Last Updated on April 23, 2020 by Vik
The Galactic Civil War was raging throughout the server in Star Wars Galaxies, but it did not yet reach its peak. The setting of the game takes place as things began to escalate on both sides. This was only the birth of the Rebellion. Fighting the Empire on open land was suicide so guerrilla tactics remained the primary mode of resistance as they continued to build up their forces. The Jedi did not have much of a presence in this war, at least on the surface. The majority of them were killed in the aftermath of Order 66 and the remaining survivors were being systematically hunted down by Darth Vader and the galaxy’s deadliest Bounty Hunters.
Slain by a Stormtrooper.
A Guide to Planetary Control
- The GCW: A History Lesson by Auraboron
- Brainstorm: Galactic Civil War Metagame by BadMisterFrosty
- Base Takedown FAQ 1.0 by NeXican
The Empire had more advanced technology, better resources, and superior firepower. It completely eclipsed the ragged remnants of the Rebellion on all fronts, but it could not destroy their resolve. NPCs like the Stormtrooper had far more hitpoints for all HAM bars (health, action, mind) than its Rebel NPC counterparts. Cities like Coronet on the planet of Corellia were relatively safe for Rebels but in major Imperial settlements like Bestine, being openly overt (which displays your faction) is asking to get gang-raped by every Imperial player in sight.
The battle on the planets is fought between players as well between NPCs and players. Players of both faction can wage war over control of a planet by influencing the regional percentages and planetary score. The faction with the higher planetary score is said to be ‘in control’ of that planet. This is shown on the galactic map by either a Rebel, Imperial or contested insignia. This has an effect on the NPCs in the various regions, the cost of transportation, as well as the cost of factional items on that planet.
The planetary score is affected by the regional scores. The Planetary Map shows the various regions that each planet contains (as well as an “extra” region that consists of the remainder of the planet’s surface that is not specifically covered by a visible region). The scores in the region are determined by the number of GCW points that each faction has earned within that region, but there are other things to take into account such as Factional Presence and the existence of Player Bases.
Bestine Lookout.
Attack on an Imperial base on the outskirts of Bestine, Tatooine.
Rising Through the Ranks – Faction Points
- Lieutenant – approximately 6,000
- Captain – approximately 6,500
- Major – approximately 7,200
- Lieutenant Colonel/Commander – 8,200
- Colonel – approximately 9,600
- General – approximately 12,000
Rebel Base.
An Imperial faction base.
Moosacca and gang infiltrates the Imperial Control Room.
Imperial Factory Group (TRNTY).
Moosacca meets Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca.
Rebel Base Hangar
Moosacca tracks down a stuck AT-ST.
AT-STs were some of the most powerful weapons of the Empire. In the game, they had tremendous hitpoints and could kill the average player in one or two volleys. Imperial players were able to use multiple AT-STs as ‘pets’ for a long time until the ability was nerfed in Publish 26. Rebel players had no counter to the AT-STs and their faction rewards were less effective and required more faction points to purchase. That did not stop Rebels from teaming up and bringing these behemoths down.
Moosacca leads a TRNTY squad and takes down an AT-ST.
AT-STs controlled by Jadelance. For a certain period, a player was able to control up to three AT-STs at the same time. Needless to say, the Empire had many advantages in PvP.
AT-STs were boss level. This one took an entire gang 45 minutes to kill, made easier due to the Pistoleer’s special knockdown move.
Trinity Republic – A New Hope on Starsider
Moosacca was a natural born leader and he knew the Rebellion was more important than any single person. It was more important than any guild. It was the symbol of unyielding might against the Empire and an idea can never be destroyed. Trinity would participate in many decisive battles during the course of its lifetime.
The “Grief House”, on the left, belonged to an Imperial spy who had rights to place property on Rebel ground and was used to mock Trinity City while harboring other enemy players who cannot be seen on radar until emerging from the house. They also put an obscene gesture on house title until it was removed by a CSR.
In one dramatic incident, a player from a rival Imperial guild infiltrated Trinity City through the recruitment process. He was given rights to place deeds within the city borders. However, he opened access to his home to all Imperial players, and started one of the bloodiest conflicts in the city’s history. Imperial players took refuge inside the spy character’s house and skirmishes broke out within the city grounds for months. The cloning facility was nearby so getting back into the fight was easy enough. The Imperial house was paid for an almost indefinite amount of time because of how many credits were put toward the maintenance fee.
As the mayor of Trinity City, Moosacca went on to lead many parties against the Empire during his career.
Crystal Valley – The War on Chilastra
On Chilastra, the same war raged on but with different names and players to go with the board. Our group, Grandor, was hell-bent on being Rebel in 2002, long before the game was actually released. The forums were rampant with shit-talking and declarations of war in a game yet to be.
Spawnarak’ was a Bounty Hunter specializing in Pistoleer when he made the plunge into the Galactic Civil War.
Ken’Dreck Bloodmoon, the Imperial player who is set on fire in the screenshot above, was familiar to many Rebels on Chilastra. He was a formidable opponent to face in PvP and it often took multiple people (and monsters) to take him down.
Raiding an Imperial faction base in full Composite armor over 11,000 meters away from Crystal Valley.
Operation Barricade – Stronghold of the Northwest
Shortly after Crystal Valley entered its Outpost rank stage, I discussed with Yil Geivan a new strategy that we could use in establishing a military presence in our city. We wanted the security within our city borders to discourage any Imperial player from switching on overt status. Fighting was good but sometimes it was bad for business.
My blueprint to describe the concept behind Operation Barricade. Graphics didn’t translate well to modern programs. I was also 13 years old at the time so take it with a grain of salt.
I called it Operation Barricade.
The premise was simple: we would place three Rebel Detachment HQ faction bases in close proximity of each other, with their entrances facing outward. Resembling a triangle, three different points of attack by the enemy would be covered. In addition, I drew a basic blueprint of the set-up. These three maxed-out faction bases would be surrounded by a perimeter of medium Naboo houses. They would be placed adjacent to each other so that there would be absolutely no space to move through between the ‘alleys’ that would normally be present. They were basically connected to form a wall, or a palisade of sorts.
Operation Barricade in its early stages of construction, as seen through the eyes of my twin brother, Gotep Vegitunks. Taken on January 22th, 2004.
Yil Geivan, who was acting Chief Strategist, emphasized the sweeping effect that our faction base’s defense would have on enemy players that are forced to maneuver through a narrow path in order to enter. All players, including friendlies, would have to traverse around this wall of houses and enter Operation Barricade through a single choke-point. This one entrance would be covered by many defensive contraptions such as Rebel NPC Commandos, mines, covert scanners, etc. It took a few days to prepare the faction modules and turrets and the purchase of the bases themselves, which cost several thousands of faction points (the Detachment HQ was ~66,000 FP each). Me and a few members from all three guilds gave up nearly all accumulated faction points in order to complete the operation.
In addition to the physical barrier, friendly Rebels could hide within the medium Naboo houses and were not able to be detected on the Imperial players’ radars unless they walked outside the house. Our true numbers were hidden to the Empire.
First time I ever saw a Jedi player with his tag showing.
Word of Operation Barricade spread like wildfire and Rebel players, many of whom never set foot on Dantooine, made the voyage to our city to see it with their own eyes. The number of elite NPC soldiers, turrets, and mines that we placed could theoretically destroy several squads of enemy players without any friendly intervention. This Jedi pictured above was the first one I ever saw on the server. There were only a few players who unlocked the Force-sensitive slot during this time period. Permanent death was still a punishment for Jedi and people kept their secrets even from their own faction.
Ironically, the turrets in the faction bases were bugged – sometimes they will not fire on hostiles, even when being shot. Players could simply stay at a distance and power through the high number of hitpoints a turret had while being safe from harm. Normally turrets would kill a player in two or three shots, and from great distances. SOE did not fix this bug and it would be a long time before they did.
Faction base destruction was difficult but not impossible. There was a specific time-frame during which a base is vulnerable. The largest Imperial guilds on the server consorted one day and destroyed all thee of Crystal Valley’s bases in a single engagement, without losing a single man. The turrets and NPCs did not fire at all and the players used the exploit to surpass everything we’ve done. SOE did not admit fault, stating that it was a risk we took despite knowing that it could have been exploited.
The bases were never reimbursed. We knew that whether or not we would rebuild the bases did not matter as much as total and utter retaliation.
On January 25th, 2004, the top Rebel guilds on Chilastra collaborated within Crystal Valley Theater. We had a quick de-briefing where we discussed the plan to take revenge for Operation Barricade’s destruction.
We did not let the Empire have the last laugh. After a mission-debriefing in Crystal Valley theater, we set up our parties, buffed each others’ HAM bars, and set out on a long march through the wilderness of Dantooine. We were going to destroy as many Imperial-owned faction bases as we could. No one in the Empire was safe that day on that planet. BarenMordegan, the military leader of Crimson Republic, would lead this counter-attack on January 25th, 2004 with over 100 brave soldiers.
Fields of Blood – The Great Counter-Attack of Dantooine
A large-scale assault like this was easily noticed by Imperials and it was not uncommon to have loyalist spies within our ranks. We knew the major Imperial guilds on Chilastra were preparing for our attack within their cities but they did not know where we would strike first. Flying to the enemy player cities via shuttleport was a suicide mission because they camped out the spots and killed us while we were stuck on loading screens. Our only option was to travel on foot several kilometers from our remote location and hit them where they’ll least expect it. Only the squad leader, BarenMordegan, and chief strategist, Yil Geivan, knew which location we would hit first, and in what order. The Imperial players put up a good fight but it was futile.
A player ordered us to drop profession tags. You could set a different title in order to get enemy players to underestimate or overestimate your abilities. In this case, we didn’t want the Imperials to gauge our fighting strength by doing a /who command.
Our retaliation for our bases’ demise was ultimately successful after a few hours of hard fighting. The top Rebel guilds consolidated all the intel they had of the enemy faction base locations and their time-frames of vulnerability. They knew we wanted revenge.
At the end of the night, we tallied a total of eleven Imperial Detachment faction HQ bases destroyed, and I remember it being one of the most brutal engagements of my career in the Galactic Civil War. Crystal Valley was the set piece for many conflicts on that planet but it was only one of many groups that held power and bloodied the nose of the Empire in any way that it can.
You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.Obi-Wan Kenobi
As a whole, Star Wars Galaxies had a lot of bugs to fix as well as the power imbalance between certain professions. But when it came to the Galactic Civil War, the developers did the story right by putting the Rebels in the proper underdog role and creating adverse circumstances for them against the Empire. The social aspect of this game was what brought us together as friends and foes, in a strange fiction in which we played our own significant parts.
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