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. 

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: ARC Troopers

Good morning gamers,

We're back in Legion land and we're looking at what was the second most popular non-Commander/Operative Republic unit (before Clone Commandos were released): the ARC Trooper. If you're playing the 501^st Legion, chances are good you have a LOT of these guys in your list and if you're running a generic GAR list, chances are good that you have at least a one of these guys running around (but if you choose three Clone Commandos instead of two, you might not have any). At the time of this writing, ARC Troopers are the only GAR Special Forces unit with the Clone Trooper unit type (and only compete with Wookiee Warriors for the Special Forces slot - more on them later in this series), so if you're not running excess Corps units, don't want to run three Clone Commandos, and you want another Clone Trooper squad . . . these are really your only option. Let's see what the ARC Trooper profiles (yes, two of them) give us - and what they have going for them that sets them apart from your excellent Corps options.

ARC Troopers: The Profiles

It's probably good to begin by comparing ARC Troopers to Phase I Clone Troopers. Both squads have 4 models to start with, both have 1 wound/model, Speed 2 with a red defense die, and can roll 1 black die at range 1-3. Without any offensive or defensive surges (or innate ways to get surge tokens - more on this, though, in the next section) and many of the same upgrade slots (Heavy Weapon, Gear, Grenades), I was certainly tempted to think that Phase Is were just better to get than these guys when I got started playing.

I usually just take the Heavy Weapon options on these guys - and Recon Intel/Smoke Grenades if I can fit it . . .
Photo Credit: Legion HQ

But this brings us into the differences between the two squad types - we'll start with the positives for Phase Is. The only upgrade slot that a Phase I Clone Trooper squad has that ARC Troopers lack is the Personnel slot, which means that a fully-manned Corps squad will have 6 models while a fully-manned ARC Troopers squad will have 5 models (or two models, as we'll see shortly). The extra wound is quite valuable, epsecially since that slot happens to be a personnel unit, which means it could have the option to heal friendly units with a Clone Medic/Engineer or pick up a Training/Comms/second gear slot from a Clone Captain/Comms Tech/Specialist respectively (all of which are on ARC Troopers).

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Rebel Officers

Hey Reader!

Following up on the Tauntaun Riders post, today we're looking at Rebel Officers, and I'm not gonna lie: I'm not writing this post based on how I've used them in the past (like I have the rest of the units I've reviewed so far), but instead as me externally processing why I've delayed buying this set. There are very few things recommending him to me, but there's a few things I've found appealing about him as I've been experimenting more with Echo Base Defenders, and that's what inspired this post. 

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 Rebel Officer, as I think he really only has two roles he fills, and making the most of those roles is very important. I've also named this post "Centaur Edition," because Tiberius may have wildly different thoughts from me, and I welcome that, because my thinking on him is purely theoretical and not based on actual usage.

I.  Stats: Budget Leia

From a stats perspective, the Rebel Officer is one of the weakest commanders out there, but he's also the cheapest one available to you. With only 4 Wounds and Courage 2 past a white defense dice, he's very easy to remove, and quite hard to keep alive, even with a card action for Take Cover 1.

Offensively he also struggles: a black and white die at Range 1-2 for his blaster attack is pretty much the weakest commander unit in the game, and while he has Sharpshooter 1 to help him get past cover, he's not likely to do more than 1 hit, so if you are firing at someone behind heavy cover (or soft cover with at least 1 suppression token) you are looking at a high likelihood of doing nothing despite having a Sharpshooter special rule. Which is not great: typically sharpshooter models are used to push enemies out of cover, and this one cannot do that with anything close to a reliable record.

Star Wars Legion Unit Review: Phase I Clone Troopers

Good morning gamers,

A while ago, I reviewed Obi-Wan Kenobi, who is the Commander you get in the Clone Wars Starter Set. Today, we're looking at the Corps units you receive in that set: the Phase I Clone Troopers. With lots of customization options and a HOST of competitive builds, I think these are some of the finest units in Legion right now. Let's see what's so great about these guys!

Phase I Clone Troopers: The Profile

Phase I Clone Troopers are my favorite profile in the Grand Army of the Republic, both aesthetically (I've always loved the look of an Episode II Clone army) and in-game. These guys are Corps units and like most Corps units, they begin with 4 minis and can add up to two additional minis (one Heavy Weapon, one Personnel). They have some pretty standard profile stats for Corps units - Speed 2, 1 wound/mini, Courage 1, and no innate surging (offense or defense).

Various Exemplar Phase I Configurations, ranging from 86-107pts each
Photo Credit: Legion HQ

Their offensive capabilities are fine - 1 black/mini in melee and 1 black/mini at range 1-3 (approx 2.0 hits/0.25 crits), which is nothing to write home about, but certainly not bad. On defense, these guys have a red die (again, with no surges), which is good for saving roughly half of the wounds you take if the dice are playing fair.

There are three things that make Phase I Clones really good: first, they cost 52 points and have seen no price modifications so far. This makes them more expensive than a lot of other Corps units, but not THAT much more expensive than other Corps units (only 1pt/mini more than Rebel Veterans, only 2pts/mini more than Pyke Syndicate Foot soldiers, 0.5pts/mini more expensive than Black Sun Enforcers, same cost as Shoretroopers, and almost 2pts/mini more than B2 Super Battle Droids or Geonosian Warriors). The only Corps units that cost more than Phase I Clone Troopers are Phase II Clone Troopers, who cost 2pts/mini more than them (we may get to these guys in a future post).