So first, I'm going to rank it against some other tactical skirmish games I've played, compare how IA holds up against them then discuss what I don't like about them.
Finally, some thoughts on Imperial Assault.
Skirmish games if you squint
Car Wars
No really Car Wars is Tactically Skirmishy. You move your vehicle around the board declaring shots at opponents.
This hurts me to say it, because most of high school was spent playing Car Wars, but Car Wars is awful. If no one has cars built, that's literally 4 hours gone before you even start playing. If everyone designed cars pre-game it is still glacially paced and too much hinges on a few die rolls. Imperial Assault is way better than Car Wars
D&D.
D&D has its roots in tactical combat, so step off. Gygax and Arneson added a story telling element to it, and a genre was born.
I really enjoyed D&D for the most part when I played it, it just got stale. I can still probably play it, but I wouldn't want to do it weekly. In fact the conditions under which I would play are so restrictive that there's no way I could find a regular group.
D&D is better than Imperial Assault. You design your guy, who has way more options than IA's and the campaign implementation for RPG's is better than IA.
Actual Skirmish games
"Convention Games" - I'm going to lump every Napoleonic, WWII, SciFi, Cowboy, and Pirate themed I've played game into this category, because I simply don't remember the names.
Within the last 15 years, when better board gaming options became more prevalent, I have had fun playing a miniature skirmish game exactly once. It was Desperado, and the only reason it was fun was the session was only half full.
So in theory, these games at a convention are great because you get to see the pageantry and scale models without having to buy, paint and build them yourself. In practice the session always books twice as many people as the game can adequately handle and it devolves into a slow paced incoherent mess.
A problem with quite a few of them, is they're designed for 'tactical' historical accuracy and not balance. And also they ignore strategic facts. There's an old war gamer joke, "Never tell a war gamer the Germans lost World War 2". Most of these games do not adequately model air power, artillery or logistics. So never play the Russians.
I digress. The problem with all of these games together is the pacing vs decisions problem I discussed like 5 years ago. Tactical Skirmish games take entirely too long to play for 'move here shoot this guy, repeat"
Imperial Assault is better than this thundering herd.
Descent
Descent was a modern revisit on these old miniature games. Instead of a table with rulers it added D&D style squares. I really got sick of Descent quickly for two major reasons.
1) Monster Spawn. I understand why this is a design mechanic (it keeps the defender in the game if the attacker has a ridiculously good round and kills everything), but as a player clearing out a room only to have it routinely re-spawn was deeply unsatisfying.
2) One vs. Many. The game picks an overlord who battles adventurers. This polarizes the table into the absolute worst killer GM vs. Party table top RPG sessions I've ever played.
To be fair, a lot has to do with the personalities at the table in the first place. But I don't like the vibe.
Imperial Assault is better than Descent. It's got better campaign mechanics for both sides. Which is to say, it's got campaign mechanics instead of a series of increasingly difficult scenarios.
Imperial Assault
Imperial Assault has really similar mechanics to Descent. I'm sure there's differences (I haven't played Descent since well before I started this blog). But the core mechanics of Monster Spawn, One Vs. Many, and the move and roll dice to attack are close enough to one another, that I call it the same game.
It's got better campaign mechanics, which is the hook for the game. Campaigns are fun! Unfortunately, there's to much engineer in me and I can't get past other gaming platforms/genres do campaigns way better.
It's currently ranked 16th on Board Game Geek, and I think that number is very soft.
I think it's that high because of the Star Wars brand. In my mind I can easily see a cowboy vs. Mexican bandit theme with the exact same mechanics called Magnificent Seven Assault! and that game would flop...because Western.
Ok, exaggeration here. Descent doesn't have the Star Wars brand and it's still top 100.
the Final Word
If you enjoy tactical skirmish games then this game is for you. It's better than virtually all it's predecessors, the Star Wars theme is neat, and there was actually thought into how to make this a campaign.
