Star Wars: Rebellion

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

You people and your value-retaining currency.   Thanks to our falling Canuck-buck (hooray for PM Zoolander!), I paid $126.89 plus tax for mine.

[mirth]

Yes, but you have free health care!

[Bison]

Yes, but you have free health care!

We need the secret to spontaneously sprouting health care.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Yes, but you have free health care!

Yes...free....

I saw an headline from a US webpage yesterday decrying the horrid taxation level in whatever state if was from and complaining that tax freedom day there was now 100 days into the year.  Got a good chuckle out of that one.

We're at 157 days in my province and we're one of the "fiscally conservative, low tax" ones.

Oh well, 157 days is still a lot fewer days than one has to wait to see a medical specialist here so there's that....

[Bison]

Back to the topic at hand.  The price really made me wonder why the character pawn decision even more.  Seriously.

[JudgeDredd]

What's the consensus on this? I was toying with the idea of getting this for me and my daughter to play - but I'm a bit concerned she might not play for long and so I'd be stuck with an expensive two player game with no-one to play

She did like Memoir '44 and was sad when I passed it on (I know - horrible dad!)

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

It's good as a two-player game (doesn't work well for 3 or 4) with quite a bit of replayability thanks to the random nature of available leaders and missions in a given game.  It is a bit of a time sink (3.5 hours after setup seems the norm for my games). 

[JudgeDredd]

Thanks SDR

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

New expansion has been announced.  I'm not sure how I feel about this one.  I thought they should have done the prequels and the Ep 7 stuff with completely new maps, units, leaders, etc.

Looks like they're just adding this Rogue One stuff into the main game with this expansion.  I'll still pick it up but I wonder it it'll just lead to a longer game with more board clutter.

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2017/5/5/rise-of-the-empire/



"There's an Imperial defector in Jedha. A pilot. He's being held by Saw Gerrera. He's claiming the Emperor is creating a weapon with the power to destroy entire planets."
    –Cassian Andor

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the upcoming release of the Rise of the Empire expansion for Star Wars™: Rebellion!

Inspired largely by the characters and events of Rogue One, Rise of the Empire introduces a plethora of new heroes, villains, starships, troopers, and vehicles from that film, alongside other characters, ships, and events from Star Wars: Rebels and the classic trilogy, plus new missions that add more drama and intrigue to your games.

You can send Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor to recover the Death Star plans. You can confuse Imperials with false orders and assaults behind enemy lines. You can command Director Krennic and his finest death troopers. And you can set traps for the Rebel pilots and soldiers, luring them away from their base and into massive battles with more fully cinematic combat and tactics. Even Jabba the Hutt makes an appearance, offering his services to the Empire and feeding his prisoners to the Sarlaac.

Altogether, Rise of the Empire enhances your games with eight new leaders, thirty-six plastic miniatures, five target markers, two attachment rings, three new dice, and more than one-hundred new cards. You'll find U-wings, TIE Strikers, Nebulon-B frigates, and the Interdictor. You'll gain new ways of subverting your opponent's plans, and you'll discover a whole new chapter in your ongoing Galactic Civil War!



A Rebellion Built on Hope

It is a dark time for the galaxy, and it is growing darker. With every passing day, the Galactic Empire spreads its oppressive rule to new systems, destroying all peace and hope. Worse yet, however, are the rumors that the Empire is constructing a secret battle station of unimaginable power. Against this overwhelming threat, the only hope for freedom lies with the group of unlikely heroes who have banded together to complete a series of dangerous secret missions.

With Rebellion, you gain full command of one side of this struggle or the other. You command the full leadership and military of the burgeoning Galactic Empire, or the brave and desperate heroes of the fledgling Rebel Alliance. In either case, you must balance all your military strength, resources, and political alliances against the secret missions you undertake to advance your cause. You must keep an eye to the loyalties of whole systems while directing your forces to victory in battles or guiding them to success on missions.

The result is that your game becomes a sweeping tale of individual heroics with far-reaching consequences, and this story turns largely upon the outcome of the missions you attempt. Accordingly, Rise of the Empire introduces brand new mission decks for the Empire and Rebellion that pluck your games of Rebellion outside the timeframe of the original Star Wars trilogy and allow you to begin with the Death Star under construction and Director Krennic eager to see it fully developed and tested.



Desperately outnumbered and outgunned, the Rebellion's very survival, then, hangs upon the surgical precision of its missions. As the Rebel player, you'll need to consider your options carefully. Will you attempt a Secret Mission alongside Cassian Andor? Will you fight Behind Enemy Lines with Saw Gerrera? Or will you focus on developing your forces, offering a Promotion to a leader like Admiral Ackbar or Wedge Antilles? The wrong decision may spell doom. The right one may save millions of lives.

Cinematic Combat

It's only natural that a Rebellion expansion inspired by Rogue One would feature a good number of daring heroes, scheming villains, and critical missions. But, of course, there's more to the film than its desperate, covert operations and spy work. The film just wouldn't be the same without its superlaser blasts and its climactic battles in space and on the ground.

Similarly, Rise of the Empire wouldn't be the same without its new combat units, tactic cards, and the new rules it introduces for bringing them all together in massively cinematic confrontations in space or on the ground. You'll have Rebel vanguards launching rockets against Imperial assault tanks. You'll find TIE Striker pilots weaving past Rebels entrenched with their Golan Arms DF.9 turret placements. And if you're the Rebel player, you may watch in horror as you realize the Imperials have developed gravity wells on their Interdictor that can prevent your Nebulon-B frigates from escaping into hyperspace.

With Rise of the Empire, you can use advanced tactics cards to bring a new dimension to combat. The Rebellion and Galactic Empire each gain their own tactic decks, filled with surprises that allow their units to use their unique strengths to change the course of combat. When you play with these advanced tactic cards, you don't just change the cards you play in combat; you change the whole nature of the combat itself.



When you play with the cinematic combat rules from Rise of the Empire, you and your opponent each secretly choose one of these advanced tactic cards at the start of each round of combat. When the cards are revealed, their effects can have potent repercussions, many of which relate directly to the units you're fielding in the battle. There are others that may even reach beyond the theater of battle.

For example, if you play Rogue One in a combat where you have a U-wing and then retreat a unit in the round you play it, you can rescue a captive leader. Suddenly, your round of combat gains a bit of the story element usually associated more closely with your missions. Or if you arrange a winning Confrontation , you can eliminate one of your opponent's leaders!

A Perfect Fit

"Our Rebellion is all that remains to push back the Empire. We think you may be able to help us."
     –Mon Mothma

New leaders. New missions. New tactic cards that lead to more fully cinematic combats. Rise of the Empire isn't just inspired by Rogue One; it follows the movie's example, adding new depth and story to the Rebellion game experience just as seamlessly as Rogue One provided new insight into the Galactic Civil War presented in the original Star Wars trilogy.

[HoodedHorseJoe]

I still haven't played this. Kind of don't want to spend the money and it does look like one of those mammoth games that will require a lot of time.

Still, it's basically a board-game version of the old Rebellion/Supremacy videogame and that hits me right in the heart of hearts.

[JudgeDredd]

I (at last) pulled the trigger on this one. Should be with me next week some time.

I've literally got 1 maybe 2 years of play out of it though as my daughter (who wanted to play it) is growing up fast. 16 now - so I might get the summer out of her and maybe a new impetus when the Rogue One expansion is released...then she'll be doing grown up stuff with her pals and dad will be resigned to solitaire gaming.

I doubt very much my wife will play - so a 2 player game won't be much cop for me (unless they do what CoH did and manage to somehow wangle some solitaire "house rules" into the game.

[Cyrano]

Re: the expansion.

SDR:  What market did you imagine there would be for a game based on the sequels?

Pace "Queen's Gambit", nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing good has come from I-III.

[JudgeDredd]

This took quite a while to setup last night - and it needs some real estate!

And I agree and in fact the Rogue One expansion pushed me to buy  :bd:

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Re: the expansion.

SDR:  What market did you imagine there would be for a game based on the sequels?

Pace "Queen's Gambit", nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing good has come from I-III.

The millennial types at my local nerd stores for one.  They were all young kids when the prequels came out and all want prequel stuff for X-Wing and Armada.  (They prefer Rebels and Clone Wars to the movies.   Damned kids....)

[bbmike]

This took quite a while to setup last night - and it needs some real estate!

And I agree and in fact the Rogue One expansion pushed me to buy  :bd:

Yeah, desk space is why I won't get to set this game up for a long, long time.