Things you said that will work: Use the Emperor to recruit (leave on Coruscant) Use diplomacy strong characters to turn key systems (conyards, shipyards) Use of Vader for dip in normal/large galaxy game (use to recruit in huge gal) Start of research ASAP is good idea only after reinforcing uprising planets Construction yards, build 6 in the same spot, good move Shipyards, start with Tie Fighters (and/or build carrack cruisers) Training facilities, build troops to colonize outer rim w/ galleons (and/or build Recon droids to explore!) Send all existing fighters to Coruscant! (especially in HQ victory) Shipyards: Tie Fighters/Tie Interceptors/Tie Bombers (they are effective! against capital ships in large numbers)/Carrack Cruisers/Lancer Frigates/Interdictors/Escort Carriers/Victory I/ISD I/Strike Cruisers - nothing else matters! Fleets: Think in terms of purpose rather than ship configuration. Defense, heavy battle class with lots of fighter support. Use primarily ISD I class ships with lancer frigates as anti-fighter flak and tie interceptors as anti-fighter and tie bomber as anti-ship. Destroy or disable as many rebel anti-fighter ships as possible before sending the tie bombers into the melee. HQ Defense, defend Coruscant with an abundance of tie fighters and an Interdictor cruiser. High yields of tie fighters required to overwhelm an attacking fleet or slightly less fighters and some anti-capital ship support of ISD I, Strike Cruiser, or Dreadnaught. Raiding, light class ships with fast hyperdrive (=<60). Use primarily VSD I, and carrack cruisers. Stock the destroyers with tie bombers (bombardment bonus 2). A fleet on 8 vsd and 16 carrack loaded with 16 bombers equates to 8*4, 16*1, 16*2 = 80 bombardment value in fleet. Enough to crush two shield generators with a decent Admiral targeting at helm. Assault, heavy class ships such as ISD I supported by Lancer Frigates and Escort Carriers carrying an assortment of Tie Interceptor and Tie Bombers. Strike Cruisers if you have research progressed that far. Use of Characters. Dont bother with ranks early in game. All imperial characters have 50% leadership bonus w/ Emperor on Coruscant, use it. Systematically reinforce planets near uprising with defense while pulling troops off the planet to a nearby location. This induces uprising, use diplomats and/or command characters in the area to "Subdue Uprising" mission. Assign 2 agents and no decoys or a "bounty" type character as a decoy. Best results with 2 teams with 2 agents on each team. Contine to pull troops off until 1 unit is left and uprising is subdued, now the planet requires 0 or 1 troops and is ~50% loyal. Removal of 1 troop would turn planet neutral rather than rebel. Now proceed to diplomat the system or rest of the cluster. Likewise, find planets barely in rebel hands and use strong non-diplomatic rank characters with high leadership ratings to induce "Uprising" missions on rebel planets in the same sectors being diplomated. This has a domino effect with diplomacy turning multiple systems at once when ratings begin to shift from systems affect entire cluster. Garrisons and defense, you don't need them, use the resources elsewhere. Troops for outer rim colonizing and assault/raid fleets only. Never leave defense in one place for too long or the ships or defenses get sabotaged by good opponent. Carracks and Lancer Frigates and Strike Cruisers are among some of the best units in the game, learn how to use them. Carracks are moderately armed anti-fighter ships with fast damage repair, if shields weaken, move it to the back of the action and let it recharge and storm back into battle. Lancer Frigates are heavily armed anti-fighter and are appropriate for first wave use against an incoming squadron of rebel fighters and/or as the "Surround" formation assigned to waypoint or flagship forms a defensive sphere with large numbers of these ships creating an impenetrable bubble of death for fighters trying to move within it. Strike Cruisers have the best value of Turbolaser/Ion cannon firepower of any anti-capital ship class in the Imperial fleet.