Hey guys. I am an avid XWing player and have been recently look at getting into Imperial Assault. Looks like a wonderful game. Plus it is Star Wars. Must....have... My question is what to buy first? Many thanks for any feedback.

If you plan on just playing the campaign just grab the core set and maybe the expansions. Any of the villain/ally packs you that you like you can grab at your leisure. For skirmish with the intent of playing in tournaments, you'll need the ally packs that contain the maps in the current rotation, the core set/expansions, and what ever ally packs you need to make your squad. For regular skirmish games, grab the core set, maybe the expansions, and ally packs for your squad.

I prefer rebel squads for skirmish so I have two sets each of saboteurs, wookies, rebel troopers, and echo base troopers. I also bought r2-d2/3po, and leia.

If you shop for Skirmish or already have all boxes and looking to spice up your campaign? We have a handy buyers guude just for that!

http://boardwars.eu/ally-and-villain-packs-for-star-wars-imperial-assault/

It has rather detailed paragraphs on every pack as well as a gerneral assessment in X/5 points.

For campaign:

1. Core set - No matter what campaign you run, you'll need things from the core set. The price tag is high, but it really is worth it.
2. Return to Hoth - It has another full campaign, three new heroes, and lots of goodies for the Empire.
3. The Bespin Gambit (not yet released) - It looks like a mini-campaign like Twin Shadows. It comes with our second Force-sensitive hero, and we don't know what the Ithorian hero will be like. The Imperial forces look interesting as well.
4. Twin Shadows - It has a bunch of side missions that can be combined into a standalone four-mission mini-campaign. The heroes and villains aren't as good as the other box sets though, in my opinion.
5. Hired Guns - They're cheap generic enemies that are good for shoring up options in scum-themed missions. Heroes can mow them down, but the hired guns can still get shots off.
6. ISB Infiltrators (not yet released) - These are more, fairly cheap, generic enemies.
7. Whatever ally and villain packs appeal to you and the rest of your group. Boba Fett, Dengar, and Carnor Jax are available if you want to play with/against familiar movie or old EU villains, with Bossk coming up later this year. Ally packs tend to have less impact on campaign than villain packs.

For casual skirmish:

1. Core set - It has all of the basic stuff you need to get started, plus some quality figures for all three factions.
2. For casual play, I really like to build around a centerpiece figure or with a specific theme or fun combo in mind. Pick up whatever you want, but be advised that Han, Chewie, and IG-88 all typically underperform for their point costs.

For competitive skirmish:

1. Core set - You'll need the tiles, plus it comes with dice and lots of staple figures and command cards.
2. Twin Shadows, Stormtroopers, Leia Organa - The three maps currently tournament legal are in these packs.
3. It depends what faction(s) you want to play as. Rebel players would want to pick up Leia, Rebel Saboteurs, and R2/3PO for starters. In my experience, Mercenaries really want the Bantha Rider, Boba Fett, and Hired Guns. Imperials depend the least on villain packs as far as I can tell, but I have seen the Royal Guard Champion used to great effect, and Stormtroopers are good if you want a second group of elite troopers.

Start with the Core. That's the must have. Everything else is good, but this one is essential.

I grabbed an open, but in perfect condition, core set off of amazon for $60. If you can find it cheaper than it becomes even more of a must buy. But no matter what, you should pick up the core. Then just buy more the more into it you get.

Buy the core and open it up. Then look at the tokens with people like Han Solo and IG-88. Decide if you want to play with tokens or figures. Then buy the corresponding figure packs.

The initial buy in price for IA is quite high compared to X-Wing but don't let that scare you away because the amount of product you get for that money actually makes it a good value. Especially considering there are actually two games in one in there. I would grab the core and run through the campaign with your buddies and start testing out the skirmish game. You will most likely figure out the skirmish is so much fun you want to start playing in tournaments and then you can start expanding your collection from there.

If you insist on spending more money off the bat then the big boxes are the best bang for your buck, they come with multiple figures/heroes, new campaigns and command cards. Then the Ally Villain Packs are used to replace the tokens that come with the core and box expansions and expand your mission pool, command cards and various other effects (rewards, conditions etc..). But I wouldn't get to far ahead of yourself, start with the core as I said there is A LOT in there and then work your way out from there. Feel free to come back in here and ask us as your interest grows.