Gamers can now enter the Clone Wars thanks to Corey Losses and his team

Released in 2006, “Star Wars: Empire at War” created by Lucas Arts is a grand strategy game set in the years of the Galactic Civil War.

The game focuses on the player taking command of the Galactic Empire or the Rebel Alliance.

The goal is to use the space and ground units available to either faction to capture/liberate the galaxy, using tactics and unique abilities that each has at its disposal.

Just released this weekend, ‘Empire at War Expanded: Fall of the Republic,’ created by Corey Losses and his modding team, have overhauled “Star Wars: Empire at War” with a brand-new mod that focuses on the Clone Wars. The mod has made the game look better than ever, plus it focuses on one of the most destructive and corruption-filled eras of the galaxy.

Because the mod just released this weekend, not all of its planned features have been entirely implemented. However, Losses and his modding team will be working on it for the foreseeable future.

The description for the mod reads: “Palpatine’s machinations and the decay of the Republic have brought the galaxy into the most destructive war it’s ever seen. The Separatist droid armies threaten to overrun the Republic and no matter who comes out on top, the course of galactic history will be altered forever…” This sets the stage for the Clone Wars.

Factions

The playable factions are the Galactic Republic’s clone forces and the droid army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS). Both factions are vying for control of the galaxy with different end goals in mind.

The Galactic Republic wants to keep all of the planets it currently has within the Republic. While the CIS wants to split away from the Republic due to high tax rates and low representation in the senate.

There are also other factions battling in the Clone Wars alongside the two heavyweight champions. Aligned with the Republic is the Galactic Republic Sector Forces. Allies of the CIS are the Trade Federation, Techno Union, Commerce Guild and the InterGalactic Banking Clan.

These factions are active on the galactic map and will be fighting alongside their respective allies.

Fighting styles

How these two factions fight is the complete opposite. The Galactic Republic uses clone troopers with the best training and the best equipment to complete objectives. This style of fighting leads to lower numbers, but more efficient and powerful battle groups.

The CIS uses large hosts of battle droids and vehicles. These machines range from the inexpensive B1 series of battle droid (roger roger) to the impressively powerful Providence-Class destroyer.

Technology

In the base game of “Star Wars: Empire at War,” the different levels of technology are separated by Tech Levels. Buying a Tech Level gives access to new units that can be built by a faction and gives more building options planetside.

In “Empire at War Expanded: Fall of the Republic,” Tech Levels are replaced with Eras. These Eras “impact different story events, factions, unit rosters and heroes available, with the galaxy set up to recreate various conflicts within the Star Wars Legends lore,” according to the mod’s Steam Workshop page.

New governing mechanics have also been introduced to the mod as well. These mechanics allow players to interact with the sub-factions in the galaxy for story events.

There is also a planetary loyalty system that, based on the percentage of loyalty a planet has, can give extra income, unique units and other bonuses at higher levels of loyalty.

If loyalty gets too low however, negative effects will occur if the population of a planet does not like the current leadership.

Future updates

The modding team for “Empire at War Expanded: Fall of the Republic” will be releasing monthly updates to increase the scope and playability of the mod.

“Rise of the Hutts” is one planned update that will give players access to the Hutt Cartel as a playable faction. This will allow for a shadier way to play other than sending large armies of troops at an opposing army like the Galactic Republic and CIS will be doing.

Another content focus will be Mandalorian Militias on Mandalore. These will be a neutral but hostile group of Mandalorian soldiers meant to inflict heavy casualties on whichever faction invades their homeworld.

One more update for the future will be Sabaoth Fighter Squadrons. What faction they will be available for are still unknown. More than likely this advanced group of Mandalorian fighters will be available to the militia forces of Mandalore and whoever can claim the prized planet.

Lastly, a space battle overhaul is in the coding process. Currently, the space battles are amazing but there are certain aspects that make them a little too cheesy.

A broad example of this can be some ships having too much power compared to their size and some have too little power according to Star Wars lore.

“The Fall of the Republic” modding team will continue to tweak and improve the current space combat mechanics to make the mod more enjoyable and balanced.

There is a lot planned for future updates. Currently, the updates listed are the only ones known by those outside of Losses’ modding team.

Wrap-up

 “Empire at War Expanded: Fall of the Republic” just came out on Jan 26. This mod is the newest mod for “Star Wars: Empire at War” and looks like it could be one of the best on the Steam Workshop. 

If one would like to get access to the mod it can be found on the Steam Workshop, but the base game of “Star Wars: Empire at War” will be needed first. This can be bought on Steam for a decent price, and due to the number of mods for the game, there is a lot more than just the vanilla content to enjoy.

In addition to playing the mod, there is the opportunity to become a mod tester to help the team find bugs, glitches and to suggest improvements. This can be done by going to Losses’ Discord server and requesting tester status.

With many new units and factions battling for control of the galaxies’ future, either campaign, be it the Galactic Republics’ or the Confederacy of Independent Systems,’ will be an epic conflict.