Not a whole lot released in the new article, but Tarkin looks amazing

I see him getting a heck of a lot better once the Empire gets cheaper ships comparable to the CR90 but a free command token per round per ship is definitely worth the 35 pt Commander Tax

Granted we don't really have a whole lot of information on any Commanders in the expansion packs, but he still looks awesome.and probably will be relevant for many future waves.

Also, Enhanced Armament looks nice to increase a VSDs broadsides and it really brings up a question of is a VSDI with the Enhanced Armament better than a VSDII with no upgrades

For those really gutsy a potential list

Tarkin

VSDII--Enhanced Armament

2 VSDI- Enhanced Armament.

More realistically though Dropping the VSDIs down to Gladiators and using those points for TIEs will be better but in true Tarkin spirit why worry about starfighters when you have such an overwhelming force against capital ships

Particularly for the Star Destroyers, which have a high command rating forcing you to think 3 turns in advance, being able to use Tarkin could save you when your planned commands go south.

That three VSD plan sounds like fun, but if I were playing rebels I would just focus fire on your flag ship until Tarkin was space dust, then I feel like things would go rather poorly for the Imperials after that...

Just to add a visual to the card being talked about, so that people can reference it:

If you want to run fighters i think he'll be pretty awesome. Take say 4 gladiators (or 3 if that is all that fits nicely) and just hand out a squadron token every turn. Or just take one victory and and 2 gladiators, and put tarkie on the victory to keep him alive.

If you want to run fighters i think he'll be pretty awesome.

It's my assumption that ship =/= squadron, and therefore he wouldn't have an effect on friendly squadrons.

Thematically, he also did not have a high opinion of fighters.

If you want to run fighters i think he'll be pretty awesome.

Why do you suppose he would be good with fighters?

It's my assumption that ship =/= squadron, and therefore he wouldn't have an effect on friendly squadrons.

Thematically, he also did not have a high opinion of fighters.

Because he lets every ship in your fleet generate squadron orders in addition to their other orders. That means you will always have fighters able to move + shoot.

It is worth mentioning upon further reflection, it appears you can bank the "Tarkin Tokens" just like any command token (following normal rules, can't exceed your command value, or have more than 1 token of a type) so probably opening up with a repair for round 1 just to have those tokens banked across the board might be the way to go.

Tarkin looks really good to me. The best thing about him will be that he can unify commands across your fleet, especially the speed change from the navigate command. Being able to change the speed of your entire fleet regardless of command dials should prove great for keeping your fleet together.

Depending how long it takes for fleets to get to engagement ranges, it also would potentially allow you to start with all 4 command tokens banked up on your ships after turn two.

Since Tarkin only grants a Token -- not the full Command effect, I need to play him a few times to see if he is really worth 35 points. In a 300 point game, 35 seems a bit extravagant.

Any ship he is assigned to becomes that much more valuable to the opponent in an Assault game -- where victory points for destroyed ships appear to be doubled.

Since Tarkin only grants a Token -- not the full Command effect, I need to play him a few times to see if he is really worth 35 points. In a 300 point game, 35 seems a bit extravagant.

Any ship he is assigned to becomes that much more valuable to the opponent in an Assault game -- where victory points for destroyed ships appear to be doubled.

Only a ship's stock points count, though.

And while Tarkin 'only' grants a token, he does so for your entire fleet (which amusingly makes him more useful on a fleet with lots of lower point ships than a small fleet of elites).

Only a ship's stock points count, though.

And while Tarkin 'only' grants a token, he does so for your entire fleet (which amusingly makes him more useful on a fleet with lots of lower point ships than a small fleet of elites).

Missed that bit about only the base points counting.

The Imperial swarm commanded by Tarkin had occurred to me. And Gladiators are sweet...

The question is how much is a reroll for every ship in your fleet per turn worth (if you use the concentrate fire token)?

Looking at the upgrade cost for the Enhanced Armament it is 1 red die on the side arcs only for 10 pts, just multiply that by 3 (assuming you run 3 ships) and you almost cover Tarkin's cost, which Tarkin works on all arcs, not just the sides and he can reroll black/blue dice as well, and that is just 1 of his 4 options.

It also probably isn't fair to compare Tarkin's cost to a regular upgrade because a commander is a mandatory "tax" so you have to pay at least a fraction of his cost for a different commander anyways but we don't really have any other imperial commanders to compare too right now

The question is how much is a reroll for every ship in your fleet per turn worth (if you use the concentrate fire token)?

If X-wing is any indication, it can be the dice that decides whether a ship blows up or gets to shoot another turn. But like most orders under Tarkin, it gets more bang when you use it in a fleet with lots of ships.

In a fleet with 2 VSD's, I imagine he'll mostly be used to bank repair tokens to increase the fleet's durability, letting you use the main orders to concentrate fire and get extra dice.

Or, if don't want to turtle, keep banking concentrate fire tokens to let you reroll almost endlessly until you turn a ship to slag a turn.

With all the talk of Tarkin being better on 4 Gladiators vs 2 Victories, I just want to add that in my opinion where Tarkin actually shines is on Vics. With a command value of 3 they not only can store more commands than other ships, but it takes them 3 turns to react, unless you are very smart and make great choices 3 turns ahead of time that is. You need to speed up your vics to get them out of range of a flanker? Just have Tarkin use that and you don't need to wait 3 turns. Need repairs, but the command on your dial is Fire Power? Have Tarkin throw some engineering commands out.

That is his true power in my opinion, and what makes him well worth the 35 points.

I do think Konrad has a valid point there! Making "snap decisions" is the biggest lack of the VIC's. Having them able to speed up or slow down as a unified whole is very handy. Also thinking of the Repair token coupled with the repair command. If coordinated well that would mean 6 Engineering points to be spend which will undent any real damage you have recieved in many a case.

When using the squadron token you would indeed benefit most when using multiple Cap ships as they can then move atleast 3 fighters for instance.

35 points btw seems not to much as the other commanders seen weigh in at 25. So adding 10 to a charge you have to take in any case seems legit considering the versatile nature of his ability.

Im hoping we will get Grand Admiral Thrawn

Im hoping we will get Grand Admiral Thrawn

I think most of us are.

I'm hoping that when we do, he has an amazing ability (and a high cost to go with it.) I feel like he should probably be the most expensive commander in the game, but have a huge impact on the game.

Im hoping we will get Grand Admiral Thrawn

Which leads me to wonder about generic commanders. What are their points costs, how average are they? I like running the basics of things to throw my opponent off, here they are expecting mass synergy when all the sudden they get hit in the face with a vanilla ice cream cone.

I'd like to see cheap 5 to 10 point commanders. Commanders that lightly impact that game like a single die re roll per turn or one free basic fighter squadron...just little things in life that make everything all that much better.

Which leads me to wonder about generic commanders. What are their points costs, how average are they? I like running the basics of things to throw my opponent off, here they are expecting mass synergy when all the sudden they get hit in the face with a vanilla ice cream cone.

I'd like to see cheap 5 to 10 point commanders. Commanders that lightly impact that game like a single die re roll per turn or one free basic fighter squadron...just little things in life that make everything all that much better.

I didn't realize that generic commanders would be a thing

Which leads me to wonder about generic commanders. What are their points costs, how average are they? I like running the basics of things to throw my opponent off, here they are expecting mass synergy when all the sudden they get hit in the face with a vanilla ice cream cone.

I'd like to see cheap 5 to 10 point commanders. Commanders that lightly impact that game like a single die re roll per turn or one free basic fighter squadron...just little things in life that make everything all that much better.

I didn't realize that generic commanders would be a thing

I hope that they are for players like myself that like to use their imagination while being vanilla. Plus it might save me some points.

I do hope that generic commanders are a thing. Not every fleet commander needs to be a named hero...

Since Tarkin only grants a Token -- not the full Command effect, I need to play him a few times to see if he is really worth 35 points. In a 300 point game, 35 seems a bit extravagant.

Any ship he is assigned to becomes that much more valuable to the opponent in an Assault game -- where victory points for destroyed ships appear to be doubled.

On the is he worth it debate we have to remember that every fleet MUST have a commander so your stuck with him or another commander anyway

just a thought

I think the Generic Commander card would be like this:

General Coh Mander

The ship's maximum engineering value is increased by one.

"Perhaps I can find new ways to motivate them"

Cost 5