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Obviously superior officers in a strong-arm military force are going to be better at combat than the grunts, right? Not so fast!
There are plenty of reasons why this might not be true. Maybe the officers come from an elite upper class selected for their poshness and "command ability", and have no real experience in a fight. Maybe they are veterans with experience, but now beyond their prime. Maybe they promote the poorer fighters to a position where they can do less harm. All of these have been true of various real world forces.
So the commanders of a force don't necessarily need to be better at fighting than the massed mooks. It's often the case in RPG encounters that a group of, say, goblins will be led by a tougher, meaner goblin who is a much more difficult fight. Players will generally expect this. But try mixing it up and have the line troops be good fighters and the leader relatively weak.
This could have the players in terrified fear of the "boss encounter" after dealing with bunches of unusually tough infantry that really stretched their combat ability. Or have them somehow encounter the boss first, and have a relatively easy battle, but then they have to fight their way out through masses of tougher subordinates.
Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)
Hmmmm. On one hand, thank goodness Chewie could show up to help provide information that the GM was just going to insist was needed. On the other, Yoda wanted that information destroyed for a reason, right? And this is going to give all that info straight to the First Order. Hopefully the paper part is just as important, otherwise this could cause just as much trouble for Team Good Guy.
Will Finn find an opening? Besides the gaping pit? Yeah, probably. I doubt it'll be anything fancy like diving through Phasma's legs and giving her a push, but Phasma ending up in the pit would be a good way to get her off-screen for a while and let Rose, Finn, and BB-8 escape. Falling tends to be pretty dangerous in Star Wars, but we've already seen that the shiny armor is good for deflecting blaster shots. It might do well against gravity too.
Transcript
GM: Well, BB-8 can make the orders, but he still needs—
Chewbacca: Tally ho! If one person can provide timely intervention via radio, then so mayhap may I.
BB-8: Chewbacca??
Chewbacca: BB-8, my globoid comrade! Rey informed me there may be some utility in a comprehensive compendium of names and addresses.
BB-8: Exactly what we need to complete this plan! Send them through!
Chewbacca: Incoming! I say, you haven’t seen Rey, have you?
BB-8: No. If she’s on board then she better get out soon. The ship is falling apart.
Chewbacca: I shall monitor from a handy distance.
GM: Okay then. Speaking of handy distances, Phasma is still pressing her attack against Finn.
General Phasma: As you can tell, my combat skills are superior to a rank and file ex-trooper!
Finn: I’m still watching for any opening.
GM: There’s a gaping pit in the deck just behind you.
Finn: That’s not quite what I meant.