Star Wars: Imperial Assault – Return to Hoth Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Component List
• Inside This Expansion
• Before You Play
• Expansion Setup
• Missions
  • Campaign Missions
  • Skirmish Missions
• Expansion Icon
• Expansion Rules
  • Deployment Card Restrictions
  • Tile Types
  • Habitat
  • Class Cards
  • Recon Tokens
• Skirmish Attachments
• Neutral Deployment Cards
• Four-Player Skirmishes
  • Game Modes
  • Setup and Gameplay Changes
  • Free-For-All
  • Team Battle
• Special Rules
  • Conflicts in a Four-Player Skirmish
• Rule Clarifications and Rules Reference Additions
  • Attacks
  • Attribute Tests
  • Close Quarters
  • Control
  • Damage
  • Deplete
  • Keywords
  • Wounded
  • "You"

Component List

• 16 Plastic Figures
• 37 Map Tiles
• 1 Skirmish Map Sheet
• 3 Hero Sheets
• 17 Deployment Cards (4 decks)
• 8 Story Mission Cards
• 4 Threat Mission Cards
• 3 Side Mission Cards
• 6 Agenda Cards
• 28 Hero Class Cards (3 decks)
• 18 Imperial Class Cards (2 decks, 9 in each)
• 9 Command Cards
• 11 Reward Cards
• 9 Item Cards (3 decks, 3 in each)
• 4 Supply Cards
• 4 Condition Cards
• 5 Condition Tokens
• 4 Skirmish Mission Cards
• 5 Ally and Villain Tokens
• 2 Recon Tokens
• 14 Damage Tokens (8 1's and 6 5's)
• 13 Strain Tokens
• 8 ID Tokens with 24 ID Stickers

Inside This Expansion

The Return to Hoth expansion includes new content to expand all elements of your Imperial Assault experience. There are new heroes, classes, items, figures, and much more to enhance your campaigns and skirmishes. In addition, this expansion contains the Return to Hoth campaign, whose story missions can be combined with the side missions from the core game, this expansion, and other expansions to create an entirely new story.

Before You Play

If you are new to Imperial Assault, make sure to read the Learn to Play guide found in the core game. There you will find a tutorial mission and all the information needed to begin playing both Imperial Assault and Return to Hoth.

Expansion Setup

Each Imperial Assault expansion is designed to seamlessly integrate into your collection. Before using this expansion for the first time, carefully punch out all tokens and map tiles from the cardboard frames. Then, perform the following steps:

• Add the Agenda, Command, Side Mission, and Skirmish Mission cards to their respective supplies. Players may choose these cards when building each of these respective decks when playing a campaign or a skirmish.
• Add the Condition, Class, Deployment, Item, Reward, and Supply cards to their respective decks.
• Add the Hero sheets, plastic figures, tokens, and map tiles from this expansion to their respective supplies.
• Set aside the new Story Mission and Threat Mission cards. These will be used in the Return to Hoth campaign.

Players should finish any active campaigns before incorporating the components from Return to Hoth into the core game.

Note: In a campaign, players are limited to the number of figures included in this expansion. For example, the Imperial player is limited to three regular and three elite Snowtrooper figures, even if he owns multiple copies of this expansion.

Missions

Return to Hoth features sixteen new campaign missions and four new skirmish missions for Imperial Assault.

Campaign Missions

The new campaign missions can be used in one of two ways.

• Missions corresponding to a Side Mission card can be incorporated into any campaign as a side mission.
• The story and threat missions are featured in the Return to Hoth campaign and are used exclusively in that campaign.

Skirmish Missions

Return to Hoth contains four new skirmish missions to be shuffled into your Skirmish Mission deck. These missions use the "Hoth Battlefield" and "Echo Base" maps, found on the included Skirmish Map Sheet. One of these maps allows four players to compete in a skirmish at once. New rules for four-player skirmishes can be found on page 6.

Expansion Icon

All cards, sheets, and map tiles found in this expansion are marked with the Return to Hoth expansion icon to distinguish these components from those found in the core game and other expansions.

Expansion Rules

The following sections describe the new rules featured in the components of Return to Hoth.

Deployment Card Restrictions

Some Deployment cards can be used in only one style of play in Imperial Assault. A Deployment card marked with a Campaign Deployment Icon can be used only in a campaign, while a Deployment card marked with a Skirmish Deployment Icon can be used only in a skirmish.

Tile Types

Each map tile in Imperial Assault has one or more tile types corresponding to the environment that tile represents. These types have no direct gameplay effect, but may be referred to by other components.

The primary tile type distinction is between interior and exterior (see "Interior Spaces" on page 15 of the Rules Reference Guide in the core game). Other tile types include forest, desert, and snow tiles. The tile types for the tiles in the core game and those introduced in Return to Hoth are as follows:

• Forest:
  • Core game tiles 01A–18A, 37A, 38B, and 39A
  • Return to Hoth tiles 05A and 24A
• Desert:
  • Core game tiles 01B–18B, 37A, 38A, and 39B
• Snow:
  • Return to Hoth tiles 01A–24A and 21B
• Interior:
  • Core game tiles 19A–36A and 19B–36B
  • Return to Hoth tiles 01B–20B and 22B–24B

Habitat

Habitat is a keyword found on certain Deployment cards. During a campaign, when the Imperial player is selecting open groups for a mission, he can choose a Deployment card with the Habitat keyword only if there is at least one tile in that mission's map whose type matches the listed Habitat.

Note: During a skirmish, Habitat has no effect.

Class Cards

Some heroes, such as Loku Kanoloa, have a Class deck that includes Item cards with an XP cost. These cards can be purchased with XP like any other Class card and are used like other items of the same type. If a player wishes to sell any of these items after purchasing them, he may do so for 50 credits like any other Item card without a listed credit cost.

Recon Tokens

The hero Loku Kanoloa uses recon tokens to scout the battlefield, giving both himself and his fellow Rebels tactical advantages. These tokens have no inherent function and only interact with abilities found on Loku Kanoloa's Hero sheet and Class cards.

During campaign setup, when Loku Kanoloa is chosen as a hero, place the two recon tokens near his play area. During a mission, Loku's abilities allow him to place these tokens on various figures or locations for a number of beneficial effects.

The total number of recon tokens that can be placed is limited by the included supply of two tokens. However, if an ability allows Loku to place a recon token, he may either use a token already in play, moving it from its current position, or use one from his supply.

Skirmish Attachments

Some skirmish upgrade Deployment cards list the word "Attachment" above their abilities. These cards can be attached to other Deployment cards as follows:

• When deploying units during skirmish setup, if a player has one or more "Attachment" cards included in his army, he places each of these cards on one of his non-upgrade Deployment cards.
• Each Deployment card can have only one "Attachment."
• Abilities on "Attachment" cards apply to all figures in the corresponding group.
• Many attachments require the group to have a specific trait, such as "Trooper." Attachments with these restrictions cannot be played on a group that does not have the trait.

When a group with an "Attachment" card is defeated, the opposing player scores VPs equal to the deployment cost of the "Attachment" card, in addition to the VPs he scores from the defeated group's Deployment card.

Example card: Targeting Computer (Skirmish Upgrade, Attachment). Vehicle, Droid, or Heavy Weapon only. While attacking, figures in this group may reroll 1 attack die. "Stay on target." – Gold Five, A New Hope

Neutral Deployment Cards

Deployment cards with a Neutral icon and card back do not belong to an affiliation. When creating an army for a skirmish, a player may choose to include Neutral Deployment cards as if they belonged to his affiliation.

Neutral Deployment cards cannot be used in a campaign.

Four-Player Skirmishes

Game Modes

The "Hoth Battlefield" skirmish map, found on the Skirmish Map Sheet, allows four players to compete in a massive Imperial Assault battle. Depending on which mission is played, the players could all compete against each other in a Free-For-All or in a Team Battle.

There are two different modes of play for four-player skirmishes: Free-For-All and Team Battle.

Setup and Gameplay Changes

A Free-For-All skirmish ends immediately when at least one player has gained 40 or more VPs, at which point the player with the most VPs wins the game. The game will also end when three players have been eliminated, at which point the remaining player wins the game.

During a four-player skirmish, apply the following changes to the rules of setting up and playing a skirmish, found on page 4 of the Skirmish Guide in the core game:

• In step 3 of Skirmish Setup, "Determine and set up Skirmish Mission," players do not use their standard Skirmish Mission deck, but rather, use a deck that includes only Skirmish mission cards corresponding to four-player skirmish maps.
• Two additional deployment zones, yellow and green, are available for players to deploy figures. In step 4 of Skirmish Setup, "Deploy Units," the player who has initiative chooses one of the four available deployment zones and deploys all of his figures in this deployment zone. The player to his left does the same, choosing from the remaining deployment zones, and so on until all players have deployed.
• During the Activation Phase, instead of play passing back and forth between two opponents, each player in clockwise order activates a group.
• During the Skirmish Status Phase, all players ready all of their Deployment cards and the player who has the initiative token passes it to the player on his left.

Free-For-All

When playing a Free-For-All skirmish, all other players are opponents, and all of their figures are hostile figures.

Team Battle

During a Team Battle skirmish, the players on your immediate left and right are your opponents and the remaining player is your teammate. All figures belonging to opponents are hostile, and all figures belonging to your teammate are friendly.

A Team Battle skirmish ends immediately when one team has collectively gained 60 or more VPs, at which point the team with the most VPs wins the game. The game will also end when a pair of teammates have both been eliminated, at which point the remaining team wins the game.

Special Rules

Conflicts in a Four-Player Skirmish

In a four-player skirmish, some special rules come into effect.

During a four-player skirmish, mission rules are resolved first, followed by effects from the player with initiative, and then effects from each other player, proceeding clockwise around the table.

• When a card effect targets your opponent (such as "Shadow Ops"), you must choose one available opponent.
• If a player would claim the initiative token out of turn, such as by playing "Take Initiative," that player receives the first activation on that turn, but does not claim the initiative token. After the first activation resolves, play passes to the player with the initiative token and then proceeds normally.
  • The player with the initiative token cannot also use effects that would claim the initiative token.

Also, when playing a team battle skirmish, conflicts that arise during an attack resolve slightly differently than in other missions. Mission rules are resolved first, followed by effects from the attacker and the attacker's figures, then effects from the defender and his figures. After both the attacker's and defender's effects have resolved, the attacker's teammate may resolve effects, followed by the defender's teammate.

• If multiple players use effects that would claim the initiative token, each of those players gain an activation that they may use before the player with initiative resolves his first activation. These activations are resolved in order of initiative.
  • A player cannot use more than one effect that would allow him to claim the initiative token in the same round.
• When the last figure in a group is defeated, the player who defeated that figure gains the VPs for that figure's group.
  • When the last figure in a group is defeated, but was not defeated by an opponent, such as when a Probe Droid becomes defeated after using "Self-Destruct," that figure's player chooses one available opponent to gain the VPs for that group.
• If all of a player's figures are defeated, that player is eliminated. He can no longer play cards, and his Skirmish Upgrade cards no longer have any effect.
• If more than one player includes the Skirmish Upgrade card "Devious Scheme" in his army, then all copies of "Devious Scheme" have no effect.

Rule Clarifications and Rules Reference Additions

"You must unlearn what you have learned." – Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

This section introduces new combinations and clarifications of existing rules that are not included in the Rules Reference Guide in the core game, particularly with relation to new components found in Return to Hoth.

If an entry in this section has the same title as an entry in the Rules Reference Guide, treat the information in this section as augmenting that entry in the Rules Reference Guide.

As in the core game, if a rule in this section contradicts a rule in the core game Learn to Play booklet or Skirmish Guide, the rule in this section takes priority.

Additionally, if a rule in this section should contradict a rule found the core game's Rules Reference Guide, the rule in this section takes priority.

Attacks

• Some abilities allow a figure to perform an attack with a different attack type and attack pool than its normal attack.
  • When a hero performs an attack using an attack pool unrelated to his weapons (such as "Close Quarters" on Verena Talos's Hero Sheet), he cannot use any abilities from his weapons during that attack.
  • When a figure corresponding to a Deployment card performs an attack using an alternate attack pool (such as "Close Quarters" on Verena Talos's Deployment card), it may still trigger its surge abilities, unless the ability triggering the attack states otherwise.

Attribute Tests

• Many attribute tests required by mission rules require the figure performing the test to interact with an object (such as a mission token, terminal, or door). These are referred to as attribute tests on objects.
• Some missions allow any Rebel figure to perform attribute tests on objects, instead of only heroes. If this occurs, allies can interact to perform those tests in the same way a hero would. Elite figures automatically receive 1 success when they perform attribute tests. Regular figures automatically fail tests.

Close Quarters

Verena Talos's "Close Quarters" ability allows her to perform attacks using an opponent's attack type and attack pool.

• When using this ability, Verena does not gain access to surge abilities on the targeted figure's Deployment card, nor does she gain access to that figure's abilities (such as the Probe Droid's "Targeting Computer" ability).
• When "Close Quarters" is used in relation to a figure without a specific dice pool, such as a figure with "Arsenal" or "Epic Arsenal," the dice pool is determined by that figure's controlling player by the same method as if the figure were attacking. For example, if this occurred in relation to a figure with "Arsenal," the player controlling the targeted figure determines which two dice Verena will use during "Close Quarters."

Control

Some skirmish missions require players to control deployment zones, in addition to tiles or tokens.

• A player controls a deployment zone if there is at least one friendly figure in any space of that deployment zone and no hostile figures in any space of that deployment zone.

Damage

• If an effect causes a figure to reduce its Health value, and it has suffered an amount of harm (H) greater than the resulting Health value, any harm (H) in excess of its Health is discarded and has no effect.

Deplete

When a card is depleted, abilities on that card no longer have any effect. For example, if MHD-19 uses the "deplete" ability on his Reward card, "Systems Upgrade," that card no longer provides the "+2 Health" ability, and MHD-19's Health value is immediately reduced by 2.

Keywords

• The following keywords are included in Return to Hoth, in addition to those found in the core game: Habitat, Weaken.
• The Weakened condition is also used as a keyword to apply the corresponding condition.

Wounded

• If a card or mission effect allows a wounded hero to flip his hero sheet to the healthy side during the course of a mission, that hero is no longer wounded.

"You"

Many cards use the word "you" to refer to a figure instead of the player. For example, if a Deployment card reads "While attacking, you may reroll 1 attack die," any figure belonging to that card's group may reroll one die while it is attacking.

• If an effect corresponding to a figure instructs "you" to claim a token, gain VPs, or manipulate cards, or refers to "your" army or figures, "you" refers to that figure's player.