Star Wars Legion: I Feel A Disturbance In The Force...

Things have really... slowed... down...  thanks to the flu.  Over President's Day weekend, I managed to get a really extended weekend since I was down with the sickness from Saturday night until Wednesday.  So much fun, let me tell you!

Feeling better now but unfortunately that break has really thrown me off my stride.  On top of that I'm potentially moving rooms soon so I don't want to break out too much stuff yet.  Been itching to set up a table and push some minis around with all the terrain that I built at the end of last year but I'm going to hold off until I'm relocated to minimize my packing.

I did get to watch/referee a game of Legion the Saturday before I get sick and I have to say that I'm really torn.  The game looks great visually and it's Star Wars.  How can you not love Star Wars?  Unfortunately the latest trilogy didn't really hit it out of the park from what I've seen and read, and since it's owned by Disney... well, they are in the market to make money.  They make some great things but yeah, ultimately money is the most important factor for any corporation.  I don't think that Star Wars is going anywhere soon, but what about the license?

Which brings Fantasy Flight Games into the picture.  FFG is a monster in the board game world, the originator of the coffin box games themselves!  FFG managed to get ahold of the Star Wars license years ago and they've been doing great things with it.  X-Wing, Imperial Assault, Armada, and now Legion.  Except Imperial Assault isn't being produced anymore... and X-Wing is in it's second edition now but you can get conversion kits... and recently I'd heard that their digital department either is closing or already has and then I read that X-Wing 2.0 uses an app to track points since the new edition doesn't have point values on the cards.

Have I dug into any of these things deeply to see how much they affect things?  No.  But hearing about them makes me nervous.  I bought a fair amount of X-Wing stuff over the years and for me to use that now, I need to invest $200 just to get the base game and conversion kits for my ships.  That's a lot of money to shell out just to use minis that I've already invested in and how soon is this going to happen again?  And if the digital content isn't supported, how are they going to support the app that is used to track the points to build forces for the game?

But with all that said, Legion is still a really tempting game.  The minis are really well sculpted and have a good variety even within the same unit to avoid the cookie cutter syndrome.

This is the Tatooine board my friend has put together.

There are some great terrain options out there as well, both from FFG and from independent companies that so it's easy to put together a great visual experience as well.  The rules seem pretty solid as well.  FFG likes to go for the literal interpretation of the rules so in most cases just play them as written.  They do a great job making sure that there aren't little nuances that can confuse the issue.

So why not get into it?  Even with the other concerns on my mind, it seems to be a solid ruleset, the minis are gorgeous, terrain options are easily accessible... and it's really expensive.  I'm kind of old school so I tend to look at GW as my gauge for "it costs how much?!?" but it seems like Legion is right up there too, at least for it the standard format.  It seems like the common recommendation with the FFG Star Wars games is "Get two starters" and it does make sense.  You get enough minis for the core of both a Rebel and an Imperial army, two sets of all the movement and range templates, and twice the special dice needed for the game.  All for just $200 retail and the good news is that you only have to buy a few more things to actually have a legal army to play!

Unlike other games, the default size for Legion is 800 points.  Period.  To use an example that I'm familiar with, a standard game of Antares is 1000 points but the have lists for 500, 750, 1000, 1250... I'm sure you see the trend here but the point is you can play a smaller game and have it be legal.  And considering that the army boxes from Warlord have between 500 and 1000 points in them, you are good to go right out of the gate for an $80 investment.  Well, except for the order dice (which you could just get some wooden cubes and write on), a tape measure (which you probably already own), and the rules (the light version of which can be downloaded for free from the Warlord website).

Thankfully FFG has offered an alternative to this by introducing Skirmish level games.  These are only 500 points and play on a 3' x 3' table which are both two big pluses in my book.  I prefer smaller boards (even though I like Antares which really thrives on a larger board) and 500 points should make it that much more affordable, even if it only functions as a gateway to larger games in the future.  I still need to run some numbers in Battlescribe to see just what I'm looking at but it's a start.  Until next time...

X-Wing: I'm Finally Going To Pull The Trigger

Long, long ago in a city far, far away...

I was really thinking about getting into the game X-Wing from Fantasy Flight Games.  The miniatures are gorgeous, the rules seem solid enough, and it definitely seemed like FFG was looking to support it for quite a while.  Now if only I could find someone to play against...

Being a two player game in a household with three gamers, one of whom is younger and not that into Star Wars, really makes this a hard game to get into.  My wife enjoyed the movies well enough but miniature space combat wasn't really up her alley so ultimately I decided it would be best to pass on this game in spite of its gorgeous miniatures.

Fast forward to the present day in a town far away from there...

FFG announced that they would be releasing a new space miniature game that would be focusing on the capital ships which got me really excited.  As I've been plowing through episodes of the Clone Wars in my spare time (admittedly during the free time that I would normally be blogging...) the thought of recreating some of their fleet engagements had already been brewing in my head.  With FFG hard at work on a game like this it meant that I could just sit back and buy in when it came out instead of scrounging for old minis and trying to figure out what rules to use.  Sounds great, right?

And then I saw the price.

FFG is not known for inexpensive products because they are also not known for cheap products either.  If it's got their name on it more than likely it will amazing but in the case of Armada (the SW capital ship game in question) the $100 price tag seems just a little steep.  Yes, there are a lot of components crammed into that box along with three really nice looking ships but there are only three of them.  If this game is anything like X Wing then you'd need to have two starter boxes giving this one a $200 entry fee and that's without really having much to field on the Rebellion side of things.  So much for getting into that game but it did lead me to the page for the next wave of ships coming in X Wing as the game expands into a third faction with the galaxy's Scum and Villany moving into the spotlight.

Unsurprisingly these minis look amazing but the thing that really makes me what to get into the game is the extra depth this will add.  Rather than just being limited to the Rebel or Imperial ships, this looks like it opens up lots of new scenarios and even campaign ideas for the game and it proves that FFG is willing to dig deeper into the extended universe of Star Wars to continue to develop this game.  Can't wait to see these hit the shelves later this year but it does give me time to set aside some cash so I get jump in with both feet when they are released.  Until next time...

The Force Is Strong In This One

Now who doesn't know that line, right? It turns out that Fantasy Flight Games is very familiar with it as they are currently working on two different Star Wars games. First up is the Star Wars LCG.

Following their fine tradition, FFG has made this an LCG instead of a CCG. For those of you who might not know the difference, a CCG is a collectible game so each booster you buy contains a random selection of cards. Some of the cards are more common than others so it can quickly degenerate into buying tons of packs just to try to find one card or spending a ton of money to buy it on eBay. An LCG is different though as each set contains a set selection of cards. If you and a friend each buy a set you will both have exactly the same selection of cards to choose from. Personally I prefer the later as I've seen the former turn a group of mild mannered gamers into a ravening horde. Not pretty, let me tell you...

In this case, the Star Wars LCG will focus on the original three movies as it pits the Rebel Alliance (that would be you) against the evil Empire. There is not that much information available about it yet but it does look like it could be interesting. Plus its meant for 1 to 4 players which gives you tons of options. We'll definitely have to take a look at this one when more information is available though I have to say that it already has me intrigue.

The second game is X-Wing which is a game of starfighter vs starfighter combat in the Star Wars universe.

From what I've dug up it uses mechanics similar to the WW I dog fighting game Wings Of War at the heart of it. I've never played Wings but I've heard good things about it so that bodes well for the game in my opinion. The starter box also comes with "stunningly detailed and painted miniatures" which is another huge plus. I mean really what Star Wars fan wouldn't want something like that even if they never played the game? The one thing that really makes me wonder at this point is just how many of each ship they are going to include. The X-Wing is markedly better than the TIE fighter so you really couldn't field one against one and have an even battle. Unfortunately this bit of information is has not been released yet so all we can do is wait and see.

What's more is these are only the first two releases that FFG is looking to do. No details yet but their site says that they will be announcing more Star Wars card, role playing, and miniature games in the coming months. Looks like another one that we'll have to keep our eyes on.