Two different wordings for effectively similar results.

Getting the effect of a token and a dial in the same go.

nope... Not sure how you can say they are effectively similar..... Leia limits you to one command if you want to user her ability. Tarkin on the other hand gives every one the token - which they dont have to use that turn, and can be used in addition to a different command on their dial.

22 minutes ago, Shadow345 said:

Two different wordings for effectively similar results.

Getting the effect of a token and a dial in the same go.

In a word, no. But more importantly, they are two sides of a single coin.

Tarkin is a product of his time, wherein no Imperial ships had a Command 1 ability but everyone had multiple useful commands they could take. Tarkin was an insurance that Imperial players always had command flexibilty not afforded by their ship selections. Even with several additions that's a major function of what he provides. Give everyone a navigate token so nobody runs off the board, or a squadron token so you can activate those TIE fighters, or a concentrate fire because you need that turn with above average dice results. But Tarkin plans for his entire fleet to participate in a single coordinated action for a turn.

Leia is the opposite: in a fleet that features multiple ships with low command values, she makes the commands on her ships absolute and above-average. Everyone will always perform to their maximum and to the exclusion of all other tasks. Leia doesn't care that you might want to activate a squadron AND concentrate your firepower. She ordered you to do one of the two, so by God you're going to do it to your absolute best effort. And the ship she comes with exemplifies this: All of the dial+token effects of the Hammerhead drastically improve the ship performance of those tasks. Concentrate Fire adds a die and improves reliability. Squadron doubles (or triples!) the native squadron value. Repairing lets you discard damage instead of repairing a single shield. Navigate jumps you from maximum speed to speed 1 and vice versa. And unlike Tarkin, her abilities affect each ship individually, so you can have your gunships focus on outputting damage and your carriers focus on activating squads and your tanks repairing hull and patching shields all game long.

In some ways Tarkin can be seen in the same light as Garm.

An Assault frigate or MC80 is going to get 6 tokens from Garm in a game and a VSD or ISD is going to get 6 from Tarkin. Garm concentrates them into 2 pulses and also limits you to 3 different tokens at a time (Ahsoka can help here). Another reason that Tarkin is overpriced and so under used I think.

If Leia were to go to the dark side and I had the choice between her and Tarkin for an Imperial fleet I think I would go for Leia as ships can better stick to their specialities. Tarkin is more flexible for unplanned events and he is even better if you buy offensive or defensive liaisons to trade unwanted tokens to more urgently needed commands. But then this adds to the cost of the fleet and uses your officer slots.

They are infact the opposite, Tarkin encourages flexibility, Leia encourages sticking to command. Truth be told for the point Leia comes on top. What we learned about armada over the years is that flexibility is hardly if ever repaying its cost in a battle. Mastery of a strength is the way to go. Its hardly ever a fleet with no weakness and no obvious strength that wins in armada, its always the fleet that knows what its best at and uses it well. Tarkin Flexibility is too general for his price to be that great. You could say a better admiral like Ozzel is also flexbility, but he really is not. He makes you build a fleet around a single strength and how you will use that strength will determinte how well you do.

Master of something > Master of none in my books.