Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Clone Trooper Marksman

Good morning gamers,

It took a while for the Republic to get a second faction-specific Corps unit when Legion 2.6 dropped - and when it finally arrived, I have to admit, I was convinced they'd have white saves. Imagine my surprise when I saw not only a unit that looked remarkably like the Clone Trooper Infantry profile, but it also had access to range-4 on all of its blasters AND it had Marksman to improve its dice rolls! Enter the Clone Marksman - a unit that comes in at a slight discount compared to Clone Trooper Infantry, sports the kinds of things we all like in Clones, but also plays very differently from their Corps alternatives. These guys are not beating anyone out of a job (except for maybe ARF Troopers), but they're quite solid as a Corps choice if you plan to field several of them.

Clone Trooper Marksmen: The Profile

This squad has the standard Corps stats you'd expect from a GAR unit: 1 health each on a 4-man squad base, Courage 2, and non-surging red saves. They also have speed-1, but have Prepared Position, so their location after two turns is likely to be about what you'd expect from Clone Trooper Infantry. They roll 1 black die in melee and at range 1-3, but their guns have Long Shot on them, so if you spend an aim token, they can have range 4. With Marksman in tow, having access to two aim tokens means that they can not only shoot at range 4, but they can also promote a die roll from a blank to a hit OR promote a hit to a crit (depending on your situation, this can be very useful). Finally, they have Prepared Positions, which means they'll start the game with a dodge token if they begin on the board - and I think that's generally a good idea, as the dodge token can be shared with other Clone Trooper units and it avoids the greatest downside of being speed-1. 

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Ewok Skirmishers

Good morning gamers,

Last time, we looked at Ewok Slingers, who are a fabulous model that the Rebels (and the Bright Tree Village battle force) have access to in their Special Forces slot. Today, we're looking at Ewok Skirmishers (who can't actually skirmish with people) who are a Corps option and . . . fall quite a bit short of their cousins. Let's see what these guys bring to the table and see if we can suss out why they cost 2pts more than their Special Forces counterparts.

Ewok Skirmishers: The Profile

The best way to think about this unit's profile is that they're like B1 Battle Droids (who we'll be looking at in the next few months): they have non-surging white saves, 1 wound/courage 1, and they've got 6 minis by default. They cost a little more than B1s at 40pts/squad and trade Coordinate: Droid Trooper for Low Profile and Unhindered . . . which is interesting, sure, but also makes you really dependent on terrain to take any advantage of your rules. They're also mercenaries, so issuing them orders is pretty difficult unless you're running Lando, Wicket, anyone with Allies of Convenience (which you might take via Underworld Connections so you can take an extra squad of Slingers), or any of the Ewok heroes in Bright Tree Village. Thankfully, they do not have Self-Preservation, so they can benefit from any Commander's Courage to keep them from panicking. The Slingers have the same profile, but also pick up Target 1 and Independent: Surge 1 . . . and somehow, they cost 2pts less?

On offense, these guys don't have a ranged option but have 1 black die/model in melee . . . which is to say that their melee profile is the same as the Slinger's ranged profile and is better than the Slinger's melee profile by 0.25 hits/model . . . how in the heck are these guys more expensive? Is the ability to provide backup while they're not supressed that valuable? I don't think so. Anyway, this is a fine-not-great melee pool and while we'll be looking at ways to increase your damage output, one could make the argument that the base value isn't good enough to make the investment worth it. I leave that to you to decide.

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Ewok Slingers

Good morning gamers,

This month's focus is on Ewoks and we're starting off with "the good squad", Ewok Slingers. For reasons that I cannot fathom, these guys have more rules, a ranged attack, and take up a Special Forces slot . . . and yet cost fewer points than their melee-oriented cousins, Ewok Skirmishers (more on them next time). They came up 3pts since their release at the start of Legion 2.6, but they still come in 2pts under their melee brethren . . . and as Mercenary units, I'm always tempted to throw two of them into my Rebel lists (along with Lando or someone else with Underworld Connections). Let's look at what these guys have to offer in one of the Rebellion's toughest force-organization slots (and why they're so good in Rebel lists)!

Ewok Slingers: The Profile

These guys are 38pts and start with 6 bodies - that's basically the same cost as most of the Rebel Corps options, but with +2 guys. As a result, their profile lags behind the Corps a bit - 1 Wound/Courage 1/Speed-2 (how?) is pretty normal, but non-surging white saves isn't great and no innate surge option on offense isn't normal for Rebels. Don't let this fool you, though: with Target 1 and Independent: Surge 1, these guys will get some kind of green token every turn, regardless of whether you have order control on them or not. Additionally, having Low Profile and Unhindered makes them a nightmare to drag out of area terrain. They are a Mercenary unit, so you can only have one of these in your list normally (and issuing them orders is hard), but having at least one unit with Allies of Convenience (innate to Lando and available to anyone with a Command slot by taking Underworld Connections) allows that specific Commander/Operative to issue orders to them AND opens up a second slot for you. Two squads of these guys doesn't have to be that expensive - and will probably come in below the cost of other similarly-sized units.

Their attack profiles don't look great at first glance - 1 white in melee and 1 black at range is fine-to-bad, but 1 black each at ~6pts/model is a whole lot better than the 10-12pts/model that you get from Rebel Troopers/Veterans (plus with the option for an aim token occasionally or a surge token most of the time, these guys might have a better offensive profile than most bare-bones Rebel Corps units - heck, most Rebel Special Forces units too!). All in all, it's a pretty punchy unit for not a lot of points - a glass cannon, yes, but a lot of firepower on a budget!

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Scout Troopers

Good morning gamers,

We're tackling the last of the Imperial units from the Imperial starter set today and boy do these boys pack a punch! While Scout Troopers may not be the best example of a glass cannon, they certainly qualify as being heavy on the offense and light on the defense. Scouts are incredibly points efficient, but also very hard to keep alive - so in today's post, we're going to look at what these guys are good at and how you can get the most out of them in both standard Imperial lists and in several battle forces.

Scout Troopers: The Profile

Scout Troopers have some pretty common Special Forces stats: Speed 2, Courage 2, and 1 Health each. This makes them more courageous than the Imperial Corps units we've looked at recently, so they can afford to be a little distant from your Compel characters. Their offense is super good with Sharpshooter 1 and 2 black dice/mini at range 1-2 (and their melee is fine with 1 black die/mini in melee). Without Surge to hit/crit, they wouldn't mind access to the Critical keyword (available in the Imperial Remnant Battle Force - more on that later) or characters that help them get surge tokens (rare but possible - more on that later). Defensively, they're a bit fragile with surging white saves, but Low Profile helps them some - especially if they're sitting in a terrain feature that grants heavy cover. Scout 3 is a very useful Turn 1 aid, as it helps them navigate up the board quickly (though without Unhindered, they're going to still get slowed down by difficult terrain). With 4 minis for 48pts, these guys are about the same cost as Stromtroopers/Snowtroopers per mini, which is very useful for buffing out your activations.

The Scout Trooper Strike Team had a very similar profile (boy am I glad this article came out AFTER the points adjustment and profile releases). Like before, they have the Heavy Weapon Team special rule, which makes the Heavy Weapon upgrade required, but the Heavy is also the unit leader. With only 2 models including the Heavy, this squad is much easier to kill and once you include the Heavy, they aren't that much cheaper than the full squad (42pts with the sniper vs. 48pts for the full squad without upgrades). With the sniper getting better and coming down in price (20pts now) and the option for cheaper heavies if you don't want to do chip-damage from far away (10pts for a Probe, 17pts for a saboteur), these might see play now. They have Detachment: Scout Troopers, so they can only be fielded alongside full Scout Trooper units, which means their primary point of comparison is definitely Probe Droids (and since these are Support options now, you're looking to add more Support tokens to your bag instead of Special Forces).

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Snowtroopers

Good morning gamers,

We're back in the Empire for the rest of the month and we're tackling our second of the Imperial Corps units: Snowtroopers. I was a fan of these guys (at least in theory) in the previous edition of the game because they were basically Stormtroopers with Steady. Yes, they have less of a smorgasbord of Heavy Weapon options, but Steady is a great keyword and they're rolling similar stuff on offense and defense. For most competitive players, Snowtroopers have been the go-to option in Legion 2.6 and they are, truthfully, very good units. Let's dig into what makes these guys so great!

Snowtroopers: The Profile

Like Stormtroopers (and Pyke Syndicate Foot Soldiers), these guys are base 42pts - though in reality, these guys are 68pts+, for reasons we'll see when we get to the upgrade section. These are some of the cheapest red-defense-die units in the game and they keep their cost down by taking a few key downgrades. First and foremost, they're only Speed-1 - as we'll see in a moment, that's perfectly fine. Second, they roll 1 white attack die per mini in both melee and at range - with surge to hit, this is only marginally worse than rolling 1 black die each without surging, but it psychologically FEELS worse because "white dice can't hit". Third, they're only base Courage 1 - but the Empire has a few tricks that can fix that problem easily.

At first blush, these guys aren't much to look at - but their one and only keyword makes up for a lot of their problems: Steady. Second to Relentless, this is the strongest keyword for turning a drool unit into a cool unit. While these guys are Speed-1 (~4" of movement), the fact that they can move-move-shoot with ~8" of total movement makes them faster than most units that can only move-shoot. Additionally, because they're moving at Speed-1, they effectively ignore difficult terrain (since difficult terrain reduces your speed by 1 to a minimum of 1). Most other units would need to pay 2pts to get Environmental Gear (or have Scale in their profiles/upgrade suite), so when you think about it, these guys are actually the cheapest Corps option the Empire has. To use them effectively, you do have to build around them a little - but their upgrades can help with this a lot.

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Rebel Sleeper Cell

Good morning gamers,

Rebels have been pretty dominant since the arrival of the Rebel Sleeper Cell unit came to version 2.6 - they were originally very overtuned to be good at playing the new game of Legion and have gotten some points hikes to ease them off a bit. While some players were running three of these every single time they hit the table, modern lists post-price-hikes have seen a more modest number of 1-2 Sleepers in Rebel lists (often accompanied by some form of Ewok Slinger squad, Mandalorians, and very, VERY occasionally Rebel Commandos or Wookiees).

Today we're digging into the Rebel Sleeper Cell unit and what's still good about them, even after they got their price hikes. Let's see what the profile has to offer and why this is still very much a good choice in Rebel lists.

Rebel Sleeper Cell: The Profile

I'm not sure that you could tune this unit any more than it is now, except by giving it better saves. You've got the stock-standard Rebel Special Forces stats of Courage 2, Speed-2, surging-white saves, and 1 Health each - but with a starting unit size of 6 models and surging-white saves, they're quite a bit more durable than most of their competitors (Rebel Commandos and Mandalorian Resistance - one could make an argument for Wookiees and Ewoks being more durable because of the sheer amount of wounds they have). To help their durability, they have Nimble, though no innate ways to get dodge support. With Exemplar heroes (and possibly some upgrades), it's not hard to trigger Nimble, though the issue is usually timing. Still, if you can get a dodge token on these guys (or can borrow it from someone), they'll be guaranteed one extra life so long as your opponent hasn't leaned into High Velocity (beware those perennial Clone Commandos and those cheaper AATs).

These guys have settled into a unit cost of 77pts and boy do they pack a PUNCH on offense! At range 1-2, they roll 2 black dice each with surge to hit, which means that a six-man Sleeper Cell unit is expected to get 7.5 hits/attack - and that's before any aim tokens that they use for rerolls with Tactical 1! With Scout 2, they're probably moving twice on the first turn (moving roughly 12" up the board), which means anyone who drifted 12" or more up their side of the board might be in range on the first turn - and with two aim tokens to fix the 4.5 dice that missed, you're looking at close to 10 expected hits on the first turn (some of which are likely to be crits). Yeah, they're nasty. Additionally, once in melee, they have the option to roll 1 red each with Impact 1 on each of those weapons (reliable into armor units) or roll 1 black/1 white with suppressive (pretty decent against most trooper units). All in all, these guys have a great offensive package - and one that feels much better than it should for a sub-80pt unit!

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: ARF Troopers

Good morning gamers,

Last time, we looked at Commander Ahsoka, who most competitive players choose to leave at home in favor of her squad leader upgrade option (and I don't blame them, but I think she's pretty good). In today's article, we'll be looking at ARF Troopers, who are available in the Republic Starter Set and compete for your Special Forces slot with ARC Troopers - and while the two units do two very different things, there seems to be a default lean for most competitive players towards either taking ARC Troopers or skipping on the Special Forces slot entirely and just relying on your Corps units, Commander/Operative characters, and maybe Supports.

With some new opportunities for ARFs to shine in the 212th Legion battle force, let's look at what these guys are bringing to the table and what might make them worth taking on the table.

ARF Troopers: The Profile

Many of the stats for ARF Troopers are what you'd expect from a Republic unit - Speed-2, Courage 2, no innate surging on offense or defense (but access to token sharing), and 1 black die/mini on offense. The neat trick they add in their profile is a base range of 1-4 on their blasters, which is useful for alpha striking on the first turn. But in this, ARFs are not unique . . .

ARF Troopers are long-range units, but they're not the only Republic units with that claim to fame. When you look at long-range options for Republic Clone units, the pinnacle of the list is the Clone Commando - both in cost and in lethality. A range 3-4 shot that's got 1 red/mini with High Velocity and Lethal 1 is pretty slick, but at 90pts a squad (and possibly more), they're quite the investment. You have access to Clone Trooper Marksmen in the Corps slot now, which begin at 50pts and might rise to as much as 143pts if equipped with a Clone Mortar Trooper, a Clone Medic, and a "super squad" (to say nothing of the potential for an RPS-6 heavy weapon or a Clone Captain/Commander/named squad leader who might cost more). This squad begins with a range 1-3 gun, but can hit range 4 with Long Shot - which means these guys can definitely throw the most dice at range 4, but at the highest cost. ARC Troopers (either the full squad or the strike team) can field a DC-15X heavy weapon unit that can shoot at range 4, but this is only with 2 dice and with 2-6 wounds to help it out, so you generally don't see the DC-15X on ARCs, unless someone is trying to do an "alpha strike" play on the first turn that leads into a 6-model attack on Turns 2-3 (like my son has done to me many, many times).

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Ahsoka Tano, Padawan Commander

Good morning gamers,

We're back in Republic and we're looking at a not-often-seen Commander option: Ahsoka Tano. I'm going to be honest, I thought Ahsoka was going to be an Operative - and then I saw that there were two models in the pack and I was like, "Okay, she's going to be a Commander AND an Operative" . . . and then I was like, "Wait, she's a Commander and a Squad Leader? Why would I ever run the Commander!?!?!?!" Well, that's the question we're tackling today - because it turns out that while her Squad Leader option is very good and incredibly powerful, she's also good as a commander and I think players shouldn't sleep on that option.

Ahsoka Tano, Padawan Commander: The Profile

At first blush, Ahsoka doesn't look like a great Jedi: the distinctive of most Jedi in the Republic faction is that they have access to either Charge or Relentless (either innately on their unit cards, like Anakin and Obi-Wan) or via command cards that come back to them (like Yoda, who can have Charge or Relentless on up to 4 turns of the game) or via an upgrade (like any customizable Jedi Knight who takes a double-bladed Lightsaber - and any Jedi Consular can have Steady, which is like a poor man's version of Relentless). Ahsoka doesn't have Charge or Relentless except on her 1-pip Command Card - and while this card might allow her to perform multiple attacks, anyone that she Charges but doesn't kill has the ability to disengage with her. This means that one way or another, if Ahsoka Charges, she's not going to be engaged when she's done . . . and that is usually not what a Force User wants to do.

Additionally, Ahsoka doesn't have Master of the Force - this isn't unique to Jedi (Commander Luke, Rebel Ahsoka, and the new customizable Operative Jedi Knights don't have Master of the Force either), but Ahsoka is in an interesting middle-ground place in that she has Independent: Recover. On the one hand, this means that, if she doesn't get an order token, she'll reset not just her Force upgrade, but she'll also reset any Training/Command upgrades that she took. Additionally, suppressing her is quite difficult, since the Recover action will also clear any suppression she picked up. All in all, a free recover action looks like a better deal than Master of the Force X . . . and in all but one respect, that's definitely right. What you usually want, however, is order control on your Jedi - you want an order sitting on them so you can go with them when you want to . . . and in order for Ahsoka to get an order token (see what I did there?), she needs to forego the free recover action. It's an interesting trade . . .

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Darth Vader, Part II

Good morning gamers,

We're looking at the other side of the coin from last time and viewing the Operative Vader profile. In many ways, this version of Vader is similar to the previous one - he hits hard, he has a lot of great keywords, and he's going to change the way your opponent plays (probably because he'll be monopolizing your command hand). At the same time, there are a lot of trades (both positive and negative) to taking this version of Vader. Let's see what he brings to the table (and what he leaves behind) from his more popular Commander variant.

Darth Vader, The Emperor's Apprentice: The Profile

Darth Vader boasts less-strong-but-still-strong combat profile compared to his Commander variant with 5 red dice and Impact 3/Pierce 3 - and unlike Commander Vader, he has a 2 black dice range 1-2 attack option that has Blast (no cover saves) and Scatter (you get to re-cohere the unit around its unit leader - which likely denies cover for your friends on future shots). While he doesn't have the innate ability to surge, access to aim tokens and occasionally surge tokens are definitely options in your list building - and against anyone with a Force slot, he gains surge-to-crit on offense thanks to Jedi Hunter. With the Relentless keyword, Vader can turn any move action into a follow-on attack action (up to one attack each turn - though he can perform two activations in a single round with Implacable). Yes, Vader is trying to deal as much damage as he can - and when he deals damage in melee, he's pretty incredible (his ranged attack is mostly to trigger suppression and bring a unit out of cover).

This version of Vader is Speed-2, which is good and might making getting Burst of Speed for a Speed-3 activation unnecessary. Having Speed-2 and Relentless means that anyone that moves to Range-2 of Vader should expect to take a hit to the face with a lightsaber - and if you want to avoid being moved towards him, you probably need to stay at Range-4 of him, which is hard to do. This version of Vader has Courage 3 instead of infinite Courage (and he's an Operative who doesn't have access to a Command slot), which means that he can't keep your units from panicking - so be sure to bring Commanders who will keep your boys in the fight (possibly with Compel to make up for what you're losing from Commander Vader). Like his Commander version, Vader has Master of the Force 1, which is great for making sure that any exhaustible Force upgrades you take can come back to you at the end of each activation (not turn - activation) so you can use them again.

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Darth Vader, Part I

Good morning gamers,

We're tackling the big man himself, "Commander Vader", today. Vader is a staple in basically every Imperial list and the reason for it is simple: whether he's hacking things with his lightsaber or just forcing Imperial Corps units to stay on target, he's changing the state of the game. We'll be looking today at what makes this version of Vader so good, but we'll be looking next time at what his Operative variant brings to the table (and loses in the conversion process). By far and away, this is the most prevalent version of Vader you're going to see - and for good reason!

Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith: The Profile

Darth Vader boasts an incredibly strong combat profile with 6 red dice and Impact 3/Pierce 3 - if given Saber Throw (which you should always give him - I left it home for a three-round Recon tournament once and sort of regretted it, as great as having Push and Choke was), he can reliably cut into enemy armor and any damage that he deals will automatically work against the target unit in most situations. While he doesn't have the innate ability to surge, access to aim tokens and occasionally surge tokens are definitely options in your list building. With the Relentless keyword, Vader can turn any move action into a follow-on attack action (up to one attack each turn), but might be able to perform a second attack via the Blizzard Force 2-pip command card (and can even perform two activations in a single round with Implacable). Yes, Vader is trying to deal as much damage as he can - and when he deals damage, he's pretty incredible.

He's only Speed-1, which often means that you want to factor in options for speed with him (more on that when we cover both the Force upgrades and what command cards you take below). Speed-1 isn't that much slower than Speed-2, but avoiding him is a lot easier than the Operative variant just because a unit that moves Speed-2 once can ensure that they are safe if they started at least range 1/2 away from him before they moved. Vader also has infinite Courage, which means that any friendly units within range 3 of him (potentially range 4) never count as being panicked - which is fantastic when paired with his Compel: Corps Trooper ability, which can give any suppressed-but-not-panicked Corps units more suppression (Cover 1 for the win!) in order to get a free move . . . which is sort of like not being suppressed at all. Vader also has Master of the Force 1, which is great for making sure that any exhaustible Force upgrades you take can come back to you at the end of each activation (not turn - activation) so you can use them again.

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Stormtrooper Heavy Response Unit

Good morning gamers,

Last time, we looked at the stock-standard Stormtrooper unit that's available to the Empire in every single army list (and was included in all but the Blizzard Force battle force starter box as your Imperial Corps choice). Today, we're looking at their Blizzard Force cousin, the Stormtrooper Heavy Response Unit (HRU from now on), which has many of the same attributes of normal Stormtroopers, but with one big exception: you have to take two Heavy Weapon upgrades and you can't take any other upgrades. Since this is exclusive to the Blizzard Force battle force, you also can't take as many Heavy Weapon upgrades as the normal squad can (none of the named guys - Gideon Hask, Del Meeko, or Agent Kallus) and per the usual, you can't take multiple copies of the same upgrade. This gives us a few different combos that we can play with, but we have a way to determine what the "best choice" is, depending on what you want your squad to do. Let's see how the profile has changed and how this modifies the way we think about fielding the unit.

I will note before we begin that Blizzard Force allows you to run both standard Stormtroopers as well as Stormtrooper HRUs AND you're limited to 2 of these units - any additional Corps units that you add (one of which is mandatory) will be Snowtroopers. Choosing whether to take Standard Stormtroopers or HRUs (or just more Snows) is a real decision point - and I don't think there's an obvious answer when you get down to it.

Stormtroopers HRU: The Profile

Many of the attributes of this Stormtrooper profile are the same as the standard version - Speed 2, non-surging red saves, surge to hit on offense, and Courage 1. These guys retain Precise 1 (so they're still a bit aim hungry - but probably not AS aim hungry as their standard cousins), but they pick up Unhindered, which is kind of like having a standard Stormtrooper unit that paid 2pts for Environmental Gear. Since Snowtroopers also have Unhindered (ignores difficult terrain when moving), these guys are able to keep up with Snowtroopers (sort of - double-moving Snows are hard to keep pace with, especially with Imperial March . . . also, it's unclear if you want to keep up with Snowtroopers, but more on that in a moment). Their Flexible Response 2 special rule requires that they take two Heavy Weapon Upgrades - but unlike Strike Teams, neither of these Heavy Weapon units gains the Leader keyword (which has big implications on the attrition effect for this unit).

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Stormtroopers

Good morning gamers,

We're kicking off the new year with a unit I have been using a lot: Stormtroopers. These are the OG Corps units for the Empire and in many ways, they've been surpassed by Snowtroopers (and maybe other Corps options). Still, these guys are still the default Imperial Corps for the starter sets and they also have a lot of customizability (for both Heavy Weapons and Personnel choices, and unit cards - though we'll be looking at the Heavy Response Unit variant next time). With a new battle force that allows you to run seven of these guys, maybe we're in a new era for the humble Stormtrooper to shine. Let's see what these guys bring to the table.

Stormtroopers: The Profile

Stormtroopers are only 44pts base and have red saves - this puts them top of the list (tied with Snowtroopers) for cheapest red-dice-save unit in the game. They keep their cost down by having surging-white attack dice and a single situational special rule - and if you have ways to generate aim tokens on these units (or on units with Exemplar within range 2), these guys don't feel like they're rolling white dice. Beyond this, you have some standard stats of Speed 2, Courage 1, and 4 starting models - all in all, not bad for just over 40pts. 

Customizable Commanders, Part IV: The Separatist Alliance

Good morning gamers,

This is our third post in reviewing the new customizable commanders and operatives for the four factions in Star Wars Legion. We've already looked at the Rebel and Imperial options and today we're tackling my beloved Republic and the customizable Jedi heroes that you can field. If you haven't seen the article yet, you can view it here.

Like the previous article, we'll be looking at the four doctrines provided in the new kit and how that shakes out with the SEVEN different Jedi builds you can have (max of four, of course, since the doctrines are unique . . . some might say max of two, depending on whether you think two of the doctrines are playable). We'll start off with the one that is unique to Commanders . . .

Super Tactical Command Droids: What's The Difference?

In the previous three posts, we looked at the minor differences between Rebel Officers/Agents (Inspire vs. Independent: Dodge and Nimble), Imperial Officers/Agents (Inspire vs. Relentless), and Jedi Knights (Master of the Force 1) - there are sometimes stat differences (Courage or Wounds) as well and it translates into differences in cost, but by and large, the points cost difference isn't the biggest difference between models. The doctrines you can take are also different - some doctrines are unique to the Commander or Operative choice or can be shared between the two with a maximum of one per army.

The Super Tacs . . . don't really work this way. The difference between the Commander and Operative Super Tacs is incredibly small - the Commander is 10pts more expensive and has -1 Courage (huh?), +1 Hardpoint upgrade, +1 Command upgrade, -1 Armament upgrade, and doesn't have Aid: Droid Trooper. In short . . . unless you want 3 Hardpoints or a Command upgrade, the Operative variant is cheaper, has high Courage (that can't be used to cancel AI/prevent panicking), and has the ability to shuffle tokens to friendly Droid Troopers (like Kalani?).

In addition, there are only two Super-Tac doctrines and they can both be used by both variants . . . also, all of the Hardpoints can be used by both variants . . . so if you prefer the Operatives, take them with whatever combo you want. If you prefer the Commander variants (though I feel like the Commanders lot is in a LOT of contention between Dooku, Wheelbike Grievous, Poggle, and Kalani), take those. I don't think it matters - take whoever you want. As a result, this article is going to be a lot shorter than the previous ones because I'm only going to evaluate the two doctrines against a universal "Super Tactical Command Droid", as I don't think the differences matter that much.

Super Tactical Command Droid with Seek and Destroy: 65+ pts

The cost above reflects an Operative taking the 5pt doctrine (limit 2), but I actually think this is better on the Commander variant. The boosts from this is Demoralize 1, Marksman, and Target 1. The combination of Target and Marksman is great if you're using this guy with the Optimized Task Flow upgrade (8pts) to get Direct: AI Unit. This is cheaper than an HQ Uplink on B1s and can be used to spin the Coordinate chain and he'll end up with an order token at the end if you play it right. With an aim by default, you can guarantee 1 hit from your 3-die attacks makes it through, which gives you reliable suppression output between Demoralize 1 and your shooting attack if you didn't pay for a weapon - and very reliable damage if you paid for an Electrostaff (10pts). Doctrine Rating: A-.

Customizable Commanders, Part III: The Republic

Good morning gamers,

This is our third post in reviewing the new customizable commanders and operatives for the four factions in Star Wars Legion. We've already looked at the Rebel and Imperial options and today we're tackling my beloved Republic and the customizable Jedi heroes that you can field. If you haven't seen the article yet, you can view it here.

Like the previous article, we'll be looking at the four doctrines provided in the new kit and how that shakes out with the SEVEN different Jedi builds you can have (max of four, of course, since the doctrines are unique . . . some might say max of two, depending on whether you think two of the doctrines are playable). We'll start off with the one that is unique to Commanders . . .

Jedi Knight General with General of the Republic: 110+ pts

Right off the bat, one should note that ALL of the Jedi options are going to be expensive. Before you buy the required doctrines (5-10pts) and the required lightsabers (all free - though I expect that to change in the future) and the basically-required Jedi Training upgrade (5-8pts) and the basically-required Force upgrade (at least 5pts, unless you're leaning into Hope?!?!?!), any Commander or Operative Jedi that you make is going to be pretty pricey. This shouldn't surprise anyone who's seen the non-customizable Jedi, but it's worth pointing out that relative to what we've seen with the Empire and Rebels, this is quite the investment.

Jedi Knight Generals are Commanders with 6 Wounds/Courage 3, which makes them pretty durable and they have great anti-panic bubbles. With 2 Force Upgrade slots and 2 Training slots (only one of which can hold a Jedi Training upgrade), you have a good amount of upgrade options before factoring in any extra upgrade options that your Doctrine/Jedi Trainings give you. The General of the Republic doctrine gives you a Command slot (only way to get one on these commanders) and you also pick up Inspire 1 (fine), Bolster 2 as an action (also fine), and Direct: Clone Trooper (excellent). Doctrine Rating: B.

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: 74-Z Speeder Bikes

Good morning gamers,

This will be our last unit review for the year (we'll be looking at the customizable Jedi/Super-Tacs in November and taking December off, as usual) and we're looking at an Imperial unit that I've been playing with a lot recently: 74-Z Speeder Bikes. These guys were super good in the last edition of the game, able to skew easily in several scenarios (and you could massively underbid points so you got your scenario decks and make your opponent's life difficult). In the current edition of the game, these guys are super fast, but much harder to keep alive. Let's see what their place is and what you should consider getting for them . . .

74-Z Speeder Bikes: The Profile

Like a handful of supports (including most speeder units), Speeder Bikes are a two-model unit, each with 3 Wounds for 6 Wounds total. This puts them on-par with things like AT-RTs in raw wounds, but behind units like Tauntauns and functionally behind units like Droidekas who have an abundance of shields most of the time. The biggest appeal of these guys is their relatively low points cost (currently 70, but it's fluctuated some since I started playing the game) and their incredible speed (Speed-3 with a compulsory move from Speeder 1). Defensively, their innate Cover 1 and surging white save isn't great, so most players consider these guys to be very, very fragile (and I happen to agree - I've misplayed and lost these guys SO many times!).

Offensively, they hit pretty hard for being a 70-point, two-model unit: if shooting in their forward arc, they've got a double-rainbow of 2 red/2 black/2 white with surge to hit and Impact 2, which downgrades to 1 red/1 black/1 white with surge to hit and Impact 1 when the first speeder dies (not if the first speeder dies - when the first speeder dies). The end result is that each speeder is supposed to deal about 2 hits, which means you can jump out with the compulsory move, put 2-4 hits into something, then whip around again to duck to safety. If you're lucky, this will chip away at things (including Armored units), but you won't be blowing anything away with this guy.

If you aren't looking where you want to shoot, you do have an omni-directional pistol shot of 2 black dice per Speeder and you can even split-fire if you want to with one speeder using the rainbow attack and one speeder using the pistol. Both are likely to get at least 1 hit through to the defense roll, which means you can suppress enemy units that are sitting on objectives as you pass on to another one - pretty slick, if you ask me.

That being said, the strength of Speeder Bikes has always been in taking multiple copies of them - one Speeder Bike popping out and shooting at an enemy unit is all fine and good, but if you have a line of Speeder Bikes that harass a unit that's already gone (and ideally has very few friends nearby who have yet to go), you can cripple a unit that started the round out healthy and leave it as a smoking shell or a handful of guys by the end. Since Speeders can also contest objectives, having a mob of speeders end their move near a far-flung objective or two (either by double-moving and shooting OR by triple-moving) can really swing the VPs your opponent was counting on.

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Din Djarin, Part II

Good morning gamers,

Last time, we looked at the Rebel variant of Din Djarin and the various ways you can run him. Today, we're turning to the Imperial side of the house, where competition for the Operative slot wasn't that strong . . . until the customizable characters started crying out for use alongside Din, Op-Vader, and Agent Kallus. Today we'll be looking at what Din brings to the Imperial faction and what kinds of upgrades you should consider taking.

Din Djarin: The Profile

Din's profile is pretty standard for a Mandalorian - 5 Wounds instead of 6, Courage 3 is nice (though not sharable on an Operative without a Command slot), he has surge for crit and block with a red defense die for reliable damage into things and reliable resistance to damage when defending, and he's base speed-2, but can make that speed-3 if he's willing to shell out points. He has two weapons and the option for two more - his blaster is range 1-2 with Versatile (so he can shoot out of combat at a target at range 1-2, but cannot shoot at someone he's in combat with) and rolls 2 red/1 black for a reasonable amount of damage for being a pistol. This is an aim-hungry weapon with Lethal 1 and Long Shot, but with Tactical 1 and Independent: Aim 1 and Dodge 1, it's not unlikely that he'll have two aim tokens if he moves and shoots. His base melee weapon on its own isn't great (2 black with Lethal 1), but if it's paired with any of his additional weapons, it can be a useful little-bit-extra against a unit you're in melee with.

Din's other keywords are good or fine - Arsenal 2 is great since he has an armament option, but will only be used if you take his Flame Projector or when he's in melee. Bounty can be good if Din can actually target an enemy Commander/Operative that he picks at the start of the game and then stick around in combat long enough to kill them - but hey, it's the potential for a victory point and that's not bad. He's also got Impervious, which isn't as good as Immune: Pierce, but it's definitely better than nothing.

All of this is true for the Rebel variant too, but this version of Din doesn't have access to Grogu, so you're purely looking at Din for his damage options instead of his support options. As a result, you probably want to lean hard into the upgrades on Din (and probably more so than the upgrades you'd take for most Rebel builds).

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Din Djarin, Part I

Good morning gamers,

After a two-post hiatus to cover the new customizable Rebel and Imperial command choices, we're back in our unit review series and starting a two-part series on Din Djarin. Today we're looking at his Rebel variant and next time, we'll see how the Imperial variant differs. Din has access to nearly all the same upgrades in both, but his competition for the Operative slot is . . . well, it might be precarious in both lists now that the customizable characters are upon us, but he might have an easier time carving out a slot for himself in Empire lists. At any rate, we'll look and see how the Rebel faction can benefit from taking him and what kinds of upgrades you should be looking at.

Din Djarin: The Profile

Din's profile is pretty standard for a Mandalorian - 5 Wounds instead of 6, Courage 3 is nice (though not sharable on an Operative without a Command slot), he has surge for crit and block with a red defense die for reliable damage into things and reliable resistance to damage when defending, and he's base speed-2, but can make that speed-3 if he's willing to shell out points. He has two weapons and the option for two more - his blaster is range 1-2 with Versatile (so he can shoot out of combat at a target at range 1-2, but cannot shoot at someone he's in combat with) and rolls 2 red/1 black for a reasonable amount of damage for being a pistol. This is an aim-hungry weapon with Lethal 1 and Long Shot, but with Tactical 1 and Independent: Aim 1 and Dodge 1, it's not unlikely that he'll have two aim tokens if he moves and shoots. His base melee weapon on its own isn't great (2 black with Lethal 1), but if it's paired with any of his additional weapons, it can be a useful little-bit-extra against a unit you're in melee with.

Din's other keywords are good or fine - Arsenal 2 is great since he has an armament option, but will only be used if you take his Flame Projector or when he's in melee. Bounty can be good if Din can actually target an enemy Commander/Operative that he picks at the start of the game and then stick around in combat long enough to kill them - but hey, it's the potential for a victory point and that's not bad. He's also got Impervious, which isn't as good as Immune: Pierce, but it's definitely better than nothing.

Customizable Commanders, Part II: The Empire

Good morning gamers,

Last time, we reviewed the new customizable commander and operative options for the Rebel Alliance and today, we're pivoting to the Imperial side of the house and looking at the new Imperial Officer and Agent options (after that, I promise we'll get back to the Din Djarin articles). If you haven't seen the article yet, you can view it here and while I think the Rebel options have a lot of cool synergies, I think I'm more excited to use the Imperial ones (mostly because I've missed having "Ruth" in my Op-Vader lists).

Like the previous article, we'll be looking at the four doctrines provided in the new kit and how that shakes out with the SIX different Imperial builds you can have (max of four, of course, since the doctrines are unique . . . good thing too with this set). We'll begin with the one I'm most excited about for Officers . . .

Imperial Officer with Academy Trained: 65+ pts

The Imperial Officer is remarkably similar to the Rebel Officer - the only difference between them is that the Rebel Officer has 1 gear slot and 1 grenade slot, while the Imperial Officer has 2 gear slots. This may be important as we'll see below, but with base Inspire 1 and the need to equip a doctrine, this canvas is pretty wide open. The Academy Trained doctrine works similarly to the Proven Tactician doctrine for the Rebels: the Officer picks up Courage 3 instead of Courage 2, Exemplar, Inspire 2 instead of Inspire 1 (instead of giving out Reinforcements to nearby Corps units), and instead of getting Quick Thinking as an action, the Imperial Officer gains Strategize 1. The functional difference between Quick Thinking and Strategize is very, VERY small - since both builds have Exemplar, the fact that Quick Thinking has to give the tokens to the Rebel Officer and the Imperial Officer could pick someone else to have the tokens with Strategize is really a distinction without a difference, as whoever is in range to receive the tokens from Strategize would also be within range of the Officer. If you want someone to walk away from the Officer and still have the tokens, give them to someone else - otherwise, just give the Officer the tokens and let other people borrow them with Exemplar.

Customizable Commanders, Part I: The Rebel Alliance

Good morning gamers,

Last week, we got the scene-to-stats articles for both the Imperial and Rebel customizable leaders and boy are there some interesting options available to us now! This article will be reviewing the Rebel options and our next article will look at the Imperial ones (sorry, Din, your article will just have to wait). If you haven't seen the article yet, you can view it here and I gotta say, I'm pretty stoked about how well AMG is publicizing their products and I'm excited to give some of these combos a try! Also, while I'm giving my amateur thoughts, I think the special edition video from the Notorious Scoundrels is well worth the listen.

This article will attempt to puzzle through some interesting combos for the four different doctrines available in the kit, with the understanding that this is all very new and there will be much to be seen in the coming months for how you actually want to run these after some play testing and tournament use shakes out. We'll also be reviewing these profiles in comparison to an existing profile to see what the existing profile is giving you and whether it's better to slot in the old character or the new one. We'll start with my favorite of the batch . . .

Rebel Officer with Proven Tactician: 65+ pts

The Rebel Officer profile begins with 6 Wounds/Courage 2, but taking the Proven Tactician upgrade boosts that to 6 Wounds/Courage 3. The Inspire 1 that's provided in the base profile isn't augmented at all, but this Commander option is a slot-in for your support options with the old Padme Amidala trick of Quick Thinking/Exemplar (he just needed Authoritative to have the trifecta of Padme support abilities from last edition). While the utility of his last boost will only be found on the first turn of the game, getting a free Speed-1 move on all of your Corps that end the round within range 1 of this commander from Reinforcements can mean that Rebel Veterans and Mark II Medium Blasters (traditionally slow Corps units in a game where getting places is usually the name of the game) can "do their thing" of Speed-1-moving and shooting with a slow and steady advance followed up by another Speed-1, which gives them the same amount of ground gained as Snowtroopers (who I think most players would agree are pretty good). This doctrine is a 10pt upgrade, which makes it pricier than other doctrines but only marginally so and I think the benefits of it are clear: move-Quick-Thinking-Inspire every round to give your units access to an aim/dodge token when they need it and clear a suppression token. Doctrine Rating: A.

Photo credit: Tabletop Admiral

The prime point of comparison is Leia Organa, who is very much in a sit-in-the-back-and-support role, though her ability to do damage with her pistol is likely to be more reliable than what this Officer is packing unless the Officer takes the repeater gun (which I don't think is worth the investment - but I'm willing to be proven wrong). Leia begins 10-points more expensive and has 6 Wounds/Courage 2 (so -1 Courage, which does matter a bit on a Commander) and Inspire 2 instead of Inspire 1 (which can matter very much if you have a lot of Courage 1 Corps running around). While these two flip-flops aren't exactly a wash, they're pretty much a wash in my book.

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Republic Chewbacca

Good morning gamers,

We're back in Republic and we're talking about Chewbacca today - a character that you either love or hate depending on your perspective on white saves. Chewie's one of three Commander options available to the Wookiee Defenders battle force and remains the cheapest available at the moment (time will tell if the new customizable Commander/Operative Jedi will come in below him, but I doubt it). With flexible melee and ranged attack options, reliable damage in either form, and the standard big-Wound-bad-Save profile you expect from a Wookiee character, we'll look today to see how good Chewie is at being a Republic Commander, both in and out of the Wookiee Defenders battle force.

Republic Chewbacca: The Profile

To start with, Chewie is 90pts, which is cheaper than either a "melee Wookiee" or a "gun Wookiee" squad. We'll go over his upgrades in a bit, but suffice it to say that you're probably not getting him for more than 98pts and he's fine even at 90pts. Compared to the Wookiee Chieftain profile, Chewie's got some pretty standard Wookiee characteristics (and some hero characteristics in general) with Courage 2, Speed 2, non-surging white saves (more on that in a minute), and surge to hit. Where he shines above most other characters, however, is his Wound Threshold of 9, which means you have to dump more fire into him than normal (even over Rebel Chewie and all Force Users - who admittedly have Immune: Pierce and at least red saves).

Chewie's keywords change his base stats quite a bit, however: he's got Enrage 4, which means after he takes 4 wounds, he gets Charge and infinite Courage - so his Courage 2 stat probably won't stay Courage 2 for a while. As a Commander, this also means that once he's taken 4 wounds, your units within range 3 of him can't be panicked, which is GREAT for scoring (though if you're running mostly Wookiee units, you have Indomitable on everyone to clear suppression anyway - but hey, not having to roll is better than rolling a better die). He also has Guardian 2: Commander, which can force Chewie to take hits in place of a Wookiee Chieftain or Yoda (and soon to be generic Jedi) in the Wookiee Defenders list or for another fairly fragile commander in a Republic list (which could be a Clone Commander, Rex, Cody, Ahsoka, Anakin, or the aforementioned other Commanders). While this is a nice add-on, it's also just fine to run Chewie without another Commander (either in a standard game or in Recon where you can't take another Commander) and just chalk this up as a useless keyword. The main reason you'd want to use this Guardian ability is to a) provide Backup to an Operative (like Bad Batch or Padme in a generic Republic list) and b) so you can trigger Enrage 4 without having to be shot at.