Hello,

I am wondering what impact Legion will have on IA new releases. I am considering getting into IA, but may just save my pennies until Legion comes out if this game has run its course. I don’t see pending releases like in the other Star Wars games, but I do see the app was just released.

Thoughts would be freatly appreciated. I enjoyed the mini game that other company made for Star Wars, but have just recently decided painting my own minis would be fun.

Thanks for the help.

Short answer: legion will only have the effect on IA that individual people allow it too.

I don't see any reason legion will replace or kill IA. I'm not planning to worry until we haven't seen an announcement for new IA stuff for at least six months.

To put it in movie terms: Heart of the Empire blew everything wide open and we could have anything coming in the pipeline for IA - who knows what's next. But it's up to you if you want to take the leap.

In my opinion: legion looks cool but sounds like it will be longer games for competitive and quite a different feel. So I don't plan to get into it. Too many games, too little time and money. I like IA a lot. I think it's a well rounded game and there's tons of options to make your armies and command decks. It's the only game I play competitively and I plan to stick with it as they're really just reaching the right balance in general for the game's skirmish side.

Also, I'm pretty confident one main reason it feels slow on releases coming up for IA is that the first two years were probably a lot of "we need to get as much of this content out as possible quickly to get the game to a good state" or something like that. And now they have enough out to really take the time to balance it well each wave and think more about where they want to go with what lessons they've learned.

It's also worth adding that Legion is purely a competitive 1v1. If you're interested in a campaign then, even if they never produce more content, IA is the way to go.

1 hour ago, Uninvited Guest said:

It's also worth adding that Legion is purely a competitive 1v1. If you're interested in a campaign then, even if they never produce more content, IA is the way to go.

Regarding IA campaigns, with the recent release of the Legends of the Alliance app, there are even more ways to play. You can play the box set campaigns against friends or play cooperatively with them against the app (or even play solo against the App). FFG has also indicated that we can expect more app content that will take advantage of the expansions.

Honestly, I think you should look at it like this:

Are you a seasoned tabletop miniatures wargamer, or do you prefer boardgames?

Legion is a big tabletop war game. You'll not be required to build your scenery, but you'll probably want at least something so you don't just have a flat topped table for your maps. You'll also almost assuredly want to paint those minis.

Imperial Assault comes with all the tiles you need (per expansion). Sure, some people build crazy 3D scenery, but the tiles are beautiful as is. Movement is more restrictive, but also less finnicky (you don't need a ruler or guide). Painting figures is also fun, but hardly necessary.

Are you into organized competitive play, or friendly play with friends?

Not everyone will agree with me on this, but I think that while Legion doesn't offer an existential threat to IA as a whole, I think that the competitive skirmish side of things may possibly suffer. It's even possible that competitive IA skirmish may not be here in a year's time (though we currently have no reason to believe that it won't, outside of speculation). Then again, it's possible Legion won't get nearly the support that it would need to dethrone IA, and it's competitive scene could fail. Or, worst of all, both games could leech off each other so much that they both fail. Basically, nobody really knows yet exactly what's going to happen.

With IA, though, you're guaranteed a ton of fun with friendly play. There's a ridiculous amount of content out there right now across various game modes: Skirmish, 4 Player large skirmish, multiple campaigns of varying length, and the app based coop campaign.

I'd look at it this way- IA is like 2005's Battlefront 2: lots of content, lots of game modes, enjoyed by those who play it, but not really in the competitive scene and may possible not be getting new content added.

Meanwhile, Legion is more like 2017's Battlefront 2: shiny and new, with a lot of potential, but ultimately pretty bare bones right now. With updates it's possible it could be better in the future.

Frankly, there is no reason to believe IA is going anywhere any time soon. They have soooo much of the Star Wars universe that they haven't touched yet. In other words, they won't have to struggle to figure out new content as its right at their fingertips.

In other words....Do it!

3 hours ago, subtrendy2 said:

I'd look at it this way- IA is like 2005's Battlefront 2: lots of content, lots of game modes, enjoyed by those who play it, but not really in the competitive scene and may possible not be getting new content added.

Just curious what you mean by "not really in the competitive scene"?

And in general, why do you personally think IA isn't getting new content?

1 minute ago, Masterchiefspiff said:

Just curious what you mean by "not really in the competitive scene"?

And in general, why do you personally think IA isn't getting new content?

In regards to IA, I don't mean necessarily that we're getting knocked out of the competitive scene, but it is a legitimate concern that many have. I should've been clearer about that.

Same for the other question, really. Like I said, Legion in no way is for sure an existential threat to IA- but it might be. We don't know yet.

Just now, subtrendy2 said:

In regards to IA, I don't mean necessarily that we're getting knocked out of the competitive scene, but it is a legitimate concern that many have. I should've been clearer about that.

Same for the other question, really. Like I said, Legion in no way is for sure an existential threat to IA- but it might be. We don't know yet.

Cool. So a follow up question: What would it take for you (or others if we want to hypothesize) to be more comfortable with IA's future?

I mean, if we get an announcement for another wave/expansion after HotE will that calm people down or just for a few months like HotE? Or are we destined for a constant worry that Legion and IA can't coexist until they both naturally reach their own conclusions?

I mean, I used to think that whenever the app got announced people would stop worrying about the state of IA's future and not worry about it going anywhere. But if anything, it seems like a lot of people have taken the app announcement as some kind of death knell to IA...that doesn't make any sense to me at all.

Just now, Masterchiefspiff said:

Cool. So a follow up question: What would it take for you (or others if we want to hypothesize) to be more comfortable with IA's future?

I mean, if we get an announcement for another wave/expansion after HotE will that calm people down or just for a few months like HotE? Or are we destined for a constant worry that Legion and IA can't coexist until they both naturally reach their own conclusions?

I mean, I used to think that whenever the app got announced people would stop worrying about the state of IA's future and not worry about it going anywhere. But if anything, it seems like a lot of people have taken the app announcement as some kind of death knell to IA...that doesn't make any sense to me at all.

I hope I haven't come across as too paranoid here, because I tried to be clear that while Legion potentially is a threat and we've also seen significantly decreased competition, we also don't really have too much concrete reason to be worried yet.

AS for what it would take: Here's the thing- Descent got their app, and the game pretty much stopped getting physical content. Another wave, even just a figure wave, could allay that fear a little bit. A semi consistent schedule (like in IA's first few years) would be great, even if it's much slower than it used to be. For instance, if we can count on a figure wave in Q2 and a box expansion in Q3/4, I would be pretty satisfied.

Just now, subtrendy2 said:

I hope I haven't come across as too paranoid here, because I tried to be clear that while Legion potentially is a threat and we've also seen significantly decreased competition, we also don't really have too much concrete reason to be worried yet.

AS for what it would take: Here's the thing- Descent got their app, and the game pretty much stopped getting physical content. Another wave, even just a figure wave, could allay that fear a little bit. A semi consistent schedule (like in IA's first few years) would be great, even if it's much slower than it used to be. For instance, if we can count on a figure wave in Q2 and a box expansion in Q3/4, I would be pretty satisfied.

No that makes sense. I haven't kept up with descent, but I would be curious to know how long the game had been around, and then how long version 2 had been around, before the app came? I mean, off the top of my head, I'm guessing Descent had been around longer (and obviously more iterations) by the time it got its app? So they had released a ton of content and the app was more like icing on the cake?

IA is just now hitting it's 3rd birthday. I know we're not talking about it, but X-Wing is I think a little over 5 years old and seems to be going strong still. I guess 3 years sounds way too young to give up on IA - they have to have a bank of ideas still for probably 2 years worth of stuff at least.

20 hours ago, Masterchiefspiff said:

Also, I'm pretty confident one main reason it feels slow on releases coming up for IA is that the first two years were probably a lot of "we need to get as much of this content out as possible quickly to get the game to a good state" or something like that. And now they have enough out to really take the time to balance it well each wave and think more about where they want to go with what lessons they've learned.

This x 1000. Skirmish has finally reached the point where there's enough viable list diversity to be really, really fun. I can't even figure out which faction I want to take to Regionals.

20 minutes ago, Masterchiefspiff said:

No that makes sense. I haven't kept up with descent, but I would be curious to know how long the game had been around, and then how long version 2 had been around, before the app came? I mean, off the top of my head, I'm guessing Descent had been around longer (and obviously more iterations) by the time it got its app? So they had released a ton of content and the app was more like icing on the cake?

IA is just now hitting it's 3rd birthday. I know we're not talking about it, but X-Wing is I think a little over 5 years old and seems to be going strong still. I guess 3 years sounds way too young to give up on IA - they have to have a bank of ideas still for probably 2 years worth of stuff at least.

I'm just sort of getting into Descent now, actually.
It was around for about fourish years before the app came out (2012-2016). In that time, they got a ton of content.

From what I can tell, there are two Big Box expansions, and two small box ones. Then 20 "Lieutenant" packs (comparable to our figure packs, but with only unique villain figures) and some campaign books (including co-op campaign books). So, a little more stuff than we have now (especially heroes- there are a ton of heroes).

I will note that after the app, Descent got Hero and Monster packs- these were packs of additional heroes and monsters that came from the First Edition. So, technically not really new stuff, but new for only 2nd Ed. players. Looks like there's some pretty cool stuff in there, too, and all nine packs were released at the same time as far as I can tell. Unfortunately, since IA is in its first edition, there's no real equivalent for that.

Oh, and of course the app gets sporadic updates with new content, including new quests and some paid features.

Again, I'm certainly not saying that IA is dead- merely that the best comparison we have (Descent) paints a rather bleak picture. Of course, there's no reason we couldn't deviate from Descent's model.

I think it's fair to say that Decent-to-IA comparisons are not fair, considering FFG *never* had a competitive 1v1 mode to support in Descent. And if FFG really wanted to treat IA like Descent, I don't think they would have allowed the IA developers to spend time (money) essentially reworking the skirmish game to be better over the last two expansions and A/V pack waves.

Ultimately the proof will be the next wave/expansion announcement. Really hope FFG doesn't try to wait for IA Skirmish at Worlds to announce any new products.

15 hours ago, subtrendy2 said:

Honestly, I think you should look at it like this:

Are you a seasoned tabletop miniatures wargamer, or do you prefer boardgames?

Legion is a big tabletop war game. You'll not be required to build your scenery, but you'll probably want at least something so you don't just have a flat topped table for your maps. You'll also almost assuredly want to paint those minis.

Imperial Assault comes with all the tiles you need (per expansion). Sure, some people build crazy 3D scenery, but the tiles are beautiful as is. Movement is more restrictive, but also less finnicky (you don't need a ruler or guide). Painting figures is also fun, but hardly necessary.

Look at it like this:

I AM a seasoned tabletop miniatures wargamner, and I enjoy Imperial Assault more than I ever have any tabletop miniatures wargame.

We have a lot of stuff actually when lining up Core content up to HotE expansion content. If they actually take a hiatus from releasing new physical content to expand the app options then I'm totally fine with this approach (anyway I'm running out of idea for minimal storage options ). Don't get me wrong, I still think there are some valuable characters we are missing and I would like them to hit the market at some point but not at the cost of delaying the release of new app content. If they are still doing both, great! But my suspicions are that Legion is probably taking some R&D out of IA (just an impression). If that is indeed the case, I'd rather they develop new campaigns for the app than Black Krrsantan, ewoks or the missing bounty hunters from the ESB "sinister six".

As far as the initial post question goes, I echo answers of other forum members. The impact of Legion (if any) will affect the skrimish mode of IA (although I feel they are two different things sharing some similarities). So if this is the source of the uncertainty, you might want to wait and see what will happen. But if IA is seducing you for the campaign mode then please wait no more and go grab a copy of the game! Even if FFG does not release any new content, like I pointed out above there are a lot of stuff to discover for new IA gamers!

6 hours ago, Fourtytwo said:

Look at it like this:

I AM a seasoned tabletop miniatures wargamner, and I enjoy Imperial Assault more than I ever have any tabletop miniatures wargame.

That's probably a good point.

I guess what I mean is that jumping headfirst into Legion without any Tabletop miniatures experience will probably be pretty jarring for many players. And hey, maybe it'll spark a lifelong interest in some- but many might see the Star Wars logo and jump right in, ultimately to be put off by the complexity of the hobby.

Glad to hear you enjoy IA, though!

46 minutes ago, subtrendy2 said:

I guess what I mean is that jumping headfirst into Legion without any Tabletop miniatures experience will probably be pretty jarring for many players. And hey, maybe it'll spark a lifelong interest in some- but many might see the Star Wars logo and jump right in, ultimately to be put off by the complexity of the hobby.

Ha! I did exactly that with Armada. Saw the Star Wars logo, saw the cool ships I knew and jumped in without actually knowing (well I "knew" from reading reviews on BGG, or thought I knew) what I was heading into. Found out it was not the "droid" I was looking for. And it would become soon very expansive to gather an interesting fleet who would see very few playtime (because of lack of friends playing the game too). At least the models were pre-painted lol!

I can totally imagine now someone jumping on Legion after seeing the cool painted minis with the astonishing 3D terrains to find out that this is not just a game, but a hobby too if you want to get what FFG is actually displaying on their website! It kind of reminds me of the cool GI Joe toy ads on tv when I was a kid. The toys being displayed in actual forest diorama with lakes, mountains and rocks, then I would get my GI Joe's out to play on melamine tables, a grey carpet and a brown-orange-yellow couch ... not the same visual experience lol

@IanSolo_FFG I love that "visual" memory

For the "hate" we give the puzzle pieces in this game they really are one of the best things about it as far as giving us beautiful scenes cheaply to play our Star Wars' on!

Just wish there were cheaper "official" ways to make the skirmish side faster setup when all you want is to lay it out and get going fast.

Thanks for all of the responses. I have been watching them over the last few days and GREATLY appreciate the feedback. I didn't mean to start a bug to do, but I did appreciate hearing multiple thoughts. I think I will take the plunge!