Saturday, September 6, 2025

The Upgrade Files: Case 18 – Officers (GAR & CIS)

Clone Wars officers highlight the double-edged nature of upgrade design. On one hand, many of them shore up the defensive gaps and command-token weaknesses of their factions. On the other hand, this makes them “patch cards”: your fleets lean heavily on a handful of officers to cover systemic flaws, which leads to key-piece stacking.

It’s also a pricing issue. Why would you ever run Veteran Captain at 2 points when CIS has Tikkes at 2? Why pay 7 for Raymus when you can take Rune Haako for 4 and get a better effect? Clone Wars officers are mostly excellent value, but the imbalance compared to older designs is glaring. Let’s dig in.


GAR Officers

Adi Gallia

A defensive gem. Effectively grants some extra Redirect mileage on anything that isn’t Tranquility. At 3 points she’s a steal — not as universally strong as Barriss, but still excellent. Her only drawback is eating up your officer slot.

Verdict: Keep as is.

Ahsoka Tano (GAR Officer)

Unlike her Rebel counterpart, this Ahsoka gives your non-unique squadrons Snipe. Sounds amazing — Torrent Snipe 4 with Swarm is very solid. The problem is platforms. She really belongs on an Acclamator-I, which isn’t a top-tier carrier. Venators want other officers, Peltas want Flight Controllers. Great card, limited by circumstance.

Verdict: Keep as is — too bad she lacks the perfect platform...

Barriss Offee

A strong defensive officer, but awkward to place in your fleet. Where does she go? Not on Tranquility. On Venators without Tranquility? I don't often run two Venators, though. She feels too expensive on smaller ships, plus they lack the staying power to make full use of her. Not bad, just situational.

Verdict: Keep as is, maybe try 5 points just to bring her usage up? 

Clone Captain Silver

The “Zak of speed control.” Lets you manipulate movement unpredictably, which is fantastic in theory. The catch: GAR is already terrible at navigation, so you really should be Nav-ing. 

Verdict: Fun card, 4 points is fair.

Clone Captain Zak

An absolute beast. At minimum, you’re buying 2 extra dice on key attacks for 5 points. On flankers like GARquitens or Consular Chargers, he’s incredible, but even larger ships love him. 

Verdict: A clear highlight of the GAR roster.

Clone Commander Wolffe

Errata improved him slightly, but assault commands remain niche. Six points, an officer slot, and a refresh cost? 

Verdict: Not worth it. Binder fodder.

Clone Navigation Officer

A very good generic support option. Token management is a GAR staple, and you can never have too many command tokens.

Verdict: Keep as is.


CIS Officers

Asajj Ventress

Fine if you’re running raid-heavy fleets (Dooku, TF-1726, Legacy HMPs), but uninspired otherwise. Would’ve been cooler with an offensive twist. Serviceable, not exciting.

Verdict: Keep as is.

Passel Argente

Play half the game with an extra command dial? Yes please.

Verdict: Keep as is.

Rune Haako

One of the best token officers in the game. Starts with 2 tokens, then pulls from other ships to feed your centerpiece. At 4 points he’s underpriced, but since CIS has no Comms Net flotillas, he’s allowed to break the curve.

Verdict: Keep as is.

San Hill

The new version is excellent — basically the CIS squadron equivalent of Zak. Three points is a steal, but compared to his peers, it’s consistent.

Verdict: Keep as is.

Shu Mai

Another great offensive officer. Requires planning, but rewards you with reliable output. 

Verdict: Could be 5 points, but 4 is fine.

T-Series Tactical Droid

Looks good on paper, but in practice, you’ll struggle to feed him tokens. Eats up an officer slot for little payoff. 

Verdict: Needs a cost reduction.

TI-99

Solid niche tech. Punishes enemies for attacking your fragile droid swarms, making them think twice about picking off Vultures or Hyenas. You can easily argue for him to be a 5-6 point card, but 4 is probably fine.

Verdict: Well worth the points in the right list. 

Tikkes

Two points for free tokens with an easy-to-manage downside. Top-tier efficiency. Realistically worth 3, but like Rune, he’s priced low to compensate for CIS’s token-starved fleet design.

Verdict: Keep as is.

Wat Tambor

At 5 points he was ridiculous. At 9 he’s maybe a bit steep — same price as Brunson — but better too expensive than too cheap. Still very usable, just not automatic anymore.

Verdict: Keep as is or make him 8.


Final Verdict – GAR & CIS Officers

Clone Wars officers are generally excellent, and often too excellent compared to older designs. GAR gets strong defensive and utility tools, but many are chained to underperforming platforms (Ahsoka on Acclamators, Barriss on non-Tranquility Vens). CIS, meanwhile, is swimming in token economy and support tech (Rune, Tikkes, Passel) that make older factions’ officers look laughable.

The downside? Heavy reliance on a small pool of “must-have” officers, leading to key-piece fleets where your flagship becomes a Christmas tree of upgrades. And newer ARC ships without flotillas still strain that economy further.

Overall: GAR and CIS officers are strong, sometimes underpriced, but locked into faction design quirks that make them less flexible than Rebel or Imperial counterparts.

Next Up: Commanders (Admirals), starting with Empire.

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