I'm thinking about using some rebel deployment cards to replacement an initial group in an upcoming side mission. Without any major spoilers, the mission calls for the rebels to go fight some mafioso's. The mission calls for a pair of Gamorean guards and an imperial officer for initial groups plus an imperial probe droid. Given that the rebels are going to fight some local crime lords, I thought it would be more cool if they were to meet the Wookie warriors (8) instead or the r-Gamorean (6) and the r-officer (2). Or maybe just a straight swap for the gamorean guards. They stats favor the rebels pretty heavy in this mission so I'm not too worried about it.

In general, I was thinking that using some rebel deployment cards could add some diversity to the game and get use of some of these figures. (Poor Wookies have never seen the table, and they've got a great paint job).

Anyone else play with this?

OK, I tried it.

Basically, I replaced the Gamorean Gaurds(6) and the imperial officer (2) with the rWookie Warriors (8). Thematically, it was great. The rebels walked knowingly into a trap to find a number of enemies and these two bad-A wookies. But, I have to admit that they may have tilted the game a bit. In this particular mission, the 11 health wookies had a pretty big impact on the game since they were really great tanks. Moreover, I think my rebels were a little afraid of them and so they really didn't even take shots at them until it was too late. This might not have been such as issue, except that it was our first side mission and the rebels still have their starting weapons. I tried to back off without it being too obvious but ultimately I crushed them. In the end, I let them reach the last objective without putting up a fight but decided to award everyone full mission rewards.

In short, yes it was fun and made for a good story. And yes, it seemed to impact game balance. I'm not saying I won't try something similar again, but wearily.

In my experience, rebels losing their first side mission tends to result in a more even campaign. (If they win the intro.)

I gave both sides full rewards in this case since it had been "tampered with". But, I think you're right. If for not other reason than it might make them a little more cautious, which plays to the empires favor. I once demolished my group in a round and a half...they still haven't fully recovered:)