Undeterred by the setback of the Death Star’s destruction near Yavin, the Emperor has pressed on with the next phase of his master plan to bring peace and stability to the galaxy. By secretly sacrificing the prototype of his ultimate weapon and allowing the Rebellion to believe that they had struck a blow against him, they had unwittingly revealed the identity of their key members and therefore confirmed the long held suspicion of the Sith Lord.
The rebels had long since fled from that ancient Massassi stronghold and gone into hiding again. But the Emperor knew that it would not be long before they would try to recruit more worlds to their ill fated cause. It was now time to strike quickly against those planets that might fall to this subversion and therefore limit the Rebellion’s resources. Mammoth ships like the real Death Star still under construction or the newly launched Executor were grand statements of intent by the Empire to strike fear into most planetary systems, but those super vessels were few and some planets saw their weaknesses as well as their strengths. For them, only a strong general navy would bring them in line.
Battle 1 – General Breakdown
The prototype of the Raider Class was almost ready for its first test sorties and initial tour of duty. Some outfitting still remained, but Moff Ritmarsh had been assigned to oversee the final stages and to take command on its maiden voyage.
Having been proud to be given his orders by Lord Vader himself aboard the flag ship of the fleet, he was being transported to an orbital staging platform at the edge of Imperial space to ensure that the last supplies needed for the Raider were being dispatched before going on to the planet Taanab where the Raider itself is being constructed.
Grinning to himself, Ritmarsh knew that if all things went to plan, he would finally be granted the title of Grand Moff and be given his own set of systems to control. With a jolt he was thrown from his chair and was thrown across the passenger cabin, his head colliding with the table where the bottle of Corellian wine had stood just moments ago.
“Lord Ritmarsh. Sir!”
Ritmarsh flicked his eyes open, he was sat back in his seat, “Colonel, what happened?”
Colonel Jendon, the highly experienced shuttle pilot stood upright now that his Lord had awoken. “Sir you’ve been unconscious for about ten minutes. The Ion coolant rods overheated throwing us back to subspace. The hyperdrive is none functional and the main engines are running at reduced power.”
“So when will we arrive at Taanab?” the Moff demanded?
Jendon kept calm and managed not to roll his eyes. “Sir, the hyperdrive is non functional and we have droids working on it but we may need spare parts. I’ve sent out a call and a VT-49 should be here soon to assist. Until then, I’ve started to move us close to an asteroid field for cover.”
“An asteroid field? Are you mad?” the Moff blasted.
“Sir, I thought it wise. We have 3 possible Rebel Marks in the area and approaching. I’m quite confident that my Lord would prefer not to be taken captive at this point in his career?” With that, Jendon spun on his heals and paced towards the cockpit.
Imperial Forces – Colonel Jendon in Lambda Shuttle with a Navigator crew member. Patrol Leader in a VT-49 equipped with a Tactical Jammer.
Rebel Forces – Wedge Antilles in an X-Wing and two rookie X-Wing pilots. He is taking them on a training patrol flight and has stumbled across the sticken shuttle.
Setup – Six asteroids are placed randomly on the 3′ x 3′ board with each player alternating their placement. No asteroid can be withing range 2 of any board edge and within range 1 of any other asteroid. The Shuttle starts within range 1 of the Imperial Board edge in the exact centre. The rebels start within range 2 of theit board edge.
Victory Conditions – The Rebels win if the shuttle is destroyed. The Imperials win if the Shuttle reaches the Rebel board edge.
Additional Rules – The Decimator will arrive from ANY board edge at the start of the second turn. Place it so that the base is touching a board edge.
Battle 2 – Following the breadcrumbs
After either capturing the shuttle or it escaped, Wedge was curious as to why a high ranking officer would be in this area of space. None of the officers on board the captured shuttle would state anything, so Wedge contacted his friend, Han S0l0.
“Well if it isn’t Captain Antilles? What’s the problem”, Han smirked on the hologram.
“Han, I need a favour. I took out a regular training patrol earier an stumbled across a damaged Lambda. I got the destination coordinates before it escaped/from its Nav Computer. I think it’s worth a quick look from someone not in an X-Wing.”
Hand laughed, “OK buddy. The Falcon’s pretty well known these days as well. I think its something to do with a few small incidents around Tatooine, Alderaan and Yavin a while back.” Han was always so modest. “Sure, Chewie and I need to get away from the constant discussions here.” He shook his head, “I swear this rebellion is determined to talk the Empire into submission. I’ve got a call I can make, but I better back him up if things turn ugly otherwise I’ll have ANOTHER price on my head”.
Imperial Forces – 4 Obsidian Squadron pilots, Turr Phennir in his TIE Interceptor with Swarm Tactics and a Saber Squadron pilot.
Rebel Forces – Leebo in the YT2400 with a recon specialist aboard and Lone Wolf. Han Solo in his YT1300 with the Millenium Falcon title card, C-3PO aboard and a Gunner.
Setup – Place a marker for the space station in the Imperial half of the board, but further than rang two from any board edge. The space station should be treat as an obstacle. The Imperial ships start in pairs within range 1 of the two side edges and the imperial edge. The rebels place Leebo within range 2 of the rebel board edge.
Victory conditions – Leebo must “Slice” the space station 4 times and escape from the board by the Rebel edge.
Special Rules –
Leebo’s YT2400 has an extra Action of “Slice”. This can only be done if within range 3 of the space station. When this occurs, add one mission token to his card. When collecting the first token, the imperial roll a single attack die and the rebels roll three defencing dice. If the Imperials manage to get at least 1 focus result more than the rebels evade results, his cover is blown. On the second token, two dice each are rolled. After the third token, the imperials rolls 3 and the rebels one. On the fourth token, Leebo’s cover is automatically blown. Once his cover is blown, Leebo can continue to slice as an action and dice do not need to be rolled.
The imperials CANNOT attack Leebo until his cover is blown. His cover will be blown if any one of the following occurs: He makes anything other than a green manouever, he gets within range 2 of the space station, he shoots first, he target locks anything. When his cover is blown, the imperials can attack freely that turn. The Falcon is will then enter place in the next turn and placed against any board edge and can be used normally from that point.
Battle 3 – Break the supply lines
With help from his smuggler contact, Han Solo sent the information to the Rebel fleet enroute to the newly established hidden rebel base. The data revealed the location of Project Raider, the design and construction of a new anti-fighter corvette. They Rebels were close to recruiting the world of Mon Calamari and others. They would add large vessels that could directly compete with Star Destroyers and the rumoured Super Star Destroyer. Until then, their fleet mainly consisted of fighters and bombers, supported by medium sized corvettes and frigates.
“If this ship comes into service it will severely restrict our ability to fight the Empire on our own terms.” Mon Mothma strode around the projected hologram of the Raider plans suspended in the centre of the conference room aboard the “Salvation”, the captured Nebulon-B that was now the flagship of the Rebel fleet.
General Dodonna stared intently at the projected image, “It does look like a vessel capable of causing us a large amount of problems. Some of the newer ships we have commissioned with Incom may help, but they will not arrive soon enough. Our T-65s and especially the BTL-S3s will be vulnerable, we must do something quickly”
“And hope that we are already not too late” Princess Leia mused from her own seat. Next to her, General Carlist Reikan stood up, “We must strike hard and fast. We can have a CR90 there in a day or so, but it will need fighter support to take down any outlying defences”
“I agree” Mon Mothma nodded. “General Reikan, please arrange for a two stage attack on the construction site. In the mean time….” The leader of the Rebellion turned to Leia “Can you contact Captain Solo and thank him for his services and then speak to Captain Antilles at the Academy and ask him to launch an attack on the supply depot?”
“Of course, but is it wise? Captain Antilles only has cadets available.”
Mon Mothma stepped forward and took a spare seat next to the Princess and spoke more softly, “I realise that Your Highness, but we have little choice. A raid against the lightly defended depot may slow the imperials down a little and mean that they have to divert forces to attend to the damage.”
Reikan retook his seat, “And it may buy us enough time to put together a strike team against the construction site led by General Skywalker before that monstrosity” he pointed at the hologram “can come into service”
The next day, Wedge, sat in the cockpit of his trusty X-Wing and prepared to make the jump to the Imperial Supply depot, a wing of recruits alongside him. “Han, you don’t have to do this you know?”.
The voice of the Correllian smuggler crackled back over the comlink “Look, the way I figure it, these rookies of yours need see a REAL pilot in action and just pick up YOUR bad habits”. Wedge grinned. Not everyone valued having this smuggler join their Rebellion, Wedge on the other hand was always glad to have him watch his six. “Besides, I can’t have you dying on me and welching on the hand of Sabacc we had last month!”
Imperial Forces – Captain Kagi in a shuttle with a sensor jammer, Carnor Jax in his Interceptor, 2 saber squad Interceptors, Howlrunner with swarm tactics and 3 Black squadron TIEs
Rebel Forces – Han Solo in the Millenium Falcon (incl title card) with C-3PO and a gunner, Wedge Antilles with R2-F2, and 3 Rookie X-Wing pilots.
Setup – The imperials player places all of his ships within range 1-3 of his board edge and at least range 1 away from the side. He then places 5 cargo containers with range 1-3 of his board edge and at least 1 away from each other, all facing the rebel board edge. He then takes the 5 smuggler tokens. Two of them represent valuable cargo, 2 do not. Place them randomly face down, one per container. Neither player knows the extact location of the valuable cargo. The rebels then place their ships within range 1-2 of their board edge and 1 away from the side edges.
Objectives – The imperials win if at least 1 of the two high value containers leave the rebel board edge. The rebels win if they destroy both high value containers.
Special Rules – The containers automatically move at speed 2 during the movement phase, directly toward the rebel board edge. If the Imperial shuttle is at range 1 of the container, it will move at speed 3. Containers are treated like obstacles (asteroids). The Rebels can shoot at the containers. The containers have no shields or hull points. Each container requires two critical hits to be destroyed and markers are placed on them to track damage. A destroyed container is removed from play. After the last container has been destroyed, or the last container leaves the rebel board edge, the game ends. Only at that point do the players reveal whether any of the vital contents have managed to escape!
Battle 4 – Hit them fast
Imperial Forces – Raider Corvette (if the Imperials won the last battle they can spend 10 points on upgrades), Maarek Steele (TIE Advanced) with Marksmanship, Zertik Strom (TIE Advanced), Howlrunner, 3 Black Squadron TIEs, 2 Missile Sentries (see special rules).
Rebel Forces – Luke Skywalker (X-Wing) with R2D2, Dutch Vander (Y-Wing) with R2-F2, 2x Proton Torpedos and experimental interface, 1 Gray Squad Y-Wing, 2 Red Squad X-Wings.
Setup -Play on a 3×3 foot board. The raider is placed touching the imperial board edge in the centre, pointing towards the Rebel board edge. The two missile sentries should be placed either side of the Raider and within range three of the imperial edge. Rebel fighters are then placed within range 1 of the rebel board edge, and finally, the imperial fighters are placed within range 1 of the imperial board edge.
Special Rules – 2 Missile sentries – Pilot Skill 4, 0 Defence Dice, 0 Shields, 5 hull points. 360 Degree fire arc, can maintain a single target lock and have unlimited assault missiles. Cannot move but can target an opponent and fire at the normal time based on the pilot skill.
Raider – Cannot be destroyed. The ship is currently powering up so all energy is diverted to general tasks instead meaning that an odd shot may be possible but it is not combat ready. Therefore it generates only 2 energy every turn. If damage is taken, energy tokens are removed instead (limiting its usefulness) as the main focus is to keep it alive until this initial attack concludes.
Objective – The rebels must destroy both the Missile Sentries. If they survive, the Imperials win. This game also has a time limit of 10 rounds, after which the crew of the corvette manage to power up the engines and increase energy generation.
Battle 5 – Hit them hard
Corvette vs Corvette – Each player gets their corvette for free plus the names Jaina’s Light and Assailer. Each player can spend a further 150 points. a minimum of 30 points of this MUST be spent on upgrading their corvette and non-unique fighters can be used without upgrades. No large ships. Where possible, limit the fighters to those that existed in the classic trilogy.
Played on a 4′ x 4′ board. Players start on opposite sides but deploy all their forces on their right hand side of their edge leading to them starting more in opposite corners. The corvettes must be placed facing directly forwards with their rear edge flush against the owners board edge and all remaining forces placed within range 2 of their board edge. Imperials deploy first but also have the initiative in the battle because they know the Rebels are coming.
If the Imperials won the previous encounter then the Raider corvette starts with 5 Energy. In all other cases, it starts with zero. The Rebel Corvette always starts with zero as it has just arrived from hyperspace.
Objective – destroy the opponent’s corvette and keep your alive. Both sections of the corvette must be destroyed to claim victory.
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