The Rebels aren't all that different from the Empire. Their strength is their troopers as well, but their other strength underscores one of Battlegrounds' departures from the Age of Kings gameplay model: air units. Along with the Naboo, Rebels field the best air force. In the movies, the Rebel X-Wings often made short work of the shieldless Imperial TIE Fighters.

The inclusion of air units changes the game dramatically, because it adds another dimension to think about when fielding armies. In Age of Kings, you have to think on only one plane, and all troops (if you discounted ships) can engage each other. However, in Battlegrounds, if you build all mounted troops and Jedi--anticipating taking down the enemy's workers and armies, only to encounter a few tie bombers--you are dead. Only certain units can attack air units, and they are clearly spelled out in the interface, but players will have to be mindful of air capability in this game.

Starfighters are built at the air base and are split along three lines. There are air transports, fighters, and bombers. There is only one transport, but fighters and bombers can be upgraded. The air base is available only in the third tech level, so it is definitely a late game feature. Fighters can attack both ground and air units and are the most mobile of units, able to traverse any terrain and at high speeds. Despite their ground attack, fighters are really designed to attack other air units. It is the bomber that is geared toward mass destruction of ground troops. They cannot attack air units but can lay down area effect bombs that damage all units in a radius underneath the bomber. They can be further upgraded to triple the area of their bomb blasts. The Rebel Alliance's starting fighters are Z-95 fighters, which can be upgraded to X-Wings, which in turn can be upgraded to Advanced X-Wings. The Alliance bomber begins as the light Y-Wing, progresses to the Y-Wing, and then can be finally upgraded to the Advanced Y-Wing. The bombers are perfect for taking out buildings and walls quickly, but they have to contend with antiair turrets and units. LucasArts is definitely putting in ample countermeasures to air units in this game.

Air units might add a new element, but they still must be managed properly. They are a component of a well-rounded army, not the sole ingredient. Air units have low hit points--the advanced X-Wings and Y-Wings have only 30 hit points without upgrades, so they aren't invincible. But as stated earlier, against an unprepared foe, they can end the game. To make up for the low hit points of their starships, Rebels can get shields, which can be researched in tech level four. Shields effectively double a starship's hit points and then regenerate. Proving their air superiority further, Rebels get all accuracy upgrades and are thus able to improve the accuracy of their starships' attacks by 40 percent. They also get full speed and armor upgrades.

The unique unit of the Rebels is an air unit; in fact, they are the only civilization that gets a unique air unit. This unit is the snowspeeder, although in Battlegrounds, it is effective on all terrain types. It has better hit points and range than those of the Z-95 and X-Wing, but also a weaker attack. It's thus better suited to scouting than air-to-air combat. But it is very effective against enemy mechs, getting a bonus against such units. Playing up to the movies, the Rebels with their airspeeders are thus natural opponents of the Empire and are strong AT-ATs.

The other strength of the Rebels is their troopers. Troopers are cheap and basic ground troops. They cost only food and carbon, and even then, only in modest amounts compared with mechs, Jedi, and starfighters. The Rebels get full access to all troopers throughout the four lines of troopers: regular trooper, mounted trooper, grenade trooper, and antiair trooper. Regular and mounted troopers are available starting with tech level one. While troopers provide ranged support, mounted troopers have flamethrowers and so attack at close range; but they have massive hit points, compared with troopers, to enable them to take shots while closing with the enemy. Grenade troopers hurl area effect grenades that damage all units in a given area. They are good for taking down other soft targets (organic units) but are ineffectual against buildings and mechs. Antiair troopers are highly specialized (they can't hit ground targets) but are very much necessary in this game, since normal units cannot target starships.

Regular troopers in the Alliance are called trooper recruits, blaster troopers, heavy blaster troopers, and repeater blaster troopers through the four tech levels. Rebel Alliance mounted troopers ride taun tauns. They are available in tech level one and can be upgraded to heavy taun taun riders and then advanced taun taun riders. Grenade troopers are called thermal detonator troopers, while antiair troopers are called missile troopers. Rebels also get the armored missile trooper upgrade. In addition to getting the full complement of trooper units, Rebels get every trooper upgrade in the trooper center, as well as all relevant upgrades in the war center. The Rebels, unlike the Empire, get only one unique technology. It is called "Tougher Armor" and gives all troopers +20 hit points, making the Rebels' troopers the hardiest troopers in the game.