I'm an experienced Empire-ion whom finds it hard to really enjoy the game until my Death Star but I have to face off against another player next month and we can't both be empire… I lost the toss, so my question is this;
As the rebs, does a short term spoiler attack against the capital ever really pay off?

As an empire player I'm inclined to say no… O'sure we all tell ourselves to guard against it but is it just our paranoia kicking in or can the rebs really pull it off, i.e. does trying to do more than letting Han* sabotage key structures constitute long-term suicide!

*Backed up with whatever combat muscle the gods of fate toss in as an opening line up.

Necro-ing old post because it isn't marked as solved.

The Alliance can make a great push for Coruscant early on if the Empire doesn't provide adequate fighter protection and you can get enough carriers and fighters pulled together. Star Destroyers just don't handle fighters well. But if the Empire player does have enough fighters, then you'll lose a lot of valuable time doing this, so it isn't generally worth it.

As AgentGreen said, your best short-term goal is to liberate Imperial planets that like the Rebels more. Use whatever ships and personnel you can scrape up to eliminate the garrison on those worlds and watch the entire sector fall into your hands. The resource bonus you get this way can be tremendous, and you'll usually get some nice facilities, too.

fyi I sent Han to Yana to kill the shipyards and get the empire worried... that worked well but the empire still won the game because Luke got himself hurt at a key point and my fighters can't win a planet on their own.

Yes, a Coruscant rush can be very effective in multiplayer. I demonstrate several instances where I do it in the early game on my YouTube channel. Remember, even if you can't hold Coruscant, you can simply scrap the entire sector after all the planets in the sector join you. That will cripple your opponent for a very long time. Here's a demonstration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCIevwKEVFg

well it does help when the other guy doesn't fight back but gratz on your win

Even if he does, you can bait his ISD and sabotage it with Han and the gang. I even managed it in the early game. Also, if you have a carrier and manage to draw his ISD out, you can go in with a couple of Correlian Corvettes to take out the fighters and then take Coruscant that way. Remember, if there's just one shield there, an escort carrier full of Y-Wings will punch right through it.

I think maybe once or twice have I ever blitzed the capital. Fortunately it worked but only because the opponent wasn't experienced. Getting to the Sluis system using solo's speed is the best and fastest way the rebels can win. Domino that system and then start shifting left below capital space, rinse, repeat, build up one out rim system for a back up (If it has resources) run a bazillions espeionage missions on your own world as well as the empires, amass a fleet and go say hello to old palpy. Luke, pre yoda, fails often, gets hurt often, but he has his uses.

Just remember that in the early stages of the game, you need to use guerilla tactics, avoid major clashes with the enemy , depend more on political skills then military might. First go after the planets that are already unfriendly to the Empire