Let me begin by saying that I am not a game designer. I do not get paid to design cards, nor do I aspire to or feel like I should.

Okay, that said, I would like to post some ideas me and a friend have been knocking around for introducing Grand Admiral Thrawn to X-Wing.

Grand Admiral Thrawn

Unique, Imperial Only, Dual Card

Elite and 2 Crew slots

9 points

Side 1:

At the beginning of the combat phase, you may choose 1-2 enemy ships at range 1-2 and discard all Focus and Evade tokens on those ships. Then assign 1 stress token to each of those ships.

Side 2:

At the beginning of the activation phase, you may choose 1-2 other friendly ships at range 1-2 and remove 1 stress token from those ships and assign 1 Focus or Evade token to those ships.

I know this is probably far from balanced, but I thought it captured his ability to study an enemy and either help friendly ships, or hinder the enemies.

I had him take up an elite slot as well as two crew to try and prevent any outrageous combos, as well as limit him further to just the Decimator.

Thoughts?

He's blue for no reason in a series of books that's not that good.

Han and Lando magically bump into at least one person they know at every planet they land on.

The heroes have an entire galaxy to hide in, but no matter what the Empire knows exactly where they are at all times somehow.

Magic space animals that neutralize the force. About as stupid as midichlorians.

Mara Jade is just an ass hole to everyone at all times for no reason.

If you want a great science fiction audiobook, listen to the Aliens one, it's fantastic. The NPR radio dramatizations of the Star Wars movie are awesome too.

He's blue for no reason in a series of books that's not that good.

Han and Lando magically bump into at least one person they know at every planet they land on.

The heroes have an entire galaxy to hide in, but no matter what the Empire knows exactly where they are at all times somehow.

Magic space animals that neutralize the force. About as stupid as midichlorians.

Mara Jade is just an ass hole to everyone at all times for no reason.

If you want a great science fiction audiobook, listen to the Aliens one, it's fantastic. The NPR radio dramatizations of the Star Wars movie are awesome too.

Your disdain for the novels has been noted, PGS. Thank you for your thoughts.

If they ever put Thrawn in the game he should be a huge ship only crew.

If they ever put Thrawn in the game he should be a huge ship only crew.

You mean like Palpatine should have been?

If they ever put Thrawn in the game he should be a huge ship only crew.

I think at this point he is all but guaranteed to make an appearance as he is going to be in Rebels this coming season, especially with Disney's obvious insistence that all their new cannon stuff ends up in all their licensees products. And as far as being huge ship only, if anyone should have been huge ship only, Palpatine should have been, and we all know how that went.

If they ever put Thrawn in the game he should be a huge ship only crew.

I think at this point he is all but guaranteed to make an appearance as he is going to be in Rebels this coming season, especially with Disney's obvious insistence that all their new cannon stuff ends up in all their licensees products. And as far as being huge ship only, if anyone should have been huge ship only, Palpatine should have been, and we all know how that went.

Come on, guys, it's not thematic to have the Emperor riding in a shuttle? I think it's great. I guess he could still ride in a shuttle in epic play if he was worth one epic point.

If they ever put Thrawn in the game he should be a huge ship only crew.

I think at this point he is all but guaranteed to make an appearance as he is going to be in Rebels this coming season, especially with Disney's obvious insistence that all their new cannon stuff ends up in all their licensees products. And as far as being huge ship only, if anyone should have been huge ship only, Palpatine should have been, and we all know how that went.

Not necessarily huge ship only, just epic game only. Make him cost 1 epic point.

It's pretty cool and thematic to fly him in a Lambda surrounded by 4-5 Red Royal Guard Interceptors.

Huge ships also need to spend their crew slots wisely on power crew like Gunner or Weapons Engineer or whatever, being forced to put Palpatine on a Raider would be a problem.

I'm fine with Palpatine in a Epic game. His ability only goes so far when you have 292 points of ships to cover with it. Same thing with Soontir and the Inquisitor, their efficiency only takes them so far and if they're confronted by multiple 100 point list blobs of ships they'll only live for so long.

Hmm. the idea of Thrawn being duel sided could make for some interesting dynamics and options, which fits him. Otherwise, the idea me and my friends had was to make him a super Intell Agent, allowing him to see the enemy dials in some form or fashion.

I do agree that he'll probably be an Epic ship only card, if they bring him to X-Wing at all. He seems better suited for Armada.

Side 1:

You win.

Side 2:

Your enemy loses.

If they ever put Thrawn in the game he should be a huge ship only crew.

I think at this point he is all but guaranteed to make an appearance as he is going to be in Rebels this coming season, especially with Disney's obvious insistence that all their new cannon stuff ends up in all their licensees products. And as far as being huge ship only, if anyone should have been huge ship only, Palpatine should have been, and we all know how that went.

Come on, guys, it's not thematic to have the Emperor riding in a shuttle? I think it's great. I guess he could still ride in a shuttle in epic play if he was worth one epic point.

While it is thematic for Palpatine to ride in a shuttle, it's not likely for him to do so into combat unless he was somehow ambushed. If I had to guess, Palpatine takes a heavily escorted shuttle from his palace on Coruscant to his Super Star Destroyer in orbit, flies in the SSD to his destination, then takes his heavily escorted shuttle to his Death Star or planet. If at any point in that chain there is an attack, he won't be getting into a shuttle unless absolutely necessary and definitely not in a dogfight! But in this game we see him in a shuttle dogfighting all the time. I'm ok with it, but it makes no sense "thematically"

I think what Thrawn does will depend on what his character does in Rebels, not the novels. With the new canon, we may see a new side of Thrawn, or at least a younger version. Since he was out in the Unknown Regions during most of the Galactic Civil War, having him in Rebels is an interesting choice. We may see some new ships out of this as well- Chiss Clawcraft perhaps?

He's blue for no reason in a series of books that's not that good.

Han and Lando magically bump into at least one person they know at every planet they land on.

The heroes have an entire galaxy to hide in, but no matter what the Empire knows exactly where they are at all times somehow.

Magic space animals that neutralize the force. About as stupid as midichlorians.

Mara Jade is just an ass hole to everyone at all times for no reason.

If you want a great science fiction audiobook, listen to the Aliens one, it's fantastic. The NPR radio dramatizations of the Star Wars movie are awesome too.

*cough*

He's blue for no reason in a series of books that's not that good.

He's blue (da ba dee da ba daa) because the author decided he wanted a non-human, but anything too exotic would seem positively wrong in an Imperial setting, as opposed to merely odd. This complaint is really like complaining, "Chewbacca is hairy and speaks in growls for no reason".

Han and Lando magically bump into at least one person they know at every planet they land on.

Pretty blatant plot-device, true, but then again, they are both pretty well-known and well-traveled.

The heroes have an entire galaxy to hide in, but no matter what the Empire knows exactly where they are at all times somehow.

Not sure which parts you're referring to, specifically (been probably fifteen years since I last read the trilogy), but as I recall, the heroes are no longer part of a loose, rag-tag rebellion, but rather have helped establish the New Republic. Some of their dealings may be done secretly, but in general, the New Republic is now tied to Coruscant, and it may be a bit more difficult for prominent figures to move around too much without somebody knowing about it. (I believe some of Thrawn's information sources were revealed in the course of the novels, too.)

Magic space animals that neutralize the force. About as stupid as midichlorians.

Yeah, I wasn't a big fan of the ysalamiri, but I sort of get their point (unlike midichlorians). I mean, the Force had already been established as an incredibly powerful tool with no real downside. From a literary perspective you need some type of kryptonite for it, or else you end up with a Dragonball Z effect of just having more and more ridiculously powerful bad guys, wondering why none of the later ones tried to make a move while the heroes were still much weaker.

Mara Jade is just an ass hole to everyone at all times for no reason.

Can't really argue this one. I don't think I much cared for Mara Jade in this trilogy.

If you want a great science fiction audiobook, listen to the Aliens one, it's fantastic. The NPR radio dramatizations of the Star Wars movie are awesome too.

But what if I want other Star Wars stories beyond the movies? On a message board about a Star Wars game with a lot of influences from EU sources, this is probably not an unreasonable assumption.

Responses in bold. I understand not everyone likes the Thrawn trilogy, but some of these complaints are rather weak (and the first one is downright silly!) Also, wasn't this topic originally about adding Thrawn to the game, rather than a book review of Timothy Zahn's works?

If they ever put Thrawn in the game he should be a huge ship only crew.

You mean like Palpatine should have been?

He was shown exiting a Lamda with his guards in Return of the Jedi. The guy clearly rides around in X-wing scale appropriate vehicles.

Grand Admiral Thrawn- 2 crew slots; your ship gains an Elite slot. Once per turn, when a friendly ship reveals its maneuver dial, you may change that maneuver to any white or green maneuver on that ship's dial. Assign one focus token to your ship.

Side 1:

You win.

Side 2:

Your enemy loses.

I can't tell if this is a commentary on how broken my idea would be, or on how badass Thrawn is, LOL

He's blue for no reason in a series of books that's not that good.

Han and Lando magically bump into at least one person they know at every planet they land on.

The heroes have an entire galaxy to hide in, but no matter what the Empire knows exactly where they are at all times somehow.

Magic space animals that neutralize the force. About as stupid as midichlorians.

Mara Jade is just an ass hole to everyone at all times for no reason.

If you want a great science fiction audiobook, listen to the Aliens one, it's fantastic. The NPR radio dramatizations of the Star Wars movie are awesome too.

Your disdain for the novels has been noted, PGS. Thank you for your thoughts.

Thrawn trilogy was awesome! My mind is set on the matter.

One of them sound like Toryn Farr.

Don't really like them unless Huge ship.

Like the Intelligence Agent idea with no range restrictions... Maybe he can look at both opponents highest and lowest PS dials.

I can't tell if this is a commentary on how broken my idea would be, or on how badass Thrawn is, LOL

Badass Thrawn.

I'd like Thrawn to unlock something very much needed for huge ships: attack modification. Rebels have Han Solo, and Esege to turn eyes into hits. Imperials have nothing.

Side 1:

You win.

Side 2:

Your enemy loses.

This reminds me of the injustice dealt to Wedge Antilles. His ability should read: instead of firing, remove one enemy ship within range 3 and within your firing arc from the board.

Grand Admiral Thrawn.

~30 Squad Points

Put a GAT Token outside of the play area.

Your opponent first plays his complete activation phase, afterwards you play yours. You play your combat phase first and afterwards your opponent plays his.

Admiral Thrawn

~4 pts

Action: Pick one enemy ship. Your opponent sets and shows you his dial before you set yours.

I'd like Thrawn to unlock something very much needed for huge ships: attack modification. Rebels have Han Solo, and Esege to turn eyes into hits. Imperials have nothing.

Uhh... we have the most broken thing of all: Jonus. Seriously, Jonus backing up a fully kitted Raider is brutal. I don't even want to THINK about what the TIE/Shuttle title with a Systems/Fleet Officer would look like. Have the aft two hardpoints be concussions or proton torps, or maybe one assault one proton torp, the front hardpoint quad lasers, the crew being weapons engineer and WED repair droid, Impetuous title, Ordnance Experts... yeah, could be pretty awful.

For the Rebel scum.

My take on Thrawn was along the lines of: At the start of the Activation Phase, you may discard this card to look at the dials of your opponents and adjust one of your own dials.

_{I put this in an other thread already but my idea for a Thrawn crew card was.}

_{Discard this card at the manoeuvre stage to force your opponent to lock in their dials and put them face up before you select you manoeuvres.}

_{Once time use.}

_{8 points.}

_{2 crew slots.}

_{Am not sure how broken this would be If used a just the right time it could be massive. But it seems to fit the character's ability to predict his opponents tactics.}