The first transport is away!

Glad to see that the distributor to my own local store has it now!

Imperial Assault has landed (?)
 
https://twitter.com/SenFoongLim/status/542101595866300417
 
What a beautiful picture   
 
EDIT: Plus, another tweet from a company claiming it's going to be released Saturday:
 
https://twitter.com/BagOfHoldingUK/status/542042206765613057
 
This is driving me crazzzzzyyyy. Update the Upcoming page already! Do it! Do it nowwww (please) 

The first transport is away!

Glad to see that the distributor to my own local store has it now!

My store (Meeplemart in Canada) has just told me the games should arrive at the store next week.

Fantastic news! I'm sure we are due for an update any day now on the upcoming page.
 
Plus it's always nice to see a fellow Torontonian on the boards

My store (Meeplemart in Canada) has just told me the games should arrive at the store next week.

Expansions status has now changed, and they are now "At the Printers".  Scheduled release still Q1 2015.  Good to see some movement there.

No.
From "Conditions" in the Rules Reference:
 
A figure cannot be affected by multiple instances of the same condition. For example, if a figure that is already Stunned would become Stunned again for any reason, nothing happens.

I contacted FFG Customer support and asked if I should expect this by Christmas (I explained I plan on giving a few friends the game as a gift if it will be out).  The response I got was that "there is a very strong chance that they will hit the Q4 deadline."
 
I hope this is true, I know trusting customer support e-mails is tenuous at best, but I took this as a good indication.

Here they are compared to Star Wars Miniatures and are almost the exact same size:
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1256234/miniatures-and-scale

Wikipedia says Star Wars Miniatures are 34mm

If Return of the Jedi Luke has the special ability to turn Darth Vader into a Rebel playable Hero I will have The Imperial Fleet bombard Fantasy Flight HQ.

I only recently got interested in Imperial Assault, but it has really grabbed me. To help pass the time until I can get my hands on it, I want to evaluate different units that are available in it. So that’s what I’m going to do. I don’t know how often I’ll be able to post, but I’m going to give my take on one unit’s strengths, weaknesses, synergies, and countermeasures per post. Without further ado, let’s start with probably the most iconic character in the Star Wars saga:
 
Darth Vader
Lord of the Sith
 

 
Darth Vader is the right-hand man and enforcer of Emperor Palpatine and supreme commander of the Empire’s military might.
 
Strengths: With 16 health, 2 black defense dice, and the ability to reroll a defense die, Darth Vader is a tough nut to crack. Even a strong attack might completely fail to deal damage to him. He also is a powerful attacker, with 2 red dice and 1 yellow die. As far as I know, that guarantees him at least 2 damage and a surge, with the possibility to be much more powerful. His surge abilities of Pierce 3 and +2 damage, each costing a single surge, are potent. And in the event that an opponent makes a mistake and leaves a couple of figures clustered, Darth Vader can attack 2 different figures as a single action. In the event that he can’t get close enough to use his melee attack, he can also use Force Choke to damage an enemy at any range in line of sight. Because it doesn’t use an attack roll or allow a defense roll, Force Choke can be an extremely consistent source of damage. And because it isn’t an attack, Force Choke appears to be usable for both of Darth Vader’s activations. In short, he is a nightmare for Rebel scum.
 
Weaknesses: The mere suggestion that the Dark Lord of the Sith might have a weakness is blatant Rebel propaganda, and therefore treasonous. However, Darth Vader is magnanimous and thus gives his foes a fighting chance by restraining himself from throwing his lightsaber to decapitate all his enemies at once. This means that if he wants to kill an enemy quickly, he has to move to engage them. And he refuses to sprint up to a foe, because that would be undignified of him. With a deployment cost of 18, Darth Vader is a bit of an introvert. He doesn’t like to spend time with large crowds of his friends, instead preferring small groups.
 
Synergies: Imperial Officers, regular or elite, are Darth Vader’s best friends, with their ability give him extra move actions to set up attacks, or extra attacks in the case of elite officers.
 
Countermeasures: Efforts to bring down Darth Vader need either strong dice pools or high-magnitude Pierce abilities to get through his 2 defense dice. On the defensive, it pays to spread out your figures to minimize the chance that Darth Vader can use his Brutality ability. Also, try to keep low-health figures out of his line of sight, so he can’t kill them with a double Force Choke.
 
Feel free to tell me if you see a unit's strengths or weaknesses differently than I do. This is mostly an excuse to get more discussion of specific units. And if you have a suggestion of what unit I should evaluate next, let me know.

Up next, we have the ubiquitous, white-clad Stormtroopers.
 
Stormtrooper
 

 
Stormtroopers are the elite foot soldiers of the Imperial Military. They serve both aboard capital ships and planetside, but their chain of command is separate from both the Imperial Army and Navy. The Stormtrooper Corps grew out of the Grand Army of the Republic’s clone trooper units at the end of the Clone Wars with the Declaration of a New Order. In first few years of the Galactic Empire, clones continued to make up the bulk of the Stormtrooper Corps, but non-clone recruits eventually surpassed clones in numbers.
 
Strengths: Stormtroopers showcase the maxim of strength in numbers, coming three to a squad. This is their biggest strength, because they provide up to six actions in a single activation. For example, one figure can seek to complete an objective while the other two move to block line of sight and/or attack enemy units. Their numbers also mean that they have three health pools to take out in order to kill them all. A single attack that deals 9 Damage (unlikely, but possible for high-damage units that are focused) to a Stormtrooper wastes 6 Damage. Stormtroopers’ surge abilities (+1 damage, +2 accuracy, each for a single surge) improve their consistency. Finally, Squad Training further improves Stormtroopers’ consistency on attack.
 
Weaknesses: While Stormtroopers provide a lot of actions for their cost, they aren’t nearly as potent on a per-action basis as more expensive units. Rolling a blue and a green die for attacks, their maximum damage output is 4 (because no face of either die has 2 damage and a surge). And with only 3 health and a single black defense die, Stormtroopers aren’t likely to last long when blaster bolts start flying.
 
Synergies: Because of their Squad Training ability, Stormtroopers synergize well with other troopers, including E-Web Engineers and additional Stormtroopers.
 
Countermeasures: Figures with Blast or Cleave effects can either damage multiple Stormtroopers at once, if they’re bunched up to take advantage of Squad Training, or force Stormtroopers to spread out, thus denying them of the benefit of that ability. Figures whose attack dice include one or more red dice, as well as those with three or more of any color, stand a decent chance of killing a Stormtrooper in a single hit.
 
Elite Stormtrooper
 

 
Even in the Stormtrooper Corps, there are some units that are more distinguished than the rest. One such notable unit is the 501st Legion, under Darth Vader’s direct command.
 
Strengths: Elite Stormtroopers mostly have the same strengths as regular Stormtroopers: strength in numbers and consistency. Their surge abilities are a step above regular Stormtroopers, improving their accuracy and damage. Their increased health (5) makes them unlikely to be one-shotted. And they have the additional Last Stand ability, to give them a one-time boost when a member of their squad is defeated.
 
Weaknesses: Elite Stormtroopers still provide relatively little punch with their attacks, outside of when they are focused thanks to Last Stand.
 
Synergies: Elite Stormtroopers have the same synergies as regular Stormtroopers, partnering well with other figures with the “trooper” trait.
 
Countermeasures: Blast and Cleave effects still force Elite Stormtroopers to decide whether to risk area-of-effect damage or forgo the benefits of Squad Training.

Team Covenant preview
 

 
i can't wait for this game to ship.
    

Ah, ok, I understand now.
And I completely agree.  It's unenforceable, and frankly, adding in some deck building to help get a mission that works for your team would just add more strategy to the game.  

I was playing Descent 2.0 a year ago with my 4 kids, when the youngest was 5, and it was no problem at all.  The older ones had to help the 5yr old with some suggestions on her turn, but she had a great time and was very engaged.

There is a problem with the app though - limited life of the game.  will this game still be playable in 20 years (or maybe just 10 or 5) when operating systems have changed, and FFG quite probably doesn't have licensing rights with 2K any more?

Yeah.  that is certainly my favourite part of the video game, although the game would be too lengthy to try to combine both aspects, unless you turned into a longer campaign-type game.

There is a problem with the app though - limited life of the game.  will this game still be playable in 20 years (or maybe just 10 or 5) when operating systems have changed, and FFG quite probably doesn't have licensing rights with 2K any more?

Even the video game is completely turn-based.  I'm fine with the app being required - I don't have a smartphone but it sounds like a laptop will work, but am not a fan of most "real-time" board games.  I hope the game does not need to be played that way.

There is a problem with the app though - limited life of the game.  will this game still be playable in 20 years (or maybe just 10 or 5) when operating systems have changed, and FFG quite probably doesn't have licensing rights with 2K any more?