Launch Weekend Activities and Rules Reference

Earlier today FFG posted an article about Launch Weekend activities that will be happening at various game stores throughout the world. These look like fairly simple ways to get your feet wet and start to get a feel for game. It's also a chance to get some small prizes, such as a hand rules quick reference, art prints, and commemorative certificates.

If you are interested and live near one of the listed retailers, be sure to inquire for more information

Also of interest, FFG simultaneously posted the official Rules Reference, which is linked to in the Launch Weekend article as well as the Legion product page (at the bottom under "Support"). To quote the from the opening paragraph, "This document is the definitive source for all STAR WARS: LEGION rules." Note that this is an online document will be revised and updated as needed.

Even though the game is yet to be released, reading through the rules ahead of time will can of course help you get into the game that much sooner once its available. Some sections that might be of particular interest are additional terrain rules, clambering/vertical movement, and competitive terrain placement (which will probably be used during Organized Play events.) For any of you that are looking to construct your own terrain pieces, these sections can help guide you so that your terrain provides a variety of gameplay interactions in addition to looking cool on the table.

While skimming through the glossary I also noticed a couple of unit keywords listed that haven't shown up on any revealed units so far:

• Guardian X (Unit Keyword), pg 28: (So technically we already knew about this one since it does show up on the Esteemed Leader upgrade card seen in the General Veers and Leia Organa previews- but I wouldn't be surprised to see it on a future trooper unit either, like perhaps a Rebel Honor Guard unit.)
• Unhindered (Unit Keyword), pg 43: This prevents the unit from being slowed by difficult terrain. I would expect to see this on Special Forces units, like perhaps a unit of Scout Troopers. It might also show up on a Gear upgrade card.

Mission Setup: Recover the Supplies

The Core Set comes with 4 different Objective Cards. Understanding these cards is of paramount importance since whoever plays the objective better wins. Here is a discussion of Recover the Supplies.

Recover the Supplies

Setup: Place 1 unclaimed objective token on the center of the battlefield. Then, starting with the blue player, players alternate placing 4 more unclaimed objective tokens on the battlefield. Each token must be placed beyond range 1 of each deployment zone and beyond range 1 of any other objective tokens. All trooper units gain: "Claim [action]  (Claim an objective token that is in base contact with your unit leader.)".

Victory: At the end of the game each player gains 1 victory token for each objective token that is claimed by 1 of their units.

When playing Recover the Supplies a total of 5 objective tokens will be in play. One of these will be placed at the center of the battlefield, while players will take turns placing the remaining 4. It should be quite easy for each player to claim the 2 tokens they placed themselves; consequently, whichever player claims the center token first can seize a scoring advantage.

Learn to Play Rulebook and Other Updates

On Friday, February 16th, pictures of the Learn to Play rulebook were posted to the Fantasy Flight Games Community Forum for Legion by Undeadguy. While we've had glimpses of the rulebook before, these have all been from unboxing and demo game videos, leaving us with only incomplete and blurry images. (Thanks Undeadguy!)

Having this more complete and much easier-to-read set of rules helps to clarify a few things, such as suppression and movement rules, the exact name of upgrade card categories, how to set up a game and so on.

Mission Setup: Key Positions

The Core Set comes with 4 different Objective Cards. Understanding these cards is of paramount importance since whoever plays the objective better wins. Below are thoughts on Key Positions.

Key Positions

Setup: Starting with the blue player, players alternate placing objective tokens on the battlefield until 3 tokens have been placed or no more tokens can be placed. Each token must be placed on a piece of terrain that is completely outside all deployment zones.

Victory: At the end of the game, for each terrain piece with an objective token, the player who has the most unit leaders in base contact with that terrain piece gains 1 victory token.

This objective is somewhat unique in that a maximum of only 3 tokens can be scored; perhaps even fewer depending on the deployment zone and terrain positions. This isn't a time sensitive objective, as tokens are only gained at the end of the game. If your army emphasizes offensive firepower over large numbers of troopers, you prefer digging in rather than clever maneuvering, or you're simply confident you can outlast your enemy in a battle of attrition, then you might find this objective favorable.

The Fifth Trooper: To Add, or Not to Add?

So far, every corps unit in Legion has a Personnel upgrade slot, which allows you to add an additional trooper mini. Unlike the Heavy Weapon troopers, which almost always pack a punch and bring some extra utility with keywords like Impact, Blast, or Ion, the additional trooper is just another body with the same stats as everyone else in the squad. So when should you add another trooper, and when should you not?