Okay so I did my thoughts on papa Palpatine the senate whatever you would like to call him, now it is time I gave my thoughts on Piett. Now I have been really excited for Piett to come out, and when I saw his ability I was a little disappointed, however I have been determined to make him work as he is kinda like Admiral Ackbar in the films even with his small role you can't help but like him, at least to me. So lets see if we can get him doing work.
So Piett is an exhaust commander so MS-1 ion cannons can ruin your day, but probably not as I personally have never seen them used I have heard rumors, but never seen it. Maybe now that LTT is giving rerolls maybe we will see it on double arcing ships, Because ECM just needs to die.
Imperial II (120) • Weapons Battery Techs (5) • Electronic Countermeasures (7) • MS-1 Ion Cannons (2) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) = 141 Points
I mean probably not, but hey a guy can dream, and come up with weird sub optimal builds that may or may not work, sometimes you just don't know until you try, other times is painfully obvious and your just in denial and have to try it out anyway.
So because Piett is an exhaust to use you are really only going to use him once a round baring shenanigans, looking at you Interdictor title. So he is really just going to give one ship two commands every round, so why not take Thrawn. For 10 more points? Well Thrawn gives his one command to each ship in your fleet so Thrawns value goes up the more ships that can benefit from him, sure he is a staple of 2-Ship but he gets his value there by giving 3 un- sliceable squadron commands, while still letting the ships navigate, however In a Thawn list where one ship really needs the command and the others is bit more of a bonus, than necessary it might be worth taking Piett.
So lets start with the Elephant in the room the SSD.
So Piett is a good choice on the SSD however If you are using him to get a nav command, I am sorry JJ is just plain out better. I think Piett helps the SSD in that he is in his own way command protection. He is the best commander in an SSD list that is taking a large complement of squadrons, outside that I really feel that JJ is just the better option I mean I really like Peitt on the SSD but JJ is usually the better option, I do however like Piett in this SSD build:
SSD Command Prototype (220) • Admiral Piett (22) • Commander Vanto (7) • Wulff Yularen (7) • Captain Brunson (5) • Take Evasive Action! (6) • Gunnery Team (7) • Expanded Hangar Bay (5) • Leading Shots (4) • Quad Battery Turrets (5) • Ravager (4)
= 292 Points Squadrons: • Colonel Jendon (20) • Maarek Stele (21) • Mauler Mithel (15) • JumpMaster 5000 (12) • Morna Kee (27) • Tempest Squadron (13) = 108 Points
Total Points: 400
Wulff and Vanto give you lots of token control and and turn 3 you can in essence resolve every single command when played right so turn one is a Nav get token Vanto a squadron token turn two spend nav for TEA Wulff that token, confire on the dial use the command this round bank token for next round Piett the squadron token then Vanto the squadron token back. Turn 3 spend the nav for TEA, Piett the squadron Ravager the Con fire token, and repair is on the dial, its fun and feels really cool to pull off, but if you don't have squadrons in your SSD list that need to be commanded I would probably take another commander , namely JJ in almost every situation.
So in what other lists would you take Piett, well an archetype that I have fallen back on again and again ever since wave Thor (as 3 and 4 where release at the same time.) is ISD, Demo+2, and a smattering of squadrons. Its tried and true and I think Piett really shines is this kind of list.
Imperial II (120) • Admiral Piett (22) • Gunnery Team (7) • Electronic Countermeasures (7) • SW-7 Ion Batteries (5) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • Sovereign (4) = 172 Points
Gladiator I (56) • Skilled First Officer (1) • Ordnance Experts (4) • External Racks (3) • Demolisher (10) = 74 Points
Gozanti Cruisers (23) • Comms Net (2) = 25 Points
Gozanti Cruisers (23) • Comms Net (2) = 25 Points
Squadrons: • Colonel Jendon (20) • Maarek Stele (21) • Mauler Mithel (15) • JumpMaster 5000 (12) • Morna Kee (27) • Black Squadron (9) = 104 Points
Total Points: 400
Piett gives the ISD a degree of flexibility that is really unmatched, If I am needing to push squadrons I can do that, if my squadrons are gone then I can Repair or Con-Fire while still getting that Nav. Sovereign is amazing with Peitt, if you are feeding him tokens with Comms net as you can stuff 3 tokens onto the ISD and they will always be what you need making your ISD super responsive to any situation. This is something that Piett has over Thrawn he can work technically every single round, you can squeeze 6 uses out of him I mean only for one ship but still, and Piett can be more responsive and/or versatile than Thrawn especially when paired with Sovereign.
I know people have made the argument that you should not use a Gozanti with Comms net to fuel Piett as that means your spending 47 points on a commander, so at that point you should just take Thrawn, What I have to say to that is that most Imperial list are going to take a Gozanti or two to round out activations anyway so by tacking on a comms net your really only adding 2 points to the list making him a 24 point commander, but I would argue that regardless what commander you were taking you would most likely put something in the fleet support slot so I really feel this is a moot point. The Empire also has not shortage of token generating officers.
I have tried various different builds around the ISD,Demo+2 and smattering of squadrons and it really seams to be the kind of list Piett sings in. It does not have to be ISD+Demo with squads, but anything along the same lines works, a battle carrier with a support combat ship. I think Piett is the right choice in these lists because if we took Thawn and gave un-sliceable squadron commands we are really only giving it to the ISD and maybe a Gozanti, and we are only getting that benefit for 3 rounds this one Piett lets the ISD be the battle carrier all game long, and if Thrawn did nav Commands, then why not take JJ? I really think Piett beats Thrawn in most lists built like this, Ruthless Thrawn being one of the exceptions, which I Think is at least the funnest ways to play Thrawn, (maybe not the greatest) this is because every ship uses the Thrawn dial:
ISD Kuat Refit (112) • Grand Admiral Thrawn (32) • Governor Pryce (7) • Boarding Troopers (3) • Electronic Countermeasures (7) • Leading Shots (4) • External Racks (3) • Avenger (5) = 173 Points
Victory I (73) • Agent Kallus (3) • Ruthless Strategists (4) • Advanced Transponder Net (5) • H9 Turbolasers (8) • Ordnance Pods (3) • Warlord (8) = 104 Points
Gozanti Cruisers (23) • Darth Vader (1) • Comms Net (2) • Reserve Hangar Deck (3) = 29 Points
Squadrons: • Gamma Squadron (10) • 5 x TIE Bomber Squadron (45) • JumpMaster 5000 (12) • Mauler Mithel (15) = 82 Points
Total Points: 388
Now I do want to touch briefly on the Interdictor Shenanigans with Piett, put simply it just costs to much to justify, even if the list would like to take an interdicor. First you sacrifice getting two uses out of Captain Brunson, or Targeting scramblers, so you will likely end up with an interdictor that looks something like this:
Interdictor Suppression Refit (90) • Admiral Piett (22) • Damage Control Officer (5) • Disposable Capacitors (3) • Grav Shift Reroute (2) • G7-X Grav Well Projector (2) • Heavy Ion Emplacements (9) • Interdictor (3) = 136 Points
Now you need two ships that want two commands, and I really don't think the Interictor cares to much about getting two commands I mean even if you tack on ET in the support slot you can still get that to go off with a token, and personally I feel when using a repair command on one you are ether spending just the token or token and dial as just a dial is just an awkward repair command value. A Con fire might be okay to try and get our HIE off, but there are just better ways to get that. So I feel you really need two ships in addition to this ship that really want two commands, and I just can't find a list that really makes that work that other commanders wouldn't just be better in, or that I would rather take targeting scramblers on the interdictor to help keep it and other ships alive, I have tried, but at the end of the day I just ended up with a list that I thought would be better with Motti, and I have a pretty big distaste for Motti.
Interdictor Suppression Refit (90) • Admiral Motti (24) • Captain Brunson (5) • Disposable Capacitors (3) • Grav Shift Reroute (2) • Targeting Scrambler (5) • Heavy Ion Emplacements (9) • Interdictor (3) = 141 Points
Victory I (73) • Minister Tua (2) • Ordnance Experts (4) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • External Racks (3) • Harrow (3) • Engine Techs (8) • Electronic Countermeasures (7) = 107 Points
Gladiator I (56) • Ordnance Experts (4) • External Racks (3) • Demolisher (10) = 73 Points
Gozanti Cruisers (23) • Comms Net (2) • Reserve Hangar Deck (3) = 28 Points
Gozanti Cruisers (23) • Comms Net (2) • Reserve Hangar Deck (3) = 28 Points
Squadrons: • 2 x TIE Interceptor Squadron (22) = 22 Points
Maybe it can be done, but I just think the cost points wise and what you give up to do it is just to great to justify it. So what do I think of Piett? Well I think he has his niche, and that he should probably be used in that niche. I think he is viable in competitive play, I would not be supersized if he won a higher level tournament in the right build. He is good at what he does and that is really all you can ask of a commander, I don't think it is out of the realm of possibility that he will be one of the more used Imperial Commanders right up their with Thrawn, and Sloan, on a side note JJ will likely see a rise in use as well, with the SSD and TEA letting him do crazy things.
That is my thoughts on Piett, I know many will not agree with me, but I like him in the right build, and Unlike Commander Emperor Palatine, Piett will see table time, at least for me. What do you think of Piett? Have you gotten interdictor shenanigans to work with him? Until next time have a great week!
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