Also a long time wargamer...now recent IA and descent convert.

I love that you can still paint models...without having to paint bloody loads. The game is great. Just played Skirmish vs the wife (shed never play a wargame) and was fun having Vader mash her puny rebels to pulp.

Buy it...it is your destiny.

Personally, I've found IA minis far more fun to paint than most others.

I guess it's because of a few factors:

1) Iconic characters

2) Mostly interesting poses

3) Unless you buy extra boxes, you'll have no more than 9 identical figures, provided you don't decide to make any variations between groups anyway.

On 7/31/2017 at 9:10 AM, fok12 said:

As a long-time wargamer I have always been looking for a Star Wars miniatures game. I play a lot of X-Wing but what I have been looking for was for a non-spaceship game. I have tried the old Wizards of the Coast game, but the rules are too simplistic for my liking. I have been trying to convince myself to buy Imperial Assault ever since it came out, but its price tag was holding me back. I have watched several battle reports and I have to say, the game looks really nice. Of course, I am asking about your input and feedback because it is different watching someone play the game and actually playing it yourself.

I know that the campaign part is more like a board game, which is not bad, don't get me wrong, but I am mostly interested in the skirmish part of the game. So what I am asking from you is to tell me if the game is worth it (for the skirmish part) and if I can play skirmish out of the main box or if I need to buy expansions.

Thanks in advance!

I spoke with Paul Heaver at the last Worlds. He said it best (paraphrasing).

IA requires practice and understanding of the maps. With the rotations, it keeps the game fresh and makes it harder for meta to dominate. X-wing you could walk in after not playing for months and still do well.

I've been getting out of X as I don't like where the game went. Too much stupid stuff and loads of cheaters. I showed up for a Store Championship after not playing for many months. I brought two ships that I've never flown before. I won with them and Soontir Fel against a tough group in my community.

For IA, I've been at for years and have had limited success. It's so much harder to know what people will bring, and the game is not as predictable as anything can happen. It really depends on the scenario/map.

I'm noticing more hard core players getting out of X-wing, and the market is flooded with swag and ships.

On the other hand, IA is still growing but seems to barely stay afloat competition wise. I play both games and can tell you that X-wing is a better tournament game, but IA is way more balanced and thematic.

I real feel that the painting aspect is what holds this game back a little. X-wing is pretty gorgeous. Just the game blows.

30 minutes ago, NeverBetTheFett said:

I real feel that the painting aspect is what holds this game back a little. X-wing is pretty gorgeous. Just the game blows.

On the otherhand, painting your own figures is fun and satisfying, and can yield even more impressive results!

On 7/31/2017 at 6:19 AM, EastCoast said:

Play Imperial Assault... < click > or the bunny gets it.

LOL - best response ever!

Edit: Also a note: I visit my buddy out-of-state and he only owns the core set and a handful of blister packs. We've played casual skirmish games (1v1) with only his stuff and had plenty of fun.

13 hours ago, subtrendy2 said:

On the otherhand, painting your own figures is fun and satisfying, and can yield even more impressive results!

Unless, like me, you have neither time, money or skill to paint. :'(

17 hours ago, subtrendy2 said:

On the otherhand, painting your own figures is fun and satisfying, and can yield even more impressive results!

When I first got into IA, I had never painted anything! I am not artistic. But my friend gave me all of his stuff for free...so I figured why not? Well 3 years later and I love my work. It's still not amazing, but I love it. So I would totally agree with you. Most are just too scared to give it a try. Besides, it's a great hobby for someone like me that lives in a big sterile city. Relaxing! And yes, great results!

4 hours ago, neosmagus said:

Unless, like me, you have neither time, money or skill to paint. :'(

I used to think the same. It doesn't cost as much as you think. It's not that hard to make them look good. You really don't need to be Serastro. I would suggest asking guys in your local gaming group for donations...paints, brushes, etc. Then hit up the dollar store. Paint like you're putting their clothes on. Then add a wash after to get into the cracks. Voila! I found that painting ended up making me love the game more.

I like painting because instead of getting 20-30 hours of use playing my game I've gotten 200-300 hours of use painting. IA is the first game I've painted. Never expected to have the time or patience or drive. 120+ figures later...

edit: more like 200 hours playing and 400-500 hours painting.

I really wish there is/was a stronger presence in my city. No game store advertises an IA day, and the facebook community is dead. I was buying some ships for X-Wing one weekend not to long ago and saw 5-6 people playing IA and got really excited. I went over and watched for a little bit and asked if they play regularly. I got completely shunned and ignored. Very different from when people come by and watch X-wing where everyone is like "oh yea, it's awesome, check this out."

So right now I'm very disappointed and a little upset I've spent A LOT of money on this game and time painting...but will probably never have a chance to play it. I have the Core, Hoth, and about a dozen ally packs...and have never played.

I have everything painted too, but I mostly play in Play by Forum campaigns (and otherwise involved with IA - maybe too much so that I don't get to actual playing much) .

(Didn't start painting with IA though, but the figures of Room 25.)

11 minutes ago, Wiredin said:

I really wish there is/was a stronger presence in my city. No game store advertises an IA day, and the facebook community is dead. I was buying some ships for X-Wing one weekend not to long ago and saw 5-6 people playing IA and got really excited. I went over and watched for a little bit and asked if they play regularly. I got completely shunned and ignored. Very different from when people come by and watch X-wing where everyone is like "oh yea, it's awesome, check this out."

So right now I'm very disappointed and a little upset I've spent A LOT of money on this game and time painting...but will probably never have a chance to play it. I have the Core, Hoth, and about a dozen ally packs...and have never played.

That a sad story. Where are you at? We had an extra seat at our table (in Oregon).

5 hours ago, neosmagus said:

Unless, like me, you have neither time, money or skill to paint. :'(

1 hour ago, NeverBetTheFett said:

When I first got into IA, I had never painted anything! I am not artistic. But my friend gave me all of his stuff for free...so I figured why not? Well 3 years later and I love my work. It's still not amazing, but I love it. So I would totally agree with you. Most are just too scared to give it a try. Besides, it's a great hobby for someone like me that lives in a big sterile city. Relaxing! And yes, great results!

Definitely! Neo, let me make some suggestions-

Time: You don't need to spend 5 hours a day painting. I'm rather industrious when I paint, so like I'll do something like paint all the stormtroopers white, for instance. I'm hardly a pro, but we'll get to that later. Point is, if you set aside 30 minutes to an hour, you can chip it away slowly but surely. Besides, you don't really have a deadline.

Also, for reference, I've also painted my Rebellion minis. I was much less particular with them, and did the entirety of them in 2 days (more like 1.5) , but even with such a hasty job they enhance the table so much.

Money: Once again, I'm not a pro, so I do not need high end Citadel paint. You can buy paints for 50 cents a tube (and they're big tubes) at stores like Wal Mart. Invest in a set of Army brushes (you can get three pretty quality brushes for 10 bucks) you should be able to start painting for under $25. You'll notice that IA uses a lot of white, black, grey, and brown tones. Investing in just a couple (drastically different) shades of each, then mixing for some variety lets your dollar go a lot further when it comes to paint.

Skill: Pssssh. You'd be surprised what you can accomplish. I don't put the time or effort into my minis that some do, and it does show, but I'm crazy proud of what I've done. They look so **** good on the table. In fact, there are really two types of painters- table ready and pro. And as amazing as the pro painters can be (and truly, the work some of them do is absolutely mind-boggling) you start getting diminishing returns once you're not looking at a mini up close through a hi res photograph and are instead playing a game with a few beers down the hatch already (or wine/bourbon, if you're a pretentious jerk like me).

I mean, if you don't want to paint, you obviously don't have to. But out of those three reasons, I wouldn't let any hold you back.

Speaking of which, it's about time I've put up some photos of my work.

59 minutes ago, VadersMarchKazoo said:

I like painting because instead of getting 20-30 hours of use playing my game I've gotten 200-300 hours of use painting. IA is the first game I've painted. Never expected to have the time or patience or drive. 120+ figures later...

edit: more like 200 hours playing and 400-500 hours painting.

Oh, totally. The important thing about painting is that it's something that you enjoy. If you're just doing it for the end product, you might as well have them commissioned.

So far I've played about 4 campaigns. At missions running 1-3 hours (our group has started getting really analytical compared to when we first started) and about 11 missions per campaign, that's roughly 80-100 hours of missions run.

For painting, I'd say I've probably done about 120-160 hours in painting. Definitely on the low scale for someone who has one of everything, but still a decent amount. You have to enjoy it, or it becomes a chore.

14 minutes ago, Wiredin said:

I really wish there is/was a stronger presence in my city. No game store advertises an IA day, and the facebook community is dead. I was buying some ships for X-Wing one weekend not to long ago and saw 5-6 people playing IA and got really excited. I went over and watched for a little bit and asked if they play regularly. I got completely shunned and ignored. Very different from when people come by and watch X-wing where everyone is like "oh yea, it's awesome, check this out."

So right now I'm very disappointed and a little upset I've spent A LOT of money on this game and time painting...but will probably never have a chance to play it. I have the Core, Hoth, and about a dozen ally packs...and have never played.

Do what I did... Annoy friends and family and work colleagues and random people on Facebook in my area until you build up a group. Ok, in my case it was the campaign, and I love being the Imperial player. But yeah... I have several concurrent campaigns going.

1 minute ago, neosmagus said:

Do what I did... Annoy friends and family and work colleagues and random people on Facebook in my area until you build up a group. Ok, in my case it was the campaign, and I love being the Imperial player. But yeah... I have several concurrent campaigns going.

Ha. Me too. Mostly friends from work. With IA, you can draw people that are just really into Star Wars. My friends were originally asking: Is this a game with funny looking dice? Now their doing voices and nerding out on Hero builds.

19 minutes ago, VadersMarchKazoo said:

That a sad story. Where are you at? We had an extra seat at our table (in Oregon).

Alberta

16 minutes ago, neosmagus said:

Do what I did... Annoy friends and family and work colleagues and random people on Facebook in my area until you build up a group. Ok, in my case it was the campaign, and I love being the Imperial player. But yeah... I have several concurrent campaigns going.

I've been trying that. Not getting much traction. Hard too because I essentially have no one to help me learn how to play the game that is experienced enough to tell me/us if we are interpreting the rules "Wrong"

4 minutes ago, Wiredin said:

Alberta

I've been trying that. Not getting much traction. Hard too because I essentially have no one to help me learn how to play the game that is experienced enough to tell me/us if we are interpreting the rules "Wrong"

If you play campaign and keep it light it doesn't matter if you get the rules wrong, especially at first. It's more about the adventure. Plus, if you get hung up on a rule, post it on the forum. We love to tell people they're wrong . Of course I'm kidding, but certainly a wealth of support on here.

I like SubT's advice. Just get some folks in a room and feed them some boos.

1 minute ago, VadersMarchKazoo said:

If you play campaign and keep it light it doesn't matter if you get the rules wrong, especially at first. It's more about the adventure. Plus, if you get hung up on a rule, post it on the forum. We love to tell people they're wrong . Of course I'm kidding, but certainly a wealth of support on here.

I like SubT's advice. Just get some folks in a room and feed them some boos.

I'm way more interested in campaign at this point. I'm going to try again in the fall and see if I can get something rolling. I think with a lot of the wave 11 disapointment I may have a chance!

1 minute ago, Wiredin said:

I'm way more interested in campaign at this point. I'm going to try again in the fall and see if I can get something rolling. I think with a lot of the wave 11 disapointment I may have a chance!

Falls probably a good call. I know in Oregon, the days start getting pretty short and my players get more eager to play. It's harder mid-summer when the sun goes down after 9. Probably similar in your parts.

5 minutes ago, VadersMarchKazoo said:

I like SubT's advice. Just get some folks in a room and feed them some boos.

You'd be surprised how well that works.

We've gone from a group that knocks out 2-3 missions in a night while casually sipping our drinks, to a group that takes 6 hours to finish the core campaign finale and I (the Imperial player) literally having to ask my Rebels who won the next morning.

Easy. Theres a rancor.

On 8/4/2017 at 11:51 AM, Wiredin said:

I got completely shunned and ignored.

I hate this about game store mouth breathers.

I always watched other people's painted figs from afar and appreciated them but knew it wasn't for me. But after years (literally) of @Brigadierblu cajoling me to start painting with him, I finally caved and it was a blast! It was surprisingly easy and more a matter of equipment than skill. Get a size zero brush, so basic paints (or use a friend's to get you started (ahem, thanks @Brigadierblu )), and you'll do fine!

-ryanjamal

It sounds like Legion might be more of your style, OP. I'm the opposite. This game's Skirmish mode is exactly what I want, from the tons of map tiles, massive amount of unit variety, limited squad size, card abilities, and overall design.

I just wish there were more people to play with. Even X-Wing is getting hard to find at my FLGS, and I've only seen a small group of people do IA campaigns.

Honestly, at this stage of the game's life and at this stage of the skirmish game's evolution, I'd say it's not worth it if you won't be playing campaign at all.