Hello all, played a game with the generic officer as my commander the other day, and surprise surprise, they died. Question is, do I lose the command cards from the Specialists pack, or do they stay? There is nothing on the cards linking them to the generic officer; their only requirement is "Imperial/Rebel" only. We played it as if I didn't discard them, same as the universal command cards from the core set, but I figured I'd ask here.

1 hour ago, Alpha17 said:

Hello all, played a game with the generic officer as my commander the other day, and surprise surprise, they died. Question is, do I lose the command cards from the Specialists pack, or do they stay? There is nothing on the cards linking them to the generic officer; their only requirement is "Imperial/Rebel" only. We played it as if I didn't discard them, same as the universal command cards from the core set, but I figured I'd ask here.

As you say, those cards are generic, just like the non-Luke or Vader's command cards from the core. So they can be used by any commander

5 hours ago, Alpha17 said:

Hello all, played a game with the generic officer as my commander the other day, and surprise surprise, they died. Question is, do I lose the command cards from the Specialists pack, or do they stay? There is nothing on the cards linking them to the generic officer; their only requirement is "Imperial/Rebel" only. We played it as if I didn't discard them, same as the universal command cards from the core set, but I figured I'd ask here.

I can find nothing in the rules stating that you MUST discard all command cards that are tied to a specific commander or operative when the unit is defeated. The only rules referencing the specified commander are that you must issue the orders from the named unit, and if you cannot, replace the played card with "Standing Orders." So as far as I can tell the more relevant answer is that any commander can be selected when the new generic command cards are selected; that's what makes them generic.

Discarding "dead cards" gives your opponent free information from an otherwise hidden command hand.

I also didn't see anything say discard command cards, other than after use. This wouldn't apply in your situation but I'll cover it anyway,

Pg 21 in rule book says:

"If a player’s commander is defeated, any commander specific command cards corresponding to that commander cannot be played during the Command Phase."

Pg 22 in rule book says:

"In the rare instance where a player no longer has a trooper unit to promote, they no longer have a commander and cannot play command cards."

No discarding ... yet.