Can't pick a faction, don't really care to do Republic. Curious as to how each faction plays differently.

A super quick response, as I'm sure other will be able to provide better details and examples. But as the first two factions, the Rebels and Imperials are not extremely different. This is even backed up by FFG themselves. With the Republic and CIS, we're going to start seeing more faction identity.

A simple answer would be that currently Rebels are slightly better at offense, and the Imperials are slightly better at defense. There are definitely some unit specific factors that could sway someone to one side or the other. But if you're ruling out Republic or CIS upon release, I say just go with the side you like more.

Imperial are a little easier to pick up and are way more forgiving. Rebels are very dependant on having lots of cover, good dice rolls etc. The heroes for the rebels are a bit more dynamic.

1 hour ago, AldousSnow said:

A super quick response, as I'm sure other will be able to provide better details and examples. But as the first two factions, the Rebels and Imperials are not extremely different. This is even backed up by FFG themselves. With the Republic and CIS, we're going to start seeing more faction identity.

A simple answer would be that currently Rebels are slightly better at offense, and the Imperials are slightly better at defense. There are definitely some unit specific factors that could sway someone to one side or the other. But if you're ruling out Republic or CIS upon release, I say just go with the side you like more.

Hm. Interesting. I do tend to think in defensive terms, so Imperial may be my best bet.

Admittedly, kitbashed-with-imp-gear Rebels has looked quite fun, but if they're such a "RRGH" fighting force, I don't know that I can handle it.

As far as I can tell given what little is known of CIS/GAR:

Tl;dr:

Horde <- CIS - Rebels - Empire - Republic -> Elite

Rebel Alliance:

+offense

+ # heroes

+# activations

-defense

Empire:

+defense

+ high-impact heroes

+ range

- basic offense

- # activations

Republic:

+ high-impact heroes

+ # heroes ?

+ defense

+ offense

+ synergy

-- # activations

CIS:

++ # activations

+ high-impact heroes

- defense

- offense

Rebels are the quick strike.

Throw a lot of dice at it and hopefully it's dead.

Imperials are relentless. They keep coming and don't want to die.

They also make extensive use of adding suppression.

Imperials have a better defensive save, so they are more forgiving of simple mistakes, and they often have the offensive firepower to back it up. They work really well in war of attrition-style grinding campaigns.

Rebels have more dice variance, and aren't as forgiving, but can have some amazingly spectacular attacks. They're hero focused, and with their lame defense, they tend to want to dive into cover and pick up dodge tokens. I tend to see them being more successful in go for broke bold attacks and moves, but that's probably a playstyle issue more than anything.

8 hours ago, Captain Lackwit said:

Hm. Interesting. I do tend to think in defensive terms, so Imperial may be my best bet.

Admittedly, kitbashed-with-imp-gear Rebels has looked quite fun, but if they're such a "RRGH" fighting force, I don't know that I can handle it.

In case you aren't aware, the models are currently all soft plastic and come in 2-3 parts (body, arms, and sometimes heads). While kitbashing is possible, it's not nearly as easy as with hard plastic kits.

The CIS is the first faction to be released in sprues, and FFG has said they will be gradually changing the rest of the line over. That said, currently released kits aren't likely to be switched over anytime soon.

Rebels live and die based on maximizing the line of sight blocking terrain and cover. They simply cannot get into a straight out open air firefight with imperials or they will die. This is because while they chuck better attack dice, they have extremely poor defense dice and thus every hit the empire scores back is significantly more meaningful when it’s harder to cancel it.

The rebel heroes are (usually) better than their imperial counterparts. Veers and Krennic are more support-y and not much combat wise. Leia, one of the more support-y heroes of the rebellion, is still absolute nasty with her blaster pistol.

A lot of the upcoming rebel units deal with how to earn dodge tokens. So they are more evade-y to try and compensate a little for poor defense.

Empire has survivability on their side. They roll way better defense dice and thus are less dependent on cover (though cover always helps). Their units focus on gaining aim tokens, so they’re offsetting their poor offensive potential. Death troopers really are a game changer though, as are shore troopers when they arrive, because they roll just as good as the Rebels on offense AND keep the high defense of the empire. Also, empire is king of the range 4 game so they can be shooting at the Rebels unchallenged unless the Rebels are smart about using terrain to deny long range shots.

Empire you play to kill stuff; Rebels you play to hit and run for the objectives. At least, that’s my assessment.

I strongly encourage you to own both.

Getting a second core set makes a ton of sense even for single-faction players, and will set you up to play both factions. You will need, not want, a second set of dice ($15) and you will need a 3rd "corps" squad ($25), note that not all squads are "corps". So that brings us to $40 towards a second core set. The 4th squad and 2nd vehicle for your eventual favorite faction is another $45 worth of toys. Plus spare rulers and scenery. Extra Darth's and Luke's can be sold pretty reliably for around $15 or you can use them for painting practice.

This gives you enough sheer stuff to play both factions. If you buy Veers and Leia* you'll honestly have two solid 800 point lists and then you can decide what to do after you've played awhile. Even if you settle into a favorite, you'll have a spare army for friends, an army to use when you're getting bored, something to come back to later when something cool is released for that other faction, etc.

Two full armies for Legion is cheaper than one army for 40k or Warmachine.

*Or any other two opposing characters like Chewie or whoever you think looks awesome. Personally I'd go with two boxes of "Specialists" but that will cost you slightly more than two singelton heroes.

If you play as Imperial, you're the good guys. If you play as rebels, you're traitorous rebel scum.

12 minutes ago, TauntaunScout said:

I strongly encourage you to own both.

Unless you really cannot afford to do it, this is the best answer.

Mirror matches can be boring, and it’s fun to mix things up. I’m a recent convert to trying the rebellion for this game.

@Captain Lackwit One thing to call out, you’re not required to have “one of each” or “all the things” to play. You just need the things that speak to you. You can have a reasonably good army with just the 2x core set worth of product, and maybe just a bit more. Unlike x-wing, the “latest hotness” isn’t mandatory - my last game had only one new unit on the other side (tank) - the rest was wave 1-2 stuff. My side didn’t have anything newer than Han + rebel commandos (team game, my teammate built a Han list and I did a Luke list using only initial release content plus one commando team).

Initial design was Rebels hit slightly harder, defend slightly worse. Imperial was the opposite, coupled with some slow moving units.

Last few releases have broken those rules and messed up the balance.

@ScummyRebel if you build up 800 points through expansions it’s liable to cost more than a 2nd core set. The less money you have, the more sense two cores makes. If you can’t afford to save for a 2nd core instead of spending more for less via expansions, you can’t afford Legion at all.

36 minutes ago, TauntaunScout said:

@ScummyRebel if you build up 800 points through expansions it’s liable to cost more than a 2nd core set. The less money you have, the more sense two cores makes. If you can’t afford to save for a 2nd core instead of spending more for less via expansions, you can’t afford Legion at all.

While true that 2 core sets is the best way to bulk up one’s army it should be noted that one does not HAVE to keep the off-faction units. Unloading them on the Internet is also a viable option for single faction buying. Just tossing that out there as well got the OP.

1 hour ago, FSD said:

While true that 2 core sets is the best way to bulk up one’s army it should be noted that one does not HAVE to keep the off-faction units. Unloading them on the Internet is also a viable option for single faction buying. Just tossing that out there as well got the OP.

This is true! But if he's on the fence, just deciding at the start to do both factions is cheap and covers your bases. Everything in 2 core sets is useful. Unlike a lot of other games, where the core set models just gather dust while you get dragged down the money pit.

Imps are getting Dewbacks.

/mic

Imperials favor better defense, more long range firepower, and throwing out suppression.

Rebels are deadlier at close range and somewhat more mobile, but have poor saves and are not forgiving of mistakes.

If you are just starting out and want some margin for error, I would recommend Empire.

Rebels get one of the best units in the game in the T47

Like others have said it really depends on the play style that appeals to you more.

Imperials cost more points and will generally have fewer activations than the Rebels with not so much reliance on heroes. Veers and Krennic are cheap commanders that like to stay back and support the army. Vader and Palpatine are very expensive yet hard to kill and can be used aggressively for area denial. So if you want a larger more shooty list you'll primarily use Veers or Krennic and if you take Vader or Palpatine you'll be using less activations for more of an elite list. Overall they are easier to play with. To use them- basically point and shoot and march them up the field, certainly fitting for Imps

Rebels are cheaper overall points-wise and hero focused. Heroes will be the backbone of your lists and tend to be the harder hitters, will take objectives and are more survivable. The heroes are also relatively cheap with most lists running two while still having enough points left for a pretty high number of activations. There seems to be more synergy between Rebel commanders than Imperials who will usually only want to take one. They have good attacks yet are susceptible to damage and like to focus on taking objectives. I think Rebels have more of a challenge/learning curve to be successful with but there is fun in that which is why I'm starting to work on more and more Rebel lists.

-->Also note that using operatives might also swing your decision for which faction to choose- if you like bounty hunters, Imps have Boba Fett and Bossk (coming soon) who act independently and go after enemy heroes or objectives. Rebels have Chewbacca and Sabine (coming soon) that have more synergy and like to work with the commanders and the rest of the list.

If you're not wanting to play Republic then you're probably not interested in the core set coming out this fall. Therefore, I also recommend getting two original trilogy core sets as well. It's an insane value and having extra of everything is helpful, especially dice. All the units in the core are very viable today and you need a third corps unit for a valid 800 point list anyway so it's a no brainer. Either choose a faction and trade/sell off the half you won't be using or keep both factions and do what I do- focus on one faction and then dabble in the other. I have multiples of every Imperial unit (except for commanders) but only buy the Rebel expansions that interest me. It also means you'll have an army for friends or family to use (or for you to use if they want to play the faction you like better

Honestly, thank you for all the replies.

I've settled on the concept of "Ragtag Imperials". All imperial rules, units, etc. But adding rebelish things via greenstuff because why the **** not. Long range + Defensive play sounds straight up my alley.

1 hour ago, Captain Lackwit said:

Honestly, thank you for all the replies.

I've settled on the concept of "Ragtag Imperials". All imperial rules, units, etc. But adding rebelish things via greenstuff because why the **** not. Long range + Defensive play sounds straight up my alley.

Welcome to law and order (and my first faction). DLT Stormtroopers are largely your best friend now.

52 minutes ago, ScummyRebel said:

Welcome to law and order (and my first faction). DLT Stormtroopers are largely your best friend now.

And welcome to white paint

5 minutes ago, FearofaBlankPlanet said:

And welcome to white paint

I play Imps + Hoth rebels. FML. ^^

51 minutes ago, FearofaBlankPlanet said:

And welcome to white paint

Hey now, you can deviate if you really want to. My snowies don’t have a lick of white on them.

Stormies? Eh ok they’re mostly correct but I color coded their shoulder armor to match the leader’s pauldron, and they all are a unique color per unit type.

Sadly, when I tried to do my rebel troopers in a similar fashion, I was a moron and chose... gloves. Do you know how hard it is to determine glove color at tabletop distances?!? 🤦‍♂️

I may just take time to mark the undersides of the base as squad 1-3 for rebel troopers....