I'm currently running through the core game campaign with members of my gaming group. While we are all having fun and the game does actually seem balanced (at least to me, the Imperial player), the Rebel players have some complaints.

They feel like the game is too punishing for making mistakes, the synergy needed for the Rebel players gives them a disadvantage compared to the Imperial player and generally that the odds are consistently stacked against them despite games coming down to the last turn or so (even when they make non-optimal decisions).

I want to increase their enjoyment of the game, so that they don't have cause for complaint. I have considered letting up on my aggressiveness every game or even intentionally losing but they wouldn't want me to go easy on them.

Above everything I just want them to have fun and I feel like they aren't when they complain. They tell me they enjoy it but there's obviously something about it bothering them enough if they have to complain about it for 15 minutes after every mission.

Does anyone have some suggestions of how things can be played to increase their morale about this? Any tips for Rebel players to improve their strategies?

I have the same problems. My advice would basically be tough it out, they'll get over their difficulties with experience.

Go easy on them Golem. But don't *look* like you're going easy on them. I don't know, play casual!

I play game with family kids.They are 10,13,15,16 and they are not that familiar with tactics.

I know your not playing with kids but when I tried this it worked.

If rebels are losing all the time try this:

Add extra turn for the missions that are limited with time,

Do not spend all your threat points,

Sometimes I even "forget" to use some of my agenda or class cards.

Of course I do this with kids.With other groups I pound em with everything I got.

On the other hand my friends that I play with are 10 yrs D&D pen&paper players so they know their stuff.

Cheers,

SB

I'm the same as above. I play a little lighter as the imperials at the beginning of the campaign. Eventually once the heroes have enough xp the odds feel less stacked. Honestly though the odds should feel a little stacked. I mean look at how rinkydink the rebels were in the shadow of the mighty empire in the OT

The odds are stacked against the Rebels. (Luke, Han, Chewie, and Obi-Wan review the mission. "So we have to interact to disable a terminal using Insight or Tech AND we have to rescue an NPC princess? Do we have to interact to get her to move or does she become an Ally?")

However, there are a lot of things you can do in order to help new players enjoy the game that don't really look like you're going easy on them. ("They let us get away, it's the only explanation for the ease of our escape.")

I have introduced this game to many players at my LGS by running new players through Aftermath. The goal there is to have three wounded Rebels all needing to hit terminals on Round 6, but winning. The tougher it is to do, the more fun they will have, the greater chance they will pick up this great game and join us.

* Spread the Damage around. Shoot the closest Rebel instead of the one with the least health to give injured Rebels time to rest. Savvy players will see you doing this though.

* Defend objectives. Have one figure retreat back out of combat in the name of defending some object instead of attacking.

* Take shots from further away. Stating you want to get Imperial figures some cover, don't run up before taking shots, and then use their movement to move around corners.

* Leave pathways to objectives open. It's fun to find a meandering path through the guards to the objectives.

* Forget to use special abilities or otherwise maneuver so that you cannot.

* Non-upgraded regular Stormtroopers get slaughtered after about the 3rd or 4th mission, use those.

* Pick the non-optimal choice on Mission Events.

* Forewarn. The most difficult things for new players in this game are the surprises in store for them. They can't open a door without having a bucket of stormtroopers dumped on their head. Statements like, "... and the mission will progress when the Rebels open that door. Looks like something happens when you activate the terminals and I'll get some reinforcements. Also looks like you want to beware the lower rooms." can help alleviate that somewhat.

Not all of those are necessary all the time. If you start changing the rules though, (most common suggestions are usually lowered threat, or starting the Rebels with some credits and/or XP), you might find yourself quickly revisiting that decision. The game itself will balance out by improving the Rebels through wins with more XP and more equipment. I believe one will quickly find after a couple of Rebel wins that it is no longer necessary to "go easy".

So the current advice is:

1. Tough it out. This isn't much advice and I'm hopeful the Rebel players will enjoy it more when they're more upgraded in the later missions but I can't be sure. Until that point, they will continue to be upset after every mission.

2. *joke using quotes from Star Wars* Enjoyable but didn't really add anything of value to the conversation.

3. change game and/or mission rules or intentionally play poorly. house ruling is a slippery slope that can lead to some pretty broken mechanics. I have to be extra cautious when doing this sort of thing.

4. Basically that there shouldn't be anything done because they will eventually get stronger like I've been telling them. I do hope that this will happen; I've read that the Rebels are supposed to get pretty powerful by mid-late campaign. I just hope they are willing to tough it out with me.

5. This one I'm gonna mention in parts.

Part 1 - Spread damage so all heroes can rest incredibly easily which eventually prevents me from winning.

Part 2 - Defending objectives seems like smart play but I see that making the Rebel's loss even worse.

Part 3 - Make shots I'm likely to miss and spend all my movement hiding around corners that they will easily get around. Besides, wouldn't hiding actually hinder them rather than help them? They would have to spend more actions moving rather than attacking my units.

Part 4 - Leaving pathways open might work sometimes actually. I've noticed blocking paths makes it really difficult for Rebels.

Part 5 - I don't forget abilities, I did before but learned to remember. They will notice if I "forget" now.

Part 6 - I've been using a mix of units, last game was the first time I used the Nexu and the Royal Guards and they were brutal. I've always tried to keep non-elite troopers in my open groups as I enjoy those guys so much. I'll continue to bring them with me.

Part 7 - Often it seems the non-optimal choice is terrible because it will do exactly nothing. Feels a bit lame if I read some large text that lets me do something only for nothing to happen. They would ask what the other choice is and I would tell them. They would tell me it's dumb not to do the thing that is better.

Part 8 - Forewarning actually seems like it could work pretty well. I just have to choose my words carefully.

So the current advice that I'm considering following through with is:

Leave some pathways at least partially open so as not to slow the Rebels down completely.

Continue using the cheapest grunts because they will eventually become cannon fodder.

Forewarn when the mission will progress so as to give them clues about when something might be coming.

In addition to these, I've already been pointing out strategic choices to them that seem the most optimal in every game.

Beyond this, I am not sure what to do. I feel part of the issue is I learn game strategy relatively fast compared to the Rebel players. Knowing what I want to do with all of my units is pretty simple when compared to them but they have more choices available.

Is it me or are the Rebel players usually the big fat fatty-fat whiners?

Food and ice cream always make people happy.

Whiney Rebel: "In my humble opinion this game just seems a little too..."

Saavy Imperial: "Pardon me, but would you like this bowl of delicious ice cream that I just recently prepared?"

Whiney Rebel: "Oh, certainly. Thank you, kind sir."

Saavy Imperial: "You are most welcome. Now, what were you saying?"

Whiney Rebel: "Hmm. Well, it seems I quite forgot!"

Saavy Imperial: "Very well old chap! Shall we carry on then?"

Reformed Rebel: "Absolutely, or should I say, 'bring it on, I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around!'"

Everyone chortles and moves on.

Perhaps it is because my wife is 'legendary', but I find the game mostly stacked in favor of the rebels in our campaign. Each figure can activate twice per round, so they easily out pace me and can rest to no end on non-timed missions. The worst part is that wounding them takes way too many hits. The legendary rewards are in no way equivalent to having four total heroes, in my opinion.

Is it me or are the Rebel players usually the big fat fatty-fat whiners?

Complains could potentially stem from the fact that the Imperial player is most often the player that knows the rules the best and has a better understanding of how to play, often due to prior experience with games whereas the Rebels are either new to gaming or just not as seasoned in understanding strategy. This isn't even my game, the owner just bought it but expected me to learn the game so I naturally fell into the place of the Imperial player.

Food and ice cream always make people happy.

Whiney Rebel: "In my humble opinion this game just seems a little too..."

Saavy Imperial: "Pardon me, but would you like this bowl of delicious ice cream that I just recently prepared?"

Whiney Rebel: "Oh, certainly. Thank you, kind sir."

Saavy Imperial: "You are most welcome. Now, what were you saying?"

Whiney Rebel: "Hmm. Well, it seems I quite forgot!"

Saavy Imperial: "Very well old chap! Shall we carry on then?"

Reformed Rebel: "Absolutely, or should I say, 'bring it on, I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around!'"

Everyone chortles and moves on.

Well, now I need to bring icecream over during Imperial Assault night. I've tried beer but that just makes one of the players (extreme lightweight) too sleepy to play and they walk away and force one of the other players to control their Hero.

Perhaps it is because my wife is 'legendary', but I find the game mostly stacked in favor of the rebels in our campaign. Each figure can activate twice per round, so they easily out pace me and can rest to no end on non-timed missions. The worst part is that wounding them takes way too many hits. The legendary rewards are in no way equivalent to having four total heroes, in my opinion.

I have considered that it might be the better option to just have players control more than 1 Rebel than let them get tons of extra health and double activations. Feels the most balanced with 4 Rebels.

My group probably needs to learn to rest more often. They are pretty aggressive.

It all depends on what you and your groups gaming experience is.

Since I do not know you and your group my input would be to run a play through by yourself IF speed of the game is an issue for them.

Maybe get a better "feel" of where the problem starts to pop up. The strength of this game is that the Imperial player can really curb the difficulty to fit the players experience.

If they are trying to sit still and play whack-a-mole they will lose. This seems like an old (and odd) thing to say here yet again but worth repeating, really think about what they did in the films.

Luke, Han, Chewie and Obi-Wan are splitting up and hitting their own objectives. Han tries to go rogue to take out a group a troopers and almost gets killed, he doesn't do that again and runs back to the group.

They are not running around the entire Death Star looking for fights. They want to get in, shut off the tractor beam and get the hell out. "Oh, the princess is here? ****, grab her too!"

Also, you're a player as well as the one running the show so you really have to make it clear to them how much time is passing for them to get things done.

Hope this helps ya mate. It's been a long early day for me and I haven't had my coffee yet, heh.

Cheers!

All jokes aside, what you may want to do is turn the tables on your players and have all the rebel players in your group run the Imperial Side, while you take control of all 4 rebels and then run the Aftermath mission once or twice. By showing them what the rebels can do, you will help them to establish how activation order is important, and what objectives are and how to make sound tactical decisions based on limited information. I would bet that once they see how well played rebel can walk through an imperial player, that will start turning their mental gears in the correct direction.

Additionally, my advice about playing casually is actually the best advice you can be given. Let your rebels take their time, but if you make your imperial moves very quickly, and plan a bit less, your quick moves will give the rebels the impression that you know exactly what you are doing (and thus, looking like you're not pulling your punches), while at the same time not exactly making the best move every single time.

As one radio personality put it, just play with half your brain tied behind your back.

As one radio personality put it, just play with half your brain tied behind your back.

I can't shut that thing off but I'll try.

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/179388-to-prevent-snowballing-everybody-wins/

Perhaps this older thread can be useful...perhaps....

Just don't run too oppressively.

Maybe pick easier to defeat open groups.

There's one group of Rebels at our store that always conflicts with their Imperial player. He plays supressive tactics and strains the heroes so much they can't even use abilities. Avoid doing this. Avoid bringing Royal Guards and Officers as open groups, make do with extra troopers or probe droids. This gives them more pick-offable targets than the heavy hitters and action kings.

It's not purposefully playing bad but giving them a chance and challenge to develop some skill without demoralizing them. Once they are all masters of the game and a bit powered up you can up the ante on your end a bit.

We'll see. I'll try some of the suggestions here. I hope they work but this might just not be the game for this group.

What imperial build are you running?

I think that one of the bug flaws of the campaing mode is that the best imperials tactic is action denying : stun, bleed, strain, etc., and that this tactic is also the one that provide the worst experience for the rebels (What heroes will you bring? Just kidding, it wont matter as it will be full of strain all game long and wont be able to use skills!).

What imperial build are you running?

I think that one of the bug flaws of the campaing mode is that the best imperials tactic is action denying : stun, bleed, strain, etc., and that this tactic is also the one that provide the worst experience for the rebels (What heroes will you bring? Just kidding, it wont matter as it will be full of strain all game long and wont be able to use skills!).

Military Might and the base card alone has proven so useful. Heroes are free to use their abilities pretty much whenever they want to because I have so little in the way of giving them conditions.

What imperial build are you running?

I think that one of the bug flaws of the campaing mode is that the best imperials tactic is action denying : stun, bleed, strain, etc., and that this tactic is also the one that provide the worst experience for the rebels (What heroes will you bring? Just kidding, it wont matter as it will be full of strain all game long and wont be able to use skills!).

Military Might and the base card alone has proven so useful. Heroes are free to use their abilities pretty much whenever they want to because I have so little in the way of giving them conditions.

Military might starts really strong, has it has access to some cheap and amazing skill (both 3xp ones are very good), so that may be a cause of complaints, but you are right, this is far from being one of the anoying ones.

Some easy tips to encourage your players that barely cause any risk to unbalance the campaign:

- play with open items during the upgrade stage instead of the random draw from the item deck

- same for side missions

- let them trade their XP skills if they didn't like them in the last mission (nothing as bad as being stuck with a pricey skill you find useless)

- if you find that you are taking the lead thanxs to too many bonuses won by you, nothing can stop you from giving them some bonus money and XPs. It's easy to do subtly if they dont know the campaign at all, otherwise, you can warn them of the normal bonuses contained in the rewards of the scenario or even create some on your own.

Just don't run too oppressively.

Maybe pick easier to defeat open groups.

There's one group of Rebels at our store that always conflicts with their Imperial player. He plays supressive tactics and strains the heroes so much they can't even use abilities. Avoid doing this. Avoid bringing Royal Guards and Officers as open groups, make do with extra troopers or probe droids. This gives them more pick-offable targets than the heavy hitters and action kings.

It's not purposefully playing bad but giving them a chance and challenge to develop some skill without demoralizing them. Once they are all masters of the game and a bit powered up you can up the ante on your end a bit.

I think this is the best advice.

Groggy Golem,

I went through this same scenario with our group. Early on, they were outgunned and outplayed and were thus losing the early missions. By mid campaign, those upgrades and purchases start to outweigh the might of the empire. They were steam rolling towards the end aside from the finale which was very contested. Here are some things that stood out in the campaign experience:

Technological Superiority: my deck of choice. the power here diminished over the course of the campaign. towards the end, they were able to get around all my tricks.

4 xp point purchases: this is what propels the heroes to becoming powerhouses

Gideon: easily the most powerful NPC for the action economy he creates. If the party has him, they will be formidable towards the end.

Mak: The party purchased everything for him. He was attacking 7 times every two rounds and would slaughter any fresh imperial deployments

scolding: I reminded the heroes about being cry babies over the first four missions. They apologized.

Now, going forward with your own experience the players, instead of complaining, might want to focus on improving their own game. some examples:

discussing turn order: they need to learn how to build their characters into a team and how to use them (e.g. Fenn's ability to give two movement points to someone at the start of his activation; very powerful as coupled with two strain for +2 movement is an extra action for a hero per turn).

Surges: Don't forget to use that extra/unusable surge to remove a strain. The accumulation over the course of a mission will allow for an ability to trigger at the most crucial moment.

Combos: Don't forget the second half of your combo (Jyn Odan, so powerful when played well)

Movement points: Don't leave them sitting around at the end of your turn so the empire can easily return fire.

Mission objective: The heroes should understand how many interacts, might/tech checks, and moves they're going to need at the start of a mission. If they quantify that information before starting turn 1, they'll have a better understanding on how much needs to be accomplished on a turn by turn basis.

This game is so alive, it is impossible for it to be truly balanced. There are way too many variables at play. But if the heroes assess the situation and build a plan prior to turn one and make the most of the actions they're allotted, most missions should play out pretty close.

Personally, I turn my competitiveness off for this game (campaign, not skirmish) because the theme and the bits are more important than winning. My table is usually most interested in everyone playing well so I'll advise the heroes once in a while and them the same for me as the imperial player. Good play minimizes the impact of the dice rolls and makes for the most fun experience. of course, all gaming groups differ. Still, embrace the star wars theme and use those quotes to add some levity to a tense situation when it arises. It's only a game and if people aren't having fun try to understand why and what can be done about it. If it comes down to, "we aren't winning because you're too powerful or too tough", I'd argue there is more the complainers could be doing. Modifying the rules won't create a more satisfying experience. Good luck!