Hey guys, I just started playing SWR again after several years of neglect. I've run into a problem, though. I'm playing as the Empire, and I've basically been wrecking shop. All the core systems are mine, all the rim sectors have been explored, and I finally found the Rebel base. At this point, the only systems still controlled by the Rebels were Yavin, a system right next to Yavin, and this system in another rim sector where the HQ was.

 

So I sent a big fleet to the Rebel HQ, but when I got there, they had already moved the HQ and the fleet that had been guarding it. So I figured they must have sent it to one of the other two systems. I took over the system where the HQ was and sent my fleet to Yavin. I took over the remaining two systems, but neither of them had the HQ either. I must have gotten there before the headquarters did. But now the Alliance doesn't control any systems at all and my objectives list says I still have to destroy Rebel HQ!

 

So did I just make the game impossible to win, or what?

I don't think it's a glitch. Others have run into this issue before. My advice is to load that game back up, stick it on "high speed," and walk away for a little while. The Rebel HQ is still in transit across the galaxy or something, so it just has to reach that planet. Relocate fleets to the planets that the Rebels used to control, and be prepared to crush their fleet when it comes out of hyperspace. Then pounce on 'em and pound them into submission. Regardless of whether or not you win the space battle, the Rebel HQ should be destroyed, and you'll win.

Oh, okay. So the HQ will still go to whichever system it was headed for, even if it's under my control? I've never actually gotten this far with the Empire before, so I've never had to destroy Rebel HQ.

Well, I put it on fast and waited. And waited. Neither the fleet nor the HQ ever showed up after a few hundred days.

 

Here's a question, though: is it possible for the enemy in this game to settle on an unpopulated world that I've already explored, without me knowing about it? I sent scout ships or probe droids to every planet in the galaxy, but there are many systems with no inhabitants. Could the Rebellion plop down some troops on one of those planets and start building stuff without my knowledge, or is the general status of those planets (alignment of the population at least) visible to me forever as soon as I initially explore them? Maybe they have the HQ hidden in some far-off corner that they settled after my scouts discovered it.

 

Another question: I've never played with RebED before, but is there a way to use that to view certain information in my save files? i.e., could I look in my save file and see where the Rebel HQ is hiding?

Yes, the Rebels can settle on unpopulated worlds you have already explored. You will get updates of alignment changes in the Core worlds, but not the Rim ones.

A-ha. Looks like I have to search the whole rim again.

 

Thanks for the info, dude.

Ah, yes. That would be a problem. One of the reasons lots of folks prefer to play as the Rebs; victory conditions are quicker and easier.

 

That being said, you can scout out those areas very quickly if you just develop fleets for the explicit purpose of colonization. I tend to send about sixty troops on whatever is lying around/whatever I build out into an unexplored/uninhabited system. Sixty, because if worst comes to worst and all ten or so planets are occupied by the Rebels, I can storm the planet and take it all for myself, despite the diplomacy losses.

 

Stick a Star Destroyer or three in there, too, and a good Admiral/General (he or she doesn't have to be both at once, so why bother with sending two characters for the two purposes?) for defense fleets and bombardments, and you're good.

 

Oh, yes: don't forget to load up two or three escort carriers with TIE Interceptors. Those things are very much necessary, as any AI Planet worth its salt will have a ton of fighters lying about for you to deal with. Lancers are helpful, too.

 

Okay, so my fleet are usually rather armed-to-the-teeth (I imagine that'll serve me well if I ever play online) and yours don't have to be. But just remember that, and you should be fine.

 

While you make new fleets, keep sending out those probe droids. Any planet with an unsuccessful mission/reveals a Rebel planet will tell you which system(s) to invade. Hope that helped.