Quick Question Guys. I bought everything Star Wars Imperial Assault related (All expansions and all Ally/Villian packs to date)
Is it better to dive into our first campaign (using the campaign book and not the app) with all the expansions and packs added (i heard this would be fun but might break the game) or play it wave by wave (I.e. core box and its packs then first expansion and its packs, etc)
The more the merrier, in my opinion.
If you want to look at it through a group enjoyment perspective-
On its own, the core box does come with a lot of stuff, but it's a long campaign and gets kinda vanilla after a while. You can add in the other expansions and really shake it up for a good time.
Over all, the Imperial player could help benefit the game by restraining themselves a little bit, though. So maybe don't blow the rancor load by throwing it out as early as possible in the first campaign- let it be special for Jabba. Maybe don't use sentry droids or ISB until the heroes attack a high security Imperial factory.
But to add in the Hired Guns to a scum mission, or Heavy Troopers to a desert mission in core? Absolutely!
These are just examples, but they help the game feel very diverse without overwhelming (as well as helping it feel fresh well into later campaigns). Nothing better than your Rebels thinking they've seen everything, just for something like a new shiny walker variant to show up.
47 minutes ago, a1bert said:
Oh hey, wonder if they know each other.
Personally I'd play it wave by wave. If the heroes see all the different kinds of bad guys in the first campaign, what do they have to look forward to later?
[edit] Also... adding enemies by wave gives the heroes time to learn the enemies and what they do. Understanding what they are up against is a key part of player skill. In the first campaign in particular, heroes IME tend to flounder in early missions, not really knowing what to expect when even three basic rStormtroopers appear. By the end of the campaign, they understand much better how their class abilities let them defeat what's being sent against them (blast against Stormtroopers to overcome Squad Training, keep distance from eTrans to avoid their point-blank bonuses, etc.) and IME the really enjoy solving this puzzle. If, in just one campaign (their first ever?), they face Stormtroopers in the first mission, Riot Troopers in the second, Jet Troopers in the third, and so on - different enemies in every mission, from all release waves, all the way up to the finale - they will never get to put what they've learned into practice. I suspect that won't be very satisfying.
Edited by Bitterman7 hours ago, Bitterman said:Personally I'd play it wave by wave. If the heroes see all the different kinds of bad guys in the first campaign, what do they have to look forward to later?
This.
For my group it expanded in such a manner because we would play through the campaigns as they were being released (more or less).
I would not just apply this to enemies, but to everything in each campaign box. Once we finished TS I made a spreadsheet and listed all the items that come in each wave and then we used as much from that wave as possible. So for RtH, the heroes were Loku, MHD and Verena, and then they choose to add Jyn into the mix as well. We used a RtH Imperial class, agendas and side missions (plus other to fill in the gaps, but leaning toward decks and cards that haven't been seen yet). We've been doing that and it's worked really well as to give everyone a taste of the different options and play styles available.
I mostly agree with the wave by wave idea, but I see no problem with adding some of the other non-unique figure packs/waves as you go. I mean, Wave 3 can be used along side Wave 1 with no issue, and Wave 4 with Wave 2. That much isn't too ambitious.
26 minutes ago, Uninvited Guest said:I mostly agree with the wave by wave idea, but I see no problem with adding some of the other non-unique figure packs/waves as you go. I mean, Wave 3 can be used along side Wave 1 with no issue, and Wave 4 with Wave 2. That much isn't too ambitious.
Yeah, I think some waves just automatically go together.
If you play for any semblance of flavor, you're gonna want stuff like the bantha and jawas for TS, Hera/AT-DP/sentries for Lothal.
I totally get not wanting to mix in everything and getting wild stuff like loth cats on Bespin (though personally, that kind of chaos is one of my favorite parts of the game) but if you limit yourself too much you'll miss out on some really iconic possibilities that you and your players would've probably enjoyed immensely.
If my two cents is worth anything (and after subtrendy2 and a1bert, there's little extra to offer), when I ran a new group through the Core Set, I kept the extras to a minimum. Some of the added features and rules updates can get confusing if the players are new also.
After the first run through: hey whatever! Extra missions and cards change the game each time.
This isn't a D&D module, the game is always evolving, with new allies and new threats.
There have been only a few games that fill me with pure enjoyment. IA is one of them.
Whatever you do, keep on playing.
I threw my play group immediately into the deep end and it turned out great. So great in fact that one of them has taken a shine to playing the Imperials so I finally get to play as a hero!
Also, just a personal suggestion, but we have a house rule that even if there's less than 4 people playing rebels, still bring 4 heros and just have a few people control more than one. It's way more fun having the full 4 heros. (We think)
Edit: I started them off on Hoth since I think that has the best rebel edge of the campaigns
Edited by Jaric256