After the excellent gameplay system of Descent, Fantasy Flight decided to improve upon that concept—Star Wars style! In this game, one player takes on the role of the Empire, attempting to destroy the heroes of the Rebel forces. The other players take the roles of those heroes and work together to defeat the Empire. Each hero has their own stats, such as HP, endurance, and speed. Additionally, each hero rolls specific dice for attack, defense, and other situations. Heroes have special abilities that usually cost actions or endurance to use. If players run out of HP, they flip their hero card over and must play with reduced stats from then on. If they run out of HP again after that, they are eliminated from the game.
The board consists of modular tiles depicting either outdoor environments or the interior of a facility. Players can build the board according to one of the provided scenarios or create their own scenario and layout. Each player has a miniature of the hero they control, while the Imperial player sends enemy miniatures against the heroes. Every enemy has its own small character card that determines its stats. Depending on the mission, players might start at one part of the board and try to fight their way to a specific area, or perhaps defend a base from an attack, etc. If players are playing a custom-made scenario (skirmish), they must follow unit deployment limit rules.
During their turn, players have two actions. An action is either moving on the board by the number of spaces described by the speed stat, or attacking enemy units within range, provided there are no obstacles between them. A player can also skip a turn to recover some HP or endurance. All combat is resolved using special colored dice. Depending on the combination rolled, players will either hit or miss their target. Players can also roll a Surge symbol. A Surge grants a specific bonus depending on the weapon the hero is equipped with. The defending player rolls a black or white defense die (sometimes both) to see how much damage they mitigate or to negate the opponent's Surge effect.
As players move across the board, they will also encounter neutral items and weapons they can use. Each player has their own deck of special ability cards; however, to obtain a card, they must spend a certain amount of experience points (EXP). By destroying enemies and completing objectives, players earn experience. If playing missions, depending on which objective was fulfilled, players will receive rewards such as weapons or ally heroes who assist them in future challenges. The Imperial player also earns experience points, which can be used to upgrade their units or gain even more reinforcements. Whether you play the campaign missions or a skirmish, Imperial Assault will delight you with its simple mechanics, detailed story, and miniatures. It is an excellent game for all fans of the Star Wars series.

Awards and Honors:
2016 Goblin Magnifico Nominee
2015 UK Games Expo Best Boardgame with Miniatures Winner
2015 Tric Trac Nominee
2015 Juego del Año Recommended
2014 Meeples Choice Award Nominee
2014 Golden Geek Board Game of the Year Nominee
2014 Golden Geek Best Thematic Board Game Nominee
2014 Golden Geek Best Board Game Artwork & Presentation Nominee
2014 Board Game Quest Awards Game of the Year Nominee
2014 Board Game Quest Awards Best Thematic Game Nominee
2014 Board Game Quest Awards Best Tactical/Combat Game Winner
2014 Board Game Quest Awards Best Tactical/Combat Game Nominee
2014 Board Game Quest Awards Best Production Values Nominee