[SPOILERS]: Star Wars: Rebels - Thoughts?

By GM Hooly, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

I think they first appeared in Imperial hands late in the first season of Rebels. They were in the Season 2 premiere movie as well I believe.

First appearance was in the Season 1 episode right after

Tarkin blows up the communications tower - they're serving as a temporary communications hub for the courier droids the Empire is using to replace the tower.

Their first combat debut was the Season 2 premiere.

Think of hyperspace routes like Freeways. The entrances and exits are well known and defined unless you're gonna try something crazy, like coming in from an angle that isn't mapped or scouted often enough to know what mass shadows are hiding in that direction (think how often we find new asteroids that are going to come crazy close to our world). So, you run a big risk of slamming into something that gets in the way.

Are you saying that entrances and exits to/from hyperspace in Star Wars are sort of made of wormholes? That would be cool, but I always had the impression that in Star Wars, entering and leaving hyperspace could be done from mainly anywhere. Actually, in the core book (now I refer to the rpg not the tv show) you can appear closer or further away from your intended target depending on the advantages you roll... but ok, the rpg does not need to reproduce the films... starship shields anyone? :)

The way I see it and run it, is that astrogation is very complex. What you want when you carry out a hyperspace jump is start and end points that are pre-calculated as much as possible. You can jump from anywhere, but it takes time to calculate the jump and the more unstable your jump point - i.e. the more that it is moving around - the longer that's going to take you.

If you want an analogy back in olden times when we needed to work with logs, we would use our logarithm tables:

scan0004-1.jpg

You can work out the logs from scratch but it takes time. The purpose of a blockade is not to cover the entire planet with ships, but to stop the known jump points being used and to keep any attempting to forge another route moving so that they don't have stable co-ordinates with which to calculate a new route. When you're dodging Tie-fighters, you're not working from a set X,Y,Z,T so you're constantly having to re-run the astrogation process.

If you want an analogy back in olden times when we needed to work with logs, we would use our logarithm tables:

Yeah, when you’re rolling those logs, you really need to keep your rhythm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34StBUAjIJA

But I don’t understand where tables fit into this picture….

;) ;) ;)

Don't much care for the B-wing prototype at all. Thankfully the production models are nowhere near as absurd.

Well, they did describe that the mini-SuperLaser wiped out the HyperDrive on the prototype Blade-Wing. So, while it’s powerful enough to put some serious hurt on one of those cruisers, it’s also a one-shot wonder.

Which would explain why that weapon never made it onto the production models.

Myself, I’m with BigSpoon and I would have liked to see them use up all their Proton Torpedoes on one target, instead of creating a miniaturized version of the Death Star SuperLaser.

IMO, YMMV, etc….

Well, they did describe that the mini-SuperLaser wiped out the HyperDrive on the prototype Blade-Wing. So, while it’s powerful enough to put some serious hurt on one of those cruisers, it’s also a one-shot wonder.

That one-shot wonder seemed to work just fine after the hyperdrive burned out, as it fired multiple times in the actual battle.

good: the seventh sister seems to be a great villain. looking forward to more from her. (i just hope they don't set up the other guy as a bumbling fool)

bad: almost everything about the clone episodes. brrr... those were terrible! (especially the jaws hommage chase scene! argh!)

I don't think they'd set up any Inquisitor as a bumbling fool, thats what puny underlings are for. He just has a different style (Brute Force in my opinion). At least I hope thats the direction they take. I agree the episode where they went "fishing" was pretty campy, but it was occasionally funny, and it was good to see Rex on screen again, Wolfe and Grigor will hopefully fade to being background extras now and then.

After watching the latest episode of Rebel Recon I don't believe we'll be seeing Wolffe and Gregor again. They asked Dave Filoni what happened with them. He said that they stayed in retirement on Ceelos now that they had "a bigger boat" (nice Jaws reference).

I'm not a fan of the latest episode at all. If a planet is that hard to land on, where is someone getting the parts or machinery and resources to build a new starship? "Agile and nimble" sure as hell doesn't fit in with the rest of the shown B-wings (even from LucasArts games). Hera's recklessness and arrogance cost the rebellion men and machinery that it can't afford to lose. And of course, why is a planet needing food shipped in when any world that is habitable should have regions that allow for growing things?

I'm not a fan of the latest episode at all. If a planet is that hard to land on, where is someone getting the parts or machinery and resources to build a new starship? "Agile and nimble" sure as hell doesn't fit in with the rest of the shown B-wings (even from LucasArts games). Hera's recklessness and arrogance cost the rebellion men and machinery that it can't afford to lose. And of course, why is a planet needing food shipped in when any world that is habitable should have regions that allow for growing things?

I for one fully intend on pointing to this episode when my GM asks me how I plan to make large scale structural changes to my ship in EotE. If Quarrie can build an entire prototype fighter on an abandoned and extremely hostile planet, I can mash an XS Light Freighter together with a YT1300 in a drydock with tools and materials~

He had plenty of parts from all the crashed ships!

He also could have easily brought the parts with him. Clearly he didn't go to the planet to relax and enjoy retirement.

I'm not a fan of the latest episode at all. If a planet is that hard to land on, where is someone getting the parts or machinery and resources to build a new starship? "Agile and nimble" sure as hell doesn't fit in with the rest of the shown B-wings (even from LucasArts games). Hera's recklessness and arrogance cost the rebellion men and machinery that it can't afford to lose. And of course, why is a planet needing food shipped in when any world that is habitable should have regions that allow for growing things?

Agile and nimble compared to what though?

As for the planet needing food perhaps its economy is based solely on exports and no one bothered setting up farms or perhaps something in the soil prevents or hinders the growth of food crops. Or maybe the planet just produces less food then it needs.

I'm not a fan of the latest episode at all. If a planet is that hard to land on, where is someone getting the parts or machinery and resources to build a new starship? "Agile and nimble" sure as hell doesn't fit in with the rest of the shown B-wings (even from LucasArts games). Hera's recklessness and arrogance cost the rebellion men and machinery that it can't afford to lose. And of course, why is a planet needing food shipped in when any world that is habitable should have regions that allow for growing things?

Agile and nimble compared to what though?

As for the planet needing food perhaps its economy is based solely on exports and no one bothered setting up farms or perhaps something in the soil prevents or hinders the growth of food crops. Or maybe the planet just produces less food then it needs.

It was portrayed as more nimble than any fighter we've seen so far in the cartoon, such as the A-wings and the TIE fighters, and even Hera commented on its maneuverability. In the simulators it was a pain to get inside the turning radius of a TIE fighter when in a B-wing.

Hera's recklessness and arrogance cost the rebellion men and machinery that it can't afford to lose.

I for one find her strategy of "Nah, just keep going at full speed with no change of course or attempting to abort," and her later plan of "We'll try the exact same thing, but with TWO ships," incredibly hilarious.

She may be a great pilot, but I don't know how she could be in charge of any sort of situations that may require a battle.

Hera's recklessness and arrogance cost the rebellion men and machinery that it can't afford to lose.

I for one find her strategy of "Nah, just keep going at full speed with no change of course or attempting to abort," and her later plan of "We'll try the exact same thing, but with TWO ships," incredibly hilarious.

She may be a great pilot, but I don't know how she could be in charge of any sort of situations that may require a battle.

And yet that's exactly what she's in charge of now~

Hera's recklessness and arrogance cost the rebellion men and machinery that it can't afford to lose.

I for one find her strategy of "Nah, just keep going at full speed with no change of course or attempting to abort," and her later plan of "We'll try the exact same thing, but with TWO ships," incredibly hilarious.

She may be a great pilot, but I don't know how she could be in charge of any sort of situations that may require a battle.

And yet that's exactly what she's in charge of now~

As it reduces the number of characters that the writers have to deal with in their stories and the animators in their animations.

I'm not a fan of the latest episode at all. If a planet is that hard to land on, where is someone getting the parts or machinery and resources to build a new starship? "Agile and nimble" sure as hell doesn't fit in with the rest of the shown B-wings (even from LucasArts games). Hera's recklessness and arrogance cost the rebellion men and machinery that it can't afford to lose. And of course, why is a planet needing food shipped in when any world that is habitable should have regions that allow for growing things?

Because it's Star Wars and single-biome worlds that only produce one thing are the norm.

A world like Tatooine wouldn't be hard-scrabble and difficult to survive on with near-hostile atmosphere - it would be impossible to survive on for multicellular life as we (and the Star Wars galaxy) knows it.

I'm not a fan of the latest episode at all. If a planet is that hard to land on, where is someone getting the parts or machinery and resources to build a new starship? "Agile and nimble" sure as hell doesn't fit in with the rest of the shown B-wings (even from LucasArts games). Hera's recklessness and arrogance cost the rebellion men and machinery that it can't afford to lose. And of course, why is a planet needing food shipped in when any world that is habitable should have regions that allow for growing things?

Because it's Star Wars and single-biome worlds that only produce one thing are the norm.

A world like Tatooine wouldn't be hard-scrabble and difficult to survive on with near-hostile atmosphere - it would be impossible to survive on for multicellular life as we (and the Star Wars galaxy) knows it.

Really? Because I live in the middle of a desert as do quite a number of people on this planet and while it can't support a lot of people, it is possible to survive in it. In fact the desert I live in has had civilizations in it for at least 5,000 years with new ones being built on top of the previous. Other deserts have had people living in them for far longer (Gobi desert of China, Saudi desert with the Bedouin, etc...).

Luke's Uncle and Aunt are moisture farmers, much like the Fremen of Dune, growing food for themselves using the water they extract from the world and getting other stuff by trading said water.

Hera's recklessness and arrogance cost the rebellion men and machinery that it can't afford to lose.

I for one find her strategy of "Nah, just keep going at full speed with no change of course or attempting to abort," and her later plan of "We'll try the exact same thing, but with TWO ships," incredibly hilarious.

She may be a great pilot, but I don't know how she could be in charge of any sort of situations that may require a battle.

And yet that's exactly what she's in charge of now~

Star Wars has long placed people into roles they shouldn't qualify to hold. General Solo and General Calrissian being two grew examples, but even the "every Jedi is a Commander or General" is another.

Regarding Hera's promotion...

Remember that the Alliance has always been desperate for qualified leadership (along with pretty much every other resource except the determination to fight the Empire and win). Hera's a highly capable pilot, able to keep a cool head in dangerous situations (something she's demonstrated repeatedly through the show's run), and was able to form and generally keep together her own Rebel cell.

Given the Rebel "fleet" we're following is pretty small, if there's a qualified person with a proven success record in their midst, it'd make sense to offer her the job of squadron leader, especially after her actions just allowed a desperate mission to succeed.

How good she'll be in the actual role of squadron leader... time will tell.

I think we try to rationalize too much a cartoon series aimed to kids (and teenagers?).

Edited by Yepesnopes

I think we try to rationalize too much a cartoon series aimed to kids (and teenagers?).

This really. I gave a glance at it, it's fairly obivous that the target audience is usually people who don't really care a great deal about sound tactics; they want to see action and the hero's win.

Those kind of more satisfying details I would more imagine seeing in rogue 1. kind of hoping it secertly offers an alternative, remastered battle of yavin at the end.

Regarding Hera's promotion...

Remember that the Alliance has always been desperate for qualified leadership (along with pretty much every other resource except the determination to fight the Empire and win). Hera's a highly capable pilot, able to keep a cool head in dangerous situations (something she's demonstrated repeatedly through the show's run), and was able to form and generally keep together her own Rebel cell.

Given the Rebel "fleet" we're following is pretty small, if there's a qualified person with a proven success record in their midst, it'd make sense to offer her the job of squadron leader, especially after her actions just allowed a desperate mission to succeed.

How good she'll be in the actual role of squadron leader... time will tell.

Yeah the Alliance has always been a if command has the slightest hint that you're able to handle a command role the job is yours outfit. Though I still hope the canon Battle of Tanab does a better job of justifying Lando getting his star then the Legends version did. I'm also hoping Rebels will get a replacement for their Pelta soon, a little Nebulon hijacking would be awesome.

Edited by RogueCorona