Spoilers below so this is for Empire Eyes Only

So we are playing our finale this evening, and I know from looking at comments (and the BGG poll which had it around 90% IP win!) that Desperate Hour is very difficult for the Rebels. I am going against a three hero team with Diala, Jyn, Mak and likely either Chewbacca or Obi-Wan (both acquired for half threat costs due to house rules). We have played 11 missions and its 6-5 rebels, so its been pretty close - but I want to make sure this finale isn't just a massive steamrolling by me.

I am trying to figure out a way to balance it a little. One thought I had was instead of allowing the AT-ST one action after each hero, I would allow it one move and one action after each Rebel activation. This way, it would give them a greater chance of having the ATST around when they get into the clearing (since they don't have Gideon, they have no way of giving it movement out of turn and it takes forever to move that thing down the hallway).

I am also considering increasing the round limit from 8 to 10. Would love thoughts on either of these strategies, or if you have other ideas - would love to hear them. I don't want to gift them a win, we finished the campaign once before (playing Last Stand as the finale) and they already beat me once - so I would love to even it up. But I also don't want to end leaving a bad taste in everyone's mouth if this finale is so out of balance in the IP favor. Its been a really fun second run through of the Core campaign, and am hoping my rebel crew buys this Imperial Player Return to Hoth for a Fathers Day present.

A couple of suggestions:

To be honest, I've had difficulty as the Imperial player twice on this mission.

If your Rebels have a decent large damage dealer (and they should, with Mak), I think they'll probably be all right.

4 minutes ago, subtrendy2 said:

To be honest, I've had difficulty as the Imperial player twice on this mission.

If your Rebels have a decent large damage dealer (and they should, with Mak), I think they'll probably be all right.

Hmmm - ok. Good to know.

Mak has the DXR with No Escape, etc - so he absolutely can deal some big damage. Diala has her special lightsaber with Way of the Sarlaac, Dancing Weapon, etc. Jyn has Peacemaker, Trick Shot, etc with the Pulse Cannon - so their attacks are pretty strong. They will likely bring chewbacca as well. They all have 15 health and Diala just bought some armor to bring her to 18 health.

Thanks for the input!

I've only played through this once and it was a Rebel win, but like Subtrendy said a lot of it kind of depends on your team. Much of the difficulty is based on how quickly they can take down Weiss when he shows up at the end of the mission.

Two things to keep in mind about the ranking on the BGG poll are:

1) Those polls are only for the first time playing through a mission, which in the vast majority of cases for the core box also means that it was their first campaign. I find that the imperial has a bit of an advantage in this game until the rebels figure out some of the finer points.

2) You only play Last Stand if you lost the previous mission, so this further biases the poll results towards groups where the imperial is winning more than losing. All of the campaigns where the rebels were being completely steamrolled end up here, whereas all of the campaigns where the rebels were dominating end up in the other finale.

So I guess what I'm saying is that I wouldn't look at that 90% win-rate and conclude that it's a completely 1-sided mission. It is hard though, no doubt, and if you're looking to even it I like A1bert's suggestion of substituting some less powerful units for strong ones like the royal guards

Huh. Chewbacca is kind of infamous for being terrible for his price, but he can deal stun and some decent damage.

With all that extra threat you get for them bringing him though- if you want to make it interesting, don't optimize it. I don't know what all you have as far as expansions go (or villains earned) but you could try getting something aesthetically exciting but a little expensive (like a Rancor, or a villain like Vader if you've earned one).

Chewbacca is awesome Protector and Slammer when the mission is long enough though (esp. when there's no time limit).

12 minutes ago, subtrendy2 said:

Huh. Chewbacca is kind of infamous for being terrible for his price, but he can deal stun and some decent damage.

With all that extra threat you get for them bringing him though- if you want to make it interesting, don't optimize it. I don't know what all you have as far as expansions go (or villains earned) but you could try getting something aesthetically exciting but a little expensive (like a Rancor, or a villain like Vader if you've earned one).

We house ruled Allies and Villains so they are able to bring in Chewy for 50% his threat cost (same for Obi-Wan - not sure who they will pick, but they really like Chewy)

So for 7 threat - he is ok. I have earned two villains, Grand Inquisitor and Boba Fett. Again, I can bring them in at half cost. I am thinking I'll bring in Fett - because he isn't too OP for my cheaper cost, and thematically he is always fun to have on the table.

Unfortunately I only have the Core Box and some villains, and a Bantha Rider (my daughter really wanted it for her Skirmish squad - not exactly sure why )

Maybe I'll add the Bantha Rider to my Open Group for the end part (since I can only deploy him on desert tiles). I don't think he is too overpowered and it might be fun to have him on the table.

Overall, with these comments I am reconsidering the position that this is impossible for the Rebels to win. It sounds like its difficult, but very doable. Once again, can't stress enough how helpful these forums are - thanks all!

I played this one and lost as the IP.

I sort of feel like the mission is front loaded for the imperials. It seemed like I could wound them all in the first 2 or 3 rounds.

I've also heard that a lot of rebel groups get screwed up by one of the later events (to be spoiler free, it's when the Rebels complete the last "mission will progress..." task - the final progression event, if you will).

As long as you don't try to crush them out of the gate and none of them go sprinting ahead I think you'll be okay.

23 minutes ago, totalnoob said:

... a Bantha Rider (my daughter really wanted it for her Skirmish squad - not exactly sure why )

Um, probably because it's awesome?

We just played 4 rounds this evening, and after everyones comments - I opted to not make any changes. Boy, am I glad I left everything alone! It is by no means an IP blowout, right now I think I am behind. They haven't gotten to the clearing yet, but still have a healthy ATST, and two (of three) healthy heroes . ATST and the two healthy heroes are right at the edge of the clearing as we start round 5.

I brought in the Inquisitor, probably too soon as I only got off one attack that landed (one was X-d). Should have saved him to use pierce vs the ATST.

We still have the second half to go, so anything can happen. But Mak with No Escape and DXR does a ton of damage is perfectly setup to take down a big baddie. We'll see. I'm hoping we resume on Father's Day , so they take it easy on me

Just to wrap up this thread - we finally finished it this evening. It took like 15 minutes into the 5th round

I made a couple mistakes and they were able to focus down Weiss pretty easily and won it. One rule thing came up that I just gave them, as it was clear I was going to lose anyway. Jyn wanted to Quick Draw Weiss in the final stage in the Clearing. I originally said no as he doesn't activate as normal. But she thought that was cheap. I couldn't find a ruling online, so it wasn't worth the fight over the rules, she ended up doing damage and stunning him. Which I think is a perfect reason as to why Quick Draw shouldn't be allowed on him.

Overall, a fun campaign that was very close. I definitely made mistakes in this finale that swung it in their favor, but if the Rebels have strong weapons - they can definitely win, so no adjustments necessary.

With the warmer weather ramping up probably need to break from campaigning - but will look to get Return to Hoth in September. Or maybe just jump to Heart of the Empire????? Hmmmmm.......

Yes, instead of activating as normal with two actions and once per round, Weiss still activates, but he receives a single action per activation.

Ruling Online: https://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/1373530/ffg-unofficial-answers-rules-questions-thread-read

(Quick Draw is only once per round, twice if Jyn has two activation tokens, so it should not be that bad.)