Fantasy Flight and Star Wars. Two great tastes that taste great together!

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Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

alg posted:

Seems like ImpAss should be in stores this week.

I am vibrating in anticipation.

# ¿ Dec 10, 2014 05:46

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 18:54

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Chill la Chill posted:

Impasse is $65 at the LGS' post Xmas sale today so I might get it.

It's a lot of game, and I think it's worth it.

# ¿ Dec 26, 2014 22:04

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

zVxTeflon posted:

One thing that irks me with ImpAss is the campaign books mission layout on each page. I wish it was separated better instead of just a clump of bullet points with random poo poo the rebel player is allowed to know scattered around. Also this poo poo is written like a friggin legal document. Is it just me?

I know I'm tempted to spiral bind the campaign guide because I don't want this info just all over the place. The Imperial player almost needs a drat DM screen.

# ¿ Dec 28, 2014 04:07

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

LOS is a bit problematic, yes, but once you start playing and begin to "grok" it, it's well designed for the kinds of fights seen in the films, where people pop up, shoot, and dive back down.

Realize as the Imperial player that, just like a GM in an RPG, your job isn't to "win" all the time (although never pass up the opportunity if it's presented,) but to really put the pressure on the Rebels. Skirmish is much more balanced between players, but the campaign makes it very hard to kill Rebels, especially after the first few missions. I'm playing with a full party full of dudes who I know to be pretty smart players, and they work very collaboratively. Threat is an amazing tool to use, as you can add reinforcements to a battle by spending that Threat. My players quickly realized that anytime I have 18 threat up, Vader could drop and ruin their poo poo (the ability to add him to your hand is a 1 Influence card.) Honestly, Wiess and IG-88 are absolute motherfuckers due to the Arsenal rule, and Vader can really threaten the Rebels.

Overall, treating this more like an RPG and less like a boardgame makes the campaign really come alive, I think. I haven't tried Skirmish, but it sounds pretty solid.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2015 21:25

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Session 2 down:

I won a game as an Imperial last night! Despite that, man is this frustrating as the Imperial player sometimes. The Wookie and Jedi are straight up fuckers. I've nicknamed the Wookie "Surge-enomics," as he just seems to get surges all over the place, and it feels like one of those scams where someone tries to make change with you and ends up ahead. The other players are telling me it's legit, but jeez it's hard pinning him down. And Force Throw not allowing any defense roll just sucks out loud.

The Smuggler and Jedi have done their personal missions completed, so now I also have a lightsaber and Madam Shoots First, too. Jeesh! Despite all that, I do enjoy myself and have a lot of fun. I just think that next time someone ELSE gets to play Imperial.

# ¿ Jan 3, 2015 19:54

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

I haven't goofed off with skirmish mode, but man, it's a hard sell for others to buy in.

So, I have IA, and therefore most of my buddies don't need to buy it because, hey, I have it already. No big deal.

If one of my buddies wants in on Skirmish mode, he's in for not a treat, as he buys the core game, and STILL needs to buy Han, Chewie, Rebel Troops, General Weiss, etc. The game is great as a campaign system, but I'm confused as to how multiple people in a single playgroup justified each buying a core. Maybe I tell one buddy he can play the Rebels/Imperials/whoever I'm not playing, and the next buddy to pair off? I don't know.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2015 06:18

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

If you are interested in quick and dirty ways to paint up your copy of ImpAss, and are new to minis, this channel is pretty cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=channel?UCu5Pmz1wY-NWCYy21vikKAg

# ¿ Feb 15, 2015 23:01

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Imagined posted:

Played the tutorial mission from Imperial Assault today. Enjoyed it.

Pros:
- Great components. The map pieces are nice and thick, the figures will look great painted.
- Surprisingly for an $80 FF game, not too excessive with the variety of tokens.
- Rules are simple, yet allow for strategy and flavor. For example, Stormtroopers get a bonus when adjacent to other Stormtroopers, Imperial Officer can Cower behind an adjacent friendly figure when shot at and give orders to other figures out of their turn, etc.
- I especially like the way damage works. They took out the possibility for you to just roll a flat Miss, though, which I understand was annoying in D2E. You can still 'Miss' by not rolling enough Range or having all your damage absorbed, but if you're point blank, barring any special abilities, you're going to hit, whether you do any damage or not.
- Also like that you can pop out of cover, attack, and then move back into cover.
- Like the potential for characters to 'level up' by collecting more of their own abilities and items as the campaign progresses.

Cons:
- Did have problems with a piece of the drat AT-ST, though (the turret gun under the chin).
- In contrast to the tokens, there's a positively Arkham Horror-esque variety of different decks of different kinds of tiny cards. Some of which only have 8 or so cards. gently caress. However, some of these are only used in the Skirmish game.
- Since each hero get their own mini deck of spells and abilities, and there's been no mention of these being included in any of the Allies packs, I'm guessing new heroes will have to wait for a boxed expansion. Still, there's a nice variety in the base game. But you can't be Luke Skywalker in the campaign, for example.
- I didn't read everything, but my impression so far was the Skirmish game was still scenario based. Like, it wasn't like X-Wing or W40K or something where you have a 300 point battle and each draft your side for a team deathmatch?

Yeah, the chin guns are a pain for everyone. It should be pointed out that the white defense die has the "lol, nope" X-men symbol that says the attack does NOTHING. That has been kind of a pisser for me, who has been mainly playing as an Imperial in campaign.

# ¿ Feb 26, 2015 04:19

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Imagined posted:

Did figure that out myself tonight, too, but it only happened once the whole mission.

Played the first campaign mission ('Aftermath') with the wife tonight. She played the rebels. She won, but only on her last activation in the last possible round. Good times. Have any of you had one side win more consistently than the other? I'm curious about the rich get richer effect. As the imperial player though I'm playing less to win at all costs and more like a gamemaster.

I like that the maps are so bite size after the table bursting of Descent 1E or Space Hulk.

Not really. Winning helps the Rebels more, and losing helps the Imps more as the campaign goes on, but that's just options. Strong tactics and good dice rolls can swing the game either way. My play group are good tacticians (or, we're all at least on par with each other,) so there's a lot of fun moments. Sometimes I flip out over how goddamn crazy the Heroes get (that drat Wookie can get Surges from loving NOWHERE,) and sometimes they flip out about my unending tide of troopers or Nexu.

I think we all have a great time.

# ¿ Feb 26, 2015 05:08

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

HOOLY BOOLY posted:

Balance from mission to mission can vary to CRAZY degrees, some even depending on when you play it in the campaign (especially Diala and her personal mission if you end up getting early on.The Imp player gets to pretty much flood the board, but only because Vader can end up with 8 or less health against 4 fully functional heros which is a bit silly IMO.

Yeah i'm currently playing against a group that has both Wookie AND Gideon and those 2 together can just tear my dudes a new one. Doing any kind of significant damage get's him focused,letting him DO any kind of significant damage let's him get focused, hurting anybody AROUND him let's him get focused.

What group composition is everybody using so far? I'm currently playing against Fenn,Wookie,Gideon and Diala which is turning out to be a pretty drat strong group since they have the tools to handle pretty much any situation that gets thrown at them.

I can't remember their names, so I'm listing their nicknames I use on the table.

My group is Lady Push-a-lot (Diala,) Surge-enomics (the Wookie,) the Furry (Bothan sniper guy,) and the Smuggletron 5000 (Jyn.) General Beardo and Shoot Man ("I am compelled to shoot!") are sitting this one out.

# ¿ Feb 27, 2015 06:03

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

The Wookie: Damage and range unbound by mortal man. Surges fall from the sky, and you laugh when troopers try to take you down.
The Smuggler: Shoot first. Shoot always. Shoot.
The Soldier: Blow stuff up good.
The Spy: They cannot kill what they cannot see.
The Force Adept: Force powers do not get a defense roll. Seriously, that should be encouragement enough.
The General: Haven't seen him, but I'm willing to bet that you don't look good, you make the team look good.

Have fun, kill baddies, and always, ALWAYS take personal missions.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2015 06:14

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Correct. For example:

This Stormtrooper Squad costs 6 influence to deploy the full squad (which is three, indicated by the lines on the left of the card.) The "2" next to the 6 is the cost to deploy a dead squad member.

Here's where I have a question. I come from a Warmachine background, so I tend to think that when a squad activates, they all move and shoot in the same activation, and that they need to remain relatively close to another. I don't think Imp rear end does this, though. Am I right to think that i can just send a couple chumps up and keep deploying chumps later at a discount?

# ¿ Mar 8, 2015 00:07

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

AndyElusive posted:

Just tell her she can play as Imperial.

Tell her this:

"I have not known joy until this. The colors that dance about my vision were inconceivable to me earlier. My nights are now restless, my demeanor agitated each moment that I am not playing. Life has become a dark mine, and this, THIS, is the lone shaft of light tempting me, daring me to escape."

take out your credit card or wallet or whatever.

"Please let me feel the sun on my face again."

IF she's not impressed, then just tell her it's Star Wars, so you want it a bunch.

# ¿ Mar 18, 2015 00:14

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

overdesigned posted:

That's a fantastic video--I've never painted miniatures and always kinda wanted to try. Now I think I could actually do it.

That dude's poo poo is the bomb, and I need him to make an album of that background music for real.

# ¿ Mar 24, 2015 05:36

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Chill la Chill posted:

I made a deal with a friend: He can continue borrowing my x-wing stuff (and he's hooked, hehe) and I will continue buying all the expansions so he can play whatever, and he can buy armada for both of us to play.

A good friend. A buddy and I are each buying a starter for Armada and splitting by faction.

# ¿ Mar 24, 2015 06:20

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Armada is in!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vugeAhUZ7YI

Sorry for the me in there.

I picked up my Core Set and all the ImpAss stuff. Good day.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2015 04:50

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

So, uh...Any list building apps made for Armada and/or Imperial Assault? I'm a big baby and don't like just using a calculator.

# ¿ Mar 30, 2015 05:23

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Cobbsprite posted:

Fleet Ambush and Hyperspace Assault are rough right now, but I think they're going to get better for the Rebels once Wave 1 hits. Right now the biggest ship the Rebels have is the Nebulon-B Escort Frigate, and it's only slightly less squishy than a bowl of lemon custard. Once the Assault Frigate Mk II is available, that'll make it a lot more reasonable for the Rebels to use those two objectives and get some serious pain in.

The Rebels have to be "tricksy" about it. The CR-90 B was something I laughed at, until I realed that all those Blues meant increased blue crits, and Dodanna's Pride and Overload array really gently caress a VSD up. My Corvettes basically hit full throttle and stay that way, causing auto faceup damage (that Dodonna chooses, no less,) and then tells his little defense tokens to gently caress right off.

# ¿ Apr 14, 2015 06:39

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

I need a powersliding Nebulon B for sweet rear end broadsides.

# ¿ Apr 21, 2015 05:58

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

What are you all doing to have Rebels win games? Between the Royal Guard, AT-ST, and Vader (not to mention those drat officers,) I don't see the "value" pieces in Rebels.

# ¿ May 10, 2015 19:56

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Bottom Liner posted:

Now that Armada is opening up, how is it shaping up vs X-Wing? I'm still torn between the two.

I have both, and played them a fair amount. I must admit I prefer X wing. Armada talkes longer in almost every way, but it still very satisfying. Don't get me wrong, I like them both, but I'm not really excited to play Armada again.

# ¿ May 24, 2015 17:32

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

HOOLY BOOLY posted:

Never though i'd see a Star Wars game where you can play as the drat Medical Droid that gives Luke his robot hand. ImpAss doesn't really seem like the kind of game that really needs a healer type either. Considering you have pretty good amount of healing whenever you rest.

He's really interesting to me. I've been playing the Imperials for most of the time, but having a dude heal others helps their efficiency, and he focuses when he doesn't attack, which means he's getting an edge to shoot when he's busy doing what he should be doing. General Beardo is pretty handy, too, but don't dismiss the importance support characters in games like these.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2015 18:41

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Kai Tave posted:

With Wave 8 of X-Wing being all about Star Wars: Rebels I wonder if we're going to see a Star Wars: Rebels set for Imperial Assault down the line after the Hoth set.

Oooh, some Lothal maps would be neat.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2015 21:06

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Sorry all, I've been out for a while. All I have seen is talk about Imp builds in Armada. What are some sweet ideas for the Rebs?

# ¿ Sep 24, 2015 19:00

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Ok, I think I have a list that compromises between corvette madness and space potatoes.

[ REBEL FLEET (298 points)
1 � Assault Frigate Mark II B - General Dodonna - Point-Defense Reroute - Electronic Countermeasures - Enhanced Armament - Gallant Haven (122)
2 � CR90 Corellian Corvette B - Electronic Countermeasures - Dodonna's Pride (52)
3 � CR90 Corellian Corvette B - Overload Pulse (47)
4 � CR90 Corellian Corvette B - Leading Shots (43)
5 � Luke Skywalker X-wing Squadron (20)
6 � B-wing Squadron (14)

The idea is that the Dodonna's Pride will try to crit to bypass all the defensive poo poo and just pull some custom damage, while the others keep defense tokens down so the Gallant Heaven (escorted by the fighters,) can start finishing the job.

# ¿ Sep 26, 2015 13:53

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Tekopo posted:

I dunno if I would bother with just two squadrons tbh.

What would recommend I spend those points on?

# ¿ Sep 26, 2015 15:16

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Reynold posted:

If you drop the squadrons, that's 34 points. You won't need gallant haven as a result, there's another 8, bringing you up to 42 points. Squeeze in another CR90 B.

That'll mean picking up another Corvette, but I like it!

# ¿ Sep 26, 2015 19:09

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

I haven't played since the Cores for Armada dropped, and I'm super scared of the ISD. Does this look dumb?

MC80 Assault Cruiser
-Ackbar
-Antillies
-Redundant
-Defiance

CR90 B
-Nav Team
-Leading Shots
-Dodonna's Pride

MC30C Scout Frigate
-Assault Proton Torps
-Enhanced Armament

MC30C Scout Frigate
-Assault Proton Torps
-Enhanced Armament
-Gunnery Team

# ¿ Dec 2, 2015 07:07

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Reynold posted:

solid advice and analysis

Thanks, man! That means buying another squadron pack, but sounds like a solid list!

# ¿ Dec 5, 2015 08:04

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Reynold posted:

+++ SWA Rebel Fleet400pts (393pts) +++

++ Rebel Fleet (Standard) (393pts) ++

+ MC30c Frigate (172pts) +

MC30c Scout Frigate (86pts) [Assault Proton Torpedoes (5pts), Ordnance Experts (4pts), �Admonition (8pts)]

MC30c Scout Frigate (86pts) [Assault Proton Torpedoes (5pts), Ordnance Experts (4pts), �Foresight (8pts)]

+ MC80 Cruiser (188pts) +

MC80 Assault Cruiser (188pts) [Advanced Projectors (6pts), Leading Shots (4pts), Projection Experts (6pts), Redundant Shields (8pts), �Admiral Ackbar (38pts), �Defiance (5pts), �Raymus Antilles (7pts)]

+ Squadrons (33pts) +

A-Wing Squadron (11pts)

A-Wing Squadron (11pts)

A-Wing Squadron (11pts)

+ Objectives +

Assault Objective [Advanced Gunnery]

Defense Objective [Contested Outpost]

Navigation Objective [Superior Positions]

So, I played this versus a 2 Corvette, 2 Assault Frigate Dodonna fleet. A ton of damage at first was done by ramming ships around, but I managed to pull out a win by a couple of really brutal barrages. Scenario was Opening Salvo. Couple of lessons:

I forgot Raymus Antilles. I need to pull more tokens!

Ackbar was fun, but I missed picking out Crits.

Proposed changes:

+++ SWA Rebel Fleet400pts (392pts) +++

++ Rebel Fleet (Standard) (392pts) ++

+ MC30c Frigate (177pts) +

MC30c Scout Frigate (87pts) [Assault Proton Torpedoes (5pts), Gunnery Team (7pts), Walex Blissex (5pts), �Admonition (8pts)]

MC30c Scout Frigate (83pts) [Assault Proton Torpedoes (5pts), Gunnery Team (7pts), �Foresight (8pts)]

+ MC80 Cruiser (176pts) +

MC80 Assault Cruiser (176pts) [Leading Shots (4pts), Redundant Shields (8pts), �Admiral Ackbar (38pts), �Defiance (5pts), �Raymus Antilles (7pts)]

+ Squadrons (44pts) +

A-Wing Squadron (11pts)

A-Wing Squadron (11pts)

A-Wing Squadron (11pts)

+ Objectives +

Assault Objective [Advanced Gunnery]

Defense Objective [Contested Outpost]

Navigation Objective [Superior Positions]

Gunnery Teams will help out a ton as I frequently presented one side alone to the enemy, so I need to maximize shots out of there when invoking Ackbar. I ditched Projection Experts because it never really came up. The MC30Cs just evaporate too quickly to really get much use out of it, and Walex can help keep defensive tokens in play. It was really frustrating for my opponent to roll five hits and see virtually nothing stick.

# ¿ Dec 9, 2015 06:12

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Gravy Train Robber posted:

Whenever I think of Bossk I think of this-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VBoB5zuOFg

You and I are friends.

# ¿ Dec 27, 2015 03:14

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Ugleb posted:

By all accounts AMG don't seem to react well to criticism.

I don't disagree, but holy hell expectations were nigh impossible.

Taking of development for three major games when you just got your one baby off the ground is difficult, combine it with the (seemingly) bizarre hiring/firing/staff shuffling, I can understand how AMG didn't handle it super gracefully. Not taking their side on it or anything, but that was a move that made sense to Asmodee that, on the boots-on-ground scale was complete bedlam.

For example, just dropping an "FYI, Star Wars is moving from FFG to AMG lol" press leak one day and not having AMG and FFG on deck to discuss it day of, let alone several people actively working at these places not having advance notice of this, was an absolute error.

Then, messaging got all screwy until they started streaming chats about it, and things started to calm a bit.

Then the *actual* updates happened.

The Battle for Kashyyyk was a great concept for Legion spoiled by COVID and Asmodee's usual supply chain problems.

X Wing was overall divided on their updates to determining priority.

Armada isn't over, but boy howdy was the sky falling in Amrada for a while (and still is.)

My personal opinion is Armada is the most interesting of the three to play, but is the hardest to execute on, to an extent because of its complexity and balance, but also because Star Wars doesn't actually have all that many capital star ships. The vast majority of ships are for crews between 1 and 5 people. Star Trek would have had a lot more room for growth and innovation in the Armada engine, but WizKids gonna Wiz, and jumped on the X wing engine, and made Star Trek a...dogfighting game.

sigh

Anyway, yeah, AMG hasn't done the best, and I don't think the community is making a mountain out a mole hill (entirely), but I don't think it's because AMG is some big meanie that love to drink nerd tears. I think moving each game, one at a time, once every 6 months or so to help iron out issues, and road map stuff for the community would have been really helpful to ease a lot of these tensions.

# ¿ Nov 26, 2021 01:16

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

HootTheOwl posted:

Basically I want to rerun the whole of the TIE Fighter campaign in both armada and x wing thanks

I want the Ultimate experience where we can resolve Armada Squadron combat via X Wing.

The game takes 10 hours to resolve.

# ¿ Dec 13, 2021 01:23

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

JazzFlight posted:

You forgot to include boarding missions resolved through Legion/Imperial Assault as well.

EDIT: Wait, let's also zoom back in the opposite direction and frame the whole thing within Star Wars: Rebellion.

I like the cut of your space-jib.

# ¿ Dec 15, 2021 01:57

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

AMG hasn't done their best work IMO with their "incumbent" games (X-wing, Legion, and Armada, with Legion being the most "OK" of the bunch,) but I have enjoyed their work on their newer titles like MCP and Shatterpoint.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2023 04:23

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

I can agree that the art direction on this set is *all over the place,* but the game is solid, and I'm hoping that they get the art direction together a bit better in future sets. Yoda looks cringe, but I kinda like the cartoony look of Han and Jabba.

Then again, I love Dan Hipp art in Marvel Snap, so I'm just an rear end in a top hat, I guess.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2024 02:59

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 18:54

Feeple: Jul 17, 2004; My favorite part of this hobby is the rules arguments.

Arquinsiel posted:

Well now I get why Cease to Hope was comparing it to BattleTech.

...why?

# ¿ Mar 11, 2024 05:07

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