So I finally got to play with my imperial army after many logistical delays. This was my first time playing as the Empire (demo core set games don't count). Usually playing rebels, I always reached for the wrong defense dice. I took one ion gun for the fun of it, I think I'll take more because whatever squad was in combat, I kept wishing it had been the ion gun squad instead. My flamethrowers had a hard time getting into range of anything except vehicles. The AT-ST I found to be quite useful if only as a portable wall to keep people from shooting at my squads that were guarding objectives. I didn't upgrade it very heavily but I found it to be pretty good. It was also handy for fearlessly detonating mines ahead of my infantry. Next time I'll have a more instinctive understanding of Veer's command cards which will be helpful too. This game was played at the end of a very long day so I was generally forgetful during it.