Hey there i just ordered the core set for IA and I'm pretty stoked. Now my experience with FFG so far has been that once I get one thing I have to buy a bunch of other things to accompany it. I don't think i'll be picking up the campaign expansions unless I get a group who really likes the game and wants to continue after we finish the campaign. But my question is what's up with the ally packs? I get that they add a mini to what would otherwise be a token but what else do they add? and I guess the bigger question is are they worth picking up for someone who is likely just going to do the campaign? If so should I buy them before starting the campaign?

Any info would be appreciated as I haven't met anyone who has experience with this game.

Here is what MOST of the packs come with: Ally packs give you a plastic mini, some deployment cards, a side mission, a skirmish mission, and command cards. Villian packs give you a plastic mini, some deployment cards, an agenda set, a skirmish mission, and a command card. Most components aren't meant to be added mid campaign, but with that said, I recommend playing through a whole campaign to get a feel of any extra add ons that you want to get. There is a pretty good sight that gives recommendation for buying stuff which is this ( http://boardwars.eu/ally-and-villain-packs-for-star-wars-imperial-assault/ ) wonderful site. Welcome to this great boardgame and I hope that I helped a little bit.

"Just ordered the Core Set, now what?"

-wait for delivery-then open

If you're going to just do the campaign, I'd hold off on getting anything else, you'll have plenty to play with just having the core set. That said, don't write off the Skirmish game, just yet. I've found it more fun, easier to start play and set and you only need two people, then you may get addicted to command cards ally/villain packs and the whole enchilada.

For campaign, the ally/villain packs are only needed for the following reasons;

- replacing tokens with figures
- more variety in side missions for Rebels to choose from
- more agenda sets for Imperial to choose from
- more item cards for the rebels to choose from (greedo, inquisitor & obi-wan packs only)

For skirmish, the packs offer the following

- more options to build lists from
- more command cards to build command deck from
- more skirmish missions to play
- more skirmish upgrade cards for additional abilities in your list

All in all, I jumped feet first into IA and bought packs pretty quickly.
I had the benefit of a group of friends willing to make time to complete campaigns regularly.

If you want packs, I'd recommend the Wave 1 packs to start, as they replace the tokens in the core box with figures.
Then I'd suggest the standalone packs like Wookie Warriors, Hired Guns, Bantha Rider, Alliance Smuggler.
Then you have Small Box and Big Box expansions;
Return to Hoth is another full length campaign with more ally/villain packs
Twin Shadows and Bespin Gambit both are mini campaigns with more ally/villain packs

The stormtrooper villain pack only adds alternate sculpt troopers and an agenda set to campaign. You're still limited to fielding the core sets worth of troopers in any given mission.

Finally there are the Greedo, Grand Inquisitor and Obi-Wan packs that are standalone.
These ignore the canon timeline, so if that matters to you they're skippable...

You don't need to buy anything else to have a full campaign experience.

Before playing the first campaign you don't know what you need and want. You don't need more options to choose from when you have not even seen all of the ones in the core box.

So, play a campaign first and then start to add things.

(At most you would replace some tokens with actual figures by buying the first-wave ally and villain packs. But you won't need all of them because you only play 11-14 missions and the core box has 30+ missions. So you won't meet all of the allies and villains in a single campaign.)

For skismish you'll need more stuff, but even then - play first.

aight I think i'm getting a better idea now. I think what i'll do is pick up 1 or 2 of the wave one rebel packs and leave it at that for now just to add some side missions. If my group wants more IA then maybe i'll pick some more stuff up. If you were to get one or two of the ally packs what would you get?

I think what i'll do is pick up 1 or 2 of the wave one rebel packs and leave it at that for now just to add some side missions. If my group wants more IA then maybe i'll pick some more stuff up. If you were to get one or two of the ally packs what would you get?

Unless you play more than 2 missions per session, or with very short intervals, you can buy the appropriate packs when you know which missions you will be playing next.

The unique allies and villains appear in the story missions too, Rebel Troopers in their mission and Gideon's hero mission and Rebel Saboteurs appear only on their green side mission. You can also proxy the unique allies and villains using another miniature.

My order to buy the wave 1 packs would be:

* Ally Packs: Han Solo (use Luke), Rebel Troopers, Chewbacca (if Gaarkhan is not used as a hero, use his miniature), Rebel Saboteurs

* Villain Packs: Royal Guard Champion (use one Royal Guard mini), IG-88 (use Probe Droid?), General Weiss (you have one AT-ST already to use, use the token if you manage to have both at the same time, switch to mini when one gets defeated)

So, Han Solo, Rebel Troopers and Royal Guard Champion would be my picks for top 3.

I think what i'll do is pick up 1 or 2 of the wave one rebel packs and leave it at that for now just to add some side missions. If my group wants more IA then maybe i'll pick some more stuff up. If you were to get one or two of the ally packs what would you get?

Unless you play more than 2 missions per session, or with very short intervals, you can buy the appropriate packs when you know which missions you will be playing next.

The unique allies and villains appear in the story missions too, Rebel Troopers in their mission and Gideon's hero mission and Rebel Saboteurs appear only on their green side mission. You can also proxy the unique allies and villains using another miniature.

My order to buy the wave 1 packs would be:

* Ally Packs: Han Solo (use Luke), Rebel Troopers, Chewbacca (if Gaarkhan is not used as a hero, use his miniature), Rebel Saboteurs

* Villain Packs: Royal Guard Champion (use one Royal Guard mini), IG-88 (use Probe Droid?), General Weiss (you have one AT-ST already to use, use the token if you manage to have both at the same time, switch to mini when one gets defeated)

So, Han Solo, Rebel Troopers and Royal Guard Champion would be my picks for top 3.

I thought the packs added new missions? wouldn't you need to put those in before you started the campaign?

I thought the packs added new missions? wouldn't you need to put those in before you started the campaign?

There are 30+ missions in the core box. You will normally play 11 or 12 in the core campaign. You certainly don't need additional missions for your first campaign when you haven't played any of them.

You will create an Agenda Deck and a side mission deck from the options you have in the core box. Adding more choices and options may sound good, but they do not give you any more variety during the campaign (just at the setup), and you probably don't know how to make good choices before playing a campaign. The first campaign is a learning campaign.

The expansion packs you should get to have model instead of the cardboard token are:

Royal Guard Champion

IG-88

General Weiss

Han Solo

Chewbacca

Those are what cardboard tokens come in the core set and to me, most crucial to buy in order to have the plastic figures out on the table rather than the token. They just seem more menacing or thrilling when its 3-D like the heroes than a 2-D token. That should cost you about $50 from MM/CoolStuff/Cardhaus. Thats all you need and you can get A LOT of fun out of the Core campaign. The replay value is awesome.

~D

Rebel Troopers if Gideon is a hero being played

if Gideon is a hero being played

Which ... really is the way to go with just core box heroes

Also, I'd look into campaign, too.

I initially bought the game with skirmish in mind, but the majority of what I've played has been campaign. It's a lot more fun than it might seem at first!

If you want something to "add" to the experience that is likely of the greatest value in your first campaign, my suggestion is a Hired Guns Villain pack and maybe an ISB Infiltrators Villain pack IMHO.

They both serve a unique purpose in that they do not need to be earned thru a mission and can therefore be added as an Open Group in any mission. As such, they give the Imperial player a quick and easy way to increase the pool of groups from which they can choose.

If you want something to "add" to the experience that is likely of the greatest value in your first campaign, my suggestion is a Hired Guns Villain pack and maybe an ISB Infiltrators Villain pack IMHO.

They both serve a unique purpose in that they do not need to be earned thru a mission and can therefore be added as an Open Group in any mission. As such, they give the Imperial player a quick and easy way to increase the pool of groups from which they can choose.

That. Hired Guns are far and away your best add. They will see 100x more use than any other ally/villain pack because you don't need to win them. ISB agents are in a similar situation but aren't quite as good or interesting as the Hired Guns. The upcoming Captain Taro will also fit the same bill as the pack will come with a non-unique version too.

Just leave the core unique characters as cardboard. They're massively overpointed and even if you win Han or Chewie as an ally, they WILL lose you the mission as they are so massively overpointed for campaign it's ridiculous. Han will add 6 storm troopers to the board and he can only kill 1 per round, meanwhile they'll kill him in 1. It's just completely busted.

For allies, look at Allied Troopers or Allied Smuggler. Their points are right for campaign and they make decent allies.

However, all in all your best buy are the box sets. They are far better bang for the buck with new units, new heroes, new missions, new class decks, new tiles etc.

Is it better to buy sets of villain to ally packs at the same time so as to not overpower one side?

Ally and villain packs are totally separate and used differently in the campaign. The points system balances them for both the campaign and skirmish. Other than offering more options to both sides (mostly skirmish), you don't need to purchase them in any specific pairing or order. (Edit: Other than checking if they require tiles from an associated boxed expansion for their mission.)

Ally and villain packs are totally separate and used differently in the campaign. The points system balances them for both the campaign and skirmish. Other than offering more options to both sides (mostly skirmish), you don't need to purchase them in any specific pairing or order.

Also, most villain packs (even if from a different time period or expansion line) can be inserted into the core campaign b/c they only require core tiles. Some do require the tiles from the mini/big expansion, but most don't.

~D