Star Wars and Tabletop Talk
It’s not every day you stumble across a video tutorial this amazing. I am declaring this to be the best paint job in all of Star Wars Legion.
If you found that video insightful, here are some more triumphant videos from previous years.
About this same time every year I put out some of my finest content. Stay tuned for more next year!
The AT-RT is one of those units that can go from very cheap to very expensive with just a single upgrade. The price of hard-points tend to be significant, and units that have the ability to take them, often very much want to do exactly that. But at what point should you leave that slot empty?
At only 55 points the AT-RT is the second cheapest unit available for the rebels at launch. But it’s price dramatically increases as you add hardpoints. In fact, you can bring it up to 100 points with enough upgrades – which is almost double the starting price. This may be a bridge too far for many lists, in which you’ll want extra activations more than simply extra upgrades. It may be easier to pass on Let’s take a look at each hardpoint available.
The Extra Guns
F
The AT-RT Rotary Blaster comes in at 30 points, and is the most general purposed hardpoint available. Like all of the weapons that you can add, it has Fixed: Front, restricting it’s fire to the frontal 90 degrees only. It does however, offer five black dice, which paired with the AT-RT’s offensive surge to crit, can do some great damage to enemy targets. It doesn’t have any additional keywords however.
The AT-RT Laser Cannon is the most expensive and has the longest range of the AT-RT’s weapons. It only has 3 dice, but one of them is red and combined with the surge ability, this means the AT-RT is virtually guaranteed to get some damage in. And with it’s Impact 3 keyword, it can be a great tool when used against enemy targets with the Armor keyword. The downsides are that this weapon can’t be used at Range 1, and that it is the most expensive, at 35 points, nearly the cost of an entire rebel trooper unit. Is it worth sacrificing nearly an entire unit’s worth of troops and firepower just for an alternate weapon that you can’t use up close?
The Flamethrower has the opposite problem that the Laser Cannon has. It ONLY works up close. It makes up for this weakness by costing only 25 points, which might be easier for some to pay for. Against larger formations of troopers, this weapon can potentially roll the most dice and deal the most damage out of all available options, if you can make it work. But if you end up not making it work, are those points wasted?
Leaving the Slot Empty
One thing to keep in mind, is that the AT-RT doesn’t have the ARSENAL keyword, like the Snowspeeder and AT-ST. This means that the AT-RT isn’t sacrificing a free weapon being fired, by leaving the slot empty. Those other vehicles are virtually required to take at least one hardpoint due to the opportunity cost of missing out on what is effectively a free attack. The AT-RT doesn’t miss out on this attack. It still can shoot at Range 3. It still has an offensive Surge, which means it still has a reasonable chance of being able to suppress enemies that are fairly far away. And it still can do serious damage to enemy units if it can close into melee range of them.
Support
Freeing up points also allows you more room in your squad for extra units – which could go towards another AT-RT. Having an extra unit can often be more advantageous than simply having an upgraded unit that has several options on which weapon to use. This is especially true when you consider the survivability and support that AT-RTs can provide your other units.
Troopers behind an AT-RT will receive light cover. Having a front line of AT-RTs can help keep your troopers safe while you are advancing toward the enemy, or when storming an objective. And keeping them up front also allows them to have early opportunities to engage enemies with the three red dice from those terrible Grappling Claws!
Front Line List
I like the idea of being able to run Naked AT-RTs so much I made a video list about it. Check it out if you’d like to learn more!
So you just picked up Legion and you are trying to figure out what to do next? This guide should help you get started putting your first squad together to wage war against the rebel scum or the evil galactic empire!
A standard game is 800 points, so you are going to need more than just a core set. For most people interested in full 800 point games, that’s going to mean buying multiple core sets, and possibly a few expansions as well. For now, I’m going to assume that you’ve either bought 2 core sets or split two with a friend, and have at least one other expansion to round out your army.
Commander and Command Cards
Selecting a commander is going to be an important part of your overall strategy. For now however, since each faction only has one readily available, you are going to be stuck with either Darth Vader, or Luke Skywalker. However, General Veers and Leia Organa are on the horizon, and will soon offer new, cheaper options. You can have up to 2 commanders, so we may see dual commander lists fairly soon.
Command cards go hand in hand with choosing a commander. You must have 7, and must include a Standing Orders card. You must also have two of each “pip” cards, so two 1-pips, two 2-pips, and two 3-pips. Additionally you cannot duplicate any command cards, so you can’t include two Ambush cards for example. This means at launch, you won’t even have any choices here, since Luke and Vader offer you exactly enough to get you up to that minimum requirement. Once the next wave of commanders comes out however, you’ll have some choices to make. It is worth noting however, that you won’t be able to use Leia’s command cards, if she isn’t in your army. The same holds true for any character specific command card.
The Corps
You need a minimum of 3 Corps units, and a maximum of 6. So at least 3 rebel troopers, or 3 stormtroopers. If have more than 6 you won’t be able to use them all in a standard game. Once we have fleet troopers and snowtroopers, players will have more diversity in their corps options. For now, there are multiple ways to outfit your existing corps troopers and make them cheap, diverse, strong, or tough.
The corps troopers are crucial to winning the game. If your commander is the head of your army, the corps is the backbone. This game is not just about killing the enemy. It is about accomplishing the mission and completing objectives. Most of the mission cards favor builds that have the most unit leaders – and the troopers you’ll get at launch are the cheapest way to get unit leaders. You may want to maximize their numbers by running very few upgrades. You may also want to help ensure their survival by adding extra miniatures to their ranks. Try to outfit your initial corps units in various different ways for the first few games to get a feel for what works best for you. You may want to swarm troopers with no upgrades. You may want to give them all extra weapons to split up their fire. You may want to run every one of them completely different! It is important to get a good feeling for the corps units because they more than likely will be the difference makers in the games that you win.
The Rest of Your Squad
We haven’t seen any Special Forces units announced yet, so for now, that just leaves Support and Heavy. These are the larger units that are going to give your army a battlefield presence to really help it stand out! These are the units that may tend to be more focused on one particular play-style, and may even require you to build your list around them. Vehicles in this game are going to be extremely fun, because they represent one thing that wasn’t really well done in FFG’s last ground game, Imperial Assault. Vehicles here are absolutely gorgeous and having a few of them on your battlefield can really help make your game come alive.
Vehicles tend to be more expensive than troopers, so it’s generally a good idea to have fewer of them, in order to facilitate a more balanced list. Running two fully loaded AT-STs might look cool, but would leave you with very few points for the rest of your list. Generally, newer players may want to limit their first builds to only one heavy, and at most two supports. You’ll want enough points to allow you some hardpoints and other upgrades, especially on those vehicles with the ARSENAL keyword, which allows your attacks to use additional weapons.
Videos
If you want some additional help, here are some videos to walk you through the process.
Rebels:
Empire:
It’s been a great contest with over 60 submissions! I’d like to thank everyone who entered! Submissions are now closed, but you are still more than welcome to add some more paint jobs to the forums if you simply want to share!
I’ll be announcing the winner of the Legion Core Set, as well as the winner of the door prize in the next day or 2, so make sure and check back often!
I’ll be narrowing down the paint jobs soon, but here are some of the finalists:
Here are some thumbnails of the submissions we got over on the forums!
The video, which covers most of the same material:
As Star Wars Legion’s launch date approaches, many people are asking “Do I need multiple Core Sets?” and I think it’s easily one of the most frequently asked questions, so I decided to do my best to answer.
The Short Answer : No, 1 Core set is fine.
The Long Answer : You might actually want more than one. (Keep reading!)
To first answer, we’re going to need to answer a few key questions:
Core Set Contents
The Core Set comes with rules, tokens, cards, and all teh essentials to get you started. In terms of Miniatures, it has Vader, Luke, 2x Stormtrooper Units, 2x Rebel Trooper Units, an AT-RT, and a Speeder Bike Unit.
Required to Play
A standard game has an 800 point limit. You’ll want to get as close to 800 points as you can. The Core set will get you about halfway there. You have the option of playing a smaller point game if you want, but keep in mind that official play will be at the 800 point cost.
Legion also has minimums and maximums for units. This means in the case of the empire, you can’t just build an army completely full of stormtroopers. However you also won’t be able to do without stormtroopers either. You’ll need at least 1 Commander, which each faction gets in the Core Set(Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader), and you’ll need a minimum of 3 Corps units (Stormtroopers, or Rebel Troopers, respectively). So right away you’ll need more than the Core Set comes with.
You can have up to 3 Support Units (the AT-RT, or Speeder Bikes), and a maximum of 6 Corps. There are other restrictions for other types of units, but for this article I’m focusing just on the Core Set. So right away it would seem like THREE Core Sets would grant you the maximum number of Corps and Support units. So why not just buy 3 and keep it simple?
Upgrade cards
In the past, FFG has almost always thrown out a few exclusive upgrade cards in each expansion pack, to give you an incentive to buy an expansion for a miniature you already own. We can expect they will likely do something similar this time around. However, I will note that in their latest miniatures game, Runewars, this actually was not so much the case. Some individual core set unit expansions didn’t have a single exclusive upgrade card. The upgrade cards they DID have were shared among multiple expansions. Considering this game does have a few mechanics in common with Runewars, and seemingly a very similar distribution method, I wouldn’t be surprised to see upgrades in these expansions show up in multiple different boxes. In short – you MAY not need to buy 4x Stormtrooper Expansion packs.
Cost
The Core Set retails for $89.95. This is actually an incredible deal when you consider what is included. In addition to the rules, tokens, cards, and essentials to get started, you also get Luke, Vader, 2x Rebel Troopers, 2x Stormtroopers, an AT-RT, and Speeder Bike units. Plus all the normal materials you’d need to play the game. Now lets look at those expansion prices. (We are excluding the unknown variable of Expansion Cards when we factor in cost).
They are each $24.95, and the extra dice and range tools are each $14.95, which means if you were to buy out everything in the core set separately, it would cost you $179.60! You could almost get 2 Core Sets for that price, and you’d have twice the miniatures! Not to mention the extra tools and dice. Oh dice….
Dice
I’m making a separate paragraph to talk about dice. You are going to want a ton of dice. This game gives you the ability to chuck a TON of dice and you aren’t going to have enough in the core set. I actually made the mistake of proxying dice for some test games, and didn’t make enough. I got sick of having to record results and re-roll over and over again. If you don’t get multiple core sets, you are going to want at least 1 more dice pack, if not 2 more.
What if I’m planning on playing a Single faction?
If you are running a single faction, I think it’s a safe bet to only get one core set. But first, find a buddy who is doing the same, and arrange to trade the opposite factions with each other. This way you’ll have double the Imperial contents, while your pal will have double the rebel scum… (Or vice versa).
There are other reasons why multiple core sets might be considered wasteful. For example, the extra Luke and Vader won’t do you much good, unless of course you want to have extras to paint, or run multiple paint schemes, (Red Vader anyone? Also, you might not be certain you’ll like the game yet, and simply want to run a few smaller test games. If that’s the case, then by all means start off with just one and test the waters.
Maxing out
If you want to have the maximum legal number of each type of unit, three core sets will easily be the cheapest($269.85) but like I said earlier, you’ll run the risk of not having any exclusive cards that come with the expansions. If you max out, I would instead suggest 2 Core Sets, and 2 of each trooper expansion, and 1 of each support expansion. This will get you access to each upgrade card. However, if for example, the stormtrooper expansion ends up having a “MUST-BUY” exclusive, that will change the entire formula… but as of right now I doubt that will be the case.
This would have a total cost $329.60 at MSRP.
From what I’ve seen thus far, this game doesn’t really need you to load up your units with that many upgrades to really be effective. The best upgrades, (in my opinion) are those which add a miniature to the unit. Since we can see the miniatures in the spreads, it is reasonable to assume that those “top-level” upgrades will be the same between the core set and the expansions.
A Balanced Approach
If you don’t want to completely max out on all units right away, I’ll share with you my current plan. 2 Core Sets and only ONE of each expansion. This will get me started with a wealth of options, and also leave plenty of room for those new Heavy units that were also spoiled. It’ll also be more sparing on the wallet.
This will have a cost of only $279.70
In closing, I recommend two core sets, based on what we know now, and the tremendous savings involved. Unless of course, you are only planning to play a single faction and want to split cores with a friend. Once we get more details on the individual expansion exclusive cards, then this MIGHT change, but I wouldn’t bet it will change all that much. Thanks for reading, and may the force be with you!
First off, here’s a video if you don’t want to read!
FFG released new images today showing us some relative scale of the AT-ST and Snowspeeder in relation to some infantry miniatures. This is most likely aimed at the recent criticism for the initial articles having only solo images of each vehicle, making it difficult for us to see the pictures.
Here are two of the initial pictures from the launch article:
The AT-ST looks great next to those trees, but it would have been great to see it next to some troopers!
The Snowspeeder just looks really small right here. There’s really not much for reference.
This lead to alot of debate on various different message boards and social media about the scale of these vehicles and if they are worth the price tag. Many pointed out that the snowspeeder isn’t that large to begin with, which is true if you are comparing it to an X-Wing or similar starfighter. However we still needed to see.
This week, FFG released these two images.
At first it seems like these images set the record straight by giving us some reference and perspective. However, if you look closely you’ll see that the angles of the bases are different. This lead people to say that the image was faked or photoshopped.
Realistically, I’m sure the image was photoshopped. They don’t have production models in-hand yet, so they have to base it off of the proposed sizes and dimensions. That doesn’t mean that this image is false though, in that it most likely does reflect the actual size of these vehicles.
I remain hopeful that they will be large and impressive! Can’t wait for them to show up!
Win a Legion Core Set!
Since the holidays are nearly upon us, I have decided it is time for a contest! The winner of which will receive a gift card to miniature market for a Legion Core Set! What contest you ask?
Painting Contest!
In preparation for what will likely be a WHOLE lot of painting, I’ve decided that I want to see some of the best paint jobs that everyone has to offer! I’m going to let this contest run until after Thanksgiving, and the winner will be announced during the weekend of Nov 24-26th, 2017. Your paint job can be any FFG miniature! I will be picking the winner myself, but you entries will get bonus points if it’s a Star Wars product – so while I am open to entries of Runewars, and other games, I’m really looking for Star Wars paint jobs. X-Wing, Armada, and Imperial Assault will be my main focus.
I’m looking for the best paint job, but will totally give bonus points for a great photo, so the more work you put in to your presentation, there better! Backgrounds, setup, and great lighting will help! You’ll need to register on my forums, and if you have any trouble doing that, contact me on my youtube channel.
The Rules:
The winner will be announced the weekend following Thanksgiving, just in time for the December Holiday Season! The winner will receive a gift card in the amount of $72.00, (Miniature Market currently has the Legion Core Set listed as ($71.99). I reserve the right to make adjustments to this contest as necessary(Perhaps the price changes, etc).
Star Wars Legion Wave 1 is finally revealed! AT-STs and Snowspeeders!
Just wanted to share some pictures of my finished Hoth Terrain for Star Wars Legion! It’s taken me probably about two months to create all of the terrain pieces. Here are some pictures!
I also ordered the playmat from Deep-Cut Studio, which I used for the surface. The AT-AT is from the old WOTC game, the explosions are a Bandaii Tamashi Nations effect, (Plastic pieces for posing action figures), and all the rest of the miniatures are from Imperial Assault. I cannot WAIT for Star Wars Legion to finally come out!
I’ve documented my progress in a series of videos. If you haven’t checked them out yet I suggest you do!
If you just want to jump to the final video, that’s part 10!
Well, I’ve wanted a ground game for years and it looks like I’m finally getting it!
Set to release in early 2018, Star Wars legion is basically Warhammer 40K but for Star Wars. Like similar Star Wars games, this is a tabletop miniatures game with army building, and is set for 1 vs 1 play. This game has some similarities with Runewars, but has a ton of differences also, most notably that it doesn’t use the tray system. Every stormtrooper here moves around freely.
The miniatures aren’t exactly in the scale I was hoping for however. What I really wanted, was for it to be in the same scale as X-Wing, to hopefully allow crossover play at some point. I was hoping for ultra massive scale battles, with 5-7 AT-ATs marching on the rebels, while the rebels had waves of defenses setup, and we got to see battles that made Hoth look tame by comparison.
What we got was miniatures that are…. larger than Imperial Assault.
Now at first I was disappointed because at this scale, there’s just no way I am going to be able to fit 5-7 AT-ATs on the table top… well not on MY table anyway. But I think I’m going to be ok with that. This slightly larger scale is actually turning out to be a good thing because these miniatures look FANTASTIC! Painting them is going to be a joy. (Did I mention they come unpainted and un-assembled?) Painting Star Wars miniatures is always a pleasure – though I do have some concerns on weather or not I’ll keep my stormtroopers in standard white or if I’ll jazz them up with some crazy purple flair!
This game is going to also use terrain! It allows for cover, and elevation! These are the really exciting parts! And it’s rekindled my inner crafty person. I’ve begun working on some Hoth terrain as well! The next 6 months are going to be an eager time of anticipation!