Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Star Wars: Rebellion, from Fantasy Flight Games, is a two-to-four-player tabletop game that pits the evil Galactic Empire against the heroes of the Rebel Alliance. The game is based on the original Star Wars trilogy and contains two game boards that fit together, a mountain of cards, and many, many, minis. The game is asymmetrical. The Empire wins if it can successfully locate and destroy the hidden Rebel base. The Rebels win if they can score enough objective points to gain popular support throughout the galaxy, (if the round marker and the objective marker, which start out on opposite sides of the track, come together). At the beginning of the game each player has several systems that are loyal to them, and the Rebel player will choose a system to be the location of the secret Rebel base. Both sides start with four leaders, iconic characters from the Star Wars movies. Beginning with the Rebel player, both sides begin to assign their leaders to missions- cards that allow the characters to do fun and interesting things. For instance, the Imperial player may attempt to capture a Rebel leader, attempt to narrow down which worlds the Rebel base is on, or build projects like the Death Star or a Super Star Destroyer from a special mission deck, and more. The Rebels missions include attempts to bring neutral systems over to the Rebel cause with diplomacy, sabotage of Imperial production, foment uprisings, and more. Players will not want to assign all of their leaders to missions, however. Leaders can also be used to oppose the other player's missions (both the leader assigned to the mission and the leader opposing it have to have skill icons that match the mission profile). Also, leaders with tactic ratings can command fleets, moving ships and units from one system to an adjacent system. When ships from one faction occupy the same space as their opponents', combat ensues. Both mission oppositions and combat are resolved with special dice rolls on custom dice. Tactic cards, based on leaders' tactic numbers, are also used in combat. After the command phase, in which missions and combat occur, players take care of housekeeping where they may also recruit new leaders from their action decks, and they may also place new units on a production track (the systems they control that allow them to build units specify what units and where they are placed on the track). Units then move down on the track and are deployed to the game board. This phase also sees the Imperial player draw two cards from the probe deck, telling him/her two systems where the Rebel base is not every round. The Rebel player will draw an objective card which gives him/her more ways to score victory points. Star Wars: Rebellion is a grand strategic game set in the Star Wars universe. I've wanted to see a Star Wars board game on the “Axis & Allies” model for years, and Fantasy Flight Games has finally given it to us. While I don't like this game as much as Fantasy Flight's Twilight Imperium, 3rd Edition, which is my favorite game of all time, it comes close. They are, of course, very different games other than the Sci-Fi theme. Tom Vasel at the Dice Tower had said that he hoped that Twilight Imperium 4th Edition would be based on Star Wars- I think this game is as close as we'll get to that idea. I really like the asymmetrical play in Star Wars: Rebellion. Both players are playing a very different game. For the Imperial player, the game is one of cat and mouse, almost like a hidden movement game on par with Fury of Dracula or Letters From Whitechapel. For the Rebel player, its a game of hitting a much larger and stronger opponent with a series of pinpricks, knowing that over time they will add up. It's a game of bluff and double bluff, as the Imperial player tries to guess at where the Rebels are, and the Rebel player has no idea what systems have already been ruled out with his/her opponent's access to the probe deck. There is also an interesting worker placement element here, as you must match your leaders with specific icons to go on missions, but must also hold some in reserve, not knowing what missions they will be able to oppose with their icons. It also means that timing is crucial. Sending a Rebel leader out on a raid while Darth Vader is still in reserve is a bad idea- sending an Imperial leader out on a diplomatic mission while Mon Mothma has not yet been played can really cost you as well. The game, however, is not simply about its mechanics- solid as they are. Rather, this game is dripping with theme- and that's why you love it. The Death Star might be destroyed at Kessel. Princess Leia might be frozen in carbonite. Lando Calrissian might train with Yoda to become a Jedi. Boba Fett might capture Chewbacca at Mon Calimari. The combinations of your own thematic Star Wars adventure are endless. Star Wars: Rebellion is a solid game from a mechanics stand point. But it is a tremendously fun game because of its theme. The four player mode, in which players split the duties of admirals and generals is fun as well, but at its heart this is a two player game. If you like Star Wars tabletop games, you will LOVE Star Wars Rebellion. Review copy provided.