Mastering the Force - Part One
A beginner's guide to force-users - Part one of our multi part series
by Jeff Van Laethem (@Painting_For_The_Emperor)
The following three items are all true:
People tend to think Jedi are cool
People tend to want to play units they think are cool
Force-users are difficult to play well
Put those three together and you get a lot of new players getting frustrated when they field Obi-Wan in their first games. Or when their newly-assembled Luke goes down on turn 2 three games in a row. Even experienced players switching to using force-users for their first time can feel like a fish out of water.
Luckily, following a few basic guidelines can help immensely, so read on. Many Bothan spies died to bring you this information…
What Makes Force-Users So Different?
A few things go into making saber-wielding characters difficult to play well. For starters, force-users are some of the most expensive units in Legion. Yoda, Dooku, Luke, Vader, and Palpatine all end up over 200 points once they have upgrades attached, and the other Jedi aren't far behind. The fact of the matter is that when you put one of these guys in your list, you have a single model that's at least a quarter of your army. Losing them early, or even mid-game can be devastating.
On top of that, force-users are short-range fighters. Only a couple have a built-in ranged attack, and even those are only range-2. Saber Throw is a ranged attack, but again, it's range-2. If you're trying to do damage with a lightsaber, you'll end up in harm's way, which requires a lot of careful decision-making to survive. Perhaps the biggest difference between force-users and other units is the complexity in the types and number of actions they have access to. Between built-in abilities, command cards, and force powers these characters are capable of both powerful and unique feats on the tabletop.
It's a Trap!
I remember my first games of Legion: my freshly-painted Vader was going to walk straight at my opponent, throwing little rebels asunder like the end of Rogue One.
It looks tempting: Vader rolls red defense dice, has Deflect, dodge tokens and a pile of wounds. Why not run in a straight line to your opponent? Unfortunately, despite all the promising-looking defensive stats, force users still die to coordinated fire. This leads us to rule #1:
Keep your force-users safe!
Use cover. Hide behind terrain. Bury yourself in melee where you can't be shot. Just because Darth Vader is a certifiable monster on the big screen doesn't mean he's invincible on the tabletop.
Don't Underestimate the Force
The offensive stat-lines on force using units are no joke; Pierce, Impact, handfuls of quality attack dice. This makes the fact that force-users can be some of the most flexible non-combat units in the game seem counter-intuitive.
It's easy to think "the sooner I get Yoda into base contact with my opponent's units the sooner I win", but the true strength of a force-user comes from their flexibility and unique abilities. Going over every jedi in detail is a bit beyond this article's scope, but knowing that Obi-Wan likes to protect clones, or that Force Choking a unit leader makes them drop a hostage/supply box is essential to unlocking their full power. Hence rule #2:
Force-users' non-combat abilities are at least as important as their combat abilities.
Use Force Push
Rule #3 is the same as the heading for this section:
Use Force Push
This upgrade card is likely the best upgrade card in the game. A free action that moves an enemy trooper unit at range 1 speed-1 might not look like much on paper, but it's maybe the most versatile action in the game. With it you can:
Pull a unit into melee
Push a unit out of melee
Push a unit off of an objective
Push a unit out of cover
Push a unit out of line of sight so it can't shoot without moving
And that's probably far from a complete list. It wins games, it kills dreams. It's Force Push. Staple your copy to your favorite jedi and profit.
Patience!
Maybe the biggest tip I have for people trying force-users for the first time is to be patient. Play patiently, learn patiently. You're not going to play Maul well the first few times you field him. These units are fun to play, but are skill-intensive, and learning them takes time. So rule #4, the final rule:
Be patient
Don't get frustrated, expect to make some mistakes as a part of the learning process, and keep playing with these fun focus pieces. You'll get there!
Look out for Part 2 next week, where we’ll take a deep dive into how to strategize ideal timing with your force user, target selection, and how to get value out of zone control.