I, like Jahled, haven't played an unedited game for... years... I remember, though, that I played against the AI as the Rebs in expert. But that's too long ago... I remember sending Mon Mothma, Leia and Dodonna to diplomatic missions while keeping luke recruiting and Han inciting some uprising on Imperial worlds. The main disadvantage of the Rebels at the beginning is that they can't build strong ships from the beginning. They have to wait until the Mon Cal is ready for construction and a Mon Cal is at disadvantage against any Impstar. Han Solo's double speed bonus comes in handy when you learn that in Corellia there are a couple of nasty Star Destroyer that aren't moving and Han happens to be in Drall. You can send him to Corellia to try to sabotage the ships. He hardly fails at that. I can't remember much of my strategies with the original settings. When playing Rebs one must annoy the Empire during its first 100 - 150 days. Also keep always a backup base, a system, preferably one of the unexplored ones where you could send the headquarters if you get the feeling that the empire is on you.