Hey all,

I was able to find several threads discussing what to purchase when buying into IA, but I didn't find one that felt comprehensive, especially when considering a Campaign Only player. As I just bought the core last night and don't anticipate deviating from X-Wing as my "skirmish" game, I figured I'd follow up with you fine folks in regards to what I should buy for the best campaign setup.

I haven't read the rules yet, so I'm a little (extremely) vague on how sets interact with each other, other than whatever context I've picked up elsewhere in the forum.

Cost isn't a direct issue, though these will be purchased over time, likely in no more than $40 (or single larger expansion increments) increments, so purchase "order" is especially useful.

I don't know how often I'll be playing, so can't provide an estimate on when I'll finish even the core campaign -- do other expansions have things that can be used/are interesting for the Core? For example, can heroes from other sets run through the Core campaign from the start, without issue?

Thanks for your suggestions, and forbearance of my ignorance, folks!

You can mix elements from all the figure packs and boxed expansions in campaigns.

For campaign only I recommend just playing what's in the core box first to see what you like (there's lots of content and re-playabilty here). Once you start buying more stuff, if you want to do more campaigns, then picking up the boxed expansions first is ideal as they are more geared towards campaign play (as they include a campaign). Order isn't super relevant here.

For figure packs see these reviews of what's good for each play mode:

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

I do recommend you try Skirmish. Lots of people think it's better than X-Wing Skirmish.

Strictly campaign is simple. You're only allowed to use 1 of every product. The rules for each box and blister explicitly state it.

At that point order is just blisters that came out during each box. There have been a few "skirmish" packs that don't have a direct impact on any box, but every pack comes with stuff usable in the campaign.

Actually there are two packs that break that rule. The AT-ST pack and the upcoming Feedback. Both can be configured two ways with the parts inside and I think you can have one of each version.

The only thing you want to watch for is which blister packs go with which big box expansions and it tells you that right on the back of the pack. For instance, someone like Leia, to play her included side mission from the blister pack you will need tiles from the Hoth expansion. There are also stand alone expansions that only require core tiles like the Wookie Warriors or Obi-Wan, but again you can just look at the back of the pack to figure this out.

But really everything you need to play is in the core, you don't NEED to buy anything, but as you are already a FFG junkie you understand that there is a massive 'gold sink' in this game and you can flesh out all the pretty figures your heart desires. Each expansion will include some figures and tokens for every single unit that is used in the included missions, so again you don't NEED to buy anything unless you want the figures.

If you are just trying to enjoy the campaign and keep the cost down play through the core a few times then grab Hoth, best bang for your buck, and by then I am sure Jabba's Realm will be out and you can hop to that big box. If you want to supplement your campaigns with more side quests and/or play a mini campaign, both Twin Shadows and Bespin come with extra figures/items/upgrades/heroes etc.. and can plug into your big campaigns or form a stand alone mini. So they are also a great choice. If you don't care about figures and are fine with just using tokens then just stay as far away from the blisters as you can. However, like I said, some are not included in any expansion and so the only way to include them is to buy the blister.

Edit: Off the top of my head the list of stand alone blisters is Hired Guns, Wookie Warriors, Bantha Rider, Alliance Smuggler, Obi-Wan, Inquisitor, Greedo, ISB Infiltrators? (or do they have a token in Bespin?). Everything else will come with useable tokens and the appropriate deployment card with the core/expansion small and big boxes.

The easy way: Play the core campaign first.

There is no rush. If you prefer miniatures, when you see your next mission includes a figure that appears as a token in the core box, then buy the figure expansion.

What you end up doing: Buy everything in the order of release.

Strictly campaign is simple. You're only allowed to use 1 of every product. The rules for each box and blister explicitly state it.

You can have one of each boxed expansion, and one of most figure expansions. Like you say, the rulesheets in each box tell how to integrate the expansion.

There are a few that break the mold, for example you can use both deployment cards of the Hired Guns expansion, which means two packs worth of figures. And, you don't get to use more Stormtroopers even with the Stormtrooper villain pack.

This is fantastic, thank you!

And, while I'm saying I won't, I am 100% sure I will eventually try (and love) skirmish. However, I have sunk countless resources into X-Wing, and will continue to do so as long as they produce the game. It's the only game I'm likely to get my brother to play -- he comes over weekly, and we've both made an effort to be a part of the competitive scene in our area. It wouldn't work to try and split focus with him, and I also don't think he'll try it (as I could not get him to try Armada, as much as I desperately want to).

So no skirmish for me [... for now]!

It'll take time for me to find and schedule IA Campaign sessions, so I was looking into having the most interesting items campaign-wise from the get go. I like the idea of having the most options available at any given time (despite knowing there is plenty of replayability in the core, as has been stated). But I'm not in a RUSH to complete my IA collection before I begin playing, if a group and free time falls into my lap (... which is less likely than my starting up Skirmish...).

I think I'd like to look into the non-expansion blisters, as they're cheaper and I wouldn't feel guilty grabbing them whenever I walk through the FLGS...

Keep in mind if you are not playing skirmish the blisters are a really poor value, you are basically just paying for the figure. If you are ok with that then fine, but if you want your best bang for your buck the box expansions are the best bet.

Also someone can correct me if I am wrong here but I am pretty sure buying a pack like the Rebel Troopers which includes an elite deployment card still does not let you use their elite version in the campaign. I believe you are still limited to the regular deployment card that came with the core, but again someone correct me if I am wrong here.

Rebel Troopers: you can win the elite versions if you have Gideon and come across and win his side mission (Friends of Old) as well as Brace for Impact from their pack.

Echo Base Troopers: you can win the elite version in the Return to Hoth campaign if you win a story mission and their side mission from their pack.

Rebel Saboteurs: you can't by the rules include both side missions because both are green side missions.

Others have covered the basics pretty well but I will toss another vote out to grab the Hired Guns expansion during (or shortly after) your first purchase.

Because they do not need to be "earned" like the unique characters, they can be included in Open Groups from the start and I personally like them for flavor when a mission may not be expressly Imperial-centric.

I went for 1 of everything and 2 of hired guns and isb infiltrators, in the order of release. That worked fine for me as a campaign only player. Sometimes you do only buy the figure packs for the figures though they always include side missions or agenda sets or rewards or items that you might find useful (mileage may vary).

But best advice is to buy the core, play that through with the components included, before worrying about additional stuff. Otherwise you flood your collection and end up with more things than you know what to do with. And as was suggested earlier, if you want to, buy the special figure packs like Han Solo or Royal Guard Champion as and when they come up in the game so you can use the figure instead of the included cardboard tokens.

After that if you want another campaign, get Hoth first. If you want to replay the core campaign with other side missions, (Or add more side missions after you've finished Hoth) concentrate on Twin Shadows and Bespin Gambit as they're basically a collection of side missions, and some new classes and characters to play with. (They do come with a 4 mission mini campaign that uses the new side missions as story missions)

After that decide on figure packs based on experience, like do you want to be able to add wookiee allies or fight against hired guns? Do you want isb infiltrators or a bantha stomping your heroes. A lot of those might not see as much play in the campaign unless you're actually interested in using them. Like Banthas are hard to get into the campaign. And then you also want to decide if you want to spend the money on the storm trooper pack which will add nothing to the campaign except a new agenda set and alternate figure sculpt. It doesn't let you use more troopers.

Finally check out http://cards.boardwars.eu/, it contains an up to date list of all the cards and characters that come in each expansion, so you can see what the trooper agenda set does, for example, or whether you want to include the bantha, etc

What about Kenobi and the Inquisitor? I know they're very recent in terms of release, but I believe they're not married to any expansion, and I think it'd be fun to drop the Inq earlier (and I'm not worried about time-line issues with Kenobi, I think I've got a plan for that).

Correct, Obi-Wan Kenobi's side mission, Greedo's and The Grand Inquisitor's agenda sets can be included in any campaign.

Any figure expansion can be added to any campaign, and the side missions from the Twin Shadows and Bespin Gambit can be added to any campaign, also the heroes and classes.

Though some figure packs will require you to have the tiles from one of the box expansions, but it will say so on the back of the box.

Hoth and the upcoming Jabba's Realm are the only new proper campaigns, but even they contain components that can be added to any other campaign.

All you need is the core, and you'll have a great time.

Buuuuuutttt... if you want a better time playing the campaign, replace all those dumb tokens with figure packs.

Either way, play the core and then go from there.

Oh, and get an extra set of dice and download the campaign tracker app.

Extra dice are optional but they help. The campaign tracker (3rd party and free) is awesome though. Especially for me, I have about 4 campaigns running simultaenously, so I can't just stick stuff into seperate baggies. Only thing is it can take a couple weeks after a release until its updated with the new stuff.

Re: extra dice, I've only got the set with the core, and I'm fine with that personally. That way no side can claim they have a differently weighted set of dice. The diced may have uneven probability but at least it is the same for us all.

This becomes important when Diala rolls 4 dodges in a row and your officer blanks four times in a row.

While I agree that the Mini campaigns add more to the campaigns as they have a bunch of side missions (you end up paying half price compared to $10 expansions), I understand that you are not looking for that. Therefore I would vote that you get:

1. Hired Guns - A great expansion that gives you some fun units to play with and a great reward in their side mission.

2. Han Solo - Replaces token and has a great reward card in his side mission.

3. Boba Fett - "nuff said!" He is made for the Twin Shadow's expansion, but his Campaign mission doesn't use anything from it. He has the weaken condition from Twin Shadows, but his expansion has the reference card and you can use the proof of purchase token or something as a proxy.

4. Alliance Smuggler - I don't have it but I'm told it's good. At least you'll have a new ally you can win.

Adding Allies to campaign is rarely or never worth it, due to the threat cost. If you know you're 100% campaign, only buy the boxes, don't buy blisters. Any of the characters that come up in campaign without an extra cost have tokens in the associated box set.

Adding heroes to campaign is rarely or never worth it, due to the threat cost. If you know you're 100% campaign, only buy the boxes, don't buy blisters. Any of the characters that come up in campaign without an extra cost have tokens in the associated box set.

You mean Allies. Heroes are the main player characters. Some blisters are worth getting - like the Hired Guns and ISB Infiltrators. Or some of the not-so-expensive allies like Wookiee Warriors. And the new allies include some really nice items to add to the games...

But basically, if you get the Core only - you can play the full campaign, and it gives you enough information to decide what you want to get next.

Well, when it's all said and done, I'm likely to wind up with one of everything (though will skip some things, per above comments, that are really NOT useful for a campaign).

But allies and other blisters seem fun -- I like the idea of having special recruit mission available, even if the actual value of the ally isn't that high. If it requires extra side missions being added into the main campaign, I imagine it doesn't throw things off too much.

But I'm currently looking to get a group together and will probably start with the basic box... Unless I do well at more X-Wing events and get store credit, which I might turn some of that into a blister or two tonight, just because.

One thing I appreciate about the blisters, beyond new models to paint, is that it does add variety to the side missions. One thing I have been terribly impressed by with IA is the sheer amount of options when building a campaign. This is to the point where you actually need to try to have the same campaign experience twice. Of course, this is somewhat negated if when building the side mission deck, you always choose the same side missions. Personally, I am enamored by the idea of randomly selecting side missions for future campaigns, much like how the grey missions are generated.

Either way, since getting the game back in April, I have systematically bought everything, though I definitely focused on the box expansions before the blisters. They just added more value.

One thing I appreciate about the blisters, beyond new models to paint, is that it does add variety to the side missions. One thing I have been terribly impressed by with IA is the sheer amount of options when building a campaign. This is to the point where you actually need to try to have the same campaign experience twice. Of course, this is somewhat negated if when building the side mission deck, you always choose the same side missions. Personally, I am enamored by the idea of randomly selecting side missions for future campaigns, much like how the grey missions are generated.

Either way, since getting the game back in April, I have systematically bought everything, though I definitely focused on the box expansions before the blisters. They just added more value.

When you say box, do you include Hoth? I imagine grabbing Hoth prior to playing through the main campaign (which it looks like I'll be running two simultaneously) wouldn't be very useful... Except maybe giving more hero options? Or is there more included in the box that could be added to a Core campaign?

I was kind of thinking of grabbing the Bespin box, just because I assume more Force users the better, based on one of my groups, but I'm not married to the idea. After cracking the box open, it looks like we'll have a decent amount to work with (though I am always on the more-is-better side...).

One thing I appreciate about the blisters, beyond new models to paint, is that it does add variety to the side missions. One thing I have been terribly impressed by with IA is the sheer amount of options when building a campaign. This is to the point where you actually need to try to have the same campaign experience twice. Of course, this is somewhat negated if when building the side mission deck, you always choose the same side missions. Personally, I am enamored by the idea of randomly selecting side missions for future campaigns, much like how the grey missions are generated.

Either way, since getting the game back in April, I have systematically bought everything, though I definitely focused on the box expansions before the blisters. They just added more value.

When you say box, do you include Hoth? I imagine grabbing Hoth prior to playing through the main campaign (which it looks like I'll be running two simultaneously) wouldn't be very useful... Except maybe giving more hero options? Or is there more included in the box that could be added to a Core campaign?

I was kind of thinking of grabbing the Bespin box, just because I assume more Force users the better, based on one of my groups, but I'm not married to the idea. After cracking the box open, it looks like we'll have a decent amount to work with (though I am always on the more-is-better side...).

All of the generic units from RtH (except the Wampa due to the habitat exclusion unless one of the Hoth heroes are chosen and their side mission comes up with snow tiles - I do not remember off hand) could be added to the core campaign in the Open groups.

Granted, that would only be HKs, Snowtroopers and the Tank so it may not be as useful as the other small box expansions

One thing I appreciate about the blisters, beyond new models to paint, is that it does add variety to the side missions. One thing I have been terribly impressed by with IA is the sheer amount of options when building a campaign. This is to the point where you actually need to try to have the same campaign experience twice. Of course, this is somewhat negated if when building the side mission deck, you always choose the same side missions. Personally, I am enamored by the idea of randomly selecting side missions for future campaigns, much like how the grey missions are generated.

Either way, since getting the game back in April, I have systematically bought everything, though I definitely focused on the box expansions before the blisters. They just added more value.

When you say box, do you include Hoth? I imagine grabbing Hoth prior to playing through the main campaign (which it looks like I'll be running two simultaneously) wouldn't be very useful... Except maybe giving more hero options? Or is there more included in the box that could be added to a Core campaign?

I was kind of thinking of grabbing the Bespin box, just because I assume more Force users the better, based on one of my groups, but I'm not married to the idea. After cracking the box open, it looks like we'll have a decent amount to work with (though I am always on the more-is-better side...).

Hoth was actually the last box I got my hands on, mostly because my LGS was having difficulties getting it. Supply issues, I believe. It worked out, though, as we began with the Core, we all liked it, so I then picked up Bespin and Twin Shadows within a month of each other, and Hoth a week or two after that. In addition, I have ben systematically buying all the blister expansions, to the point where I am only missing a handful.

We just recently began our second campaign, Return to Hoth,, and we opted to add virtually everything. So, all the crate items, all cards from all Tier's, all available Imperial/Mercenary deployments and Heroes. Interestingly enough, when it came time to choose our side missions and the IP his Agendas, we all took the better part of an hour thinking and talking about it, as there was so many options. It also makes me excited for our next campaign, as we are definitely going to be changing up what is taken.