I spose the only real gripe I have with this news is that ffg seems to be jumping all over the ip.

Sorta makes sense, but there's so many other option that would have filled and fitted a commander slot better? Personally I'd see her more as an operative than a commander, same as cassian for that matter.

So.. does this mean we should expect Meeber Gascon and D-squad? 😜

While way too early, should this prove true, what similar units would we see for the republic and separatists?

Iden Versio I find interesting. While I would have preferred, and still would, like to see a story that has empire being not all bad. Iden was a product of a well off pro-imperial world. She believed in making a better galaxy, and only defected when the Empire went off the deep end and decided to burn entire worlds in a scheme conceived by petulant narcissist that was the Emperor.

Reading the new Thrawn novels, and Lost Stars there ARE imperials that aren't all bad.

But at the end of the day, Iden LOOKS cool. Any excuse to have TIE pilots on the table, I am okay with.

To be fair to Iden, operation Cinder was pretty terrible, and just poor strategy on the Empire's part. You don't fire bomb your most loyal population centers. Probably just part of the idea that Palpatine had that the Empire wasn't allowed to outlast him, so it had to be purged in the event of his death.

I love the new Thrawn novels. The OG ones are good, but the new ones really give you a much better view of Thrawn and career imperial officers who actually are competent and believe in the Empire.

Despite my dislike for Iden changing sides so quickly, if she's the next commander release yes I'll have to get her just because she looks cool.

Battlefront II still sold millions (double digits by this point) of copies, and this was a "bad" release for EA. There's a very wide pool of people who would know who Iden is, and Iden was a really big part of the marketing push for the game (her actress was right up on stage at the E3 event talking about the game before it came out). Inferno Squad is also a pretty interesting idea which isn't really super common to Imperial units before either (they're flight-trained spec ops, similar to how the old Wraith Squadron worked in Legends). I wouldn't mind seeing them as a future SF option for Empire.

19 hours ago, TauntaunScout said:

Fits the “Scarif or bust” approach that I have been annoyed by in the past though.

Cassian does, though Iden really doesn't.

17 hours ago, RyantheFett said:

To be fair Iden and her droid got an entire book about her surviving the destruction of the first Death Star and two missions with Inferno Squad.............. I mean the book sort of sucked, but it is something.

As for her defecting it seems that in the new canon Imperials have only that option or they die. My guess is since the Empire only last around a year they don't have much wiggle room compared to Legends where the Empire never really goes away.

Yeah, just one of many reasons why the EU was infinitely superior to the current drivel.

Though, I guess there are a few options they could go with, at least for commanders; besides characters that obviously die like Tarkin, or probably die, like Thrawn, Grand Admiral Rae Sloane is cool enough to warrant inclusion in the game and yet doesn't defect nor does she die during the war.

8 hours ago, Asvaldir said:

To be fair to Iden, operation Cinder was pretty terrible, and just poor strategy on the Empire's part. You don't fire bomb your most loyal population centers. Probably just part of the idea that Palpatine had that the Empire wasn't allowed to outlast him, so it had to be purged in the event of his death.

I love the new Thrawn novels. The OG ones are good, but the new ones really give you a much better view of Thrawn and career imperial officers who actually are competent and believe in the Empire.

Despite my dislike for Iden changing sides so quickly, if she's the next commander release yes I'll have to get her just because she looks cool.

Cinder was a terrible, terrible idea from the get go, and doesn't really fit Sparky. If, as the rumors are true, he comes back in the next film, he destroyed Imperial loyalists for pretty much nothing, and made his eventual return to power that much harder to accomplish. If he doesn't come back, he violated the Rule of Two which insists that he must accept he will be killed eventually, and replaced by his Apprentice, and the only tragedy will be if all of his knowledge/power base is lost as well. Even without factoring Sith ideology, destroying your allies only ensure that your enemies will be even more victorious, and assume power faster, hardly what he would want.

13 minutes ago, Alpha17 said:

Cassian does, though Iden really doesn't.

Yeah, just one of many reasons why the EU was infinitely superior to the current drivel.

Though, I guess there are a few options they could go with, at least for commanders; besides characters that obviously die like Tarkin, or probably die, like Thrawn, Grand Admiral Rae Sloane is cool enough to warrant inclusion in the game and yet doesn't defect nor does she die during the war.

Cinder was a terrible, terrible idea from the get go, and doesn't really fit Sparky. If, as the rumors are true, he comes back in the next film, he destroyed Imperial loyalists for pretty much nothing, and made his eventual return to power that much harder to accomplish. If he doesn't come back, he violated the Rule of Two which insists that he must accept he will be killed eventually, and replaced by his Apprentice, and the only tragedy will be if all of his knowledge/power base is lost as well. Even without factoring Sith ideology, destroying your allies only ensure that your enemies will be even more victorious, and assume power faster, hardly what he would want.

Cinder DOES fit with Palpatine. He routinely discards his subjects, physically and psychologically tortures his minions and utterly treats all others like trash. He doesn't care about them at all.

Cinder was thought up to destroy everything so the enemy couldn't have it. The mentality of “if I can't have it, no one will” is the underlying principle. As it is written, Sheev wanted to wipe out as much as possible, have his most loyal forces retreat and build up power then come back and rule.

5 minutes ago, That Blasted Samophlange said:

Cinder DOES fit with Palpatine. He routinely discards his subjects, physically and psychologically tortures his minions and utterly treats all others like trash. He doesn't care about them at all.

Cinder was thought up to destroy everything so the enemy couldn't have it. The mentality of “if I can't have it, no one will” is the underlying principle. As it is written, Sheev wanted to wipe out as much as possible, have his most loyal forces retreat and build up power then come back and rule.

Except part of Cinder was also the near total destruction of his own fleet and infrastructure. If coming back and ruling was part of the game plan, why would he destroy loyal worlds? I can understand a scorched earth policy on planets that are in danger of falling, maybe even ones that just have the potential of being lost, but on everything? No, that's just stupid. It weakens your forces and allows the enemy to advance more quickly, eventually enabling them to take places that otherwise would have held out. Kuat is a great example of this, as it was taken very, very quickly in comparison to the EU version, and it was also taken mostly intact. Throwing the entire fleet away at Jakku (well, everything besides the Eclipse and a handful of other ships) when other options existed is also stupid, especially if an eventual return to power is part of the plan.

34 minutes ago, Alpha17 said:

Except part of Cinder was also the near total destruction of his own fleet and infrastructure. If coming back and ruling was part of the game plan, why would he destroy loyal worlds? I can understand a scorched earth policy on planets that are in danger of falling, maybe even ones that just have the potential of being lost, but on everything? No, that's just stupid. It weakens your forces and allows the enemy to advance more quickly, eventually enabling them to take places that otherwise would have held out. Kuat is a great example of this, as it was taken very, very quickly in comparison to the EU version, and it was also taken mostly intact. Throwing the entire fleet away at Jakku (well, everything besides the Eclipse and a handful of other ships) when other options existed is also stupid, especially if an eventual return to power is part of the plan.

Star Wars has made absolutely no sense for a long time now. They let anyone write anything, as long as the licensing check clears. Meanwhile the best word to describe the films seems to be "impulsive". Things make it onto the silver screen that seem like they're from fast and loose brainstorming sessions and should have been eliminated early in the storyboard process.

It's almost like they know it'll make money no matter what, so they're letting interns write it all while they go golfing.

13 minutes ago, TauntaunScout said:

Star Wars has made absolutely no sense for a long time now. They let anyone write anything, as long as the licensing check clears. Meanwhile the best word to describe the films seems to be "impulsive". Things make it onto the silver screen that seem like they're from fast and loose brainstorming sessions and should have been eliminated early in the storyboard process.

It's almost like they know it'll make money no matter what, so they're letting interns write it all while they go golfing.

Yeah! Like Ewoks! And all the scratch built models! All the crap that WEG made up! 😜

17 minutes ago, That Blasted Samophlange said:

Yeah! Like Ewoks! And all the scratch built models! All the crap that WEG made up! 😜

ROTJ is definitely where the cracks really started to show. Not the ewoks, but, the trouble of switching horses midstream.

Lando + L3 with Counterpart would be DOPE

3 minutes ago, Cleto0 said:

Lando + L3 with Counterpart would be DOPE

I agree! I would have preferred Lando + L3 and Zuckuss + 4-LOM over Cassian and Iden. I’m sure they’d be Operatives rather than Commanders, though.

1 minute ago, GooeyChewie said:

I agree! I would have preferred Lando + L3 and Zuckuss + 4-LOM over Cassian and Iden. I’m sure they’d be Operatives rather than Commanders, though.

Honestly, I am fine with ALL of these!

1 hour ago, Alpha17 said:

Though, I guess there are a few options they could go with, at least for commanders; besides characters that obviously die like Tarkin, or probably die, like Thrawn, Grand Admiral Rae Sloane is cool enough to warrant inclusion in the game and yet doesn't defect nor does she die during the war.

Crap forgot Sloane lol. She is maybe one of like two Imperial who did not die or end up quitting. **** Alphabet squadron has two Imperial defectors and another dead Imperial to the list. And the Thrawn book I'm on does some heavy implying Thrawn is more loyal to the Chiss, but really really needs the Empire as an ally

1 hour ago, Alpha17 said:

Except part of Cinder was also the near total destruction of his own fleet and infrastructure. If coming back and ruling was part of the game plan, why would he destroy loyal worlds? I can understand a scorched earth policy on planets that are in danger of falling, maybe even ones that just have the potential of being lost, but on everything? No, that's just stupid. It weakens your forces and allows the enemy to advance more quickly, eventually enabling them to take places that otherwise would have held out. Kuat is a great example of this, as it was taken very, very quickly in comparison to the EU version, and it was also taken mostly intact. Throwing the entire fleet away at Jakku (well, everything besides the Eclipse and a handful of other ships) when other options existed is also stupid, especially if an eventual return to power is part of the plan.

I would say the plan looks decent only if Papa Palp did not plan to come back. **** I would say its pretty good, but **** the First Order and if the leaks are true really do make it a weird plan overall.

Destroy the strongest worlds so they can't keep the peace and make the galaxy truly hate the Empire, assassinate the entire Rebel high command at a fake peace treaty, force most of the Empire and Rebel fleet to a trap that would destroy both fleets and leave the galaxy in true chaos, watch the world burn,...................... wait 30 years for the First Order to come to power?............... Then have a second secret fleet with super lasers in case the first fleet is not enough? Lol

I get that the old Eu had some problems, but I I feel like they missed some really good opportunities. I find it very strange that they never had a story meeting with everyone setting a clear end-goal and major plot points for the series.

While I love me some L3, I do not see her fitting the timeline for GCW. That does free up the opportunity for a Lando and Lobot(!) expansion.

4 minutes ago, FSD said:

While I love me some L3, I do not see her fitting the timeline for GCW. That does free up the opportunity for a Lando and Lobot(!) expansion.

Oooooh a Lando/L3 would work prefect for a Scum faction........ I mean if they do a Scum faction, but I can't really see them pass up the chance to do Jabba and a Rancor.

I'm personnaly really hopeful that the rumor is true and that Iden will be the next Imperial Commander, I think that from a gameplay and thematic point of view she is one of the best choice there is.

While she did defect to the rebellion, it only happened after the Battle of Endor when the war was already almost finished. She fought almost the entire GCW as part of the Empire, unlike say Krennic that died before the Episode 4 or Thrawn (a unit that some would have prefered to see coming instead of her) that disappeared also before Episode 4. Also, as the commander of a Special Force unit, I think that it fits much more to have her as a commander of a small scale force like we have in Legion than say Palpatine. I think that for this game, she fits the bill perfectly for that role.

As from a gameplay point of view, I think that she can potencially bring a completly different kind of commander to the table for the Empire, one being directly active as a striking unit, while still being cheap, instead of more passive like Veers or Krennic. I know that people really want to see Thrawn into the game, but from a gameplay point of view, how different will he really be from Veers or Krennic? I favor diversity over redundancy.

Now, what I'm really hopeful is that if she really is the next commander, then that we'll get Inferno Squad as a Special Force unit soon.

15 hours ago, That Blasted Samophlange said:

While way too early, should this prove true, what similar units would we see for the republic and separatists?

For the Republic, how about Tiplar and Tiplee? They are the twin Jedi from the start of Season 7.

For CIS I can’t think of a good Commander to have a counterpart. As an Operative, Cad Bane could have his droid as a counterpart.

4 hours ago, Alpha17 said:

Cassian does, though Iden really doesn't.

Yeah, just one of many reasons why the EU was infinitely superior to the current drivel.

Though, I guess there are a few options they could go with, at least for commanders; besides characters that obviously die like Tarkin, or probably die, like Thrawn, Grand Admiral Rae Sloane is cool enough to warrant inclusion in the game and yet doesn't defect nor does she die during the war.

Cinder was a terrible, terrible idea from the get go, and doesn't really fit Sparky. If, as the rumors are true, he comes back in the next film, he destroyed Imperial loyalists for pretty much nothing, and made his eventual return to power that much harder to accomplish. If he doesn't come back, he violated the Rule of Two which insists that he must accept he will be killed eventually, and replaced by his Apprentice, and the only tragedy will be if all of his knowledge/power base is lost as well. Even without factoring Sith ideology, destroying your allies only ensure that your enemies will be even more victorious, and assume power faster, hardly what he would want.

In the EU Palpatine replaced the rule of two with the rule of one. So it was pretty much just as stupid.

On 8/27/2019 at 3:17 PM, Dauerv said:

@Cusm I totally agree. How far down the totem pole is Lando Calrissian?

Probably pretty far down. He and Vader are still working out how much further their deal will be altered.

25 minutes ago, Wh0isTh3D0ct0r said:

Probably pretty far down. He and Vader are still working out how much further their deal will be altered.

Last I heard a unicycle was added to the deal.

As for this rumor I am pretty happy to hear about it, only play Rebel, and soon Republic, but its cool Iden might be coming. Cassian and K2 will be a cool addition, man K2 is getting some love with him coming to X Wing and Legion.

1 hour ago, syrath said:

In the EU Palpatine replaced the rule of two with the rule of one. So it was pretty much just as stupid.

See that is the double edge sword of the EU. They had sooooooo much stuff that a person could avoid all the bad elements and stick to just the really good stuff or the stuff that they really liked. Stories that contradicted each other? Sure why not. Papa Palp on his 10 clone? Come on in. Luuke? Not my bag, but whatever. Chiewe getting killed by a moon? That is one way to kill of a character.

The new canon got rid of a lot of contradiction and the worse aspects, but I find many of their choices have been safe and/or mediocre. They have taken some of the best EU stuff (Thawn for example), but other decisions just seem so strange. Finishing off the Empire in only a year? 30 years of peace? No new Jedi Order? It is like they shot themselves in the knee when it comes to giant space battles or armies of Jedi.

Makes me wonder if their master plan was to use the new trilogy to lead into a long war between the First Order and the New New Republic. Galaxy divided in half, giant space/land battles, Rey leading a New Jedi Order, younger actors that can be used for decades, the return of Thrawn, and even the Vong. At that point they can just steal every good event or character from the EU.

8 minutes ago, RyantheFett said:

See that is the double edge sword of the EU. They had sooooooo much stuff that a person could avoid all the bad elements and stick to just the really good stuff or the stuff that they really liked. Stories that contradicted each other? Sure why not. Papa Palp on his 10 clone? Come on in. Luuke? Not my bag, but whatever. Chiewe getting killed by a moon? That is one way to kill of a character.

The new canon got rid of a lot of contradiction and the worse aspects, but I find many of their choices have been safe and/or mediocre. They have taken some of the best EU stuff (Thawn for example), but other decisions just seem so strange. Finishing off the Empire in only a year? 30 years of peace? No new Jedi Order? It is like they shot themselves in the knee when it comes to giant space battles or armies of Jedi.

Makes me wonder if their master plan was to use the new trilogy to lead into a long war between the First Order and the New New Republic. Galaxy divided in half, giant space/land battles, Rey leading a New Jedi Order, younger actors that can be used for decades, the return of Thrawn, and even the Vong. At that point they can just steal every good event or character from the EU.

I've actually enjoyed much of the new material , but agree some has been mediocre. The three Thrawn books were good examples , Dark Disciple was really good IMO the two Leia books. Claudia Grey has been consistent. The first Battlefront book was okay, but seemed to just end in the middle of nowhere. Tarkin was also good. New Dawn was pretty reasonable. Master and Apprentice was really good. Another really good one was Rogue One Catalyst. I think that there are more better books than bad though I can't say I got into Aftermath. At lot of the books I mentioned have been well received in review and by readers.

To think, if we don't get a preview article on these two today, we likely won't see one until Tues or Wed of next week!