Editing Star Wars: Legion/Tactics/Empire (section)

====Emperor Palpatine====
The Senate is similar to Darth Vader in both points and Force abilities, but he also can take a Command upgrade. He moves slower than legislation and lacks Vader's Relentless. Where Vader is the rabid attack dog on steroids, Palpatine is the puppet master. He's got Entourage with his crimson-robed Royal Guards, meaning you can field one unit of them without factoring their Special Forces rank (so you can take 4 Spec Forces units; 5 if you take Krennic and a unit of Deathtroopers...) and he can issue a free order to one Guard unit per turn as long as they're within 1-2 of him. Don't let his withered appearance fool you either, he's still the Sith Master- not only does he have Master of the Force 2 to automatically ready his Force powers after using them, but he can shoot lightning as a ranged attack or in melee. The Lightning's got the same dice as the AT-ST's main gun but with surge to critical, Pierce 2 and suppressive- but half the range. He's not as tough as Vader with only 5 wounds and 4 courage, but he does roll red defense dice with surge and immunity to Pierce, so he can be a tough nut to crack.

Of special note, he's got a unique special ability called '''Pulling the Strings'''.  Palpatine spends an action to give a free move or attack action to a trooper unit within range 1-2 of him. Sounds like nothing super special, right? Sure, you can use it to have your Stormtroopers or, even better, Death Troopers, take a free fire action and fire twice in the same turn.  But remember, the Empire has access to multiple units that have ''Steady'', ''Relentless'', or ''Charge''- and those still trigger after the free move granted by ''Strings''. Additionally, none of the actions in question count against the normal actions taken during the unit's actual activation.  Imagine Vader using a free move to get into melee and then attack with ''Charge''... then using his normal activation to fight... then using his "Implacable" Command to fight again. IN ONE TURN. That's an extreme example, but Royal Guards (which you should be taking with Palpatine) can do it too.

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Upgrade Cards
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'''Force Upgrades (x3 Slots)'''

'''Unaligned Powers'''

''Battle Meditation'' (10 pts.) - When you issue orders, you can give one of those orders to a friendly unit anywhere on the battlefield.  Same as with Vader, it's of very limited usefulness.

''Burst of Speed'' (3 pts.) - Expend to increase your movement rate to 3 for the rest of the turn, but gain an immobilize token at the end of the turn. This was already a popular upgrade for him before it was even released (and as of this writing in November 2021, it technically still hasn't been released in the US yet). 

''Force Guidance'' (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow you to give a surge token to up to 2 friendly units at range 1-2, as a free action.  As with Vader, only useful if you really like surge tokens and want to guarantee having some.

''Force Push'' (10 pts.) - Exhaust as a free action to cause an enemy trooper unit at distance-1 to make a speed-1 move. Pretty useful for moving around enemies and ensuring you can fry them (or Vader can chop them, or troopers can shoot them, etc), but the short range hurts a bit, especially for slow-moving emperors.

''Force Reflexes'' (15 pts.) - Exhaust as a free action to gain a Dodge token.  Dodge tokens are always nice but since Palpatine doesn't have Deflect or Block, it's not quite as auto-include as it would be for someone who does have either of those.

''Saber Throw'' (10 pts.) - Spend an action to perform an attack with one of you melee weapons at range 1-2, using half of that weapon's dice (rounded up).  You can skip this one because Palpatine's melee attack is also a ranged attack with full strength either way.  

'''Dark Side Powers'''

''Anger'' (5 pts.) - Gain an aim token every time you take damage.  Much more useful to Palpy than it is for Vader, especially when Palpy uses "And Now... You Will Die".  Practically an auto-include for him.

''Fear'' (3 pts.) - Gain '''Demoralize 1''', letting you give 1 suppression token to enemy units at range 1-2.  Works well with other suppressive effects, like Palpatine's lightning.

''Force Choke'' (5 pts.) - Exhaust this ability to deal 1 wound to a trooper mini at range 1, that isn't a commander.  Makes sure you get that last pesky trooper.

'''Command Upgrades (x1 Slot)'''

''Aggressive Tactics'' (10 pts.) - After issuing orders, give 1 surge token to up to 4 friendly units with a face-up order token.  Where it'll be really useful is when using the "An Entire Legion" card.  But otherwise, it's not that useful for Palpatine since he already has surge on offense and defense, and his other two Commands only target himself.

''Commanding Presence'' (10 pts.) - When issuing orders, you can issue orders at range 1-4.  Pretty meh.  On smaller battlefields, this isn't even needed.  On larger ones, it's situational. Where it is potentially (but still not very) useful is in conjunction with the ''Entourage'' rule, as command range boosters can affect it- and Palpatine's a bit slower moving than his Royal Guards.

''Esteemed Leader'' (5 pts.) - Friendly trooper units at range 1 gain Guardian 1, helping you defend your points investment.  Basically, allows you to have someone else to eat a ranged attack meant for your general; doesn't work in melee, though.  Stacks with the Guardian 2 that the Royal Guards come with, which will help keep Palpatine alive as he closes in for some fun with electricity.

''Improvised Orders'' (10 pts.) - Once per turn, draw 2, pick 1 token from your order pool.  Might be useful when Palpatine drops either of the two Commands that only issue to himself.

''Strict Orders'' (5 Points) - Guarantees a trooper unit (with a faceup order token) can remove one suppression when they activate, rather than leaving it to chance.  Meh.  Palpatine's got a rather high Courage value (the highest in the Empire, not counting Vader's fearlessness), and two of his three Commands only target himself.
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Command Cards
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(3 pip) ''An Entire Legion'' - [Each Eligible Unit] - No special effect, aside from having issued orders to ''every single unit'' on your side of the field.  Bear in mind that it's worded "each ''eligible'' unit"- so they are still required to be within range 3 of Palpy to be issued the order.  It generally shouldn't be much of an issue due to the small-ish table size, but still, it's worth noting.

(2 pip) ''Give in to Your Anger'' - [Emperor Palpatine] - ''You'' get to choose which trooper unit your opponent get to activate first. Give it an order token from the pool, if it hasn't already got its own. If that unit cannot perform an attack action by the end of its activation, if gains 4 suppression tokens. Yikes! This is a really good way of screwing with your opponent's well-laid plans.

(1 pip) ''And Now... You Will Die'' - [Emperor Palpatine] - When you activate Palpatine, you may choose to give him 1 wound and 1 suppression any number of times to perform an attack each time, and then the defender gains 1 immobilized token. Up to 4 attacks a turn (before any other items/abilities, and not counting his normal two actions- which can include a normal attack)? You may want to keep a medical droid or two nearby...
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Tactics
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Palpatine is kind of a one-trick pony - roll him into the enemy force and drop that 1-pip to unleash UNLIMITED POWER™. The real trick is getting him there with all of his wounds intact so he can deal maximum damage, because ''everyone'' knows about that trick. This can be done multiple ways, such as having him ride in a LAAT, having him roll up with some Royal Guards to soak wounds, or keeping cheap Corps units with medical droids around. The Force upgrade "Burst of Speed" also can be valuable for this. Once in range, unleash the beast and watch half your opponent's army vanish, with the survivors bolted in place by the immobilization. Also be wary of your opponent screwing with Palpatine's one big trick by using things like ''Change of Plans'' or ''I am a Jedi'', the latter being particularly brutal.

Aside from his 1-pip, which is easily one of the most powerful in the game, Palpatine is basically a slow-moving lightning machine. As mentioned above, he's throwing the same dice as the AT-ST's main gun but with shorter range. While surge to critical helps, his attack is best used shooting at infantry, especially infantry with minimal cover and/or no dodge tokens. Pulling the Strings is nice and all but it's more of an opportunistic thing really, like if the stars align and allow for the Vader triple attack threat mentioned above. Realistically, you want Palpatine to be moving into range and then maniacally laughing as he slaughters his foes.

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