If you checked out my last article (https://frontlinegaming.org/2022/04/28/star-wars-legion-my-side-game/) you know that I am starting to get into a fantastic game called Star Wars Legion. This week I have had the privilege of introducing this game to another person in my gaming group, and it showed me just how accessible this game is to new players. Some tabletop wargames require hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in investment to have a fully painted army on the tabletop. For most of us out there this process can take months and months to accomplish, and while there is definitely a satisfaction in getting such a large hobby project completed, sometimes you just want to enjoy your wargame of choice in a more timely fashion. Legion is already an extremely accessible game at the full 800pts level, but there is an even more accessible version of the game in Skirmish.
The 500 points level Skirmish games of Legion are designed to be played on a 3×3 game surface with a more scaled back force organization chart than is used in a full 800 points game. 500 points may not seem like a much smaller game size than 800, but 500pts adds up extremely quickly in Legion. A full 800pts game of Legion requires around 10 units on the tabletop which is not significantly less than games like Warhammer 40k or Age of Sigmar, but there is a slight caveat to this. In Legion the unit sizes are much smaller than in other squad based wargames. A 10 Activation, 800pts, Legion army can still only consist of 20-30 models. Skirmish Legion armies can have 6 or 7 Activations, but this means there are even less actual models on the table. This lets new players build and paint their Skirmish force extremely quickly in order to get those models where they belong, right on the table!
Some people may be worried that such a scaled back game would also mean the tactical or strategic depth is scaled back. They may also be worried that they are not getting the full game experience at the 500 points level, and while it is true a full Legion game will feel slightly different, all of the same game mechanics are used at the Skirmish level of 500pts. The game feels like it scales extremely well down to this level with activation count still mattering, the management of powerful Force users and the application of game fundamentals like the use of cover. Players will still need to manage their Command Cards, manage the amount of Suppression their units are taking and complete Objectives that come from an Objective Deck specifically geared toward the Skirmish level game size. The only thing the Skirmish level of the game misses out on is the larger 6×3 playing surface, and the larger army size, of a regular game of Legion.
Skirmish level Legion games are so accessible in large part to the Legion Core Sets. The Legion Core sets come with 2 armies (either Empire vs. Rebels or Clones vs. Droids) and each army comes with around 400 points of models. This means two players can split a core box, pick up one or two additional unit boxes and have everything they need to play extremely strategic games of Star Wars Legion. The friend from my gaming group and I even played games at the 400pts level for his first couple games and it still felt like our tactical decisions mattered at this smaller scale. Both of us are veteran wargamers having played games with hundreds of models per side, and I am confident in saying we both were not missing any tactical or strategic depth in Skirmish Legion.
Legion Core Sets also highlight another aspect of the accessibility in Legion I have absolutely loved. It is EXTREMELY easy to explain to someone how to get started in Star Wars Legion. There is no flow chart of books a new player needs to memorize and purchase. There are just a couple simple steps in explaining to a potential new player how they can start playing Star Wars Legion. Step 1: Have the new player pick one of the four Factions they are most excited to play. Step 2: Buy the Core Set that comes with that Faction. Bonus: You have a small force of another Faction you can trick your other friends into playing, use as a second army or sell to make some of your invest back. It is important to note that some of the unit cards, mainly the point values, from the Core Sets are no longer accurate. These balance updates to the game can be found on all the army list building tools for Star Wars Legion, and the updated cards and points are easily found on the game developers website.
Another barrier to entry to a lot of wargames is having a suitable gaming table to actually play the game on. If you are lucky enough to have a local gaming store this isn’t an issue, but if you want to host games somewhere else you are going to need to worry about things like table space and terrain. Star Wars Legion is usually played on a 6×3 surface, but the Skirmish level of the game is played on a manageable 3×3. This means it will take much less space and terrain to get a Skirmish game set up even if you are lacking for space. This also means that getting the terrain ready for a Skirmish game of Legion is not too hard. Just by taking a few minutes googling Star Wars Legion tables you can see there are even Star Wars themed toy ships that work perfectly as terrain for the game that come perfectly painted by the toy manufacturer!
If you have been on the fence about getting into Star Wards Legion I hope this has helped convince you that this game is extremely accessible to new players, and can be played with an extremely low investment compared to other wargames. With the perfectly attainable first goal in your army building at the 500pts Skirmish level new Legion players can have a fully functioning force on the table after a weekend of hobbying. For many army builds the investment will just be one half of a Core Set along with another unit box. There are not many table top wargames out there were you can get such a deep game at such a low buy in cost. Of course there is always a catch to games like these. Once you start playing Legion you most likely won’t be able to stop at that 500pts Skirmish level. Your collection may quickly grow into a full army, then into two full armies, and I will bear no responsibility if you enjoy this game enough to collect all four factions (soon to be five with the Shadow Collective) this game has to offer.
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
