Rebellion Strategy Guide - The Galactic Empire

Last time we began looking at the game Star Wars Rebellion and took a look at some broad strategies for the Rebels. Today we’re turning the tables and looking at some strategies for the Empire.

Expand!

Our first bit of advice is to expand fast. The more planets you can control the faster you’ll be able to find the Rebel’s base. There are a lot of missions that can help you sort through the probe deck but nothing is quite as effective as just controlling most of the galaxy.

Generally, on any turn that will allow you to add things to the build queue, you want to devote as many leaders to moving fleets around as possible. You gain a bigger military at the end of the round and you rule out some planets. This makes it a double win.

Almost more important than finding the base, controlling more planets limits the Rebellion’s options when moving their base to another planet. Every planet you control is one probe card you don’t need to draw. When you zero in on the Rebel base a good tactic for them is to move it the turn before you reach him. But if the only cards available in the probe deck are under your control he’s not going anywhere.

You will want to make sure to be methodical about this. It might make you predictable but better to follow a path that keeps all your disparate fleets relatively close by then spread out randomly. Once you find the base you’ll need to have a powerful enough force nearby to crush it. For this reason, Gozanti cruisers are the best ship to use for your expansion. You can move in, drop a stormtrooper and then move on the next round while your Star Destroyers are concentrated and ready to head toward the base when located.

Protect Coruscant

One good tactic for the Rebellion to take is to capture Coruscant. This is an Objective card that they get to keep and gain victory points with every round. So if you lose the Imperial capital to the smarmy Rebels you’re in trouble.

There are two tactics to take for this. First is straight forward, keep a strong defense force on the planet. This unfortunately ties up some valuable units. Fortunately, early game the Rebels don’t have much of a military force so you don’t need much there.

Alternatively, and really in conjunction with option one, is to control all access points to Coruscant. The Rebels Hidden Fleet mission can only be used in a system that does not contain Imperial units. So if you control all adjacent systems the Rebels can’t pounce on Coruscant without you having time to respond. They do have one mission that lets them move four units directly to a planet but that is relatively easy to defend against.

Like Coruscant you will also want to protect your Death Star. Nothing like some farm boy in an X-wing destroying the symbol of your power to change the dynamic of the game. Only send a Death Star against a system if you are sure you can destroy all the fighters in one round of combat.

A Kinder, Gentler Empire

Subjugated worlds are tempting targets for the Rebels. Many of their missions allow them to do things on subjugated worlds. The less of these you have, the less options you leave your opponent. You’ll want to make an effort to always be swaying subjugated worlds all the way to the Empire’s side. Not only does this cut off some options for the Rebels but it adds more things to your build queue. Of particular note is Kashyyyk which has a specific mission that gains the Rebels loyalty and destroys Imperial units. A weakly defended and subjugated Kashyyyk could easily switch sides.

You also want to try and gain systems via means other than subjugation. There are several Imperial missions that let you gain loyalty in regions via the presence of Star Destroyers or Death Stars. This is one reason beyond hunting for the Rebel base to spread your fleet out to a bunch of different regions. If you can gain a foothold in a region by taking one planet with a Star Destroyer and then sway others to join using Fear Will Keep Them in Line, you can gain control of an entire region in one go.

All that being said, don’t be afraid to blow up some planets. You have a Death Star for a reason. It turns planets to your side when you blow up their unruly neighbors. This is especially useful against Remote worlds because you don’t lose any production potential. Despite what Tarkin says in A New Hope, Dantooine is not too remote to make an effective demonstration.