Armada - Ranking the Imperial Commanders

Ranking the Imperial Commanders from Best to Worst!
Curious about any products you see in my videos? Check my website for more information about them! www.crabbok.com/product-reviews/
Don't forget to use code CRABBOKVIP to save 15% on exquisite tokens!
Luxury Playstyle - luxuryplaystyle.com/discount/...
Join the Team on Patreon - / crabbok
T-Shirts! - www.teepublic.com/user/crabbok
Check out my website! www.crabbok.com
Double Critical Podcast! - doublecritical.podbean.com/
Also available on Apple Podcasts!
Discord Server - / discord
Twitter - / crabbok
Facebook - / crabbok-171946272822652

[@erichludwig2095]

As a newer player, I really appreciate lists like this.

[@tylerashcroft847]

11:09 Missed a chance to say "I like Motti a lotti"

[@dbzfanexwarbrady]

ofc Motti doesnt have bonuses to the Super large ships, he never acounted for the Death Stars weaknesses

[@jamesandangelac922]

Completely agree, it had to be Jerjerrod. Rarely fly without him.

[@adamallen661]

Thrawn is my number 1.

[@therealneal9980]

Honestly, Jerjerrod and Motti are two of my favorite commanders. I’m a big fan of double ISDs with little to no fighters, and an extra 6 hull from Motti really makes the fleet tanky.

[@hammerpr1]

Crabbok, you should do a list on the top faction specific upgrade cards. Love the content as always.

[@mattvisger3209]

Great analysis as always, love your videos.

[@matthewbrucato6746]

Love the content! Cant wait to play again once this blows over...

[@brandanshaw5326]

Love your ranking videos. Hope you do more soon.

[@justincase3469]

As a some what new player videos like this are really helpful

[@suicidalmaniac2005]

Screed used to be my all time favorite... and then I met Sloan.

[@pubcle]

I really disagree on some of this. I'm someone who tends to run slower fleets that are highly interconnected and wanting the opponent to approach me more than me approach them. Some of my favorites are those you put at the bottom. My opinion you can run SSDs without Jerry, but you have to build them like a mobile fortress. Piett-Yularen-Executor with a load of fighters in rapid launch is great for this. You can turn the SSD into a mobile base like this and use it as a wedge into the enemy fleet. Jerry is great but not so incredible, most of my fleets are designed for the opponent to approach me. You can get some great builds with Tarkin, like one of my builds with a Cymoon with shields to max and an Interdictor with shield projectors you have an enormous amount of shield regen. If you fight at range you gain immensely. Tarkin is expensive but really useful for both versatility and having extremely capable abilities if you have token usage. Palpatine is mean if you pair him with other things that remove parts of your opponent like an Onager with Intel and Sunder while a Kuat with Vader comes in. It's just flat out mean as it strips your opponent's plans and resistances. He has trouble finding use but he is more useful than Ozzel come on man. Yes it's costly but if you just focus cutting down the opponent's options. I mean, have fun dealing with this fleet: armadawarlords.hivelabs.solutions/view_list.php?token=235252&key=667a5a5c1beabf9c0ef00b31aaeb4451 Tagge is... no. He's so limited in use, more limited than Palpatine. I don't run Konstantine but he works on trip Interdictor and with double Int and Onager

[@Giraffasaur]

Dude, I love your Stripper Sheev build. :D Konstantine is one of my favorites, but I'd argue his constant disruption without being on an Interdictor is enough to mess the opponent's plans and throw them off. Having him on an Interdictor (or with multiple) seems a bit overkill of his ability with too much reduction of firepower imo.

[@scubaguymi]

Thanks for your thoughts on the commanders.

[@grandmoffjake6871]

The one thing I don’t like about thrawn has to do with the set he is sold in; it doesn’t include the extra command dials you need to run him. Having just started out in armada, I don’t really have the extra to spare

[@therealneal9980]

Yeah, I’ll admit that’s a bit of a bummer. For people who’ve had their ships for a long time, it’s not a big deal, but for new players it’s definitely a hurdle.

[@cameronseverin7111]

Can't wait to see your rebel list! Overall I agree on your top 4 being the top maybe just a different order: Sloane first then Thrawn followed by JJ and Romodi. It's definitely fun to see everyone's different opinions on this based on our play styles.

[@ericdimeck4481]

I love your t-shirt! And Ozzle is useful, for choking of course.

[@benhoody100]

Dude awesome idea but next time can you do a tier list for these. I think the tier lists are really interesting to watch.

[@warkatwargaming2358]

Loving this vid. Totally agree about the Vader card. Used him twice then got my SSD.....never looked back

[@JKSSubstandard]

Yeah. Plus with all the other dice manipulation he loses value. Leading shots is 4 points and goes on any ion ship. Ordinance experts is 4 points and goes on almost any build of mine with black dice. TRCs, linked towers, gun chief varnillian, the con fire token...theres just so many cheap ways to manipulate dice in a fleet that giving up 36 points and a different commander ability just isnt worth it

[@daniel6218]

I am a new player as well and really appreciate your videos like this. I wish I could find alot of the ships you posted on your ranking top ships to buy. Seems most are out of stock.

[@rh352]

Jerjarrod is definitely great on the SSD. I like to put him on there and spam Repair commands. That ship is a freaking TANK when you spam repair commands!

[@michaelmusterer345]

Crabbok with the quarantine I have been playing Armada on Vassal its free and helps scratch that itch.

[@Giraffasaur]

I love this analysis of the Commanders! From a personal standpoint, Sloane is my #1. But being that she's much more niche, she's not the best Commander. You covered this expertly in the video, well done. Otherwise, I agree with most of your personal ranking of the Commanders here. A point I would challenge: Romodi is fantastic in the right situations, especially against activation builds. I think the only reason I put him high is because of the cost effectiveness. Otherwise, he can be completely outdone by a well-maneuvering opponent. As such, I would rank him below Thrawn. Thrawn's flexibility is incredibly powerful in almost every situation, and I may even challenge him to be the most versatile/effective Commander above Jerjerrod, even. I think it comes down to the build, it's hard to say one is better than the other at that point. They offer so much potential! And I give you so much praise regarding your description of Darth Vader Commander versus Darth Vader Officer. NAILED IT. Palpatine + Intel Officers can be a nasty combo, but it is rather expensive to pull off correctly. You're right in that he only gets 1 (maybe 2) interesting turns, but I'd argue they are the most important turns that end up swinging the tide of the battle due to all the defense token stripping. I would rank him just under Screed, actually. Okay, so my biggest disagreement with your list here: I run several Konstantine builds that have never lost when I played them, and I do play competent players by the way. He almost seems to be a metagaming counterpick, making opposing builds bend their knee to your assortment of medium ships. In your defense, he requires very careful navigation turns to use to his fullest, but his ability is devastating in the right situations. A lot of individuals claim he has to be run on an Interdictor, though my best build runs him on an Imperial-II, Victory-II, and a Quasar-I. Quad Battery Turrets always get activated, tons of blue dice getting rolled everywhere (along with Squadrons) for tremendous consistency. As such, I would rank him above Motti (yes, I'm serious!). There have been MANY instances where changing the opponent's speed by 1 has completely changed the outcome (and effectiveness) of their entire turn, and I will never take this for granted. That said, Konstantine is really hard to use effectively, and I see exactly why he is placed at the bottom for a lot of people. Still, he's one of my favorites.

[@Mitharan23]

Romodi wrecked my face the other night. Every single shot the Imperials had, was obstructed. Romodi Arq with Spinal and a double arc. I didn't have a lot of ships living more than 2 turns, if that.

[@urulfito]

Hi Crabbok, I love your guides and breakdowns, do you have any updated Imperial Carrier lists (Heavy on squadrons)

[@joshuaarundell3764]

Having just run a double victory and arquitens list with Jerjerrod I see why you always rave about him, he's amazing for those two ships!

[@nicholaskallmyer9865]

For the casual or novice player, Thrawn is #1 I think. Lists are ALWAYS player style dependent, and I appreciate the explanation for each position and pointing out your biases.

[@JKSSubstandard]

Konstantine over Ozzel and Palp. Because I FINALLY found a build for him. I run 2 interdictors and a onager. The interdictors absorb shots for the onager, and put the brakes on any enemy advance. That flagship charging in to deal damage is suddenly stopped in its tracks, that carrier the enemy is protecting at the back is suddenly full speed ahead, that flank ship coming in for the perfect shot just overshot. Enemy has 2 heavy hitters? One speeds up to engage you, the other is slowed to a crawl and out of the fight. The whole time the onager is piling ignition shots into pretty predictable opponents. Its the one konstantine build thats actually worked for me, so I would definitely have him above Ozzel and Palp

[@Nate-uz8ih]

Piett is my top pick because with the correct infrastructure he is one of the most flexible and reactionary admiral. Need a squadron command 1 round later or before, he got you.

[@DoctorRobertKelso]

I am a fan of Tagge because he allows me to be dangerously reckless and get my defense tokens back!

[@kathilmechworks4895]

It's funny you mention the reason for Vaders drop. He has been one of my favorite commanders and a top 3 for me, but he has been getting displaced by officer Vader. Made me get a Ebay pack of skilled first officers.

[@KingTiggerTank]

I'm all about Thrawn, my boy. But as for command tokens, I use tokens quite a bit, especially engineering.

[@hammerpr1]

Thrawn was my favorite until i realized how utterly insane Jerjerrod is on the ssd and frankly being able to almost turn around with the isd is disgusting. I pulled it on an opponent and got behind his mc75. I call it the Jerry turn now.

[@nicholasfronkier6884]

Completely agree!

[@connerfarr8072]

This is great because I don't normally run empire. I like to play with fighters and smaller ships and I just dont have that for my empire fleet but I would like to play with Empire a little more especially with Sloane if I can figure out a good way to use her.

[@joshuaarundell3764]

Give Sloane a quasar with expanded hangars, Goran and Flight Controllers, then howl & Soontir with a swarm of tie fighters/interceptors, you will eat any rebel squadrons and can then pester their ships with Ties! Give her a victory or ISD to deal damage and protect the quasar and an arquitens to flank or run down CR-90's. Could use some refinement and I am limited in not having a huge collection yet but has worked well for me so far, hope this gives you some ideas.

[@theaquabob]

I like Sloane but I honestly forget to include her bonus a lot, so I stick with Grand Admiral Thrawn.

[@Mitharan23]

My problem with Sloane isn't even with her, it's with Imperial squadrons. The squadrons she works best with are just too squishy and don't have good anti ship abilities. She augments and anti squadron list to make it still functional against ships. If I want anti-ship squadrons, I'd rather just bring a bomber list, that won't work with her because they all are black dice.

[@isped8650]

can't wait for the clone wars artwork.

[@michaelmusterer345]

I find my order of commanders changes by what ships I want to field if I am fielding the SSD Definitely Jerry but I don't always want to transport that thing. Romodi is my Fave most of the time My third choice is Motti.

[@mattsomes]

Thrawn has to be my #1. he add so much to any list.

[@namdoolb]

Thrawn #1 for me Then Sloane, Vader, Jerry, Romodi, Motti, Screed. Order gets a little fuzzy after that, but always have konstantine & tagge at the bottom One of the things I love about this game us that there's so much room for personal bias, & that even most of the admirals that aren't objectively good can be made good with a little outside of the box thinking

[@lupinisthinking]

I just ordered an Onager a bit ago and it should be here tonight, planning a fun lil Romodi test later tonight. Also, Crabbok ranking Tarkin so low for his point cost bodes terrible for Ackbar and Leia (I live and die by Leia)

[@dominiclemire2540]

JJ is the man since FFG try to help out our poor Victory ;)

[@mward5962]

I'm kind of surprised Jerry is still top, considering the similarities he has with Madine. I would have thought that if Evasive Action reduced Madines worth, it would have gone double for Jerry. Plus for people who run him for Victory SD's, the Harrow Title now exists as a fix as well. Thrawn is more or less where I expected, although I'd disagree with the "little pricey" assessment, for what he does he could EASILY be a 38pt commander. The Vader assesment is probably right though, his value went through the floor when they put out that officer card version. As for Screed, I feel his cheap cost also needs to be mentioned, bringing absolute certainty to being able to do a crit for every ship that attacks is VERY powerful when it's built around it. Sure you lose a dice, but in return you get to turn a Black dice into a hit-Crit AND you spend that crit effect on Assault Concussions so it's actually doing +2 damage on top of everything else? And you know there's no chance you won't be able to do this EVERY TIME? That's hella strong. Screed on an Onager with a few other upgrades and notably the Super-Duper-Turbolasers can REALIBLY vomit out 12+ damage EVERY TURN. Tagge is way to high. Come on man. His ability is not better than Screeds, or even Piett.

[@nicholasfronkier6884]

"Down with Konstantine!" :)

[@collinolcott4213]

Still love me some Thrawn!!!

[@Gaderian-2187]

Grand Admiral Sloane is displeased. Grand Admiral Thrown is displeased. But oh well haha

[@thecanadianclassroom3188]

I enjoy Tarkin but he is a bit expensive

[@joeladams4042]

I really like the look of this game, but have so much resources Invested in Legion and other games

[@dbzfanexwarbrady]

the 1st 2 are back ups for you postional failures , Thrawn expects that you have already calculated for this and have made the apropiate counter moves, if you struggle with this you may want to study what kind of art your oppoment likes

[@ThanatoselNyx]

My top 3: Sloane, Motti, JJ

[@Kinetic_Animations]

Wait... If Vader kills Minister Tua, doesn’t that ship lose it’s defensive retrofit upgrade?

[@Crabbok]

No. Tua's effect is only applied during list building.

[@Ty-yy7zr]

I can see why jerjerrod is the top, but FFG hasn't reprinted the imperial light cruiser for several months, maybe a year or 2, and that's not including the entire COVID 19 issue. Because of that, I don't have any of the really good cards and the ship that comes with.

[@BlindfireGooglyEyes]

Moff Jerjerrod is the Imperial BOSS

[@6O8gamer07]

Now do Rebels!

[@kiwigrande575]

Sloane Is my No1

[@erichludwig2095]

Make sure to Tagge yourself in the comments...

[@jthor9535]

And next up... the Rebel list...?

[@benniediek7347]

I have the feeling that i only have the commanders that suck

[@Giraffasaur]

Even a "bad" Commander can be used effectively with the right strategy!

[@faidesish]

Generic imperial moff when?

[@chrishayhurst3005]

?🤔 but I don't like the fact you're damaging your own ship to turn more surely just use engine techs or something?

[@qwertys8325]

I think Thrawn is better than Romodi

[@apolishbeast4008]

It's a shame Vader and Palpatine are so bad and overcosted. Makes me question FFG design and balance process.

[@generalsmite7167]

The lowest 2 admirals he ranked are actually bad commanders in the lore