Whether you're a die hard gamer or merely a die hard Star Wars fan, the figures for the Fantasy Flight Games, Imperial Assault, do not disappoint!

Today's preview includes 2 new packs in their Ally & Villain releases- The Rebel Troopers Ally Pack and The Royal Guard Champion Villain Pack.

A standard version of the Rebel Trooper Deployment card was included in the Core Set, but the Rebel Troopers Ally Pack introduces the elite version of the Rebel Troopers, allowing you to muster more deadly combatants in your missions. For three extra points, elite Rebel Troopers offer a number of advantages: increased health, enhanced surge abilities, and a crucial new ability.

The elite Rebel Troopers offer the Get Into Position ability. For two actions, an elite Rebel Trooper can gain four movement points and become Focused, dramatically increasing their firepower. By spending your first turn using Get Into Position, you can set up devastating attacks from your Rebel Troopers on your next turn. Meanwhile, the Aim ability gives them great potential for holding a position, which can buy the heroes time to complete their objectives.

The packs include new side missions, and in the Brace for Impact side mission the heroes must download vital data before the Rebel Troopers are overrun by Stormtroopers. As your heroes rush past the Imperial forces, you can keep your Rebel Troopers in defensive positions, returning fire and forcing your opponent to expend vital actions to overcome your defenses.

On the Empire's side, Emperor Palpatine's personal safety is entrusted to his Royal Guards – a chosen cadre of trained warriors. Yet even among these deadly elite, there are some renowned for their skill and brutality. This is where we find use for the Royal Guard Champion. His speed is great enough to quickly move across the battlefield, while his defense dice and high health ensure that his presence will not be quickly removed.

The Royal Guard Champion’s abilities focus on dealing the maximum possible amount of damage every round. The Brutality ability allows the Royal Guard Champion to perform two attacks against different targets for just one action, giving him unparalleled offensive power. He can even attack on your opponent’s turn with the Executor ability.

Once per round, when a friendly figure close to the Royal Guard Champion is defeated, he may move up to two spaces and perform an attack. Both of these abilities increase the raw number of attacks available to the Royal Guard Champion, making him an offensive powerhouse.

So many choices, so little time (and money)!

Do you favor the Rebels or is the lure of the Dark Side more appealing?