Hey there!

I've been playing the campaign for the first time with friends for a few months now (one session a month). I am playing the Empire, my four friends the rebels.

I had a lot of fun at the beginning but now we have a problem: the other players play the game like Chess and plan ahead, IMHO, way too much. Turns are veeeeeery long as they assess every possibility and everyone is concerted as they plan each move of each character. They are very often planning two or three rounds in advance, and since everything changes so often, they keep remaking their plans all the time. Result: single missions take between 3 and 4 hours each, I am getting bored AND I lose all the time, since I play more "casual" (the games would be even longer if I took half the time they take for each of my activations).

Yesterday I suggested we limit every activation to two minutes, which is something we will try next month.

Anybody tried anything of the sort or also had this problem?

Thanks!

I don't think you need an 'in-game' solutions, like time-limits or new mechanics/house rules.

It sounds like you and your group could do with just having a chat about the campaign and Imperial Assault in general. What do you all want from the game and what are your expectations of the game?

For me personally, Imperial Assault is a great game with lots of room for competitive, strategic and deep gameplay. But that's the skirmish mode.

When playing a campaign, I think the focus of everyone should be to have a fun time and a quick(ish) casual style game - and slow, strategic play seems out of place.

2 min./activation is (imho) a good workaround against slow-play. And that's (in average) stil a long time.

If each activation would take 2 min. every single skirmish game (with 14+ activations/round) would end by time during round 2 (!!!).

Vollie

House rule:

"For every minute after the first three minutes of a Rebel figure's activation, the Imperial player gains 1 threat."

Yeah, I'd just have a talk with your players. Explain that it's more about exploring and experiencing the story, and less about finding ways to game the system. Really, this balancing act is common to all cooperative games (RPGs, Arkham Horror, etc). Some groups like to play it like a tense chess match, and other prefer a more relaxed approach; for the gaming group's health, it is critically important that you work together and agree on what kind of gaming experience you're all aiming for.

If they want the high-analysis tactical combat, then they'll definitely find their niche in Skirmish. But even then, the judge WILL come over for slow play problems if they take 4 minutes per turn. It's one thing to take that long if they're still learning the mechanics of the game, but it's something else entirely if they've already grasped those things.

It sounds to me like four out of the five of you are enjoying the game. That being the case the best thing might be for you to try to get into the same mindset as your rebels. It wouldn't exacerbate the time problems as much as you think because you don't have to have a discussion about things. That said it might be good if you implement a clock anyway.

Its super easy to try to min/max every turn in this game. As the imperial make threats about the twists of the mission, and how it is impossible to make the optimal turn.

Once they get one of those plot twists that absolutely ruins their strategy, they will lighten up on the turn strategy.

...

Once they get one of those plot twists that absolutely ruins their strategy, they will lighten up on the turn strategy.

Hopefully! Of course, they could just as easily tighten up even more....