Announcing The Star Wars: Rebellion Board Game

While Fantasy Flight has brought us some great miniature, card, and role-playing games in the Star Wars universe in recent years, we’ve yet to see the full-fledged board game treatment that so many fans want.

While Fantasy Flight has brought us some great miniature, card, and role-playing games in the Star Wars universe in recent years, we’ve yet to see the full-fledged board game treatment that so many fans want. That changes in 2016, as the tabletop game developer is pulling back the curtain on Star Wars: Rebellion, a board game of galactic conquest, heroic narratives, and epic space battles.

We traveled to Fantasy Flight to play Star Wars: Rebellion ahead of its announcement, where we were checked out an early version of the game and spoke to the creators. Our gameplay impressions and comments from the team can be found in this month’s issue of Game Informermagazine, but for folks looking to get the basics, we’ve got you covered.

Star Wars: Rebellion is a board game that opens with the galaxy how we remember it at the beginning of Episode IV. Leia is part of a fledgling Rebel Alliance. The Emperor’s forces have completed the first Death Star. Darth Vader is a brutal enforcer of his master’s will.

In an asymmetric game of strategy, you and up to three friends control the two sides of the conflict. The Empire and its massive fleets are hunting down the Rebel base. The Rebel Alliance is working to destabilize the Empire and prove its vulnerability. Named hero characters, like Han Solo and Boba Fett, drive the action.

The game unfolds on a massive board that shows off over 30 classic Star Wars planets, each with their own allegiances. Of course, the Death Star can blow any of them up, if the Imperial player wants. Star Destroyers, X-Wings, and all the other familiar original trilogy vehicles are deployed across the map, represented as beautifully crafted miniatures. Character hero standees tower over the board, representing their larger-than-life influence on galactic affairs.

I had a blast exploring the early version of the game. If you’re as stoked as we are to finally have a full-fledged Star Wars narrative-based strategy game, go check out additional details in this month’s issue. Fantasy Flight plans to release Star Wars: Rebellion in 2016, not long after the launch of the new movie, The Force Awakens.