As the title says, if I have no Imperial Assault sets at all. Other than the core box is anything else required to play the app missions? It the main draw for me and my wife to get into this game.

Essentially, the way it works is that you are assumed to have the Core, and then everything else can be toggled on/off. Probably the only other main thing is that the boxed expansions come with cardboard tokens for characters, which are then sold separately as miniatures. These are enabled alongside the expansions, so (for example) if you have the Core Set but you don't have the Han pack, he can still appear and you use the cardboard token instead of a mini. This doesn't effect gameplay at all, but may effect some people's enjoyment of the game.

Not getting Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and Han Solo with just the core box would make people rage about how FFG requires them to buy expansions.

So, it's a lot of work to (try to) please everyone.

Yes, You only need the core box to play.

Thanks for the response! Is there cards needed from the expansions? Or is it literally just the miniature? And is it still enjoyable with just the core?

Yes, the Core Game will allow you to play the full app campaign without missing anything and be an enjoyable experience. If you were to buy one expansion along with the Core Game for strictly app play, I would personally recommend the Rebel Troopers. Hopefully we'll see a new campaign or update to the app within the next few weeks! Otherwise there's some great variant/solo/co-op play options listed in other threads that would help tide you over till we see new content in the app.

The CORE box is plenty to enjoy Imperial Assault, including the app. The ally/villain expansion packs gives you 1-3 extra miniatures (depending on the pack) along with the cards you need to play them + some other extra cards (item cards for your heroes to purchase between missions, etc.). The only "problem" with playing with only CORE, as explained above, is that for Chewbacca, Han Solo, Rebel Troopers, and Rebel Saboteurs (did I forget anyone?) you'll only have cardboard tokens to represent them when you play. This doesn't affect the game at all, rules-wise (you have their cards etc. in the CORE box), but most of us do prefer to buy the extra packs needed to get the miniature versions of those guys (along with a few additional cards of various types.

I think you and your wife can safely assume you'll have a great time with only the CORE box. It has a LOT of content and everything in the expansions are just extra stuff to add complexity to the game. That said, the CORE box is the gateway drug and you are likely to fall into IA buy-up addiction pretty quickly

When it comes to campaign, Imperial Assault is a lot more like a board game than like a miniatures game. When you think of a board game, you expect the original game box to come with everything you need for a complete game experience and for expansions and deluxe add-ons to just be gravy. When you think of a miniatures game, you think of a hobbled starter box that is little more than a demo experience that requires further purchases to unlock the true game.

If you are playing campaign, Imperial Assault is the former of the two. If you are playing skirmish, it is the latter.

Awesome thanks! Really appreciate the info, so most of the major heroes in the game have their cards and rules in the core box to be represented by cardboard chits? That's alright by me.

And I know that buy up addiction from X-wing already hahaha. I think I'll wait for a couple more digital scenarios to be added then pick the core up. Thanks guys!

The playable (to be) heroes of the game have hero sheets and plastic minis. The rebellion's heroes from the movies and lore are their allies (and come with deployment cards an tokens - except Luke is included in the box, similar to Vader). Those allies are busy doing what they do in the movies, so they are only available to help the game's heroes if they have time and if your players earn their help.

4 hours ago, GILLIES291 said:

so most of the major heroes in the game have their cards and rules in the core box to be represented by cardboard chits?

Just to clarify. As a1bert said, "heroes" in Imperial Assault are the characters played by Rebel players; these are original characters not known from other Star Wars media. The movie protagonists & antagonists are known as "allies" (Rebel side) and "villains" (Imperial side), and each box expansion tend to include a couple such allies & villains as cardboard chits. So, it isn't entirely correct to say that MOST movie characters appear as cardboard chits in the core box... But the core box has a more content than any of the expansions and includes the following allies & villains:

CORE BOX
Darth Vader (miniature) <-- technically, his villain pack is included in the core set as a bonus content
Farmboy Luke (miniature) <-- technically, his ally pack is included in the core set as a bonus content

Han Solo (cardboard token)
Chewbacca (cardboard token)
IG-88 (cardboard token)
3 Rebel Troopers (cardboard tokens)
2 Rebel Saboteurs (cardboard tokens)
Royal Guard Champion (cardboard token; new Imperial villain, not from the movies)
General Weiss (cardboard token; new Imperial villain, not from the movies)

As you buy up box expansions you'll get more cardboard chit "allies" and "villains". For comparison, Twin Shadows (small expansion box) and Jabba's Realm (large expansion box) includes the following cardboard token chits.

TWIN SHADOWS (small expansion box)
Boba Fett (cardboard token)
C3P0 (cardboard token)
R2-D2 (cardboard token)
Kayn Somos (cardboard token; new Imperial villain, not from the movies)


JABBA'S REALM (large expansion box)
Jedi Luke (cardboard token; different version of Luke, now all Jedi-trained, from the Luke in the core box)
3 Alliance Rangers (cardboard token)
Jabba the Hutt (cardboard token)
Captain Terro (cardboard token; new Imperial villain, not from the movies)


So yeah, you get the idea Each one of these cardboard villains & allies can be replaced with actual miniatures by buying the corresponding ally/villain pack. When you buy one of these packs, not only do you get the miniature, but there's a few new cards in each one, including rules-change updated versions of deployment cards, extra skirmish command cards, extra item cards, and/or Side Missions that you can play to "win" these guys in your campaign.

Ok I think I got it now, so only some ally chits and cards are in the core and each large box expansion? But unless you want the miniature you don't need to pick up the actual small ally packs because everything needed for each ally is already in the large box expansion? Those just have the plastic piece, extra items and a skirmish version of them?

Essentially, except there are also "reinforcement waves". Those consist only of figure packs and do not have an associated boxed expansion. For example the BoardWars "buyer guide" lists which are associated with a boxed expansion and which are reinforcement waves.

http://boardwars.eu/ally-and-villain-packs-for-star-wars-imperial-assault/

I’ve got a question along the lines of “required” content that i’m not sure of after reading the replies.

If I buy an expansion box that has characters NOT on cardboard chits from the core (e.g. Jabba’s Realm) when I let the app know I have that expansion, does Jabba (possibly) appear in my campaign? What if I only buy the Jabba villain pack? Will the app response differ vs buying the expansion? Finally, will the inclusion or exclusion of “Jabba” (by either means above) change what I might or might not experience by way of missions? In other words, does the app internally says....”insert random villain here from available villains” (changing WHO I battle, but not changing the battle itself) or “if Jabba available, present unique mission/encounter/experience here”?

While I agree this would not constitute a requirement, it would be useful to know in terms of player preference in regards to the campaign experience and/or replayability. Knowing this, perhaps one elects to play the campaign initially with only the core set on normal setting, the replay it with one or more expansions on the hard setting for the possibility of new content. Useful to know since there is only one campaign at present

5 hours ago, Kfisher109 said:

If I buy an expansion box that has characters NOT on cardboard chits from the core (e.g. Jabba’s Realm) when I let the app know I have that expansion, does Jabba (possibly) appear in my campaign?

Yes. Jabba can appear if you have Jabba's Realm and Core, but not Jabba's Pack.

5 hours ago, Kfisher109 said:

What if I only buy the Jabba villain pack?

If you have Core & Jabba's Pack then Jabba can appear. But no Weequay Pirates, Gamorrean Guards or Jet Troopers.

5 hours ago, Kfisher109 said:

Finally, will the inclusion or exclusion of “Jabba” (by either means above) change what I might or might not experience by way of missions? In other words, does the app internally says....”insert random villain here from available villains” (changing WHO I battle, but not changing the battle itself) or “if Jabba available, present unique mission/encounter/experience here”?

I don't think that there are "unique Villain experiences". If you have the Villain, when a random Villain is required, that Villain may be that Villain. Or it may be Weiss, IG-88 or Darth Vader from the Core.

5 hours ago, Kfisher109 said:

While I agree this would not constitute a requirement, it would be useful to know in terms of player preference in regards to the campaign experience and/or replayability. Knowing this, perhaps one elects to play the campaign initially with only the core set on normal setting, the replay it with one or more expansions on the hard setting for the possibility of new content. Useful to know since there is only one campaign at present

I can't attest to replayability myself. Essentially I believe the App follows the same mission structure each time. The differences will be in the encounters you may come across in-between? Someone else with more app experience will have to clarify this one further I think.

7 hours ago, Kfisher109 said:

it would be useful to know in terms of player preference in regards to the campaign experience and/or replayability. Knowing this, perhaps one elects to play the campaign initially with only the core set on normal setting, the replay it with one or more expansions on the hard setting for the possibility of new content.

It is a good idea to play the Flight of the Freedom Fighter (FoFF) first with just the core set, and then replay with all of your expansions selected. I started playing the FoFF campaign with my game group a few weeks back with all expansions included. Coming across new groups that you have not seen yet gives a different experience even when the mission itself is largely the same (there are some random elements in the FoFF campaign, but not that many). The imperial groups have bonuses that vary, so you have things to explore.

Enabling more expansions gives you different encounters so you can gain different allies. Choosing different heroes may make your approach to the missions change as well.

But after 2-3 plays of FoFF, playing the same 5 missions will get boring. We need a new campaign for the app.