One of the most popular games in the Star Wars community is the 2006 strategy game “Star Wars Empire at War” by Petroglyph Games, which has too many mods to count. However, one of the most popular and well-put together mods is “Thrawn’s Revenge: Imperial Civil War,” which was created by a group of dedicated, voluntary developers.

“Thrawn’s Revenge” is one of the best mods available to players of “Empire at War,” and it helps make the base game way better. The mod sets the game after the Battle of Endor when the empire has splintered and the rebellion has changed into the New Republic.

“Thrawn’s Revenge” is a total conversion mod, which is a type of mod that takes all the assets in a game and changes them within the limits of a modder’s ability. The “Thrawn’s Revenge” development team has added or changed many of these base assets. New factions, star ships, vehicles, infantry, planets and graphics have all been introduced with this mod.

New factions

The new factions in the game are the New Republic, Imperial Remnant, Eriadu Authority, Greater Maldrood, Empire of the Hand, Zsinj’s Empire, Pentastar Alignment and the Duskhan League. Each of these factions in the mod play differently and have special units that can only be found in their own ranks.

For instance, the Eriadu Authority places emphasis on overwhelming firepower rather than nimbleness. The Empire of the Hand has excellent shielding technology, which allows its ships to stay in the fight longer. Along with each of these factions is a host of heroes and villains.

Expanded ships

As can be imagined, ships in Star Wars are a big part of the draw to the universe for many people. This mod embellishes upon that draw by creating over 140 ship variants and new ships entirely. Of course, you have the standard Imperial TIE Fighters, X-Wings, Nebulon-Bs and Star Destroyers, but what about the Eclipse-class Dreadnought, Vindicator-class Heavy Cruiser, Viscount-class Star Defender, Scarsiss-class Clawcraft or the World Devastator? There are many ships to use and strategize with to take the orbits of planets.

Taking the orbit of a planet is important, but the planet must first be captured before you are able to harness its resources. To complete this objective is a wide variety of infantry and vehicles types itching to get into a fight.

Updated infantry

Each faction in the galaxy has different types of ground forces that can be created. Many of these are quite similar in function, such as infantry. Some infantry is better than others, but overall they are used to capture landing points to make room for the bigger guns.

Tanks, transports, walkers, speeders, mobile turrets and air superiority fighters are available to most factions. These machines of war are used to clear a path for infantry to capture key portions of the ground map and to destroy enemy vehicles and buildings that get in the way.

Increased vehicle inventory

One of the more powerful of these vehicles is the classic All Terrain Armored Transport, commonly known as AT-AT, which can deploy an infinite amount of stormtrooper reinforcements, up to three squads at a time. Another heavy hitter is the Empire of the Hand’s Megamaser Tank, which can take out almost any other unit in one to two hits with its main gun.

Along with these units is the ability to call on the fleet in orbit for support. The two options are bombing runs or the all mighty orbital bombardment, which has your fleet fire turbo lasers onto a designated spot for a small amount of time.

Updated graphics

One of the more notable aspects of the mod is the upgraded graphics. Every planet, vehicle, infantry unit and, of course, starship looks terrific. The modders have taken a great effort in making the game look new. Everything in the mod, from the environments to the units, can compete with modern games.

Although the one thing that could and should be added is animation for turrets or even turrets for ships at all. Many of the ships and space stations in the mod do not sport any noticeable guns. There are hard points such as turrets that can be targeted, but they are only turrets in name alone. Most of the time, except for a select few ships like the Imperial II Star Destroyer, there is only the surface of the ship designated as a turbo laser.

“Thrawn’s Revenge: Imperial Civil War” is a free mod which can be found on the Steam Store with the purchase of “Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption.” Whether you want to play as the New Republic to free the galaxy or you want to remain in control, Imperial splinter factions have your back. “Thrawn’s Revenge: Imperial Civil War” has been shown a lot of love from both its modding group and the people who have played it, so go and enjoy the Star Wars galaxy in all its grandeur with this mod.