Bend them to your will

  
Star Wars Rebellion is a great game. If you are a fan of bigger games like War of Ring and a Star Wars fan you’ll be in Jedi heaven
The game sees the Powerful Empire square off against the underdog Rebels. At the start of the game the rebels secretly pick a planet from the pool of 32 and this is their home sweet home base which the Imperials what to find. So the game is expensive hide and seek and every time the empire slowly rolls into a new system the Rebels get to say in Eddie Murphy accent “That’s not iiiiiitttt!!”. Unless it is their home base and then the gloves are off. 
The Imperials job is easy. Find the rebel base and wipe it out. To aid them in their task they have a lot of resources at their command in the form of space and ground troops. Storm troopers, at-ats, tie fighters, star destroyers, Death Stars to name a few. The imperials always seem to have the upper hand as not only can they like the Rebels persuade systems to ally with them and thus produce more units they can subjugate rebel systems and force them to work for them too. 

  
The rebels spend their time trying to trick the Imperials away from their home base location and also go cap in hand to the various systems trying to get support. Remember murphy’s golden rule. 
Star Wars has always been about the characters (unlike every other film). Well key characters that make epic decisions. Each player starts with a brace of slowly added to characters each variously skilled in diplomacy, research, fisticuffs and something else. They have a number of uses and are effectively your actions. You can assign a character to a mission in a particular sector. block another character from completing a mission or send them to lead a fleet to another system. 

  
Missions for the imperials completed result in things like systems being turned loyal, rebel leaders captured, clues to where the rebel base isn’t and therefore narrowing down where it could be and so on. Additionally the imperials get another type of mission called a project where they get to build big stuff like super star destroyers and Death Stars.  
Missions for rebels successfully completed allow them to harass the imperials with sabotage markers, turn systems to rebel loyalty and even move their secret base. Some of them gain them loyalty and when the turn maker that starts at the bottom advances up and touches the slowly lowering loyalty marker at the top it’s a win for the rebels. So the rebels need to hold out to the biter end and the imperials need to get their distressed skates on and find that base asap

  
Battles occur when fleets meet. There’s two distinct battlegrounds per system. On the ground and in orbit. Both are exercised in the same fight and last boots standing rule the system. Battles are brutal and bringing more guns than your opponent is a goods move. Heroes bring tactics cards which inflict extra hits or reduce damage or much to the horror of the rebels we cornered in our first game stop them From bugging out when things look grim. The units have two types of attack dice. Anti small stuff and anti big stuff. Each unit fires a mix of these. Small stuff would be fighters and grunts. Big stuff would be AT ATs, speeders and capital ships. 
The theme is strong. The imperials seem overwhelming. The rebels are holding on dodging and weaving, waging a guerrilla war. The outnumbering Imperials are trying to smother the underdog. It all feels just right
The build quality is pure Fantasy Flight. The models are sweet. I particularly like the partially constructed Death Star. You will never paint all 150 of them. I know this is a challenge accepted for a lot of you painters out there but there are a shit ton of small models here. Ground troops especially. The rules are straightforward. Well laid out and well explained. No ambiguity. 

  
It’s truly a thing of beauty. Looking from the Imperial side out over the big map it’s hard not to cackle when you crush another rebel gathering. You’ll need space for this (pardon the pun). Your kitchen table might struggle. It’s not as big as say firefly but it is as big as forbidden stars. One quick note. It’s surprisingly fast to setup. You’ll be on the road in ten minutes max 
So far loving this game and my head has been strategizing for the next Game. Always a good sign. 
Well done FF another thoroughbred 
Huzzah!
Vic