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OP is a work-in-progress. Will add the actual structure of how play will work for die rolls and stuff to the second post closer to start day. For right now, read the OP below as it stands, then sign up as indicated. I'll probably be closing sign-ups by Friday at some point. If more than four people show interest, I will determine a completely non-biased* way to select players (*may not actually be non-biased). Actual OP follows:      Hello, and welcome to our first attempt at running a Star Wars: Imperial Assault campaign right here on the Something Awful forums! This is going to be a play-by-post game for myself and four other players.  Star Wars: Imperial Assault is a board game developed by some of the in-house developers at Fantasy Flight Games, which published the base game in 2014. It is a game in two parts, but we are concerned only with the Campaign Mode for the purposes of this thread. Mechanically, the Campaign Mode is a spiritual successor to Fantasy Flight's older dungeon-crawling board game, Descent. Like Descent, Imperial Assault is a game of a team of players working against a single opponent over the course of several scenario maps. In Imperial Assault, up to 4 players play as heroes of the Rebel Alliance and face off against one other player who is controlling the forces of the Galactic Empire. The team of Rebel Players fly through the galaxy, fighting off the Imperial Player's forces through a series of Story Missions and Side Missions that culminates in an epic finale. Along the way, both the Rebel Players and the Imperial Player have chances to upgrade their forces using experience points and/or credits gathered during and after missions. The game is set during the Galactic Civil War period of the Star Wars franchise, taking place roughly during the time of the Original Trilogy, and the Rebel Players will get the chance over the course of their campaign to fight both alongside and against iconic heroes and villains of the series.  Imperial Assault, in person, can take anywhere from an hour to about an hour and a half per mission played. A full campaign is 11 missions long. That means that we're going to be attempting to play a board game on the forums that would take approximately 10 to 15 hours to play in person -- roughly 3 to 5 times as long as your average game of TG's PbP favorite, Battlestar Galactica. In addition to that, Imperial Assault (unlike BSG) is a game of fine tactical movement and positioning, of actions and reactions. What I'm saying is, if we follow it through to the end, this is going to be an insanely long-term investment. To participate, you will be expected to preload actions regularly, check the thread once per day (at the bare minimum) to see if you have any choices you need to resolve, and communicate frequently in-thread with your team members to make sure you have a clear idea of what your options are in order to facilitate quick turn movement. Once your turn comes up in the order, you will have 24 hours to lock in a final turn submission, which should optimally include any pre-loaded reactions or conditional language needed to process your turn. If the resolution of your actions provoke a reaction that either you or your fellow players have valid reactions to, and you or they have not pre-loaded those reactions, you will be given 12 hours to respond with whether or not you are using them. If you do not meet these deadlines, which I will post clearly, any one of the other players on your team can choose to submit your actions/reactions for you. If it becomes a frequent problem, at the discretion of myself and your team members, you will have to be replaced as a player. I don't want to be a hard-rear end about this, and I have traditionally been very relaxed on deadlines of games I've run in the past, but the nature of this game means that a slow player could absolutely torpedo the game. If you want to participate, simply respond to this thread with whether or not you've played Imperial Assault before and your favorite Star Wars quote. Players who do not post a Star Wars quote will be scorned, because they did not read the OP. Otherwise, all you are expected to do is read the rulebook, play nicely with your teammates, and try your hardest! I will be doing likewise.  Like most Fantasy Flight games, the rulebooks (plural) for Imperial Assault are insanely poorly put together. If you're new to the game, don't let this fact intimidate you -- it'll all ultimately come out in the wash. * The Learn to Play Guide, a.k.a. The Roughly in Order Guide for How the Game Plays that Includes the Basic Rules. * The Rules Reference Guide, a.k.a. The Largely Unsorted List of Rules, Definitions, and Exceptions that You Will Probably Mess Up, Partly Because Some of These Rules are Explained More Thoroughly in the Tutorial Book. * The FAQ and Errata, a.k.a. Look, We hosed Up, Okay. * The Esoteric Order of Gamers' Star Wars: Imperial Assault Play Aid, a.k.a. The Thing You'll Probably Actually Refer to Most While Playing, Because it's Written by Someone with Common Sense and Not Some Corporate Drone.  CHARACTER CARDS Gaarkhan, Text Only Jyn Odan, Text Only Gideon Argus, Text Only Fenn Signis, Text Only Mak Eshka'rey, Text Only Diala Passil, Text Only Clockwork Gadget fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Jul 27, 2015 |
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Jul 19, 2015 06:35
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 07:07 |
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Reserved for Game Info TBD  AFTERMATH 
Clockwork Gadget fucked around with this message at 06:39 on Jul 19, 2015 |
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Jul 19, 2015 06:35
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Reserved just in case.
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Jul 19, 2015 06:39
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I would definitely be up for playing. I have run a campaign before, but not to the end. The chance of my actually remembering the quest guide's contents and spoiling it is miserably low. I'm on an NZ timezone but consistent checking shouldn't be a problem. My favorite quote is "Raaaaarrghhhhooooo."
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Jul 19, 2015 07:02
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I'm interested in playing if you're cool with a player who has literally never played ImpAss before and will therefore be asking all the dumb questions. I'm able to commit to the update schedule in question as well. #Punch it, Chewie!
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Jul 19, 2015 07:07
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##I know I've also played a lot of Descent (not as much as Stelas and co. though) but I've never actually played ImpAss. Have we considered a Skype group chat or an IRC channel? girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 07:33 on Jul 19, 2015 |
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Jul 19, 2015 07:31
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Ok I'm out haha, I will be following though
bowmore fucked around with this message at 07:44 on Jul 19, 2015 |
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Jul 19, 2015 07:33
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Poison Mushroom posted:##I know=
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Jul 19, 2015 07:33
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Poison Mushroom posted:##I know I don't have a microphone and while I can IRC, my work schedule is going to keep me from meaningfully hanging out in a chat channel all day. If this sort of communication becomes strongly desired among everyone then I'll relinquish my spot to someone who can maintain that degree of realtime involvement.
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Jul 19, 2015 07:40
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I've played through 2 playthroughs of the campaign, once for each side. "Who's scruffy looking?!?"-Han Solo whether i get to play or not, i will definitely be following along. Mostly to see how in the world you're going to make this work.
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Jul 19, 2015 07:42
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I was mostly bringing up a Skype group chat for the opportunity to just ping someone (probably me) in private, like "hey, we're waiting on you to shoot a stormtrooper, you turd"
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Jul 19, 2015 07:43
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I have played both sides, one time very wrong, the other not as wrong. "If you will not be turned...then you will be destroyed" - Emperor Palpatine
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Jul 19, 2015 08:18
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"You want to go home and rethink your life" I've owned ImpAss for about a month now, but have been unsuccessful in assembling a group of players to actually play it! So this would be quite fun to participate in, but given my lack of actual experience, I would not be at all offended if I am passed over.
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Jul 19, 2015 11:17
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bowmore posted:the best quote It's no "But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!"
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Jul 19, 2015 11:56
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I've played 4 or 5 missions as the Imperial player, plus about the same as a Descent adventurer. Definitely would be interested to get in on this. "I thought they smelled bad...on the outside"
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Jul 19, 2015 15:57
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"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." Played 6-7 missions total over both sides and I'd love to see how you do this even if I don't get picked.
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Jul 19, 2015 16:29
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I wish I could commit to the turn schedule. But I start a new job in a week that at some point in 3-5 months will involve 12 hour shifts. I will definitely be following along.
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Jul 19, 2015 19:36
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Watching with interest, but I am unsure I could commit to the schedule.
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Jul 20, 2015 04:03
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Sure, I'll throw my hat into the ring. I've never played this or Descent, but I'm reasonably familiar with FFG's tendency to make overcomplicated rule systems. And I have played a few missions of Galaxy Defenders in the past, which is at least similar in the sense of having a campaign and soldiers who improve over time. I don't currently foresee the time requirement being an issue. #"Yub, yub, Commander!" What, you never specified a movie quote, and I feel like being a Rebel.  Fine, something from the movies: #"Great shot kid, that was one in a million."
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Jul 20, 2015 05:28
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I'm interested in this. Never played IA before, but plenty of experience with similar stuff. Time should be okay, but I am in the EU timezone so my posting hours might differ from the rest. #"Never tell me the odds"
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Jul 20, 2015 09:09
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I'd like to play, never played before though. I'm played similar games before though. I'd have no problem with the schedule, and my timezone is PST. #Intensify forward firepower! Too laaaaaaaate!
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Jul 20, 2015 22:47
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I've played some Descent, the IA intro campaign mission, and then like a million IA skirmishes. I can commit to the time schedule (PST), but I'm also cool with just watching. Myself, the boy, two droids, and no questions asked 
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Jul 22, 2015 20:08
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Sorry, had some other stuff spring up this last week that made it difficult for me to finish getting all the stuff together and laid out for our easy use. Am working finishing it now, will have it up within a few hours from this post. Will randomize players then. Last call for anyone that wants to be considered, you've got until I post next. Stay tuned!
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Jul 26, 2015 22:00
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Clockwork Gadget posted:Sorry, had some other stuff spring up this last week that made it difficult for me to finish getting all the stuff together and laid out for our easy use. Am working finishing it now, will have it up within a few hours from this post. Will randomize players then. Last call for anyone that wants to be considered, you've got until I post next. Sure, I'm potentially interested. I have the game, but haven't played much.
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Jul 26, 2015 22:58
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Random.org has selected the players: 1. Colon V 2. Lord Koth 3. jivjov 4. Kai Tave To grouch about how closely you fell below the line, here's the rest of the list: 5. BioTech 6. yellowjournalism 7. Stelas 8. Veritek 9. Fatcat 10. Hooly Booly 11. Chekans 12. SilverMike 13. Hauki Apologies to those that didn't make the cut. Keep your eyes on the thread, y'all will have first priority to replace in if we ever end up needing replacements.
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Jul 27, 2015 02:31
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Clockwork Gadget posted:Random.org has selected the players: gently caress, I never got around to writing an acceptance speech. thanks be to the random number gods
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Jul 27, 2015 02:34
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD8NVCI1QA8pre:IMPERIAL ASSAULT VICTORY! With the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebellion has given hope to a galaxy living in fear. Having lost their ultimate weapon, the Empire scrambles to recover in the face of this crushing defeat. As the scattered fragments of the battle station rain down upon the Rebel base on Yavin 4, the Empire sets in motion a plan to seek retribution against Rebel forces stationed on the small moon. Not long after, when an Imperial beacon begins to broadcast from an outpost some distance away from the Rebel base, a small team of elite operatives is dispatched; their mission: to silence the signal at all costs . . . . Gaarkhan, the Wookie warrior  Jyn Odan, the smuggler with the quick draw  Gideon Argus, the aging tactician  Fenn Signis, the grizzled veteran  Mak Eshka'rey, the Bothan covert agent  or Diala Passil, one of the few remaining Force sensitives?  ACTION QUEUE Players: Choose a character. Clockwork Gadget fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Jul 27, 2015 |
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Jul 27, 2015 02:44
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Good luck guys! A quick primer of stuff to remember, if you've only had experience with Descent 2e: - Damage is higher but you heal some on resting. You also get two lifebars, but losing the first one usually knocks away your ability to do mission-related things and also strips you of an ability. (Generally, Imperial player wins if everyone loses their first lifebar.) - Defence is lower. You can't miss, but you do still have to deal with range. White die can cancel surges and evade, Black die is heavy defence. - Turns now alternate. One player takes a turn, then one imperial group, and vice versa. This means you have to watch out for pincer attacks towards an objective, because one player can't cover both directions. It also means you want to take out an entire group rather than leave a couple stragglers around where possible. - You've got to focus on the objectives a lot more than in Descent. Mission rewards are more consistent, and treasure chests only really tend to give out usable items now, rather than cash. - Line of sight's a little different but it's still kinda dumb. - Stamina-moving now only allows a max of 2 per turn. Ha ha ha suck it. Actually, keeping hold of your Endurance is more important than ever so it tends to be a dangerous plan anyway. Stelas fucked around with this message at 02:56 on Jul 27, 2015 |
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Jul 27, 2015 02:51
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I'm gonna go with Gideon!
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Jul 27, 2015 02:53
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Argh, curse your biased/unbiased random numbers!  Good luck to the players though! Hopefully one of yall will go with Mak since he's the only hero i've not seen in action. Judging by his skills it seems like he gets ridiculously powerful pretty fast though. The Shame Boy fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Jul 27, 2015 |
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Jul 27, 2015 03:35
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Ah well, it was worth a shot. Good luck to the Rebels! you're gonna need it
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Jul 27, 2015 03:46
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I'm super excited! I also have no idea what I'm doing! I'll carve out some time to sit down with the Esoteric Order playguide unless you recommend actually reading the FFG rulebook. Also people who have played before, please don't hesitate to give me recommendations for what I should be doing when we get underway. Man, I don't know who to pick. Everyone looks pretty cool.
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Jul 27, 2015 04:16
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Kai Tave posted:I'm super excited! I also have no idea what I'm doing! You really can't go wrong with anybody! Some teams can handle certain situations better than others but it's not going to make that a big a deal in the long run as it mostly comes down to the luck of the dice and positioning. Seeing as you already have Gideon you're not gonna have many problems in terms of the amount of actions you do in one turn as he kind of shits them out for you. As to your required reading,that Esoteric link is really gonna be your best bet for getting the basics down although the Rules Reference might come in handy if you get confused on anything in particular. Also a question to the OP, what upgrade deck are you gonna be using? I noticed you got a lot of newbies for this so throwing Subversive Tactics at them straight away would be just mean 
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Jul 27, 2015 05:08
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Yeah, I just dl'd the Esoteric Order link and like most of their stuff it seems super helpful. Hopefully all of my shameful D&D4E WoW boardgame experience will come in handy here. And give me Diala please. It's Star Wars, someone's gotta be a Jedi.
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Jul 27, 2015 05:23
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Gideon is basically the best character in the game, because he can make other people do more stuff and is thus super versatile. Diala's... a bit underwhelming early on, and should focus on defense rather than overextending her reach. Until you get Way of the Sarlacc at which point you are a menace in terms of action economy.
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Jul 27, 2015 05:28
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Stelas posted:Gideon is basically the best character in the game, because he can make other people do more stuff and is thus super versatile. Hmmmm. So do you think she's maybe not a great choice for a rank newbie then? I mean I'm good either way, but if you think there's something that's going to result in frustration or some not-so-obvious pitfalls then I'm all ears, the more advice you have the better.
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Jul 27, 2015 05:30
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Naw, all the characters are powerful in their own way, I wouldn't really call any of them newbie-unfriendly. Diala's not quite as mindlessly powerful as some of the others (Fenn is max aim-and-shoot-aim-and-shoot) but that just means more to get your teeth into in the long run. Early on, you'll probably want to reserve a couple Endurance for judicious use of Foresight, and maybe look towards Defensive Stance as your first skill for its ability to Focus you, i.e. 'do a bunch more damage next attack'. e: My point was more 'don't go rushing off into the middle of the enemy thinking you're an unstoppable Jedi' because at least in this game the Imperials can loving shoot. Stelas fucked around with this message at 05:39 on Jul 27, 2015 |
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Jul 27, 2015 05:34
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Nah nothing like that, it's just that Diala is overall more of a melee support kind of character who only does okay damage until you get either A. A few of her key skills (Way of the Sarlacc as mentioned, i'm also a fan of Force Push and Battle Meditation personally) B.Do her personal mission and win (which can be kind of tricky depending on how long it takes for it to come into play) or alternatively you could be Wookie and Charge n' Cleave fools all day long, then Charge n' Cleave harder if you happen to get hurt, or sombody in the general area code of you gets hurt or if the Imperial player tries to win and wounds you. Either of which will make you angry which makes you better at Charge n' Cleave. Edit: Beaten by the penguin man  although i'd argue Mak is not "newbie friendly" since a lot of his stuff revolves around Line of Sight and that can be tricky for people to keep track of when they're just starting out.Also yes Stormtroopers will gently caress your poo poo up in this game. Even more so if your Imperial player is running Military Might. The Shame Boy fucked around with this message at 05:43 on Jul 27, 2015 |
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Jul 27, 2015 05:40
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Yeah, I noticed that she seemed like a less straightforward bruiser and more of a "set-up" sort of fighter. I also noticed Way of the Sarlacc because years of damaging my brain with RPGs has taught me the power of degenerate multi-action shenanigans. Am I right in assuming that Force Adept is also super useful? Because giving people re-rolls and gaining bonus dice on a variety of checks seems super useful.
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Jul 27, 2015 05:42
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It can be generally helpful yeah, more so for the attack dice re-rolls than making checks though. As there will be somebody in your party that can most likely make the roll without help but even without that with the way checks handle successes and failures it generally won't take longer than a turn or two to get it right unless you get bad luck.
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Jul 27, 2015 05:50
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