First up... the core Leaders and core Missions for each side

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/1/18/powerful-allies/

And Core Missions:

Very excited for this game. It is looking like another home run for ffg

I gotta say, I can't wait for this game, but I don't see a lot of space for expansion. New planets seems to be out, but even the numbers on the different units don't offer a lot of room for future variation. I hope I'm wrong. In either case, I see this as a game that gets modded a lot by the fan community.

Why are new planets out? They could just add a new quadrant to the 'north' of the board or have overlays that you put on existing planets. They could easily add new leaders too and even a new leader stat.

EDIT: It sounds like theres a big amount of deception/intrigue in this game. I'm guessing to sabotage your opponent's missions you assign a leader to an opponent's hidden mission and you subtract your leaders skill from their leader's skill. I.E. I send Mon Mothma to do Build Alliance, the imperial player sends Palpatine to sabotage that... Thats 3 diplomacy minus 3 diplomacy. I need atleast 1 diplomacy so I fail. However, if that mission was actually Rapid Mobilization then I would succeed because Palpatine has no logistics. It'd be my 1 logistics minus Palpatine's zero.

EDIT EDIT: Gather Intel confuses me though... I guess it just relies on the rebel player being 100% honest about how many units he has at his base. But that seems really powerful for a basic mission since if I drew 4 probe cards, I know the base is at a system with 16-19 units. It seems like it really shoes horns the rebel player into not putting units at their base which kinda kills some variability in the longevity of the game and leaves it up to chance whether or not the imperial player stumbles upon the base with minimum defenses.

I'm getting very excited for this game. Recently got the new Dracula game, Warhammer Quest, and now this will be out soon. Good times. Most excited for this one though. I have wanted a full on Star Wars board game for as long as I can remember. Finally!!!

EDIT EDIT: Gather Intel confuses me though... I guess it just relies on the rebel player being 100% honest about how many units he has at his base. But that seems really powerful for a basic mission since if I drew 4 probe cards, I know the base is at a system with 16-19 units. It seems like it really shoes horns the rebel player into not putting units at their base which kinda kills some variability in the longevity of the game and leaves it up to chance whether or not the imperial player stumbles upon the base with minimum defenses.

There is actually a "Secret Rebel Base" area on the corner of the board were the Rebel player can garrison troops without actually having them visible on a planet. Presumably this also prevents these units from being attacked by the imperial player until the base is revealed.

EDIT EDIT: Gather Intel confuses me though... I guess it just relies on the rebel player being 100% honest about how many units he has at his base. But that seems really powerful for a basic mission since if I drew 4 probe cards, I know the base is at a system with 16-19 units. It seems like it really shoes horns the rebel player into not putting units at their base which kinda kills some variability in the longevity of the game and leaves it up to chance whether or not the imperial player stumbles upon the base with minimum defenses.

There is actually a "Secret Rebel Base" area on the corner of the board were the Rebel player can garrison troops without actually having them visible on a planet. Presumably this also prevents these units from being attacked by the imperial player until the base is revealed.

Oh ok, then that solves that major problem.

I'm quite excited about this game too, and if it's a stand-alone game or with just one or two expansions (like Lords of Waterdeep > Scoundrels of Skullport kind of thing) that'd be great. I have loads of friends who like/love Star Wars universe, but aren't into games with loads of expansions and extra bits like X-Wing, Armada, or Imperial Assault. So that kind of simple one-box solution game would be perfect for us to play.

I doesnt look like the rebels will be winning many early game battles as the starting imp heroes kick the crap out of the starting rebel heroes in terms of ground/space tactic values (tho it does seem like you would have to choose to use Vader/Emperor either for their numbers or their symbols).

Getting the balance right on this game is going to be really tricky.

Yeah, I noticed that too. From a military perspective, the Empire looks like they're ready to go with Vader and the Emperor. As it should be. But to use them to move fleets and ground forces, they aren't available for mission cards. The potential for some really tough choices is exciting. Can't wait for tomorrow's preview.

I'm quite excited about this game too, and if it's a stand-alone game or with just one or two expansions (like Lords of Waterdeep > Scoundrels of Skullport kind of thing) that'd be great. I have loads of friends who like/love Star Wars universe, but aren't into games with loads of expansions and extra bits like X-Wing, Armada, or Imperial Assault. So that kind of simple one-box solution game would be perfect for us to play.

Right there with you, man. I'm actually really excited about a game that's all in one box, and wouldn't be disappointed at all if this is the whole thing, right here.

Why are new planets out? They could just add a new quadrant to the 'north' of the board or have overlays that you put on existing planets. They could easily add new leaders too and even a new leader stat.

From a game mechanics perspective, the amount of time the Imperials have to narrow down the list of possible planets holding the rebel base (and then attack) it is balanced against that 14 space timer mechanic they revealed. To add more planets anywhere to the board lowers the chance the Imps could find it in time. Now the balance to that would be to increase the length of the turn track if more planets are added, but that would increase game time, perhaps significantly. Would the designers be willing to add perhaps hours of game time for a few planets only some of us know?

Overlays would be a better alternative for new planets but the planets themselves have little value beyond being spaces on the board (as an aside, have they revealed any missions that are planet specific? That would tell us something about how they would make expansions). Would new planet overlays vary the game experience enough to justify adding them? My gut says no, it isn't a compelling reason to expand if only EU-hardcores know these planets. This thing already has a 100+ price point.