This Christmas I picked up the must have game of the year: Star Wars Imperial Assault form Fantasy Flight Games. For all the Star Wars fans out there that have been living under a rock, Imperial Assault is a Star Dungeon crawl type board game. Think of it as similar to Descent, Hero Quest, or Warhammer Quest. Essentially a lighter version of a role playing game. The game pits a team of rebel heroes against an imperial agent hell bent of routing out the rebellion.
There are plenty of great reviews and tutorials on how to play out there so this will not be a review of the game. I want to show off the amazing models that come in the game box. Unlike most board games that have soft, bendy, plastic game figures, Imperial Assault has high quality hard plastic figures that scream "paint me". The detail on the figures is exquisite and the painted figures look great on the detailed game tiles. The box includes a pile of imperial figures including Darth Vader, and six unique rebel heroes plus Luke Skywalker.
The Imperial Officers are fairly weak on their own, but their ability to give other figures extra activations can make for a powerful combination.
Drones are self repairing robots that can self destruct at the end of the turn to put extra hurt on the rebels.
The Royal Guard are tough as nails close combat troops that can reach out and hurt the rebellion.
E-Web Engineers must either move or shoot, but when they shoot they tear it up.
Swarm the rebels with hordes of Stormtroopers.
Trandoshan Hunters are relentless brawlers with ACP scatter guns.
The Nexu are wild animals that can pounce on their prey.
The AT-ST cant go inside buildings, but they will walk all over the outdoor space laying down a massive amount of fire power.
The heroes from the box include six player characters and an ally, Luke Skywalker.
Jyn Oden and Diala Passil. Jyn is a cunning smuggler while Diala is a powerful force user.
Fenn Signis and Gaarkhan. Fenn is a rebel trooper loaded out with fire power while Gaarkhan is a mighty Wookie warrior.
Mak Esha'rey, Luke Skywalker, and Gideon Argus. Mak is a sharp shooting spy while Gideon I a veteran rebel leader. Luke can be brought in to select missions to boost your chances of success.
In addition to all these great looking figures, Imperial Assault includes several tokens to represent other allied troop types. Tokens are lame, so Fantasy Flight has made plastic figures of those troop types which can be bought separately. In addition to those Fantasy Flight recently announced the first game expansion which will include two new troop types (Sand People and Heavy Storm Troopers) and two new Heroes. If you love Star Wars and have be longing for a fast paced, fun game set in the Star Wars universe this game is for you.
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