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When you recap an old adventure, you better make sure to get the details correct. Because your players will remind you in no uncertain terms if you don't.
[Reminder: Our guest commentators have not seen Rogue One. Part of the fun is seeing how their untainted impressions re-interpret the movie through the lens of our comic.]
[aurilee has been too busy to write her past few commentaries. They will be added retroactively when she gets time.]
— aurilee
Backstory. The all important backstory.
The big issue is not that the character that was killed off has a backstory. Part of his backstory is that he is related to another character, and that character is still around in the campaign.
Clearly, that other character - Porkins - is going to gain some additional importance. He's going to be an important character in some upcoming...
Okay then, since there is a chain of deaths in the backstory characters, whoever survives Red 5 and Red 6 (Red 7, obviously) is going to be a very important character whenever they show up.
Pete does have the right attitude however. Combat is not about making sure that you lose no people; it's about making sure that you lose people in such a way that your goal is eventually won. Sacrificing chess pieces if it means trapping enemy pieces on the wrong side of the board (I've been watching some AlphaGo Zero chess games on YouTube), giving your opponent an "obvious weak spot" that turns into a pocket bulge, or some other scenario where a small loss now leads to a bigger victory later.
Of course, there are some exceptions. Sacrificing too many units to get a victory might be more expensive than an outright failure. For example, sacrificing your siege towers in order to win battles...
— Keybounce
Transcript
Corey: {present day} So was the Rebel fleet in a space battle while all of this was happening?
GM: {present day} Oh, yes.
Pedrin: They're all over me! I'm trying to lose them...
[SFX]: pow!
GM: {present day} Pedrin flew Red Five. He's the brother of Red Six, Porkins, who later died in the Peace Moon battle.
Pete: {present day} Shouldn't he speak Space Welsh like Porkins, then?
{beat}
[SFX]: kaboom!
[SFX]: pow!
Pedrin: Mae hyn yn Coch Bump. Mae angen cymorth arnaf!
[SFX]: Pow! Pow!
Pedrin: Aaaargllannerchrugog!
[SFX]: Kaboom!
{present day conversation}
Annie: You're killing a character with a backstory two seconds after introducing him?
GM: He needs a backstory so people care when he dies.
Pete: That's not why I care.
Annie: You care?
Pete: I need to know how many pawns I have left to sacrifice.