I would like to see Etahn A'baht as an Alliance commander. I know he's a fighter pilot in X-Wing but I still find that odd since he was either a capital ship captain or fleet commander in every Legends appearance I can find, except for one where he was an adviser to the NR Commanding Admiral.

Depending on how deeply they are delving into the EU, Wedge was made general at one point and givin command of a flight of Mon Cal Cruisers. IRC it wasn't a very good story, and he didn't handle being a fleet wrangler very well.

I would love seeing Wedge as General (though since he commanded the SSD Lusankya, that's unlikely. But I can dream). Or Admiral Areta Bell on the Endurance (though that's even further out than the E-Wing in terms of EU canon).

Well Wedge commanded fleets as a general.with several flagships other then Lusankya.

I don't remember him commanding any fleet consisting solely of Mon Cal Cruisers, or even primarily of Mon Cal Cruisers though.

Fleets I remember him commanding that either never included Luskankya, or didn't include Luskankya for a significant part of the time he was in command of them. (capital ships only):

Jedi Academy Trilogy=Four CR90 Corvettes and a Nebulon-B Frigate with the Nebulon-B as his flagship

Darksaber=Six CR90 Corvettes, an Assault Frigate Mark I, and a Nebulon-B Frigate with the Nebulon-B as his flagship.

Starfighters of Adumar: He spent the battle in a fighter but I believed he launched from the New Republic Imperial-I Star Destroyer not the one named Mon Cal Cruiser in the fleet.

Enemy Lines Duology: While the Lusankya does eventually join the fleet he is in command of when the first book begins he is using the modified Star Destroyer Mon Mothma as his flagship, and apparently has been for a while. And of the various fleets he commanded during the Vong War I only remember one which might, and again I say might, be composed primarily of Mon Cal Cruisers. It had at least seven capships. We know that two of those were Mon Cal Cruisers, we also know that three were definitely not Mon Cal Cruisers, and the other two were cruisers, one a medium cruiser, but whether they were Mon Calamari in design or construction is unknown.

I await Thrawn, Piett, and Pellaeon with anticipation, as well as Isaard in the inevitable SSD release.

I await Thrawn, Piett, and Pellaeon with anticipation, as well as Isaard in the inevitable SSD release.

I don't know about the inevitable part of that statement but am soooo on board with the rest of it.

Pallaeon will probably be my go to Imperial Commander if he is in the game (unless his ability lags waaaay behind another commander) Thrawn will be fun but I liked Pallaeon better

Pallaeon will probably be my go to Imperial Commander if he is in the game (unless his ability lags waaaay behind another commander) Thrawn will be fun but I liked Pallaeon better

This Thrawn was too much of a Marty Stu, especially once they decided he had to somehow be linked to pretty every major Imperial Victory that took place before he got sent to the Unknown Regions. Seriously did they really need to tie him to the Darra IV ambush? Much less Baron Fel's doubts about the Empire?

I would love someday to see a novel where Thrawn goes up against a fleet commander who acts completely outside the artistic norms of his culture.

It sucks that the Legends/EU novels pretty much stopped caring about the war between the New Republic and Empire once he became Supreme Commander of the Empire. I think there was one novel, Starfighters of Adumar which really focused on the Galactic Civil War set between Palleon taking command of the Imperial forces and the Hand of Thrawn Duology. I would have loved to see more of his victories and defeats in detail in novel form rather then just short descriptions in the Essential Guide to Warfare, and one battle getting a brief mention in the first book of the Black Fleet Crisis.

I also hope Daala appears because I always thought a lot of her problems were linked to the incompetence of KJA and whoever came up with the idea to make her the GA's Head of State, or possibly sexism on the part of KJA. A competent author would have given her a few victories against decent sized fleets. All of Daala's victories in battles that we see in the Jedi Academy Trilogy or Darksaber are against a decent, but still outgunned merc/pirate fleet whose crews are clearly drawn from the bottom of the competence barrel, or New Republic allied forces that are so badly outgunned that their chances of winning make the Alliance's odds of winning in the opening battle over Tatooine from A New Hope, and the Battle of Hoth look incredibly high in comparison.

Everyone is speculating on the Empire, but seems to be drawing a blank on possible leaders for the Rebels, partly because everyone is focusing too much on admirals. The Rebels relied not on grand fleet tactics, but on exploiting the skills of individuals to give them just enough of an advantage to win.

Short Bio -

(If I made them for the game)

Commander Narra - took over command of Renegade Squadron after Captain Solo stepped down, used overly aggressive tactics to catch the Imperials off guard, but became predictable and was lead into a trap that annihilated Renegade Squadron and gave the Empire a clue to search around Hoth for the Rebel Headquarters.

(+1 Starfighter Attack, -1 Starfighter Defense to all friendly starfighters in play)

Walex Blissex - designed the Victory Class Star Destroyer during the Clone Wars, and later the Vic-Star Deuce which was an improved version of the Vic-Star, defected to the Rebels when Imperial Atrocities were becoming blatant and his own daughter becoming an Imperial Zealot who ripped off the Vic-Star design to create the Imperial Class Star Destroyer. After defecting he exposed all the weaknesses of the Vic-Star and helped create tactics to exploit those weaknesses. He designed the A-Wing alongside General Dodonna, and helped to refine Rebel Starfighter Doctrine. He went on to analyze Imperial War Machines for their strengths and weaknesses, and help design tactics to overcome the strengths and exploit the weaknesses, earning him the honorary title of General.

(More powerful/damaging critical hits caused by attacks from the ship he is on)

Adar Tallon - a Clone Wars veteran on par with General Dodonna who openly opposed what the Empire was becoming under the Emperor. Faked his own death when the Empire began hunting him down. Organized his own little rebel force before joining the Rebel Alliance. His expertise was in capital vs. capital combat.

(Extra attack die for the ship he is on)

General Airen Cracken - another Clone Wars veteran that was a logistical genius, master of threat analysis, and commander in chief of Rebel Special Forces. He was able to keep front line Rebel forces throughout the galaxy supplied with just enough equipment and material to keep the fight going and create the illusion that the Rebels were better off then they were.

(Expendable upgrades on his ship do not get discarded when used)

Captain Dhas Vedij - former Imperial Commander and second in command of the Imperial Nebulon-B Class Frigate the Far Orbit. He staged a mutiny and seized control of the Far Orbit, becoming Captain and the first Rebel Privateer to operate in the Core and Colonies regions. He inspired loyalty amongst the crew, encouraging them to step up, take the initiative, and think outside the box. He made excellent use of nebula and asteroid fields to surprise and evade the Empire.

(His ship ignores penalties for "space terrain")

Kaiya Adrimetrum - created her own rebel cell in retaliation against the Empire for killing her husband and was recruited into the Alliance, eventually receiving the title of Commander. She was reassigned from being a special forces commando to second in command of the FarStar. A confident, competent leader who inspires loyalty and goes to the extreme to protect those under her command. Unfortunate events quickly put her in command of the FarStar, and while she was nothing more then an average fleet officer, she specialized in getting the right people into the right place at the right time.

(Gets full effect from "stored" command counters instead of the reduced effect)

"Corewatch" - known only by his code name, this rebel spy operated in the Core Worlds, Deep Core, and Colonies regions providing the Alliance with detailed information on Imperial Fleet Deployments and Maneuvers. Planned and orchestrated many raids on Imperial facilities in the Core which forced the Empire to divert strength away from the Outer Rim, where the Rebels were strongest, and protect the Core where the Rebels were the weakest.

(Opponent must play with the top command dial of each ship face up)

Admiral Drayson - An Imperial Academy Dropout who ended up in command of the Chandrila Defense Forces. He reorganized the entire defense force and its policies that almost completely eliminated piracy and smuggling around Chandrila. Recruited by Mon Mothma and put in charge of organizing the defense of whatever ship Mon Mothma was on. His organizational skills resulted in the Empire never being able to insert spies into Mon Mothma's presence and would never be able to attack her ship without it being able to escape.

(His ship can not be targeted if another friendly capital is within Range 1 of his ship)

Corporal Marmor - Commando trained by General Crix Madine and defected to the Rebels alongside Madine. He is in charge of keeping Home One's starfighter compliment operational and combat ready by finding creative but effective ways to repair and maintain the fighters.

(Discard to return one of your destroyed starfighter squadrons back into play)

Major Hassh'n - Mon Calamari who has found an affinity for commanding Mon Calamari Star Cruisers and is capable of getting the most out of a cruiser's engines and shields.

(His ship has its allowed turns increased by one) OR (His ship has 1 extra shield point on all sides)

Toryn Farr - coordinated the activities of the Echo Base Shield, Ion Cannon, and escaping transports. Specialized in communications and relaying orders between many groups to get them to all act in concert.

(Friendly ships within range 1 of her ship can reroll one die each game round)

I await Thrawn, Piett, and Pellaeon with anticipation, as well as Isaard in the inevitable SSD release.

I don't know about the inevitable part of that statement but am soooo on board with the rest of it.

The Executor is one of the most iconic ships of the series, and will work quite nicely as Armada's version of an Epic ship. It'll be expensive as hell, for sure, but relative scale should allow them to fit an SSD in. I'll be very shocked if we don't see an SSD release, provided Armada does well, of course.

I like your post DKW but where are you drawing the data for the bios from?

Everything I can find on Adar Tallon says he was a known expert in Starfighter Warfare not Capital ship Warfare. I know he had some fleet command experience but it was his Starfighter tactics, theories, and maneuvers that made him a living legend.

Airen Cracken was commander of Alliance Intelligence not special forces according to what I've read about him, and while I wouldn't be surprised at all if he was a Clone Wars veteran I don't recall anything stating that he had combat experience before forming the guerrilla band he led during the Imperial occupation of his homeworld

And while Drayson did drop out of some military academy it definitely wasn't the Imperial Academy because he was appointed originally Admiral of the Chandrila Defense Fleet before the Clone Wars then replaced for most of the Clone Wars and apparently appointed Admiral of the Defense fleet again at some point after his replacement became a Grand Moff before joining the Alliance and becoming the commander of Mon Mothma's personal cruiser.

Etahn Abaht will probably make it (he is in X-wing after all)

Captain Antilles (Captain of Tantive IV) is probably a shoe in.

There is also a slim possibility Luke makes it as a commander too (Battle of Bakura), yes I know he already is a squadron but in X-wing we have people that are crew and pilots so it could happen, likely right away no, but possible.

Speaking of Bakura the Captain of the Flurry, I don't remember his name might make it in too. though probably not until we see a Quasar Fire or whatever the carrier was.

Tessa Manchisco, I believe.

Etahn Abaht will probably make it (he is in X-wing after all)

Captain Antilles (Captain of Tantive IV) is probably a shoe in.

There is also a slim possibility Luke makes it as a commander too (Battle of Bakura), yes I know he already is a squadron but in X-wing we have people that are crew and pilots so it could happen, likely right away no, but possible.

Speaking of Bakura the Captain of the Flurry, I don't remember his name might make it in too. though probably not until we see a Quasar Fire or whatever the carrier was.

Tessa Manchisco, I believe.

Yeah that's her.

There are many Imperial Academies for joining the Imperial Military, it is just everyone thinks of the one on Carida. I don't know where Drayson went, but he did go to one and it wasn't Carida.

My information is really old school, dating from the mid 1980s through late 90s, scraped together from many sources, West End Games RPG, computer games, books, comics, Decipher's Card Game, old Essential Guides from 1992 and 93, although it is far from complete. Most is probably out of date and/or has been changed over the years due to inconsistencies, which there was a lot of during the 90s as everything was just slapped together.

It used to be the other way around, Adar Tallon was capitals and Dodanna was starfighters, which went along with Dodanna being the primary designer of the A-Wing and its tactics. Granted both are experienced front line commanders who are more then capable of leading either type of ship into battle.

One such source was West End Games, who had the RPG license from the 80s through to the 90s before going bankrupt due to fire destroying large quantities of their stock forcing them to sell the license to Wizards of the Coast. West End Games created a large base of lore that was expanded upon over the years, changed by others, and rewritten to fit into the current lore.

Some examples:

Aing Ti Monks

Walex Blissex's personal history

Detailed Information on the political structure of the Empire, Rebel Alliance, and Corporate Sector

The Tapani Sector and the Lightfoil

Now the Aing Ti Monks have teleportation powers, the Lightfoil was created by the Jedi instead of being a cheap knock off of a real lightsaber for spoiled rich teens to play with in the Tapani Sector, and the Victory Class Star Destroyer was almost axed from the lore altogether with Episode 3, Clone Wars series, and Wizards of the Coast cutting whatever they didn't like from the lore.

Much of what Wizards of the Coast removed is being brought back by Fantasy Flight Games, and was originally created by or expanded on by West End Games.

Now we have Disney cutting apart the lore to fit in Episodes 7, 8, 9, among the cuts is everything Kyle Katarn did after defeating Jerec.

20 years from now and everything being discussed today could cease to exist, or be changed beyond recognition.

There are many Imperial Academies for joining the Imperial Military, it is just everyone thinks of the one on Carida. I don't know where Drayson went, but he did go to one and it wasn't Carida.

My information is really old school, dating from the mid 1980s through late 90s, scraped together from many sources, West End Games RPG, computer games, books, comics, Decipher's Card Game, old Essential Guides from 1992 and 93, although it is far from complete. Most is probably out of date and/or has been changed over the years due to inconsistencies, which there was a lot of during the 90s as everything was just slapped together.

It used to be the other way around, Adar Tallon was capitals and Dodanna was starfighters, which went along with Dodanna being the primary designer of the A-Wing and its tactics. Granted both are experienced front line commanders who are more then capable of leading either type of ship into battle.

Yeah your information is woefully out of date then.

I explained why it was utterly impossible for the military academy Drayson dropped out to be an Imperial Academy. Namely the fact that he dropped out of that Academy long before the Empire was established.

And I have my copy of the WEG 2nd Edition Rebel Alliance sourcebook handy. The only references I find to Adar Tallon are referring to his Treatise on Starfighter Tactics, a quote or two of his referring to Starfighter Combat and the Tallon Roll Starfighter maneuver. I know he did serve as a naval commander but I can't find any famous battles he commanded a capital ship in or well known capital ship tactics linked to him while he literally wrote the most famous GCW-Era book on Starfighter warfare. Do you remember where it was stated that Adar Tallon was known for capital ship warfare?

Edit Ok I looked Adar Tallon up on Wookieepedia and I did find one reference to a story in the WEG Star Wars Rules Companion, which was part of the first edition, talking about Adar Tallon commanding an Alliance fleet at the Battle of Heterkus. I don't own the first edition Rebel Alliance sourcebook so I'm uncertain if it had the references regarding Tallon's works on Starighter warfare that second edition had.

Dodonna is still known for his contributions to Alliance Starfighter Doctrine and pushing for development of what became the A-Wing plus playing a key role in its design. He was the driving force behind the creation of Starfighter command as a branch of the Alliance military separate from the Fleet and Sector Commands, and was the commanding General of Starfighter Command though Starfighter Command's level of influence waned after his capture. (There were apparently many Alliance officers who felt that rather then spending the resources to build the Alliance fleet into a force which could go toe to toe with an Imperial fleet they should just spend those resources on more fighters and have the fleet as a support force for fighter operations.) But he's also well known for his role commanding one of the first Victory class Star Destroyers and serving as a Star Destroyer captain and task force commander during the Clone Wars and the early days of the Empire.

I'll be really annoyed to not be able to field Admiral Daala as my fleet commander.

Star Wars Armada needs her let alone because Star Wars at the moment is so low on female characters in positions like that. Daala is a must.

Besides her: Thrawn and Pellaeon absolutly.

There are many Imperial Academies for joining the Imperial Military, it is just everyone thinks of the one on Carida. I don't know where Drayson went, but he did go to one and it wasn't Carida.

My information is really old school, dating from the mid 1980s through late 90s, scraped together from many sources, West End Games RPG, computer games, books, comics, Decipher's Card Game, old Essential Guides from 1992 and 93, although it is far from complete. Most is probably out of date and/or has been changed over the years due to inconsistencies, which there was a lot of during the 90s as everything was just slapped together.

It used to be the other way around, Adar Tallon was capitals and Dodanna was starfighters, which went along with Dodanna being the primary designer of the A-Wing and its tactics. Granted both are experienced front line commanders who are more then capable of leading either type of ship into battle.

Yeah your information is woefully out of date then.

I explained why it was utterly impossible for the military academy Drayson dropped out to be an Imperial Academy. Namely the fact that he dropped out of that Academy long before the Empire was established.

Emire academy or not is kind of symantics I think.

Was was the Republic became the Empire. The teachings, strategies, technology didn't change, just the badges on the uniforms.

Drayson likely dropped out of a Republic academy. He had direct knowledge of star destroyers, likely the version from the clone wars era. That academy likely continued operation under the Empire and would have been an Imperial academy. Likely the same staff serving the same roles (except for any that left to join the Rebellion).

Yeah though the real reason the older sources referred to the academy he dropped out of as an Imperial one was almost certainly IMO because back then the writers of the sources thought the Empire was much older then it turned out to be when the PT came out, though there were hints of it being fairly young in the OT looking back at the movies.

I would imagine either the Chandrila Defense fleet had some Star Destroyers in it during his time serving in it or at some point between his stints as commanding admiral of the Chandrila Defense fleet he served on some Old Republic Star Destroyers, Imperial Star Destroyers, both, or at the very least at some point studied their blueprints and specs. Its also possible, if I am remembering what sources talk about him knowing Star Destroyers well correctly that he served on some tat were captured by the New Republic.

I'll be really annoyed to not be able to field Admiral Daala as my fleet commander.

Agreed wholeheartedly.