Octopus Overlords

There's 28 systems in the game. One, Coruscant, is never an option for the Rebel base, nor are the 5 random starting Imperial planets, their Probe cards are removed from the game at the start. So that's 22 possible systems and Probe cards. You're going to draw 2 Probe cards per turn, possibly more if you draw/play certain missions although "Gather Intel" is an Imperial starting mission so they always have access to that. You're also going to land troops on planets that might not coincide with the Probe cards you draw that will also narrow down where the base might be so that's more information you need to remember. If those troops are moved or killed you then need to remember that they're not there anymore and so it's a possible location for the Rebel base to be moved to later in the game if the Rebels attempt it.

That's a lot of information, and we don't think memorization of this sort is supposed to play an important part in the game. It'd be like playing Clue on memory alone, no notebooks.

Having said that, I can see where this could come down to how players feel about memorization. I loved the concept of Shadows over Camelot the Card Game but it fell flat with us because it's memory-heavy and we don't like that. But you're not allowed to look at played cards in that game, you have to remember. In Rebellion all we're talking about is information the Empire player has, just in a hand of cards you're allowed to consult. Why not put in a more friendly format?

I don't think players are expected to be able to remember it all, but I do think that part of the "design" is the mental load on the Empire player. It's intended as a natural limit to create balance within the game.

I should say that I have not played and have only read the rules, so my opinion is only theoretical and I have no practical experience to back it up.

Assign the record-keeping to my R2 unit.

Zarathud wrote:Assign the record-keeping to my R2 unit.

Just be careful it doesn't shut down for a decade.

We have ways of making it talk...Jawa ways.

The box is ridiculously large. Even with everything unpacked, it's about 2 inches too tall. I used 2 plastic lunchmeat containers for each side's miniatures, tokens and characters. In the remaining 1/3 of the box, I have a third smaller plastic bin for the Death Stars, Star Destroyers (both kinds) and more tokens. Dice, damage tokens and cards fit in the box. There's easily almost 3 inches left. I'm convinced FFG made the box double sized solely to justify the premium price.

Can't wait to play today!

Zarathud wrote:We have ways of making it talk...Jawa ways.

The box is ridiculously large. Even with everything unpacked, it's about 2 inches too tall. I used 2 plastic lunchmeat containers for each side's miniatures, tokens and characters. In the remaining 1/3 of the box, I have a third smaller plastic bin for the Death Stars, Star Destroyers (both kinds) and more tokens. Dice, damage tokens and cards fit in the box. There's easily almost 3 inches left. I'm convinced FFG made the box double sized solely to justify the premium price.

Can't wait to play today!

And Expansions! Of course, buying boxes for expansions seems to be a thing lately.

Huh. FFG has clarified that you can still perform missions in systems destroyed by the Death Star if the mission card calls for a specific system. Yoda can apparently train Jedi as a Force ghost from the rubbled remains of Dagobah.

Well, I succumbed and bought Star Wars Rebellion. The forum effect lives!

Our first game was great, though definitely a learning experience. I won as the Rebels, but it was a close thing. In round 6, the Empire found the rebel base, and the Rebel influence marker was still way up on 12. In round 7, stormtroopers assaulted in large numbers, cutting my hefty garrison down from 6 troops and 2 speeders to just 1 of each.

But while the Emperor (aka my wife) was single-mindedly focused on the Rebel base, Mon Mothma and Princess Leia were rallying new systems to our cause. As a result, I was able to simultaneously play objective cards worth a total of 5 points, suddenly bringing the galaxy to a tipping point and winning the game. I wasn't holding onto those cards to play in one fell swoop -- it just happened that I fulfilled the objectives in a single turn.

Looking forward to the next game. I don't think the Emperor will be as forgiving the next time around.

AWS260 wrote:As a result, I was able to simultaneously play objective cards worth a total of 5 points, suddenly bringing the galaxy to a tipping point and winning the game. I wasn't holding onto those cards to play in one fell swoop -- it just happened that I fulfilled the objectives in a single turn.

I think that's a mistake. I'm pretty sure you can only fulfill one "combat" and one "at the end of refresh" objective per turn.

Oops. Don't tell my wife!

Oops, we played that one wrong as well. Good catch!

Oh I just realized we did that wrong too!!! Damn! Empire could have won...


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We played Round 2 this afternoon, and I think we got the rules correct this time. I hope. The Rebels won again, and both of us played a smarter game.

The Empire was one turn away from assaulting the Rebel base when General Dodonna, a.k.a. "Ol' Beardy," planned a daring suicide mission, leading a small fleet to directly assault the Death Star (one of two active Death Stars at this point) and its Star Destroyer escort.



While the Imperial general concentrated fire on the snub fighters, recognizing their threat to the Death Star, the Rebels focused instead on the Star Destroyer. The Imperials' superior forces whittled down the Rebels until only the Mon Calamari flagship remained, heavily damaged. In a final volley, the Mon Calamari managed to take down the Star Destroyer, before being vaporized by a fully armed and operational battlestation.

Taking out the Star Destroyer allowed me to play the "Rebel Assault" objective, tipping the balance of power in the galaxy and bringing the game to a close before the Empire could attack the Rebel base. Victory!



Prior to saving the galaxy, General Dodonna had spent the entire game on the exceedingly boring "Infiltration" mission, which helps the Rebels manage their objectives but really is quite dull. This desperate assault was his final mission, and I'm frankly amazed that he pulled it off. Here's to you, Dodonna:

Great write up!

You know I haven't enjoyed after actions reports this much since the original Battlestar Galactica game.

Daveman wrote: That's a lot of information, and we don't think memorization of this sort is supposed to play an important part in the game. It'd be like playing Clue on memory alone, no notebooks.

We always played Clue without notes when I was a kid.

Daveman wrote:That's a lot of information, and we don't think memorization of this sort is supposed to play an important part in the game. It'd be like playing Clue on memory alone, no notebooks.

My wife made her own sketch of the map to keep track of cleared systems. It really helped keep things moving along, especially in the late game, since she didn't have to sort through her cards and cross-reference them against the board at every planning phase.

Scoop and I played last night - my first game, his second. I was the Empire, and the Rebels *just* eked out a victory as the imperial fleet was closing in to crush the rebel base in the orbit of Yavin.

Amusingly Luke's initial foray into supporting the rebellion could have gone a *bit* better. He tried to infiltrate an imperial base (or was it a sabotage mission? Can't remember). He fails, and is promptly captured by Vader. The Emperor pops over and asks if he has thought about joining the darkside, and Luke's like "eh, why not?" So that was a great first couple turns, although of course I was stuck with whiny farmhand Luke and not Jedi Luke, but what're you gonna do. It also seemed odd that the Rebels lost one reputation (per the Lure of the Dark Side card) as a result, because how disheartened would people really be about a random farmhand who screwed up his only mission going over to the imperial side?

Luke, of course, promptly takes control of the Death Star and blows up Mon Calamari. Which was a pretty silly thing to do, insofar as I already had it subjugated and it ultimately cost me the game through the whole "sympathy for destroyed planets" objective. BUT on the other hand, if you have the chance to have Luke blow up Mon Calamari with the Death Star, you gotta take it.

Notwithstanding things going very well in terms of galactic suppression I managed to thoroughly avoid the rebel base on Yavin for pretty much the whole game. I stumbled on it late with a small force that got promptly smacked down. I came back with more guys, and managed to conquer the planet Yavin, but the fleet remained in orbit, so it seemed like the rebel base was not fully 'conquered'. I had a significant fleet one turn away (star destroyer, assault carrier, six TIEs) but the sympathy for destroyed Mon Calamari brought the rebel reputation up enough to just win the game.

Oh, and I forgot Lando just barely blowing up the Death Star. But no one wants to talk about that.

Also, I always enjoy going through the rules again after playing a game for the first time and finding out all the major things that were screwed up. For one, we both only ever assigned one leader to a mission, when in fact you can assign one or two. Also connected to that, you roll dice for the relevant skill of ALL leaders in the system, not just the one who has the most skill in that relevant skill.

Oops!

So is this really a 2 player game with silly rules to add 2 more, or can 4 play it and have fun?

I ask, because 100 bucks for a 2 player game will not happen, but for a solid 4 player game it is doable by RMC economics.

El Guapo wrote:Luke, of course, promptly takes control of the Death Star and blows up Mon Calamari. Which was a pretty silly thing to do, insofar as I already had it subjugated and it ultimately cost me the game through the whole "sympathy for destroyed planets" objective. BUT on the other hand, if you have the chance to have Luke blow up Mon Calamari with the Death Star, you gotta take it.

I wholeheartedly endorse this approach to Star Wars Rebellion.

El Guapo wrote:Oh, and I forgot Lando just barely blowing up the Death Star. But no one wants to talk about that.

How could you forget? This was the pivotal moment for the rebellion. The rebellion was practically worthless for most of the war barely even able to eke loyalty from a few systems in the galaxy before the Emperor scared the final few systems into neutrality in the one far flung sector the rebellion had some loyalty in. Then as the rebel base was discovered on Yavin the Empire sent a small fleet with the Death Star to the adjacent star system. The rebels, realizing they must strike first before empire is able to reinforce its fleet, sent a desperation attack with one Mol Cal Cruiser, one blockage running and three snub fighters. The empire was only able to stop two of the snub fights but one X-Wing piloted by Lando was able to sneak past the screening fleet and destroy the Death Star using the One Shot In a Million card. This gave the rebellion two reputation and removed the threat of the death star wiping out Yavin and the Rebel Base.

El Guapo wrote:Also, I always enjoy going through the rules again after playing a game for the first time and finding out all the major things that were screwed up. For one, we both only ever assigned one leader to a mission, when in fact you can assign one or two. Also connected to that, you roll dice for the relevant skill of ALL leaders in the system, not just the one who has the most skill in that relevant skill.

Oops!

Man! I am so sorry I got that wrong with the rulez.

Yes, the final attack on the rebel base did lead to one odd situation. El Guapo had destroyed all the ground forces at the base but because I still had a space fleet in orbit he was not able to win the game and destroy the rebel base. However, by occupying the planet the rebels would not have been able to deploy forces to that system. I wonder if maybe the rulez are correct in this. Seems like if the ground forces are destroyed, the base is taken. What does everyone think about this?

Scoop20906 wrote:

El Guapo wrote:Also, I always enjoy going through the rules again after playing a game for the first time and finding out all the major things that were screwed up. For one, we both only ever assigned one leader to a mission, when in fact you can assign one or two. Also connected to that, you roll dice for the relevant skill of ALL leaders in the system, not just the one who has the most skill in that relevant skill.

Oops!

Man! I am so sorry I got that wrong with the rulez.

eh, I got it wrong too, and plus it's almost impossible to play through a new game without getting significant rules wrong. I remember playing a game of Chaos in the Old World for the first time and winning as Nurgle via powering up (rather than via VP). I was then reading forums the next day and seeing people saying how that was almost impossible. Which made me feel great, until I realized that the reason why it's almost impossible is that the game effectively has a seven turn time limit, so our game should have ended (in a tie) two or three turns before I won.

RMC wrote:So is this really a 2 player game with silly rules to add 2 more, or can 4 play it and have fun?

I ask, because 100 bucks for a 2 player game will not happen, but for a solid 4 player game it is doable by RMC economics.

It doesn't feel designed for 4 players, but I thought it worked really well. I think the step of choosing missions and assigning leaders gets a little bogged down -- it's a bit hard to collectively decide the next turn's strategy for balancing movement, missions, and counter missions, let alone secretly collectively decide. Other than that, I think it goes pretty smoothly, and the division of duties between the two players on a team works well. It's also really fun seeing the "where the hell is the Rebel base?!" discussions between the two Empire players.

Scoop20906 wrote:Yes, the final attack on the rebel base did lead to one odd situation. El Guapo had destroyed all the ground forces at the base but because I still had a space fleet in orbit he was not able to win the game and destroy the rebel base. However, by occupying the planet the rebels would not have been able to deploy forces to that system. I wonder if maybe the rulez are correct in this. Seems like if the ground forces are destroyed, the base is taken. What does everyone think about this?

I'm OK with the status quo. If the Rebels retain space superiority, then it makes logical sense that they'll still be able to escape and relocate at the end of the turn (assuming they played Rapid Mobilization, which is a must when the Empire is at your doorstep).

El Guapo wrote:Also, I always enjoy going through the rules again after playing a game for the first time and finding out all the major things that were screwed up. For one, we both only ever assigned one leader to a mission, when in fact you can assign one or two. Also connected to that, you roll dice for the relevant skill of ALL leaders in the system, not just the one who has the most skill in that relevant skill.

When my son used Lure of the Dark Side (which counts all skill icons) it was late in the turn and there were 3-4 leaders per side in that system (from an earlier rescue attempt/opposition, then Lure of the Dark Side and my opposition). We rolled 10 dice each.

Scoop20906 wrote:The empire was only able to stop two of the snub fights but one X-Wing piloted by Lando was able to sneak past the screening fleet and destroy the Death Star using the One Shot In a Million card. This gave the rebellion two reputation and removed the threat of the death star wiping out Yavin and the Rebel Base.

I feel like the Debbie Downer of Rebellion rules... you mention Lando used the "One in a Million" action card? Leaders pictured on the card have to be in the system to play it. That card requires Luke or Wedge.

Wasn't Luke still in control of the Death Star? Oh, the irony of an inside job.

Daveman wrote:

El Guapo wrote:Also, I always enjoy going through the rules again after playing a game for the first time and finding out all the major things that were screwed up. For one, we both only ever assigned one leader to a mission, when in fact you can assign one or two. Also connected to that, you roll dice for the relevant skill of ALL leaders in the system, not just the one who has the most skill in that relevant skill.

When my son used Lure of the Dark Side (which counts all skill icons) it was late in the turn and there were 3-4 leaders per side in that system (from an earlier rescue attempt/opposition, then Lure of the Dark Side and my opposition). We rolled 10 dice each.

Does it, now? I think we messed that up too (that one probably to my benefit). Also I'm pretty sure that Scoop could have brought in another leader to oppose it other than Luke, which I don't think we realized (though we didn't realize that I could have sent a second leader to help also).

One other question: if you attempt a (non-starting) mission and fail, that mission is discarded and goes away even though you didn't succeed, right? That's how we played it, and I'm pretty sure that's right, but I just wanted to check.

Zarathud wrote:Wasn't Luke still in control of the Death Star? Oh, the irony of an inside job.

I don't think he was there at the time (though he was closing in on the rebel base at the head of a fleet when the game ended).

Good point! There was discussion on BGG about "evil" Luke's presence possibly counting for purposes of The Return of the Jedi objective, his action cards might be included as well.

Until there's a clarification anyway

Daveman wrote:

El Guapo wrote:Also, I always enjoy going through the rules again after playing a game for the first time and finding out all the major things that were screwed up. For one, we both only ever assigned one leader to a mission, when in fact you can assign one or two. Also connected to that, you roll dice for the relevant skill of ALL leaders in the system, not just the one who has the most skill in that relevant skill.

When my son used Lure of the Dark Side (which counts all skill icons) it was late in the turn and there were 3-4 leaders per side in that system (from an earlier rescue attempt/opposition, then Lure of the Dark Side and my opposition). We rolled 10 dice each.

Scoop20906 wrote:The empire was only able to stop two of the snub fights but one X-Wing piloted by Lando was able to sneak past the screening fleet and destroy the Death Star using the One Shot In a Million card. This gave the rebellion two reputation and removed the threat of the death star wiping out Yavin and the Rebel Base.

I feel like the Debbie Downer of Rebellion rules... you mention Lando used the "One in a Million" action card? Leaders pictured on the card have to be in the system to play it. That card requires Luke or Wedge.

I totally thought that was only if the action card specifically mentioned the leader like the other cards do.

For example:
Rebel Planning - Assignment
Please this leader in the "Rebel Base" space. Then draw 1 objective card.
(Picture of General Dedona)

One in a Million - Special
Use during either a combat or a mission. Instead of rolling up to 2 dice, place them on the table showing the results of your choice.
(Pictures of Wedge and Luke)

To me. The first card requires the leader while the second does not and the pictures are for recruitment only. I'd really like to know which it is.

Read the rules entry for action cards in the reference guide.

Hope I didn't come across as a jerk with my earlier post... I was on hold on the phone and browsing on my phone, unable to link.

From reference guide, page 2 under Action Cards:

Action cards used during a mission or combat can only be used
if one of the leaders shown on the card is already in the system
in which the mission or combat is occurring. The only exceptions
are action cards that specifically move the leader to the system.

So while the leader pictures on action cards are used for recruiting new leaders, the pictures are also relevant to their use. This is not like leader pictures on mission cards, which are optional.

So if the Rebels come after your Death Star with Luke or Wedge, he might have the One in a Million card so watch out!

Another game played vs my oldest boy, Christian.

I was Empire, he was Rebels. He was in Hoth. I really wasn't thinking of Hoth, as I had a pretty strong Imperial presence on that side of the galaxy. I was thinking Dantooine or Yavin....but an Interrogation Droid to a captured Leia tells me either in Ryloth, Geonosis, or Hoth.

I was then thinking either Ryloth or Geonosis. Figured I would put Hoth to rest and just go to check. That's where he was.

A battle later and the Rebel scum was eliminated from Imperial history.

MythicalMino wrote:Another game played vs my oldest boy, Christian.

I was Empire, he was Rebels. He was in Hoth. I really wasn't thinking of Hoth, as I had a pretty strong Imperial presence on that side of the galaxy. I was thinking Dantooine or Yavin....but an Interrogation Droid to a captured Leia tells me either in Ryloth, Geonosis, or Hoth.

I was then thinking either Ryloth or Geonosis. Figured I would put Hoth to rest and just go to check. That's where he was.

A battle later and the Rebel scum was eliminated from Imperial history.

Nice. The game is a lot of fun, and it's nice seeing all these scenarios play out.

What a great game of Rebellion! Christian was Empire, I was Rebels.

We went to round 8.

I managed to destroy a Death Star Under Construction at Dantooine. He captured Han, then captured Chewie. When Han was captured, Jedi Luke and Obi Wan made a Daring Rescue. Christian blew up 2 systems with the Death Star, one of which was Mon Calimari

A large battle tool place at Mandalore. The Empire kept control of the planet, but the Rebels took control of the space. It was costly for the Rebels, though, as they could not retreat after destroying the Star Destroyer.

With the Death Star so close to my base on Kessel, I decided to move it...right to the next adjacent system, Nal Hutta.

Han & Chewie led a strike team, wiping out the lone Stormtroopers unit, ending the Imperial Subjugation (and gaining reputation for Liberation) in Saluecami , which led to Chewie being captured by Vader & Boba Fett. An Interrogation Droid revealed 3 possible systems the Rebel Base could be on: Dantooine, Endor, or Nal Hutta.

Ironically enough, the end came when the Rebels Inspired Sympathy, gaining the last two reputation needed (Rebels score 1 reputation for each destroyed system, as he destroyed both Mon Calimari and Felucia).

Awesome game.

Daveman wrote:Hope I didn't come across as a jerk with my earlier post... I was on hold on the phone and browsing on my phone, unable to link.

From reference guide, page 2 under Action Cards:

Action cards used during a mission or combat can only be used
if one of the leaders shown on the card is already in the system
in which the mission or combat is occurring. The only exceptions
are action cards that specifically move the leader to the system.

So while the leader pictures on action cards are used for recruiting new leaders, the pictures are also relevant to their use. This is not like leader pictures on mission cards, which are optional.

So if the Rebels come after your Death Star with Luke or Wedge, he might have the One in a Million card so watch out!

Thanks for pointing this out to me Daveman. I guess it is just counterintuitive to not put that on the card itself. I appreciate the help greatly.

El Guapo. I feel I need to re-role that One on a Million shot against your Death Star.

One second here...



Whew!! Lando saves the day. Ok. Don't feel so bad now about misplaying that card.

Still I was wrong about so many rulez that I think I need to concede the game to you.

I'm compiling a list of all the mistakes I made right now.


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Ok. Here are a few:

1. Again the action cards can only be played in systems containing one of the leader(s) on the card.

2. One or Two leaders can be assigned to a mission.

3. A player can not build from a system that contains an opponents unit. I think we might have done this at the Rebel base.

4. A player may choose to pass at any time during the Command Phase. When a player passes, he cannot use his leaders to reveal missions or activate systems for the rest of the Command Phase. He can still use leaders to oppose missions and in combat. I feel like I did that wrong at least once or twice.

5. When the Rebel base has been revealed, the Rebel Player cannot deploy units to that system unless it is loyal to the Rebellion and has no imperial units in it. And since remote systems can not be loyal that means no resupply by deployment. I know I did that wrong. Sorry.

6. During missions, each leader rolls dice equal to their ability combined. I was dead wrong about this and said it was the highiest number that was used. Also, this is the interesting bit. If a leader is attempting a mission I'm a system where the other player has a leader who does not have an ability to roll dice (like having no fists) the current player must still role one success so sometimes it makes sense to toss a leaders down to oppose.

7. A leader that does not have a tactics value can not activate a system. The only three leaders without a tactics value are Mom Mothma, Boba Fett and Janus Greejatus. I don't think that happened in our game but nice to know that now.

8. Only one objective card can be played during each combat and during each Refresh Phase. We didn't get this wrong but I felt it was important to list this for others.

9. The "Rapid Mobilization" card's ability is resolved at the end of the Command Phase, immediately before starting the Refresh Phase. The Rebel Player does not make any decisions about this card until the end of the Command Phase.

10. Structures are immobile and cannot move. You can't bring those awesome ion cannons with you when you relocate the Rebel base.

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed my trip through the rule book. I'm playing with another friend tomorrow. I hope I don't screw up anymore rulez.


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Didn't know 3, 5, 7, 8 or 10. I can positively tell my brother-in-law that he's a cheater!

We played about 6 rounds on Thursday and it was starting to get grim for the Empire after the Rebels kept turning systems before the build phase. The Empire was spread out across 1/2 of the Galaxy, and forced a draw of 8 probe cards. Only 2 probes were in systems I had occupied, so that was a complete waste.

I did capture Leia and use Boba Fett?? Where??? to prevent Han Solo from rescuing her in his shiny new Millennium Falcon. While they rescued her the turn after and taught Baby Luke to use the Force, Boba Fett was ready with a capture event for Cool Luke in the Dagobah system. See the future Yoda did not, mmmm?

When we discussed our end game, I told him Luke would have been forced to report 3 potential locations for the Rebel base. Within a minute, he rattled off systems in opposite corners of the Galaxy. Next time, I need to oppose Rebel missions less and focus on finding their base!