Not ran squadrons for ages, but like to keep up my theme of running the "not so good" commanders.... so its Palpatine's time to shine!

Papa Palpatine 2
Author: Alpharius

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 381/400

Commander: Emperor Palpatine (com)

Assault Objective: Surprise Attack
Defense Objective: Fleet In Being
Navigation Objective: Infested Fields

Quasar Fire I-class Cruiser-Carrier (54 points)
- Pursuant ( 2 points)
- Taskmaster Grint ( 5 points)
- Flight Controllers ( 6 points)
- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
= 76 total ship cost

[ flagship ] Imperial Star Destroyer Kuat Refit (112 points)
- Emperor Palpatine (com) ( 35 points)
- Governor Pryce ( 7 points)
- Local Fire Control ( 4 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
- External Racks ( 3 points)
= 172 total ship cost

1 Maarek Stele ( 21 points)
1 Colonel Jendon ( 20 points)
1 Dengar ( 20 points)
1 IG-88B ( 21 points)
1 IG-88 ( 21 points)
1 Darth Vader ( 21 points)
1 Black Squadron ( 9 points)
= 133 total squadron cost

Depending on what kind of lists I fight but I have a general two rules of thumb(s?). Against ship builds (a large ship included) with min/no squads, we wanna Palp redirects with the first squad attacks to weaken the enemy as the kuat rolls up. Turn 3 if in position, go for the brace and let the kuat begin tearing stuff up, its salvo token giving it the ability to threaten a single ship up to 4 times a turn (the Kuats 2 attacks plus 2 salvos), the squads can continue tearing up the enemy. Turn 4 land a killing blow on a hammered ship and begin turning out with the Kuat, squads can begin preying on smaller ships.

Against a heavy squad build, you do very similar. Against Reikan, target brace turn 2 and just try and win a straight up squad fight (tho most builds I see for Reikan cannot take on much if the squads are lost). Against Sloane Aces target scatter, and again engage in a squad war. Against generics, send in Vader to wipe out two with Jendon (cause most of the time he will), then continue with the standard min/no squad plan.

Its not full-proof of course but it has worked against an SSD with generic cover. Advise and suggestions appreciated (but do not tell me to use Sloane cause... well I won't, that's not the point )

Congratulations, you’ve just shown me the very first 400-point Palpatine commanded list I’ve ever thought was any good!

Unfortunately you sort of nailed it when you pointed out that Sloane could do just as well at the helm... as could Thrawn... maybe some other guys. But hey, I think Palpatine works here! Exciting.

Anyway, I suppose you could quibble over the exact list of squadrons to use for days, but the first change I would make is to pull Black Squad and IG-88B. Tel Trevura or Zertik Strom are better Escorts, and Saber Squad can replace IG-88B. Your list should already dominate other squadrons; IG just doesn’t seem necessary, though you could use him for fun if you want. And Black Squadron is very okay, but Saber and a more resilient Escort are probably better.

14 hours ago, Cpt ObVus said:

Congratulations, you’ve just shown me the very first 400-point Palpatine commanded list I’ve ever thought was any good!

Unfortunately you sort of nailed it when you pointed out that Sloane could do just as well at the helm... as could Thrawn... maybe some other guys. But hey, I think Palpatine works here! Exciting.

Anyway, I suppose you could quibble over the exact list of squadrons to use for days, but the first change I would make is to pull Black Squad and IG-88B. Tel Trevura or Zertik Strom are better Escorts, and Saber Squad can replace IG-88B. Your list should already dominate other squadrons; IG just doesn’t seem necessary, though you could use him for fun if you want. And Black Squadron is very okay, but Saber and a more resilient Escort are probably better.

Just doing my part to make an exciting and diverse meta (cause seeing Sloane and Reikan all the time makes me sad). Every commander has a use, and I am gonna find it!

But yeah squad comp could be shaken up a little. With Tel I lose a more reliable back dice against ships in exchange for more anti squad, but I like the idea of having Zertik!

Papa Palpatine 3
Author: Alpharius

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 377/400

Commander: Emperor Palpatine (com)

Assault Objective: Surprise Attack
Defense Objective: Fleet In Being
Navigation Objective: Infested Fields

Quasar Fire I-class Cruiser-Carrier (54 points)
- Pursuant ( 2 points)
- Taskmaster Grint ( 5 points)
- Flight Controllers ( 6 points)
- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
= 76 total ship cost

[ flagship ] Imperial Star Destroyer Kuat Refit (112 points)
- Emperor Palpatine (com) ( 35 points)
- Governor Pryce ( 7 points)
- Local Fire Control ( 4 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
- External Racks ( 3 points)
= 172 total ship cost

1 Maarek Stele ( 21 points)
1 Colonel Jendon ( 20 points)
1 Dengar ( 20 points)
1 IG-88 ( 21 points)
1 Darth Vader ( 21 points)
1 Zertik Strom (15 points)
1 Sabre Squadron (11 points)
= 129 total squadron cost

And you have five 5 points left in your 134, and 377 is an absurdly large bid. So if it’s me, I’m switching IG-88 to Slave 1 (they’re both great against squads, with a slight edge to IG, but Boba is way better against ships).

I also think Squall is a better title than Pursuant, for these purposes.

1 hour ago, Cpt ObVus said:

And you have five 5 points left in your 134, and 377 is an absurdly large bid. So if it’s me, I’m switching IG-88 to Slave 1 (they’re both great against squads, with a slight edge to IG, but Boba is way better against ships).

I also think Squall is a better title than Pursuant, for these purposes.

Somehow I think I have miscalculated counting and cant seem to get Boba in... but here is a compromise!

Papa Palpatine 2
Author: Alpharius

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 381/400

Commander: Emperor Palpatine (com)

Assault Objective: Surprise Attack
Defense Objective: Fleet In Being
Navigation Objective: Infested Fields

Quasar Fire I-class Cruiser-Carrier (54 points)
- Squall ( 3 points)
- Taskmaster Grint ( 5 points)
- Flight Controllers ( 6 points)
- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
= 77 total ship cost

[ flagship ] Imperial Star Destroyer Kuat Refit (112 points)
- Emperor Palpatine (com) ( 35 points)
- Governor Pryce ( 7 points)
- Local Fire Control ( 4 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
- External Racks ( 3 points)
= 172 total ship cost

1 Maarek Stele ( 21 points)
1 Colonel Jendon ( 20 points)
1 Dengar ( 20 points)
1 Darth Vader ( 21 points)
1 Zertik Strom ( 15 points)
1 Saber Squadron ( 12 points)
1 Bossk ( 23 points)
= 132 total squadron cost

I lose Boba's ability but get a better anti-squad with Bossk, and slightly less (but still pretty good) bombing potential.

Yep. And Bossk + Zertik is really good.

I think the reason you couldn’t fit Fett in the list is because *I* miscounted. I was thinking “Slave 1 is 24 points,” and it is, with Hondo at the helm. Fett costs 26!

I had to laugh when I saw this list as I was working on something using the big Papa but it was to play against Sloane 2-Ship with all the aces. It uses Palpatine on the Pryce turn to obliterate the Scatter’s using Rogue and lots of Counter (using Dengar and Goran). Possibly even some long range flak with the Quasar and Kallus.

The Aggressor’s (or Space Tick’s as one of our local comedians calls them) are probably overpriced, but a perfect fit for this force. Zertik sits next to Death Blossom and Dengar to soak damage.

Play is to keep the fighters close to the ISD and under Goran’s protection. Against a squadron less fleet, they still throw 7 black and 1 blue die against ships. You typically need only one Squadron command to activate the fighters.

While designed to play second, I’ve played it twice as first player, winning both times. Very weird.

Name: Emperor Anti-2-Ship
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Emperor Palpatine

Assault: Surprise Attack
Defense: Asteroid Tactics
Navigation: Infested Fields

Imperial II (120)
• Emperor Palpatine (35)
• Instructor Goran (7)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
• Electronic Countermeasures (7)
• Leading Shots (4)
• H9 Turbolasers (8)
= 191 Points

Quasar Fire II (61)
• Agent Kallus (3)
• Ruthless Strategists (4)
• Flight Controllers (6)
• Boosted Comms (4)
= 78 Points

Squadrons:
• 4 x Aggressor Assault Fighter (64)
• IG-88B (21)
• Dengar (20)
• Zertik Strom (15)
• TIE Interceptor Squadron (11)
= 131 Points

Total Points: 400

In the end, I’m not sure if I like Papa, I felt like I was playing with a 35 pt. bid the entire game. My opponent said that he made different defensive tokens choices to not use them in two situations which ultimately cost him the game (since I one-shotted the Admo with the ISD). I just seems like the results of his ability are less obvious than someone like Moff Jerry or Thrawn.

8 hours ago, sarumanthewhite said:

I had to laugh when I saw this list as I was working on something using the big Papa but it was to play against Sloane 2-Ship with all the aces. It uses Palpatine on the Pryce turn to obliterate the Scatter’s using Rogue and lots of Counter (using Dengar and Goran). Possibly even some long range flak with the Quasar and Kallus.

The Aggressor’s (or Space Tick’s as one of our local comedians calls them) are probably overpriced, but a perfect fit for this force. Zertik sits next to Death Blossom and Dengar to soak damage.

Play is to keep the fighters close to the ISD and under Goran’s protection. Against a squadron less fleet, they still throw 7 black and 1 blue die against ships. You typically need only one Squadron command to activate the fighters.

While designed to play second, I’ve played it twice as first player, winning both times. Very weird.

Name: Emperor Anti-2-Ship
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Emperor Palpatine

Assault: Surprise Attack
Defense: Asteroid Tactics
Navigation: Infested Fields

Imperial II (120)
• Emperor Palpatine (35)
• Instructor Goran (7)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
• Electronic Countermeasures (7)
• Leading Shots (4)
• H9 Turbolasers (8)
= 191 Points

Quasar Fire II (61)
• Agent Kallus (3)
• Ruthless Strategists (4)
• Flight Controllers (6)
• Boosted Comms (4)
= 78 Points

Squadrons:
• 4 x Aggressor Assault Fighter (64)
• IG-88B (21)
• Dengar (20)
• Zertik Strom (15)
• TIE Interceptor Squadron (11)
= 131 Points

Total Points: 400

In the end, I’m not sure if I like Papa, I felt like I was playing with a 35 pt. bid the entire game. My opponent said that he made different defensive tokens choices to not use them in two situations which ultimately cost him the game (since I one-shotted the Admo with the ISD). I just seems like the results of his ability are less obvious than someone like Moff Jerry or Thrawn.

I like it! Using Goran too is a nice touch, I'd certainly be afraid to come up against it. If you are playing defensively, commander Woldar could certainly help you too if you were willing to change Kallus for him. Palps id definitely a strange one, I have only played the one game with him but thought he pulled his weight. Like a lot of the fleets I fly, he definitely benefits from my opponent never having to fight said commanders and going "eh ok, what do I do???" That being said I think his ability is much better than it is given credit for, its a fleet wide intel officer which can work with both squads and probably MSU.

I was playing against a very skilled player last week and I won, but we had to go back and carefully analyze the game to figure out why. I definitely had some lucky dice (I one shot’ed Admo at medium with an ISD-II) and one of his ships had it’s best arc pointing at no one due to some bumping and grinding around the station and some terrain.

That said, we realized that on the turn I called Redirect, he didn’t want to use them on the Admo (from my ship plinking and fighters) as he wouldn’t have them the next turn. That put a couple more points of damage on the nose which of the Admo which let me one-shot it. Also, the AFII received damage on the nose that it couldn’t move either.

One of our other very skilled players tried him for a month and concluded that there’s less expensive options that don’t require such subtle timing. I would tend to agree, but I’m intrigued to find out more about Papa and so I’m going to try him some more. I’m not a super competitive player as I try to build fleets with the less popular cards to see if they’re as bad as everyone else thinks. Remind me to tell you about my triple Interdictor fleet some time. LOL! 😜

4 minutes ago, sarumanthewhite said:

I was playing against a very skilled player last week and I won, but we had to go back and carefully analyze the game to figure out why. I definitely had some lucky dice (I one shot’ed Admo at medium with an ISD-II) and one of his ships had it’s best arc pointing at no one due to some bumping and grinding around the station and some terrain.

That said, we realized that on the turn I called Redirect, he didn’t want to use them on the Admo (from my ship plinking and fighters) as he wouldn’t have them the next turn. That put a couple more points of damage on the nose which of the Admo which let me one-shot it. Also, the AFII received damage on the nose that it couldn’t move either.

One of our other very skilled players tried him for a month and concluded that there’s less expensive options that don’t require such subtle timing. I would tend to agree, but I’m intrigued to find out more about Papa and so I’m going to try him some more. I’m not a super competitive player as I try to build fleets with the less popular cards to see if they’re as bad as everyone else thinks. Remind me to tell you about my triple Interdictor fleet some time. LOL! 😜

First, I think some European guy just won a Prime with three Interdictors. Sounded glorious.

Second, what about Palpatine WITH Intel Officers? Horribly expensive, sure, but man, those defense tokens would just evaporate, wouldn’t they?

Papa Palpatines Big Guns
Author: Alpharius

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 385/400

Commander: Emperor Palpatine (com)

Assault Objective: Blockade Run
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Solar Corona

[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Emperor Palpatine (com) ( 35 points)
- Intel Officer ( 7 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- Quad Battery Turrets ( 5 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
= 185 total ship cost

Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Intel Officer ( 7 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- Quad Battery Turrets ( 5 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
= 150 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
- Comms Net ( 2 points)
= 25 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
- Comms Net ( 2 points)
= 25 total ship cost

= 0 total squadron cost

Looked at MSU intel, did not seem much good to me... so big guns it is!