I see the role as the imperial play the same as being the Dungeon master in DnD.

I think this statement is the mindset of some players that is causing the problem. The Imperial player is NOT a DM/GM, they are the opposing force! This is a game of chess. The grey pieces are not there for the tan's amusement. Each side has objectives. The side that uses their resources best wins. When I play as the Imperial player, I play to win. It makes the game that much more exciting (for everyone) when all the players are scrapping for that last second win, game after game.

This game is closer to Axis and Allies than it is D&D. It is a balanced game and all players are fighting (on even ground) for the thrill of victory!

In the current campaign that I am running (read: playing as Imperials), I am something like 6-3 over nine games. Many games have been close, but there have been a couple where the Rebels didn't even stand a chance...

I saw Budgernaut's suggestions but I find it hard to follow them, at least in the first stages of the campaign. How can you plan deployments for round 1? Even at round 2, you just have 4 threats. The worst problem for the empire, though, is that the only way to stop heroes is to make a figures wall. Too bad there is no opportunity attack...

I also find difficult to understand how can you outnumber heroes. At threat 2, it takes 3 rounds to bring in a reinforcement, and often the deploy point is a bit far away from the actions. What happens is that at round 2 all initial deployments are dead, round 3 is empty, and at its end imperial can bring in some stormtroopers or an e-web. But the troopers alone can't survive. They just put up a match when they are in numbers.

So, good advices in theory, but in practice I don't know how imperial can put them in act. Maybe he should flee and wait till round 3 to bring some more units in?

You're right. It is very difficult in the early missions. When you get more threat, you can start to get more deployment cards than there are hero activations. You also have to consider any extra threat the mission may give you at the end of the round and think about the reserve groups at your disposal. That can also help you get more activations.

Plus, there's always the possibility that your players are just better than my players. That would explain why I had an easier time than you are having.

Out of 6 plays of Aftermath the Imps have won 4 times. In two campaigns I've started as the Imps I've gone 4-0 and 2-1.

The 4-0 start is with the Imperial Subversion tree which has the strongest early upgrades and eliminates alot of the heroes extra abilities by stacking strain. Additionally despite being the more experienced gamer group that group is making alot of questionable plays and getting suckered by alot of the scripted events.

The 2nd group barely lost Aftermath, only failing because I "killed" Fenn to keep the 2nd Terminal up as Gaarkhan and Daila dashed around the corner to take the back two. Hoping that Fenn and Mak could handle the one with the EWeb. They just couldn't deal the damage with Mak alone.

The handily won Indented as the Imps start with a low amount of figures on the board and that early threat level doesn't allow much deployment of open groups.

Under Siege came down to Vader and multiple Imp officers Rushing him in to take down Fenn with the last attack. They did a good job picking a two members to stand and fight while Daila and Fenn hid or rested.

Plus, there's always the possibility that your players are just better than my players. That would explain why I had an easier time than you are having.

My players are really tactically oriented. They almost never play in silence, so every move is "shared" as they discuss several "what if" and normally the final decision is fairly optimized. It's a bit annoying, since I prefer the SW feeling of adrenaline and action. Also probably my decisions are not the best. I want to move fast and roll dice having fun with some cinematic sequences.

I played a 3 player game for Aftermath where it was my wife and a friend playing the smuggler and the soldier respectively. Basically it was a slugfest wtih the opening deployment and I had the probe droid explode next to both of them. It was something like turn 5 when they finally opened the door and my wife was out and the soldier was badly wounded, even with the extra 10 health they got, once the web engineer appeared I was pretty sure it was going to end even if it was not turn 6 yet.

That scenario looked tough for 2 players. Do the rebels need to destroy all 4 terminals to win?

I played a 3 player game for Aftermath where it was my wife and a friend playing the smuggler and the soldier respectively. Basically it was a slugfest wtih the opening deployment and I had the probe droid explode next to both of them. It was something like turn 5 when they finally opened the door and my wife was out and the soldier was badly wounded, even with the extra 10 health they got, once the web engineer appeared I was pretty sure it was going to end even if it was not turn 6 yet.

That scenario looked tough for 2 players. Do the rebels need to destroy all 4 terminals to win?

Yes they do. Strange, 2 players should be able to handle the scenario pretty easily due to each of them having 2 activations.

@nungunz, Yeah... Jyn (smuggler) would get two Quick Draws as well, which is vicious. First turn - if she doesn't have to move and Imperials come to her - she can get four attacks. That's a _lot_ of attacks.

@peterstepon, Might've just been fortunate rolling for you and bad luck for them, but that's really bizarre that they didn't race through the mission.

My players are really tactically oriented. They almost never play in silence, so every move is "shared" as they discuss several "what if" and normally the final decision is fairly optimized. It's a bit annoying, since I prefer the SW feeling of adrenaline and action. Also probably my decisions are not the best. I want to move fast and roll dice having fun with some cinematic sequences.

Mine are the same, so far, if there is no time limit for the mission and Imperial objective is to wound all, there is not much imperial player can do, considering rebels can just rest up and heal HP every time they get low. After they survive initial assault, they have relatively easy time going on carefully planning every move.

My players are really tactically oriented. They almost never play in silence, so every move is "shared" as they discuss several "what if" and normally the final decision is fairly optimized. It's a bit annoying, since I prefer the SW feeling of adrenaline and action. Also probably my decisions are not the best. I want to move fast and roll dice having fun with some cinematic sequences.

Mine are the same, so far, if there is no time limit for the mission and Imperial objective is to wound all, there is not much imperial player can do, considering rebels can just rest up and heal HP every time they get low. After they survive initial assault, they have relatively easy time going on carefully planning every move.

That's exactly what I've noticed.

Do the imperials win? No!

Do the rebels win? No!

Only the people enjoying themselves are winning.

That is my take on it.

Also FFG wins.

My players are really tactically oriented. They almost never play in silence, so every move is "shared" as they discuss several "what if" and normally the final decision is fairly optimized. It's a bit annoying, since I prefer the SW feeling of adrenaline and action. Also probably my decisions are not the best. I want to move fast and roll dice having fun with some cinematic sequences.

Mine are the same, so far, if there is no time limit for the mission and Imperial objective is to wound all, there is not much imperial player can do, considering rebels can just rest up and heal HP every time they get low. After they survive initial assault, they have relatively easy time going on carefully planning every move.

Attack heroes that have activated and have strain. If there are a few choices that fit this description attack the one that you think will not go first in the next round. I have a lot of trouble wounding heroes too so now that I think about it maybe my advice is bad.

Any other advice for Imps needing to wound heroes?

I played a 3 player game for Aftermath where it was my wife and a friend playing the smuggler and the soldier respectively. Basically it was a slugfest wtih the opening deployment and I had the probe droid explode next to both of them. It was something like turn 5 when they finally opened the door and my wife was out and the soldier was badly wounded, even with the extra 10 health they got, once the web engineer appeared I was pretty sure it was going to end even if it was not turn 6 yet.

That scenario looked tough for 2 players. Do the rebels need to destroy all 4 terminals to win?

Maybe they were having lousy dice roles. When a crack soldier and a smuggler are having a stand off with 3 storm troopers you know that something is amiss

Another quick tip for Imperial players (this was said in another thread, but I can't remember which one or I would credit the poster):

The biggest weapon the Imperial player has at his disposal is information. Between sessions, you will know what the next two missions will be (one story, and one side). Take twenty minutes and study them. Figure out how much threat you can generate by what turn and pick appropriate open groups. Check where your deployment points are relative to objective locations and plan accordingly. Just being comfortable with the specifics of the mission and the layout of the tiles will give you a huge advantage over the Rebel players.

"After the introductory mission is resolved, shuffle the Side

Mission deck, draw two cards, and place these cards faceup

on the table. After each non-agenda side mission is resolved,

shuffle the side Mission deck, draw one card, and place this

card faceup on the table.

"

I thought this meant the side mission that they did not chose stays and we draw and add a second option to replace the one they finish.

Aren't there always two possible side missions?

Yes, it should be 2 side and 1 optional agenda I think.

As the imperials I've been treating all my destroyed groups as perma dead and I've won 2/6. If i was playing correct i might be 3/6

Attack heroes that have activated and have strain. If there are a few choices that fit this description attack the one that you think will not go first in the next round. I have a lot of trouble wounding heroes too so now that I think about it maybe my advice is bad.

Any other advice for Imps needing to wound heroes?

That is terrible advice for the imperials... for the rebels thats good advice because you have a chance of killing a figure before it activates.

For Imperials its about focusing fire on a single rebel till its wounded then focusing on the next.

Guarding objectives and overall trying to delay the rebels.

The Wookiee, Jyn and Diala have abilities that cost 2 strain if you can put 1 strain on them it may force them to rest before using it twice.

Bleed and Stun may not seem strong but it costs the rebels an action that may not seem important in the beginning but near the end of the time limit it will have added up.

In our group the games have all been quite close with the imperials winning more often but usually only because the rebels failed their last skill test they needed.

Attack heroes that have activated and have strain. If there are a few choices that fit this description attack the one that you think will not go first in the next round. I have a lot of trouble wounding heroes too so now that I think about it maybe my advice is bad.

Any other advice for Imps needing to wound heroes?

That is terrible advice for the imperials... for the rebels thats good advice because you have a chance of killing a figure before it activates.

For Imperials its about focusing fire on a single rebel till its wounded then focusing on the next.

Guarding objectives and overall trying to delay the rebels.

The Wookiee, Jyn and Diala have abilities that cost 2 strain if you can put 1 strain on them it may force them to rest before using it twice.

Bleed and Stun may not seem strong but it costs the rebels an action that may not seem important in the beginning but near the end of the time limit it will have added up.

In our group the games have all been quite close with the imperials winning more often but usually only because the rebels failed their last skill test they needed.

I'm saying if you are looking at three more Imperial activations in a round and you need to wound all Heros to win you should use those attacks on the one player that has activated.

To wound them you're going to need to hit them with several activations in a row without him getting a chance to rest or double rest and/or move for cover in between. If he has an activation to take they can just activate him and rest or double rest or move and you wasted the attack(s) and are back to square one. Mind you this is in a wound all heros situation (not timed).

I'm saying gang up on a hero when there is nothing they can do about it if you want a good chance to wound him.

I just played through my first game "solo" tonight, basically setting up the tutorial for all four rebels, and playing both sides. While the rebels won, I realized after the fact that the leader/probe droid combo could quickly win the scenario if played right. If the probe droid is positioned near the door of the long hallway, one could activate the imperial officer, use their action to force the probe droid to move up, and then in the droid's movement they could then move forward and interact with the terminal. I had the e-web covering the hallway, doing copious damage to Dialla. It forced the two rebels into cover, allowing free movement up the hall.

I think knowing the objectives, and playing aggressively, the Imperials would actually be a real challenge in this game.

I just played through my first game "solo" tonight, basically setting up the tutorial for all four rebels, and playing both sides. While the rebels won, I realized after the fact that the leader/probe droid combo could quickly win the scenario if played right. If the probe droid is positioned near the door of the long hallway, one could activate the imperial officer, use their action to force the probe droid to move up, and then in the droid's movement they could then move forward and interact with the terminal. I had the e-web covering the hallway, doing copious damage to Dialla. It forced the two rebels into cover, allowing free movement up the hall.

I think knowing the objectives, and playing aggressively, the Imperials would actually be a real challenge in this game.

The tutorial is pretty much an "Imperials Always Win" scenario unless the rebels are very good or very luck. Don't use this mission to judge the game. The only thing that it's good for is to learn the mechanics. Might as well just play a skirmish to learn the game mechanics instead.

Or play 2 rounds of aftermath (with no triggers or deployments) and then just reset the game and play the mission for real.

Honestly I think you shouldn't focus too much on the tutorial. It allows to try and begin to understand movement and actions but doesn't cover 10% of the options available during a real mission. For sure it's not a test of teams balance. After you play some missions it appears to be more similar to a mechanical playground for 2 mechanics than a shorter version of a real mission. It is more similar to those logic test puzzles based on chess pieces than 3 rounds of the real game of chess.

Fair enough, but it was my first kick at it. Of course, I realise that several of the game elements were omitted, but given the right circumstances the Imperial Officer's Order action could be pretty powerful. Granted that is more for a discussion on tactics rather than whether or not the Imperials ever win.

Our run through the tutorial the Rebels crushed the Imps. What happened?

Our first campaign (which we abandoned because I was getting way too frustrated as the Rebels), I lost 5 of the 7 missions we played - including Homecoming (Luke) and Fly Solo. I was over it after losing 3 in a row, spectacularly.

In our current campaign, I'm running Imps and I've won 5 out of the 6 we've played so far.

We're playing 2-player and as Rebels I chose Jyn and Gideon (terrible combo, imo). My wife chose Gaark and Fenn for hers (tougher to wound, but still doesn't seem to be working out).

So, our opinion is that imps are really over-powered - and that's from both sides of the table. Of course, we're new to the game, too. And we expect things to smooth out as we gain experience, but our initial reaction is OMG, rebels are teh sux.

We even experimented and she controlled 4 different heroes for Aftermath and lost even harder...

In our campaign the rebels have won every single one of the 7 missions we've played so far. They are very coordinated and meticulous about planning their actions to maximize damage, survivability, and mission goals. The Imperials have gotten close quite a few times in the later missions, but even then it's been a last turn victory for the rebels.

I think it really depends on your players. If my group didn't plan everything out and support each other so well it would probably be different. They have a nasty habit of defeating all my initals groups within the first 2 or 3 turns, leaving me trying to build up enough threat to redeploy.

Frustrating when they are one shotting storm troopers and nexu.

Would still be nice for the Imps to win at least one though.