Big questions, when do we think we'll see Palpatine show up in the game and what ship would he come with? Also what upgrade slot would he take and what would his ability be? Closest card we have as the leader of the Empire is Director Isard (aka Iceheart) from legends.

They are saving him for the Epic Ships.

Not sure if they will put him and Piett in with the SSD, or save him for a second Imperial Epic ship.

35 points.

You may reduce the number of command dials by 1 to a minimum of 1 for all friendly ships.

What if he let you look at your opponents command dials before setting yours?

”Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design”

Piett would make sense. Palpatine would not. He was he Emperor, leader of the whole known galaxy. He never commanded fleets, he didn't have to. It would be totally uner him to do so. Plus he is a Sith Lord so anything other than being able to directly manipulate the opponent's fleet would be shameful. And if he could do that it would be OP.

11 minutes ago, Norell said:

Piett would make sense. Palpatine would not. He was he Emperor, leader of the whole known galaxy. He never commanded fleets, he didn't have to. It would be totally uner him to do so. Plus he is a Sith Lord so anything other than being able to directly manipulate the opponent's fleet would be shameful. And if he could do that it would be OP.

Ah, but later EU books explained that Palpatine was using so-called "battle meditation" Force powers to coordinate the Imperial fleet at Endor. Which is totally not a clunky plot device to explain why Luke Skywalker's family drama on board Death Star II somehow saved the galaxy. If he is an acrobat and the universe's greatest lightsaber duelist, as Episode III would depict, then I suppose he can be a world-class admiral as well.

Like others have said, i expect him with the SSD. Having said that i dont expect the SSD anytime soon, i suspect it got shelved for a bit after armada didnt lift off like expected. Itll come out eventually, might even be the last release they do for the game( not saying it's dying, just niche).

7 minutes ago, Nostromoid said:

Ah, but later EU books explained that Palpatine was using so-called "battle meditation" Force powers to coordinate the Imperial fleet at Endor. Which is totally not a clunky plot device to explain why Luke Skywalker's family drama on board Death Star II somehow saved the galaxy. If he is an acrobat and the universe's greatest lightsaber duelist, as Episode III would depict, then I suppose he can be a world-class admiral as well.

True. But battle meditation was still performed from afar, ever int he actual battlezone. On the other hand I could imagine a Palpatine card which is placed besides your ships, so it's not equipped but still affects all your ships.

Sidenote: Palpie wasn't the only one using battle meditation but he was one of the greatests in that way.

I Think he could be an officer, with the battle meditation like ability. Looking at opponents top dials before setting yours makes Complete sence. Or to tune It down a bit, but make It still powerfull: Before revealing your command dial, you may change It to any command. We have the limited 6 Point version of this already, so 10+ish Points...

as difficult as it likely is to make it balanced, I would dearly love to have the Emperor in the game. Can you really have any SW game without him?

Some efficiency enhancement, maybe. But yes, the gap between his maximum abilities and the effect he can have in Armada is bigger than for others, as you cant put him in a fighter squad like the other force users.

If its "just" epic play with an SSD, fine with me. I can always put him on an ISD in a regular game, for zero points and in a purely ceremonial role

The whole eu battle meditation thing never sat well for me... more of the all imperials are idiots stereotype. Part of why the e.u always seemed pretty lightweight cheap and nasty.

My favourite theory for palpatine in armada is that we will get him on an 'emperors guard' expansion.

But i concede, super star destroyer seems more likely.

I always thought the battle meditation explanation was bs. The imperial fleet outnumbering the rebel fleet is thrown into disarray and helpless w/o battle meditation? How did the outnumbered rebels manage w/o this super vital battle meditation on their side? That said, I feel like we'll see Piett before we see the Emperor.

Lambda pilot

He's in xwing isn't he? At the head of a fleet seems more applicable than in fighter combat.

But yeah 'battle meditation' did always seem kinda hokey.

That said, I'm not sure what ability would fit thematically for our beloved emperor.

1 hour ago, Ginkapo said:

Lambda pilot

its the only ship I ever saw him in

5 hours ago, TheToad said:

What if he let you look at your opponents command dials before setting yours?

”Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design”

Yeah, but it didn't, did it?

As a special one off admiral for the final battle of a new campaign box. If his ship is destroyed you automatically lose.

2 hours ago, Barney said:

As a special one off admiral for the final battle of a new campaign box. If his ship is destroyed you automatically lose.

I was thinking battle meditation might be reflected in dice manipulation. Like, he can reroll any attack by or against a friendly ship within [some distance] [once per turn/activation/whatever].

But this may not be a bad idea to start from -- the Emperor straight up helps determine if you win or lose. He could be worth voctory points, but that would make it too wasy to win just by keeping his ship out of the fight.

Maybe a combination? Some very powerful combat ability that requires the Emperor to be in the thick of it, but he's also worth points to one side or the other, depending on if he survives.

Maybe he starts with X number of objective tokens that he can spend for an effect or that are worth a few points at the end of the match. If destroyed, your opponent scores the leftover tokens.

Or it's not tied to him so closely -- maybe each if your ships gets a token that can be spent or is worth points (to avoid this favoring MSU fleets or fleets with few ships, scale the number of tokens to ship size like Motti's ability).

2 minutes ago, Tayloraj100 said:

I was thinking battle meditation might be reflected in dice manipulation. Like, he can spend those tokens to reroll any attack by or against a friendly ship within [some distance].

But this may not be a bad idea to start from -- the Emperor straight up helps determine if you win or lose. He could be worth voctory points, but that would make it too wasy to win just by keeping his ship out of the fight.

Maybe a combination? Some very powerful combat ability that requires the Emperor to be in the thick of it, but he's also worth points to one side or the other, depending on if he survives.

Maybe he starts with X number of objective tokens that he can spend for an effect or that are worth a few points at the end of the match. If destroyed, your opponent scores the leftover tokens.

Or it's not tied to him so closely -- maybe each if your ships gets a token that can be spent or is worth points (to avoid this favoring MSU fleets or fleets with few ships, scale the number of tokens to ship size like Motti's ability).

Make it difficult to put on a ship, a title like the Pelta that adds an officer slot and Palp has to take the commander and 2 officer slots to fit on a ship so he has to be on a big brawler.

9 hours ago, EagleScoutof007 said:

Big questions, when do we think we'll see Palpatine show up in the game and what ship would he come with? Also what upgrade slot would he take and what would his ability be? Closest card we have as the leader of the Empire is Director Isard (aka Iceheart) from legends.

In the end....

in a Death Star....

with ultimate shields and tractor beam.

Also with the Death Star super weapon ( one shot, one kill. Ignore all defensive tokens. )

His Ability would be:

He always chose each round if he want to move first or last. Because it always happens according to his plan.

3 hours ago, GhostofNobodyInParticular said:

Yeah, but it didn't, did it?

Only because of ewoks.

So if the Imps get Palp its only fair the rebels get the ewok glider unique squadron.

yub yub

2 hours ago, BrobaFett said:

Only because of ewoks.

So if the Imps get Palp its only fair the rebels get the ewok glider unique squadron.

yub yub

But that just doesn't fit.

The Ewoks need their own faction.

50 points - Battle meditation: The total number of command dials that must be assigned during the Command Phase is set to 1 for all of your ships.

55 minutes ago, Lord Tareq said:

50 points - Battle meditation: The total number of command dials that must be assigned during the Command Phase is set to 1 for all of your ships.

That's actually not bad. Really fits well with the battle meditation theme. I'd probably opt for reduce the total number by 1 to a minimum of 1 though.

Honestly I would rather he be an officer but that is just me.

He's an Adimral who's power is not having to be equipped to any ship.

20 points.