Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Star Wars Rebellion (and addon Rise of the Empire)

SolemnGolem · 01-06-2018, 08:04 AM

I did a quick search and it does not look like there is a dedicated thread for this game. I hope it's okay for me to start this thread.

I got ahold of the base game in late 2016 (which focuses on Ep 4 through 6) and then got the expansion (with its heavy emphasis on R1 themes and characters) in 2017.

The game is by Fantasy Flight Games and involves a blend of missions, combat, and exploration of a 32-system galaxy. There are only two sides available (Rebels and Empire) and their general goals and strategies are asymmetric. Both sides use the same set of rules, however (so it's not quite as asymmetric as, say, Labyrinth War on Terror, where both sides use almost entirely different rules).

Dice, in keeping with FFG's mechanics, feature unorthodox faces. Also in keeping with FFG's boardgame design, there are several different decks of shuffled cards, many of which have randomized removals during setup before the game starts, which further masks possible assets and liabilities (and perhaps not coincidentally, obfuscating strategic analysis). Most cards allow the player to break a rule here or there (as is usual for boardgames), so even though the central set of rules is easy to grasp, there are a lot of "but wait!" style edge cases and exceptions.

I recently played through a string of back-to-back games over the winter break, using the expansion, and I'd be interested in seeing how the SJG hivemind of experienced gamers feels about this.

01-06-2018, 08:04 AM	#1
SolemnGolem Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: The Hall of Fallen Columns	Star Wars Rebellion (and addon Rise of the Empire) I did a quick search and it does not look like there is a dedicated thread for this game. I hope it's okay for me to start this thread. I got ahold of the base game in late 2016 (which focuses on Ep 4 through 6) and then got the expansion (with its heavy emphasis on R1 themes and characters) in 2017. The game is by Fantasy Flight Games and involves a blend of missions, combat, and exploration of a 32-system galaxy. There are only two sides available (Rebels and Empire) and their general goals and strategies are asymmetric. Both sides use the same set of rules, however (so it's not quite as asymmetric as, say, Labyrinth War on Terror, where both sides use almost entirely different rules). Dice, in keeping with FFG's mechanics, feature unorthodox faces. Also in keeping with FFG's boardgame design, there are several different decks of shuffled cards, many of which have randomized removals during setup before the game starts, which further masks possible assets and liabilities (and perhaps not coincidentally, obfuscating strategic analysis). Most cards allow the player to break a rule here or there (as is usual for boardgames), so even though the central set of rules is easy to grasp, there are a lot of "but wait!" style edge cases and exceptions. I recently played through a string of back-to-back games over the winter break, using the expansion, and I'd be interested in seeing how the SJG hivemind of experienced gamers feels about this.