Thoughts on SW: Legions?

I ordered the core set- its set to arrive on Monday. I am running an x-wing event Saturday at a store that is hosting a release party for legions so I'll try and get in a Demo game or something.

4 of my core gaming buddies have also picked it up, so I'll have people to play it with. I sheepishly admit that I ordered it in part because I have a HirstArts space station that needs Star Wars miniatures in it.

BOLS, in a completely not paid for at all advertisment, I mean article, called it “the best game released this year”.

Pete should be getting his review copy soon.

Well, it is early in the year. I am going to start developing games and releasing them to coincide with the New Year -- I will always capture the "best game released this year" moniker.

Hmm, while I like the basic concept (group movement, semi random activation), it's still "running down the unit cards for special abilities checklist" game from FFG.

I'll have it Monday. Will advise.

FFG just announced Rebel commandos (which I thought the pieces in the core set were) and Han Solo commander unit. The commandos look pretty cool with an Admiral Ackbar guy, but the Han sculpts face is pretty bad. Hopeful it is just a bad photo, or paint job. It look nothing like Harrison Ford.

edulis wrote: FFG just announced Rebel commandos (which I thought the pieces in the core set were) and Han Solo commander unit. The commandos look pretty cool with an Admiral Ackbar guy, but the Han sculpts face is pretty bad. Hopeful it is just a bad photo, or paint job. It look nothing like Harrison Ford.

Does it look like the new guy?

Hard to say, could be combination of sculpt and painting style. His left side hair doesn't seem to be sculpted correctly though, even when stylized. I find the style of painting changed for the forest dudes and Han.

I’ve got 2 plays in using proxies because after reading the rules (PDF ONLY, mind you, because it’s clear that the rules will be a living document) and considering the aforementioned, I won’t be keeping it.

Pros:
Star Wars, timer-locked, objective based combat with lots of rolling dice. Variable setups based on card draws. Chit pull to avoid the tank going in every turn and then a slow war of attrition after. Very nice models that are simple to assemble.

Cons:
Not enough dice, not enough rulers, not enough content. You cannot play the game as designed if you buy an 80$ core set, period. The core set is actually a tester set which with you can play a small, small, small variety of the things in the game, and you’ll need to spend about 140$ or so to play an 800 point game as designed, use all the included materials, et al. A line from the impending review: I LIKE THE GAME AS BEST AS I CAN TELL FROM THE LIMITATIONS IMPOSED ON ME BY AN UNDERSTAFFED STARTER SET, BUT THIS UNDERSCORES MY BELIEF THAT FFG HAS BECOME THE EA OF BOARD GAMES, DELIVERING 70% COMPLETE GAMES HOPING TO SELL YOU THE FULL VERSION AS DLC.

There is nothing particularly compelling or novel in the game. It does feel very Star Warsey. They nailed that. But this feels like an extension of the x-wing system, borrowing mechanics from legit hobby war games that will seem mind blowing to the average Armada or X-Wing board gamer who has never played Bolt Action, Firestorm Armada, or other “lifestyle” war games. But to me, it’s nothing really new but a very capable Star Wars skirmish game.

But every major miniature games are like that? X-Wing, 40k, AoS, Infinity, Bolt Action... Anything comes to my mind doesn't provide enough models to play as intended. And most are more expensive.

If you buy a Heroscape box, you have enough to play a full, unabridged game.

I’m looking at this from a boargamer’s perspective HERE but from a wargamers perspective it’s not bad, just not anything special. The card bumps during squad building is where the game is at though.

I'm not sure the tabletop miniature wargamer folk will consider Heroscape a miniatures game. But sure, from board gamer perspective. Even then, it's just a matter of saying the full game is X points and you can play up to Y points. After all, a Heroscape player is very likely not stopping at the base game only.

The comparison to "EA" is not fair I think, when you compare to miniature game releases. But again, for board gamer, sure.

So, what makes it Star Wars-y?

Sevej: the powers, the types of things they do, the way Vader is a fucking monster tank that deals mass damage but is plodding and slow. The way commanders seem to direct fire etc.

It could’ve also been 40K or Starship Troopers or anything but it would require a massive retooling. It’s very Star Warsey in how it feels.

Hans Solo? Is he affiliated with Bobba Fett?