Star Wars Armada:We Need Us Some Thrawn
When the Heck is Thrawn coming to Star Wars Armada?
Grand Admiral Thrawn is bar none the greatest and most famous Imperial fleet commander. He has waged sweeping and devastating campaigns against the Empire’s enemies in both the cannon and legends universes. Yet despite his popularity and deadliness we have yet to hear a peep about him coming to Armada. This is an absolute shame. Not only is Thrawn an amazing and appealing character, but he is also one of best fits of any Star Wars characters for Armada. An admiral that focuses on artistic and unorthodox space tactics is the perfect fit for a game of tactical space battles. So for those who aren’t already clamoring for Thrawn to join the game, here are a few good reasons.
Background
A young Thrawn in the age of the Old Republic
Thrawn’s early biography has remained fairly consistent in its broad strokes throughout the transition from the old EU. Thrawn, real name Mitth’raw’nuruodo, was born a member of the secretive Chiss race who live in the unknown regions. Eventually he came to serve the Empire and rose to be one of it’s top commanders, A Grand Admiral. An avid art collector, Thrawn uses art to see into the minds of both whole species and particular enemies allowing him to predict their moves and reactions. Thrawn is a master tactician, using innovation and unorthodox tactics to keep the enemy off balance. His strength in predicting enemy reactions allows him to always be one step ahead of the game. Unlike many Imperial commanders who fight like boxers, wading in to trade blows, Thrawn is a master fencer, or chess player, out thinking and out playing the enemy.
Tactics
This looks a lot like what happened in a number of my early Armada games
Thrawn is a master of tactics. He uses a collection of tactical maneuvers, both his own, and borrowed to outwit his enemies. As part of their Thrawn week the YouTube channels Spacedock and Star Wars explained put together a series of videos detailing some of his tactics. Any fan of Star Wars space battles should find them interesting.
The first one deals with the famous battle of Sluis Van
While the second deals with precision and micro jumps (a tactic that might soon come to Armada)
The other three videos deal with more of his tactics and can be found on their channels.
On Rebels
The Imperial command
While most of what we’ve talked about has concerned Thrawn’s history in the old EU, it is important to remember that the blue skinned menace has been brought into the modern canon. Thrawn plays the role of main villain in season three of Star Wars: Rebels. Thrawn makes for a chilling and deadly adversary on the show, possibly it’s best. One need look no further than his theme music to feel the sense of dread he inspires.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cuCBWWaX4A
On Rebels Thrawn again shows his tactical genius, including his love for Interdictors. Thrawn always seems to one step ahead of the Rebels, and even his seeming defeats benefit him. Thrawn’s plans also lead to some of the coolest and best looking space battles in all of Star Wars, more clear reasons he should be in Armada.
Conclusion
Thrawn watches his latest victory unfold
With a continuing presence on Star Wars: Rebels and a book focusing on him coming out this week it feels like only a matter of time before he joins our fantastic game. As the deadliest and greatest fleet commander in Star Wars he is sure to reshape the meta to fit his whims. With luck he will come with his famous Star Destroyer The Chimera and help put the fear of Imperial power into Rebel hearts.
That’s all for this time BOLS fans. Let us know if you want Thrawn, and what you think he should do, down in the comments!
