Should the Imperial player read all of the mission text before it's played?

IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED "FLYING SOLO" DO NOT READ SPOILER

There are tons of other examples like that. For example I might read ahead and know that I get 6 threat when they open a door. That might impact how I spend threat earlier if I want to save up for an AT-ST or something.

IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED "AFTERMATH" DO NOT READ SPOILER

So I guess the possibilities are:

1. Read ahead and show no mercy

2. Read ahead in order to be prepared to run a smooth game but do not "game" that knowledge

3. Do not read ahead but possibly not know something important

Here's RAW: "The Imperial player may

You definitely are allowed to read ahead.

If you find you're crushing the rebels, you might want to not read ahead though, just to try to even things out more. As long as you read the event box that tells you when events happen, you shouldn't have any issues with not reading ahead.

You know everything that is coming. You need to know thus often to plan your open groups appropriately. They only need as much as each trigger event tells them.

felkor, Thanks. Yeah I guess that's my main question. Do I run the risk of flubbing something about the mission/game if I do not read ahead. Sort of like, is it modular and not the proverbial military manual "Step 2. Before doing Step 1 be sure to..."

I'm going to try next mission that way. Sounds more fun to get a curveball as the Imp player too.

ScottieATF,

That's a really good point. No sense picking an open group that has restrictions that might make it useless. For example if at the end of a mission they never come back outside an AT-ST is no good. Or if they are going to be too mobile an eweb is not as good a choice.

Plus additional threat you gain and certain deployment events that require you to have a strong deploy ready at a certain round end.

Yes, you'll have some missed opportunities if you don't read ahead.

On the one mission, I didn't really read ahead. I saw that there was an Imperial Officer in the "Reserved" troops, so I decided I probably didn't need one in my Open Group. It wasn't until later into the mission I discovered that imperial officer was a special character in the mission, and there was no way I was going to get to use it in the normal way. If I understood that, I would have added one to the open group.

It didn't take away from the fun of the mission, it just took away from my effectiveness a bit. I just had to learn to try to work with what I had. So far I have had no probably beating the rebels, so I'm happy to find ways to have my hands tied a bit that doesn't involve me purposefully making bad tactical decisions to give the rebels a fighting chance.

show no mercy

As the empire player, you should read ahead and plan accordingly, as this also helps the mission run a bit smoother overall as there are many "when X happens, do Y" moments in the mission.

As far as mercy is concerned, after my group of friends banned me from running Descent as the overlord until 2086, I have found that the best way to keep my friends is to give them a fighting chance instead of dominating them at every turn. I can still win, but it doesnt have to be the soul-crushing, lubeless violation that they have come to expect from me.

I run a kinder, gentler Empire as compared to my Descent Overlording days. My players are happy to play and I am happy to play as well.

Play to your objectives, always. Tell the Rebel players to do the same.

Decent, at least first edition, was overly unforgiving of player mistakes early in a campaign. You could lose a campaign by feeding the Overlord points in the first mission. You can't do that in IA.