We played yesterday and the Empire lost the rebel base ground assault, allowing them to escape. There were a lot of troops on both sides involved, including two shield generators which ultimately led to the rebel win.

On the rebel side, they had some 10 ground units and the imperials had about 6, including 2 x AT-AT and 2 x AT-ST.

Next time, I will use a much lighter garrison across the rest of the galaxy - I didn't keep enough ground force with my fleets, they really need to be packed out with troops if your rebel is going to turtle up.

I also had some difficulty with remote systems taking up my time being scouted & using up valuable leader activations.

Only being able to deploy 2 units per world is a big deal, and 0 deployments on remote worlds - that's huge too.

Was a good game, but bitter to be defeated in ground assault by the rebels!

Imperial ground forces are a key factor in the game.

Things to keep in mind:

The rebels have an objective to destroy 3 health worth of units in combat they initiated.

The rebels have several ways to take advantage of subjugated systems.

The rebels have several ways to take advantage of lightly defended systems.

If you spread defenses, you have more units to push with, or assault the base with.

At the same time, this leaves you open to lots of problems. Undefended loyal systems can be used to launch hidden fleets. Loyal systems can be turned neutral - subjugated, then used to launch uprisings, and once cleared of defenders, can be used to launch hidden fleets.

It's one of those double edge sword issues. If you leave too much behind, you can't destroy the base. Leave too little and you can't defend what you have. "The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."

As the Imps, I make systems that can build ground units a high priority, and as the rebels, I make these a prime target for control and sabotage.