Opinion on Imperial Assault

[blacksmith]

Sorry if this has been discussed before. The thing is that I'm very tempted to buy Imperial Assault and Twin Shadows as well, but I'm not sure about some things.
Can the campaign be played with just two players or you need at least three players to be fun?
Is there any review somewhere of the skirmish system, is it a proper game ruleset?
Do you think it is too expensive, that the miniatures are too expensive to be soft plastic?
Is it worth to buy it?
TIA

[Major_Gilbear]

Okay, some quick thoughts:

Can the campaign be played with just two players or you need at least three players to be fun?

The campaign game is balanced for four heroes. As long as four heroes are played (even if one person plays all four) you should be good. Three heroes is a stretch, but doable if the players are sufficiently experienced.

Is there any review somewhere of the skirmish system, is it a proper game ruleset?

It's okay. Your best bet is to watch some battle reorts on YouTube to see how it "feels" as well as see how it plays. I thought it'd appeal to me more than it did, but that's partly because the maps are cramped and the tactics seem limited to me.

Do you think it is too expensive, that the miniatures are too expensive to be soft plastic?

They aren't soft plastic, but the plastic has some flexibility. The scale of the models is fine, and their proportions are "heroic 28mm" which means they fit well with most 28mm scale sci-fi game miniatures out there. The limited poses may get repetitive quickly for you if you want several sets' worth of models.

The plastic is annoying to work with, but is still waaaay better than most board games or pre-painted Clix figures.

Agis here on LAF has a great thread that shows off the models well and also has plenty of conversions. I also recommend seeking out Sorastro's channel on YouTube as he has a brilliant series on painting and modelling focussed on IA.

As a game, it's pricey (I think), but is about average for games of this type.

As a pure set of miniatures and discarding the other game components... Well, there aren't many alternatives, so I guess it comes down to how much you want reasonable Star Wars miniatures for wargaming with. Personally, at £2 per model average, I think its price is tolerable even if I wish the miniatures were hard plastic (although I understand why they are not).

Is it worth to buy it?

If you like these sorts of games, and if Star Wars generally appeals to you and your friends, then I'd probably say "yes". I do feel the "skirmish" is a bit of a gimmick though, but it's still entertaining enough to pass a few afternoons away so I wouldn't totally disregard it.

Even though I haven't played it all that much, I personally liked it and have no regrets (besides wishing it got played more!).

[Hatemonger]

I played through one campaign as a Rebel, and finished 3 of 4 missions in a Twin Shadows campaign as Imperial. I haven't tried Skirmish.

My bottom line review: it's a good game, but far from perfect. It's fun enough as a board game, but IMHO definitely does not play like a traditional wargame.

Mostly, I would echo what Major_Gilbear said, but that last point is worth explaining.

The gameplay doesn't feel like a wargame to me, at least as I've come to expect. The tactical choices in gameplay mostly focus on action economy and how to utilize your dice rolls to apply damage effects. Sometimes this is ok, as you say, "Well Gideon can give an order to him, so with the extra shot, we should be able to finish off those two troopers, let the Wookiee take out the third and the officer, to let Jyn run up and cover the hallway near the terminal." But sometimes, it's more like, "Well, even two shots will probably only do 4-5 damage, which isn't enough, so we'll just use the order on the Wookiee. That will give him... [counting] just enough movement points to get all the way to the terminal, even with the movement penalty for running over (!) the troopers. If he uses that stim-pack, he'll get an extra damage die on his melee attack, so if he rolls high, he'll destroy it and we win."

For me, that means there are plenty of compelling game choices, but they often feel very "gamey" rather than adding directly to the thematic feel.

As I said, I like the game well enough. I'm happy to play it. But if someone came along and made a "proper" wargame with "proper" hard styrene kits to go with it, I could drop IA in a heartbeat and not miss it.

- H8

[blacksmith]

Many thanks for your elaborate answers, they're very helpful. The problem is, I was wanting you tell me to buy it because it's awesome and because I want to buy it, but it's got the opposite effect 
Cheers,

[Michka]

I love the miniatures from Imperial Assault, but I'm a Dyed-in-the-Banta-Hide Star Wars fan so your mileage may very. Played one of the campaign games and wasn't really impressed. The game is too reliant on cards and weird dice for my tastes. On the other hand I've heard loads of people who absolutely love the game. The more you play it the more you get out of it. I'm buying all the miniatures and expansions that come out, but mostly for the minis.

[Commander Vyper]

Looks good but far from perfect. When i have masses of WEG and WOTC it's a pass from me. Now if the new focus on the films gives us a true wargaming product I'm all over it like a smuggler on a Sabacc table!

[blacksmith]

Hmm, I was hoping to buy it because of the miniatures but also because it is a good game, but it looks it isn't, so I don't know.
Many thanks again for your opinions!

[Major_Gilbear]

Hmm, I was hoping to buy it because of the miniatures but also because it is a good game, but it looks it isn't, so I don't know.
Many thanks again for your opinions!

Well, it *is* a good game, but it depends if that's the sort of game you like in the first place. I mean, it works well enough rules-wise, and has lots of variety from scenarios too. It can take a while to set up and play, though that depends a bit on the players too.

Is it a great game that I would easily recommend to lots and lots of people? No, because at least one player (usually the Imperial player) has to know all the rules and keep everything running along during the game, and most people I encounter are too casual a boardgamer for that level of commitment - it's most like an RPG-Lite in many ways, and works best in my experience if treated as such.

[Hatemonger]

Many thanks for your elaborate answers, they're very helpful. The problem is, I was wanting you tell me to buy it because it's awesome and because I want to buy it, but it's got the opposite effect 

I was afraid of that. Sorry! I don't mean to put you off, but I want you to know what you're getting. I know I went in with (perhaps too-high) hopes, and was a bit disappointed. It's hard to say this is really a fault of the game rather than my personal desires: namely, a wargame AND an RPG-lite. It is a boardgame with some elements of both, but it isn't really either one.

Well, it *is* a good game, but it depends if that's the sort of game you like in the first place.

Exactly this.

The best thing I can suggest is to try it out first. See if someone in your gaming group or game store has a copy to play a trial game. If they do, then you might fall in love with the game and want to buy it all - or you might decide it's enough that the other guy owns it and you can play his. If you can't find anyone to play with... well, maybe that says something too?

At that point, my suggestion would be to buy one of the packs. The single-figure packs are the cheapest, and IMHO, the Royal Guard and Boba Fett are the best. They're both good figures that are difficult and/or expensive to replicate from the older WotC range, and you could try out working with the material (TOP TIP: use a sharp BRAND NEW blade). Each pack comes with two Skirmish missions (i.e. scenarios for the head-to-head "wargame" mode) and one Campaign mission (the scenario you play in order for the Imperial player to earn the right to use the Villain in future missions). The rulebooks themselves (but not the campaign/scenario books) can be downloaded from the FFG website. You could/should also try watching a gameplay video.

I think if you spread all that out in front of you, it should be easy to decide. Do you like the figure(s)? Are you intrigued by the mechanics and excited to try more? Or are you overwhelmed by the rules and underwhelmed by the models? If you were buying the pack to add to your game, would you feel like you got your money's worth?

- H8

[blacksmith]

Many thanks again guys! I'll probably buy a small set to see the figures in the flesh and also have a look at youtube to see if I can find some gameplay videos.
Cheers!

[sundayhero]

Many thanks for your elaborate answers, they're very helpful. The problem is, I was wanting you tell me to buy it because it's awesome and because I want to buy it, but it's got the opposite effect 
Cheers,

Buy the game for minis and floorplans, and play chain reaction 2015/ganesha/whatever you prefer on it ! Simple as that

Personaly I bought several "dungeon and dragon adventure systems" especially for figures, to play other games than the one in the box (even if the game inside the box is pretty cool!)