Not a battle report - Star Wars Legion Droids Vs Wookies

Afternoon, here we are again with Star Wars Legions. This was a game from a month or so back. It's worth noting that Ben had decided to get a vinyl forest gaming mat to create Endor. This was a controversial decision as Otty is very much against such 'artificial' backgrounds. He's much happier with his own flocked boards, particularly the new ones he'd just completed that were overlooked for this! Much gentle ribbing of this mat followed. For me, I like neoprene mats. I like the sound of dice on them and if it's a cool pattern I'm all for it. This one is OK, but as it's vinyl you can see the reflective sheen, which doesn't help with immersive play. I would recommend it if you're on a budget, but if you can stretch to something more substantial, or build your own then it's worth the effort for a better experience.

Anyway, this game was Droids, with General Grievous.

Including Liam's 3D printed Droid tank.

Versus Wookies, including Yoda, Chewbacca, 

And some Clone Troopers on their BARC Speeder and another unit out of shot on the far right of this view.

As I recall we won the order bidding and managed to get relatively far up the board. Wookies are great climbers, so can ignore climbing checks. Yoda jumped on Chewie's back, which gave us some bonuses and benefits we planned to make use of next turn. However, they also made a prime target and took 4 wounds. Not sure if that's to Yoda or Chewie but those Super Battle Droids and Grievous put the hurt on them. The Fluttercraft had done a great bombing run but had overextended and got wiped out. The second Fluttercraft with the rear gunner did OK, but it was clearly a challenge to get a firing position to use the gun effectively.

Our Clone Troopers on the far left focused on the rolling Droidekas. I knew they'd be nigh impossible to shift off the objective when they stopped and got their shields up. They took one down and wounded the second.

While another squad of Wookies halved the unit of Super Battle Droids facing them in the trees.

Yoda eventually got to General Greivous, for a suitably impressive looking battle with wholly unimpressive results as the Jedi Master was cut down by Grievous - underwhelming.

And that's about all we could fit in in one evening. Once again, entertaining but so slow going. With Yoda gone [maybe Chewie too at this point, I forget] and many order benefits lost with his death the idea of continuing this game next time around was less appealing.

But we persevered and the Wookies got into the Super Battle Droids.

While the BARC Speeder went for Bossk, who'd been a thorn in our sides taking out the second Fluttercraft. It's such and ugly design, but in game it was proving extremely effective.

Three Wookies became the command squad and were out for revenge for the loss of Yoda and Chewie.

They charged down Grievous.

And pulled his arms from his sockets to soothe their loss!

On the right far side a lone Wookie took on a spider droid.

While another squad faced the last of the Super Battle Droids. I have no idea if we won. I think perhaps we did because we prioritised getting on objectives. I'm not sure if we even scored points per round or if it was points at the end of a specific game turn [not that we ever get though many of them]. I think despite our losses we may have swung it our way due to objective control.

But ultimately, it's not about the result. It's two nights of hanging out with these guys and having a laugh!

Star Wars Legion Barricade - TO DONE! 🔴⚪

Afternoon I've been #PaintingStarWars with hindsight I should have posted this for 'May the 4th', but I wasn't on the ball. I'd made a comment to Otty about some barricades in the rulebook looking cool with the orange accent colour, which he responded with a comment about them being "a bit too much rebel scum"!

But he had 6 unpainted ones and told me if I liked them so much I could paint my own.

So this came out of nowhere and I just got the urge. 

Simple and straightforward, I managed to keep my tendency to over-complicate things in check.

Sure I added a bit of extra details on the bizarre control systems on the back.

But I do think they reflect the original Star Wars control panel aesthetic in the black.

I had flashbacks to my Deathwing Land Raider Redeemer, but in a good way.

I don't know why but I did find this type of barrier much easier to paint.

Which is odd as this one looks like it has less detail.

I definitely prefer them.

Some random panel colours. Some work much better than others.

It's a weird thing to do and no one is checking they make sense.

But there are definitely some choices that don't sit well with me. I can't explain why but equally it doesn't make any difference to them whatsoever.

Less battle damage on the back.

Super happy with the control panels.

Even the little ones,

The black housing just evokes that Star Wars design style.

Chalk it up!

Another Great Big Wooden Stamps of Approval.

Not a battle report - Star Wars Legion Empire Vs Mandalorians

Afternoon, at this rate I may have to look at a new URL and whole new rebrand! I can't appeal to the Warhammer Community on this one, it's Star Wars Legion! This is not the first game we've played, but it appears to be the first one I've shared.  That surprises me as I'm sure I have loads of pictures... of games I will definitely have no recollection of either!

As I don't remember what happened let us instead enjoy the pictures and muse somewhat on the game. Legion is like 40k, but based on Star Wars. There's another game - Star Wars Shatterpoint that seems like a skirmish game and seems to have a bit more support but Legion is on its 2nd edition [the new rules are free to download]. We're coming to terms with the new rules, I'd estimate we played 1st edition maybe about 6 times.

Overall, I think we like it. It's not as fun, or as simple as MESBG but it is much more engaging than 40k, despite occasionally being more complex! That's right. When I claim 40k is too complex how does a more complex game feel more entertaining? I'm still trying to conclusively answer that but I have various thoughts.

First up, every unit comes with a datacard, with all it's specific rules. You can then add upgrades, more cards, and that helps build your army. Together with an overly convoluted and impenetrable mission/deployment/objective setting stage at the beginning of the game just getting to turn one is a chore in itself.

Honestly, I think the next game we played it took over an hour in pre-game 'book-keeping'. It was ludicrous, but did add some of the high points of humour for the evening. When the game actually starts you have a set of order cards that give you some buffs but have a specific value 1-4. This is how many of your units you can give orders to and whoever 'bids' the lowest gets to activate their unit/units first. So if you choose a 2 unit order and your friend chose 3 you get to give orders to 2 units and activate them. Your friend gets to give orders to 3 units and can activate them after, or it alternates, I forget which. Like I say it's complicated and I seem only able to understand the rules when I'm actually in the shed.

There are various movement tools that feel really precise given they have hinges in, and you position them on the base and then move the leader model from one end to the other. The the rest of the squad just moves anywhere within a certain distance. Kind of undermining the precision effort but I think there is a net speed benefit in the end. Each unit gets to do 2 'actions' which could be move twice, move once and attack once [you can only make one form of attacking action unless special rules say otherwise], aim and shoot, dodge and move or even rally.

Some of these actions give benefits in the shooting phase or when you are shot at. Any time you are shot at your model gets a 'suppression' counter, like Bolt Action pinned marker, and that can prevent you from doing more than one action. To counter this you have to do a leadership roll and all of these rolls are on special 6 or 8 sided dice. 6 sided are for 'defence' - for rallies and saving throws [in white and red -  red is best]. These have shields and 'surges'. Some units convert surges to shields, increasing their defence. 8 sided dice for 'attacks' [in white, black and red - red is best]. These have hits, critical hits and surges. Again, some units convert surges to a hit, or even convert a surge to a crit! It's a neat way of managing a units capability but it does mean every time you fire or make a save you have to consult their datacard to see if a surge counts for anything else.

So yes, confusion is very much part of the game and can slow down progress. If we get through 2 to 3 turns in one evening that's a result!

Many units are single wound models, but some heroes and tough units like Wookies are multiple wound models. 

Therefore wound counters come as standard, alongside the suppression and many, many other markers. Now you know I'm a fan of markers, but even I get overwhelmed by just how many are used in this game.

Cover allows you an additional saving throw [on white dice]. Roll a dice for every hit [crits ignore cover]. Soft cover allows a shield [and surge if you convert] to negate 1 hit. Hard cover can negate 2. You also get 'cover' saves for dodging and if you already have a suppression counter. Simple and complex, it's quite a feat.

Alternating play really helps feel like you're not a spectator as your army is deleted a unit at a time. Although, the potential to remove a unit in one turn in Legion is highly unlikely. Which is one of its appeals. Even with 'tanks' like the AT-ST against an infantry unit - it just doesn't have enough guns to wipe a unit in 1 turn. It may kill 1, 2 or 3 in a squad but most of them have enough figures to weather firepower of that magnitude.

And even that will only put one suppression token on the squad so they'll still be usable if they haven't been activated. They may have one less action, if they fail their rally, but you don't feel like you're constantly losing options. I think that is one of its biggest successes - the durability of units. Unlike the films, Stormtroopers hit quite a lot, but their blasters aren't that fatal. Even Rebel t-shirts can be effective armour!

So, we're somehow loving this complex, long winded game in a way that the similarly afflicted 40k doesn't seem to deliver. It's frustrating and sad that we've all invested in a game that no one is motivated to play. I love the figures, the settings and the armies I've spent time and effort painting. We just can't bring ourselves to put them on the table

That said, I won't be investing in a Star Wars army just yet. Suggestions for factions keep being made to me and I would dearly love a Jawa army. The 3D sculpts are stunning and funny too.

However, this is is not even a legitimate faction. There are no rules for them aside from an upgrade card for one model. And without official figures even, there are no official cards, which are key to playing the game.

We discussed using Ewok rules, but the Ewoks are utterly murderous and we have an Ewok army already painted up. So there's no incentive for me to buy into another system. Nor add in a load of new figures to paint, which is actually a relief.