The first expansion to Fantasy Flight Games’ wildly successful Imperial Assault has been unleashed upon the gaming world and it is a thing of beauty. But, honestly, with Boba Fett on the cover in full bounty hunt mode how could Twin Shadows not be?
Expansions are just a thing now in the gaming community. Whether it’s DLC for new video game levels, expanded character concepts for RPGs, new maps/tiles for board games, or, in the case of Twin Shadows, all of the above, expansions are just expected now. The various industries have embedded in their consumers that expansions are coming and they are a good thing. We all know the latter isn’t always the case, but in this instance – rest easy, dear reader, it is.
The Story
Set on a planet that is the farthest from the bright center of the universe, the Players find themselves on Tatooine with a mission to find Han Solo who recently disappeared after he went to the desert planet to investigate an Imperial presence there. Along with Han was our favorite droid duo, C-3PO and R2-D2, who have also not been heard from in a while. The Rebel Heroes must search through the wretched hives of scum and villainy, traverse the deadly Dune Sea and even infiltrate an Imperial Star Destroyer to find their missing friends and uncover the Imperial’s nefarious, clandestine plans here in the Outer Rim.
In the Box
To quote Brad Pitt from Se7en, “What’s in the box?!” But don’t worry, you won’t find (SPOILER:) Gwyneth Paltrow’s decapitated head inside, no matter how much you want it to be. Instead we find:
- 2 new Rebel Heroes
- 6 new Missions, including 1 for each Rebel Hero
- 4 new allies and villains
- 2 new types of deployment units
- 12 map tiles
- 1 set of new Condition tokens (“Weakened”)
- New Item, Supply, Command, Reward, Hero Class, Imperial Class, Agenda, and Side Mission cards
- And additional ID tokens and stickers, damage and strain tokens
Modes of Play
As with the Core Set, there are several ways to play Twin Shadows.
- Incorporate Missions with Base Game – selecting Side Mission cards from the ones within Twin Shadows, players can incorporate this story into their overall larger adventure
- Mini Campaign Mode – rules for players to run a smaller campaign set solely in the story presented in Twin Shadows
- Skirmish – new skirmish cards provide players with new challenges when they want to play head-to-head
Should I Spend the Credits?
First of all, because STAR WARS. If you need a second reason, you’re doing it wrong.
Seriously, this expansion is a great way to add more depth and playability to an already great game. The setting is iconic and one that every Star Wars fan knows and loves. The missions are exciting and challenging for both sides, with some great themes added in for flavor. While this expansion does not increase the amount of players that can participate in the game, it does add some excellent choices for sides of the conflict. The two new heroes are incredible. One is a heavy gun toting monster who is deadly far away and up close, while the other is a tech genius who buffs up other Rebel Players to make them even more effective. And on the Imperial side, we are introduced to Heavy Stormtroopers and Tusken Raiders, both deadly and fun with some clever abilities to add flavor in the battles.
Overall, I’m very pleased with my purchase and look forward to the next expansion: Return to Hoth!
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