Fans of Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars: Imperial Assault are probably pretty familiar with the idea of 'time periods'. Introduced early in the series as a way to try to help players tell a more canon-friendly story, time periods were a mechanic that helped filter out allies, villains, side missions, and other elements of the game that may not be available at a specific time, such as preventing Han as an ally when he would've been encased in carbonite.
Lately, time periods seem to have either been scrapped or are in at least a bit of a hiatus. This was probably most apparent when summer 2016's wave introduced Greedo, The Grand Inquisitor, and Obi Wan Kenobi- characters that all would not fit into any of the game's post-Yavin campaigns (though Lando's lack of restrictions may have tipped us off just a little bit earlier). So let me be totally clear- I am well aware that Time Periods have not been used with the last several releases. And honestly, I'm cool with that. I think that the game should allow the players to tell the story that they want to tell, with as few aesthetic-restrictions as possible.
Earlier, though, timelines were often used as a sort of benchmark for where the series had been and where it could go. For example, many people were surprised that the upcoming Heart of the Empire expansion was evidently going to be set in an era before the original trilogy. However, those who were keen on the timeline setup knew that the Core campaign (which begins immediately after the battle of Yavin, convenient for those on the BBY/ABY calendar) would have known that the first campaign is actually in Time Period 3. That leaves plenty of room for content before A New Hope.
You may be wondering what the point of all this is, then, if FFG seems to no longer be using Time Periods at the current moment. While I'm not sure we can really count on them ever returning to this mechanic, I do think it's a pretty good way to get into the mindset of the developers during the early stages of IA's release.
In fact, to demonstrate this, consider how the Imperial Assault Wiki speculates the time periods:
1) After Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
2) During Star Wars: A New Hope
3) After the destruction of the Death Star, and before the Battle of Hoth
4) During Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
5) After the "meeting" between Luke and Darth Vader, during the re-building of the Death Star
6) During Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
7) After the destruction of the second Death Star, probably before Star Wars: The Force Awakens
This theory is pretty much supported by the list of allies and villains that have Timeline restrictions (which is surprisingly much fewer than I expected).
Whether or not this list is accurate to what FFG initially intended, I have one pretty big issue with it- we're likely never going to have much use for the even numbers. So far, we've tended to stay away from actual canon events in Imperial Assault campaigns. And that totally makes sense- there really isn't a lot of room in the movies to tell a story like Imperial Assault tries to tell. As far as I can tell, the closest we've really come would be The Battle of Hoth, the introductory mission in the Return to Hoth campaign, which I guess we could cleanly place in Time Period 4. However, even with that technically being the case, the entire Return to Hoth campaign is officially in Time Period 5, as per pg. 10 of the rulebook. So there goes that theory.
The only two campaigns with official time periods are the Core and Return to Hoth. However, with my own judgment, the current Imperial Assault timeline might look something like this.
1) Heart of the Empire
2) ----------------
3) Core, Twin Shadows
4) ----------------
5) Return to Hoth, The Bespin Gambit, Jabba's Realm
6) ----------------
7) ----------------
Here's a brief breakdown of each of those and why they're placed where they are- obviously, there's going to be some spoilers for Imperial Assault campaigns here, but also some for other Star Wars stuff, so just know you've been warned.
Core, Return to Hoth- Obviously we're given official time periods for both of these campaigns. No reason to really dwell on that further
Twin Shadows- Pretty much has to happen here, given that Han's presence would prevent it from being in Time Period 5
The Bespin Gambit- Given Lando's presence with the Rebels, we can assume that this is post ESB. Given Vader's appearance in at least one side mission, we can assume that this is not post ROTJ
Jabba's Realm- This is kind of a funky one. The JR campaign includes missions that feature Jedi Luke, so we know it has to be post-ESB. It also includes a living and breathing Jabba (well, as much as plastic will allow for), so it has to be pre-ROTJ. It seems weird to potentially have Luke and Jabba meeting before the events of Jedi's opening, but hey, that's Imperial Assault for ya.
Heart of the Empire- I guess we don't really know much about Ahsoka's fate yet, but Maul's appearance now firmly plants this campaign as occurring before or during 2BBY. Plus, the AT-DPs and Sentry Droids are another clue that this campaign takes place in an earlier point of the Empire, and we haven't even seen what clues the missions hold yet.
So honestly, a more simplified Time Period arrangement could look like this
1) Before the Battle of Yavin- HotE
2) Between the Battle of Yavin and the Battle of Hoth- Core, TS
3) Between the Battle of Hoth and the Battle of Endor- RtH, TBG, JR
4) After the Battle of Endor- nothing so far!
Obviously anything we can glean from this is strictly speculation, but I'd like to bring up a few points-
First, we apparently don't have anything in Time Period 4 (or 7, if you like the lame old version better). Some post Endor stuff could be cool.
Second, I wouldn't mind some more stuff in Time Period 1. But I'm a sucker for the Rebels television show, so maybe I'm biased.
Third, you may have noticed earlier in the Timeline restriction graph that Luke Skywalker was originally only intended for Time Periods 3 and 4, taking him up through ESB. Obviously, the Jedi Luke deployment was always intended for him. What I found interesting when preparing for this article was the fact that while Chewie was intended for Time Periods 2-7, Han only appears in 2,3, and 4. Obviously there's a case for him to not be in 5, but what about after that? I've heard the argument that we're due for a General Solo deployment eventually, but I never really fully understood the reasoning until now- seems like he's been in the works ever since the beginning too (though the Han fix coming in HotE doesn't necessarily bode well for that still being the case).
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is that I'm surprised how this Time Period 3 actually has a slight favor over 2. The time between Yavin and Hoth is often treated like a goldmine for Star Wars expansion. It's where the current run of Marvel comics is typically set, it's where a ton of Legends material takes place, it's chock full of video game titles such as the original Rogue Squadron. Meanwhile, probably the most notable thing about the time between Hoth and Endor would be the (admittedly pretty cool) Shadows of the Empire event back in Legends. It's just typically a harder time to work with, because it's a shorter period of time, we have to somehow work in the Death Star II plans, and Han's rescue clearly needs to constantly be a priority (not to mention, totally unavailable for badassery during this time). The time between ANH and ESB simply allows the Rebels to just do Rebels stuff, while post ESB Rebels have some other stuff to focus on..
So yeah, I think that assuming we get any more boxed sets (and at this point, that really is only an assumption) the periods before and after the original trilogy would be cool, but that sweet spot between Yavin and Hoth still has a lot of story left to tell, too. I wouldn't count it out yet.
Anyway, where do you think the next Imperial Assault expansion after HotE might take us? Let me know in the comments!
May the Force be with you!
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- Thomas
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