Rebellion Strategy Guide- The Rebel Alliance

A long time ago (the 90’s), in a galaxy far, far away (my old house I guess?), I played a computer game called Star Wars Rebellion. In the game you played as either the Empire or the Rebel Alliance in a grand strategy game. The Empire had to find the Rebel base while the Rebels had to conquer Coruscant.

Each side had ships, fighters, ground troops, and characters to use to accomplish their goals. The Empire had more stuff to start out with but the Rebels had an easier time swaying planets to join their side. It was a great game that I played endlessly for quite a long time.

Unfortunately, as time wore on it began to shows its age. The interface is a bit clunky. The graphics for space battles are pretty terrible. The AI is kind of–okay very–dumb. But the premise never wore off. Every game was different. Every game told a story.

Then last year Fantasy Flight Games released a brand new board game with the same name. It really is essentially the same game. And I couldn’t be happier.

Rebellion is a grand strategy game that pits two teams of 1-2 players against each other for control of the galaxy. Like the old computer game, the Empire must find the Rebel base to win while this time the Rebels just need to survive long enough for the game’s turn tracker to declare them the winner. Despite the maximum number of available turns the game still will take 3-5 hours to play.

I originally started this article with the intention of doing a broad overview of the game. But then I came to my senses and realized that FFG already did that pretty well in their preview articles. You can even download a copy of the rules to check out.

So instead of I’m going to dive into a strategic look at for each side in the conflict. First up, the Rebellion!

Stay Hidden

Your primary and most important objective for the Rebellion is to keep your base hidden. That starts during set up when you decide where your base will begin. Don’t pick any of the obvious choices like Yavin, Hoth or Tatooine in your first few games. Your opponent will check those out early and your cover will be blown.

Ideally you want to pick a system that is not adjacent to any Imperial controlled world. That will guarantee at least one turn where the Empire can’t find you just by moving troops around. Picking Kashyyyk while there are Star Destroyers in Mandalore and Saleucami probably won’t end very well for you.

Picking one of your starting systems is a risk but a potentially worthwhile one. By having your base on a world you already control you can add up to four units each round to its defenses (two to the system, two to the base). This can force the Empire to commit a large force to taking it. If you time it right you can hold them off long enough to move the base to another system on the other side of the galaxy and then leave the Empire with not enough turns to move forces over there before the game ends.

Alternatively you can take the misdirection approach and pick a system in a sector where you control no planets. If you focus your attention elsewhere you can draw the Empire’s attention away. Build up a defensive ring around Nal Hutta and focus on sabotaging Imperial worlds in adjacent sectors. If you make a concerted effort to appear to be trying to keep the Empire from moving units to one particular area, your opponent will definitely want to succeed at doing that.

Bide Your Time

Despite the Empire’s apparent power early in the game, time is on the Rebels side. In fact, the Empire can control the entire galaxy, except your base, and you can still win the game. Now, you would have to get really lucky to make it that long but technically it can happen. So be patient.

Don’t commit to a fight unless you can win. Early in the game you have no hope of winning any fight against the Empire. So keep your forces out of harm’s way. Keeping what you have alive is important because you will not produce as many units as the Empire, at least for awhile.

Thanks to the Hidden Fleet mission you have the option to keep your forces concentrated in your base and deploy them at an opportune moment. This can help protect your precious units and make it harder for the Empire to figure out where you’re hiding. Especially if you wait for the Heart of the Empire Objective to come up and take Coruscant when it’s vulnerable.

In one game I waited several turns, building up some good missions and recruiting leaders. Then using Lando’s special action card I kicked the Empire off Mon Calamari, sabotaged a Star Destroyer in Mandalore before moving a space only fleet in to finish off a second one, and then sabotaged production in Saleucami. In one turn I cut the Empire off from deploying units to that entire half of the board. It had been a running retreat until then but that turn put the Empire out of range of finding my base before the game could end.

Death of a Thousand Cuts

As the Rebel player you have the advantage of playing it safe. The Empire has a ticking clock. Use that to keep them off balance.

One of the easiest rules to forget about, especially for new players, is the simple fact that a system that has a leader in it cannot move units out of it. So if there is a system full of Imperial forces you don’t want the Empire to deploy, commit a leader to a mission in that system. If the Empire tries and counters you with a leader of their own, that’s it, those units are stuck. And if they don’t, well you just got a free mission success.

For an Empire player there is nothing quite as frustrating as having to choose between making an attack against a Rebel stronghold or letting the Rebel player keep you from building a shiny new Star Destroyer because Corellia just got sabotaged. Because the Rebel player has less ships, you won’t be hindered by this rule nearly as much as the Empire.

There are several missions available to the Rebels that allow you to stage uprisings on subjugated worlds. Use this to force the Empire to over commit defensive forces. If a planet has a single Stormtrooper keeping it in line, stage an uprising and now the Empire has to waste time back tracking to a planet they know isn’t your base or let you have a new world. Bonus points if you do this on a world that can threaten Coruscant.

So that’s a quick and dirty look at some strategies for the Rebels. We’ll take a look at the mighty Empire next time.