I'm just starting to play IA and have been playing X-Wing for awhile. In X-Wing to play in tournaments all you need is the core set and whatever ships and upgrade cards make up your list. I'm beginning to suspect that IA will not be the same with skirmish mission cards and new map tiles spread across different expansions.

Am I totally off here? Will I be unable to play at tournaments if I don't keep up with expansions?

From what I remember the rules on what missions you are required to bring is "all that are in your collection," so if you don't own some you are not expect to have them, so you should theoretically just need the core and those expansions you want. The only major issue I can forsee is if any of the mini expansions use tiles from the bigger expansions, as you will be expected to include those missions in your mission pool, but won't necessarily have the tiles. However, it might be that all the missions included in mini-expansions will only use tiles from the core set (missions from the larger expansions of course would probably include tiles from their own sets as well as the core).

Truthfully I don't know how this could be policed, as as long as you don't miss the missions from the figures and cards you take with you I don't know quite how anyone could prove you should be including more missions than you have.

I think this has actually been a bit of a puzzle to many players, how they are going to deal with skirmish mission expansion after the initial waves, as limiting themselves to only care tiles seems a bit of a shame, but then as you say, it would be a barrier to those who don't get at least 1 of everything.

You need the core set and whatever sets the 3 maps in the tournament rules come from.

Truthfully I don't know how this could be policed, as as long as you don't miss the missions from the figures and cards you take with you I don't know quite how anyone could prove you should be including more missions than you have.

You might not even own the mission cards from all figures and command cards you bring if you buy singles from expansions instead of buying all of an expansion. I'll probably try to buy singles for a couple of things in Twin Shadows and Return to Hoth because I don't really want any of the campaign crap.

You need the core set and whatever sets the 3 maps in the tournament rules come from.

That sucks, especially if the game gets popular and figures that are needed are out of stock everywhere. I can't imagine how many people would have not been able to play in X-Wing tournaments some component from the Millenium Falcon expansion was required to enter.

You need the core set and whatever sets the 3 maps in the tournament rules come from.

That sucks, especially if the game gets popular and figures that are needed are out of stock everywhere. I can't imagine how many people would have not been able to play in X-Wing tournaments some component from the Millenium Falcon expansion was required to enter.

That's actually incorrect. You don't need to buy the sets with those maps, but it would help. Once they release which maps will be needed you can always get them from someone who already has them. For me, I only own one of the current tournament legal maps, and I just use my friend's when we play to practice it.

I would recommend by the core set and whatever else you want to run.

You need the core set and whatever sets the 3 maps in the tournament rules come from.

That sucks, especially if the game gets popular and figures that are needed are out of stock everywhere. I can't imagine how many people would have not been able to play in X-Wing tournaments some component from the Millenium Falcon expansion was required to enter.

That's actually incorrect. You don't need to buy the sets with those maps, but it would help. Once they release which maps will be needed you can always get them from someone who already has them. For me, I only own one of the current tournament legal maps, and I just use my friend's when we play to practice it.

I would recommend by the core set and whatever else you want to run.

It sound like you're suggesting that the components are required to play but that I could just borrow them. I guess technically you don't need to buy anything. You can borrow the models and upgrade cards as well as the mission cards and map tiles. I don't know how many people I'll know will have multiple copies of expansions like Return to Hoth or even the smaller ones that no one really needs to buy more than one of like IG-88 to be able to loan me components.

Assuming, someone has no friends who also play IA: There are many good command cards and other stuff in all packs. I suggest one of everything. If you want to go competitive, then get a 2nd core set and a second set of saboteurs.

Borrowing a extra deployment or command card that a friend isn't using in their list is one thing. Borrowing a mission card or map tile that they are also required to bring is another.

Really, this is a living competitive miniatures game. That means we will continue to have new pieces being added every once in a while, as long as the game is running. Surely you will be able to go to tournaments with just what you can build from a Core Set...but you'll be playing against people who have bought these new expansions, and who therefore have an advantage because they have access to pieces that you do not. This is normal for any competitive game.

What is not normal is the price: IA skirmish is far, far less expensive than any other skirmish game I've ever played. I used to spend at least $300 per set on each Star Wars Minis release (from Wizards of the Coast), and it often took more than that to get all of the pieces I needed. Then World of Warcraft minis was even more expensive. So far, including my pre-order of all the Wave 2 stuff, I'm still under $300 for everything...and that includes 2 core sets.

So anyway, I think you'll find that the expansions are quite inexpensive, especially compared with other miniatures games. For example, in IA you can get all the awesomeness that is Boba Fett...for just $10. That's a huge bargain, because I remember the Boba Fetts for SWM regularly commanding prices of $50+.

Therefore, I'd encourage you to give skirmish a shot. If you enjoy it, I think you'll find that it's relatively inexpensive to "keep up" with the new expansions.

I don't mind buying expansions that I'm going to use in my list. I would mind buying expansions that are required for crap like map tiles and missions. I would find it irritating to have to buy Return to Hoth just to get the components that are being required for whatever the currently legal maps are.

I really hate the "this game is so cheap, just but it all" argument that comes from comparing the price to a WoTC collectible game where ridiculous secondary market values were set by artificial scarcity created by WoTC. FFG gets plenty of money, they should consider themselves lucky that they are getting a little bit more of it from my IA purchases.

The box expansions are the only expansions that have tiles; the individual figure packs do not. So I think it's probably true that you will need to buy the box expansions (Twin Shadows and Return to Hoth) if you want to have all of the tiles. But I'm not even sure if that's completely necessary; if you showed up at a tournament without the Hoth or Twin Suns tiles, I'm sure you would have no problem putting a map together, since your opponent will likely have all the required tiles. I know that I was happy to build the map each time at the GenCon championship last week, because I had pre-organized all of my tiles to make it faster and easier. I think that my opponent built the map just one time, and that was because he had already assembled the major parts of it. So if my opponent was unable to build the map for a given mission, I would have no problem using my tiles instead. It's really not a big deal, at least to me.

The individual figure packs (ie, Boba Fett or Kayn Somos) will be even less necessary, since you just need to be able to reference the information from the Mission Cards or map images. And those are easy to photocopy...and again, your opponent will likely have those materials himself and he'll be happy to let you look at them.

As for the "this game is cheap" thing, I guess that's different strokes for different folks. If you're not used to competitive miniatures games, then I can understand why it would be off-putting to continually be buying more expansions in order to stay current. However, this is the nature of competitive miniatures gaming: you need to keep buying in order to stay current. The extremely popular X-Wing game uses this format: new expansions are coming out regularly. And so, if you're going to play a competitive miniatures game, then yes, IA Skirmish actually is quite a bit cheaper than any other miniatures game I've ever played. But if needing to buy new expansions is off-putting to you, then that's something you'll need to consider if you want to play skirmish competitively.

The extremely popular X-Wing game uses this format: new expansions are coming out regularly.

I'm hoping that IA follows in X-Wings footsteps of only requiring the Core Set and the expansions required to build your list.

This bit from the tournament rules and the release of multiple boxed expansions (which have mostly content for campaign) make me wary.

"Each player must bring all components needed for their army

The extremely popular X-Wing game uses this format: new expansions are coming out regularly.

I'm hoping that IA follows in X-Wings footsteps of only requiring the Core Set and the expansions required to build your list.

It already is other than the map tiles or if you want figures from the deluxe expansions.

The extremely popular X-Wing game uses this format: new expansions are coming out regularly.

This bit from the tournament rules and the release of multiple boxed expansions (which have mostly content for campaign) make me wary.

"Each player must bring all components needed for their army

and games. This includes (but is not limited to) Deployment

cards and corresponding figures, Command cards, dice, tokens

and counters, and all map tiles and Mission cards for any legal

skirmish missions."

Twin Shadows does not have a full campaign in it like Return to Hoth does.

Yes, this is an unfortunate problem. Technically you do have to buy the figures just for the legal maps as you can't count on always playing an opponent who has purchased the required minis.

I consider the 20 bucks I had to spend on the two figures worth it to play this fantastic game competitively. If it's enough to detract you from getting into the game I completely understand.

X-wing tournament play is fantastic and a major reason why x-wing has become as popular as it is. With the map requirements and puzzle building between every match I feel imperial assault will struggle to develop a strong competitive scene. Which is disappointing because IA Skirmish is an absolute blast to play competitively.

The extremely popular X-Wing game uses this format: new expansions are coming out regularly.

I'm hoping that IA follows in X-Wings footsteps of only requiring the Core Set and the expansions required to build your list.

This bit from the tournament rules and the release of multiple boxed expansions (which have mostly content for campaign) make me wary.

"Each player must bring all components needed for their army

and games. This includes (but is not limited to) Deployment

cards and corresponding figures, Command cards, dice, tokens

and counters, and all map tiles and Mission cards for any legal

skirmish missions."

This bit of text is confirmation that, in order to attend a competitive tournament, you must own the tiles, map layouts, and mission cards for the current missions in the tournament rules. They will not change hugely often, but every six months or so, they will rotate. Then, we all have to have all of the materials required for the missions specified in the most recent tournament rules.

The extremely popular X-Wing game uses this format: new expansions are coming out regularly.

I'm hoping that IA follows in X-Wings footsteps of only requiring the Core Set and the expansions required to build your list.

This bit from the tournament rules and the release of multiple boxed expansions (which have mostly content for campaign) make me wary.

"Each player must bring all components needed for their army

and games. This includes (but is not limited to) Deployment

cards and corresponding figures, Command cards, dice, tokens

and counters, and all map tiles and Mission cards for any legal

skirmish missions."

This bit of text is confirmation that, in order to attend a competitive tournament, you must own the tiles, map layouts, and mission cards for the current missions in the tournament rules. They will not change hugely often, but every six months or so, they will rotate. Then, we all have to have all of the materials required for the missions specified in the most recent tournament rules.

That's a shame, it seems like a scheme for FFG to be able to move product that didn't sell well. It also seems like supply will be a possible barrier that keeps people out of competitive play. If IG-88 sells out while his map is one of the tournament maps, new players will either be unable to attend tournaments or they will be forced to pay ridiculous amounts for the required components on the secondary market.

The extremely popular X-Wing game uses this format: new expansions are coming out regularly.

I'm hoping that IA follows in X-Wings footsteps of only requiring the Core Set and the expansions required to build your list.

This bit from the tournament rules and the release of multiple boxed expansions (which have mostly content for campaign) make me wary.

"Each player must bring all components needed for their army

and games. This includes (but is not limited to) Deployment

cards and corresponding figures, Command cards, dice, tokens

and counters, and all map tiles and Mission cards for any legal

skirmish missions."

This bit of text is confirmation that, in order to attend a competitive tournament, you must own the tiles, map layouts, and mission cards for the current missions in the tournament rules. They will not change hugely often, but every six months or so, they will rotate. Then, we all have to have all of the materials required for the missions specified in the most recent tournament rules.

That's a shame, it seems like a scheme for FFG to be able to move product that didn't sell well. It also seems like supply will be a possible barrier that keeps people out of competitive play. If IG-88 sells out while his map is one of the tournament maps, new players will either be unable to attend tournaments or they will be forced to pay ridiculous amounts for the required components on the secondary market.

As a consumer I don't much disagree with that assessment. As a player, I think it's important that the objective game evolves over time. The legal maps inform the meta. This approach allows the designers to influence the meta and assess builds that may be strong in some missions and worse on others.

It's an admittedly unfortunate result of an intriguing and innovative design approach.

The extremely popular X-Wing game uses this format: new expansions are coming out regularly.

I'm hoping that IA follows in X-Wings footsteps of only requiring the Core Set and the expansions required to build your list.

This bit from the tournament rules and the release of multiple boxed expansions (which have mostly content for campaign) make me wary.

"Each player must bring all components needed for their army

and games. This includes (but is not limited to) Deployment

cards and corresponding figures, Command cards, dice, tokens

and counters, and all map tiles and Mission cards for any legal

skirmish missions."

This bit of text is confirmation that, in order to attend a competitive tournament, you must own the tiles, map layouts, and mission cards for the current missions in the tournament rules. They will not change hugely often, but every six months or so, they will rotate. Then, we all have to have all of the materials required for the missions specified in the most recent tournament rules.

That's a shame, it seems like a scheme for FFG to be able to move product that didn't sell well. It also seems like supply will be a possible barrier that keeps people out of competitive play. If IG-88 sells out while his map is one of the tournament maps, new players will either be unable to attend tournaments or they will be forced to pay ridiculous amounts for the required components on the secondary market.

As a consumer I don't much disagree with that assessment. As a player, I think it's important that the objective game evolves over time. The legal maps inform the meta. This approach allows the designers to influence the meta and assess builds that may be strong in some missions and worse on others.

It's an admittedly unfortunate result of an intriguing and innovative design approach.

If IA matches picked objectives in a manner similar to Armada, I don't think I'd have an issue. I'd have no problem with requiring maps and mission cards if every player's list included 3 missions and the player who lost initiative picked one of the missions from the 3 provided by the player with initiative. A player would be responsible for providing all of the components required to build the maps for the missions included in their list.

With the way it is now, the TO draws the mission that everyone is playing that round. There is no reason that there couldn't just be a doc on FFG site with the FAQ and the rules that contain all of the information for the maps and the missions. That would definitely beat having to hang on to a little ratty piece of paper that came folded up inside an expansion.

Seriously, it won't be hard to get the information for all of the maps and missions. In fact, one of the guys who made the IA Top 8 at GenCon used photocopies that he made from my papers and cards. He had no problems.

I'm sure that, if you ask around, people will be able to provide you with scans of all the components that you'll need. After that, the only thing left is to get the tiles from the box expansions (the Core Set, Twin Shadows, and Return to Hoth)...and I expect that most of those tiles will be available on eBay if you don't want to buy the boxes themselves.

Seriously, it won't be hard to get the information for all of the maps and missions. In fact, one of the guys who made the IA Top 8 at GenCon used photocopies that he made from my papers and cards. He had no problems.

The rules don't say that you need access to the information, they say that you need the mission cards. I'm curious if the TOs would have DQ'd him if any of his opponents complained that he was proxying required components?

I'm aware of what the rules say. I'm just saying that it probably won't be a big deal. Maybe at the highest levels of competition...but even then, you can just arrange to borrow the components if you need to.

Seriously, it won't be hard to get the information for all of the maps and missions. In fact, one of the guys who made the IA Top 8 at GenCon used photocopies that he made from my papers and cards. He had no problems.

The rules don't say that you need access to the information, they say that you need the mission cards. I'm curious if the TOs would have DQ'd him if any of his opponents complained that he was proxying required components?

If the only proxy are photocopies of the mission cards, then that would be the absolute weakest thing to complain to a TO about. Definitely not a DQ worthy issue. And someone probably needs to go and look at their soul in a mirror if they are willing to stoop this low.