I don't get it. Why do modern works have to conform to old forms of lesser canon (he works siting the RZ-1 as being post Yavin were pretty far down on the old canon list) especially when a new canon policy has been in effect for years at this point. The A-wing was chosen for Rebels because 1) it had a cool Mcquirre painting and 2) people familiar with the films would also know what they were and 3) saved on having to design yet another new 'old' ship for the rebels to fly. He last point is worth remarking because the production team does not have an unlimited time to crank out episodes, and any new ships risk backlash from uber nerds where old ships are established and accepted.
Could have been worse though. They could have been flying E-wings (didn't they already do that in the Yoda Chronicles?)

The point is that it would not have been hard to keep us all happy.

But no. Out with the old and in with the new.
Lucus thought that it with the PT and we all LOVE those films don't we lol

I'm guessing this is sarcasm, but in the event that it isn't:

It is literally (not figuratively) impossible to keep certain segments of the fandom, any fandom happy. Chiefly because certain segments of the fandom love nothing more than to complain about things. I suspect that this is not because there is anything to actually complain about of any import, so much as a basic instinct among some people to complain about anything. Even when that anything amounts to little and less than nothing.

And not printing most of it, and pretending it never existed. That's called getting rid of it.

That's like saying that Disney is getting rid of the Marvel-616 universe because they're making the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They aren't, it's just two different continuities.

Things are still being released for the EU. This game for one. The Old Republic is still getting new expansions. etc.

All that is getting released for the EU are any ongoing tabletops (such as this and the RPGs etc.), and TOR. Nothing new is coming out.

I'll believe it once I've seen how Secret Wars ends.

All that is getting released for the EU are any ongoing tabletops (such as this and the RPGs etc.), and TOR.

Then they aren't getting rid of it.

Well, technically they are getting rid of 616...

I'll believe it once I've seen how Secret Wars ends.

All that is getting released for the EU are any ongoing tabletops (such as this and the RPGs etc.), and TOR.

Then they aren't getting rid of it.

So because they release tabletops that aren't part of the new canon, and because the haven't cancelled a game where the story fits into EU, but everything else is gone, they haven't gotten rid of it............

1: I'm still curious about why you think the average skill level of rebel mechanics would be low.

2: Look at most of the Imperial leaders we see in the OT. Are they worried about hunting down the rebel manufacturing centers or are they worried about finding the HQ? And these were the high level commanders of the Empire's forces which means their focus will determine the primary focus of the Imperial fleet.

3: Some people think that a factory would be easier to find then a HQ because there is more ship traffic in and out of it. While the latter part is true an HQ is putting out a lot more signal traffic then a factory would be so I'm not so sure about the former part.

4: The matter of resources for the factory or shipyard. Its possible for Rebel front companies to buy resources, uncharted mining colonies could be allied with the Rebellion (Remember that Cloud City was either unknown to the Empire or considered to small to be worth bothering with before Han flew there. Also Admiral Ozzel mentions that there are a lot of uncharted settlements out there early in Empire Strikes Back.) and of course they could raid Imperial convoys and Imperial allied mining centers for resources.

5: Now for machinery for the factory or shipyard. We aren't sure how much machinery is needed to produce military ships that isn't identical to machinery used to manufacture civilian ships and can't be adapted from machinery used to manufacture civilian craft. Any civilian machinery which can be used or adapted can be purchased through front companies. Any military grade only machinery could be bought on the Black Market, manufactured under the table on friendly worlds. seized from the Empire, or possibly salvaged from abandoned CIS shipyards.

Also IMO it is absolutely vital for any group that wants to be seen as a credible military force in Star Wars or any similar setting to be able to manufacture its own starships, Without ships you can't win a large scale war in such a setting. And while you can capture ships or purchase them from the black market or third parties sooner or later you are going to want a more reliable source of fighters and warships which means production centers your forces control. It wouldn't surprise me if one of the first things the leadership of the Rebel Alliance did was start projects to gain control of or establish Alliance controlled ship and fighter production centers. If the B-Wing in Rebels season 2 really is the prototype then the resistance network already had both fighter design and at least some fighter production capability at that point.

1- Hard won experience with reality.

2- The movies are about the heroes - who are high ranking members of the rebellion. Obviously tracking down the rebel leadership is going to be a thing. For much of the Star Wars movies, the Empire's leadership (personified by Darth Vader) is more interested in tracking down Luke Skywalker than in tracking down the rebel's leaders. But showing Imperial leadership wanting to destroy the rebellion's logistics would be akin to focusing on the CIA's efforts to track down al-Qaeda's funding in Zero Dark Thirty: It's simply not relevant to the story being told.

3- A factory needs bulk freighters laden with components and materials. An HQ only needs to dispatch and receive courier ships and can use those courier ships to send and receive messages both physically and electronically.

4&5+ - Absolutely. However, the B-Wing appears to be a hand-built one-off. It is entirely possible that the rebels did not acquire their own means of manufacturing starfighters until around or about the Battle of Yavin (or even later if X-Wings are a commercially available update for the Z-95/ARC-170) and did not acquire their own means of manufacturing capital-class starships until around or shortly after the Battle of Hoth/before the Battle of Endor with the liberation/independence of Mon Cala. This was certainly the case within the Legends continuity.

Given how early we are into the rebellion in Rebels, I think it is unlikely that the RZ-1 is not a commercially-available starfighter: All the other rebel starships seen thus far are either commercially available vessels (VCX-100 light freighter, CR-90 corvettes), military surplus (Pelta-class frigate), or captured Imperial materiél (Sabine's TIE Fighter, shuttle).

1: I'm still curious about why you think the average skill level of rebel mechanics would be low.

Me too. Source material tends to paint the average Rebel anything to be more skilled than it's average Imperial counterpart.

The Empire generally makes up for lack of talent with overwhelming amounts of stuff. Why have 1 genius engineer work on something, when you can have 10 mediocre engineers do it instead!

You mean like Raith Sienar?

In the Legends continuity, virtually every Imperial engineer is a genius. The rebels don't have such a level of individuals in their employ outside of the direct action and political/diplomatic sides of the house.

The brilliant thing about Imperial logistics (just as with most modern logistical organizations) is that you don't have to be brilliant on the technician's side, just competent - the brilliance can be left to the engineers (of whom the Empire has no shortage). There is a good reason why modularity is a big thing in both modern militaries and with the Empire. The rebels would be wise to copy that capability.

3: Tracking ships in Star Wars isn't easy unless you manage to slip a tracker on board. Tracking any ships coming from settlements the Empire doesn't know about going to locations it doesn't know about would be almost impossible. And again that assumes that the factories aren't built in locations that produce what they need without needing imports. In Legends the Alliance specifically did its best to put its major production centers in areas where they wouldn't require many imports from outside the system.

4&5: In Legends Mon Cala was liberated before the Battle of Yavin and basically started producing ships for the Alliance as soon as it was liberated. Its liberation was one of the few successes of Operation Domino which was the first major offensive campagin the Alliance launched. We'll have to see how it goes in canon.

On the Engineer front if we're going by Legends the Rebels do have at least some engineers on Sienar's level working for them. Walex Blissex, The Verpine teams which worked with Ackbar on the B-Wing, the Mon Cala design bureau, the engineers who defected from Incom and so forth.

The canon is dead, long live the canon.

The canon isn't dead. SW writers have made many comments about the older stuff being still canon or hand waving stuff that will make their old stuff non-canon by making even newer stuff that keeps the older stuff primary canon.

Nice: Its the Prototype paintjob!

Not nice: Kuat?? NOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo!!! Shouldn't those little buggers be built like by Mon Calamari somewhere in the Outer Rim or even Wild Space or something like this?

WHY would the Empire allow Kuat to build A-Wings for the rebels?! **** you, Disney! LOL

Well to be honest with you The Empire allows the guys that build Y-Wings to still exist and some groups within the Empire still use Y-Wings. Most of Incom stayed with the Empire when the T-65 designers left to go build X-Wings for the Rebs, BUT the INCOM people that stayed behind built some X-Wings for the Empire and some Imperial Squadrons used X-Wings. The IMPs would use their Y-Wings and X-Wings too confuse Rebs they were fighting. I imagine they also used their X-Wings and Y-Wings too attack forces that may have wanted to join the Rebel Alliance to make them believe they are being attacked by the Rebs, so as too ruin any Alliance those two factions could have had. I imagine they use them in war games too.

but everything else is gone

But it's not.

I can still pick up any of my EU books right now and read through them.

I could go play TIE Fighter right now if I wanted.

Just because they stop making new stuff doesn't mean the old stuff is gone or has been gotten rid of.

JRR Tolkien hasn't written any more Lord of the Rings in 40 years. That doesn't mean it's gone, or has been gotten rid of.

1: I'm still curious about why you think the average skill level of rebel mechanics would be low.

2: Look at most of the Imperial leaders we see in the OT. Are they worried about hunting down the rebel manufacturing centers or are they worried about finding the HQ? And these were the high level commanders of the Empire's forces which means their focus will determine the primary focus of the Imperial fleet.

3: Some people think that a factory would be easier to find then a HQ because there is more ship traffic in and out of it. While the latter part is true an HQ is putting out a lot more signal traffic then a factory would be so I'm not so sure about the former part.

4: The matter of resources for the factory or shipyard. Its possible for Rebel front companies to buy resources, uncharted mining colonies could be allied with the Rebellion (Remember that Cloud City was either unknown to the Empire or considered to small to be worth bothering with before Han flew there. Also Admiral Ozzel mentions that there are a lot of uncharted settlements out there early in Empire Strikes Back.) and of course they could raid Imperial convoys and Imperial allied mining centers for resources.

5: Now for machinery for the factory or shipyard. We aren't sure how much machinery is needed to produce military ships that isn't identical to machinery used to manufacture civilian ships and can't be adapted from machinery used to manufacture civilian craft. Any civilian machinery which can be used or adapted can be purchased through front companies. Any military grade only machinery could be bought on the Black Market, manufactured under the table on friendly worlds. seized from the Empire, or possibly salvaged from abandoned CIS shipyards.

Also IMO it is absolutely vital for any group that wants to be seen as a credible military force in Star Wars or any similar setting to be able to manufacture its own starships, Without ships you can't win a large scale war in such a setting. And while you can capture ships or purchase them from the black market or third parties sooner or later you are going to want a more reliable source of fighters and warships which means production centers your forces control. It wouldn't surprise me if one of the first things the leadership of the Rebel Alliance did was start projects to gain control of or establish Alliance controlled ship and fighter production centers. If the B-Wing in Rebels season 2 really is the prototype then the resistance network already had both fighter design and at least some fighter production capability at that point.

1- Hard won experience with reality.

2- The movies are about the heroes - who are high ranking members of the rebellion. Obviously tracking down the rebel leadership is going to be a thing. For much of the Star Wars movies, the Empire's leadership (personified by Darth Vader) is more interested in tracking down Luke Skywalker than in tracking down the rebel's leaders. But showing Imperial leadership wanting to destroy the rebellion's logistics would be akin to focusing on the CIA's efforts to track down al-Qaeda's funding in Zero Dark Thirty: It's simply not relevant to the story being told.

3- A factory needs bulk freighters laden with components and materials. An HQ only needs to dispatch and receive courier ships and can use those courier ships to send and receive messages both physically and electronically.

4&5+ - Absolutely. However, the B-Wing appears to be a hand-built one-off. It is entirely possible that the rebels did not acquire their own means of manufacturing starfighters until around or about the Battle of Yavin (or even later if X-Wings are a commercially available update for the Z-95/ARC-170) and did not acquire their own means of manufacturing capital-class starships until around or shortly after the Battle of Hoth/before the Battle of Endor with the liberation/independence of Mon Cala. This was certainly the case within the Legends continuity.

Given how early we are into the rebellion in Rebels, I think it is unlikely that the RZ-1 is not a commercially-available starfighter: All the other rebel starships seen thus far are either commercially available vessels (VCX-100 light freighter, CR-90 corvettes), military surplus (Pelta-class frigate), or captured Imperial materiél (Sabine's TIE Fighter, shuttle).

1: I'm still curious about why you think the average skill level of rebel mechanics would be low.

Me too. Source material tends to paint the average Rebel anything to be more skilled than it's average Imperial counterpart.

The Empire generally makes up for lack of talent with overwhelming amounts of stuff. Why have 1 genius engineer work on something, when you can have 10 mediocre engineers do it instead!

You mean like Raith Sienar?

In the Legends continuity, virtually every Imperial engineer is a genius. The rebels don't have such a level of individuals in their employ outside of the direct action and political/diplomatic sides of the house.

The brilliant thing about Imperial logistics (just as with most modern logistical organizations) is that you don't have to be brilliant on the technician's side, just competent - the brilliance can be left to the engineers (of whom the Empire has no shortage). There is a good reason why modularity is a big thing in both modern militaries and with the Empire. The rebels would be wise to copy that capability.

3: Tracking ships in Star Wars isn't easy unless you manage to slip a tracker on board. Tracking any ships coming from settlements the Empire doesn't know about going to locations it doesn't know about would be almost impossible. And again that assumes that the factories aren't built in locations that produce what they need without needing imports. In Legends the Alliance specifically did its best to put its major production centers in areas where they wouldn't require many imports from outside the system.

4&5: In Legends Mon Cala was liberated before the Battle of Yavin and basically started producing ships for the Alliance as soon as it was liberated. Its liberation was one of the few successes of Operation Domino which was the first major offensive campagin the Alliance launched. We'll have to see how it goes in canon.

On the Engineer front if we're going by Legends the Rebels do have at least some engineers on Sienar's level working for them. Walex Blissex, The Verpine teams which worked with Ackbar on the B-Wing, the Mon Cala design bureau, the engineers who defected from Incom and so forth.

3- Yeah, except for BOSS.

4&5- This is superseded by movie canon: As of the beginning of A New Hope, the rebellion had won only one battle and that battle involved the capture of the plans for the Death Star. Liberating Mon Cala would be a huge victory for the rebellion. Further, no Mon Calamari vessels are seen until Return of the Jedi.

Further, no Mon Calamari vessels are seen until Return of the Jedi.

Which means what?

You don't see Jabba's Palace until RotJ. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist until RotJ.

As much as I'm pissed at Disney for getting rid of the EU

They didn't. They're just not expanding it further and are doing their own thing from now on.

And not printing most of it, and pretending it never existed. That's called getting rid of it.

They are still printing it. They just stick a Legends banner on it.

Only a few of the books are being reprinted.

Which has nothing to do with the canon change. Most of Legends was already out of print.

Further, no Mon Calamari vessels are seen until Return of the Jedi.

Which means what?

You don't see Jabba's Palace until RotJ. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist until RotJ.

We saw Jabba's palace in The Clone Wars. We see Jabba in The Phantom Menace.

The point being that there is no evidence for Mon Calamari ships in the rebel fleet until just before the Battle of Endor. Even at the end of The Empire Strikes back, with the rebel fleet having gathered to lick their wounds after Hoth, there are no Mon Calamari vessels.

Without TCW and the Prequels, for all we might have known, Jabba's palace could have been built after A New Hope or even after The Empire Strikes Back. Obviously it's somewhat lived-in for being that freshly constructed.

To me it makes the most sense for the Empire to have reached its peak level of control over the galaxy around 5-10 years after the close of the Clone Wars. And then to slowly start losing control around the time of Rebels and then once we get into the original trilogy, the Empire's collapse begins to snowball, as the Empire goes from stomping out the embers of rebellion to losing the first Death Star, then Mon Cala and Sullust (and who knows how many other systems) until the Emperor gambles the continued existence of the Empire and his very life against the destruction of the bulk of the rebel fleet at Endor.

but everything else is gone

But it's not.

I can still pick up any of my EU books right now and read through them.

I could go play TIE Fighter right now if I wanted.

Just because they stop making new stuff doesn't mean the old stuff is gone or has been gotten rid of.

JRR Tolkien hasn't written any more Lord of the Rings in 40 years. That doesn't mean it's gone, or has been gotten rid of.

But the writers are still around, and Disney could still be making them, yet they refuse. They've ended it.

Which has nothing to do with the canon change. Most of Legends was already out of print.

I never said it has anything to do with the canon change.

But the writers are still around, and Disney could still be making them, yet they refuse. They've ended it.

And it still comes back to...so what?

Even if Disney never makes another thing in the EU, it's still a thing that exists.

But the writers are still around, and Disney could still be making them, yet they refuse. They've ended it.

And it still comes back to...so what?

Even if Disney never makes another thing in the EU, it's still a thing that exists.

There's a difference between existing, and being dead.

This is still stupid argument that I'd rather not continue.

I think it is pretty clear that Star Wars needs new blood. Even Zahn isn't at the top of his game when writing Star Wars.

Though, they did keep some of the better talent.

It isn't that the alliance couldn't have done so, it's partly that any background performer that had a second of screen time became a hugely important role in the Galaxy at large and was super connected to the rebellion or the heroes of the film. If the new canon divorces itself from that, I'm all for it. Part of the reason I don't like the prequels is that everything is so interconnected to a ridiculous degree that it comes of very contrived. Now I will be the first to say that the original trilogy is far from a good movie (plot and dialogue are very basic, but they are meant to be fun popcorn movies) but much of the lore from the eu (a lot from WEG) and prequels, the degrees of separation from the characters or rebellion gives Kevin Bacon a run for his money.

YES

I cannot fathom the mindset of anyone who sees a huge, rich fictional universe, and then wants to have the same 50 characters doing everything in it (whether that person is creating or consuming the fiction).

My go-to Star Wars sarcasm always revolves around the conceit that R2-D2 and C-3P0 are like the most important figures in the entire galaxy, because they're non-stop involved with all the most significant events.

If Chewbacca shows up in Rogue One I'm going to be gritting my teeth so hard timelines will unravel and the 1989 version of me will need to see a dentist.

But the writers are still around, and Disney could still be making them, yet they refuse. They've ended it.

And it still comes back to...so what?

Even if Disney never makes another thing in the EU, it's still a thing that exists.

But it's no longer Star Wars. It's now no different to fanfic.

Further, no Mon Calamari vessels are seen until Return of the Jedi.

Which means what?

You don't see Jabba's Palace until RotJ. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist until RotJ.

We saw Jabba's palace in The Clone Wars. We see Jabba in The Phantom Menace.

The point being that there is no evidence for Mon Calamari ships in the rebel fleet until just before the Battle of Endor. Even at the end of The Empire Strikes back, with the rebel fleet having gathered to lick their wounds after Hoth, there are no Mon Calamari vessels.

Without TCW and the Prequels, for all we might have known, Jabba's palace could have been built after A New Hope or even after The Empire Strikes Back. Obviously it's somewhat lived-in for being that freshly constructed.

To me it makes the most sense for the Empire to have reached its peak level of control over the galaxy around 5-10 years after the close of the Clone Wars. And then to slowly start losing control around the time of Rebels and then once we get into the original trilogy, the Empire's collapse begins to snowball, as the Empire goes from stomping out the embers of rebellion to losing the first Death Star, then Mon Cala and Sullust (and who knows how many other systems) until the Emperor gambles the continued existence of the Empire and his very life against the destruction of the bulk of the rebel fleet at Endor.

1: We have never seen an Alliance combat fleet before Endor in the new canon so saying there were no Mon cal cruisers in the ESB fleet, which for all I can recall was primarily a support fleet and I'm not even sure if we saw all of it, is no proof that the rebels didn't have any yet. All I remember seeing is a couple of transports, the medical frigate, and a few fighters with absolutely no proof that what we saw was the entire rebel force present.

2: In EU/Legends they avoided clashing with the opening scrawl of ANH, which was clearly talking about a space battle, by having Mon Cala liberated by an internal revolt then allying with the Alliance covertly.

In the new canon we have no idea where the battle took place. All we know is that the rebels won and that at the time the battle took place a team of spies managed to steal the Death Star plans. For all we know that battle took place at Mon Cala.

But it's no longer Star Wars. It's now no different to fanfic.

I got news for you. That's all it EVER was. The EU has NEVER been canon to the films. It's ALWAYS been it's own thing.

There's a difference between existing, and being dead.

This is still stupid argument that I'd rather not continue.

Then stop trying to get the last word in.

The new canon leia comics have mon cal ships in the rebel service at the time of ANH. Multiple rebels cells and fleets scattered around the galaxy.

Interesting.

But the writers are still around, and Disney could still be making them, yet they refuse. They've ended it.

Which is not the same as "getting rid of it" and "pretending it never existed." They're sourcing heavily from the old EU material. Besides, the Legends canon was pretty much complete anyway. It even had an ending.

That, and it was being overwritten long before Disney took over by TCW.

I never said it has anything to do with the canon change.

But you implied it. Otherwise it's got nothing to do with the case at hand at all and bringing it up is both irrelevant and misleading.

The point being that there is no evidence for Mon Calamari ships in the rebel fleet until just before the Battle of Endor. Even at the end of The Empire Strikes back, with the rebel fleet having gathered to lick their wounds after Hoth, there are no Mon Calamari vessels.

So everything that you see was built literally just before you see it? You don't see the Mon Calamari capital ships until 6. That means they were built before 6. Beyond that, we have no idea when.

You don't see any at the Rebel fleet because they hadn't physically built the filming models for them, they probably hadn't even thought them up yet. They needed a rebel ship for the end of the film so they made the Nebulon-B and they reused the transport from earlier and the CR90 from ANH for the others. Same reason there are no A-wings or B-wings on Yavin or Hoth: they designed the models for the third OT film.

YES

I cannot fathom the mindset of anyone who sees a huge, rich fictional universe, and then wants to have the same 50 characters doing everything in it (whether that person is creating or consuming the fiction).

My go-to Star Wars sarcasm always revolves around the conceit that R2-D2 and C-3P0 are like the most important figures in the entire galaxy, because they're non-stop involved with all the most significant events.

If Chewbacca shows up in Rogue One I'm going to be gritting my teeth so hard timelines will unravel and the 1989 version of me will need to see a dentist.

That is the main reason I like the new canon so far. Reading the Heir to the Jedi novel, a minor movie character shows up (Major Bren Derlin) and he and his squad were doing a mission. Run of the mill operation, not single handedly liberating Mon Cala (Dac) or some nonsense.

We also don't know if the Mon Calamari are enslaved, as they were. Remember admiral Akbar used to be Tarkin's house elf.. Err.. Personal slave. Yet we see him in Clone Wars, he is a knowledgable military commander already. I suspect that while repressed, Dac will have not joined the rebellion till after the events of A New Hope, where the Emperor Disolves the senate.

I never said it has anything to do with the canon change.

But you implied it. Otherwise it's got nothing to do with the case at hand at all and bringing it up is both irrelevant and misleading.

Then why'd you bring it up?

There's a difference between existing, and being dead.

This is still stupid argument that I'd rather not continue.

Then stop trying to get the last word in.

Why are you so adamant on not letting me have my own opinion?

It isn't that the alliance couldn't have done so, it's partly that any background performer that had a second of screen time became a hugely important role in the Galaxy at large and was super connected to the rebellion or the heroes of the film. If the new canon divorces itself from that, I'm all for it. Part of the reason I don't like the prequels is that everything is so interconnected to a ridiculous degree that it comes of very contrived. Now I will be the first to say that the original trilogy is far from a good movie (plot and dialogue are very basic, but they are meant to be fun popcorn movies) but much of the lore from the eu (a lot from WEG) and prequels, the degrees of separation from the characters or rebellion gives Kevin Bacon a run for his money.

YES

I cannot fathom the mindset of anyone who sees a huge, rich fictional universe, and then wants to have the same 50 characters doing everything in it (whether that person is creating or consuming the fiction).

My go-to Star Wars sarcasm always revolves around the conceit that R2-D2 and C-3P0 are like the most important figures in the entire galaxy, because they're non-stop involved with all the most significant events.

If Chewbacca shows up in Rogue One I'm going to be gritting my teeth so hard timelines will unravel and the 1989 version of me will need to see a dentist.

Umm there's plenty of material in the EU that doesn't revolve around main characters. Example: X-Wing Series, Choices of One etc.

Then why'd you bring it up?

You brought it up. It was you who said they'd stopped printing Legends material to back up the claim that Disney are "getting rid of" the EU and "pretending it never existed." I pointed this out as false: they still are printing Legends material. You then stated that they are not printing all of it, to which I replied that was the case before Disney and the canon change: that's not Disney's doing. You then said that you never said it was Disney's doing, to which I asked why you brought up old books going out of print in the first place.

We also don't know if the Mon Calamari are enslaved, as they were. Remember admiral Akbar used to be Tarkin's house elf.. Err.. Personal slave. Yet we see him in Clone Wars, he is a knowledgable military commander already. I suspect that while repressed, Dac will have not joined the rebellion till after the events of A New Hope, where the Emperor Disolves the senate.

I think it's very likely that Mon Calamari will be in a poor state from Imperial treatment. They only change things where they have cause to: most of WEG (I think WEG anyway)'s Imperial governmental structure has been kept, for example. They're cleaning out the derp and making changes where it's useful.

The A-wings come in sooner because they wanted to use the RMQ designs. That, and the alternative is Y-wings (which are more strongly established as bombers now) or X-wings (which'd be a little uncreative and they probably want to do the Fresia heist as part of SWR or even Rogue One). A-wings fit in the ship nicely, they get to make them blue, and making them KSE makes perfect sense.