Month: September 2019

Luke vs. Luuke

Rebel Analysis


Forget Operative vs. Commander, it’s Luke vs. Luuke

Greetings! The upcoming release, and recent spoiling, of Operative Luke Skywalker has cast quite a decision upon the community: do you continue to use Commander Luke with some new command cards, or do you pay the extra points to get an even beefier version? Today, I’d like to touch on some comparisons and command card scenarios for each unit, and attempt to lay a case comparing the two. In terms of raw stats and general command card usage, Op Luke seems to be slightly advantaged, but time will tell if the extra 40 point cost (plus an upgrade or two) is a fair price for some new abilities and a better lightsaber. First, let’s briefly cover the new command cards coming within the Operative Luke expansion.

New Command Cards

You Serve Your Master Well (YSYMW) is one of the most interesting, potentially powerful cards the rebels have access to. It functions in the same manner as the Emperor’s Pulling the Strings ability, but adds the caveat of a non-commander or non-operative, as well as the ability to use it on a suppressed enemy unit. Why is this so good? Well, using Jedi Mind Trick with Luke will suppress any valid target for this card, allowing you to use an enemy unit to attack another enemy unit (those Deathtroopers never cared for Krennic anyway), or have one of your powerful friendly units (tauntauns perhaps?) attack twice in a turn. Yes, this move triggers relentless. This action is a free action, and allows Luke to retain both of his own two actions, leaving him free to attack or pull some force push shenanigans of his own as well.

Full of Surprises helps to boost Luke’s survivability. He gains a dodge and the ability to roll extra white defense dice for the difference between his courage and number of suppression. The short version of this is that the “earlier” Luke gets shot at, the better his defensive rolls will be. Seeing as Luke is usually a prime target for the enemy to focus down, he will generally have a few suppression, meaning that the primary ability of this card is giving Luke access to a “better deflect” for the first volley fired his way. Full of Surprises is potentially a strong turn 2 or 3 card, where you have to expose Luke to a dicey position and want to boost his defense in preparation for a 1-pip assault the next turn.

Have you every thought, “I wish Luke had a change of plans card like Han does?”. Well, he has a version now. I am a Jedi removes Luke’s ability to attack for a turn, and in return gives him Surge to Block and allows you to choose two enemy troopers at range 1, and deny them the ability to attack this turn as well. This card is extremely powerful, but comes with a large opportunity cost, as you are giving up 200+ points of offense for an entire turn. Just like change of plans, this card is extremely timing dependent, and some of the best cards to counter with this card include Son of Skywalker, Implacable, Trained in Your Arts, and And Now You Will Die. 

Unit Cards

 

Luke Skywalker
Commander (160)
Health: 6
Courage: 3
Attack: 6 Black  with Pierce/Impact 2 (Melee) and 2 Red  with Pierce (Range 1-2)
Keywords: Charge, Deflect, Immune: Pierce, Jump 1
Upgrade Slots: Force, Force, Gear
Surge Crit



Luke Skywalker2

Operative (200)
Health: 7
Courage: 4
Attack: 7 Black with Pierce/Impact 2
Keywords: Charge, Deflect, Disengage, Immune: Pierce, Master of the Force 1, Jump 1
Upgrade Slots: Force, Force, Force, Training
Surge Crit

Right off the bat, Op Luke is 40 points more expensive. What do those 40 points get you? An extra health, courage, force upgrade slot, and attack die, a training slot, Disengage, and Master of the Force 1. These are all substantial upgrades, but you also lose the commander courage bubble, stims slot (gear slot), and the built in ranged attack. Having an extra force slot can only be seen as a net upgrade, but the training vs. gear slot can definitely be debated. Having a gear slot grants Commander Luke access to emergency stims or recon intel, thereby staying alive for an extra round or getting into the action quicker with a free speed 1 scout move at the start of deployment. However, the training slot gives access to tenacity (an extra red for a crazy 8 die pool), endurance (shedding an extra suppression to keep Luke moving), and offensive push (gaining an aim token after a standard move when you need to double move and kill something). The importance of Disengage cannot be overstated as well. Having the ability to move out of a single melee combat at will not only saves force push for protection purposes later on, but also ensures the enemy can almost never tarpit Luke or slow him down to keep him away from his terrified target.

Considering all testing with Op Luke so far has been through proxying or TableTop Simulator, much more data is needed to make a definitive answer to which is better point for point. I believe this will come down to play style, as Commander Luke functions better as a linebacker unit that holds down the troops while waiting until the late game to pounce; due to his courage bubble and one less health and courage. Meanwhile, Op Luke functions as the ultimate melee alpha strike, as his higher courage value and greater health and damage output mean he can get into the enemy lines before they can stop him. (Picture that with triple tauntauns or even wookies) Once he gets there, he can also hop from engagement to engagement through his use of force push and disengage. 

Both Luke models have the ability to use either’s set of command cards, so with six options per mini I think its worth quickly going through the cards and noting some stylistic differences between commander and operative. Spoiler alert: there aren’t too many, but Op Luke appears to have a slight edge here.

One Pips: Son of Skywalker & You Serve Your Master Well

Honestly, there’s not a whole lot of difference here. Son of Skywalker functions the same for either model, two giant melee attacks with pierce tend to kill their target. One caveat for Op Luke, you may want to invest in a 5 point Saber Throw, as a 4 black pierce 2 range attack is a fairly decent second strike if you kill your first target. Its also not terrible on its own. YSYMW edges slightly in favor of Op Luke here, as Jedi Mind Trick is capable of suppressing any enemy unit, and Master of the Force ensures that Op Luke has the option of having it every single turn, whereas a mistimed Jedi Mind Trick by Commander Luke can leave you high and dry. 

Two Pips: My Ally is the Force & Full of Surprises

My Ally functions identically for both Luke’s, as both have deflect and the same raw defensive stats. Full of Surprises once again edges slightly towards Op Luke, as he has an extra courage value to boost those additional white dice. Pretty straightforward here.

Three Pips: Return of the Jedi & I am a Jedi

It seems like FFG might be telling us Luke is a Jedi, doesn’t it? Just like My Ally, Return of the Jedi functions the same for both versions, and arguably I am a Jedi does as well. However, you can make the argument once again that Op Luke has a slight advantage in his usage of I am a Jedi because of his extra point of health. This is a very edge case, but having an extra health can allow Luke to survive the current turn and make it to the command phase of the following turn to play the card before he dies. This same argument can also apply to Commander Luke with Stims, but considering Stims is an optional upgrade, I give the slight, slight, slight edge to Op Luke. 

So, you’ve heard the cases, seen the evidence, and had some time to digest the information, which version of Luke is more worth your points? It’s still very hard to say, and I’ll offer a cop-out. If you already run Luke in a Wonder Twins-style list, I give the edge to Op Luke, as he hits harder, has better survivability, and slightly better action economy through his Master of the Force ability. Additionally, Op Luke comes with a “commander tax,” where you are forced to run a commander to accommodate the force organization chart, and having Leia as an integral part of your list removes that tax. In a Luke-Sabine style list that Zach and I are fond of, Commander Luke takes the day, as he presents a better courage bubble than the Generic Officer for Sabine and the troops, and costs 40 points less so you don’t have to skimp on any upgrades that are direly needed, such as Sabine’s Darksaber or squad officer upgrades. I’m personally interested in which version will better suit a tauntaun list, as fitting 2/3 tauntauns plus Leia and either version of Luke is a sizable investment. Personally? I’m taking Op Luke and a fleet of lizards into Invader League 4, so I’m betting Operative. 

Next week, Zach will take a look at Operative and Commander Vader, so be sure to stick around for that, as the Dark Lord of the Sith is primed for a resurgence on the tables following his points drop and new command cards. As always, if you have any questions or comments be sure to fire away, and join in on the Facebook group and Legion Discord for some discussion on which Luke will be swinging his way into your upcoming lists.

-Mike

Q and A with David Lawson of Imperial Terrain!

General

Image result for imperial terrain cochin

David Lawson is the man behind Imperial Terrain, which I’m sure most of us are familiar with, and he’s the man behind their newest project: The Cochin Industrial Kickstarter Campaign. We thought it was a prime chance to ask Dave some questions in regard to this awesome, world building project as it has taken the terrain world by storm! (at this moment it’s over $25K in support!) Let’s jump into that interview, here:


Q: Good morning, Dave! As a Star Wars Legion fanatic I know what Imperial Terrain is. For new players wondering: what is Imperial Terrain?

A: Imperial Terrain is a Sci-Fi themed terrain shop focused on 3d print files and printed terrain pieces that work very well for wargames like Legion and RPG’s. I play Legion when I have the time (Shawn Morris only beat me by one place at Gencon) and enjoy being a member of the growing community. We support the list builders, invader league, and even small tournaments when we can.

Q: Now that we know what Imperial Terrain is there’s of course the main reason for this interview. The Cochin Industrial Kickstarter Campaign! Was this something in the works for a while? What separates this Kickstarter from anything Imperial Terrain has ever done before? 

A:I have been working on the setting and files for probably 2 months before the launch of the Kickstarter. To do it right is a TON of work, and I’m learning that more and more each day the Kickstarter progresses.  From art, concept work, modeling, partnering, etc. We could have easily done a set of files and released it on our store, but then I wouldn’t have gotten 1/10th of the amazing ideas / feedback that have gone right back into the files. I have already updated most of the core files from backer feedback. Let alone, working with folks like Dominic, the Terrain Studio, Skullforge, etc.

Q: For those of us unfamiliar with Kickstarter campaigns, can you walk us through how each pledge tier functions and how all of the goals reached and still attainable goals yet to be unlocked work? 

A:Sure, it really boils down to about 3 questions.
Do you have a 3d printer and just want the files to make the terrain yourself? Go with the $40 Pledge.
Do you not own a 3d printer and want to buy already printed pieces that get delivered to you? Go with the $60 Pledge, you will also be able to add onto your order after the Kickstarter is over via a Pledge Manager.
Do you want both some printed stuff and the files because down the road you might get your own printer? Go with the $80 Pledge Level. Surprisingly this has been the most popular option!
As of this morning, we have unlocked 8x Stretch Goals. Every time the funding level surpasses dollar value the stretch goal is locked at, the stretch goal is unlocked and the files will be available to backers. Physical pledge folks will be able to buy those models printed at a special price down the road.
We still have 4x Stretch Goals left and I will continue to add more as I have plenty of ideas!

Q: As someone watching Cochin keep evolving and completing said goals I have to ask: was this crazy amount of support and success expected or are you exceeding expectations? With this success, do you see yourself launching another Kickstarter in the near future after this campaign is settled?

A: We are massively exceeding expectations which I think speaks to the setting, the work the team did, the flexibility of the terrain, etc. As far as another Kickstarter down the road, I want to do something different…not from only a setting/theme point of view but also from different production methods as well. I will definitely be working with other awesome artists again to make more than just “Here is 100 STL Files”, I know people want alot of bang for their buck, but to me its about creating an awesome setting and giving ideas, hobby tips, instruction, artwork, etc.

Q: Another big name in the terrain building for Star Wars Legion is the Terrain Studio. Shawn and crew are part of the Kickstarter with Imperial Terrain, as we can see with some awesome videos on the world building you all created together. It’s fantastic as someone involved with the community to see the two companies work together. Did you approach Shawn with the idea and how did this all come to fruition? 

A: I did approach Shawn awhile back as these things take a bit of time to make happen. I’ve known him since the game came out and always respected/admired his work and skill. I was never concerned about sending him a massive amount of product and really letting him go hog wild with it. He was great during the process, insuring he was meeting my vision and coordinating frequently. Folks will see the demo board at LVO and Adepticon this year.

Q: On the design side of things, Cochin seems to take some idea from prior Imperial Terrain pieces and some of its own ideas and forms it into one. Such as the pegs to make it modular and interchangeable. Can you give us some insight on the workings of these designs and how you got them to where they are here in the Kickstarter? Going off said design insights, why go with an Industrial style setting? 

A:We rely heavily in the Cochin setting on the OpenLOCK connection system from Printable Scenery. I needed something proven, that works quickly and without much hassle. We made some very minor changes to accommodate our designs and were off to the races. Most of the models have been through many, many iterations which I find is my best way to work instead of trying to sit down and finish it in one sitting.
Industrial style is frankly one of my favorites. There is alot of influences here from abandoned factories, shipyards, stuff from the Star Wars settings like Corellia, abandoned Coruscant and others. You can find things in the current day world that we dont see often, such as shipyards, and turn them into a very cool setting for our wargames.

Q: Any idea if Cochin will be used at any upcoming events such as Warfaire Weekend (November 8th and 9th) or the Las Vegas Open (January 24-26)? 

A: Warfaire weekend, probably not but definitely LVO. I still have to decided if I can make it up to play for Warfaire!

Q: Last but not least: Star Wars Legion is coming out with the two new factions very, very soon. Is there any kind of sneak peek of ideas you may have going forward for Imperial Terrain in conjunction with these two new factions and world building? We know the community loves teasers and speculation! 

A: We have already released our Marin City set and some Rock Scatter that would help those folks build some interesting boards. Moving forward I think you will see some new items that will help players better immerse themselves in their wargames!

We want to thank Dave and the crew so much for letting the Jedha Journal do this Q and A interview with them! I can’t recommend them enough. I am, personally, a member of their monthly STL program and Mike has been a customer of theirs in the past on way too many occasions. The quality of their files and prints are top notch. If you join their monthly program there is a Facebook group that Dave and crew update regularly. Not to mention what the interview was all about: their Kickstarter, which is just fantastic stuff. They have set up one of the best Legion-related businesses out there, and again I cannot recommend them enough!

-Zach

Creature Trooper Oddities

General, Strategy

This may come as a surprise based on the amount of discussion that has already occurred, but Tauntaun Riders have only been out in the wild for a month, and the Dewbacks delayed release has meant that only a small number of people own them. Despite this, a number of interesting and unique movement and engagement scenarios and rules questions have arisen. Today, I would like to very briefly discuss some of the common situations that I have run into, and provide a concise, clear resolution for them.

This is meant to be a very quick overview (perhaps to get you ready for Invader League Season 4?) in which I will list and go over some of the relevant rules from the Rules Reference Guide, before diving into some Tabletop Simulator created examples, graciously provided to us by Sploosh (you can find him on the Legion Discord). Please feel free to reach out to Zach or myself specifically if you have any questions, and be sure to join the Discord or Facebook and ask the community. As a fair warning, today’s article is fairly straightforward, to the point, and slightly dry in nature, but will clarify a number of commonly asked questions.

Lets first take a look at some important creature trooper rules. These can be found in the rules reference guide under the headings Creature Troopers, Displacement, Creature Trooper Movement, Reposition, and Standard Move, on pages 29, 35, 50,  59, and 65.

  • Creature Troopers, pg 29 
    • Creature troopers cannot be displaced. 
    • Trooper and Ground Vehicle minis cannot move through creature troopers
  • Displacement, pg 35
    • If a unit leader was displaced, it must be placed within range 1 of its original position.
  • Creature Trooper Movement, pg 50
    • A creature trooper mini cannot move through or displace a trooper mini that is engaged. 
    • A creature trooper mini cannot move through or displace emplacement trooper minis. 
    • A creature trooper mini cannot move through or displace other creature trooper minis. 
    • While engaged, creature trooper units do not have to withdraw to perform moves and can displace non- creature, non-emplacement trooper units with which they are engaged while doing so.
  • Reposition, pg 59
    • When a unit with the reposition keyword is being moved by an opponent, such as via the Force Push upgrade card, the reposition keyword can be used by the opponent during that move. 
    • Standard Move, pg 65
    • All speed-x moves are standard moves. 
    • Pivot, Reverse, Climb, Clamber, Embark, and Disembark are not standard moves. 

That’s quite a bit of text isn’t it? The main things to take note of, and the examples we will explore shortly, are that creature troopers cannot move through other creature troopers, emplacement troopers, and ground vehicles. Additionally, force push cannot be used to reverse a creature trooper, but you can trigger reposition with them.

Let’s take a quick look at some examples.

You are Luke Skywalker in this example. Luke is engaged with the tauntaun currently, and is attempting to escape the melee. There are three ways for Luke to escape: withdraw, force push, or kill the tauntaun. Withdraw and elimination are pretty straightforward, so let’s focus on the force push. Force Push reads that you “perform a speed-1 move with that unit, even if it is engaged.” This wording is important because all speed-1 moves are standard moves, and reverse is defined as not being a standard move (pg. 65). Therefore, Luke cannot force push the tauntaun backwards. This means that the only other force push option is to actually displace Luke himself, because the tauntaun’s base will cross over Luke’s base, even if reposition is triggered from force push. Per the displacement rules (pg. 35), because you are performing the movement with the tauntaun model, your opponent places Luke within range 1 of his current position, potentially putting him in a dangerous location.

In this example, the red tauntaun has moved into position to block the blue tauntaun’s forward movement. Creature troopers cannot move through other creature troopers (pg. 50), and therefore the blue model only has one option: reverse. If you look closely at the models, even if the blue model pivots the full 90 degrees to its right, a small portion of the base would still move through the red base, making the movement illegal. This can be seen in the following graphic.

This example can be the most difficult one to resolve because the smallest sliver counts as a movement through another model, and sometimes this situation can be unclear and result in a judge needing to be called.

In this example, both models have their forward notches locked inside of their opponent’s notch, resulting in a stalemate. Despite the complex looking nature of this engagement, it is actually one of the simplest examples. Neither model can pivot in any direction without crossing through the other’s base, and this leaves only one option again: reverse.

In contrast to the linked bases in the example above, this melee does not have as many restrictions. Both units are able to clearly reverse, and also have the ability to pivot to escape. However, in order to ensure that no base overlap occurs, the full 90 degree pivot must be taken, and a straight movement must follow. Anything less than the full 90 degree pivot would result in the movement template being dragged across the opponent’s mini’s base.

As a bonus, let’s take a quick look at a hot button detachment ruling: when deploying the detachment unit, can you place the emplacement anywhere within range 1, including on top of a building? The short answer? Yes.

As goofy as this may seem, we currently do not have any language or text preventing a MK2 or Mortar from being deployed on top of a height 3 building, as long as it is within a speed one movement distance from its assigned corp unit. While it’s possible that this is clarified at a later date, there is already a tournament precedence from NOVA to allow this occurrence.

One final note: Do you like big archways over looking the water? Do you want to visit the current city that (unforunately) holds the Stanley Cup ? Have you watched War Corgi on Youtube and want to meet a Legion celebrity along with Legion’s top judge Brendon Franz? Well, I have the place for you! Join Brendon and crew at Warfaire Weekend this November 8th and 9th for the second of three Grand Championships this Legion tournament season! Earn cool swag, win a seat to come join Zach and I at next year’s High Command (aka Worlds), and receive free airfare if you win the whole thing! Sign ups are here.

-Mike

Through the Lightning and the Fur

Battle Reports
Image result for luke force lightning
 

Hello there! I recently had the opportunity to travel down to the NOVA Open for the latest Star Wars: Legion Grand Championship. Seeing as Legion is my first mini’s game, NOVA was my first wargaming convention, and it was pretty cool to wander around all the other tournament setups, especially the Middle Earth tables. (Seriously, someone help me buy into that game…) I played in the second heat, which took place on Friday, and the event TO’s had all the tables set up and ready to go for us. My day began with Palpatine, ended with Palpatine, and included nothing but Tauntauns in the middle. Let’s jump into the list real quick, and then dive into the swiss rounds.

“Anything but Kriss Kross”

 

Commanders:

– Rebel Officer (50) + Improvised Orders (10) = 60

– Luke Skywalker (160) + Force Push (10) + Jedi Mind Trick (5) + Emergency Stims (8) = 183

Operatives:

– Sabine Wren (125) + Tenacity (4) + Recon Intel (2) + Electro Grappling Line (5) + The Darksaber (25) = 161

Corps:

– 2x Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) + Rebel Officer (19) = 162

– Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) + 2-1B Medical Droid (18) = 80

– Rebel Troopers (40) + Z-6 Trooper (22) = 62

Special Forces:

– 2x Rebel Commandos Strike Team (16) + DH-447 Sniper (28) = 88


Total: 796/800 

Commands:

– Explosions! (1)

– Son of Skywalker (1)

– My Ally is the Force (2)

– Push (2)

– Legacy of Mandalore (3)

– Return of the Jedi (3)

– Standing Orders (4)

Unsurprisingly, Zach and I run a very similar list. About a month before NOVA, the Legion world was upended and the Tauntaun Riders expansion released. Personally, I didn’t want to run them, and I actually decided to drop down to 9 activations as a Rebel. Blasphemy, right? The basic concept of the list is to maximize Luke and Sabine as twin beat-sticks that the opponent cannot stop, and to have the generic officer keep the army troops in order. Having this second courage bubble allows Luke and Sabine to travel independently of the main forces, letting them be more flexible in order to expose weak points and counter Tauntauns. As I’ll discuss in a future article, I had three officers throughout the list, giving me three points of inspire to spread among the squads. Also, seven of my nine activations are at least courage two, meaning that I’m taking both actions with every unit nearly every turn. I ended up taking a 4 point bid, anticipating a number of 800 point Deathtrooper lists….and ended up only being blue player once. I never faced a Deathtrooper. Not once.

Round 1



My first round opponent played perhaps the most interesting list I’ve ever been on the other side of: Palp Double Bounty. Rounding out the list were three DLT Stormtoopers and a Royal Guard with electrostaff. All in all, heavy on firepower but super light on activations and order control. We ended up playing Recover/Major Offensive/Clear Conditions. Fortunately for myself, the middle box ended up on top of the height-two complex in the middle, meaning that only our Sabine and Boba could get there in one move. Also in my favor, my Sabine had recon intel and I had two extra activations, meaning I was able to get to the box and claim it at the end of round one. Finally, I was able to add a few wounds to his Bossk on turn one, who needed to expose himself to take any kind of shot at my troops behind the rocks and the complex.

Standing on top the complex, Sabine seemed primed for an Explosions! drop on turn two. News flash: drop it I did. I was only able to get four wounds out onto the table, but I was able to dish out eight suppression tokens, giving Sabine a chance to get out of line of sight, and also slow down the opponents army, as Palp does not have any suppression management keywords. Using my officer Z6 squads, I was also able to take two shots at Bossk in only light cover, force him onto stims turn two, and after failing his regenerate rolls, he left the battle quite early.

The final major action occurred on turn four. Palpatine activated his And Now You Will Die turn, moved up, and eliminated three of my activations, but left himself exposed and weakened to be gunned down by Sabine, who herself still sat on top of the complex. This left my opponent with zero boxes at the end of the game, and I was able to take it 3-0.

Round 2

I’d have preferred Wampas

My second matchup was the start of my furry torment: Leia, 6 naked assorted corp trooper units, 3 Tauntauns, and a fully kitted landspeeder. It was an intimidating sight: eleven activations of rebel killing fury lined against my crack team of nine activation rebels. The first two mission cards were breakthrough and vaporators, so I ended up having to force intercept in the final slot, not a task I was thrilled about, being down two activations from the start. The final cards flipped over as Intercept/Major Offensive/Clear Conditions. 

The game started off exactly as you would imagine, with the three Tauntauns being deployed on the panhandle short edge and moving forward twice at the end of the first turn. As I’ll get into more over the next rounds, this triggered my strategy that I believe helped me get through my Tauntaun gauntlet. Just like the majority of one pip command cards, the No Time for Sorrows Tauntaun rush can be telegraphed as well. Fortunately for me, that card is a two pip priority, and Son of Skywalker is a one pip. By positioning Luke in a way that he can start turn two in charge range of a Tauntaun, I can jump priority of the charge, and potentially eliminate a tauntaun before it gets to my lines and my units. As one burger is fond of saying, two Tauntauns are useless, but three are broken. So make sure you kill the first one as soon as possible. 

The bulk of the action occurred on rounds two and three. Using SoS, I was able to kill a Tauntaun, force push a fleet trooper squad into cohesion around Luke, and use that cohesion to pin another Tauntaun to the board edge, since creature troopers cannot move through engaged units. Once the first was killed, and the second was locked up, I spent the rest of my units’ activations positioning Sabine for the next two rounds, and using the Z6s to eliminate the final Tauntaun. By the start of turn 4, all of the Tauntauns were eliminated, and Sabine was primed to drop Explosions! onto the exposed corp troopers on the middle point. By the time the final activation of round 6 had occurred, Sabine captured the middle point, and I won the game tied 6-6 on points destroyed. 

Round 3

And here it came, the final round for the chance to move onto day two. Lining up across from me, another triple Tauntaun list, this time rounded out with Leia, 4 Z6s, and 3 snipers. Yet another eleven activation list to my nine. Similar to the last game, we drew Intercept/Battle Lines/Clear Conditions. As you can see from the photo above, this map was not the best design setup for Tauntauns, and I was able to force the engagements to the right hand side. All three Tauntauns were primed to charge the right hand side, while his corp troopers moved towards the center transmission. Because of the buildings large cover profile, I set up Sabine to drop Explosions! on potentially his entire corp turn two. Once again turn one, my opponent double moved his Tauntauns to set up for NTFS, and I was able to position Luke in a charge position to jump priority turn two. Interestingly enough, one Tauntaun was about eight inches ahead of the other two, and I had an interesting decision to make: SoS or Explosions!

In the end, I chose Explosions!, hoping to distract my opponent and allow me to take some shots on the Tauntauns before they could activate. My opponent pulled his NTFS card, and I decided to try to go to the order pool instead of activating Sabine right away. I ended up pulling a commander token, and I chose to go with Luke. For the second straight match, I was able to use Luke to jump priority and severely limit the Tauntaun charge before it began. Jumping out of the little house on the right side, I was able to melee a Tauntaun, eliminate one of the models, then use force push and jedi mind trick on another Tauntaun to make it move away from my units and suppress it. This game very much turned into two smaller skirmishes, with Sabine taking on my opponent’s corp alone for the first four turns, and Luke and the rest of my forces taking shots at the three advancing Tauntauns. I was able to drop Sabine’s bombs on six total activations, slowing him down enough that by the time Luke dropped SoS on turn three and eliminated the final Tauntaun, I had plenty of time to converge my two lightsabers on the middle. 

On turn four, I spent my entire turn moving into positions to assault the middle transmission for the endgame. Every unit double moved except for Sabine, who hopped into melee with a Z6 squad and Darksabered them. By the start of turn five, both my opponent and I realized that this game was going to come down to whether or not Luke and Sabine could kill enough rebel trooper squads to win the middle objective. Predictably enough, lightsabers with pierce shred rebel troopers, and I was able to win the final attrition battle to score both objectives, and win on points destroyed for the second consecutive game. 

Round 4

Well, I made it this far right? Only one more win, and Zach can’t belittle me for not having an invite. Interestingly enough, based on the odd number of players in the second heat, and some strength of schedule shenanigans, my opponent from round two ended up making it through to the top cut, and we rematched for all the marbles. We ended up with Advanced Positions/Key Positions/Clear Conditions. 

This game started off with a bang, after my opponent drew his landspeeder first, it moved forward, and left itself exposed. I spent the entire first turn shooting at the landspeeder, leaving it only one wound. I also managed to position my Luke to threaten the advancing Tauntauns. Unfortunately, I was unable to get the final wound through, and the landspeeder survived to turn two. Turn two comes around, and he drops ambush to counter my Explosions!. He wins the roll, and immediately puts four wounds on Sabine through cover. I end up dropping explosions on only two units, and Sabine was quickly eliminated on the next activation. I must admit, trading Sabine for only a landspeeder felt pretty bad, and being down ten activations to eight with three Tauntauns coming at me felt terrifying. Fortunately, I was able to move Luke into a Tauntaun this turn, and use force push to yet again tie up the fleet troopers nearby, ensuring that Luke was safe from enemy fire, and the Tauntaun could not advance forwards through the engagement. Turns three and four consisted of my Luke chopping the remaining Tauntaun model he was engaged with, before dropping SoS onto the other cavalry nearby, eliminating both activations decisively.

The final rounds were pretty standard Legion fare, with the two of us trading shots back and forth as we advanced towards the middle position. Luke was able to do Luke things; recovering, pushing, and mind-tricking his way to the middle position and eventually allowing me to score the key position as well as my back objective, securing me the win, and the world’s invite. I had survived the Tauntaun gauntlet, and come out the other side by the skin of my teeth.

Round 5

In what ended up as my final round of the day, I had the pleasure of squaring off with Kyle Dornbos, aka Orkimedes, and boy did I learn a lesson. We ended up playing Sabotage/Battle Lines/Clear Conditions. After getting all jacked up from winning the invite and dealing with triple Tauntaun lists for the past three matches, I ran into a gunline style list, and I completely forgot how to deal with it. During deployment, I made a major mistake, leaving two of my Z6 squads behind only light cover, which I had forgotten was not heavy… safe to say, Kyle dropped “An Entire Legion” turn one and ended up with four sniper shots into my open squads. They disappeared quickly. 

Mental mistakes abound, downed trees are not heavy cover

Over the course of the next three rounds, I traded an officer Z6 squad for a snowtrooper squad (not great) and attempted to assault his positions by coming over the top of the rock formation on the right hand side. A combination of Palpatine, IRG, and DLT fire kept me from achieving that goal. I ended up conceding with barely a model left at the end of turn five. Props to Kyle for going on and winning the whole tournament, he’s a hell of a player who doesn’t make mistakes and showed me the next level I need to reach. 

Recap

All in all, it was a successful tournament and a fantastic first wargaming convention experience. I managed to take a nine activation Rebel list into the heart of Tauntaun country and emerge with a High Command invite, and had a chance to catch up with some of our community members in person again. I’d like to make two quick points about the terrain set up. When I played on Friday, the tables were not the best, but they forced players to think outside the box, and with the exception of tanks (sorry Stevens) no unit was totally unplayable. I’d also like to thank the TOs for thinking on their feet and working extremely diligently to present the best tables they could despite their hands being tied; additionally, the tables on Saturday were absolutely fantastic. While it was fair to talk about how bad the tables were during the first round, I know that John Brader’s (the main TO of Nova Legion) Facebook explanation post went uncharacteristically ignored in some outlets, which isn’t fair to either of the TOs. If you want to disparage those first few tables you can’t ignore the fixes after. Thanks again to John and James for being super aware of the situation at hand; to all my opponents, you were great fun to compete with, congrats to Kyle, and I hope to see everyone again at Adepticon. With the new points changes and the drop of the two new factions, I’m glad to get this out of the way; welcome to the New World Order everyone.

Damn, it feels good to not be the only Jedha member without a ticket.

-Mike