Well I am finally ready this week we will be talking about GAR Tarkin, and write-ups about the pelta, and Admiral Yularian will shortly follow then we will be all done with the GAR. It has taken me a bit longer to get the games I wanted so the GAR has been dragged out a little bit but we should close this out in the next few AMM so without any further delay let's dive into Admiral Tarken or as I call him Garkin.
Garkin is similar to his Grand Moff counterpart but the tokens you give your ships are predetermined so it is a little less flexible in that regard, but he gains the added ability to discard one of the tokens to instead of giving out tokens to give the flagship a command dial. Most lists I have seen out and about with Garkin uses him as the less flexible version of his Grand Moff self and while that is not bad and you can make some very solid lists.
Venator I (90)
• Admiral Tarkin (30)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Take Evasive Action! (6)
• External Racks (4)
• Tranquility (3)
= 137 Points
Acclamator II (71)
• Clone Gunners (4)
• Thermal Shields (5)
• External Racks (4)
= 84 Points
Acclamator II (71)
• Clone Gunners (4)
• Thermal Shields (5)
• External Racks (4)
= 84 Points
Pelta Medical Frigate (49)
• Projection Experts (6)
• Comms Net (2)
• FB-88 (4)
= 61 Points
Squadrons:
• 2 x ARC-170 Starfighter Squadron (30)
= 30 Points
Total Points: 396
This list uses Tarkin in that way rotating between giving out con-fire tokens for re-rolls and clone gunner help and nav tokens to power Take Evasive Action! While playing this list I started to see how useful a comms net ship particularly a pelta that is a command two-ship that can save a Tarkin token to pass in a latter round and ether use comms net to pass a token or use its dial for something is very useful even powerful with Tarkin. While you can have good Tarkin lists without a comms net ship I think to unlock his full potential it is almost necessary. So I wanted to start using more than just token feeding with Tarkin and get extra command dials on my flagship.
Venator II (100)
• Admiral Tarkin (30)
• Clone Captain Zak (5)
• Flight Controllers (6)
• Boosted Comms (4)
• Thermal Shields (5)
• External Racks (4)
• Resolute (6)
= 160 Points
Venator I (90)
• Intensify Firepower! (6)
• External Racks (4)
• Tranquility (3)
= 103 Points
Pelta Transport Frigate (45)
• Projection Experts (6)
• Comms Net (2)
= 53 Points
Squadrons:
• Anakin Skywalker (19)
• Axe (17)
• Kickback (16)
• V-19 Torrent Squadron (12)
• 2 x BTL-B Y-wing Squadron (20)
= 84 Points
Total Points: 400
The Ven II is by far the best option to get two commands for the republic and the Ven I can have a fleet command that Tarkin can power. So on the first turn, you drop a con fire to power IF. Second round you spend a squad on Tarkin to give the Ven II a squad command, and during that round, the pelta will pass a con fire token to the Ven I. round 3 again give the Ven II a squad command Round 4 you will drop a con-fire command to power IF this turn the ven II will only have one command then 5 and 6 play out similar to 2 and 3 other than you may want a nav or engineering on your Ven II to make sure it does not die in the later rounds up to you. Clone Captain Zak gives the Ven II a nice way to use it con fire tokens for some extra dice out the side or even the rear in the later rounds. I just really liked the feel of this list it was really fun to fly and using both of Tarkin's abilities here really made him shine in a very impactful way. I played a few other lists like this and I personally think this is where Garkin really shines and is super fun when you rotate between giving the command dial and getting tokens.
Acclamator II (71)
• Admiral Tarkin (30)
• Clone Gunners (4)
• Thermal Shields (5)
• External Racks (4)
• Swivel-Mount Batteries (8)
= 122 Points
Venator I (90)
• Intensify Firepower! (6)
• External Racks (4)
• Tranquility (3)
= 103 Points
Pelta Transport Frigate (45)
• Projection Experts (6)
• Comms Net (2)
= 53 Points
Consular Charger C70 (45)
= 45 Points
Consular Charger C70 (45)
= 45 Points
Squadrons:
• 2 x ARC-170 Starfighter Squadron (30)
= 30 Points
Total Points: 398
In this list, Garkin can power IF and let the Clam II both Navigate and Con-fire for a very tough little ship that will ruin almost every ship's day. The biggest downside to using Tarkin in this way is that you have to put him on the ship you want to gain the extra command dials, but in general, that will be a tanky ship so it's not a huge deal. It kind of plays into the weird theme with Garkin being a bit inflexible and I really like this subtlety because I think it is really thematic because Tarkin as a character strikes me as someone rather rigid and dogmatic so from a thematic perspective I think it hits it on the nose.
With all that Knew I needed to take him in the opposite direction and use him almost exclusively to gain dials for a ship and so the Garkin Super ship list was born.
Venator II (100)
• Admiral Tarkin (30)
• Clone Captain Silver (4)
• Clone Gunners (4)
• Expanded Hangar Bay (5)
• Electronic Countermeasures (7)
• External Racks (4)
• Swivel-Mount Batteries (8)
• Tranquility (3)
= 165 Points
Pelta Transport Frigate (45)
• Projection Experts (6)
• Comms Net (2)
= 53 Points
Consular Charger C70 (45)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 55 Points
Consular Charger C70 (45)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 55 Points
Squadrons:
• 6 x V-19 Torrent Squadron (72)
= 72 Points
Total Points: 400
So turn one Tarkin still drops con fires across the fleet to help with Clone gunners on the Ven II. Then depending on if your opponent has slicers or not you will either put more or less the rest of Garkins tokens as squad if they dont they will be con-fire dials. This lets the ship be an absolute beast of activation you will push 6 squads and can drop a huge amount of dice on your target and if the target survives your squads can act as clean up on later rounds. I definitely had fun with this list and idea and it work in practice and was fairly solid and would only get better the more I practiced it.
In sort you have to have a plan for Tarkin he like pretty much all of the GAR commanders are ones that need to be built around. You can use him just as a token generator and you will be just fine there are plenty of good double Spha-t Tarkin lists that do this along with others. You can even go in the opposite direction and use him nearly entirely for extra command dials to help your one ship have a super impactful activation. However, I think the mix of getting tokens you need to do things like trigger clone gunners and the like or power fleet commands and giving your flagship that bit of extra power when needed, these lists are the ones I think really unlocks Tarkin's potential, but they are generally on the more complex side of fleets but feel really rewarding to play when done right.
I really enjoyed my time with Garkin and he is probably my current favorite GAR commander I think this is mostly because as a fairly seasoned armada player I really enjoyed the more complex fleet design and playstyle to use both of his abilities effectively and it was rewarding to make it work. Because of this I personally like Garkin more than Grand Moff they are similar but Garkins ability to make the flagship activation really powerful sets him apart despite being less flexible I think that his ability to give out tokens or get a command dial make him more powerful.
Tarkin for the GAR is a very solid commander if a bit more complex of a commander. Though if you spend time practicing and building fleets around both his abilities you will be surprised how satisfying he can be to play. What are your thoughts on Garkin? Do you like Garkin or the Grand Moff more? What lists have you played him in? Until next time have a great week!
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