Thrawns Revenge: Imperial Strategy and Tactics Guide[UPDATE FOR 3.2 IN PROGRESS]

The essential guide to playing the Empire in Thrawn's Revenge and succeeding in Galactic Conquest, naval battles, and ground battles.

I. Introduction

Greetings

The Emperor is dead, the second Death Star has been destroyed, and the Imperial fleet has shattered. It is up to you to secure the Empire and reunite the galaxy underneath the ideology that would last for a hundred years after its initial defeat.

You are surrounded on all sides by Super Star Destroyer equipped heroes, measly ground forces, and a quickly arming New Republic who will soon threaten the power of the Imperial-II Star Destroyer's supremacy in space. It will not be easy, but this guide will take you through the underlying play style and ideology that will help you win any campaign playing as the Empire in Thrawn's Revenge.

II. Imperial Ideology and Lore

Ideology

One of the most important aspects of taking control of the Empire is understanding its ideology. The game takes into account the basis behind Imperial navy and army doctrine and not understanding how to properly build your fleets and conquered planets will net you a bad game.

With the Emperor defeated(for now), your focus will be on securing your main base of operations. It can be the Core, the Outer Rim territories, or the planets of the Ciutric Hegemony. No matter where you go, your initial infrastructure will be assaulted on all sides and you WILL lose many fringe planets to your enemies.

However, by embracing change within the eras you will quickly secure your foot hold and be a challenger to the throne once more. As the Empire, ensure each front is secured by fleets lead by heroes, with your LEADER hero always leading either your industry or your main battle fleet.

In space, the Empire is unmatched for half of the eras, only easily challenged by its splinter factions. On land, you will be fighting tooth and nail with ineffective infantry and mediocre vehicles. So take advantage of your superior fleet power and destroy shipyards and major enemy battle fleets before quickly taking the planets they were stationed over.

Lore

There are 7 eras to play as the Empire, each with their own unique heroes and slightly different playstyles.

1-Sate Pastage( Infrastructure)
2-Idris Isard ( Space Unit)
3-Grand Admiral Thrawn(Space Unit)
4- Reborn Palpatine( Ground/Infrastructure Unit)
5- Carnor Jax( Ground/Infrastructure)
6- Natassi Daala(Space Unit)
7-Gillead Pelleon(Space Unit)

The changing of eras is important and essential to the survival and advancement of the Empire. It also depends on the state of the galaxy, how you are spreading out, and your own personal roleplay/ gameplay. You can also always start in your preferred era from the GC start menu. We will go over specific strategies later.

III. Imperial Space Strategy

The War in Space

Tarkin-Doctrine, rule through terror, is the foundation of the Imperial-Class Star Destroyer. THE mainstay capital ship used by the Empire and by far your most pivotal asset in the coming war. The ISD-I cost at around 5400 and the ISD-II at 7600 credits ensure that in the early game you will not easily replace these behemoths. It will only be after you have solidified your main base of operations and capital shipyards that replacing lost ISD-II's is viable.

Luckily for the Empire, Eras 2,3,4 have an over abundance of heroes equipped with Star Destroyers with powerful abilities. Never leave a main fleet without a space hero(unless they are all dead.) The difference an ISD makes is tremendous, even in a losing battle you will be able to take down enemy support ships and capitals with its fire power. Paired with Golan Starbases, fortress worlds can become neigh impenetrable without the power of a SSD.

From Eras 1-4, the ISD is still only matched by the ISD. It is only until the New Republic gains its new line of ships and fighters that the ship gets melted by a size-able attack force. Eras 5-7(depending on the state of the galaxy) will see your fighters and ships be outclassed.

Rise of The New Republic

With the release of EAWX: Thrawn's Revenge 3.2, the New Republic has gotten a notable buff to its AI pathing and tactics making them a genuine threat. The Home One Type Mon Calamari Cruiser is the superior capital ship to the Imperial-II, capable of wiping out two with little struggle in a direct fight. The NR star fighter roster will remain vastly superior to that of the Empire, and pose a significant threat to your striking power in space battles. No longer can you cheese enemy ground fleets after a large space battle, you will need to bring an interdiction capable vessel along with you to stop them from immediately retreating.

To counter the power of the New Republic utilize a powerful support fleet in lieu of just spamming Star Destroyers. With the addition of point defense systems on all corvettes and some frigates, the Lancer-class and IPV patrol craft are good to mass produce to effectively dismember NR star fighter blobs and provide support to your fighters.

Space Sieges

Assaulting heavily defended space stations(usually containing one or more golan platforms, a capital shipyard, and a defense fleet) without a plan or a Super Star Destroyer will usually cost you multiple ships and even your entire force.

WITHOUT a SSD on hand, utilize forward ships(place a corvette in the small blue box in the top left of the view) to be able to bring in reinforcements piece by piece. Go where the enemy isn't, destroy a Golan before the enemy arrives, and then retreat. Another viable strategy is to face off against the enemy fleet first, destroy most of it, retreat, and then come back and easily handle the stations.

Never over commit your force, over committing will ensure a Pyrrhic victory or total defeat.

WITH an SSD, utilize the same forward ship to bring it in where you want. The rest is a matter of protecting the SSD while it obliterates all in its path. Idris Isard for example, will be your main tool in the early game to retake key parts of the galaxy as well as duel the other SSD equipped warlords.

IV. Hunting the Super Star Destroyers

The Hunt Begins

One of the most vaunted aspects of the EU is the vast super weapons created in the after math of Endor and their sheer size of the conflict. One aspect that has been remodeled and redone over the past 15 years of Thrawns Revenge is the Super Star Destroyer Class of ship. This type of ship ranges from around 10km long to over 20km and comes in multiple forms. They are usually commandeered by Warlords of the Empire, including Zsinj, Isard, Jerec ,and Ardus Kaine(not including independent Warlords.) They are a threat to any faction, capable of ravaging entire fleets and entire quadrants of the galaxy.

As the Empire, you luckily have SSD's at your disposal after quickly getting rid of Sate Pastage. The arrival of Isard will allow you to challenge Warlord Zsinj and Ardus Kaine. Defeat the Pentastar Alignment and Zsinj as fast as possible. Letting them hunker down is the greatest mistake and in my own campaigns they will remain with enough power to mass produce Secutor's and Allegiant ships.

The Prey

Here is a list of Super Star Destroyers

-Allegiant Battle Cruiser(Mass Production)
-Praetor Battle Crusier( Mass Production in Era 6,7)
-Executor Super Star Destroyer(Era 2,6,7)
-Sovereign Super Star Destroyer( Era 4)
-Eclipse Star Dreadnought(Era 4)

Palpatine's Super Weapons

Era 4 is the time at which you want to push the Empire to its limits, as you gain access to the two powerful SSDs, Sovereign and Eclipse. The Sovereign is smaller than the Eclipse but both sport Axial Super Lasers capable of one shotting anything smaller than an Executor. Both lack missiles and proper fighter hangers but are loaded with turbo lasers and ion cannons. By time they are completed, no Super Star Destroyer will challenge you ever again.

V. Imperial Ground Strategy

Personally, I have never liked the ground combat in EAW in total. However it is necessary to completing the game and not getting stuck in a back and forth with other factions. I am not an expert on ground combat, but here is what I have learned.

[h1"Oh man they really do suck..."][/h1]

The Empire has one of the worst ground games out of any faction. The name of the game is mass assault and heroes. If you do not use your heroes properly, you WILL lose. The backbone of your assaults will rely on artillery, medium armor, and AT-AT/XR tanks. Always carry a healthy amount of infantry with you as well. Ensure proper units are targeting their intended fodder. Anti-infantry against infantry, infantry against tanks(mass rockets will delete enemy armor) and other infantry, and armor against armor.

Be prepared to cede worlds at a moments notice as the enemy takes your production planets. One way to remedy this is proper space/land coordination over important planets. You cannot risk to lose major planets without having the ability to retake them. If the enemy takes a capital world and you do not immediately begin a counterattack, they will have a permanent foothold.

Build Golan platforms to annoy the AI, as well as build support fleets for a sector to permanently dissuade the enemy from attacking.

Villainous Intent

The Empire is granted many heroes with AT-AT, Sith, and infantry abilities capable of turning the tide. Heroes like Sedris QL can take an entire planet by himself with light support from armor and infantry. Even in auto resolve(which is rigged to ensure you play ground battles or face incredible loss) heroes can soften the blow.

Be careful as having certain heroes die will move the era progression forward.

VI. Imperial Galactic Conquest Strategy

We will break this down era by era in order to get a good idea of what each is like and the mindset behind them.

Era I: Retreat from Empire

Leader: Sate Pastage

The Emperor is dead, the retreat has been called, and a New Republic claiming over 3/4ths of the Galaxy has been declared. More pressing are the rogue Warlords and their vast array of Super Star Destroyers threatening the Imperial core worlds. Your goal in Era I is to immediately decide your avenue of defense and deploy your ISD equipped heroes to the front lines. Fortify the core, fortify the worlds of Ciutric, or fortify the southern stretch of Fondor and Thyferra. Its your choice, but be prepared to cede many planets to warring factions.It is crucial to avoid getting your ISD heroes and fleets wiped. Without ISD's your campaign is basically over.

After securing your borders and avoiding enemy SSD's you can safely send Sate Pastage off on a shuttle to be killed(remember to use his discount on prices to build important things first).

Era II: War of The Warlords

Leader: Isard

The Imperial Civil War is in full swing and Warlord Zsinj and Ardus Kaine's power threaten all of your holdings. It is here where you make your stand against them. Using Isard's SSD, strike out against the enemy with your fleets you set up in Era I. With the infrastructure you have established and the defenses set up, your Empire won't collapse from the inside. Once again, be careful to not lose your ISD Space heroes, doing so will force you to change eras and potentially leave things unfinished.

It is recommended in Era 2 to completely defeat Zsinj and the Pentastar Alignment. If you do not, they will essentially become their own legitimate Empire's by the later Eras and be genuinely difficult to defeat. The New Republic and the Maldrood are easily handled with proper timing and ganking their heroes.

The same goes with defeating enemy ground forces and ground heroes, gank them and always play out the space battle. Slaughter all of them as to never have to deal with their equally overpowered nonsense.

Expand your Empire and eventually Isard will be killed, you will lose heroes, or you will manually change to Era 3.

Era III: The Thrawn Campaigns

Leader: Thrawn

The main Warlords are dead but on the horizon a fleet of New Republic ships hurtles towards the core worlds. Here is where things get tricky. The New Republic is a strange faction in terms of the AI and sometimes will bungle things up before it ever becomes a threat. If the NR is not an issue at this time, then utilize Thrawn and his heroes to expand the Empire. If the NR is a medium to large sized threat, use Thrawn to defeat them(or cut them down to size) as well as mop up any remaining resistance if possible. In my campaigns, I usually used Thrawn to reconquer and solidify lost areas.

As soon as your are done with Thrawn and his powerful buffs to space units, transition to Era 4.

Era IV: Dark Empire Arisen

Leader: Reborn Palpatine

Here is where the Empire gets really fun and reaches its maximum destruction potential! You will gain access to Turbolaser AT-AT's, XR robot tanks, and two super laser equipped SSDs. IF you have played well up to this point, you should have enough resources and capital worlds to build both the Sovereign and Eclipse. Unfortunately Palpatine does not get it off the bat or his own ISD, but rather is an excellent ground hero and infrastructure hero.

Using the power of the Dark Empire, expand as much as you can because it only goes downhill from here...

Era V: Enter: Carnor Jax

Leader: Carnor Jax
After a set number of weeks, Palpatine's death, or forced transition the Crimson Empire will rise. If you started in Era I, it is from here where you can rush to Pelleon's Empire. Jax has cool unique ground units like Guardsmen and fighters like Guardsmen Interceptors and it is here where you will have to defend with a subpar number of heroes as well as the troubles of expansion. At some point your campaign, you will stagnate. It is inevitable as the distance between the Core and the arms of your influence grow wider. It is wise to consolidate with the Crimson Empire, check out their unique units and then move to Era VI and VII

Era VI and VII: Daala and Pelleon's Empires

Leaders: Daala and Pelleon

After Carnor Jax's death or your own decisions, Daala will arrive to lead the Empire. It is here where all former Warlord specific ships come to your possession. A unique Executor with stealth shielding, Praetor Cruisers, and regular Executors will come into your hands and depending on your success will be at every corner of the Empire. Support ships like Venators will also be available along with former heroes that defected in the early eras.

Immediately move to Pelleon as he gives the most heroes as well as being a cool leader. Use these last two eras to beat the game or end your campaign on a high note.

[Paranthropus]

Thanks for the comments everyone, currently playing other games right now! I will get back to working on this guide soon!

[charliejman]

Nice guide! Just wanted to share with you, FYI, the Era 2 Imperial leader's name is not Idris...Her name is Ysanne Isard, daughter of Armand Isard, the formal Director of Imperial Intelligence. She inherited his role as Director after she had him thrown in the prison that was named for him on suspicion of Rebel Sympathy.

[LegendaireNic]

3. It's actually a bad idea to sacrifice Pestage early, even after using his cost reduction. If you don't pay the credits for Isard's ''project ambition'', she will come with fewer heroes and 3 planets will become independant: Kessel, Kalist IV and Abregado-Rae. While the warlord forces on those planets are small, losing all the infrastructures you may have built up or was pre-built there is bad. Not to mention it could mean Fondor-Thyferra is cut off if you haven't secured the planets around them.
4. Your infantry is not weak by any means. Sure the army troopers suck but you do have Stormtroopers and they are great generalists. They can do a lot of work on their own. But it is true that your medium vehicules and your AT-ATs are the ones who will push foward

[LegendaireNic]

Good luck with your guide, if I may give some input:
1. The New Republic has more than just the Home One type to worry over. MC80Bs are quite strong with their heavy shield/hull in addition to both heavy turbolasers and heavy ion. These are specifically designed to counter ISDs. Dauntless heavy cruisers are also a threat but it's more due to being capable of tanking so much damage.
2. While I agree ISDs are what holds the Empire together early game, there should be more attention given to some of the heavy frigates and smaller ships of the Empire, they really help the ISDs hold the front. The Dreadnaught, the Procursator and the Victory Star Destroyer 2 are cheaper than an ISD1 and provide decent to very good firepower to a fleet. Not to mention you get Strike Cruisers in Era 2 and beyond which are arguably the best frigate in the mod.

[General Jack Ripper]

All you need to do is ensure you have a higher weekly credits income than your enemy, and you will always win.
t. A guy whose played EAW since the day it came out.

[k4nd17r33]

Great job!!

[Borrow Saddnet Productions]

yes i hope i can get to era 3 without rage quiting

[Wildwolf5910]

nice work!