Hi all

been a member on the forum for some time but I don't post much. However I have been having trouble with defeating rebels using my Imperial force. It getting to the point that I no longer enjoy games and I'm thinking of selling my stuff. However I have decided to give things a bit more time and so I'm looking for help and advice.

I just don't seem to be able to do any damage to the rebels, and keep getting tabled by a seemingly unstoppable rebal onslaught. My experience is that the rebels use all sorts of doge and cover to avoid taking armour rolls and use a lot of pierce to negate my armour. The rebel units all seem good dealing decent damage as well as being able to use reoccurring doge's to great benefit. However my Imperials suffer from white attack dice and pierce negating any armour as well as sharpshooter negating any cover I may find.

Han is just killing me with all of his tricks and teamed up with Chewie all but unstoppable.

my opponent uses several sniper units, Leia, Han, Chewie, Trooper units with specialists.

he can some times use Luke in stead of leia.

I just feel like the rebels have all the advantages and the empire is being left behind.

Any help or advice on empire tactiks/ tricks will be of great use.

many thanks

Ant

Next time you loose take his/her Leia and throw it to the other side of the room. You will not win, but you'll feel better.

What list are you using? What units do you have? Easier to suggest strategy when we know what you're working with.

In our last game I had the following:-

Veers, esteemed leader.

Boba Fett, hunter, duck and cover.

E-web, barrage generator.

4x storm trooper units.

1 x4 man scout unit with the sniper, duck and cover.

1 x2 man scout unit with the sniper, duck and cover.

2x spreader bike units with long range comms.

I think that was about it.

i also have another scout box, AT-ST, Vader, 2x snow trooper and another unit of storm troopers.

If those Stormtroopers are naked, you're missing out on a lot of damage. Put DLT-19s in those squads to add two red dice and the ability to suppress at range 4 or split fire and suppress two units.

Get those snows into the game! At least one fully loaded with grenades and the flamethrower will rock his world.

Imperials and Rebels were dead even in the top 6 at LVO. They can both put in work and are pretty well balanced!

I have tried using snow troopers in games but my experience is that they get focused on and suppressed till they can only crawl across the table before being slaughtered by snipers.

i was using DLT 19's in my trooper units but due to the cover rules and doge's they could cause no damage and only put on so,e suppression that would be got rid of by Leia soon after or by an officer. This left me with a lot of points used up and a small army that as swamped by numerous rebel trooper units (that are stupidly cheep).

what are the rebel's weakness?

how do I stop my units from being wiped out the moment that a rebel gets them in range?

the rebels seem to have so much firepower and imperial armour is made a mockery of by pierce, how do I get around this.?

No offense. It almost seems like you don’t know that critical hits can’t be dodged. What with how badly dodges are messing with you.

Or that snowtroopers still get to shoot even when suppressed into taking a single move action.

Try this:

Snows (795/800)
Empire

General Veers (80)
- Improvised Orders (10)
= 90 total points

Snowtroopers (48)
- Fragmentation Grenades (5)
- Flametrooper (20)
- Imperial Officer (20)
= 93 total points

Snowtroopers (48)
- Fragmentation Grenades (5)
- Flametrooper (20)
- Snowtrooper (12)
= 85 total points

Stormtroopers (44)
- DLT-19 Stormtrooper (24)
- FX-9 Medical Droid (19)
= 87 total points

Stormtroopers (44)
- DLT-19 Stormtrooper (24)
= 68 total points

Stormtroopers (44)
- DLT-19 Stormtrooper (24)
= 68 total points

Stormtroopers (44)
- DLT-19 Stormtrooper (24)
= 68 total points

Scout Troopers Strike Team (16)
- DLT-19x Sniper (28)
= 44 total points

Scout Troopers Strike Team (16)
- DLT-19x Sniper (28)
= 44 total points

Boba Fett (140)
- Hunter (6)
- Recon Intel (2)
= 148 total points

Commands: Whipcord Launcher, Maximum Firepower, ZX Flame Projector, Push, Coordinated Fire, Z-6 Jetpack Rocket, Standing Orders

Two snows help limit focus fire death, but you’ll want to keep them behind line of sight blocking as long as possible. Terrain might also be an issue for your games?

Use Boba to mess with objective grabbing or a last/first finisher on Han. If you can, focus fire with your snipes and DLTs to either panic units or force then into single actions. Z-6 squads and other rebel units hate only single actions. You can also mess with upgrades to your flavor.

I also realize I included an officer that you might not have… just put another snow trooper in and add esteemed leader for veers.

47 minutes ago, frogkiss12 said:

I have tried using snow troopers in games but my experience is that they get focused on and suppressed till they can only crawl across the table before being slaughtered by snipers.

i was using DLT 19's in my trooper units but due to the cover rules and doge's they could cause no damage and only put on so,e suppression that would be got rid of by Leia soon after or by an officer. This left me with a lot of points used up and a small army that as swamped by numerous rebel trooper units (that are stupidly cheep).

what are the rebel's weakness?

how do I stop my units from being wiped out the moment that a rebel gets them in range?

the rebels seem to have so much firepower and imperial armour is made a mockery of by pierce, how do I get around this.?

Focus on objectives that help you. Let him sit behind cover as Boba runs away with a crate round 2

All rebel units have bad defense and have to rely on cover and/or dodge to keep alive. It sounds like your opponent isn't leaving troops out in the open, which means your next best bet is to keep them suppressed with your DLTs and snipers. 1 speed 2 move isn't generally enough to get from cover piece to cover piece so capitalize on when your opponent repositions as it's unlikely they'll have dodge tokens beyond what Leia can hand out.

I, like the tauntaun scout, am wondering if you're playing all the rules right. I could have easily posted that I need help, my Rebels are shooting nerf guns and have wet toilet paper for defense dice.

The imperials have all all the tricks and tools and cool weapons. They have that beast palpatine, how can I win?

I would encourage playing the objectives and like every other table top dice game, focus fire to bring their units down. Read the rules, Then reread the rules, there's something you're missing. The factions/armies are actually very balanced.

Use the DLTs. They're the lifeblood of a Stormtrooper squad. Make use of Stormtroopers' precise keyword to try and get as many crits as possible if you're worried about cover, suppression, or dodges. If your enemy is behind cover, don't feel obligated to attack them head-on. Even if they're somehow always on an objective, mass fire on one or two units; you'll get hits through eventually. Your AT-ST's grenade launcher has blast, which ignores cover for every weapon in the attack pool; great for pushing units out of cover when combined with the main guns.

Also: remember the game is won on objectives, not on units defeated. Use those speeder bikes to roll up a flank and focus on taking down your opponent's corps units while your stormtroopers suppress squads and seize objectives.

Definitely use your snowtroopers. With flamers and grenades they are premiere assault infantry, you just need to move them from cover to cover to get into range one.

47 minutes ago, Hawkstrike said:

Also: remember the game is won on objectives, not on units defeated. Use those speeder bikes to roll up a flank and focus on taking down your opponent's corps units while your stormtroopers suppress squads and seize objectives.

Definitely use your snowtroopers. With flamers and grenades they are premiere assault infantry, you just need to move them from cover to cover to get into range one.

I agree with the above statement. Use your bikes to flank, (it's called a "bike train") You need to hit your opponent's unit that will be flanked first with your 1 pip veers card and your sniper team. Have Boba go with the bikes as well. Have the first bike attack the closest unit on the flank, then do the same with the next bike. Use Veer's 2 pip on turn 2 and don't aim with your bikes, only use the compulsory move, dodge, and shoot. Each turn you are in range to attack. Boba will be there for added support. You will cut through you opponents units extremely fast with this tactic. Here is a visual. The two trooper units on the left should be snow troopers running at your opponent full force looking to draw fire away from Boba and the bikes. They will die, that is fine. Your bikes and Boba will kill most of their army by turn 5. Here is a visual, obviously the setup will be different each time, but this is the general idea.

The key is to eliminate the closest threat, force him to use 2 activations to even reach you to attack. If you can use the 2 bikes and boba to eliminate the main threat in range 3, then do the same thing the next round, and the next it will work incredibly well.

You can break it down to two issues:

1) the army list
2) how you use the units/terrain/objectives

1) to be honest, I think the list is rather weak. I tend to win most games in my community but wouldn't see me doing nearly as good with that. Without going into detail, I advise you to browse through lists in the internet (for example: https://swlegionodds.com/2019/02/10/lvo-top-6-lists-and-brief-reca/) to find strong and successful lists.

2) The game is won by objectives. Every action you take in the game should first and foremost help you win the objective. Never run out in the open unless it is necessary to give you an advantage in winning the game. Stay in cover when possible, don't shoot at units if it is not likely it gives you a benefit (hard cover + dodge is not a good target). Hiding behind terrain and waiting for an opportunity can often be the better choice. Look what units you opponent has and try to find a counter. Han is bothering you? Try entangling him in Close combat (doubly move to to that is fine!), he will be occupied for some time. Snipers are bothering you? Use Veers 1-pip to get rid of a unit in round 1. Fleet Troopers are piercing you to pieces? The have only range 2: wait for them to come to you and position yourself in a way, that they have to go into the open to do so. Walking carpet? Wound him with your units and time the kill for Boba to get the bounty!

Believe us and the statistics, the fractions are very well balanced. Don't blame the rebels being overpowered but look at what you can change to even the odds. Also talk with your opponents after the game. What do they think you could have done better. What situations were they affraid of? You could even do a list swap some time and look if your opponent can outplay you with imperials as well. Maybe the rebel playstyle is more suited for you and you would like to play them more often. And most of all: don't focus on winning the game, focus on having fun!

10 hours ago, frogkiss12 said:

In our last game I had the following:-

Veers, esteemed leader.

Boba Fett, hunter, duck and cover.

E-web, barrage generator.

4x storm trooper units.

1 x4 man scout unit with the sniper, duck and cover.

1 x2 man scout unit with the sniper, duck and cover.

2x spreader bike units with long range comms.

I think that was about it.

i also have another scout box, AT-ST, Vader, 2x snow trooper and another unit of storm troopers.

As others have stated, use the DLTs, but do not split fire. The DLTs are one of the best unit upgrades in the game and without them a Stormtrooper unit is all but neutered. White dice tend to have a lot of swing, but when coupled with red dice, they should net you with a decent amount of hits. Also I would recommend picking up a pack of the Specialists, using the Coordinated Fire Command card it comes with would help your issue of not rolling enough hits.

Do not use the 4 man Scout unit and break out that second sniper strike team unit (two man) instead. The white defense dice on the Scouts don’t work well with a lot of imperial player’s play style. The sniper strike team units are ok, because you can keep them far away from Z6 Trooper units or whiny farm boys while giving cover fire to your troops as they approach the enemy. The Strike Team should have the sniper mini in the open and the extra mini in complete cover (not seen by anyone). When the sniper dies, the extra mini becomes a sniper mini since your sniper is the commander and the extra mini gets promoted to be commander (not sure if you knew this or not). Because of this you get two kicks at the can (so to speak) and no matter how much damage your opponent rolls he can only kill the one (cause the other cant be seen), so Duck and Cover is kind of a waste on these guys. You’re better off with Hunter (if you have extra of those cards) so they can help take out those Commanders that are giving your troops so much trouble.

Hopefully you’re not sending your Speederbikes straight at the enemy, but if you do, you’re at least backing them up with a strong trooper presence and maybe a dodge token. Speederbikes can be tricky to play and should be held in reserve so you can do runs at the enemy flank (killing enemy snipers is always fun). Personally I’ve never liked Long Range Comms, 10 points each is an insane price and to me is a waste, but to each their own.

Veers should have Improvised Orders. You have 5 different types of units. The odds of pulling what you want when you want it are near impossible, adding a second draw will help a lot.

The last thing is, don’t forget that you can take advantage of cover too. It may not help much against Leia or Han, but it will against those Z6s and red dice are good, but not invincible.

Another thing you can try, is to watch other Imperial players take on Rebels, so you can see how they approach things. If there aren’t any other players you can watch, there are lots on YouTube. It’s hard for us to help with such a general question without seeing what you’re doing (or not doing), we just don’t know what you don’t know. 😁

Hope this helps.

An AT-ST with concussion grenades and aim tokens ignores cover and can re-roll misses to hope for extra crits. Just sayin'. It can be hacked down but it'll usually take some time and that means the opponent isn't shooting at other things.

Since blast applies to all the dice, if you can get in range two, you can combine fire with the main gun and reliably delete small squads in cover.

Get a pack of specialists. 1 of the command cards is super "meh" but two of them are rock stars.

Here's my idea using stuff that you have:

Veers - Improvised Orders

2x Snowtrooper w/ Flametrooper and Extra Trooper

4x Stormtrooper with DLT, Extra Trooper, Scopes and Grenades

(alternately you can drop two of these to slot in two bikes. Each squad is 90 points so it won't change your list)

E-Web with Barrage

2x Scout Strike teams with Sonic Charge

If you haven't used the sonic charge before there's a learning curve but it's definitely worth it.

So, the true purpose of a mine filed is to direct the enemy's movement. Use the sonic charges in conjunction with the E-WEB to close of 1/4 to 1/2 of the battlefield while you use the flanking maneuver described above.

When using sonics keep the following in mind.

A charge can be detonated by any unit with detonate after ANY unit does ANY thing.

Timing when you move them and when you place them is also important. It can be good to keep the units in cover and have them salting the earth. once the enemy gets close enough you can use a combo of throw -> move -> blow (the move being back out of the range) If you did it right (and they did it very wrong) you'll have them able to be hit by two at once.

Also make sure that the back up bomber is always out of range of thrown mines. Sometimes you've got to be ready to sacrifice a sapper for the greater good. If his buddy is out of range he lives to fight next round.

Once they get their hands burned a few times most rebel players will avoid your mines and that lets you define the battle on your terms rather than theirs.

Try to get some frag grenades too. There's nothing like getting your snowtroopers in range and saying "I've got 5 red and 6 black: blast and surge to crit." If nothing else they are in one of the season kits if a store is doing organized play.

How are you playing your command cards?

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to help me with your comments. I have a lot to read and think about, much musing to be done.

I'm an imperial player that has been sticking with it. I don't win many games. I'm hoping to "solve" this puzzle for myself. Sometimes playstyle and the way the faction works doesn't always add up together. You might very well just be needing that one particular unit that fits your style to really let your method of play shine. Keep at it!

Personally I think they miscalculated Han Solo and he's completely over powered. But that's just me.

Yeah like some people said, if you have problems with the rebs playing cover games bust out anything with the keyword blast because it ignores cover. At the same time though, the imperials have the better defense dice so keeping yourself in cover helps a lot too.

6 hours ago, TauntaunScout said:

Personally I think they miscalculated Han Solo and he's completely over powered. But that's just me.

He is worthless when he is engaged, which is why you didnt see him in any top lists at the most recent big tournament LVO. He is very effective, but requires careful play, and melee units ruin him if they are used last/first.

6 hours ago, TauntaunScout said:

Personally I think they miscalculated Han Solo and he's completely over powered. But that's just me.

It's just you