The Empire Strikes Back; A Legion AAR

This weekend, Dean crawled out of the WIP that is his new house to meet up with Ninjasaurus and I for another game of Star Wars Legion. I have been working on the figures for a while and have enough for a decent sized game, so it was a good opportunity to try it out again. 

Imperial Scout Bikes arrive on the battlefield

The game was a simple meeting engagement fought over a battlefield scattered with terrain and a landing pad and some junkers' cottages.  The Imperials were led by Darth Vader, supported by four squads each of eight Stormtroopers and a two man HQ. Scouts were provided by two speederbikes. Facing them was the plucky Luke Skywalker, leading five eight men squads of Rebel troopers and a supporting AT-RT. The Imperials won the initiative in the first round and sent the Speederbikes ahead of the main force to engage the advancing Rebels

Imperial Speederbikes scout out the area ahead of the main force

Two Rebels units closed together under the protection of the AT-RT, spotting the forces of the Empire ahead of them.It was too far a distance to begin firing yet though.

Two Rebel infantry units advance with the AT-RT

Imperial Stormtroopers took advantage of cover as Darth Vader made bold moves towards the Rebel lines. Meanwhile, more Stormtroopers advance towards the power generators and the landing pad.

The Imperials advance at the Rebel lines

The Speederbikes make contact with the Rebel AT-RT and the first shots are exchanged!

Imperial Speederbikes fire at the Rebel AT-RT

Facing no opposition, Stormtroopers make preparations to climb onto the landing pad.

Stormtroopers get ready to climb onto the landing pad

A unit of Stormtroopers broke cover to support the Speederbikes attack on the AT-RT after they had received a ION hit and taken damage.

Stormtroopers attack the Rebel AT-RT

Things were hotting up in the centre of the field, Darth Vader was in a position to attack and more Rebel units were arriving to lend their support.

Things are getting hot in the centre of the field

Vader attacked the Rebel unit by using the Force to throw his lightsaber, taking down a trooper and also causing suppression. The Rebel return fire was also deflected back at them!

Darth Vader faces Rebel troopers

Meanwhile on the edge of the battlefield, Rebels and Stormtroopers were exchanging fire as Luke advanced to tackle the men in white.

Luke Skywalker threatens the Stormtroopers

Gaining the high ground, Stormtroopers clamber onto the landing pad, giving them a good view of the Rebel flanks

Stormtroopers threaten the Rebel flank

From this position they are able to fire down on the Rebels opposite Lord Vader.

Rebels take fire from Stormtroopers on the landing pad

Luke then rushed the Stormtrooper positions and attacked them with his trusty lightsaber.

Luke Skywalker attacks a unit of Stormtroopers

In seconds the melee is over and Luke wipes out the entire unit!

Luke is victorious and kills every single Stormtrooper

Darth Vader is equally vicious against a Rebel unit, all of whom bar one fall to his lightsaber attack.

A Rebel unit is virtually wiped out by Darth Vader

The threat on the Imperial flank is increasing with the arrival of more Rebel troops supported by Luke. Using the cover of the woods, Stormtroopers exchange shots with them.

Rebels and Stormtroopers blast away at each other

However, a combination of fire from the Stormtroopers and Vader's lightsaber attack tears a hole in the centre of the Rebel line.

Stormtroopers fire at Rebels and cause huge casualties

Using the AT-RT on Vader and with support from the infantry the Rebels bring down the Sith Lord!

Infantry and the Rebel AT-RT take down Vader!

On the flank, the unit of Stormtroopers manage to take Luke out, eliminating the immediate threat of that flashing blue blade!

Luke is killed in a hail of Stormtrooper blaster fire

With Vader gone, the AT-RT advances on the Stormtroopers, but has little effect.

the AT-RT attacks the defending Stormtroopers

But facing the AT-RT is two squads of Stormtroopers and the inevitable result of it taking fire and being destroyed.

The AT-RT is destoryed by Stormtrooper fire

The Rebel unit now known as the 'Vader Killers' blasted one of the Stormtrooper units doing heavy damage. Meanwhile, the fighting around the woods was still intense.

Rebels and Stormtroopers cause heavy casualties on each other

Sensing victory is close, the Stormtroopers on the landing pad advance and start firing at the last of the Rebels.

The Stormtroopers advance to fire at the remaining Rebels

Under the withering fire the remaining Rebel units began to fall back, the Empire had won the day although it was at a heavy cost

The game is over, the Empire has triumphed!

The battle was over and a quick count of the remaining figures showed that the Imperials were victorious, even if it was a very close result. 

The game swung back and forth throughout and was an exciting battle that looked as though it could be won by either side at several points. I thought it was all over when Vader went down, but then Luke quickly followed, evening the score again! One of the things that helped a lot was the Stormtrooper defence dice, they have good armour saves and casualties were kept quite low because of this.

With the larger number of figures on the table, the game felt a lot better and although the number of troops complicated things slightly, we all soon had a good handle on the flow of the action. The game wasn't based on a points value and the Rebels had a slightly larger number of figures, but the Stormtroopers precision made short work of them! Legion is a game that definitely needs a sizeable number of troopers to allow for tactical movement across the table, so bare that in mind if it's a game you want to explore (which you should!).

Comments

  1. Ggreat game report- nice to see Star Wars being gamed with so many figures on the table unlike most games I've seen. Really looks the part.

    Cheers,

    Pete.

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    1. Cheers Pete. Yes, Legion definitely needs a good amount of figures. I am hoping to add more vehicles int he coming months to make games even more interesting!

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  2. Great looking game! How long did it run? Do you think you could do an even larger game or was this a good fit?

    Thanks

    John

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    Replies
    1. Thanks John. This game took about three hours from beginning to end, but we also treat gaming sessions as social outings so there's also a lot of chat and breaks. If you just went for it, I guess two hours would be enough. I think you could happily add a couple extra units or vehicles without much of an issue.

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