Hello everyone. While walking through Barnes and Noble last week, I saw Star Wars X-Wing and thought “Hey, that looks fun!” After doing some forum searching and asking questions, I’m going to wait til after September and start fresh with 2.0. I have been looking at Star Wars The Card Game but I keep thinking about this game. It would just be my wife and I playing on a Saturday night. Maybe use the app so we can play coop. We have never played any miniature game. How hard is this going to be to grasp this game? Looking for something Star Wars, strategy but I not full on D&D. Thanks!

The app is a perfect way for you to introduce yourself to this amazing game, and there's a whole new app campaign for Jabba's Realm (one of the best expansions) with 8 missions coming out in just a few weeks so you would already have 2 app campaigns to play through! There's also a guy who has created an online app to help you play through the original Core Box campaign and "Twin Shadows" cooperatively...it's called Imperial Directive- https://imperial-directive.herokuapp.com/

As far as complications, it's really not bad at all. If you start with the app campaign it can walk you through the tutorial. There's a few links on Board Game Geek with files that show all the available actions and the steps of an attack (I highly recommend the actions list and the "Steps of an Attack" since those are the most important things to grasp and everything is easy after that), along with all the sides for each die (so you know your chances of rolling certain things based on which die you roll). If you download and print these off you will find it super easy references to get you up and started. Once you play through the app campaign and have a good grasp on the rules you can try playing through a regular campaign (either competitively or cooperatively). And after that you should at least try the Skirmish mode- I started out campaign but dipped into skirmish and it's an amazingly rich experience and fun to mix and match all kinds of thematic and also zany teams!

IA is actually 3 games in one, "official" game modes:

1. Campaign mode, 1 vs. many, up to 4

2. Skirmish mode, 95%+ is 1v1 but there's some 2v2 or 4P free-for-all maps too

3. legend of the alliance app (LotA), pure coop

couple of notes here:

Campaign can be played 1v1, just more stuff to keep track of

mode #3 LotA has vastly different rule is a completely different game from mode #1 campaign, even though they're both "campaign". This is because LotA removes the Imperial player, hence there'll be no more agenda cards, Imperial xp cards

I actually still prefer the 1v1 campaign this way there's no downtime

The answer you are looking for is:

Yes.

There you have it. To play the campaign requires little more than the Core Set (any relevant pieces have placeholder tokens, you don't have to paint anything, and so on).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCXZfZSDTvw

I recently rewatched the Shut Up & Sit Down video of Imperial Assault, and I think it's pretty good with the least mistakes and gives a good overview of the game rules.

The Legends of the Alliance app changes a few rules, it has its own rulebook, which can be downloaded from https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/star-wars-imperial-assault/

You can play the Flight of the Freedom Fighter in the app with just the core box. The upcoming Jabba's Realm campaign also needs the Jabba's Realm physical expansion. https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2018/7/18/return-to-jabbas-realm/

And its worth pointing out that all the rulebooks are online here;

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/star-wars-imperial-assault/

Scroll down to the Support section, and there are pdfs of all the rules. (Learn to Play Guide and Rules Reference Guide)

You can read through the rules before buying, to see if it makes sense to you at all...

5 hours ago, a1bert said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCXZfZSDTvw

I recently rewatched the Shut Up & Sit Down video of Imperial Assault, and I think it's pretty good with the least mistakes and gives a good overview of the game rules.

I was so going to plug these guys, but I don't like endorsing youtube channels. I do enjoy these guys though, they seem to actually enjoy and play the games they're reviewing.

Buy this game, you won’t be disappointed. I was in the exact same boat as you 1.5 years ago. I never played anything above monopoly I bought it with my 12 year old son. Now I have played through the core campaign multiple times, Hoth once, the core app campaign, and are in the middle of Jabbas Realm. We have played hours and hours of this game - also some casual skirmish tournaments with my kids too (age 13 and 10 now).

The rules are tricky, and you will make mistakes - but that’s totally ok! You will get better as you play. It will really rekindle your love for Star Wars. The figures and abilities are really thematic - it’s a blast to play. Should you buy this game? To quote the Emporer, “Do it!!”

Thanks for all the replies guys! For some reason, I did not get notifications that anyone responded to this post. I really like the idea of the app and playing coop at least starting off so we can learn together and progress instead of going against each other. I like the Sit Down and Shut Up guys. I have watched their X-Wing, Armada, IA and Star Wars LCG videos. Very funny and informative. Thanks for all the links and advice. I'm going to read the rules and see if it will be a good fit. Sit Down and Shut Up also made a "how to play" video that my wife and I are going to watch together. I'm glad someone else with only monopoly experience has picked up this game and has enjoyed it. Do I need to buy anything besides the core game to get started and have a full game? Any extra reading besides the rulebooks you would recommend? Thanks again for all the advice and tips!

3 hours ago, Digitalman87 said:

Thanks for all the replies guys! For some reason, I did not get notifications that anyone responded to this post. I really like the idea of the app and playing coop at least starting off so we can learn together and progress instead of going against each other. I like the Sit Down and Shut Up guys. I have watched their X-Wing, Armada, IA and Star Wars LCG videos. Very funny and informative. Thanks for all the links and advice. I'm going to read the rules and see if it will be a good fit. Sit Down and Shut Up also made a "how to play" video that my wife and I are going to watch together. I'm glad someone else with only monopoly experience has picked up this game and has enjoyed it. Do I need to buy anything besides the core game to get started and have a full game? Any extra reading besides the rulebooks you would recommend? Thanks again for all the advice and tips!

You only need the Core to get started and it has a big campaign included:)! You can find it for like $100 at a typical local game store, or get it online in some places closer to $50 even at times. If you like the Core and/or app campaign, I would recommend you go to Jabba's Realm and then Heart of the Empire after that, but I'm getting ahead of myself! ALSO, don't freak out if you see that FFG is listed as not selling the product, it's because of weird licensing stuff, they are totally selling it at stores, and a new expansion is due to release within the next month or so, so the game is still going!

Apparently, Barnes & Noble is selling the core set for $25 right now!

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Star+Wars+Imperial+Assault?_requestid=3014620

23 minutes ago, angelman2 said:

Apparently, Barnes & Noble is selling the core set for $25 right now!

Unless they sell $25 at their stores, seems a lot like clickbait, because when you click it you see $114 new and used.

54 minutes ago, a1bert said:

Unless they sell $25 at their stores, seems a lot like clickbait, because when you click it you see $114 new and used.

Ah... poop! :-/

10 hours ago, Digitalman87 said:

Do I need to buy anything besides the core game to get started and have a full game? Any extra reading besides the rulebooks you would recommend? Thanks again for all the advice and tips!

Short answer: nope! The core has everything you need for a great campaign, whether you are using the app or not.

Longer answer: there are a few characters that you see rarely in the campaign (they each might show up once or twice during a given campaign, or sometimes not at all) that don't come with plastic miniatures in the main box, only little cardboard chits. Functionally there is no difference at all - the core box comes with all the cards and everything you need in order to use them in the game - but some people really prefer that everything be a plastic mini. If you're one of those people then you might want to look into buying some of the ally/villain packs that came out at the same time as the core set:

Han Solo

Chewbacca

IG-88

Royal Guard Champion

Rebel Troopers

Rebel S aboteurs

General Weiss

But again, this can be a fairly big investment when you're starting out so it's really all up to personal preference. If you don't want to take the full plunge and don't care about the bling you'll have a perfectly great time without them.

Edit: And as for additional reading, I'd recommend this thread on Board Game Geek of common mistakes that people made when they were starting out.

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1319188/what-are-some-crazy-or-common-rule-breaking-mistak

It's a lot to digest before you've started playing the game, but I'd recommend reading the rulebook, trying out the first mission to see how it goes, and then going back to read that thread to see what you missed. Believe me when I say that you'll probably make mistakes at first, but also believe me when I say that you probably won't care much and should have a great time anyway

Quote

Looking for something Star Wars, strategy but I not full on D&D. Thanks!

To be honest, this might unwittingly be the best description of the game that I've ever heard.

My guess is this is the game you're looking for.

If you want to get an expansion, Jabba's Realm is the way to go. Fun story, fun figures, fun cards (The Nemesis deck for the Imperial campaign player is amazing.). If you eventually fall into the wide world of competitive skirmish, that expansion really lets you start kicking some butt.

Also, who in the world doesn't want to crush some guys with a Rancor?

Heart of the Empire has some pretty good figures too. And has Skirmish fixes for Darth Vader, Han Solo and Chewbacca too...

Thanks for all the help guys. I ended up buying a used set off eBay for 110. It has the core game that has never been played, Twin Shadows and a few extra characters. He painted a few of them. Paint looks decent. Some characters are better than others but all in a good value I think considering Amazon would have been 155ish. Think I got a good deal? Kind of an impluse buy. Thanks!

4 hours ago, Digitalman87 said:

It's a good starting point to collect it all! Have fun with it!

13 hours ago, Digitalman87 said:

Thanks for all the help guys. I ended up buying a used set off eBay for 110. It has the core game that has never been played, Twin Shadows and a few extra characters. He painted a few of them. Paint looks decent. Some characters are better than others but all in a good value I think considering Amazon would have been 155ish. Think I got a good deal? Kind of an impluse buy. Thanks!

13 hours ago, Digitalman87 said:

Thanks for all the help guys. I ended up buying a used set off eBay for 110. It has the core game that has never been played, Twin Shadows and a few extra characters. He painted a few of them. Paint looks decent. Some characters are better than others but all in a good value I think considering Amazon would have been 155ish. Think I got a good deal? Kind of an impluse buy. Thanks!

Nice!

I mean, as long as you have all the components and they're in good shape (and you don't mind that some are painted) it's a pretty good deal in my book!

10 hours ago, subtrendy2 said:

Nice!

I mean, as long as you have all the components and they're in good shape (and you don't mind that some are painted) it's a pretty good deal in my book!

The games has all the components and has actually never been played. He got it, painted a dozen or so from the expansion pack and then it sat in his closet for a few years. I don’t mind the paint. I may eventually get into painting but that will down the road after I get X-Wing 2.0. IF I wanted to repaint them or don’t like the paint job, could I just spray paint primer grey to match the others?

Side note: why is everything for IA unavailable on Fantasy Flight?

10 hours ago, Digitalman87 said:

Side note: why is everything for IA unavailable on Fantasy Flight?

It's a licensing thing. Hasbro had the Star Wars board game license, and whatever hoops FFG had to jump through in order to publish IA included the instruction that they not sell the game directly.

10 hours ago, Digitalman87 said:

Side note: why is everything for IA unavailable on Fantasy Flight?

I guess it was due time.