the game and decide what you like to play the best. Then you can get some more! Also keep in mind that there are tokens in the core set for characters like Han and Chewbacca, but you'll need the standalone to play them in Skirmish. Chewbacca is pretty brutal, also. But so is that Royal Guard Champ.

If you intend to play competitive skirmish, your first "expansion" should probably be a second core set, especially if you can get another so cheap.

If you only play campaign, skip the figure packs altogether and wait for Twin Shadows, unless there's a villain besides Vader you (or your Imperial player, if that isn't you) realy want to use.

Rebel Saboteurs are a lot of fun a real blast.

Royal guard champion is amazing miniature and a beefy unit.

If you intend to play competitive skirmish, your first "expansion" should probably be a second core set, especially if you can get another so cheap.

If you only play campaign, skip the figure packs altogether and wait for Twin Shadows, unless there's a villain besides Vader you (or your Imperial player, if that isn't you) realy want to use.

After opening the starter and my Han Solo expansion, I was wondering what the point of the expansion was--other than the figure and the side missions, are the figure packs a non-buy for Campaign players?

If you intend to play competitive skirmish, your first "expansion" should probably be a second core set, especially if you can get another so cheap.

If you only play campaign, skip the figure packs altogether and wait for Twin Shadows, unless there's a villain besides Vader you (or your Imperial player, if that isn't you) realy want to use.

After opening the starter and my Han Solo expansion, I was wondering what the point of the expansion was--other than the figure and the side missions, are the figure packs a non-buy for Campaign players?

They do add a new side mission for campaign but certainly not a necessity for campaign only players.

If you intend to play competitive skirmish, your first "expansion" should probably be a second core set, especially if you can get another so cheap.

If you only play campaign, skip the figure packs altogether and wait for Twin Shadows, unless there's a villain besides Vader you (or your Imperial player, if that isn't you) realy want to use.

After opening the starter and my Han Solo expansion, I was wondering what the point of the expansion was--other than the figure and the side missions, are the figure packs a non-buy for Campaign players?

They do add a new side mission for campaign but certainly not a necessity for campaign only players.

Yes I'm confused as well. So basically the stand alone figures only add an actual figurine to the board instead of the little token? Also if I will just be doing campaign mode then the stand alone a are pointless? That's what I'm hearing out of this.

If you intend to play competitive skirmish, your first "expansion" should probably be a second core set, especially if you can get another so cheap.

If you only play campaign, skip the figure packs altogether and wait for Twin Shadows, unless there's a villain besides Vader you (or your Imperial player, if that isn't you) realy want to use.

After opening the starter and my Han Solo expansion, I was wondering what the point of the expansion was--other than the figure and the side missions, are the figure packs a non-buy for Campaign players?

They do add a new side mission for campaign but certainly not a necessity for campaign only players.

Thanks!

If you intend to play competitive skirmish, your first "expansion" should probably be a second core set, especially if you can get another so cheap.

If you only play campaign, skip the figure packs altogether and wait for Twin Shadows, unless there's a villain besides Vader you (or your Imperial player, if that isn't you) realy want to use.

After opening the starter and my Han Solo expansion, I was wondering what the point of the expansion was--other than the figure and the side missions, are the figure packs a non-buy for Campaign players?

They do add a new side mission for campaign but certainly not a necessity for campaign only players.

Yes I'm confused as well. So basically the stand alone figures only add an actual figurine to the board instead of the little token? Also if I will just be doing campaign mode then the stand alone a are pointless? That's what I'm hearing out of this.

The box has everything you need for campaign; it even has all the characters in the first wave of expansions (as tokens). Expansions get you proper models, and elite versions of the rebel units ( I think?).

I'd play it for a while to get a feel of how you'd like to grow it. Personally, I'm waiting for Somos, the Heavy STs in Twin Shadows, and the upcoming ST expansion because I don't like fielding Royal Guards and Nexus where they feel out of place, but I'm at a loss for options. If the heroes decide they like a particular ally, then I'll grab the pack so we have the figure; etc.

If you intend to play competitive skirmish, your first "expansion" should probably be a second core set, especially if you can get another so cheap.

If you only play campaign, skip the figure packs altogether and wait for Twin Shadows, unless there's a villain besides Vader you (or your Imperial player, if that isn't you) realy want to use.

After opening the starter and my Han Solo expansion, I was wondering what the point of the expansion was--other than the figure and the side missions, are the figure packs a non-buy for Campaign players?

They do add a new side mission for campaign but certainly not a necessity for campaign only players.

Yes I'm confused as well. So basically the stand alone figures only add an actual figurine to the board instead of the little token? Also if I will just be doing campaign mode then the stand alone a are pointless? That's what I'm hearing out of this.

Basically. The main appeal is for skirmish, since

1) you can't use tokens in official tournaments, and

2) the figure packs also include command cards that significantly increase the usefulness of the character they come with, and often a whole class of characters, as well as

3) a new skirmish map with two new scenarios.

For campaign, you're getting

1) the upgrade from token to figure (for a character you aren't guaranteed the opportunity to use),

2) a new side mission (which, again, you may never actually get to play due to the way they slot into the campaign), and

3a) a reward card for the Rebels (which you'll only get if you draw and then win the mission, and which, while nice, won't be a game changer) or

3b) a set of Agenda cards for the IP (some of these are actually pretty cool, which is why you should focus on the villains rather than allies if you're only playing campaign and don't have the cash to just buy everything, especialy since the side missions to recruit allies are included in the core box, whereas villains - other than Vader - only show up in specific missions unless you get their figure pack for the recruitment mission).

Ok so there's no way to get more hero cards than what are in the core set? I believe the core set comes with 6 heroes and their respective "giant" stat card. So say I buy the Han Solo hero pack it won't come with one of those giant hero stat cards?

Ok so there's no way to get more hero cards than what are in the core set? I believe the core set comes with 6 heroes and their respective "giant" stat card. So say I buy the Han Solo hero pack it won't come with one of those giant hero stat cards?

The next campaign hero cards are in the Twin Shadows expansion box. If you search the old articles, on June 2, they did a preview that shows them both. The ally and villain packs out now do not have the giant cards for campaign play.

Ok so there's no way to get more hero cards than what are in the core set? I believe the core set comes with 6 heroes and their respective "giant" stat card. So say I buy the Han Solo hero pack it won't come with one of those giant hero stat cards?

The next campaign hero cards are in the Twin Shadows expansion box. If you search the old articles, on June 2, they did a preview that shows them both. The ally and villain packs out now do not have the giant cards for campaign play.

Ok thanks, so your pretty much stuck with using the 6 in the core set for now?

Yeah, the iconic heroes of the movies aren't "heroes" in the game, they're "allies", since the campaign isn't their story. Allies are earned as rewards in side missions; once the heroes have recruited an ally, that character can then be brought along on future missions, but doing so adds the ally's deployment cost to the Imperial Player's starting threat (the reasource s/he spends to deploy enemy units). The core set includes the side missions to recruit Luke, Han, Chewie, a unit of Rebel Saboteurs, and Rebel Troopers (but only if the hero team includes Gideon Argus - the Troopers are a reward from his character-specific mission). The Saboteur and Trooper packs include a second mission to recruit those units; if the heroes win both missions for one of these non-unique allies, they gain the option to use the elite version of that unit as an ally.

Yeah, the iconic heroes of the movies aren't "heroes" in the game, they're "allies", since the campaign isn't their story. Allies are earned as rewards in side missions; once the heroes have recruited an ally, that character can then be brought along on future missions, but doing so adds the ally's deployment cost to the Imperial Player's starting threat (the reasource s/he spends to deploy enemy units). The core set includes the side missions to recruit Luke, Han, Chewie, a unit of Rebel Saboteurs, and Rebel Troopers (but only if the hero team includes Gideon Argus - the Troopers are a reward from his character-specific mission). The Saboteur and Trooper packs include a second mission to recruit those units; if the heroes win both missions for one of these non-unique allies, they gain the option to use the elite version of that unit as an ally.

Ok cool thanks for the info I get it now

Hi all, just picked up IA for 50 bucks...

I hate you.

To answer your question you almost certainly want to wait until you've played some more (probably a full campaign) before buying anything new (especially as rule wise you technically need a new campaign to use the content of ally/villain packs).

Yeah, the iconic heroes of the movies aren't "heroes" in the game, they're "allies", since the campaign isn't their story. Allies are earned as rewards in side missions; once the heroes have recruited an ally, that character can then be brought along on future missions, but doing so adds the ally's deployment cost to the Imperial Player's starting threat (the reasource s/he spends to deploy enemy units). The core set includes the side missions to recruit Luke, Han, Chewie, a unit of Rebel Saboteurs, and Rebel Troopers (but only if the hero team includes Gideon Argus - the Troopers are a reward from his character-specific mission). The Saboteur and Trooper packs include a second mission to recruit those units; if the heroes win both missions for one of these non-unique allies, they gain the option to use the elite version of that unit as an ally.

Ok cool thanks for the info I get it now

Forgot to mention, there's a similar mechanic for the Imperial Player, "villains". Any unique Imperial/Mercenary character counts as a villain and must be earned before deploying them in the campaign. The side missions for villains come from agenda cards; if the IP draws the right card while having enough influence (the currency they earn from missions and spend on these agenda cards), they can put the mission into play. Then, the next time the heroes choose a side mission, the IP gets the villain if the heroes select a different mission, OR if they select the villain's mission and then lose. Once the IP has earned a villain, it can be used in any mission that allows them to select a number of "open groups" beyond those dictated by the mission setup, then deployed by paying its threat cost (usually quite high, so don't expect to field Vader until late-campaign missions when you generate a lot of threat per turn).

The most important difference here is that, while all of the available allies' recruitment missions are included in the core box, ONLY Vader's agenda is; if you want to use IG-88, the Royal Guard Champion, or General Weiss in the campaign (apart from the missions where they are scripted to appear), you have to buy their figure packs. The same appears to be true for Boba Fett and stormtrooper commander Kayn Somos (and allies R2-D2 and C-3PO for that matter) in wave 2.

If you intend to play competitive skirmish, your first "expansion" should probably be a second core set, especially if you can get another so cheap.

If you only play campaign, skip the figure packs altogether and wait for Twin Shadows, unless there's a villain besides Vader you (or your Imperial player, if that isn't you) realy want to use.

After opening the starter and my Han Solo expansion, I was wondering what the point of the expansion was--other than the figure and the side missions, are the figure packs a non-buy for Campaign players?

They do add a new side mission for campaign but certainly not a necessity for campaign only players.

Yes I'm confused as well. So basically the stand alone figures only add an actual figurine to the board instead of the little token? Also if I will just be doing campaign mode then the stand alone a are pointless? That's what I'm hearing out of this.

As pretty much a campaign only player (I skirmish to demo the game and that's about it) I've found that I pretty much only find value in the Imperial player expansions simply because the increase choice when selecting the imperial player agenda deck for the campaign. Since you can only bring 6 sets (3 cards each) for the agenda deck, these imperial expansions increase variety when you get into your 2nd campaign and beyond.

I do have some rebel expansions as well -- rebel troopers and rebel sabateurs. I got those only to give the rebel players a reasonably priced Ally to bring into campaign play without the cost becoming too overwhelming due to the threat (which is basically reinforcement money) it gives the imperial player.

They have announced an alliance smuggler expansion figure which I will get because I think it will be the cheapest Ally available for the rebels and will finally give the rebel player a viable Ally that doesn't give too much threat to the imperial player.

North American folks can pick up IA for $66 via Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Fantasy-Flight-Games-SWI01-Star/dp/1616619902

(free shipping if you are Prime)

I don't plan on competitive skirmish but I will pick up the expansions simply to paint them

North American folks can pick up IA for $66 via Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Fantasy-Flight-Games-SWI01-Star/dp/1616619902

(free shipping if you are Prime)

I don't plan on competitive skirmish but I will pick up the expansions simply to paint them

Do you know if anyone has tried painting them with acrylic paint pens? If so how did they turn out?