Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Wookiee Chieftain

Good morning gamers,

NOTE: after the announcements from Ministraviganza this past weekend, the Wretched Hive team will be updating our previous posts to accommodate the new changes. The upcoming articles will hopefully account for the changes, but the sample army lists may need tweaking.

There are basically three types of heroes in Star Wars Legion: there are heroes who fight but don't support their fellow units, there are units that support their friends but don't really fight that well, and there are units that can do both. In the Republic, you have access to some great support-only heroes (Padme sorta-kinda-now and Clone Commanders - and possibly Obi-Wan) and some great can-do-both heroes (Anakin, Cody, and Yoda - and possibly Obi-Wan). When it comes to fighting-only heroes, you have Rex (who is quite dangerous at close range but not as oppressive as he used to be) and the Wookiee Chieftain - and if you don't do the supporting thing, it's very tempting to think, "This unit has no place in Republic lists, because it's all about that synergy."

Well, if you think this - you're probably right. But I feel like a Wookiee Chieftain has a very cool niche in Republic lists, though you do have to build your list around them a bit. Let's start off by looking at the Wookiee Chieftain profile and then we'll see what kinds of upgrades he benefits from.

Wookiee Chieftain: The Profile

The first thing to say about the Wookiee Chieftain profile is that, much to my surprise, he's a unique character - not a generic hero. While this guy could have been called Tarfful, we got "Wookiee Chieftain" instead . . . okay, that's a choice. Whatever.

All of these upgrades are optional, but the Recon Intel is nice . . .
Photo Credit: Legion HQ

As for the actual profile, the Wookiee Chieftain has a few stat changes that differ from the two Republic characters we've looked at so far (Obi-Wan Kenobi and Clone Commanders): first, the Wookiee Chieftain rolls a white die on defense instead of a red die. As we'll see in the next two articles (which cover the two variants of Wookiee Warriors that the Republic can field), this is partly why Wookiees aren't very common in generic Republic lists (though their battle force enables them to make an appearance on the competitive tables - more on this particular application of Wookiees later). White dice don't save much, so if you're jaded against them, you might not even consider these guys in your army.

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Chewbacca

 Hey Reader!

Following up on our last post on the Rebel Officer [LINK], today we're looking at Chewbacca, which also means we're almost done with the profiles from the Echo Base Defenders battleforce (and we get to move on to other great things!). 

Today we'll be looking at his stats (and what makes him appealing), his synergies with other units (as well as his command cards, and some tactical use for him in your rebel force.

I.  Stats: Giving and Taking Damage

From a stats perspective, Chewbacca offers great value to you: not only has his cost dropped from 110pts to 90pts (probably the single greatest points reduction in the game to date, as far as I recall), but his baseline offensive and defensive stats are excellent. While most units in the game have pretty even melee and ranged damage, Chewie takes this to a whole new level with 4 dice in both, which is insanely balanced.

And his dice pools are really good: with an average of 3-4 hits in melee (with Lethal 1, so if you can put Pierce 1 on that if you have an Aim token you don't want to spend) and 2-3 hits at range (with Pierce 1 and Impact 1 all the time), for a single-model activation this is not bad at all. And with Range 1-3 on the bowcaster, his threat range is good.

And like most named hero characters, since he can surge for crits all the time, getting hits past armor and dodge tokens is pretty easy to do, which is excellent. And thanks to having Scale, if he wants to get into melee or stay at range, scaling terrain is something he can do without danger of injury, so from a positioning standpoint he's excellent.

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Clone Commander

Good morning gamers,

We've already looked at Obi-Wan Kenobi, Phase I Clone Troopers, and ARC Troopers for the Republic and now we're turning our attention to the lowly Clone Commander. Generic heroes are great options in Legion (though they can be outclassed in some lists by a named hero - who usually has Nimble or Spotter, actually) and the Republic one is one of my favorites. If you're getting into the Republic, you probably want their generic command cards and a Clone Medic, so chances are good you have the Clone Specalists pack. That also means . . . you have a cheap Commander option - let's dig in and see what he's bringing to the table!

Clone Commander: The Profile

The Clone Commander has a pretty . . . boring profile. Some of his stats are pretty standard for a Clone - the Clone Trooper keyword, red die save, no surges on offense or defense, Speed 2, 4 Wounds, and Courage 2. 4 Wounds is pretty low, but this is an unnamed guy - it's fine that his wounds aren't great. His combat capabilities are fine - 3 black dice at range 1-3 for his blaster and 2 red dice in melee is eh, but pretty good if you're starting a Fire Support (especially with Sharpshooter 1).

Pick one, maybe two, of these upgrades - but Clone Commanders are just fine without upgrades too . . .
Photo Credit: Legion HQ

Frankly, I don't shoot much with this guy, because if you're taking him, you're doing so for one very clear reason: you want Direct: Corp Clone Trooper and Bolster 2 (for 1 action). Being able to issue an order to a Corps Clone Trooper within range 1-2 is really good - especially if that unit has Fives in it (which will Coordinate with another Clone Trooper unit - not restricted to Corps). Even if you don't have Fives, being able to guarantee that a unit can use Fire Support because it received a faceup order token is really good - and for 60pts, this guy's pretty cheap and easy to slot into a list.

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: T-47 Airspeeder

Hey Reader!

Following up on the Rebel Officer, today we're looking at the T-47 Airspeeder, and are almost finished with the units from the Echo Base Defenders battleforce! Just a few named characters left to go, and we'll move on to some new content. 

The airspeeder is a cool unit with a lot of utility, plus it's one of the "heaviest" units the Rebels can access, so there's a lot to talk about here. We will start with the profile analysis, then examine the units that synergize well with them, and then we'll discuss the tactical uses of the Airspeeder, because they offer a lot to your force, but can be hard to position.

I.  Stats: Heavy Fire Support...Kind Of

From a stats perspective, the Airspeeder is exactly what you expect: a swift, light, fighting platform. At 130pts (yay for erratas that drop points off the unit!), it has 7 wounds past a white defense die with surge for block, so it's not the most durable vehicle, but with Armor blocking all hits and Cover 1 giving you more cover before attackers can modify their dice, unless the attacking unit has a lot of Impact or surge for crit, there's not much chance they're going to do much to you.

And it has 3 more defensive special rules that hide in the profile: it has immunity to Blast (so you will get your cover bonuses against ranged attacks even if the unit has Blast, which is awesome), Melee (so no need to worry about lightsabers being can openers against you), and Range 1 Weapons, which is basically just grenades, but still: it's always nice to be immune to those close-range weapons that people take to turn an infantry unit into an anti-vehicle unit.