Galactic Empire

The Imperial emblem, from the original game's Diplomacy mission picture (Empire version)

The Galactic Empire is one of the two sides a player can command in Star Wars: Rebellion; the other is the Rebel Alliance. The manual's opening statement for the Empire player calls for expanding control of the galaxy to build up resources and for attacking the Alliance headquarters and leadership directly.

Goals and play style

The manual's statement for the Empire describes the Alliance as having few numbers, scattered influence and weak defenses. It says that wider control of the galaxy supplies the resources to expand Imperial forces, and possibly to rebuild the Death Star. It tells the player to destroy the Alliance headquarters and to capture Mon Mothma and Luke Skywalker.

The manual's overview of the two sides says that the specific types and numbers of ships, troops and special forces depend on the side chosen. Its example for the Empire is the ability to build large numbers of stormtroopers. It adds that an Imperial player can attempt to assassinate enemies or, with enough resources, rebuild the Death Star.

Coruscant starts every game with its population fully (100 percent) loyal to the Empire. Unlike the Alliance headquarters, Imperial headquarters at Coruscant cannot move. Losing a headquarters causes a large loss of popular support, but Coruscant, if captured, can possibly be retaken by the Empire, whereas a destroyed Alliance headquarters is gone for good.

Victory conditions

To win as the Empire, the player must locate and destroy the Alliance headquarters and must capture and hold two Alliance key leaders, Mon Mothma and Luke Skywalker. The manual adds that captured key characters can escape through a Rescue mission, so they need to be kept in a well-defended system or kept moving.

Because the Alliance can relocate its headquarters, the manual notes that the Empire has to find it first, and suggests scouting unexplored systems with Reconnaissance and then following up with repeated Espionage. After locating it, the manual advises blockading the system. The headquarters can be destroyed in two ways: by bombarding it and then taking the system with an assault, or by destroying the whole system with a Death Star.

The Empire's own key characters, Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, are the targets of the Alliance's victory conditions. The manual advises basing them on well-defended systems and sending decoys along when they go on missions.

Starting characters

The Empire always begins with Emperor Palpatine on Coruscant. The other six core characters, Needa, Veers, Piett, Ozzel, Jerjerrod and Darth Vader, are each placed on a system or fleet chosen at random from those the Empire holds. One further randomly chosen character is added for a small galaxy, two for a medium galaxy and four for a large galaxy.

The manual states that the game has 60 characters, 30 on each side. In the game data the Empire has 30 character records: 2 major characters (Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader) and 28 minor characters.

Units

Counting the game-data records that carry the Empire flag and not the Alliance flag gives these numbers for units that only the Empire can use.

Type	Empire-only records	Examples
Capital ships	15	Imperial Star Destroyer, Super Star Destroyer, Victory Destroyer, Interdictor Cruiser, Death Star
Fighters	4	TIE Fighter, TIE Interceptor, TIE Bomber, TIE Defender
Troops	5	Stormtrooper Regiment, Imperial Fleet Regiment, Imperial Army Regiment, War Droid Regiment, Dark Trooper Regiment
Special forces	5	Imperial Probe Droid, Imperial Espionage Droid, Imperial Commandos, Noghri Death Commandos, Bounty Hunters

The game data flags the six manufacturing facilities, the two production facilities (mine and refinery) and five of the six defensive facilities as available to both sides. The sixth, the Death Star Shield, is flagged for the Empire only. The manual says it protects a Death Star against attack by fighters.

Death Star

In the manual the Death Star is an Empire-only ship type. Deploying one consumes heavy resources and much time, and the manual advises against committing to it casually or early in a game. A Death Star in a sector helps the Empire maintain control of systems there, while using it to destroy a planet lowers popular support throughout the galaxy. The Destroy System option is available only to the Empire, and only with a Death Star in the fleet. According to the manual, a Death Star can be defended against Alliance warships and fighters only by constructing Death Star Shields at the system where it is stationed.

Side-specific missions

Only the Empire may perform the Assassination mission. Its purpose is to wound or kill one Alliance character who is in a given fleet or system, and the outcome rests on the combat ratings of the assigned team. The manual's mission table agrees. It adds that primary characters such as Luke Skywalker cannot be killed this way, although a wound leaves them easier to seize.

The Death Star Sabotage mission, by contrast, is restricted to the Alliance.

Agent

The LucasArts product site's FAQ names IMP-22 as the agent that keeps the Imperial player informed of events.