It’s small decisions like these that can alter the course of some games. As much as Imperial Assault is a game about positioning, risk, and reward, it’s still a game with a certain degree of chance. Some of this chance can be played around. For instance, you would be foolish to position your figures in a way that doesn’t account for an opponent playing Take Initiative, Son of Skywalker, or Grenadier, even if you weren’t certain that it was currently in your opponent’s hand. It’s hidden information. Understanding the potential of that information is part of the game.

Yet, like all games with an ever-expanding card base, I’m sympathetic to the argument that you can’t possibly anticipate every card in your opponent’s hand. Clearly, there will be a set of non-meta cards that fail to rise to the attention of some players. Whether this is a good or bad aspect of the game is a discussion for another day. Regardless, one can’t deny that there’s power in possessing a play that your opponent cannot anticipate, and that will be apparent in Game 4.

Game 4 was played on ISB Headquarters, using the Reconnaissance mission. My opponent, D, ran a Rangers/Jedi Luke variant featuring Elite Echo Base Troopers. He started in the top deployment zone and I started in the bottom. I had initiative. Similar to C’s list, my concerns were pretty straightforward. I couldn't allow the Rangers have free shots on my figures – I need to force them to come to me. To this end, I decided that holding up in the side hallway would again be the best course of action, as the Rangers don’t have an easy approach to this position. An added wrinkle was going to be the Echo Base Troopers. Not only can they take a punch, but with a focus, they can throw a green, green, red dice pool. At 4 points per figure, that’s not bad. Moreover, there was no longer an objective on the left side of the map, so the likelihood of my opponent splitting his forces was low.