I a having a ton of fun with this game. It really comes into its own once the advanced rules are put into play.

With the right combination of cards I was able to build a death star in one turn. Used the action card to pull and assign and construct a death star. Used another mission to advance it to space 3. And the last mission to put it into play.

With another lucky draw of some action cards and tactic cards I moved the other deathstar in to kill a mon cal cruiser right off the bat without it firing a shot and then a no escape tactic card to wipe the rest of the fleet.

After a few games it seems to me that the rebels really have the ground game unless the Imperials can really plan ahead for it. Being able to generate units from thin air from uprisings, and especially an air speeder, can really ruin the day.

One thing I will try later is to spread out as much as I can and hopefully get a bead on at least a general idea of the base and deny other move spots.

That's all I have for now. I am having tons of fun with this game and wish I could find more time to play.

I am sure the rebel player just laughed at the fun of it all when you speed-built that Death Star!

sorry I can only like once.

Are Death Stars really worth it? Each destroyed system is giving the Rebels a reputation point so you're trading one system for one entire game turn.

Are Death Stars really worth it? Each destroyed system is giving the Rebels a reputation point so you're trading one system for one entire game turn.

You're only looking at one element of the DS. Blowing up planets does a couple things for you. It gains you loyalty in a populated system in that region. It also removes a system from play (no base relocation to this spot, no having to secure it with military forces). It can also be used to remove a lot of ground forces. Is there a rebel system with a fair amount of ground forces you'd rather not deal with? Wipe them out in one shot without sacrificing ground units, or moving the ground units in the first place. It also gives you a pretty easy win solution if you can pin down the base. No need for a pesky invasion.

But a DS is used for more than just blowing up planets. Early on, it's an invulnerable 4 red space unit. With enough black die support, you create a pretty solid defense even against the Rebel's 1 way of destroying it later on. Plus, if you can remove their death star plans, you can make it invulnerable again. With the right tactic card you can destroy any fleet (assuming they don't have x-wings or the objective card).

It's a major player, however, I'm not a giant fan of it. I suggest using your starting DS like a hammer early on. Crush everything you can get to before they get too deep into the 2nd tier of objective cards. Then use it as a deterrent to direct combat, or even as a lure to get them to make desperate stabs at achieving objective points while leaving systems exposed to retaliation.

I personally though would rather be building a SSD than a 2nd DS. 1 less red attack, but 2 more black attack, and with 6 red health, it's a pretty hard thing to put down in normal combat anyways.

I find the downsides to the DS to be too great for the power it gives. And by the time you get a 2nd one in play, they are likely to be fairly vulnerable. Using the laser does risk objective points, and losing a DS is even more objective points.

Are Death Stars really worth it? Each destroyed system is giving the Rebels a reputation point so you're trading one system for one entire game turn.

While they are potential source of points both by blowing them up and leaving behind destroyed systems, they have a lot of advantages. They can carry 8 units with them, they bring 4 red firepower to each fight and the rebels can't destroy them unless they have a specific card (which is 2 out of 15 in the objective deck) AND have fighters present after a round of combat. A Death Star with 5 TIEs and 3 mechanized ground units can grind almost any rebel force to the ground. If the rebels don't have the right cards, they either need to retreat or lose their space fleet.

Plus using the Super Laser has major effects. It removes a system from the game and swings the loyalty of another system in the area. The secondary effect of gaining loyalty is pretty major.

Also wanted to add, destroying systems should be done strategically, not at the earliest opportunity. Just because you can blow up Alderan, doesn't mean you should.

Doesn't mean you shouldn't either

One thing I have found is that the rebels have a slight advantage when it comes to ground troops being able to create them out of thin air with uprisings. Early in the game, if there isn't enough fire power on one of the key planets to hold it, the rebel player can deny it pretty easy and it can be troublesome to get more troops over there to retake it depending on what is in the region and what is in the build queue. This problem can be worsened if the rebel player is being strategic and takes out some transports early on.

I blew up Utapu to get rid of the troops that were on it and it changed Naboo loyal. It ended up helping a bunch, I thought. In the future I wouldn't mind blowing up Dagobah or Kashyyk. Getting chewbacca for free is nuts (not brokenly so) and gives the rebels a big advantage.

As an update to the above, I tried the strategy of taking lots of systems early on. I had the rebel base found and killed in turn 5 or 6. The only missions I did was a couple of loyalty missions and the R&D mainly to counter any sabotage. Everything else was moving everywhere. When I pulled an action card with one of the generals to identify if the base was in a certain region or not really helped. In the end I stumbled upon the base with two star destroyers, an AT-ST, and an AT-AT against 2 speeders, 4 troopers, an ion cannon, and one mon cal cruiser. Short work was made of the rebel base and my opponent learned the hard lesson of having to move the base when the imperials get close.

Blowing up Kashyyk doesn't prevent the recruitment of Chewbacca from the Old Friends card. Destruction of systems does not prevent system specific events from happening.

You are right though that Imperial ground forces can be an Achilles heal for the Imps. Leaving ground forces on subjugated worlds strains their logistics a bit. By securing or sabotaging key ground unit producing planets can mean that the Imps have an even bigger issue trying to get units for conquest. They may have a massive navy flying around, but without units to subjugate planets and assault the rebel base.

If they don't realize your plan early enough, they can be left struggling later on.

In the future I wouldn't mind blowing up Dagobah or Kashyyk. Getting chewbacca for free is nuts (not brokenly so) and gives the rebels a big advantage.

As for free Chewie being unfair, I disagree. The Empire has much better leader denial ability In my first game, Leia was turned to the dark side and Ben was captured, giving the Empire 3 more leaders each turn than the Rebellion.

Getting Chewie (or Lando) for free is a huge advantage though. Don't think he said unfair.

The Imps have a lot of ways to deny actions, so having an extra leader helps mitigate that.

Under the right circumstances the rebels could have someone captured, frozen, turned, and opt to kill off a captured Ben. This would put them at 4 leaders and the Empire would have 9. 5 extra actions a round is a pretty big advantage, so anyway to close a gap created by the Imperial capture strategies would be nice.

It's certainly going to be high on my selection list for action cards.

Yah I never said getting Chewie for free was unfair, just a big advantage.

Where is this official clarification from FFG?

Yah I never said getting Chewie for free was unfair, just a big advantage.

Where is this official clarification from FFG?

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/217120-official-rules-responses/

Also wanted to add, destroying systems should be done strategically, not at the earliest opportunity. Just because you can blow up Alderan, doesn't mean you should.

The Empire greatly benifits from blowing up a system right before a build phase. You gain loyalty in every planet in the system and know If the Rebel base is located on any planet in that system. It is an amazing early advantage.

Yah I never said getting Chewie for free was unfair, just a big advantage.

Where is this official clarification from FFG?

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/217120-official-rules-responses/

Also wanted to add, destroying systems should be done strategically, not at the earliest opportunity. Just because you can blow up Alderan, doesn't mean you should.

The Empire greatly benifits from blowing up a system right before a build phase. You gain loyalty in every planet in the system and know If the Rebel base is located on any planet in that system. It is an amazing early advantage.

That's a strategic decision though and is supported by my post just above that one where I discuss the loyalty bonus. There are lots of reasons to use the superlaser, just having the option to use it shouldn't be the beginning and end of your decision to use it.

Its also useful to do during a non build turn as being able to deploy forces to that locaton can greatly increase your range.

Also double check the card:

"Destroy this system and gain 1 loyalty in 1 populous system in this region." Notice its one and not all. Remember a system is one space on the board, a region is a collection of 4 systems. Planet is a non game term which people use instead of system.

...thanks for sharing...