In a post-Andor world, it seems weird to be feeling bad for Star Wars‘ Galactic Empire (you know, the folks that did the Ghorman massacre). But when it comes to the Star Wars Legion tabletop wargame, Vader and chums have been a pitiable bunch in recent months, with the Imperials getting trounced at most tables. Well, no longer – Atomic Mass Games has just released a surprise points update that’s got the pals of Palpatine rubbing their hands with evil glee.
The Star Wars Legion June Points update dropped via Atomic Mass’ website on Monday, with a four page Errata Reference PDF and an accompanying blog post explaining the major unit changes for each army. Fans had been expecting a balance update earlier than the usual bi-annual one slated later this year – but its June arrival has taken most by surprise (though a welcome one, to be sure).
It’s almost all points drops across the board, so everyone’s got reasons to be cheerful – but the Empire undoubtedly benefits most, with tasty cost reductions on powerful, but squeezed units like Shore Troopers and Stormtrooper Riot Squads, and no points increases at all.
The camo armored, coast patrolling Shore Troopers – which made their movie debut in Rogue One’s battle of Scarif – are the star of the show here. A specialized fire support unit with powerful weapon options, they’re a fan favorite, but have struggled to deliver value in army lists. With solid points drops on the base unit, the ‘extra troopers’ squad upgrade, and their T-21B marksman rifle upgrade, you’ll be seeing a lot more of these, potentially used in different roles too.
Death Troopers and Stormtrooper Riot Squads both go down by six points, as does the squad upgrade to beef up your battleline Stormtroopers units – making those specialist choices more viable while cheapening the workhorses, giving Empire players more overall list flexibility to play with. Better practise your Alan Tudyk impression, too, because the KX-Series Security Droid upgrade for those Riot Squads got a mighty 12 point price cut.
The Rebel Alliance gets the most noteworthy points increase in the update, with the widely feared Rebel Sleeper Cell going up by seven points to 77, and its Astromech upgrade doubling in price from five to ten points. AMG promises the Rebel Marksman will also get rebalanced in a later update.
“The Rebel Sleeper Cell is a very efficient unit offensively,” AMG’s announcement explains – “increasing the points on the unit reduces that efficiency.
“Increasing the points of the Astromech decreases their defensive efficiency, increasing counterplay against the unit,” it adds.
The AT-RT walker – available to both Rebels and the Galactic Republic – gets a four point bump to damp down its efficiency as an activations source, but its Rotary Cannon weapon upgrade gets cheaper by a third, from 20 to 15 points.
And speaking of the Grand Army of the Republic, the clones get a basket of cheaper units to play with, too. Most excitingly, LAAT transports go down by ten points to 90 (not matched in the Empire, where they still cost the same); BARC Speeders go down six points to 59 points each, with parallel drops all for their weapons upgrades; and dear old Master Yoda is reduced from 170 points down to 150 to “improve his efficiency and increase his viability”.
For clanker fans, the Separatist Alliance’s points cuts are focused mainly on characters, with Asajj Ventress going down 15 points, and the Geonosian leaders Poggle the Lesser and Sun Fac reduced by 25 points each. STAP Riders get a welcome ten point drop, though – while my darling rolly boys, the Droideka, go up by seven.
Finally, the Mercenaries get smaller drops for Mandalorian Super Commandos and Pyke Syndicate Foot soldiers, and Maul’s Darksaber upgrade. You can read the entire, free Errata document here.
How do these changes affect your favorite lists? Are you already emitting Sidious-worthy cackles at the power boost for your Empire armies? Come join the Wargamer Discord community and share your take on the updates (plus, you can join our Warhammer 40k Boltgun game giveaway and enter our mini painting competition to win a brand new Fulgrim model).
Alternatively, there’s more for you to read here – check out our designer’s commentary on the new Star Wars Legion Galactic Empire starter set, or our all time recommendations for the best Star Wars board games.
Source: Wargamer
