Imperial Assault Game Review

My wife and I received this game as a gift on our wedding day, which is already a sign and says a lot about us. To be fair, my wife has never played the game and is unlikely to try, but I myself have spent many hours on this masterpiece. This time a review of the versatile Imperial Assault.

Topic:

Star Wars, with missions on Earth. In the base game you will meet characters like Chewbacca, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. But the main characters have been created from scratch, they are very different and interesting. The characters must complete various missions led by the Empire player. Each mission is completed individually, but together they form a story, included in a long campaign, which is so large that we use the application to easily document everything and keep it in mind.

Components:

The components are excellent, many of the characters in the game have high-quality figures, the game has a lot of different types of cards in different sizes, but the most beautiful are the folding double-sided cardboard plates that make up the game cards. They are brilliantly visualized and very diverse. With the help of plates, it is possible to create countless maps, which will help the game stay fresh for a long time. The only downside is the business model built into the game, which is that several characters do not have figurines, but cardboard chips, which look pathetic compared to the figurines. Figures can be purchased in additional expansions, which, although they also give additions to the game, are mostly bought for the figures. True, if everything was included in the basic box, the price of the game would be over 150 EUR. (Materials from extensions are also in the pictures)

Mechanics:

This is a one-on-many game. The most experienced player leads the forces of the Empire, while the others each lead one or more heroes. Each character has a set number of lives, speed, various special abilities and stamina. Each character has their own weapon, which is attached to different, very unique dice that are rolled to injure the opponent's figures. But the game is very rarely about destroying the opponents, mostly the characters have to complete some specific missions, which can be anything from escorting hostages to holding the base. If players focus only on destroying their opponents, they are unlikely to win, because the main mission must always be completed within a certain time. The game creates an excellent story and adventure, because even in the middle of a mission, or when opening a new door, it often happens to experience unexpected turns.

Multiplayer:

The campaign is excellent, it has 11 to 15 missions, each 1-2 hours long. Missions progress unlike which side wins the previous game, after each mission players spend money and experience points to upgrade weapons and specific abilities. The game also offers a skirmish version where players build units to compete against each other. I've played through the campaign twice, and while a couple of the missions are repetitive, they're still interesting and the game still feels slick and exciting after so many hours. But there's a problem, I think the best thing about the box is the campaign, but it has to be continued by the same people, so it's hard to harvest the group of players that are in the game. I personally play a two-player game where one controls Imperial units and the other controls all four Rebel heroes. There is too much information left in the final missions and it is difficult for the rebel player to keep track of everything. The best number of players is exactly three players, because then each player can control two characters, which gives quite a lot of action in the game, and is also a small enough group to get together from time to time. I would not recommend playing this game for a larger number of people, because then everyone will have only one character, one activation, and if there are 6-8 rounds in the game on average, and 6-8 activations in a 2-hour game.

Rating:

The biggest downside to the game is that it's hard to get playable and keep a regular group, but that's the only thing stopping me from giving this game a 10. I'm already looking forward to the new Star Wars movie as I plan on going home after the movie to play Imperial Assault. The game is an excellent example of modern board games, showing how a world-famous movie can be brought to life through a board game. My rating 9 points.

Kristaps