When Imperial Assault first came out, everything looked great. The minis. The art. The mechanics. Everything was great. We went through the campaign twice and played dozens of skirmish games. Skirmish was what really drew me to the game.

That was wave 1.

But then holes started appearing and a single list became dominate.

And wave 1 was when I stopped playing.

Over the course of 2 years, 3 additional box sets and 20-some blister packs came out. An avalanche of releases.

Since wave 1, among the half-dozen game stores that I frequent, I haven't seen a single game played.

• Have the revised/updated rules helped skirmish?
• With all the expansion packs, has list making become too unwieldly?
• Can you play skirmish competitively without buying every expansion pack?
• Is there a dominate list?

I'd really love to play a 28mm skirmish game set in the Star Wars universe, but is there any way that the game is going to gain traction now?

(I'm posting this in the General section to hear from non-skirmish and skirmish players alike)

yes, no, yes, no.

Done.

Skirmish is in possibly the best position ever right now. Worlds '16 had a lopsided faction meta (half the lists were Imperial), but even with that there was a great variety of lists. IIRC top 16 had a nearly even faction distribution, and top 4 (again, IIRC) featured 4 different archetypes with all 3 factions. With the release of Jabba's Realm, almost every single new unit is Skirmish viable, and the meta is getting shaken up as we speak as the Scum faction gets approximately 1 bazillion new toys and units in a decent variety, many of which directly counter the dominant Imperial Spy Troopers list.

Tldr: Skirmish is in a fantastic place, and if there isn't a scene near you, now's a great time to make one!

Skirmish is in a beautiful place right now. The meta is wide open. Jump in!

-ryanjamal

• Have the revised/updated rules helped skirmish?

Yes. The game was in a bad place when you left. 2 small changes made all the difference in the world.

The game is incredibly diverse now.

• With all the expansion packs, has list making become too unwieldly?

No. http://tabletopadmiral.com/imperialassault/ and http://ia-armies.com are there to the rescue. If you need help deciding in which packs to get, get a quick primer over at http://avpacks.boardwars.eu/

• Can you play skirmish competitively without buying every expansion pack?

Yes. If you look for the most bang for your buck, we recently discussed how to progress on from the core set to get a viable skirmish setup with as little investment as possible. With 2-3 packs you can start playing and see some results.

If you want to know more, listen here at 1:14:40

• Is there a dominate list?

No. As of late, the empire is a tiny bit in the lead, but this might be due to meta reasons. Upcoming everyone expects mercenaries to pick up steam, but it's not really clear yet. Also each faction has 2-3 competitive lists as well as a handfull of lists that can do well but are mainly played because of the flair.

And, in my opinion, IA Skirmish is in a much healthier place than X-Wing is in terms of list building potential.

In IA, there's a couple figures you just don't touch, and other than that you can make whatever you want and have a fun competetive team.

X-Wing right now has a very restrictive meta...

Skirmish is where it's at!

It just feels like X-wing Meta is just to hardcore to really enjoy it. I feel like every game is a tournament setting where my opponent is just there to crush me and move to the next guy. The fun "casual" feel of the game has eroded, but in the handful of IA games I have played there's still that "casual" feel in every game.. even at tournaments.

It sounds like the game died in your area, and you're assuming that the game is in the same state dead everywhere. But if your local stores didn't support it or it didn't find an early player base, it's not likely to now be attracting players. Though that doesn't mean that there aren't people who would be interested in playing it.

Sounds like your best bet if you want to play the game would be to try to find out if there is a playgroup in your local area, or alternatively, try to build one yourself.

So it looks like the first 3 errata'd cards are here:

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/12/21/great-change-in-the-galaxy/

But are there hi-res versions of Hired Guns and Leia?

Also, post-Wave 1, the must-buy blister packs are R2-D2 & C3P0; Kayn Somos; Leia Organa; Aliance Smuggler; Bantha Rider; Bossk; ISB infiltrators and all of wave 7? But do you need command cards from other packs? And what about the 3 other box sets, are those a must buy? We're getting into the $500 range here.

Finally, is there a thread that has the 2-3 dominate lists per faction?

Also, does anyone here have a large player base? What's the size and where are you located?

So it looks like the first 3 errata'd cards are here:

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/12/21/great-change-in-the-galaxy/

But are there hi-res versions of Hired Guns and Leia?

All errataed cards are in new print releases. All currently shipped core boxes have the new Officers, Saboterus and Guards.

All new Hired Gun Packs should also have the new cards.

Not sure about Leia (if the current reprint is already fixed).

On the topic itself: You don't really need the updated Leia and Hired Guns. The changes are just there to prevent exploitation of rules, not to change the core mechanic. With the Officers, Saboteurs and Guards, this is different.

Also, post-Wave 1, the must-buy blister packs are R2-D2 & C3P0; Kayn Somos; Leia Organa; Aliance Smuggler; Bantha Rider; Bossk; ISB infiltrators and all of wave 7? But do you need command cards from other packs? And what about the 3 other box sets, are those a must buy? We're getting into the $500 range here.

Must buy packs to get into skirmish are (IMHO) for the factions as follows:

Empire:

* Stormtroopers (for reinforcements)

* Twin Shadows (for the Heavy Stormtroopers)

* Rebel Troopers (for grenadier)

* Agent Blaise

Rebels:

* Leia

* Saboteurs

* Echo Base Troopers

* R2D2 & C-3PO

Mercenaries:

* Bossk

* Bantha rider (x2)

* Return to Hoth (for the HK Assassin Droids)

* R2D2 & C-3PO

You can always buy more stuff to flesh out, but handling your list is worth an order of magnitude more than just tuning your command deck or changing a deployment group. This is what the last few games at Worlds 2016 showed.

If you want to browse the content of currently released stuff, you can do so at http://cards.boardwars.eu/

Note that Jabba and Wave 8 is still missing, because it was shipped late to Europe. Expect these to appear on there in the next 2 weeks.

So it looks like the first 3 errata'd cards are here:

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/12/21/great-change-in-the-galaxy/

But are there hi-res versions of Hired Guns and Leia?

Yes, https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/223659-reprints-based-on-faqs/

I don't think you need Twin Shadows for heavies or Hoth for Echo Base Troopers (but the HKs are great for Scum, and Negation is a powerful command card), but otherwise the above seems like sound advice. If you're interested in Scum though, Jabba, Bossk, and Jabba's Realm are where I'd invest.

-ryanjamal

So it looks like the first 3 errata'd cards are here:

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/12/21/great-change-in-the-galaxy/

But are there hi-res versions of Hired Guns and Leia?

Also, post-Wave 1, the must-buy blister packs are R2-D2 & C3P0; Kayn Somos; Leia Organa; Aliance Smuggler; Bantha Rider; Bossk; ISB infiltrators and all of wave 7? But do you need command cards from other packs? And what about the 3 other box sets, are those a must buy? We're getting into the $500 range here.

Finally, is there a thread that has the 2-3 dominate lists per faction?

You can probably live without Kayn Somos. There are command cards in every blister and expansion, and I'd really say that Hoth Bespin and Jabba's are more important than some of those blisters you listed. Unfortunately miniatures games are expensive, and this is another FFG product that highly rewards completionism. I would say its easier to focus on a single faction than X-wing, but that mainly applies to the blisters. Most of the Box sets are must-own, and beyond that you can just buy the figures you want in blisters with some exceptions. For example, if you have Jabba's Realm and want to play the Rancor, you'll need Beast Tamer and some of the Command Cards in the Bantha Rider. All of those above are good worthwhile buys, (with the exception of Somos and ISB Infiltrators in my opinion but there may be great command cards in there that I don't recall) but I'd start with the boxes that interest you and expand from there. At that point its Faction oriented. The R2D2 and Threepio pack is the big one that will help you in any faction due to its included command cards, especially Single Purpose, but those figures are great for Rebels and Scum, especially Threepio. Leia and the Smuggler are musts for Rebels. Bantha and Bossk are musts for Scum, but you should start with one of the Box sets first. They all come with great figures for Scum, which the Core Set is sorely lacking in. Except Twin Shadows, you don't need that one.

See? I can talk and talk about stuff you'll want to have but its hard to narrow it down because its another product that rewards people who buy every product. I recommend picking up a boxed set or two and then choosing a faction to expand your collection.

Also, there aren't really "2-3 dominant lists per faction." The only real staple of the meta is Troopers, and every faction has strong candidates to fill that requirement. What I will say is, other than the early uniques which have always been criminally overcosted, there are far more good figures than bad ones in the game.

I don't think you need Twin Shadows for heavies or Hoth for Echo Base Troopers (but the HKs are great for Scum, and Negation is a powerful command card), but otherwise the above seems like sound advice. If you're interested in Scum though, Jabba, Bossk, and Jabba's Realm are where I'd invest.

-ryanjamal

Echo Base Troopers do not come in Hoth, they are a separate blister. Return to Hoth does have the Negation command card, though, which is one of the most vital cards in a command deck.

Reinforcements comes in the Rebel Trooper pack as well, so you're really only getting Set for Stun, Stealth Tactics and Vader's Finest as command cards

I doubt you need 2 bantha riders. I've got 2 but I don't ever play 2 at a time.

edited - Squad Swarm comes in the Kayn Somos pack

Reinforcements comes in the Rebel Trooper pack as well, so you're really only getting Squad Swarm and Vader's Finest as upgrades

I doubt you need 2 bantha riders. I've got 2 but I don't ever play 2 at a time.

You really should play 2 Banthas. It gets pretty wild.

The Agent Blaise pack is pretty much a required buy for an Imperial Player at the moment.

It gives you Blaise, who is pretty good at controlling your opponent, and Zillo Technique, which is the closest thing to broken in this game (imho).

Reinforcements comes in the Rebel Trooper pack as well, so you're really only getting Squad Swarm and Vader's Finest as upgrades

I doubt you need 2 bantha riders. I've got 2 but I don't ever play 2 at a time.

You really should play 2 Banthas. It gets pretty wild.

Yeah, but then I would just want to play 4 Banthas, and they won't let me. I've always wanted a second set of elite Tusken raiders, but I can't find a Twin Shadows box cheap enough to justify it.

Reinforcements comes in the Rebel Trooper pack as well, so you're really only getting Squad Swarm and Vader's Finest as upgrades

I doubt you need 2 bantha riders. I've got 2 but I don't ever play 2 at a time.

You really should play 2 Banthas. It gets pretty wild.

Local guy just got to top 4 in a Regional with a Bantha and a Rancor. Interesting list, tough one to beat.

The Agent Blaise pack is pretty much a required buy for an Imperial Player at the moment.

I feel this is outdated after the recent changes to counting victory points

Where are these pockets of popularity for Imperial Assault skirmish? How many show up at a tournament?

Also, does anyone here have a large player base? What's the size and where are you located?

Not huge, but healthy, about 12 of us in the local area with 4-6 playing each week at the local club and then again the night after worth similar numbers at a different store.

That's Exeter,South West uk

The Agent Blaise pack is pretty much a required buy for an Imperial Player at the moment.

I feel this is outdated after the recent changes to counting victory points

The Blazing Troopers build that was all the rage last season won't be as good or possibly even viable, but the Zillo Technique card included in Blaise's pack will continue to be relevant for virtually any Imp squad you can conceivably build.

So it looks like the first 3 errata'd cards are here:

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/12/21/great-change-in-the-galaxy/

But are there hi-res versions of Hired Guns and Leia?

Also, post-Wave 1, the must-buy blister packs are R2-D2 & C3P0; Kayn Somos; Leia Organa; Aliance Smuggler; Bantha Rider; Bossk; ISB infiltrators and all of wave 7? But do you need command cards from other packs? And what about the 3 other box sets, are those a must buy? We're getting into the $500 range here.

Finally, is there a thread that has the 2-3 dominate lists per faction?

All of those above are good worthwhile buys, (with the exception of Somos and ISB Infiltrators in my opinion but there may be great command cards in there that I don't recall

Somos is useless, but his pack comes with Rule by Fear which is a card that, while not essential, automatically makes any list you can fit it in better. Infitrators are inferior to Cross Trained Troopers, but the Infitrator pack actually is the one that contains Cross Training, so...