
As a fan of games like
Descent and
Level 7 Omega Protocol, I am keenly aware of the large amount of down time between games as you tear down the current map and then build the next one. Fantasy Flight Games recognizes this as well and have therefore released three skirmish mode playmats to be used with
Imperial Assault so as to reduce said setup time considerably. The three maps they have are Training Ground, Nelvaanian War Zone, and Coruscant Landfill. These mats are awesome in that they have the entire map printed in full scale, so you don't need to get out any of the tiles at all. It also has a convenient list of all the tokens you will need, as well as great art indicating which side of the map belongs to which faction.
Are these mats necessary to play the game? Not at all, but if you play skirmish mode a lot they might be worth the investment for the savings in time. You can head on over to the
FFG website to check them out, or head to you favorite game store to buy them.