There's always a little bit of talk going on about what FFG could do next with the Imperial Assault formula, and one common idea is the implementation of a new Core box set in a different era. While I personally want the current edition to go on for as long as possible, I also do see how another era could be attractive.
While I'd love to have a Kylo Ren or Phasma mini, I think that the Prequel Trilogy might be the best place to set a new edition. The knee-jerk reason for this is because between Imperial Assault and Legion, I think gamers are probably tired of painting their stormtroopers by now (I know the prequels have clones, but if this edition is anything like the first, allies for campaign would be far less numerous). Additionally, I just don't think the Sequel trilogy canon is really ready to start accepting stories like this. Imperial Assault is obviously not canon, but it's generally sort of canon friendly, or at least canon parallel. We just don't know nearly enough about the context of the Sequel Trilogy's era yet to set a game there, especially with how careful Disney and LFL are being regarding curating canon material.
When it comes to the prequels, though, we have about as much elbow room as the Galactic Civil War, if not more!
So, despite my general distaste for the Prequels themselves, here's how a Clone Wars era Imperial Assault style dungeon crawler could be great for FFG fans!
A Second Edition Conversion Kit
There's a lot of material in the first edition of Imperial Assault that could technically be usable in the prequels. As far as I can tell, there's no reason any of the non-unique Mercenary figures couldn't be featured in the prequels. Heck, some of them like the Clawdites or Nexu are actually inspired from the prequel films.
Additionally, I think a lot of the Rebel heroes could be brought to the Prequel era. They would need to have new side missions (assuming that's still a mechanic in the next edition) and it might look kind of odd to see the Rebel insignia on some of their clothing, but for the most part I think they could all pass as Prequel-era heroes. Davith and Diala would actually fit in better in this era than the Original Trilogy, I assume.
I don't think that there's much we can do to salvage Imperial forces, unfortunately. I guess the stormtroopers could be interchangeable for clone troopers, but personally I'm not sure I'd be satisfied with that.
Now, I'm not sure what else could be brought over, but the more the merrier! Most map tiles would still be applicable, items should still work assuming the new edition uses similar enough mechanics. It's really up to how compatible the two editions are, but I think FFG only stands to gain from making this new edition as attractive as possible to veteran IA players.
New Units Allowing for New Design Philosophy
The Clone Wars are full of all sorts of great enemies that the Imperial Player (uhhh, Separatist leader?) can throw at the heroes. B1s, B2s, droidekas, Spider Droids, etc. Not to mention awesome units like General Grievous or Savage Opress.
In general, I think a new design philosophy should revolve around units. The golden standard, when it comes to measuring unit efficiency, seems to traditionally being the Regular Stormtrooper in the first edition. At 6 points for a deployment of three troopers at 3 health apiece, regular stormtroopers are a modestly priced deployment of low health, low attack units. There's nothing particularly exceptional about them- at two points per figure as a deployment cost, individual stormtroopers quickly begin to resemble other two point figures like Jawas and Officers. Meanwhile, other six point deployment groups showcase similarities such as with the very similar Wing Guards, or highlight differences like with the stronger but less numerous Heavy Stormtroopers.
With a new edition, though, I would like to see a combat system that emphasizes the more bombastic nature of combat in the Clone Wars (of course, this means that anything that was brought over via the conversion kit would also need to be re-balanced as well). Missions should revolve around a group of heroes (including at least some Jedi) fighting against hordes of droids and other low health enemies. More like Descent than Imperial Assault in that regard, I guess.
Perhaps B2 Battle Droids can fill the more traditional role that Stormtroopers or Heavy Stormtroopers currently fill as a somewhat mid-range deployment of multiple figures, but I'd like to see B1s serve as a much more grunt-like unit. Perhaps their deployments could comprise of five or six units, but be much weaker (2 or less health), making them extremely susceptible to blast-style attacks.
Meanwhile, I'd like to see a larger focus on heroes, allies, and villains. While the Galactic Civil War as portrayed in the Original Trilogy was relatively grounded, the Clone Wars sees "heroes on both sides". That means that ultimately all of the droids and such need to really just be grunts and little more. Perhaps Grievous's Magma Guards could fill a role like the Royal Guards do in being a relatively tough non-unique deployment, but I'd also really like to make allies and villains feel less like a strictly narrative novelty and more like a valid strategic decision. Bringing in someone like Count Dooku should be a truly devious move against the heroes, not like a cool narrative decision that the gamemaster decided on.
Speaking of fixing the balance of units, that brings me to another point...
Fixing Game Issues
Obviously with a new edition of the game, some issues are expected to be addressed.
Off the top of my head, these two should probably be implemented.
-Line of Site improvements
- Better terms to differentiate between "Threat" and "Threat Level"
Obviously there's stuff like the Officer or Royal Guard errata that I think have been well enough addressed with the first edition, and FFG should obviously keep those decisions in mind when designing new units.
Additionally, there are somethings like simplifying Counting Spaces that I can't really think of a good solution for, and am not sure really needs one, but could be beneficial for new players if it was possible to implement.
And I'm sure there are many other glaring issues that others can think of as well. Let me know in the comments what issues IA has that you'd like to see addressed in future editions.
Just More "New" In General
Imperial Assault has a ton of desert locations, between Core, Twin Shadows, and Jabba's Realm. If we really would get old tiles brought over via a conversion kit (or if they'd be available in the companion app, at least), guess what we don't need: freakin' desert tiles! We want new stuff!
Let's see more original stuff in this core box- maybe give some red world tiles to commemorate the start of the Clone Wars at Geonosis (and also Ord Mantell), or volcanic Sullust/ Mustafar tiles. If you read the linked article above, you'll get an idea of some of the variety we could get in these games.
How about new rewards? In the age before the Empire, there's all sorts of awesome, mystical secrets to uncover. New heroes? Let's have new alien species, new Jedi, heck we could even have a senator hero! New weapons? The Clone Wars allows for more Jedi heroes, which is awesome, so I expect we could get a lot more lightsaber variants as weapons. New storylines? I'd love to see a more horror-centered campaign with the Nightsisters as enemies (or allies!)
In fact, that's part of why I want the Clone Wars over the Sequel trilogy, despite my opinions of the actual movies they represent. The Clone Wars will just bring more "new" to this game, and it could use it, I think. This new edition would be great if it truly seperates itself from the first edition, becoming both an exciting experience for new players and a tantalizing expansion for IA veterans.
What would you be most excited to see a Clone Wars version of Imperial Assault bring? Let me know in the comments!
Until next time...
May the Force be with you!
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