When Atomic Mass Games revealed the price and contents of the upcoming new starter sets for Star Wars: Legion, we were really impressed by the value they represented at just $95. The studio’s creative and development VP Will Shick told Wargamer exactly why his team made sure the new starters will let players “play the full, real game right out of the gate”.
The Star Wars: Legion starter sets were revealed on March 29, the most exciting and unexpected item on AMG’s Star Wars Legion roadmap for 2025 and beyond. As Shick says, “each starter provides a full 600 point Recon level army (the smallest standard size Star Wars: Legion game) which means that you don’t have to acquire anything else before diving into the full gameplay experience”.
Each set has between 36 and 42 models, plus all the cards, tokens, and measuring tools necessary to play. As Shick says, “when you look at a lot of starters for games, oftentimes the gameplay they provide to players is more of a tutorial or learn to play experience with not enough minis to actually play the full standard game rules without a bunch of additional purchases”.
He’s not naming any names, but since Warhammer 40k is the biggest miniature wargame out there, we’ll make the comparison for him. If you want a minimum viable force to play Warhammer 40k with, you need to buy a $170 / £100 Combat Patrol to use in the Combat Patrol game mode, and then a $60 / $37 Warhammer 40k codex to get the rules to use in a full game. Star Wars Legions provides its rules with its models, and as free downloads.
Shick does admit that there are weaknesses in the starter set armies. “In order to provide a full game experience, while also keeping the cost of entry on players as low as possible, the starters focus pretty heavily on a specific core faction theme.”
He adds: “while we’ve ensured all the suggested starter armies play well against each other and can stand up to play with more customized armies, the options they provide for players to be able to dive in and really start customizing their force is limited.”
But he has a handy point of comparison: “Just like with CCGs or TCG starter decks I expect players will pretty quickly want to start adding new units or commanders to better hone their army to fit their personal playstyle or hobby vision.”
While the price point for a Star Wars: Unlimited Showcase deck or the best Lorcana TCG starter decks is obviously a lot lower than the Legion starters, its a fair comparison in terms of design philosophy. With at least three corps units and a commander in each starter set, the new Legion Starters really are a foundation which players can build from by making additions and substitutions.
Whether you’re already the proud commander of a Star Wars Legion force, or you’re tempted to get started when the new starters release, we’d love to chat with you about it in the official Wargamer Discord community. Why not add your force to our ‘Share Your Army’ gallery?
If you want a different kind of Star Wars experience that comes in one box, check out our guide to the best Star Wars board games – and check out our Star Wars Battle of Hoth preview coverage.
Source: Wargamer
