Im no expert so I dont know how much this would actually come into play, but doing two or more things in a turn would let you use more than one upgrade with a command action window, ie engine techs.

On 18/2/2018 at 9:54 PM, geek19 said:

I was talking with a friend yesterday about how to make a Thrawn build that's not just a "lesser" version of Jerjerrod or Sloane or something. What's everyone's experiences been with Big Blue so far? (More an academic question for ME, but I AM interested in seeing the results). From what a few of us have been talking locally, he's a good Commander for a Bomber cloud (Hey, TIE Bombers can be back, guys!) but then what's the rest of the list? Chimaera/non-Chimaera? 7th Fleet? Pryce? What's been the best way people have found for leveraging his Admiral ability?

I didn't spend too much time on fleet building yet but at first glance my glads and raiders love being able to resolve navigate and cf commands.

It seems a good place to start to me. More if Thrawn allows glads to command the interceptors screen that protects them.

Add SFO to coordinate the fleet better to don't waste Thrawn dials.

Navigate, CF and Engineering/squadron on Thrawn. Bank a navigate token round one. Navigate or bank a cf token round two. Alternate commands as always. Double command with Thrawn rounds 3-5/4-6. SFO to adjust each ship command to its own circumstances (when you navigate with Thrawn and that particular glad had also navigate for example).

I think the command 3 thing with Thrawn is a misnomer. Not saying ISDs etc arent good with thrawn, just not sure its necessarily because of being high command. I think the ability to do two things is stronger than the ability to do 1 strong thing on demand alongside a perma weak thing.

Someone in my Meta is running a Thrawn and Interdictor that is apparently doing really well. Haven't seen it on the table yet but it will most likely make an appearance this weekend at Regionals.

56 minutes ago, ripper998 said:

Someone in my Meta is running a Thrawn and Interdictor that is apparently doing really well. Haven't seen it on the table yet but it will most likely make an appearance this weekend at Regionals.

I was weirdly suggested a very similar idea earlier today! ISD, Interdictor, x, x, some TIEs, profit? Maybe?

If you want to be super crazy and go super Thrawn, Relentless, Arquitens, and SFO on all of them. Everything perfectly planned when needed!

No table time with Wave 7 (this changes tomorrow) but is the ability to simply push squadrons for half the game whilst ship X can do any other command not enough utility already?

1 hour ago, Trizzo2 said:

No table time with Wave 7 (this changes tomorrow) but is the ability to simply push squadrons for half the game whilst ship X can do any other command not enough utility already?

Better than Jerrod? I say its not enough

1 hour ago, Trizzo2 said:

No table time with Wave 7 (this changes tomorrow) but is the ability to simply push squadrons for half the game whilst ship X can do any other command not enough utility already?

Not the real question.

Is it that better than other abilities?

Cause yes, Thrawn is good but if all you want is to navigate while commanding squadrons, JJ is good enough for example. A second command is not usually better than a guaranteed crit effect. Etc.

I like Thrawn with Dras's Nose Punch. That was wildly fun and effective since the Interdictors never die and have squad commands.

CF with Thrawn is also very powerful, and might make Arqs competitive since they can Nav and get extra dice.

Thrawn also makes Comms Net more powerful because it's feeding a ship and still resolving commands.

19 hours ago, ripper998 said:

Someone in my Meta is running a Thrawn and Interdictor that is apparently doing really well. Haven't seen it on the table yet but it will most likely make an appearance this weekend at Regionals.

This will probably be the next build I play with after regionals. Looks like a resilient pile of shield stripping fun! (Between HIE on the dictor and ACM on a Kuat ISD).

On 20/2/2018 at 8:34 PM, ripper998 said:

Someone in my Meta is running a Thrawn and Interdictor that is apparently doing really well. Haven't seen it on the table yet but it will most likely make an appearance this weekend at Regionals.

Have you more info about this list?

6 hours ago, Sharego said:

Have you more info about this list?

Not st this time. I have only seen it once but it went through some changes I have a feeling. I should have the details at the SA regionals.

I found it difficult to build with him because contrary to other commanders, he has no specific abilities to build around. His ability is to have an answer for whatever your enemy brings.

So I started building 350 point fleets I felt would work well together, no commander-dependant combos in sight, and then add Thrawn. I still.get 18 points to share between additional upgrades/squads or a bid. The result is a rather solid fleet that Thrawn turns awesome.

Or he would, if I learnt how to set his dials better depending on my matchup. But that's my experience lacking, time will teach me to react appropriately. It still feels solid to have answers to everything.

I really do believe Thrawn with an ISD and an Interdictor like the list I ran a couple of batreps ago is definitely viable competitively.

18 hours ago, Sharego said:

Have you more info about this list?

I'm fairly sure I played against it in a casual tourament last weekend. Funnily enough we both had been working on similar concepts, so it was a mirror. Both of us were running a Kuat and Interdictor. I believe he had Vader boarding team, leading shots, ACM, ECM, Hardened Bulkheads, and Strategic Officer on the ISD. The Interdictor was running HIE, Targetting Scramblers, Grav Shift Reroute, Projection Experts (I think?), Disposable Capacitors, Brunson, and the Title. He had a couple Lambdas for Relay plus some other squads. I don't recall the rest of the list aside from at least 1 gozanti. I was running:

• ISD Kuat Refit 112 (179)
  • Grand Admiral Thrawn 32
  • Strategic Adviser 4
  • Ordnance Experts 4
  • Electronic Countermeasures 7
  • Leading Shots 4
  • Assault Concussion Missiles 7
  • Chimaera 4
  • Entrapment Formation!
• Interdictor Suppression Refit 90 (121)
  • Captain Brunson 5
  • Engine Techs 8
  • Disposable Capacitors 3
  • Targeting Scrambler 5
  • Grav Shift Reroute 2
  • SW-7 Ion Batteries 5
  • Interdictor 3
• Gozanti Cruisers 23 (27)
  • Hondo Ohnaka 2
  • Comms Net 2
• Gozanti Cruisers 23 (25)
  • Comms Net
• Ciena Ree 17
• Valen Rudor 13
• 2 × TIE Fighter Squadron 16

I was looking for something more thematic (hence Chimaera). I've been experimenting with variations of this list since the new wave dropped under Motti, Screed, and now Thrawn. I think Thrawn is probably the right choice, for the flexibility of Navving (key to lining up the double arcs that actually make the Interdictor useful). I do think that HIE is probably the right upgrade as it adds a lot of punch. Particularly against small ships that are in only 1 arc. I wanted to try 4 guaranteed damage per arc using IF with this list, which was alright but not amazing. I also find that Engine Techs are the right support team. Speed 2 is just not fast enough to get up to close where the interdictor wants to be (Scramblers/close range guns). Brunson has been fantastic and with Grav Shift Reroute she's pretty easy to trigger. Both ships become tanks with Scramblers/Engineering live. I've been struggling with long range style lists if I misdeploy. Ackbar where I can't get the Interdictor or Kuat ahead of them in particular are problematic. I've been contemplating swapping to an ISD2 to alleviate the issue. I also worry about bomber heavy lists (particularly Sloane or something like Rieekan) as all of the fancy defensive tech in the list is best suited against big ship attacks.

The other build I've tried with Thrawn (that I don't think is fleshed out enough to be worth much thought yet) is an ISD1 with flight controllers/SAD/LS, 2x Raider 1 with EHB/OE/ER, and a Gozanti with Comms net. Squads were Maarek/Jendon/Whisper/Saber/4x Ties. The idea being for Thrawn to let my ships flight command and act as combat ships at the same time. I've had some success with it but I don't think its competitively viable yet. I'm not sure where to take it but I did think about trying a command arquitens/VSD1 combo instead of the ISD. I haven't looked at the points to see if that makes sense.

I have zero experience playing so take anything I say with a grain of salt, but the first Star Wars book I read was The Last Command so Thrawn has a bit of a special place for me and I've been trying hard to figure out something that would be fun to get him in. It seems to me that Thrawn is more powerful the more ships you have to take advantage of his extra dials. I don't have an ISD so instead I've been looking at VSD's to use as a core supported by Arquitens and a Raider. I haven't quite gotten anything I'm completely happy with though since giving myself VSD2's ends up with no squadrons and VSD1's don't feel quite threatening enough. The plan is was that this fleet should be able to counter or respond to just about any enemy order. Tactical experts on the VSD's lets me swap to concentrate fire regardless of what I have set and Thrawn gives me even more flexibility. The thought was that the Raider could help stall the squadron game long enough but I'm not sure it will work.

Points: 400/400

Commander: Grand Admiral Thrawn

[ flagship ] Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (85 points)
- Grand Admiral Thrawn ( 32 points)
- Tactical Expert ( 6 points)
- Quad Battery Turrets ( 5 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
= 132 total ship cost

Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (85 points)

- Tactical Expert ( 6 points)
- Quad Battery Turrets ( 5 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
= 100 total ship cost

Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54 points)

- Skilled First Officer ( 1 points)
- Dual Turbolaser Turrets ( 5 points)
= 60 total ship cost

Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54 points)

- Skilled First Officer ( 1 points)
- Dual Turbolaser Turrets ( 5 points)
= 60 total ship cost

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points)

- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
= 48 total ship cost

I had great success and fun with this list. My view on Thrawn isn't that he gives your fleet versatility like many would say, but instead a solid backbone. I say this because the Thrawn dials are the most advanced set commands of any vessel, lasting until likely turn 4 so therefore planned as though you had a command four ship. I'd rather have something else for my different ships that I plan as the game progresses. Like when I see which ship is going to be taking the brunt of the attack, I want it to set engineering while the other ships focus the attack. And since the Thrawn dials are locked from the beginning they have no changeability as circumstance reveals how the game will unfold. Also, the dial you select for the turn is applied to every ship, so it could totally whiff if you Thrawn up squads... And have no squads in range. Or engineering... And have not been shot. Or concentrate fire!... And have no targets. So to my mind, the one command that every ship likely wants to do EVERY turn if it had the choice is navigate. Navigate is never really a misplaced dial, even to a ship which is already in a good position and had the maneuver available that it wants, taking an extra click can keep it that way. So with a fleet that had access to navigate every round for three rounds straight on top of the ability to adapt to the situation by seeing each their own commands, I can make faaaaar better plans based on consistency. So I came up with this list and it worked incredibly well.:

Blast 'Em (398/400)
==================
Cymoon 1 Refit (112 + 74)
+ Grand Admiral Thrawn (32)
+ Minister Tua (2)
+ Gunnery Team (7)
+ Intensify Firepower! (6)
+ Spinal Armament (9)
+ XI7 Turbolasers (6)
+ Avenger (5)
+ Electronic Countermeasures (7)
Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54 + 6)
+ Slaved Turrets (6)
Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54 + 6)
+ Slaved Turrets (6)
Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54 + 6)
+ Slaved Turrets (6)
Gozanti-class Assault Carriers (28 + 4)
+ Suppressor (4)
Opening Salvo
Contested Outpost
Solar Corona

Avenger might seem off here but when it activates last after three Arquitten cruisers have fired with 5 reds, one auto hit, they realize all too late that Avenger is just as good a sniper as a brawler. Eventually I cut Supressor title from the build and put in a simple comms net to feed tokens to the Avenger. And that seemed to do even better as a fuel source for IF. Tua makes the ISD a hard target. And the cruisers punish you with a solid base of attack as of they were three Ackbar buffed Assault Frigates. Thrawn sets three navigate dials, or two nav and one repair if I'm feeling cautious since even late game there's a chance the majority of ships can fix at least something. And the ships plan their turns as normal plotting which they expect to talk damage, which they need to have focused on shooting, and that's it folks.

Never forget. These truths to Armada:

Concentrate fire gets you ONE die. Controling what range you are at with navigate can bring in a whole pool of dice or prevent a whole pool from shooting at you.

Engineering can cover up a damage or two, but navigate can get you out of a dangerous arc and save you entirely.

Squadrons might be dead or not in range when you activate, but navigate can get you out of their strike range altogether.

Navigate... For... The... Win.

49 minutes ago, ForceSensitive said:

Blast 'Em (398/400)
==================
Cymoon 1 Refit (112 + 74)
+ Grand Admiral Thrawn (32)
+ Minister Tua (2)
+ Gunnery Team (7)
+ Intensify Firepower! (6)
+ Spinal Armament (9)
+ XI7 Turbolasers (6)
+ Avenger (5)
+ Electronic Countermeasures (7)
Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54 + 6)
+ Slaved Turrets (6)
Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54 + 6)
+ Slaved Turrets (6)
Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54 + 6)
+ Slaved Turrets (6)
Gozanti-class Assault Carriers (28 + 4)
+ Suppressor (4)
Opening Salvo
Contested Outpost
Solar Corona

Never forget. These truths to Armada:

Concentrate fire gets you ONE die. Controling what range you are at with navigate can bring in a whole pool of dice or prevent a whole pool from shooting at you.

Engineering can cover up a damage or two, but navigate can get you out of a dangerous arc and save you entirely.

Squadrons might be dead or not in range when you activate, but navigate can get you out of their strike range altogether.

Navigate... For... The... Win.

I like the concept, as well as the liberal use of slaved turrets. I've despised that upgrade for much of Armada, but along came the the Scout Hammerhead Corvette. Now, I'm getting pretty good mileage from those cards sitting and gathering dust. And as for what you feel about Navigate commands... again, in the early days, that seemed like something you dialed up because you weren't sure what else to do. Nowadays, it's nearly the default command for everything.

Exactly. I forget to mention but I should, the core of this list was actually inspired by a friend's older list where he used Admiral Vader and a bunch of Arquitten and Gozanti to build something like an Ackbar fleet that was point and click conga line back in like wave four. It worked really well surprisingly for having a few Achilles heel weaknesses. I had always liked it's simplicity and respected it's fire power but wanted more of a base for my admiral. Along came Cymoon and IF so I could get the consistent attack of Vader without losing defense and a solid artillery platform at the same time. So credit where it's due, it wasn't entirely my concept.

I do like however that Thrawn, who is a master of strategic positioning, can give you raw positional advantage by navigating your entire fleet for half the game. I feel like this was the hidden power and intended design of his card.