Hey all. Just a thought, well, sort of. Maybe a grump. Meh, call it what you will.

So, just wondering, how many of you, as Imps, go for thematic over effectiveness in your open groups? I am wondering because I keep seeing people taking, say, the Royal Guards. In my mind, they should not be an every day occurance. Then should be saved for when you have Vader running around or are in a VERY high end setting. They should NOT be appearing when you are running around the evacuated Rebel base on Hoth for instance.

Now, I have nothing against Royal Guards, (of either flavour), I just prefer thematic. This would also apply to Snowtroopers or any number of other bad guys.

For my own personal edification, what say y'all?

Remembering this isn't about different villains, it's about Theme vs Effect.

I always play thematically. I read the campaign mission a day before. think about what is the location and planet. if it is Nar shaddaa for example. i might just bring along trandoshans and Hired guns.

if i bring a Nexu also, I add flavour text. like ''as you approach the bar, you encounter to Rodian gaurds at the exterior entrance, and what seems to be an exotic creature. you notice shackles on the creatures legs, it appears as if it has been tamed.''

if it is a imperial facility with a high ranking figure or a story based mission, i may bring royal guards.

Im all about the theme

I also, sometimes make wampas or wild creatures thematically attack my own imperial units if they are close. or if i cant find some flavour text to justify it.

I have also created a 'Death stick gang.' for some scum units. it is like a mini narrative within the campaign. i will sometimes say ''you notice these gang members wear a similar emblem on their shoulder.''

they can also turn up later, and i will reiterate that they have the gang colours of the Death stick gang. my rebel group really dig it

The idea of Wild creatures is fun. I have done stuff like that in other games. The idea of the recurring villains, THAT is good. If I ever get around to creating my own missions, that would be a good one to tie in. Thanks. Idea now shamelessly stolen.

But yeah, in my mind, the reason we play games like this, over say Go, is theme. Yes, Royal Guards are bad@$$ by why are they guarding a cantina on Tatooine? Why are there officers but no other imperials? Stuff like that.

It comes down entirely to playgroups.

Some people want to play competitively. They'll play the best option for the mission, and that's fine.

Some people want to play for the theme. They'll play what is appropriate. And that's fine.

Some people are going to fall somewhere in the middle, and will pick groups based on their own preferences - maybe a bit of both, or maybe 'I haven't used this yet', or 'hey, this would be really cool with my class deck'. And yes, that's fine.

Assuming, of course, that everyone is on board with it. If the Rebels want to play for theme, and the Imperial wants to play competitively...Well, there's probably going to be issues. And that's something the playgroup has to sort out for themselves - there's no 'right' way to do it.

I almost always go thematic. If I am getting stomped, though, I will consider going a little more competitively.

Also, if you want thematic, don't take trandos on Hoth. They are ectothermic and would not be able to fight in the cold.

I hadn't thought of that, the biology of a Trandoshan. Hmmmnnn, food for thought

Our group is fairly competitive, so effectiveness always overrules theme.

It really doesn’t bother me as narrative text, mission triggers and initial/reserved groups often bring enough theme to the table.

I go for theme. For instance, lots of scum in the beginning of Twin Shadows (they're competing with Fett to capture Solo) and the only time I ever plan to use Royal Guards currently is as the optional deployment to the Duke's quarters on Bespin (I'll place them on either side of him - he's a Duke, so he gets royal bodyguards).

I go for theme. For instance, lots of scum in the beginning of Twin Shadows (they're competing with Fett to capture Solo) and the only time I ever plan to use Royal Guards currently is as the optional deployment to the Duke's quarters on Bespin (I'll place them on either side of him - he's a Duke, so he gets royal bodyguards).

Interesting. My open groups for that mission are probe droid, Imperial officer (or elite Ugnaught tinkerer), and Ugnaught tinkerer. The Duke is supposed to be a leader of an independent spy ring (I think). He is secretly working for the Empire, therefore, to my thinking, he should not have any Imperials in his office apart from perhaps an officer that he relays information to.

In the two core box campaigns that I ran, I went for effectiveness although about half way through one of the campaigns there was some discussion by the rebel players that they didn't like the theme of certain units in certain situations. I did alter my playstyle a bit to match their expectations but that was partially because I was very much winning the campaign at that point and was trying to make things more competitive by placing restraints on myself as the imperial.

when i ran the spec ops deck, I ALWAYS had ISBs in my opens. I'm currently running hoth with precision training, so I ALWAYS have snowtroopers. I like to have some amount of theme.

I never use Royal Guard because they are neither thematic nor effective.

When I'm picking open groups I'll look over a mission to see how badly I'm going to be crushing the Rebel scum that day. If it will be hard then I'll pick good units that work well with the threat level. If it's going to be easy then I'll pick fun units like Bantha, higher priced elites I normally don't take like Tuskens, Wampa, ISB etc. If it will be very easy... then it's time for IG-88, the absolute best unit for handing the Rebels a win thanks to being massively overpriced.

Speaking of theme though, it would be nice to have Imperial forces that AREN'T storm troopers, officers or probe droids, all of which are supposed to be relatively rare. I expect we'll be getting Scout Troopers before too long but they're still elite soldiers.