Dear fellow Imperials,

The Regional competitions of the past month have been an embarrassment to the Empire. Despite numerical superiority, we have allowed the Rebellion to walk away with the most victories. This is unacceptable.

To this end, I have I felt a calling from the Emperor (who, I presume, is the voice in my head) to found an Imperial Naval Academy in order to turn this Rebellious tide and return peace and stability to the Galaxy under an Imperial banner.

Therefore, I call on all loyal Imperial commanders to apply for a position within the Imperial Naval Academy in order to develop doctrines to defeat the Rebels once and for all. All applicants will be screened for their loyalty, and, once approved, they shall be polled for their competence and doctrinal insights. These shall be brought together and developed into a winning doctrine to spread among one another and to approved recruits of the Naval Academy.

Loyal commanders of the Empire,

Your applications shall be public (below), where you shall attest to your loyalty (how you have not commanded fleets for the Rebellion), and your victories in the name of the Emperor. What have been your standings at tournaments, how regularly do you destroy your Rebel opponents on the casual asteroid field, etc. Also, what extra-curricular activities have you engaged in for the greater glory of the Emperor and His Empire?

I would think my service record speaks for me, especially my more recent work. I have fought alongside the majority of the Imperial Navy's finest staff officers (excepting one notable asthmatic individual), and can help instruct the Academy students in the ways of battleship combat. I am familiar with many Rebel tactics, and my fleets have captured several examples of Rebel warship we have seen fit to deploy both as training vessels and as false-flag attacks to sow division among the Rebellion. I know I'm not the most brilliant officer here, but I am, I would think, one of the more reliable and dependable officers. I am also part of the planning staff at Kuat Drive Yards, seeking to develop and deploy the next generation of Imperial space combatant, and was recently seconded to the team developing the VASSAL tactical simulation model, which once cadets have experienced true combat can help boost their proficiency with active simulation against each other and captured Rebel prisoners.

I guess the other "rebel scum" and myself will break out the popcorn and watch how this goes

Never have I commanded rebel fleets, and my win-loss record I would estimate at around 90% since game launch.

As for Imperial loyalty, I'm a Royal Guard and Fleet Admiral with the 501st Legion. If that isn't loyalty, I don't know what is.

37 minutes ago, idiewell said:

I guess the other "rebel scum" and myself will break out the popcorn and watch how this goes

Strange choice for a last meal, but who am I to understand the reaches of the minds raised in the Outer Rim, beyond proper governance.

I am only a humble Lieutenant Commander in His Imperial Majesty's Navy, but I study the ways of Imperial Navy tactics and strategy with the experts of the Alamo City Fleet Command, as well as practice on the Vassal command simulators. My win rate is far from perfect, but I can say with confidence that the only Rebel ships I ever use are the ones I use for target practice

If you want to know anything else about my loyalty, I refer you to the following image (My social "face-book" profile picture):

14 minutes ago, GiledPallaeon said:

Strange choice for a last meal, but who am I to understand the reaches of the minds raised in the Outer Rim, beyond proper governance.

Mid-Rim actually.

I am a true believer in the power of the Star Destroyer, a ship which has no rivals. I have used my Star Destroyers to great effect as they helped my win a galaxy wide vassal tournament thus declaring the dominance of star destroyers to the world.

I also have a penchance for utilising underused imperial resources, such as interdictors, tractor beams and YV666s alongside my good friend Admiral Konstantine.

This may count against me, however I find it is of great value to investigate rebel tech to better understand how to mercilously defeat it. As such, I am looking for an intelligence position in this great navy.

20 minutes ago, Ginkapo said:

I am a true believer in the power of the Star Destroyer, a ship which has no rivals. I have used my Star Destroyers to great effect as they helped my win a galaxy wide vassal tournament thus declaring the dominance of star destroyers to the world.

I also have a penchance for utilising underused imperial resources, such as interdictors, tractor beams and YV666s alongside my good friend Admiral Konstantine.

This may count against me, however I find it is of great value to investigate rebel tech to better understand how to mercilously defeat it. As such, I am looking for an intelligence position in this great navy.

You cannot defeat your enemy if you do not understand him. And understanding their thought processes as Admiral Thrawn is so expert at is of little use if you cannot understand their technology and the operational limitations of those thought processes as well. This is valuable work, one my squadron is dedicated to. I have never seen sanction for these efforts, though I've never gone out of my way to show them off in the Core either.

I am loyal Imperial, yes, me, this guy right here. Always been, go Emperor (looks at hand) Power Plant. I am BIG, BIG, FAN of (looks at hand again) Dark......Van Halen and his most important generals, Ouzo and Needy.

I would like to be appointed in charge of a star destroyer or two for a start. I will use it to beat up all sorts of Rebels, yup. If you want to leave the Star Destroyer somewhere I can pick it up, that'd be great. Just tell me where I, as a TOTALLY LOYAL Imperial, can go pick it up. Send your top generals, I want to repay their loyalty as best as I can.

Don't put them ON the star destroyer, though, I want them to christen it the Rebel Face Puncher Extreme Cool Ranch brought to you by Pepsi, which they'll only be able to do if they're on another ship. I suggest an Interdictor piloted by Admiral Konstantine, he's always had a good head on his shoulders.

In conclusion, boo, Rebellion, boo! Yay our side!

Ebel-Ray Ies-Spay:

Ay-May Ave-Hay Infiltrated-ay Imp-Chay Ace-spay. Ill-way ost-pay ore-may en-whay I an-cay...

48 minutes ago, geek19 said:

Ebel-Ray Ies-Spay:

Ay-May Ave-Hay Infiltrated-ay Imp-Chay Ace-spay. Ill-way ost-pay ore-may en-whay I an-cay...

Whoa, did you fellow Imps hear that weird burst of static from my end? NO IDEA what that was, must have been just random Comms Noise!

Clearly, Imperial communications relays are in need of severe debugging

I’m a filthy ackbar scum. But I’m useful. Swear.

This is Totallynotarebel and I would like to assist with operation definitelynotatrap

4 minutes ago, MasterShake2 said:

This is Totallynotarebel and I would like to assist with operation definitelynotatrap

2 minutes ago, ImperialCaptain2017 said:

Slander! Lies! Fake Rebels!

2 hours ago, idiewell said:

Clearly, Imperial communications relays are in need of severe debugging

I think the word is 'purge'.

I have been playing Empire nearly exclusively since the game's release. While I maintain a healthy Rebel forc with plenty of options to select with, when it comes to tournaments I am stubbornly Imperial.

The Imperial Navy is certainly in an interesting position. While we have some of the most powerful single-units in the game, this is also a game that rewards ship-attrition... and this is not something our forces are strong with. Generally our forces lean more towards specialized medium and a dominating heavy. Our lights are more like small cruisers rather than corvettes, of which we have one, and it does not defend itself well. For specialization on this craft, I'd recommend consulting @Snipafist. That you need expert advise to run it points to how advanced the Empire is in terms of skill level to run effectively- this isnt' a force you can spam one ship with and do well.

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Starships:

The Imperial (ISD) will soon have four options to choose from, and all of them are good in their own ways. All of these craft are superior to their Rebel counterparts in virtually every way. The Imperial can destroy any one enemy ship in one or two blasts, but it is highly susceptible to massed attacks. Having one target that activates once has weakness to multiple ships attacking multiple times with powerful upgrades. An ISD can be taken apart by enemy fighter-bombers if it does not bring any cover.

The Gladiator, specifically the Demolisher, is a burst unit that is almost universally taken in any Imperial list. The flexibility of attacking after a move, combined with the maximum damage possible out of this ship, is a huge benefit to the Empire and is a unit that is still widely feared by the Rebellion. Typically this craft is employed on a fast strike mission to annihilate a target as soon as possible, and then escape. Speed is the primary means of survival for Demosliher. Regular Gladiators, especially the Insideous, are nowhere near as prominent

Nearly half the Imperial inventory consists of Medium ships or higher. With the exception of the VSD, all of the mediums are hyper-specialized. Medium craft are always going to face the dilemma of falling short in some regard compared to the robustness of the all-capable Imperial, or taking more craft for an activation advantage in addition to doing the job better than the attendant medium.

For example, Quasar-Fires are highly vulnerable to attacks. If you are not planning on using their particular advantages, taking a pair of Gozanti Cruisers also gives you Fighter 4 across 2 activations, allowing you 2 activation for cheaper.

Of the mediums, the Interdictor offers something no other craft posesses... but taking one means you must warp your strategy to make the most of it. The Interdictor is a large expendature of points for not much return on combat power, so you are always playing to your objectives for using it best.

Imperial light craft, as mentioned above most of the best of these are small cruisers. The Gladiator dominates at close range while the Arquitens dominates at range... yet the Rebellion has ships that are cheaper and more efficient in this way. Still, Imperial ships can dominate in one-on-one exchanges with their counterparts. The lighter end of our light craft are not as well-rounded as the Rebellions, and are more expensive, but serve their purpose.

Starfighters

The Rebellion has more well-rounded generalist starfighters as one of their factional advantages. In the Empire, our fighters are disposable specialized assets. While cheaper, they may not give enough of a return for how easily they can be destroyed by Rebel fighters. That said, the Empires' starfighters are still biased more towards killing enemy starfighters. Particularly their aces are designed to do this.

In the present, the Empire relies on massive alpha strikes with aces to try clearing as many enemy starfighters as possible, and then running. For as much as the Rebels lean on their starfighter aces, the Empire has aces designed to destroy the large amount of points invested in them. Nowadays in my perception, large ace formations under sloane is Vogue. Such a formation allows you to kill enemy aces, use Sloane to harm capital ships, and then finish them off with your superior capital batteries.

Until recently Rhymer was in dominance, offering unprecedented bomber strikes from out of retaliation range, but the change has harmed Rhymer's appeal.

Rogues are noteworthy here. For Imperial forces that wish to employ Bounty hunters, Firesprays are very powerful self-sufficient options, having a leg-up on their counterpart B-Wings with Rogue. Aggressor Starfighters also hit hard with counter and have the hull to withstand typical Rebel attacks (where Interceptors die in the exchange). Until requisition gives us a craft with intel, Jumpmasters are the only source of Intel.

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I can certainly offer more if this is educational, and if this thread is something other than a gag thread.

1 minute ago, Norsehound said:

Until requisition gives us a craft with intel, Jumpmasters are the only source of Intel.

Do you propose a capital ship with Intel capabilities? If so, consider me interested. I will refer the idea to my superior officers immediately.

I only own Rebel ships so I can lure unsuspecting victims to utter destruction.

I flew an Avenger ISD at worlds before boarding troopers made it a thing and found myself swimming in a sea of prime Rebel targets.

Most 3 year olds are into Paw Patrol, if you ask my son who his hero is though he will say Darth Vader.

He built a tie fighter out of Legos a couple weeks ago, and has death star, star destroyer and tie fighter decals above his bed.

If you need help with this, don't hesitate to let me know.

I confess that I'm not entirely sure where this is all going, but sure okay I'll throw my hat into the ring.

Don't play Imperials exclusively but at this point I'd say I play Imperials 98% of the time and I haven't touched Rebels all year (nearly played them last week but I was the odd man out, so the streak continues). I've taken Imperials to both Adepticon tournaments earlier this year, two store championships, and the Regional I attended earlier this year and went undefeated in all of those and won the Friday Adepticon tournament and the Pastimes store championship. I write the Imperial side on Cannot Get Your Ship Out and while I feel all right running just about anything, my tournament preference is for the smaller ships, particularly Raiders.

45 minutes ago, BrobaFett said:

Most 3 year olds are into Paw Patrol, if you ask my son who his hero is though he will say Darth Vader.

He built a tie fighter out of Legos a couple weeks ago, and has death star, star destroyer and tie fighter decals above his bed.

If you need help with this, don't hesitate to let me know.

Excellent work! Start teaching them well when they're young. I know I unfortunately was fascinated by the "heroic" Rebel scum as a young boy, but as I grew up I discovered how wrong I was, and committed myself to the service of the Empire.

Captain Alzer reporting.

My assigned sector has been largely untainted by rebel presence. In the minimal active incursions we have seen I have sustained few loses. During the fleet exercise deployments i proved my prowess with Inderdictor-based maneuvers suitable enough to warrant an invitation to the sub-sector feet exercise, and am anticipating some small rebel interference, even with the event taken place in the staging grounds orbiting Coruscant.

In localised engagements within the subsector fleet I mark myself as an unexemplary commander, especially when working to quash piratical insurgents. As such I have lost command of the experimental Interdictor class cruiser and its Defender escorts and been given command of a pair of aging Light Cruisers.

It is my hope that an intensive course at the academy will shape me into an officer worthy of his Imperial Majesty's fleet.

After a preliminary screening, @Darth Lupine, @ImperialCaptain2017, @Norsehound, @Snipafist, and @BrobaFett are deemed sufficiently loyal to join the Imperial Academy.

Both @GiledPallaeon and @Ginkapo strike Imperial Intelligence as certainly sufficiently competent, but the ISB has some loyalty concerns and requires more time to verify the record. Were more evidence of loyalty to be entered into the record, that may sway the screening committee.

@Alzer is still being screened. For him also more evidence of loyalty being entered into the record may sway the screening committee.