I don't own the core set for Imperial Assault but I am interested in getting it. While it does appear to be practically overflowing with figures, it omits certain major characters like Han and IG-88, reducing them to mere tokens without their relevant figure packs, which is an issue for me. My understanding is that (in the campaign) you draw a card that directs players to a side mission in which the relevant side fights for the right to use one of these token characters in future missions. I intend to only purchase figures as they come up in this manner, thereby saving money, so I have two questions. Firstly, are there any token characters that are integral to the campaign and must be played at some point? Secondly, am I right in believing that all seven of the token character side missions are included in the core set, or is it necessary to purchase the actual figure to play them in the campaign? I just don't want to spend $24 on a General Weiss only to never use him.

4 minutes ago, yodellingyoda said:

I intend to only purchase figures as they come up

That's a good idea, because there are a lot of allies and villains but only some of them will come up during a campaign. Some are a bit more probable to appear though.

You can't earn General Weiss, the Royal Guard Champion, or IG-88 as a villain without their packs (agenda sets) - still they all have the possibility to appear during the campaign as initial or reserved groups - but all can be proxied with a suitable figure from the core box.

The rebels can win any of the rebel allies with just the missions in the core set.

Also,the figure packs come with additional missions for those who already have "earn missions" in the core campaign book, which means you don't have to play the same mission twice to earn... say... Han Solo in a second campaign.

Just for the record, you absolutely don't have to buy Weiss etc. to enjoy the campaign. If you want to play on the cheap side, there is nothing wrong with just playing these "figures" as cardboard tokens; the rules doesn't mind at all (And, as for Weiss, you can usually just use the AT-ST as a substitute if you want to avoid the cardboard tokens).

And finally, it should also be mentioned that you get other cool stuff in the figure packs too, like new equipment, Agenda Cards, and Skirmish stuff, and all are usefull/adds to the game beyond just the figure you buy.

Welcome to the game, @yodellingyoda

5 hours ago, angelman2 said:

Also,the figure packs come with additional missions for those who already have "earn missions" in the core campaign book, which means you don't have to play the same mission twice to earn... say... Han Solo in a second campaign.

Just for the record, you absolutely don't have to buy Weiss etc. to enjoy the campaign. If you want to play on the cheap side, there is nothing wrong with just playing these "figures" as cardboard tokens; the rules doesn't mind at all (And, as for Weiss, you can usually just use the AT-ST as a substitute if you want to avoid the cardboard tokens).

And finally, it should also be mentioned that you get other cool stuff in the figure packs too, like new equipment, Agenda Cards, and Skirmish stuff, and all are usefull/adds to the game beyond just the figure you buy.

Welcome to the game, @yodellingyoda

Only three of the figure packs included equipment, and none of those are from the core set.

Thank you; that's all extremely helpful! I suppose I'll just go with my original plan and get figures as they come up. The extra missions in the figure packs will be handy for replayability as well.