Post Shadow Hand Imperial Warlords

[Lord Xizer]

Operation Shadow Hand has failed. Palpatine is dead. Byss is destroyed. The Warlords have fragmented again and the New Republic is ascendant. Carnor Jax declares himself Emperor and tries to rally a council of Moffs and regional governors around him but his power is tenuous at best. The Pentastar is floundering but reasonably stable in it's isolationist stance, Teradoc commands the largest fleet but is involved in a massive multifront war with Delvardus, Harrsk and the other 10 deep core Warlords, Brill is a madman on Fortress Prakith. In the shadow Devian plots to drive out any sense of compromise and restore the Empire to Palpatine's vision-with himself as head of course.
You are an Imperial Officer,Governr/Moff with your ships and crew, or your army and planet or system who do you choose to join?

[Vulcanus]

You forgot the more talented of the two Teradoc bros who may very well have been the leading partner of the Federated Teradoc Union at this point.

I would seriously consider joining the D'Astas, but with the D'Astan Sector soon to become the frontline of Orinda Campaign, it would be a risky choice.

EDIT: Not like there would be any good choices at this point beyond fleeing to the whatever's left of the Alignment, but even that's only with the knowledge that it's going to become the Imperial Remnant later on.

[Lord Xizer]

You forgot the more talented of the two Teradoc bros who may very well have been the leading partner of the Federated Teradoc Union at this point.

I would seriously consider joining the D'Astas, but with the D'Astan Sector soon to become the frontline of Orinda Campaign, it would be a risky choice.

EDIT: Not like there would be any good choices at this point beyond fleeing to the whatever's left of the Alignment, but even that's only with the knowledge that it's going to become the Imperial Remnant later on.

That's a good point, I did forget about Kosh, though to be fair joining either Teradoc is the same and Truetan was more well known of the two. Kosh was a better tactician certainly but by all accounts Truetan held more territory and ships of the pair.

Personally I'd have stayed with the Alignment for the fact of all the factions it had remained the most stable and coexistant with other Imperial Factions. As an Officer responsible for those under my command that would be my top priority as Galactic victory at this point would be extremely unlikely. Of all the factions The Alignment was the most likely to reach a diplomatic solution and survive.

[Lord Xizer]

You forgot the more talented of the two Teradoc bros who may very well have been the leading partner of the Federated Teradoc Union at this point.

Added him to Trueton's option on the poll

[Vulcanus]

I still picked surrendering to the NR. It's the safest choice for survival.

[tlmiller]

Pentastar.  Still a good law abiding non anarchist society, while not so humanocentric or maniacal.  If I were aware of the EoTH, that would also be an option for me.

[Guderian]

Probably Delvardus, but Pentastar does also sound very nice.
For now ill vote Delvardus because Superstardestroyer xD

[CaptainPogo]

Pentastar probably takes my vote, since after the snowball disaster that is the failure of Shadow Hand, I'd rather take the safe route and take the faction that at least didn't take quite a nasty spill compared to the others.

Part of me wished Pellaeon gained a powerbase after Shadow Hand but it's part tragic and kind of a blessing since while he lost a lot to the point he had to submit to another warlord just to survive, he wasn't in the crosshairs of the NR until Daala gave him full reigns after unification.

[tlmiller]

Also, PA still at that point had Reaper.

[Revanchist]

Pentastar every time. The reason being that Kaine created a stable power base that (though probably unintended) would have both the strength and the resources to survive if its leader was killed. Most, if not all the other Warlord Empires were centered around blind loyalty to one charismatic despot. If said despot died, so did the Kingdom. Not so with the Alignment.

[Lord Xizer]

Probably Delvardus, but Pentastar does also sound very nice.
For now ill vote Delvardus because Superstardestroyer xD

Well while I would love to get my hands on Night Hammer and Delvardus is one of the top 3 in the Deep Core(he is also my favorite of those maniacs) Between him and the PA for both my safety and my crews as well as long term thinking I'd still join the PA.

Pentastar every time. The reason being that Kaine created a stable power base that (though probably unintended) would have both the strength and the resources to survive if its leader was killed. Most, if not all the other Warlord Empires were centered around blind loyalty to one charismatic despot. If said despot died, so did the Kingdom. Not so with the Alignment.

Agreed, Kaine's Alignment is almost completely unique in that respect. Zsinj, Krennal, Prentioch, and all the Deep Core Warlords kingdoms disintegrated or were absorbed by rival kingdoms almost immediately upon their death. Kaine's kingdom endured and even prospered.

[Meyer]

Pentastar is the only one with any change of surviving in long term. It's also as mentioned the only that survives the death of its creator making it unique. Also possessing the Reaper and Scourge Squadron gives it strength and it has shipyards and banking worlds which the other warlords lack.

[Lord Xizer]

Pentastar is the only one with any change of surviving in long term. It's also as mentioned the only that survives the death of its creator making it unique. Also possessing the Reaper and Scourge Squadron gives it strength and it has shipyards and banking worlds which the other warlords lack.

yes, it is in a word, Self-sustaining. It has a future and is also NOT at war with everybody else.

[StarLordX]

I would go with the rogue warlord route (Empire Reborn), that way non-force sensitives will be infused with Artusian crystals and the Valley of the Jedi's power, creating Dark Jedi soldiers like the Reborn and Shadowtroopers with the assistance of megalomaniacal Dark Jedi like Desann.

[Pali]

I'd say that the history of the Star Wars universe rather clearly shows that in the long run, govts. based around Force-users, particularly dark siders, are inherently unstable (light side ones would likely end up too rigid and unchanging to last well either).  The constant infighting and lack of clear lines of succession undoes it every time.  Any Empire based on oppression and subjugation will eventually collapse - the PA, notably, was far less oppressive that the Empire as a whole, and I'd expect a confederated empire like the Hand could last even longer.

[Lord Xizer]

I'd say that the history of the Star Wars universe rather clearly shows that in the long run, govts. based around Force-users, particularly dark siders, are inherently unstable (light side ones would likely end up too rigid and unchanging to last well either).  The constant infighting and lack of clear lines of succession undoes it every time.  Any Empire based on oppression and subjugation will eventually collapse - the PA, notably, was far less oppressive that the Empire as a whole, and I'd expect a confederated empire like the Hand could last even longer.

Agreed, the Empire Pellaeon created was the best in my opinion. It combined the Order of the Old Empire without the evil aspects. It had a functional and decisive government(Granted the Moffs had their moments of stupidity) If Pellaeon had not been forced to launch that last campaign in 19 ABY his Empire may very well have seen large sections of the Northern Quadrant willingly join a prosperous and Just Empire(As many did after the Vong War)

[Pali]

Agreed, the Empire Pellaeon created was the best in my opinion. It combined the Order of the Old Empire without the evil aspects. It had a functional and decisive government(Granted the Moffs had their moments of stupidity) If Pellaeon had not been forced to launch that last campaign in 19 ABY his Empire may very well have seen large sections of the Northern Quadrant willingly join a prosperous and Just Empire(As many did after the Vong War)

I feel I must prefer the Empire of the Hand, despite the limited amount of exposure it gets, though Pellaeon's empire is a very close second (with the PA a VERY close 3rd).  As you alluded to, the main issue was mostly the Moff Council, which Pellaeon's empire mostly retained simply due to inheritance, not because Pellaeon would've wanted it the way it was - the flaw in the system was one that remained from the original Empire.  The Empire of the Hand, however, I feel was truly the Star Wars empire that should have been - one that was sincerely based on willing cooperation and acceptance of central authority, and with a central authority that knew its limits and its strengths, and when to employ the latter or recognize the former, as well as having a general long-term goal that it was working towards.

Of course, Thrawn has always been my favorite Imp, so I'm a bit biased here - the empire he personally set up being my favorite is no surprise to me.  Kaine I still have to give a great deal of respect to - he was willing to accept some level of diplomatic relations with the NR in the short term in favor of playing the long game, and from what little I know he didn't push the kind of totalitarian or human-centric policies that helped bring down Palpatine's Empire (as well as, you know, lowering it on the less practical, more ethical scale).  The biggest mistake he made was accepting the reborn Palpatine, though one could argue that his followers (mostly loyal Imperials who felt he was continuing the line best) would have overthrown him had he done otherwise - instead, like nearly everyone who ends up in thrall to a dark-side Force user, he ends up dead due to that Force-user's arrogant overestimation of their abilities.  And to Kaine's credit, the PA did NOT dissolve into chaos after his death the way Palpatine's empire did - instead it remained mostly intact, if somewhat paralyzed in terms of affecting galactic events, until being re-annexed by the Imperial Remnant under Pellaeon.

[Lord Xizer]

I really wish Kaine's campaigns in Shadow Hand had more EU coverage. According to sources he led the PA forces through over a dozen victories in his drive to the core. Had it not been for Ennix Devian planting false intel Grant was coming back to the PA Kaine would have survived and continued to lead the PA. With all Pellaeons resources after the deep core was abandoned Kaine would have welcomed him with open arms. Kaines focus onnot invading the NR would have helped keep the Moffs in check and left the IR significantly larger since that final disastrous campaign never would have been launched.

[tlmiller]

I really wish Kaine's campaigns in Shadow Hand had more EU coverage. According to sources he led the PA forces through over a dozen victories in his drive to the core. Had it not been for Ennix Devian planting false intel Grant was coming back to the PA Kaine would have survived and continued to lead the PA. With all Pellaeons resources after the deep core was abandoned Kaine would have welcomed him with open arms. Kaines focus onnot invading the NR would have helped keep the Moffs in check and left the IR significantly larger since that final disastrous campaign never would have been launched.

Or even better, Pelleon could have simply joined the alignment with the IR fleet, and instead of the IR annexing the PA, the PA could have annexed the IR and the grand moffs would have been out on their buts.  At this point, I think most of them would realize that becoming a warlord was akin to commiting suicide, so they'd accept that they were no longer going to have power in order to continue living, falling back to being just a normal sector moff and allowing the PA to continue to govern things the way Kaine had set up, which obviously we all agree was the smartest of all warlords.

[Lord Xizer]

Or even better, Pelleon could have simply joined the alignment with the IR fleet, and instead of the IR annexing the PA, the PA could have annexed the IR and the grand moffs would have been out on their buts.  At this point, I think most of them would realize that becoming a warlord was akin to commiting suicide, so they'd accept that they were no longer going to have power in order to continue living, falling back to being just a normal sector moff and allowing the PA to continue to govern things the way Kaine had set up, which obviously we all agree was the smartest of all warlords.

Agreed, plus then we would have had a faction with Kaine as head of state, little to no anti alien bias, strong economy and resource rich sectors, Pellaeon as an over all military leader and backed by the Reaper, Megador, Dominion and Sorannon. With Kaine's stance on Isolationism and his ability to control the Moffs, they never could have pressured Pellaeon into launching those doomed campaigns against his wishes since Kaine not only outranked them but also was well versed in controlling them. Pellaeon would not have ever had to launch the campaigns at Entralla or the Final Imperial Push which would have left the IR/PA with a significant military force, territory and resources to be self sustaining. Add to this the posibility of the EotH revealing themselves in 19 ABY and the possibility of adding those secotrs in the Unknown Regions either to the IR or at the least as an alliance between the two. Add all this together and you have an Progressive and resurgent Imperial Faction. Now that's a scenario I'd like to see in an Infinities GC!