First of all, this has got to be one of the best, most exciting board games I've ever played (and we have a lot in the closet!)

During our first game, a couple things came up...

1) During initial setup, the planets that contain rebel, imperial, and subjugated systems have their probe droid cards discarded to the game box.

If the rebel player decides to use their ability to relocate the rebel base, does the imperial player get the probe cards for all systems that are currently occupied by ground troops or are loyal (as indicated under the "Revealing the Rebel Base" section of the rules reference?)

2) If not, what does the Rebel player do if they try to establish a new base, and the four (or 8) cards they draw are all currently held by the opposing Imperial player(s) as above?

Extra question:

3) Can the Imperial player both capture one leader and carbonate another, since there are two rings for each?

Also, here's the board, after we agreed to stop the game for the day. Instructional games are always slow, and never seem to finish in time!

And yes, if you haven't yet played, the game board is massive.

1. The Imp player gets the probe card for the old Rebel base system. (RR, pg 11)

2. If there are Imp units in all of the systems that the Rebel player draws from the probe deck, then they can't establish a new base that round. (RR, pg 11)

3. I would say that you can only have one or the other. The RR, pg 3 says that a leader with the carbonite attachment ring is still a captured leader.

1. The Imp player gets the probe card for the old Rebel base system. (RR, pg 11)

2. If there are Imp units in all of the systems that the Rebel player draws from the probe deck, then they can't establish a new base that round. (RR, pg 11)

3. I would say that you can only have one or the other. The RR, pg 3 says that a leader with the carbonite attachment ring is still a captured leader.

Ah yes-- examining the carbonate card resolves that question, since it is attempted against a captured leader.

And thanks for #2-- missed that.

Going back to #1, yes-- the Imp player gets the card for the system. But they also know what systems the rebel player could not have gone to-- why keep those planets buried in the probe droid deck? Just to populate the deck with known false cards?

For #1

You do not toss out the systems that start loyal to the Rebels, only the 5 that start as Imperial. Additionally, if all systems that the Rebel player draws already have Imperial units, they cannot move the base.

For #1

You do not toss out the systems that start loyal to the Rebels, only the 5 that start as Imperial. Additionally, if all systems that the Rebel player draws already have Imperial units, they cannot move the base.

True, for the original post. Yet, it would reason that there should be a mechanic for culling down the probe deck from all known impossible locations.

For #1

You do not toss out the systems that start loyal to the Rebels, only the 5 that start as Imperial. Additionally, if all systems that the Rebel player draws already have Imperial units, they cannot move the base.

True, for the original post. Yet, it would reason that there should be a mechanic for culling down the probe deck from all known impossible locations.

Part of the game for the Imp player is that they need to balance between exploring and getting probe cards. Or I should say they need to do both and at times it will be redundant. If every time the Imperial player went to a planet they got the probe card for that planet, the game would be much shorter. By putting those cards back in the deck, the Imperial player has to decide between leaving units around, or building a Force for the base. Additionally, the cards the Rebel player draws are not revealed, so the Imp player would have no idea which ones do have units and which ones don't.

Ah yes-- examining the carbonate card resolves that question, since it is attempted against a captured leader.

The consensus was that the Imperial player could theoretically capture up to 3 rebel leaders (carbon freezing one, turning another then capturing a third).

For #1

You do not toss out the systems that start loyal to the Rebels, only the 5 that start as Imperial. Additionally, if all systems that the Rebel player draws already have Imperial units, they cannot move the base.

True, for the original post. Yet, it would reason that there should be a mechanic for culling down the probe deck from all known impossible locations.

Part of the game for the Imp player is that they need to balance between exploring and getting probe cards. Or I should say they need to do both and at times it will be redundant. If every time the Imperial player went to a planet they got the probe card for that planet, the game would be much shorter. By putting those cards back in the deck, the Imperial player has to decide between leaving units around, or building a Force for the base. Additionally, the cards the Rebel player draws are not revealed, so the Imp player would have no idea which ones do have units and which ones don't.

Not quite what I was intending. This isn't an action done continuously through the gameplay. Rather, like initial setup, it is only to establish for the Imperial player which locations are not the rebel base when the player decides to relocate. It's only triggered when the rebel player acts to reestablish the base.

During my first play through my opponent (Empire) seemed to think that every time he moved ground units or gained loyalty on a planet that wasn't revealed to be the Rebel Base that I (Rebellion) needed to pull that planet's card from the probe deck. His frustration was that during several turns in which he completed the "Gather Intel" mission he drew cards from the probe cards that were of planets he already knew did not have the Rebel Base. I disagreed but couldn't find a clear answer in the rule books.

For #1

You do not toss out the systems that start loyal to the Rebels, only the 5 that start as Imperial. Additionally, if all systems that the Rebel player draws already have Imperial units, they cannot move the base.

True, for the original post. Yet, it would reason that there should be a mechanic for culling down the probe deck from all known impossible locations.

Part of the game for the Imp player is that they need to balance between exploring and getting probe cards. Or I should say they need to do both and at times it will be redundant. If every time the Imperial player went to a planet they got the probe card for that planet, the game would be much shorter. By putting those cards back in the deck, the Imperial player has to decide between leaving units around, or building a Force for the base. Additionally, the cards the Rebel player draws are not revealed, so the Imp player would have no idea which ones do have units and which ones don't.

Not quite what I was intending. This isn't an action done continuously through the gameplay. Rather, like initial setup, it is only to establish for the Imperial player which locations are not the rebel base when the player decides to relocate. It's only triggered when the rebel player acts to reestablish the base.

That is giving the Imperial player too much information and removes the need for balancing between conducting missions to draw more probe droid cards and simply exploring.

He is incorrect. You only draw probe droids during the refresh phase or if a mission specifically tells you to do so.

Moving to a planet and subjugating it gives you temporary information. Even gaining loyalty over a system is temporary since the Rebels could remove that loyalty. The only permanent information is probe droid cards, and even that comes with an exception since the Rebels have a mission to take probe cards from the Imperial player and put them back in the deck.