Star Wars Legion Unit Guide: Mace Windu

Good morning gamers,

We'll be spending the rest of the year going through the four new Jedi Council heroes that we have for the Galactic Republic in Star Wars Legion. We start off with the one we saw first: Mace Windu. Mace has been highly anticipated for Star Wars Legion, but his launch has met mixed reviews - and while I won't dispute that he feels price too high given the current cost of Yoda and Obi-Wan (and with it, basically every other Force User in Star Wars Legion), I do feel like there's something here that you won't find elsewhere. Let's see what he's bringing to the table and take the most positive view possible on this very iconic Jedi!

Mace Windu: The Profile

Mace's best comparison in the game is probably Anakin or Yoda - but he's a nice joining of both profiles. He's got 6 Wounds (like Anakin, higher than Yoda), 3 Courage (like Anakin, lower than Yoda), surge for Crit and block (like Yoda, better on defense than Anakin), Speed-2 (like Anakin, higher than Yoda), and access to the standard "big Jedi" abilities of Deflect, Immune: Pierce, and Master of the Force 1 (lower than Yoda). He also has Charge, which is similar to most named Jedi (not Yoda - but he has ways of getting both Charge and Relentless). He also has Jump 1 as an action, which many of the recent Jedi profiles lack by default (though most can gain it).

He has two unconventional rules in his profile. The first is Compel: Corps Trooper - this is something you'll see on Commander Vader, but not usually something you'd expect to see on a character who has Courage 2 Corps units (though it can be used on Clones that are taking a beating or on Courage 1 Pykes/Weequay - even with Self-Preservation active). While I don't know how much of his cost is predicated on this, in a game that is shifting to a split-fire-suppress-the-enemy meta, I feel like this could be a useful asset if Mace is kept near-ish to your Corps units. He also has Vaapad Mastery, which is unique to Mace at the moment and gives him an extra white die on attack/defense for each Wound he's suffered (with a limit of +3 dice). While you won't get the full bonus from this until you've taken at least half of your wounds, I will say that this rule encourages your opponent to try to nuke Mace quickly, as slow attrition will seem him harder and harder to make wounds stick. It's also useful in melee duels where the dice pools are likely to be smaller than super-sized units with heavies shooting at him and a surging-white die might succeed in blocking something. The extra dice on offense can be good, but I think you're looking at one of the new Force Upgrades by default to make those white dice more reliable.

When it comes to weapons, Mace has both a melee lightsaber option and a range attack option. His range attack requires some care because he doesn't have Relentless/Steady, so he'll be performing a move-shoot in most cases. This may be worth it - Force Crush has range 1-2, 4 black dice, and the Blast, Immobilize 1, and Suppressive keywords . . . which means this is a great way to hit units who plan to Hit The Dirt (since Blast will prevent them from making a cover save), plan to move (reducing speed by 1 with an Immobilize token), and who have fairly low Courage (throwing two suppression tokens to hopefully limit their actions). Compared to the 2-die attack that Operative Vader has, this looks pretty good - though I would have loved if this attack also had Versatile so Mace could use it from the safety of being in melee . . . but maybe that's a bit much? Mace also has a lightsaber attack that is fairly comparable to what Yoda has, with 3 red, 2 black, 1 white dice and Impact 2/Pierce 2. Not having Ataru Mastery does make this dice pool a little bit weak (Yoda attacking twice is pretty strong, especially since it will generate dodge tokens when he's done), but I think there's more to Mace's offensive damage than meets the eye. Let's understand how that works by looking at his upgrades.

The Mace Windu Squad Leader Upgrade

Okay, so if you don't want to spend 165+ points on a Commander, you could instead pay 35pts for a squad leader version of Mace, who can be taken in any Clone Trooper unit, costs 35pts, has 2 wounds, adds Compel: Corps Trooper and Immune: Melee Pierce to the unit he's in, has the traditional Jedi squad leader penalty of Sidearm: Melee, Ranged (so he can't shoot), obviously has the Leader keyword (removed last), and throws 2 red/2 black with Impact 2/Pierce 1. This . . . isn't great on its face, but obviously he's angling for a job in an ARC Trooper unit, where he'll get the Charge keyword and Impervious (which reduces pierce damage at range - he's upping that in melee).

The alternative to Mace in an ARC squad is taking a 20-35pt Squad Leader and a 26-pt DC-15X ARC Trooper Gunner if you want a 6-health unit (which Mace alone gives to a 4-man ARC squad). For at least 9pts less (depending on the squad leader you choose), Mace's 2 red/2 black with 2.5 expected hits before surges/aims is going to beat or nearly tie all of the other combos in melee. The cheapest comparison is the Clone Medic/DC-15x Gunner combo at 2.0 expected hits for +9pts, while the most expensive end is the Ahsoka/DC-15x Gunner combo at 2.63 expected hits for +26pts. The Plo Koon/DC-15x Gunner combo is only +11pts over Mace's squad and there's definitely an argument for that squad being better than a Mace squad (they're adding 2.75 expected hits AND the ability to knock two hits off an incoming attack result). I would definitely consider taking both Plo and Mace - though the gunner with Plo seems pretty optional to me (but I wouldn't scoff at it).

Any ARC squad with Mace is going to fall short in the shooting game to the DC-15x Gunner, obviously (and more so if there's a Medic, Captain, or Commander in the squad), but ARCs generally want to get their Charge in, so I don't penalize him for that. I think the only reasons to leave this squad leader upgrade at home is if you plan to run him as a Commander or if you can't find the 15pts or so to get him over a Clone Medic (or if you can't find 20-35pts to get a squad leader upgrade on ARC Troopers at all). I think he makes ARC Troopers more durable, he hits pretty hard, and the Immune: Melee Pierce makes him a very interesting blunting option for big lightsaber foes that don't have Makashi Mastery.

Mace Windu: Recommended Upgrades and Command Cards

Mace already costs a fair bit at 165pts, but I think if you're going to take him, you need to invest in him (like you would for Anakin, Vader, or Dooku). Let's look at what appears to be worth investing in and what you might want to skip on . . .

Force x3

I think you need to have Battlemind on Mace before all other upgrades. Battlemind has a flex utility in helping friendly models get improved dice on Turn 1 (if you don't hold back deploying Mace and you get him on the board as quickly as possible), but will later turn two of his white dice (either the 1 die natively in his pool OR any white dice you get from Vaapad Mastery) into black dice, which ups his damage output reliability. Since Mace only has Master of the Force 1, he's got a slot that he can use for a non-exhausted ability like this. You probably also want either Burst of Speed or Force Agility to give you movement control (extra speed on one turn or the ability to Disengage with Jump 1). Finally, because you are paying for Master of the Force 1 in Mace's profile, you probably want a tappable upgrade - I've been playing with Force Guidance to boost the survivability/reliability of your Clones, but Jedi Mind Trick would play into a suppressive-focused game really well and Mace sees a points drop, I think Force Push could be really strong for manipulating objectives or yanking someone into combat with you after you perform a shooting attack with Force Crush.

Training x2

I think Mace Windu needs to take Tenacity - like Anakin, he really needs to beat things into the ground, but because Vaapad Mastery gives you a reward for taking wounds, Tenacity will add an extra red die to your offensive pool after you get hit. For 6pts, I think it's an auto-include all the time. Your second slot is a lot less necessary, but Seize the Initiative is always good to have if you will have a turn when Mace can't get an order. The other upgrades are a lot less necessary, I think.

Command x1

I don't know that you need anything on Mace in his command slot - Fire Control looks good, but only if you want it to benefit a bunch of rushing troops (like Fives/Ahsoka clone squads, ARC Troopers, or Delta Squad). Personally, I would put Fire Control on a defensively-oriented Jedi Knight General, Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Padme (maybe a Rex super-squad?) instead. Lead by Example is an interesting option if you're worried about your opponent leaning into a suppression game, but I don't know that you need it. Finally, Trusted Agent is always good to have if you want order control on an Operative (like Padme? Bad Batch?) on a turn when only Mace is getting an order.

Speaking of orders, let's talk command cards. Mace's only unique command card is a one-pip (This Party's Over) which issues an order to Mace and allows him to take 1-3 Wounds when he's issued an order (NOT at the start of his activation - that would be much better!). This, of course, will trigger or max-out Vaapad Mastery and when he uses Vaapad Mastery this turn, he rolls red dice on offense and defense (but the defense dice only go up when he's Engaged - so if he's being shot at, you won't get the buff). This command card is good, but I think a) you play it when you've already taken 2-3 hits, b) you not damage yourself with it (why would you damage yourself and ease up on the work your opponent has to do?), c) it's a turn when you are already Engaged (so you don't have to jump into melee as quickly as possible and risk someone disengaging on you early), and d) you really need the defensive buff, not the offensive buff. Mace's lightsaber with Battlemind can roll 5 red/1 white + extra white dice from Vaapad (and +1 red dice from Tenacity if Vaapad is triggered) - that's a plenty good attack pool that yes, will get better if those Vaapad (and Tenacity) dice are all red, but the overall damage output is only +0.5 expected hits per Vaapad die . . . and that's fine, but probably not slapping as hard as you'd think. If you're using Force Crush (which will also benefit from Vaapad Mastery), you can already get those 4 black dice to 4 red dice with Battlemind and Fire Control, so getting more red dice from Vaapad is good, but again, only 0.5-1.5 extra hits than what you were already expecting. By contrast, since you're already getting 1 surging red die (0.67 expected blocks per die), getting more red dice gives you a greater chance of blocking everything - even if your opponent has Makashi Mastery (something most Jedi really don't want to see). So yeah, this makes Mace incredibly hard to kill off . . . assuming your opponent doesn't have Fear and Dead Men active for the turn.

The Jedi Council members (from the Jedi Council pack - not any of the other Jedi who happen to be on the Jedi Council in the lore) have two command cards available to them, which means Mace sort of has three command cards (something that bothers some people). The first is awesome - the Wisdom of the Council one-pip issues an order to a Commander or Operative and then has you roll 5 red attack dice at the start of the activation phase (so after your opponent resolves their command card effects): if you get a crit or a surge (one-quarter of the time, expect to get one or two of these), you get to issue an order to a friendly Republic unit that doesn't already have an order. On a hit (five-eighths of the time, expect to get two to four of these), an allied unit removes a suppression token (this affects mercenary units). On a blank (one-eighths of the time, you might get one of these), an allied unit gains an aim or dodge token. This is a bit of a roulette game, but depending on when you play it, it is likely to always do something for you. While Compel: Corps Trooper can help you ignore the effects of suppression around Mace, you probably want to be able to guarantee that people who are beyond the range-2 bubble of Compel are able to perform two actions during their activation - so it's good. The other abilities (tokens for Clone token sharing and extra orders) are always good to have though less reliable to arrive.

The other command card for the Jedi Council is . . . weird. A Disturbance in the Force issues two orders and while the units who receive the order have a faceup Order token, they gain Danger Sense 1 and Indomitable. This means that a unit like Chewbacca-Wookiees (either type) or a Jedi (Mace?) can have Danger Sense 1 (an extra defense die if they have at least one suppression token) to help stop their incoming damage or that a unit of Clone Troopers can not only roll more defense dice, but can also clear that suppression more reliably to avoid being suppressed. These abilities are situationally quite good, but might be a bit too niche to time well. There's another ability on the card that will probably not trigger very often: if an allied unit (doesn't need to have the order) has 1+ Force upgrade slots (so, a Jedi) and they spend/lose a Standby token (which they can't get for free, except through command cards - which they can't use on this turn), they can gain an aim or dodge token after the effect is resolved (so after an attack that clears a standby or after the standby is used).

The only way to gain standbys for Jedi is through taking a standby action - and since you can't perform a standby action and an attack on the same turn, you have to take the standby instead of perform your attack right then. This means your Jedi needs to have a good range attack option or needs to already be in melee with the unit they want to perform the standby against (since you can't hit one guy while another guy triggers your standby). You're also going to always gain a dodge token, since your aim token can't be shared and your attack will already have been used. So . . . yeah, I think there's an upgrade cooking that gives Independent: Standby (not given an order), Fire Support (given an order), or just hands out a standby in the works, but for now, it's not really that usable. I will say that the people most likely to benefit from this upgrade are the customizable Jedi who take the Jedi Training/Peacekeeping Mission, since they will have Sentinel for range-3 triggering (and potentially access to range attacks with Saber Throw or from their doctrines). Take this or leave it - like This Party's Over, Mace wants this for the defensive buff it provides.

Mace benefits from a few other command cards too. Yoda's Luminous Beings are We is just universally useful, but getting access to aim/dodge tokens makes Mace much more reliable both on offense and defense. There Is No Try is also great, since it will give Mace Relentless, so he can use his Force Crush ability after double-moving (along with a dodge token and Outmaneuver). Since Yoda might be able to play both of these command cards twice in a game (it really depends on how much you want to play the command cards that Mace brings to the table - and if you need to?), I think there's definitely an argument for trying to get Mace and Yoda in the same list.

Mace can incidentally benefit from other "good command cards," like the Guardian 3 ability from Obi-Wan Kenobi that is very effective with his Knowledge and Defense card or Ahsoka Tano's one-turn Guardian 3 ability on her I Go Where I'm Needed card, a free aim token from Anakin Skywalker's General Skywalker card, a free Speed-1 move or an aim/dodge token from Padme Amidala's Aggressive Negotiations card, Impact 1 on either weapon from Cody's Bring It Down card (but especially on Mace's lightsaber), or extra attack dice from Clone Captain Rex's Call Me Captain card (either his lightsaber attack OR his Force Crush attack). 

Mace Windu: Sample Lists and Strategies

This is an 11-act list that I've been trying which features a token-generating gunline - with a Clone Trooper Infantry squad bringing Reliable 1, Bolster on a General of the Republic custom Jedi Knight General and Padme and Force Guidance on Mace and the Jedi Knight General (who has Reliable 2 for his own benefit), along with Strike Team Leader on Padme to help one of your Special Forces squads get a token of choice, the list has a TON of tokens and scenarios that hopefully allow you to stay out of reach of your opponent until you want to ram into them:

• Mace Windu with Battlemind, Force Guidance, Force Agility, and Tenacity
• Jedi Knight General with General of the Republic, Battlemind, Force Guidance, Jedi Training/Peacekeeping Mission, Strong in the Force, and Double-bladed Lightsaber
• Padme Amidala with Fire Control and Strike Team Leader
• 1x Clone Trooper Infantry with Mortar Clone Trooper
• 2x Clone Trooper Marksmen with RPS-6 Clone Trooper
• 1x ARC Troopers with Clone Medic
• 1x ARC Troopers with Plo Koon
• 1x Wookiee Warriors, Kashyyyk Defenders with Chewbacca and Hit the Dirt
• 2x ARC Troopers, Strike Team with DC-15X ARC Trooper Sniper

Our second list is an 11-act "lightsabers everywhere list" that features all four of the new Jedi we have in the Jedi Council pack in their unit upgrade forms, led by a Jedi Knight General, and a LOT of squads. This list has very offensive, close-range primary objectives and the secondaries should encourage your opponent to engage with you as well:

• Jedi Knight General with General of the Republic, Battlemind, Jedi Mind Trick, Jedi Training/Master Duelist, Strong in the Force, Double-bladed Lightsaber, and Fire Control
• 1x Clone Trooper Infantry with Shaak Ti and DP-23 Clone Trooper
• 1x Clone Trooper Infantry with Ahsoka Tano and DP-23 Clone Trooper
• 1x Clone Trooper Infantry with Ki-Adi Mundi and DP-23 Clone Trooper
• 1x ARC Troopers with Plo Koon
• 1x ARC Troopers with Mace Windu and Tenacity
• 1x Wookiee Warriors, Noble Fighters with Chewbacca and Tenacity
• 1x BARC Speeder
• 1x AT-RT with AT-RT Flamethrower
• 2x ARC Troopers with DC-15x ARC Trooper Sniper

Mace Windu: Final Review

I personally would love to see Mace come down 10-15pts, but I think he hits very hard and becomes surprisingly durable as he takes hits (hopefully not all at once). While I can see the argument for not dumping a ton of points into him, I think with a few upgrades he's quite good and worth trying on the board (even if the competitive community is dunking on him at the moment)!

Overall Unit Review: 4/5 stars. I think he costs too much and I would really like to have seen some kind of support ability on him that isn't Compel - don't get me wrong, I think Compel can be super useful, but Obi-Wan has Guardian, Yoda has his command cards and Guidance, and Anakin has Tempted (which doesn't seem like a support ability, but it does distract finishing fire from your units in some cases). Mace's "support" ability does seem like the least necessary in a GAR list - and I just wish he had a different ability, like Entourage, Retinue (which we don't see on characters - but it would really encourage seeing multiple Jedi coming to play at the same time), Direct, Coordinate, or Associate. Any of these abilities would make him feel more interesting, in my opinion. His squad leader upgrade feels good to me (maybe a 4.5), wouldn't have minded adding Charge from the main profile instead of Compel, though . . .

Next time, we'll be digging into Ki-Adi Mundi, the other Commander option from the Jedi Council set. This guy reads like Yoda in the way Mace reads like Anakin, but I feel like Ki-Adi Mundi is (like Mace) doing some things that you find on several Jedi in the game. This guy also feels a bit too expensive, but we'll see if we can find some legs for him to run on next time - until then, happy hobbying!