“It’s a good bet the Empire knows we’re here.”
-Han Solo, The Empire Strikes Back
And boy do they.
The inaugural mission in RETURN TO HOTH, the first big box expansion for Fantasy Flight Games’s massively successful miniatures game IMPERIAL ASSAULT, is appropriately titled “The Battle of Hoth”, and it sure does feel like. In fact, while you’re playing through the entire 11-part campaign it has the feel and tone of arguably the most popular film in the STAR WARS franchise, The Empire Strikes Back. It’s dark, foreboding, and tough filled with familiar locations (e.g., Echo Base, a Wampa Cave, Cloud City, etc.), deadly enemies, betrayal, revenge, and all the other great moments from the films we know and love.
Unlike the original Imperial Assault campaign which focuses mostly on combat and strategy, Return to Hoth’s campaign is more of a story with several recurring Imperials and NPCs that provide a very cinematic feel to the players involved. And while many people I played with thought the original campaign was tough on the Rebel players, just wait. RtH is much more difficult and unforgiving to poor tactical decision making on the players’ parts. (And as the guy who is usually the Imperial player, I’m okay with it!)
However, you don’t have to play in this campaign, if you don’t want to. You can mix the RtH missions into your current campaign for a wild ride across the Star Wars galaxy.
But this box is more than just a new campaign.
Of course we’re given (and by “given” I mean “what you bought!”), 3 new Rebel Heroes for the Players to use, Imperial and Fringe pieces including Snow Troopers, a Tank, and a couple of Wampas, more tiles, specifically with snow terrain, and much more.
In addition to the new campaign and miniatures, there are rules for a four person skirmish! This includes teams and free-for-all where it’s every player for themselves. It’s a great way to keep the fun of Imperial Assault going when you and your friends aren’t in the mood for a campaign, or are just ready for some quick and dirty battles.
How does Return to Hoth compare to the smaller expansion, Twin Shadows?
While RtH is more expensive, there is more in the box: a longer solo campaign, more new Rebel Heroes, and rules to expand the skirmish game making the purchase a strong cost/benefit ratio. But you really cannot go wrong with either purchase.
Like all expansions, you need to have the core set in order to play Return to Hoth, so that’s an investment right there. Unfortunately, though, as of the time of this writing, there are no more expansions, small or big, announced for Imperial Assault, but with the success of the game thus far, we’re sure there will be many more opportunities to spend our hard-earned money on Imperial Assault and other Star Wars gaming products in the future.
That’s all for now, folks!
I’ll roll again with you all real soon!
-B
Latest posts by Brev Tanner (see all)
- Campaigns to Play: Elemental Inspiration - July 12, 2016
Thanks Brev, now my hype is up and my wallet is soon to be down.