Now that Rise of the Empire is out we can start speculating about the next possible expansion.

Personally I would like to get a Rebels themed one, with Grand Admiral Thrawn, Governor Pryce and Kallus for the Empire. The Rebels could get Hera, Sabine, Kanan and probably Ezra or Zeb.

As new units I can imagine A-wings and Hammerhead corvettes for the Rebels, TIE Defenders, speeder bikes and the small SD like spaceship for Imperials

The mandalorians should also join the game. Either as a third faction or both players may gain their support.

What do you think?

1 hour ago, Pappkristof said:

Now that Rise of the Empire is out we can start speculating about the next possible expansion.

Personally I would like to get a Rebels themed one, with Grand Admiral Thrawn, Governor Pryce and Kallus for the Empire. The Rebels could get Hera, Sabine, Kanan and probably Ezra or Zeb.

As new units I can imagine A-wings and Hammerhead corvettes for the Rebels, TIE Defenders, speeder bikes and the small SD like spaceship for Imperials

The mandalorians should also join the game. Either as a third faction or both players may gain their support.

What do you think?

Mandalor should absolutely not be a faction. every planet on the board is a faction already with it's own infighting (political or military) and various side supporting the rebels or empire. Mandalor isn't special in that regard.

Some mandalor themed missions or objectives could be nice though.

As for leaders I don't think I'd have Kallus as an imperial leader unless you had some interesting betrayal mechanic. Which could be interesting. The Grand Inquisitor could be a good leader. Personally I feel Count Vidian has a place given his importance to the imperial war machine in the early stages of the rebellion. Iden Versio from Inferno Squadron could be a great leader too.

Now that I think about it Iden Versio totally should have been the leader instead of Krennic's Finest. She fits perfectly for that skill set.

Hmm. Is the Zann Consortium canon?

More on topic, a ring for the Ghost seems like a good choice.

With Jabba and Fett being imperial leaders I think it's near impossible we'll have a crime based faction added to the game. Or a new faction at all. Which is kinda a shame.

14 hours ago, davidumstattd said:

With Jabba and Fett being imperial leaders I think it's near impossible we'll have a crime based faction added to the game. Or a new faction at all. Which is kinda a shame.

In x-wing Boba has both an imperial and a Scum card so we still have hope.

15 hours ago, davidumstattd said:

Mandalor should absolutely not be a faction. every planet on the board is a faction already with it's own infighting (political or military) and various side supporting the rebels or empire. Mandalor isn't special in that regard.

Some mandalor themed missions or objectives could be nice though.

As for leaders I don't think I'd have Kallus as an imperial leader unless you had some interesting betrayal mechanic. Which could be interesting. The Grand Inquisitor could be a good leader. Personally I feel Count Vidian has a place given his importance to the imperial war machine in the early stages of the rebellion. Iden Versio from Inferno Squadron could be a great leader too.

Now that I think about it Iden Versio totally should have been the leader instead of Krennic's Finest. She fits perfectly for that skill set.

For Kallus it would be really interesting to have a betrayal mechanism. Maybe imperial until the rebels gain enough reputation or there is an objective card to recruit him from the Empire.

Another idea is to have different game modes, including a more balanced one with a storyline set after the Battle of Endor. These could involve different starting leaders too.

13 hours ago, Pappkristof said:

Another idea is to have different game modes, including a more balanced one with a storyline set after the Battle of Endor. These could involve different starting leaders too.

More balanced? The base game is one of the most well balanced game designed.

9 hours ago, davidumstattd said:

More balanced? The base game is one of the most well balanced game designed.

I meant the Rebellion's and the Empire's power would be more balanced for example in a game mode set after the Battle of Endor. In this mode the rebels'a objective would be to capture Coruscant.

12 hours ago, Pappkristof said:

I meant the Rebellion's and the Empire's power would be more balanced for example in a game mode set after the Battle of Endor. In this mode the rebels'a objective would be to capture Coruscant.

More symmetric is the term you're looking for. Not more balanced.

In canon that conflict only lasted a year though. And I find asymmetry more interesting in games when it's balanced.

1 hour ago, davidumstattd said:

More symmetric is the term you're looking for. Not more balanced.

Yeah. That's what I meant.

Leaders for Factions (A)=Admiral (G)=General

Rebel

(A) Hera : 2 Red 1 Yellow 2 Small Red 3 space 1 Ground

(G) Kanan : 1 Blue 1 Red 1 small red and blue 1 space 2 Ground

(A) Sabine : 1 Red 2 Small Blue 2 space 1 Ground

(G) Ezra : 1 Blue 2 small yellow 1 space 1 ground

Empire

(A) Thrawn : 3 Blue 2 Small Blue 3 Space 1 Ground

(A) Konstatine: 1 Blue 1 Red 1 2 Space 1 Ground or (A) Inquisitor: 3 Red 1 Space 1Ground

(G) Kallus: 2 Red 1Blue 2 small blue 1 Space 2 Ground

(G) Pryce : 2 Yellow 1 Blue 2 small yellow 1 Space 1Ground

Recruit Cards:

Rebel

Hera + Kanan : The Ghost: Instant Put a Ghost Ring on this leader. Once per space combat the ghost can cancel a red or black dice

Hera : Chopper: Put the chopper ring on this leader. When on a (blue) mission if you fail you may discard the chopper ring to reattempt that mission

Kanan : Bendu's Wisdom: Special: When you draw an objective card you may play this card to put that objective at the bottom of the deck and draw a new one

Sabine: Heir to the Darksaber: Instant: Put three (triangle) and one (circle) ground units on mandolore. If combat would happen use this leader as the general and resolve.

Sabine + Ezra : One big happy family: Your leader pool is increased by 1 until the end of the game

Ezra : Maul's Apprentice: Special: When opposed on a mission if you succeed you may play this card to prevent the opposing leader from returning to the leader pool this turn

Imperial

Thrawn + Kallus : Rooting out the spy: Assignment: Choose a Leader and give them to the Rebel Player. The Rebel Player MUST put the leader in a region where the rebel base is not located. The rebel player may return that leader to their leader pool next round and use it as their own

Thrawn: A plan executed to perfection: Assignment: Activate a system and move any imperial units from adjacent systems to this system. If there is combat resolve it. Then return this leader back to the leader pool. He may not be assigned to a mission this round but can be used to activate another system.

Kallus: ISB's Best: Assignment: Place this leader in any system with rebel loyalty. Draw two probe cards

Pryce + Inquisitor/Konstatine : Requesting Imperial Aide: Instant: Advance the Build Queue

Inquisitor: Some Things are worse than Death: Special: If a mission fails with this leader on it you may sacrifice this leader. If you do recruit another leader this turn.

Konstatine: Proud Defiance: Special: During Combat discard this card to destroy two (circle) rebel ships

Pryce : Friends in high places: Instant: Gain imperial loyalty in any one system

I have some ideas for mission cards but I will post those later


Oh two more rebel leader ideas

(G) Ahsoka: 2 Blue 2 Red 2 small blue 1 Space 1 Ground

(G) Rex: 2 Red 2 Small Red 0 Space 3 Ground

Ahsoka: Fulcrum: Instant Place a fulcrum ring on this leader. The first mission this leader opposes a discard this ring and that mission automatically fails.

Ahsoka + Rex: Experience Out Ranks Everything: Special: Discard this card to reroll 2 dice during a mission or combat

Rex : Clone Trooper: Special: During combat discard this card to destroy three (triangle) ground units

With their decision to avoid anything from Rebels in the RotE expansion, I've been wondering if FFG has an expansion idea based on Rebels in the pipe. Some thoughts I've been kicking around...

• Instead of adding new plastic units, I'd be much more interested in an expansion which included board overlays, if not a whole new game board. Something to change up the map would totally alter the dynamic of the game and keep things fresh. It would also provide an opportunity to add some new planets to the game which have appeared in recent media (Rebels, Rogue One, the comics, the sequel trilogy, etc).
• New mission/objective cards would be fine, but I'd like to see another "alternate start" mode too. The Empire doesn't start with a Death Star, and can only build one through Project cards... the Rebel reputation starts a little lower but the Empire has better probe information (draws three cards per turn, instead of two? Begins the game with some additional Probe cards?). Basically, I'd like to see an option that leads to slightly shorter games ( < 2 hours), uses the same core mechanics, but speeds up both the Rebels' ability to earn reputation and the Empire's ability to find the base.
• New Empire leaders could be: Thrawn, Pryce, the Grand Inquisitor, and Kallus (I picture the Rebels getting some card that's the inverse of "Lure of the Dark Side" and turns a weaker Empire leader traitor).
• There are lots of options for new Rebel leaders... Hera, Commander Sato, Ahsoka, and Kanan (or another member of the Ghost crew, like Sabine or Ezra). I think the best way to represent the full crew of the Ghost would be with a ring attachment for Hera and Kanan. I like the idea of Sato and Ahsoka having an action card that allows them to sacrifice themselves to give the Rebels an advantage.