Review Details

Star Wars: Rebellion

Star Wars: Rebellion

Product Review (submitted on September 7, 2016):
Quick Word

Let me forewarn you, my family likes the Star Wars Saga. A lot. So much so that my son’s middle name is Knight…as in Jedi Knight. My two year old is still pretty much referred to as Star Destroyer, which was what we called him from the moment we found out we were pregnant until…will…like I said, he still goes by the moniker. In fact, my wife is due with our third child in late August and although we have not confirmed a name, I am pretty sure I it is between Yavin and…some other name she likes that I can’t remember because it is not Star Wars related.

The reason I mention this is because when this game was announced last year, it kind of seemed like a no-brainer, even though I can rarely find people willing to play a game that lasts longer than an hour and a half.

Brief Game Synopsis

Trying to pitch the game to people, I usually end up describing Star Wars: Rebellion as the queer lovechild of Risk and hide and seek. Although, grossly oversimplifying the mechanics involved in the game, I feel that sentence is enough to at least explain the gist of the game.

Toys With Rules

The Rebel player vies to garner favor from various systems while attempting to keep their base hidden from the Imperial player as he sends out probe droids in search of its location while spreading Imperial influence through the galaxy by subjugating and converting planets. Also, the Empire can blow up planets. With not one, but two Death Stars! Awesooooome!

Fantasy Flight offers a Learn to Play rule book that explains the core mechanics of the game in an easily digestible way that flows nicely. They also include a handy Rules Reference book that makes looking up rule clarifications a snap. They really do a stellar job of laying everything out and although the game seems really complicated in a turn or two you realize it is fairly elegant and simple in design.

I will say that even though the game is not too hard to grasp after a read through or two of the rule book, you may want to spend some time on the BGG rules section as there were about four rules I played with incorrectly on my first game. They were easy to overlook but pretty much cost me an easy victory as the Empire. Although, even losing due to incorrect play, I still had a blast.

Boards ‘N Bits

One of the things Fantasy Flight does very well is create games that have tremendous aesthetic appeal. Rebellion certainly falls into this category. A quick trip through the image files on BGG will simply take your breath away and the sheer feeling of power you get from wielding TWO DEATH STARS…well, it makes you understand why the bad guys chose to be bad guys.

The artwork is fantastic as they did not just go with movie stills but instead have gorgeous artwork that serves to push the theme and get players lost in the atmosphere.

I do have a few criticisms though (and they are not that bad to be honest):

Okay, so this is an epic game and as such, it takes up an epic amount of space. The BGG files have some threads about storage solutions to help ease this and I recommend looking at them as I created a Rebel box and an Imperial box that fit the components in a nice and organized way that makes setup and rules referencing a breeze (which I will probably upload the pictures in a bit).

Also, I am not much for assembling pieces (seriously, as a child my mother would not even let me play Legos with my brothers because I broke the Legos – no, I did not break apart the Legos, I broke the actual indestructible Lego blocks with some sort of child-magic). This has carried over into adult hood and my son will not let me play Legos with him for the same reason. It is why I cannot play Shadows Over Brimstone or any real war game. I broke the AT-ST trying to assemble it for Star Wars: Imperial Assault and almost snapped the top off one of the Star Destroyers because of this. I know I am in the minority here but it is something that frustrates me so I thought I would mention it.

My Thoughts

This game is fun. No two ways about it. I had high expectations and this game met and smashed them all to tiny, delightful pieces. I have played it about eight (four as Rebels, four as the Empire) times now and have only won it once (as the Rebels) because I am:

A) Horrible at board games
B) Cursed at rolling dice(I played two games back to back in one night where – and I crap you negative here – I lost EVERY single conflict roll. EVERY SINGLE ONE!)
C) More into theme than anything else (seriously sacrificed a Death Star which cost me the game simply because I thought it was thematic since I had just blown up Dagobah and captured Luke on the turn before)

That brings me to another point; this game creates some amazing moments that will stick with me for quite some time. My favorite turn was when I was the Rebels, and Wedge led an assault on a Star Destroyer directly after Leia was Captured by Bobba Fett. Wedge took the Star Destroyer down and then Han flew in using the Millennium Falcon during a mission rescuing the princess and recruiting Chewie since the mission was on Kashyyk. The next turn Chewie led a land battled liberating Kashyyk from the Empire (only to have the Death Star blow it up later that turn). It was bananas. Simply bananas.

Guest’s Thoughts

My son is normally my reviewing partner but he is a little young for this game so I asked the guy I play this game with most for his thoughts on the game:

Star Wars Rebellion perfectly captures the spirit of the Star Wars saga. The thrill of hunting down the Rebels is topped only by the rush of destroying the Death Star. There is a lot of subtly and nuance to the elegant design of this game. It is unique in that it is not quite a war game, but it kind of is at the same time. Regardless of the correct classification, it is the only game I can think of that I will devote 2-8 hours (if we play multiple games back to back) several nights in a row with.

It might also be mentioned that my friend is not a big gamer and so this is his first real entry into epic games (aside from Risk). Next on our docket is War of the Ring.

Pro’s

+ Rich, thematic atmosphere that is instantly engrossing
+ Memorable moments that stick with you
+ Easy to teach
+ So many different paths to victory means a lot of replayability

Con’s

- Game length makes it hard to get on the table frequently
- Price point – Spoiler Alert, it’s expensive
- Takes up a ton of space
- I lose all the dice rolls

Purchase, Play, or Pass

For me, this game was obviously a definite Purchase – but only because I knew I had at least one person I was guaranteed to play it with. If I hadn’t though, it would have been a Play. This game is not for everyone, so I would recommend watching some play through videos to make sure it looks like something you would enjoy.
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