Ithilnar

Thanks for all answers - they were very helpful.
I wrote article and it will appear in May (problem is that it will be in Polish, but if you want, I will show you photos of it).

Thanks for all answers - they were very helpful.
I wrote article and it will appear in May (problem is that it will be in Polish, but if you want, I will show you photos of it).

Thanks for all answers - they were very helpful.
I wrote article and it will appear in May (problem is that it will be in Polish, but if you want, I will show you photos of it).

Mercs love this. This is where the money comes from. Just because I fight for the Empire does not mean that I support them, my contract runs out and next day I am fighting against them because the other side paid me. It's just good business.
 
Or as a fellow Mando mercs said. Empire? Rebellion? Which side are you choosing? Well you see here is always something I wanted to try. It's called a decuple cross.

I must say, as I've gotten older, and having read some of the newer books (especially Catalyst), I've found it increasingly difficult to relate to the Empire in the same way as I did when I was younger. I used to genuinely think that the Empire was a fairly decent organisation - the Thrawn quote in my signature being the basis of that - and I was able to separate the sort of overzealous mystical Dark Side stuff from the day-to-day business of Imperial government; my thought procedure was very much that Palpatine was clearly insane and cartoonishly evil, which made it easier for me to isolate him from people like Piett and others, who just seemed to be doing their jobs by protecting the Empire from the war. I just read Catalyst and it became slightly clearer that the overzealous mystical Dark Side stuff was kind of inseparable and inherent to the Empire; the Death Star, formerly another cartoonishly evil object that was so unrealistic that it had no bearing on my imagination, became so much more real with Catalyst; the Empire ravaging 'Legacy' worlds and pillaging entire planets for industry sort of hit quite close to home.
 
I think that's part of my reason for choosing an IOC costume. The officers are rarely shown to be over-the-top in their villainy; they're portrayed very differently to Vader and the Emperor. They represent order and honour and duty rather than the slightly less savoury aspects of the Sith. They also have really really cool uniforms!

Why the Empire? The Imperial March is a thousand times better than The Throne Room (the latter sounds like a wedding march), TIE fighters look awesome (and taste good in dessert form), I can't relate to any of the rebels, and the rebel costumes just look "meh" compared to their Imperial counterparts. I mean, Princess Leia wears a turtleneck dress for most of A New Hope. Enough said.

You both are a case for the ISB  

"Psst. Hey you, random Officer. Yeah you. Wanna be an action figure, kid?" ID-71442 being lured into a life of frozen, plastic servitude by the Diamond Garrison at Spa-Con 2017 in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

 

As mentioned before:
 
Wearing one of the most stylish uniforms, standing on the polished deck of an imperial (maybe Super) Star Destroyer, surveying the miles of durasteel stretching in front of me. And thinking about the fact that this beauty is equipped with enough manpower to conquer a planet or the firepower to devastate it. Because sometimes a Manifesto IS better than a statement. 

And of course The Imperial March

In my opinion, the Republic became too corrupt and disorganised like some Republics can be such as the Roman Republic in our universe, the Empire overall was looking at unity of the galaxy under one order. I like the fact that the Empire from the perspective of ordinary citizens was overall a regime, to promote peace and order after the bloody Clone Wars and that's to me why I like the Imperial side. It's more uniformed and more efficient compared to the Republic era and the costumes overall reflect this. 
The rise of the Galactic Empire is very similar to the fall of the Roman Republic and rise of the Empire which is also something I am interested in .

I absolutely agree with Sean about associating with the rebels and the beauty (I think this is what you meant, Sean  ) of the Imperial Star Destroyer. My biggest dream on that part is to stand at the bridge of a Star Destroyer one day and wearing my Grand Admirals Uniform. And perhaps to play an imperial villain in one of the upcoming movies, but that's just the daydream of a little boy who loves to be on stage,

I love that answer, because it's so similar to my opinion. In movies we have "rebel propaganda" and really great Empire we have in books now. 

There is a certain level of power, authority and pride that the uniforms and costumes associated with the Empire have. That, in and of itself, is very attractive. There is a swagger in Darth Vader. There is an authority with Imperial officer uniforms. There is a fear when you look at a Stormtrooper. These are all attractive qualities. And who can ignore their starships. My favorite, and the main reason I wanted to be an Imperial officer, is the Imperial Star Destroyer. The wedge shaped ship, its mammoth size, screams POWER!! It also instills a sense of awe when you look at it, because its so big, you know its an engineering feat to construct. 
 
Also, for me personally, I never related or associated much with the Rebel Alliance. I saw them as the Empire saw them: troublemakers. Remove the cartoonish "pure evil" of characters like Palpatine and Vader, and actually, I understood what the Empire wanted to do with the galaxy and could, in some part, agree with it. 

Totally agree that it's not black and white, when the Empire was formed the Galaxy had just come out of a terrible war that killed countless lives, most Imperials after that would relish order and as time went on would do anything to protect it, that's where the lines blur

Because we have cookies
 
Many people consider the Empire to be evil and bad. But if you look beyond this black and white thinking it is much more. To me, and this is now the actor in me speaking, it's far more interesting to portray a character, e.g. Krennic, who is the enemy of the hero. In my eyes a good villain is much more complex than the good guy of a story. What is he doing, why is he doing it, is it really evil or does it depend on your point of view? This is one reason why I joined the Empire.
 
And of course as Kris said: Best ships, best tech and best uniforms
 
I'm looking forward to read the final article.

There is a sense of pride in the officers with crisp sharp military purpose, compared the miss match haphazard outfits of the rebels

Ever since the opening scene of new hope with the star destroyer and then the storm troopers blasting their way on to the rebel ship I liked the imperial costumes better .And who can forget Vaders entrance the rebel costumes just don't have the same effect 

Best ships best tech and best uniforms 

Luckily they seem to have it streamlined for the First Order.
 
The very vague sentence with "sector specific ranks" in the R1 visual guide was no real help to solve the problem with OT ranks. I'm curious what the Thrawn comic adaption will add here, as it's set before ANH in the Rebels era and in there are a ton of ranks mentioned in the book.

I really want to pick up the Chimera ship for Armada as well. I dont play the game, but I want that ship!!

The wife clearly supports my nerd hobbies:

Hm, I've made my by myself using simple tool.

A heads up!
I've bought a bunch of tunic fabric for my impending Krennic build. It came from Mood fabrics and Mood now have a situation worked out to allow reasonable International shipping! It was something like £12 shipping which is phenomenal!
I've not yet begun my build, but check this out and see if you like it? https://www.moodfabrics.com/off-white-flame-resistant-cotton-twill-312313
It's really nice in person, a very subtle, warm, off-white without being cream, ivory etc. The trick now is matching it up with suitable cape fabric. XD
Good luck!

There is a big fabric Store in Vienna, called Komolka, they also have a online Shop. My seamstress bought my Krennic cloak fabric there.
They have a lot of different fabrics.