We're about halfway through the Core campaign, playing IA for the first time. However, I'm enjoying it so much I picked up Twin Shadows last week. Should I go ahead and include the various items (upgrade cards, supply cards, Heavy stormtroopers) in the current campaign, or would it be better to wait until we actually get to that campaign?

I feel like adding them would be fun, since it would be new stuff to see, whether new equipment for them to buy, or new enemies for them to kill. Otoh, perhaps it would make Twin Shadows less exciting when we finally get to it. Thoughts?

In my Play by Forum campaigns the rule for expansions is: any .

Anything applicable is added as soon as they are spoiled. So, I have BT-1 and Maul as villains with the Nemeses deck and just deployed an AT-DP to thwart the rebels in my custom mission (with General Weiss hunting something Boba Fett stole).

I don't modify the agenda deck or side mission deck though, so it's limited to deployment cards and potentially supply and item cards.

Use whatever you think is thematic, whether it's more powerful or not.

I know that I am in the minority on this, but I prefer to hold off on adding stuff until my group is ready to start another campaign. My thinking is that it is even more fun to start a new campaign if every facet of the game contains new stuff, instead of "ruining the surprise" by immediately adding new cards and units and whatever to an existing campaign as soon as the bits are within reach. IMHO, your upcoming Twin Shadows gaming will be less special if you include all the item cards and models and stuff in the Core campaign, as that robbs you of a gradual expansion of the game with each campaign. (Did that make sense?) But yeah, I'm clearly in the minority on this

[Edit] PS: As a bonus, the next time you play the Core campaign -- after having played Twin Shadows and added all that box's stuff to your resources -- the Core game will be very different from the first time you ran it. Again, this advantage will be missed if you add everything to the game whenever you get your hand on it

You are not supposed to add expansion items mid campaign.

But there is really no harm in adding the new item cards and allowing the new imperial units.

I agree with A1bert in that the agenda deck and side mission deck should stay the same.

My rule of thumb is:

If you can add something without having to remove something, go ahead.

So, for instance- Bring in heavy troopers and Tusken Raiders as open groups, that's fine. Add any new items to the heroes' possible pool next upgrade stage.

Do not let the Rebels choose new heroes or allies. Do not, as the Empire, replace Agenda sets or your own class. Do not add any new side missions.

I also have a bit of a house rule, in that I can't add any minis until I've painted them first.

And enjoy Twin Shadoes! Are you planning on getting everything in the order it was released, or are you still feeling the game out?

23 hours ago, subtrendy2 said:

My rule of thumb is:

If you can add something without having to remove something, go ahead.

So, for instance- Bring in heavy troopers and Tusken Raiders as open groups, that's fine. Add any new items to the heroes' possible pool next upgrade stage.

Do not let the Rebels choose new heroes or allies. Do not, as the Empire, replace Agenda sets or your own class. Do not add any new side missions.

I also have a bit of a house rule, in that I can't add any minis until I've painted them first.

Thanks for all the comments. I was thinking I would go ahead and add the new stuff to the upgrade decks for them. But then I took a closer look and realized that the new condition, "Weakened" is also part of that expansion. Quite a few of the new weapons/items reference that condition. So, now I'm not sure whether I should introduce a whole new condition in the middle of the campaign. I probably should, since it's balanced to be included on a replay through Core anyway. It would benefit them more than me as well, since they might be buying weapons that use it, and I probably won't add the new Imperial units until/unless I get them painted. It would be more fun to break out new units if they're fully painted.

Quote

And enjoy Twin Shadoes! Are you planning on getting everything in the order it was released, or are you still feeling the game out?

So far, I've been getting everything in order and will likely continue with that. Not really "feeling the game out" at this point. I agree with one of my buddies who said, after our first gaming session with the Core, "We're going to be playing this for a long time."

I really want to add some of the packs that weren't tied to a specific campaign though, to get more variety. Hired guns seems like a good one to start with. As far as I can tell, the packs I could potentially add in that aren't related to a specific campaign are the following:

• Stormtroopers Villain Pack
• Wookiee Warriors Ally Pack (not really playable until setting up a new campaign)
• Hired Guns Villain Pack
• Alliance Smuggler Ally Pack (not really playable until setting up a new campaign)
• Bantha Rider Villain Pack
• ISB Infiltrator (can't really use until I've bought Bespin for the Hidden condition)
• Obi-Wan Kenobi Ally Pack (not really playable until setting up a new campaign)
• The Grand Inquisitor Villain Pack (not really playable until setting up a new campaign)
• Greedo Villain Pack (not really playable until setting up a new campaign)
• BT-1 and 0-0-0 (not really playable until setting up a new campaign)
• Jawa Scavenger Villain Pack
• Hera Syndulla and C1-10P Ally Pack (not really playable until setting up a new campaign)

Eh, that took some work for a n00b like me, but now I'm glad I did it. It really focuses my buying decisions for now: Hired Guns, Bantha Rider, and Jawa Scavenger look like the best bang for the buck to introduce mid-campaign.

Seems like I could potentially get value out of the Captain Terro pack as well, since it includes the Dewback Rider. I'm not sure if using that model early would remove some of the surprise of Captain Terro hitting the board during the JR campaign. Looks like an awesome model though.

Any additional suggestions?

I think you're well on track to figuring this out. The generic baddies are probably the only things that you could really add in mid-campaign. You're right about Terro- actually, a lot of people have bought two copies, one for Terro and the other for the Dewback sculpt. So, if you went with two different sculpts, that might not ruin the surprise of Terro later.

I think (and I can't stress enough that I'm not totally sure about this) but I believe that the ISB troopers come with a Hidden card or two.

Either way, it'd be easy to proxy if you absolutely have to have them before Bespin.

Glad you guys seem to enjoy the game. Personally, I tend to think it only gets better after the Core campaign.

On 10/3/2017 at 9:34 AM, angelman2 said:

I know that I am in the minority on this, but I prefer to hold off on adding stuff until my group is ready to start another campaign. My thinking is that it is even more fun to start a new campaign if every facet of the game contains new stuff, instead of "ruining the surprise" by immediately adding new cards and units and whatever to an existing campaign as soon as the bits are within reach. IMHO, your upcoming Twin Shadows gaming will be less special if you include all the item cards and models and stuff in the Core campaign, as that robbs you of a gradual expansion of the game with each campaign. (Did that make sense?) But yeah, I'm clearly in the minority on this

[Edit] PS: As a bonus, the next time you play the Core campaign -- after having played Twin Shadows and added all that box's stuff to your resources -- the Core game will be very different from the first time you ran it. Again, this advantage will be missed if you add everything to the game whenever you get your hand on it

I'm in the minority along with you on this one. However, I have only played the big box campaigns with my gaming groups so in my current campaigns (Core and Hoth) I've included the content from both small box expansions since I plan to just stick with the longer campaigns. If I can keep both groups interested from Core -> Hoth -> JR -> HOTE maybe I will go back and play extended versions of TS or Bespin but that's a long way out.

I like the appeal of having new content to include when a new campaign is played for the first time. I am also looking forward to the possibility of replaying the campaigns again with my main campaign group (played through JR and currently awaiting HOTE to be released). Yes, I have 3 campaign groups

10 hours ago, serrate said:

Stormtroopers Villain Pack

This won't do anything for you mid-campaign, FYI... well unless you want to mix up the sculpts. It is nice getting them with a new pose. The max you can have in one story mission is two regular groups and one elite group of stormtroopers, the pack doesn't change that sadly. Personally, I didn't get it for that reason.

The agenda set is supposed to be pretty good though.

9 hours ago, subtrendy2 said:

I think (and I can't stress enough that I'm not totally sure about this) but I believe that the ISB troopers come with a Hidden card or two.

Either way, it'd be easy to proxy if you absolutely have to have them before Bespin.

I'm pretty sure it does. Boardwars doesn't have one listed and the FFG spread photo doesn't have one that I can see, but there's an unboxing picture on BGG that shows one. It'd be odd if it didn't.

It does. I just got one pack with a token and a card.

10 hours ago, Uninvited Guest said:

I'm pretty sure it does. Boardwars doesn't have one listed and the FFG spread photo doesn't have one that I can see, but there's an unboxing picture on BGG that shows one. It'd be odd if it didn't.

Nice, good catch. Same, @Etheneus .

Quote

The agenda set is supposed to be pretty good though.

Yeah, that's why I got it. The 501st themed mission and reward seemed like it could be fun.

14 minutes ago, subtrendy2 said:

Nice, good catch. Same, @Etheneus .

Yeah, that's why I got it. The 501st themed mission and reward seemed like it could be fun.

Same reason I got it... Though ironically I haven't played it yet. I want to play military might again some time and go all out on troopers and trooper buffs and hopefully win Kayn Somos.

34 minutes ago, neosmagus said:

Same reason I got it... Though ironically I haven't played it yet. I want to play military might again some time and go all out on troopers and trooper buffs and hopefully win Kayn Somos.

That sounds like a lot of fun, I might have to try that sometime.

I'm already planning on Inspiring Leadership for our upcoming Jabba's Realm play though, and probably getting Nemesis for Heart of the Empire after that.

1 hour ago, neosmagus said:

Same reason I got it... Though ironically I haven't played it yet. I want to play military might again some time and go all out on troopers and trooper buffs and hopefully win Kayn Somos.

I would have liked to have that agenda for my current Hoth campaign running Technological Superiority. Planning on going with a Superior Augments build and looking to get as many attachments as I can (plus, 501st is a really good attachment anyway). Troopers (minus heavies) with 5 speed and an additional 2 mp after resolving an attack sounds pretty great - or with Elite Jet Troopers, 4 mp after resolving the attack would be amazing (granted as stated above, I'm not allowing myself to use Jet Troopers in my Hoth campaign). You could pull of some nice hit and run tactics combining Jet Troopers and 501st. I also like the idea of combining 501st with Elite Snowtroopers far out of range of the Rebels and using the double action to focus them all. Would be much easier to keep them permanently focused once they get focused.

2 hours ago, subtrendy2 said:

That sounds like a lot of fun, I might have to try that sometime.

I'm already planning on Inspiring Leadership for our upcoming Jabba's Realm play though, and probably getting Nemesis for Heart of the Empire after that.

I'm trying to decide if military might would be a good match for Jabba's Realm or if I should rather go for Hutt Mercenaries.

1 hour ago, neosmagus said:

I'm trying to decide if military might would be a good match for Jabba's Realm or if I should rather go for Hutt Mercenaries.

Up to you. There's probably a little less focus on Trooper groups in several JR missions, though.

Of course, what you bring in for open groups could obviously change that.

Military Might goes with anything.

Elite Wing Guards are pretty good (regulars not so much) if you want to keep to the theme and emphasize the Trooper class cards.

We generally wait with introducing a new expansion, in general.