Just getting into the campaign, and I have a couple of questions about something. I apologize if these have been asked and answered elsewhere.

I only have the core set, right now, but I do want to get the expansions. I know that the expansions come with different Heroes, but can I take Heroes from one set and use them in another campaign? For example, can I or my players use Fenn in a Hoth campaign?

Bespin and Twin Suns...only three campaign missions? Seriously?

Do the Heroes from the various expansions come with their own character decks (weapons, abilities and skills, etc.), as well as side missions keyed for that hero?

Can the players pull side missions from different campaigns to use in their 'core' campaign? (i.e. can a Hoth side mission be used in a Jabba campaign)

This may tie in to the previous question. Can players (or the imperial player) use a side mission to 'unlock' an ally or villain from a different campaign? (Can I use a side mission to unlock Sorin in a Core campaign?)

Any hero can be used in any campaign. Each hero has their own class deck.

Expansions can also add item and supply cards.

The minicampaigns are 4 missions long, The Bespin Gambit extends to 5 with the ISB Infiltrators pack. Minicampaigns can be extended with house-rules. (I have used two methods to get to 7 missions.)

All side missions are available when building the side mission deck. (Provided you don't care about thematic compatibility.)

All agenda sets are available when building the agenda deck. (Provided you don't care about thematic compatibility.)

Allies or villains are not tied into campaigns. If you earn one, you can use one, regardless of the campaign. (Except you can't earn Jabba during Jabba's Realm campaign.)

To add to a1bert's answer regarding the minicampaigns (Bespin Gambit and Twin Shadows): there are six missions in each box, four will be used to make up the campaign and which ones depends on who wins the first and third missions. Additionally, all of those missions can be used as side missions in the full length campaigns.

3 hours ago, a1bert said:

The minicampaigns are 4 missions long, The Bespin Gambit extends to 5 with the ISB Infiltrators pack.

So you run Into the Unknown as the first mission? Do you start everyone at 0 xp, credits and influence? Do you give the rewards after this mission (1 xp, 100 credits per hero, and 1 influence), or just start the next mission with the 3xp and 400 credits per hero as stated in the mini-campaign rules?

8 minutes ago, wakefieldbw said:

So you run Into the Unknown as the first mission? Do you start everyone at 0 xp, credits and influence? Do you give the rewards after this mission (1 xp, 100 credits per hero, and 1 influence), or just start the next mission with the 3xp and 400 credits per hero as stated in the mini-campaign rules?

How to add it is explained in the ISB Infiltrators pack. It's included as a Forced Mission immediately after the second mission, Reclassified or Panic in the Streets.

My group actually messed this up a little bit where we played it as immediately before the third mission. Meaning we forgot we were doing Into the Unknown, did our upgrade stage, and decided to skip the upgrade stage after Into the Unknown to make up for it.

29 minutes ago, wakefieldbw said:

So you run Into the Unknown as the first mission?

You setup and start the campaign normally. Like said by @Uninvited Guest , the instructions in the pack tells you to play Into the Unknown before the rebel upgrade of the second mission. (Yes, we played it after the upgrade stage in the first playthrough as well, but have relearned the separation of mission stage / Rebel upgrade stage / Imperial upgrade stage since.)

For two different ways to extend minicampaigns see: a1bert's Imperial Assault Play by Forum Campaigns

I like the alternative with an additional intro mission and one side mission better - it lets the imperial player to more or less easily tie in the missions into the campaign narrative / flavor text.

19 minutes ago, Uninvited Guest said:

How to add it is explained in the ISB Infiltrators pack. It's included as a Forced Mission immediately after the second mission, Reclassified or Panic in the Streets.

My group actually messed this up a little bit where we played it as immediately before the third mission. Meaning we forgot we were doing Into the Unknown, did our upgrade stage, and decided to skip the upgrade stage after Into the Unknown to make up for it.

Ah thank you. I should have actually read the sheet.

I'm a little confused regarding your last statement. What is difference between immediately after 2nd mission and immediately before 3rd? Do you not perform an upgrade step as part of every mission clesn-up?

No, the upgrade stages are separate from the mission stage, which includes mission clean-up. It's not very well explained (mainly not at all) in the LtP and RRG. The separation is visible in the campaign log, but not very well.

1 minute ago, a1bert said:

No, the upgrade stages are separate from the mission stage, which includes mission clean-up. It's not very well explained (mainly not at all) in the LtP and RRG. The separation is visible in the campaign log, but not very well.

Thank you. Obscure things like that are so easy to miss - thanks for clarification.

So, I was really confused how forced missions occur at first because of the three in the Core two are purchased from the Agenda deck at the end of an upgrade stage and one occurs as the result of a Rebel loss in a Story Mission. In both cases and upgrade stage does not occur but figuring out if it was before or after the forced mission is what was hard for me to grasp at first.

What helped me was realizing that Forced Missions are played IMMEDIATELY when the come into play. So in this case it comes into play after the second mission, not after the upgrade stage which would be before the third mission. Compare that the the ones in the Agenda deck, they're purchased at the very end of the upgrade stage so they are played after upgrades and before the next mission.

7 hours ago, LugWrench said:

Can the players pull side missions from different campaigns to use in their 'core' campaign? (i.e. can a Hoth side mission be used in a Jabba campaign)

I know this has sort of been answered already, but I'd like to clarify- while almost all side missions can be completed in any campaign (as long as you don't care about timelines), there is one pretty big exception with Hoth- Threat Missions are a specific type of mission exclusive so far to the Return to Hoth campaign.

Quote

This may tie in to the previous question. Can players (or the imperial player) use a side mission to 'unlock' an ally or villain from a different campaign? (Can I use a side mission to unlock Sorin in a Core campaign?)

Absolutely- again, as long as you don't care about timelines, you can do whatever, and timelines currently seem to be a lot more relaxed to the point of having pretty much completely disappeared for recent releases.

In fact, think of it this way- generally, the only components you cannot bring from one full campaign to another are story missions.