Star Wars: Rebellion (board game)

Star Wars: Rebellion lets players re-enact the "epic conflict" between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire.{{Cite web|title=Star Wars: Rebellion|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/187645/star-wars-rebellion|access-date=2022-01-24|website=BoardGameGeek|language=en-US}} Players take control of various prominent characters from the Star Wars saga, sending them on secret missions and leading troops in combat across the galaxy.

The two factions have different strategies and objectives. The Rebel Alliance is vastly outnumbered and cannot survive a head-on fight; instead, it must remain hidden and rely on subterfuge, guerrilla tactics, and diplomacy to undermine the Empire. The Rebels win the game by gaining enough support to start a full-scale galactic revolt and overthrow the Empire.

The Galactic Empire is a vast, tyrannical regime that rules many systems throughout the galaxy with an iron fist. The Imperials can easily build terrifying weapons of war in large quantities. Although their forces are many, their only chance of extinguishing the spark of rebellion is to spread throughout the galaxy, quell uprisings, and search for the hidden Rebel base. They win the game by finding where the Rebel base is located and conquering it.

File:Star Wars Rebellion - Starting Board Setup.jpg

Each game round is split up into three phases:

1. The Assignment Phase - Each player, starting with the Rebel player, assigns their leaders to missions.
2. The Command Phase - Each player takes turns revealing missions or activating systems to move units.
3. The Refresh Phase - Each player retrieves all their leaders back to their leader pool, draws two mission cards, the Imperial player draws two probe cards, the Rebel player draws an objective card, the time marker advances one, and units are deployed. The Rebel player moves their reputation marker towards the time marker by completing objectives.

If, usually during the command phase, a system contains both Rebel and Imperial units in either the ground or space arenas or both, then combat takes place until both arenas contain only one side's units. Combat involves rolling dice to determine hits and playing tactic cards to perform additional actions in attack and in defense.

The game ends with:

1. An Imperial player victory by them conquering the Rebel base's system, or
2. A Rebel player victory by having the reputation marker and time marker in the same space of the time track.

• A Game Board (split in 2 halves)
• Various cards used for player objectives, missions, actions, tactics, and searching for the rebel base
• Faction mats for each player
• Plastic miniatures representing the Imperial and Rebel fleets
• Cardboard standees representing faction leaders
• Various cardboard markers used to represent and track damage, destroyed systems, faction loyalty, character status, and game progression
• Custom dice used during in-game combat
• A Rules Reference and a Learn to Play booklet{{cite web |title=Star Wars Rebellion |url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/star-wars-rebellion |website=Dicebreaker |access-date=2 September 2021}}

The first expansion to Star Wars: Rebellion was Rise of the Empire, released in 2017.{{cite web|last1=Theel|first1=Charlie|title=Rise of the Empire expands Star Wars: Rebellion in all the right ways|url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/08/rise-of-the-empire-expands-star-wars-rebellion-in-all-the-right-ways/|website=Ars Technica|accessdate=9 January 2018|date=12 August 2017}}{{cite web|last1=Plunkett|first1=Luke|title=Star Wars Rebellion: Rise Of The Empire: The Kotaku Review|url=https://kotaku.com/star-wars-rebellion-rise-of-the-empire-the-kotaku-rev-1819671498|website=Kotaku|accessdate=9 January 2018|date=19 October 2017}}{{cite web|title=Rise of the Empire|url=https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2017/5/5/rise-of-the-empire/|website=Fantasy Flight Games|accessdate=11 January 2018|date=5 May 2017}} This expansion focused on adding characters, units and missions from Rogue One; the expansion also overhauled the combat system known as the new Cinematic Combat system. The expansion was nominated for the 2017 Golden Geek Best Board Game Expansion.{{Cite web|title=2017 Golden Geek Best Board Game Expansion Nominee {{!}} Board Game Honor {{!}} BoardGameGeek|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamehonor/47464/2017-golden-geek-best-board-game-expansion-nominee|access-date=2022-01-24|website=boardgamegeek.com|language=en-US}}

The game has received multiple awards and honors:

• 2016 UK Games Expo Award for best Board Games with Miniatures.{{cite web|title=UKGE AWARDS: Winners 2017|url=http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/awards.php|website=UK Games Expo|accessdate=9 January 2018}}
• Golden Geek Board Game of the Year Nominee
• Golden Geek Best 2-Player Board Game in 2016.{{cite web|title=BoardGameGeek Golden Geek|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/BoardGameGeek_Golden_Geek|accessdate=9 January 2018}} Winner
• 2017 Goblin Magnifico Nominee{{Cite news|url=https://www.goblins.net/goblin-magnifico/nomination|title=Nomination|date=2017-10-20|work=La Tana dei Goblin|access-date=2018-11-07|language=it}}
• 2016 Tric Trac Nominee
• 2016 International Gamers Award - General Strategy: Two-players Nominee{{Cite web|url=http://www.internationalgamersawards.net/winners-and-nominees/nominees/2016-nominees|title=2016 Nominees - International Gamers Awards|website=www.internationalgamersawards.net|access-date=2018-11-07}}
• 2016 Cardboard Republic Immersionist Laurel Nominee{{Cite news|url=http://www.cardboardrepublic.com/articles/laurels/the-laurels-best-immersionist-games-of-2016|title=The Laurels: Best Immersionist Games Of 2016|date=2017-03-21|work=The Cardboard Republic|access-date=2018-11-07|language=en-US}}
• 2016 Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Board Game Nominee

The game has received positive reviews. [https://arstechnica.com Ars Technica] has noted that the game "has a vibrant game system at its core", Polygon has described it as an "epic game, faithful to the spirit of the original films" and "is worth your time" and [https://boardgamesland.com/ BGL] has mentioned that the game "delivers the most complete Star Wars experience in board games".{{Cite news|url=https://boardgamesland.com/best-star-wars-board-games/#StarWarsRebellion|title=Best Star Wars Board Games (Reviewed Nov. 2018) - Top 10 Revealed|date=2018-10-12|work=Board Games Land|access-date=2018-11-07|language=en-US}} Meeple Mountain have also positively commented that the "Star Wars: Rebellion not only fits the theme, it NAILS it".{{Cite news|url=https://www.meeplemountain.com/reviews/star-wars-rebellion-review-corey-konieczka/|title=Star Wars Rebellion Review - Corey Konieczka {{!}} Meeple Mountain|work=Meeple Mountain|access-date=2018-11-07|language=en-US}} As of January 2022, Star Wars Rebellion is ranked among the top ten games on BoardGameGeek, with a mean rating of 8.4/10 according to 26,000 ratings.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/star-wars-rebellion/ Star Wars: Rebellion product page] at Fantasy Flight Games
• {{Bgg|187645|Star Wars: Rebellion }}
• {{Wookieepedia|Star Wars: Rebellion (Fantasy Flight Games)}}

{{Star Wars board games}}

Category:Asymmetric board games

Category:Board games introduced in 2016

Category:Fantasy Flight Games games

Category:Science fiction board wargames

Category:Space opera board games

Rebellion