Double Your Efforts: Why Imperial Assault Needs a 2nd Ed.

This week at the Hyperspace Report, Fantasy Flight Games announced a huge second edition of their popular miniatures game, X-Wing.  They appear to be taking advantage of this shift in product to address several aspects of the ambitious game, including turret tracking and faction flavor.  Best yet, conversion kits will make all previous sets compatible with the new edition.

Of course, Imperial Assault could probably benefit from a new edition as well, and while in the past I've been very opposed to the idea of a new edition, the way X-Wing is being handles has won me over.

Here are some arguments I'd make in support of IA 2.0 (and yes, I know some people refer to the app as that already).

1.  Errata

This game is full of errata.   And that's fine, with a game this expansive and old it's to be expected.  But having all of these "hidden" rules (as in, not in official rulebooks at release that may be in a casual player's collection) means that play is likely either inaccurate or cumbersome.

Take the Royal Guards, for instance.  Their units have had a huge amount of adjustments over the years.

Same goes for other units in the core set, specifically the Rebel Saboteurs and the Imperial Officers.  Now, I'm appreciative that these changes have been made, but I can't help but think it would be a lot better if the information on the cards could be read as intended, and played accurately.  Having to either print out fanmade cards or play the rules simply from your memory is fine on a case by case basis, but inadequate for mass distribution, in my opinion.

And it's not just units, either.  The entire errata/FAQ is 13 pages long.  That's longer than the entire rulebook, for quite a few games.  That being said...

2.  Skirmish Fixes

One popular thing nowadays is the addition of Skirmish Fixes in Imperial Assault.  Basically, these act as ways to buff some of the overpriced/underpowered units from early in the game's release.  Take Vader's, for example.

Now, there's no doubt in my mind that this is an improvement for Vader. Cheaper cost, free movement, additional damage, reroll ability (super valuable with his reds), and all for the price of losing (and then, technically gaining) an attack.  The goods definitely outweigh the bad of this card, and I think that's a clear admission that the original Vader card was severely under-powered.  We've seen the same thing with Chewbacca, IG-88, and Han as well, and many fans expect for other units like Boba Fett to get a similar treatment.

And to be honest, I find this better in some ways to how units like the Royal Guards were handled.  I mean, I'd still prefer for Vader's card to simply reflect what is actually on it without having to have an attachment, but this is fine for now (though again, a new edition could streamline this further).

But what about campaign?  Sure, the argument could be made that a mission with a starting or reserved villain (say, Vader) would be unbalanced if that particular unit was buffed.  And I think that's valid enough, though the concept of balance in IA is a tricky one to grapple with at best.  But I think we can assume these missions were balanced with the starting and reserved groups in mind, so I totally agree with this critique.  

Still, what about open groups in campaign?  If Vader wasn't worth his points in skirmish, why on earth would he be worth his points in campaign?  Or, at the very least, we can assume that testing did not take into account the differences between campaign Vader and what could have been a skirmish Vader, otherwise we would have ended up with separate cards for the modes.  

To fix this, I propose a simple solution- any future editions could have new versions of many of the allies that (when used with first edition components) could act like alternate versions of them.  If that sounds confusing, think Luke Skywalker, with the difference between his Farm Boy and Jedi Knight versions.  So, if in campaign the Imperial Player earns Darth Vader, they could bring either the old version or the newer and better version as an open group- but any mission that lists Vader as a starting or reserved group would have to adhere to the specific version listed.

3. New Stuff!

Part of the reason I've always been against a second edition (as well as Legion, to be honest) was the fact that I already felt very invested in my current Imperial Assault collection, both financially and through my painting.  

But I'm not sure that a new edition necessarily needs to simply be a re-release of the old components with fixed errata.  Look at the differences between the two edition of Descent, for instance.  Outside of the Hero and Monster packs, there is literally no overlap between any components (as far as I can tell- I'm still a newbie).

Yeah, some stuff would become obsolete- we'd probably get new tiles, cards, and maybe even revamps of systems like Hero progression.  

But at the same time, I'd think all the heroes in the core set could and should be brand new.  Same goes for all of the Imperial and Mercenary units.  It might sound odd to have a new core box without stormtroopers, but maybe we could either get a variant trooper or even Imperial Army trooper instead.  

The point is, I think we can look at any potential IA 2.0 as an advantage to old players and new, not just a gateway for newbies.

4. A New Age

Or, alternatively, a new Imperial Assault game could be less than compatible with the old edition, but for a really good reason- a new era.  Say, if we got a Clone Wars or Sequel Trilogy version.

To be totally honest, I would prefer to expand on what we've had (you know, given that pesky investment I've discussed.  But if we did get a new trilogy era, I think most things could be brought over with a conversion kit.  

Rebel Heroes could, for the most part, reasonably be in any era.  Some of them have Phoenix insignias on them, but whatever.  Merc units are probably even more versatile- heck, at this point we have at least three units that are clearly inspired outside of the Original Trilogy era (HKs, Nexu, Clawdites).  

The Imperial units would be a little more difficult to port over.  I guess they could be First Order stormtroopers or Clones, but... I just don't think that fits as well.  Maybe I'm picky, but I wouldn't like playing that way.  Still, even if we could have some cross over between editions with a change of era, I'd say the game would be better for it.

5.  The Rules, Even the Non-Changed Ones... Just Need It

Look, Imperial Assault is probably my favorite game of all time.  But please, let me be the first to admit that the game has some serious flaws, and ones that probably can't even be addressed with simple errata.

The movement rules for Imperial Assault, in my opinion, leave a lot to be desired.  It's far to easy for Rebels to simply rush a mission, or to leave a single hero back to stay healthy while the rest of the tanky force successfully completes the objectives.  

Line of sight doesn't help, either.  Yes, there are finnicky ways that a tricky player can take advantage of angles and "cover" in this game, but typically units are pretty easy to draw LOS to.  

The Healthy/Wounded mechanic is great for trying to stem player elimination, but I just can't help but feel like Wounded is not punishing enough for the Rebels.  Almost feels like my Rebels can effectively use their Wounded Heroes as bullet sponges, protecting their precious Healthy ones.

Missions have gotten better over time, too.  But the missions in the Core set (and some others) can be poorly balanced, and often are much less interesting than newer stuff.  Same goes for the entire campaign structure, too.  A new edition could fix this.

And, of course, you can see some other ways that I think Imperial Assault can improve, based off my limited experience with Descent.  

But yeah, what do you think?  Would a second edition be something you'd be interested in?  Or do you view it as unnecessary or annoying?  Let me know, and I'll see you next week!

May the Force be with you!

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- Thomas