I’m finding myself in a lot of campaign based board games recently. They have a story and a good theme so that is probably why I am drawn to them. It does potentially limit new additions to my Now Rolling group of articles since I can only write about one game so many times. That is where this Game Stories will come in to play.

After each game session of a campaign, I’ll summarize & spin a story about the game(s) in an article here. They will contain spoilers of what happens but they will be stylized so it might not be as apparent what the spoiler actually is in some instances.

Hit the jump to read the first game story for Imperial Assault: Return to Hoth!

Welcome to the start of a full Imperial Assault campaign presented in summary. The storyline being run is Return to Hoth and all the previous releases (main game/expansions/hero & villain packs) are potentially used in this game. Needless to say, SPOILERS!

Please enjoy and get ready to meet our heroes…

Deep in the Rebel Base on Hoth, we find our heroes resting in their bunks. First there is the valiant commander, Gideon Argus. He has seen a lot, and has good instincts, and is not afraid to get into the thick of it. The brawn of the group is the fierce warrior/wookie Gaarkhan. In typical fashion, he is more of a charge in to smash some troopers first and not bother with questions later.

A sly smuggler scoffing at the works and words of a one Han Solo, Jyn Odan serves as the face of the group. Very quick to act and able to maneuver her way through most sticky situations. And lastly we have our cunning operative, Verena Talos. She likes to get up close and personal when she fights and is not opposed to taking down enemies by any-means-necessary.

Without warning, the alarms start to blare. Running to the nearest communications room, they find out the worst is happening; the rebels have been found by the Empire. As groups of soldiers and friends rush to their ships and transports, Gideon offers his team’s resources to help give everyone a fighting chance off this ice hole. Knowing the odds, the other heroes aren’t too thrilled with the idea but they follow their commander since he knows what he is doing (they hope).

Exiting the base, they find that one of their large laser turrets is still active. If they could just hold down that fortification, they would stand a better chance.  But they have to get their first. Snowtroopers ordered by Imperial Officers are closing in along with some nosey Probe Droids.

Jyn rushes out without warning to make an initial assault on the floating droids. The rest fall in behind, taking positions around the turret to give themselves a little protection. The closest droid is shot down to rubble has an officer gets close; perhaps too close. Gaarkhan is all too eager to charge him down. There will be no questions asked today.

Just at the Imperial forces seemed to be slowing down, terrifying reinforcements arrive…

“Sir, the rebels are hitting back harder than anticipated,” a Snowtrooper yells on a comm.

“You can’t handle a few ragtag men out there?! Very well, send it in,” General Sorin dismissively says.

Before the Rebels knew what happened, a SC2-M Repulsor Tank crushes a snow bank and nearly runs down Gaarkhan. Its large cannons not taking the time to aim and firing away at all it sees.

“We are pinned down Gideon, what do we do?” Jyn shouts as she returns fire to the Snowtroopers approaching from the other side of the turret. “We won’t survive a head on fight with one of those Repulsories.”

Gideon, having been in several hairy situations from his time in the Rebel Alliance, was use to being in the thick of it. “We must get to the four beacons around this entrance to the base. Hopefully it will distract the Empire enough for personnel to get away.”

“So what, are we no longer personnel?” Jyn retorts.

“You knew what you were getting into when signing up for this outfit,” Verena snaps.

“wrrhwrwwhw uuh huuguughghg huurh awwgggghhh huuguughghg uughghhhgh,” Gaarkhan grunts.

“He’s right, just keep pressing on the troops and get to those beacons,” Gideon manages to spit out as he begins to return fire on the tank and prepare the turret for a little extra help.

Verena dodges behind some Snowtroopers and stabs one with her knife. As his gun drops, she quickly grabs it and blasts a nearby trooper but he isn’t going down as easily. Him and the rest of his friends are turning back to regroup. Jyn blasts a nearby officer and presses on to a nearby beacon. Gaarkhan tries to hit the tank but realizing the futility, turns to charge after the retreating Snowtroopers.

Gideon gets to the controls the turret and targets the incoming tank. It takes two shots but the tank is out of commission.

Reaching the beacon, Jyn activates it. “That’s one blinking light down, who has got the next one.” Gaarkhan confirms. So she decides to move to the third as she notices Verena and Gideon are tangled in some shootouts with remaining troopers on the field.

Hurt and taking fire from the retreating Snowtroopers, if the wookie knows if he can push a little farther, he can activate the next beacon. A desperate reach, it his life or the greater good. Enduring blaster bolts and taking wounds, he finally makes it to the second beacon only to find it had been a set-up. An explosive goes off as soon as the beacon activates.

Jyn dashes for the third beacon and Gideon to the fourth. Verena stays near the turret to offer support since there are still a few troopers in the area.

With a flick of a switch, the third beacon begins to pulse. Another one activated comes to the group as relief. And it seems more relief is on the way as another rebel soldier enters the battle field. But something is amiss. In front of his grim, scarred face, his rifle is pointing in the direction of Jyn. It isn’t help. It is the ruthless killer Dengar in rebel garb.

“Guys, we are in trouble,” Jyn says to the others.

“When did we get out of it?” Verena asks.

Gideon shouts about needing the last beacon or all hope is lost as he sprints for the last beacon.  Jyn starts turning back as Dengar opens fire on her. Things begin to get worse as a second SC2-M Repulsor Tank plows through a snowbank, cutting off her retreat. Judging her options, she knows that the path towards Dengar offers the more likely chance of survival.

The tank opens fire on Gideon. He is unable to completely dodge the incoming blasts. Thrown to the side from the explosions, he pushes himself to his feet and towards the beacon. Activating the beacon is more important than his blood loss.

Jyn makes it past the disguised foe as Verena jumps on the turret to blast Dengar away, at least enough to distract him. A shot to a new probe droid from Jyn’s blaster and she is able to scurry to meet up with Gideon at the beacon. With the final beacon on, the rebel fleet should have no more issues getting away; well no more than their already slim odds of escaping an Imperial blockade.

It is then that they realize what they have to do. The only way the remaining pilots can get away is if they can eliminate the rest of the ground forces in this sector. A tall order, but no one ever said being a rebel was easy.

“It’s been a pleasure leading you all,” Gideon chimes in. “Let’s make them remember us.”

Drunk on rage, Gaarkhan races in, swinging at Snowtroopers and foolishly charging the hovertank. It isn’t long before the nearby probe droid and tank take aim fire and move on to the rest of the “threats.”

“Remind me to punch Gideon if we make it out of this one,” Verena yells to Jyn as the tank takes fire on the turret, destroying it and blowing her back with nearby Hoth Rebel Soldiers.

“Here goes nothing,” Jyn says under her breath as she takes cover near the tank to get ready to take it out. The tank notices her moving to cover but the blast from its cannons are too much for what little cover she found. The last thing she sees is Gideon yelling, mouthing the words “Get out of there.”