Pick up Return to Hoth before playing 1st campaign?

By Shonkhor, in Star Wars: Imperial Assault

Hi all, I just picked up the big box. I'm only really interested in playing in campaign at the moment.

Do you recommend that I pick up Return to Hoth before running my first campaign to allow me to incorporate additional units etc. into the campaign, or to run through a campaign using just the big box contents before saving the fun contained in Return to Hoth for the future?

Apologies if this question is misinformed or has been asked before - totally new to the game.

Since you're new to the game, it might be best to play through the base box on its own first and learn how it works. That said, there is nothing stopping you from just grabbing everything thats available and using the newer heroes, villians, agenda cards and side missions in the base game. Certain components will be marked as being specific to one campaign or the other, but other than that, you can, and are meant to, use any other components in any campaign.

I would actually recommend to play the core box campaign first. The new units are tied in thematically with the new campaign. Using them in the core campaign (snow troopers in tatooine are possible!) can feel a bit wierd at times. Also learing the game is easier with just the core box. Less advanced mechanics and such.

I agree, focus on the campaign in the core box, and once you have played through that once (or twice), add in Twin Shadows and Hoth.

Twin Shadows has a "mini-campaign" mode, and Hoth is a complete standalone campaign (but you can integrate components),

Edited by Fizz

Play the core campaign first. At most get the figure expansions for the miniatures.

Otherwise you only get more options that you don't get to use or know how to use to their advantage.

-Pasi

Edited by a1bert

Of course, you could always get it now so you have plenty of time to get the figures painted so they are ready to go once you finish up the core campaign.

Not that I'm a player with poor impulse control and have RtH and all related expansions on order even though I've not even started the core campaign yet. :rolleyes:

Thanks for all the responses - just the advice I needed.

I've plenty to paint in the core box so I will hold off on any expansions for now.

I might pick up a few ally packs so I can use a nice mini for Han and Chewie. Any to particularly recommend for a first-time campaign player?

Any to particularly recommend for a first-time campaign player?

  • Play with 4 rebel heroes (regardless of how many rebel players)
  • Don't play the Subversive Tactics imperial class
  • Start with Aftermath and skip the tutorial (really!)
  • Don't create the agenda and side mission deck before completing aftermath
  • Have the Rules Reference Guide handy and read up on everything you are doing in the first 2-3 missions

Have fun!

Edited by jacenat

▪ The ones above by jacenat.

▪ Don't assume how things work. You don't need to. Refer to the rules reference guide for new mechanisms/abilities. But also don't worry too much about playing every rule correctly the first time. (And remember the quick reference cards.)

▪ Read the rules reference guide after each of the first missions.

▪ Don't make the same mistakes the others did. Read "What are some crazy or common rule-breaking mistakes your group made whilst learning the game?" from https://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/1319188 .

▪ If something seems too powerful to be true, it usually is. (For the first few missions anyway.)

▪ Doors are hard - get the FAQ/Errata.

Edited by a1bert

I will be honest, this is how I am setting up my campaign (as I am the Imperial Player with no previous play knowledge but what Ive researched) with my wife and friends:

I bought everything; core, twin shadows, hoth, and every exp pack (multiple rebel troopers for elite version avail) and even the stormtrooper pack (bc i wanted to use models as elite versions and i wanted 501st). I read the same exact things above that people said about Twin Shadows and Return to Hoth, but I didnt want my 4 hero players to have to choose 4 diff heroes when we get to one of the other 2 games, so this is how Ive set it up.

- all 11 heroes are available to pick.

- side missions consist of black from core, green from core and core expansions, and red from the 4 heroes chosen. We picked Jyn, Diala, Gaar, and MHD, so only 1 side mission outside from the actual core set.

- agendas for me were everything core, i didnt pick ig88 exp cuz when we get to twin shadows, i want him, fett, and dengar to be in my side deck

- i made all supply crate items and legacy tier items available for my players (any card with weakened cant use that effect yet)

- my side deck i only chose between the core 3, ill save the others for when i do that specific exp set

So far this has worked perfectly fine. They did pick mhd-19's side mission first which did result in us using hoth tiles for one mission, and i did paint the snowtroopers before hand, but thatll be it for the rest of this core campaign. Once we finish everything and moved to Twin shadows, ill have to play around a little bit, but heres what im currently thinking of applying.

- heroes keep their side mission rewards (whether its hero specific, ally, or whatever). Any of the red/green/black side mission cards completed are unuseable, so ill reopen the core and now make twin shadows and exps available to get it back to 12 (and missions not done yet). Thatll prob imbalance red, bc they cant add anymore since all 4 heroes are the same.

- agendas (whatever villians ive required I get to keep, but if they didnt do the mission and just gave me the reward, that will now become a "forced" agenda and the reward will be just one additional influence for me instead of said villian should i win, heroes win same result)

- ill have my imperial deck to choose from, where i can keep the same or pick a diff core or most likely pick the twin shadow one to use (if we ran hoth, id pick one of those two) and i get 8 exp to carry over to start off with

- for heroes, ill let them carry over 8 exp each (so they can keep watever combination they want), 500 credits worth of items each (total of 2k as a group); this could change a little as i see what the results are once main campaign done

- lastly, based off what threat i earn each mission in twin shadows (or hoth), it is doubled so it keeps me on par with the heroes

This is of course subject to change, but i think this is a good idea to let my friends/wife keep their heroes for each exp campaign without having to "start" all over. But i will give them the option of they want to start a new character or switch between each other, they can...

~D

I know it's is probably a little late for this, but I would recommend buying twin shadows. Some of the missions are fun. The figures are great. But the Mini Campaign is dreadful. If the next box has one, I won't play it. I'll just incorporate the stuff into the big campaigns.

I know it's is probably a little late for this, but I would recommend buying twin shadows. Some of the missions are fun. The figures are great. But the Mini Campaign is dreadful. If the next box has one, I won't play it. I'll just incorporate the stuff into the big campaigns.

What's bad about the mini campaign? I'm about to finish the core campaign with some friends, and I've since bought... everything else. I was thinking about running the mini campaign with them before jumping into another core / Hoth campaign so I can encourage them to play different heroes the next time. But if those missions suck, I'd probably just re run the core campaign.

I know it's is probably a little late for this, but I would recommend buying twin shadows. Some of the missions are fun. The figures are great. But the Mini Campaign is dreadful. If the next box has one, I won't play it. I'll just incorporate the stuff into the big campaigns.

What's bad about the mini campaign? I'm about to finish the core campaign with some friends, and I've since bought... everything else. I was thinking about running the mini campaign with them before jumping into another core / Hoth campaign so I can encourage them to play different heroes the next time. But if those missions suck, I'd probably just re run the core campaign.

I've gone through the mini-campaign twice and loved it.

In answer to the OP: I like RTH much better than the original core, but it builds upon some things you already know from the core. If you're new to miniatures game then definitely stick with the core. If not, then maybe skip it and go to Hoth.

I disagree (in a way) to the other guys. The question is more like his: Are you used to play this sort of games or the only table top game you ever played is Monopoly?

If you have experience in gaming then buy all and mix to you pleasure. If not... follow the majority... play only the core game.