Star Wars: Rebellion

Star Wars: Rebellion
Wargame published by Fantasy Flight Games
No. of Players	2 (With options to play in teams of 2)
Session Time	2-3.5 Hours.
Authors	Corey Konieczka
First Publication	2016

In Fantasy Flight Games' ongoing crusade against the existence of trees and oil, the company turned to our favourite Space Opera Star Wars, and unsurprisingly, the result is pretty fucking good. Star Wars Rebellion is created as one of the rare two-player games, where players take control of the Rebellion or the Empire and pretty much just plays through the original Star Wars trilogy. Luke can seek out Yoda on Dagobah, while Grand Moff Tarkin blows up planets for fun and Vader tortures Lando for information on the Rebel Base.

The game takes place on a fuckhueg galaxy map of 38 planets and players move fleets of star ships, ground forces and of course the great Death Star(s) around the map (And no, that's not a typo; you really can build two Death Stars). That's not the main core game-play though; both players alternate activating Leaders, many who are placed on Missions. Now, Missions can be anything from gaining loyalty in systems (which lets them build units for you), capturing Rebel Leaders to interrogate and/or freeze down, make stealthy attack runs on Imperial patrols to converting a Leader with promises of the Dark Side and blowing up entire planets. The thematically of the Missions makes them feel Star Wars, and the specific actions you take make it feel less like a war game.

The Factions

The basic mechanics of the game are the same for both the Empire and the Rebellion. You use Leaders the same; you either move units on the map, attempt Missions or counter enemy Mission. Ships and Ground Forces fight the same (though the factions do get slightly different units, but more on that). Units are produced the same as well... And that's where the similarities end.

The Rebellion

The Rebellion's main goal is to gain Reputation, which reduces the End Game counter. When the Turn Counter meets the End Game counter (which start at 1 and 14, respectively), the Rebellion Player wins as the galaxy is engulfed in total, open rebellion. Getting there is slightly more difficult, however...

The Rebellion are constantly the underdog, as they should be. You will have fewer ships, weaker ships and little coverage over the map. However, you also have the advantage of movement and knowledge. Your Rebel Base is somewhere on the map, hidden from the Empire Player and it is paramount that you keep it from being discovered from them! Your Missions allow you move units to and from the hidden Rebel Base to make raids on the Empire, discover Objectives, Sabotage the Empire's production base and stuff like this.

The Rebellion gains their Reputation from performing Objectives. Objectives are often risky, all-or-nothing moves that require you to destroy enemy units or gain Loyalty across the galaxy.

Unique to the Rebellion are Structures (Shield Generators that gives a Tactic card every combat turn and Ion Cannons that reduce the power of enemy ships) and the fact that their X-Wings and B-Wings don't require transports to move. This means that the Rebellion are great at defending themselves on the ground and better at making smaller, cheap fleets of fighters.

Tips and Tricks

• Mon Mothma is a beast: Of your four starting Leaders, Mon Mothma is the one the Empire Player will hate the most. With three Diplomacy and one Logistic Skill but no tactic values (which is what a Leader needs to be able to move units or do battle), she is a predictable diplomatic monster that will reliably give you Loyalty in Systems far from the Empire every turn, or who can help do Rebel Base stuff in a pinch. The Empire Player knows exactly what Mothma does every time you place her on a Mission and will hate you for it, because the only Leader they have that can reliably oppose her is Granddaddy Palps himself, and he's better used creating Loyalty or abusing Captured Leaders than as a glorified politician. Use her ruthlessly, constantly and efficiently and she'll give you a fleet in no time.
• Don't play a wargame: Yes, you have fleets of star-fighters and ships but you are 1) hilariously outmatched in size and 2) you gain nothing from moving fleets. Your fleets are a bit like a Damocles' Sword; always dangling close to the Empire and threatening to attack them, but if need be you can retreat them into your Base to attack somewhere else later. Your fleet can sometimes give you the option to attack smaller Empire fleets and get an Objective point or two, which is totally viable, even if you lose a Cruiser doing it.
• Fighters and You: Your X-Wings and B-Wings are fantastic, and here's why: They don't require transport, and you get them as cheaply as the Empire gets TIEs, who function like X-Wings that has to have a carrier to move it. This means that you should get as many Fighter-producing planets as possible, since they can go anywhere and attack anything (B-Wings giving the crucial Red Die that can damage larger Ships). Your capital ships are fine but you have less than the Empire, so get them if you can but accept it if you don't.
• Place the Rebel Base away from the Death Star: The Rebel Base gets extremely difficult to crack really fast, even for the Empire's AT-AT's. You know what cracks defenses real fast though? That's right, green planet-destroying death-beams. So even if it's predictable, don't place your Base close to the Death Star. No need to make the inevitable invasion easy on the fascists!

The Empire

The Empire's goal sounds simple. Crush the Rebellion by destroying their Base!... And just like with the Rebellion, it really isn't that simple at all. There are 38 planets on the map and 6 of these are currently controlled by you, so 32 Planets may hold the Rebel Base; and once you get there, you need to have a force that can actually beat the Rebel Base, which is likely as fortified and closed-up as your closet.

To your advantage, you start out strong and only gets bigger and meaner after the fact. You can produce on planets if you have any Ground Troops on them (you can't make an omelet without breaking a few civilian skulls after all), your units are statistically better and you really don't have to take risks. Compared to the scrappy Rebellion, the Empire is a slow, pondering machine that requires a weird combination of finesse and planning to get to sing. Your Missions let you get Project Missions to build super-weapons, capture and torture Rebel Leaders and gain information to look for the Rebel Base.

The Empire's unique faction features are efficient units like AT-ATs, which the best Ground Force in the game and all ships have more transport capacity and you get super-weapon like Super Star Destroyers and the Death Star. You get Project Missions that increase production and let you build Death Stars, fire the Death Star beam and make Super Star Destroyers. You also draw Probe cards from a deck of all the planets that don't have the Rebel Base on it. Your Ground Forces Subjugate planets, letting you use a lesser amount of their production capacity without gaining Loyalty there first.