Star Wars Legion: Imperial Specialists

Imperial Specialists for Fantasy Flight Games' "Star Wars Legion".

The "Star Wars Legion" buildup continues! This update isn't as cool as Dallas' most recent posting, but progress is still progress...here we have some Imperial Specialists - the counterpoint to the Rebel Specialists I finished a couple of weeks ago. These are 28mm plastic figures from Fantasy Flight Games/Atomic Mass Games/Insert name of whatever a**hole PE fund controls the license.

The contents of the "Specialists" boxes are consistent - up first we have an officer from the Galactic Empire. That pistol she is carrying might have been used to guard a prisoner, fire on a Rebel terrorist, or perhaps to help focus the thinking of an Imperial trooper. She is also reporting something into the ubiquitous "communicators" we see throughout "Star Wars".

Imperial officer, ready to report into her communicator.

She has either just shot, or is just about to shoot, some unfortunate person or thing...

This is a very nice figure - a no-nonsense Imperial Officer, an excellent sculpt in my opinion.

Then we have the communications specialist. Looks like a bit of a hapless job...but then, so many jobs in the armed forces of the Galactic Empire would appear to come with a lot of downsides...again, a nice sculpt. I put some varnish on his helmet...wanted to give this guy the appearance of a rear-area support figure, which would call for more polish in terms of the uniform.

Imperial Communications Specialist.

View of the comms gear on his back.

Then we come to the droids. There is the "medical" droid which...looks like it is not coming to heal you, so much as to harvest one or more organs for recycling. Seems to project just the right "bed side manner" for the Galactic Empire. 

"Medical" droid on the left, and astromech droid on the right.

And what is it with the Galactic Empire? Even the cute astromech droids can look sinister when in service of The Empire - not as scary, perhaps, as the "medical" droid, but still...

As with the Rebel Specialists, these figures all bring specific roles and abilities to the "Star Wars Legion" game, but I am more keen just to have them as general characters, accent pieces or objectives for a Star Wars skirmish game of some kind. That's all for now - Happy Halloween everyone, and stay tuned for more. Thanks for reading!

Star Wars Legion Massive Imperial Update (including AT-ST!)

Hey all, just popping in with a pretty big update for my Star Wars Legion "Hoth" project. Basically I've finished all of the Imperial models I have on hand so just wanted to post on that. My little component of "Blizzard Force" is pictured above.

Part of the update is just Snowtroopers - two more sections are complete, making three sections for the Snowtrooper platoon! (I have another seven-trooper section on the way - those are custom 3D prints that I'm really looking forward to painting). These ones are done in the standard style - cloth bits Rakarth Flesh washed with Agrax Earthshade, then re-highlighted with Rakarth Flesh, and white bits Corax White highlighted with White Scar. So easy and simple. 

And while I'd posted the Imperial officer and comms trooper before, I finished the medical droid and astromech to complete the support section. 

Here's the medical droid and astromech.

Another addition to the support section comes from the "Cassian Andor and K-2SO" box, in the form of this KX-series security droid.

Rather than fit the arms from the rogue droid K-2SO's appearance in Rogue One, I set the droid up "unarmed" as I assume that's how it would normally appear.

Lastly, I finished the Legion AT-ST. What a superb model this is. So easy to assemble (it comes already partially assembled from the "factory") and super-detailed - it's just awesome.

I equipped the model with the optional light blasters on the LH side of the crew capsule and the concussion grenade launcher on the RH side. 

Painting was pretty straightforward - basecoat of Mechanicus Standard Grey, highlighted with Administratum Grey and Dawnstone. I did some streaking with Nuln Oil in a different sort of technique - I loaded a large brush with Nuln Oil and dried most of it off, then brushed it downwards to simulate some kind of water streaking. I also applied Nuln Oil to joints and on the legs before lightening it all up a bit with some drybrushing.

Then I went over with the sponge chipping to create some wear and a bit of blaster damage. 

So that's Blizzard Force nearly done, except for some custom 3D-printed goodies that are on the way. I think I have enough models painted now to have a game, so I'll try to put something together on that front in the next couple weeks!

Star Wars Legion: Rebel AT-RT

Rebel AT-RT prepares to move out!

"Star Wars Legion" miniatures continue to cross the painting desk...here is the Rebel AT-RT walker from the Core Set. It is a plastic model from Fantasy Flight Games. There are three different weapon options for the machine - I went with the laser cannon option.

The pilot seems awfully exposed up there...

In "Star Wars Legion", the heavy weapon options for the Rebellion forces are kind of limited. This can be a problem, particularly if your opponents roll out with something like at AT-ST, and start blasting your forces to pieces. That is why I selected the laser cannon as the weapon for AT-RT - I think it was the closest thing to "anti-tank" weapon the rebels could choose (I might be wrong - I have only played the game once, after all). Nonetheless, the rebellion will need all the help it can get if it comes up against scary heavy stuff on the Imperial side of things, even if that heavy weapon needs to be mounted on a sort-of outdated and relatively light combat platform like the AT-RT.

I do like how the pilot still has his own blaster as well - just in case he needs to make a hasty exit, I expect...

I was pretty heavy with the weathering on this thing, reasoning that the chassis would look a bit old, and a little beat up, even as it continued to work in support for the Rebel cause. The pilot is painted to match the colours of the other rebel infantry I painted from the Core Set.

Ready to provide the Rebellion with some heavy fire support...

In our first game of "Legion", I played on the Imperial side, and we used our AT-ST to blast one of these things to pieces over the course of the first two turns, and then went on to have a lot of fun chewing up Rebel squads (not that it prevented them from sabotaging one of our reactors - terrorists!) - but a lesson from that game is that one AT-RT may not be enough, so I might add a second one to my Rebel collection, just to give them a bit of a chance in the event they come up against the AT-STs on the other side.

That's all for now - thanks for reading, and stay tuned for (even) more Legion content, coming soon!

Contemptor Twins

Here are two Alpha Legion Contemptor Dreadnoughts I completed this week. The Contemptor Dreadnought is a must for any 30k army. It's one of those iconic units that immediately separates a 30k army from a 40k one. This is especially true when they are the legion specific models designed by Forgeworld. I got two of the legion specific dreadnoughts for the Alpha Legion a while ago and finally finished them this week. No transfers were required as they are already covered in chapter icons. I gave them the usual paint job, but painted the hydra symbols on the chest with a different wash. They are also armed differently. One is armed for close combat with a chainfist / meltagun and a multi-melta. The second is armed with dual Kheres Assault Cannons! I wanted him posed like he's letting loose with both cannons while bracing himself from the recoil. I doubt that would be necessary giving what one of these things must weigh, but I imagine the space marine pilot inside retains some of the old behaviours and habits he had in his mortal life.

Posing a Contemptor is itself an artform. The various components that make up the foot, lower leg, upper leg and hips offer a variety of positions, but also tend to produce a stance that is either too narrow (looking like it's prancing) or they're sticking one leg forward in an odd looking swagger. These are by far the best poses I have ever built for the contemptor and I have been unable to achieved similar results before or after these guys. Thanks for visiting.

Star Wars Legion: Rebel Specialists

More Rebel reinforcements for "Star Wars Legion" - the Rebel specialists.

Let the glory of collection escalation continue! The Conscripts have a wide assortment of hobby interests, but when some of us get going on a similar project, I find the progress of others inspires me to move along, and the "Star Wars Legion" momentum, stoked so patiently by Dave V, seems to have taken off. After finishing the Rebel infantry from the "Star Wars Legion" Core Set, I thought I would knock off the figures from the Rebel Specialist pack as well. These are all plastic figures from the relevant Fantasy Flight Games box set - a Rebel officer, communications specialist, an astromech droid and a medical droid.

The officer and the communications specialist painted up pretty quickly, as the muted colours for the Rebels were all handy on my painting table, and their uniforms share many elements with the regular troopers.

Senior Rebel officer for "Star Wars Legion".

The Officer is clearly meant to be a senior commander. The sculpt looks more like a "giving a briefing on the base" type officer, as opposed to a "leading the attack" sort of officer. I can see him standing in front of some manner of holographic projection, or observing an operation in progress. All the same, he can act as an HQ element for a Rebel force in "Legion", allowing you to have a more anonymous sort of commander, as opposed to one of the heroes of the story.

Rebel Communications Specialist - view of the comms unit.

The communications specialist is a very nice sculpt - and she is well armed two, with two blasters. Perhaps the extra blaster is for use in case she needs to deal with droids?

Good pose, a nice sculpt here from Fantasy Flight Games.

Speaking of, we come to the droids from this set. Ah, droids. I pretty much enjoy the droids in the Star Wars universe - with the notable exception of 3P0. The Conscripts are familiar with my many and varied rants regarding 3P0. We have played, many, many games set in the "Star Wars" universe over the years,  and I have tried to destroy 3P0 in the game any time I ever had the chance. 3P0 can suck it. In one game, he received an orbital strike courtesy of General Veers! A top Conscript gaming memory, that is for sure!

But I digress...let us leave the completely useless brass turd that is 3P0, and consider these two more anonymous droids. We all recognize the medical droid...somehow I expect the bedside manner would be slightly unnerving. My painting efforts on his eyes were mixed at best, and the outcome seems to me to reinforce the view that the droid will try to help, but pretty much calculates that you are a moron to get hurt in the first place. All the same, when you are up against Darth Vader, I'm sure the Rebels will take all of the medical help they can get!

Rebel medical droid and astromech droid, ready to support the fight for freedom in a galaxy far, far away.

An then there is a cute little astromech droid. I know they have specific roles and benefits in the "Legion" game, but in general I think of these  as nice accent pieces or perhaps objectives for a scenario. There is always some kind of file stuck in the memory of an astromech droid, right? Maybe plans for a new Imperial weapon, or perhaps a record of Director Krennic's online search history? Either way, critical for the Rebellion to secure that info!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more "Star Wars Legion" very soon - from me, and, I suspect, others as well! Thanks for reading!

Alpha Legion Assault Squad

I'm in the process of completing the remaining models I have earmarked for my 30k Alpha Legion. The first up is an Assault Squad. It's a basic 10-man squad armed with chainswords and bolt pistols. Two of the models are armed with a power sword and power maul, while the sargeant is armed with a power fist and hand flamer. I painted one shoulder pad white so I could use the metallic green legion symbol that came with the Forgeworld transfer sheet. The transfer is a bit underwhelming, but the white helps break up the sea of turquoise a bit. My Alpha Legion army is mostly long range, so some close combat is a nice addition.

Thanks for visiting!

Galactic Heroes - "These ARE the droids you're looking for!"

Last month I ran Galactic Heroes for the Conscripts. Regular Conscript Blog reader Pierre was in town, so I hosted a game at my residence.

In the previous game, Leia’s forces destroyed a power generator, resulting in damage to the automated defenses on the second table, located in another part of the town. At that time we used the Star Wars Legion rules, with its plethora of proprietary dice, markers, and cards. 

This time, six players ran the Empire and Rebel forces playing a variation of the “These aren't the bots...” scenario from the Galactic Heroes rulebook. Luke’s troopers faced off against Vader, Stormtroopers, and Scout Troopers. I used the stats for “A Faraway Galaxy” as a start, adding some weapons and giving each Force user 5 powers.

People picked up the gist of the rules very quickly. Early on very bad dice rolls meant that no one did anything besides run out of ammo. By mid game, both sides had determined that two of the 4 droids were not the target (Vader used the Force to pull a droid into contact; very cinematic!).

Luke cut down a Scout biker then leaped among an enemy squad, defeating several before going Out Of Action. Similarly, Vader shrugged off blaster hits, sabering or Force choking Alliance troopers before falling. The battle turned roughly 90 degrees.

Each force was in proximity to one of the two undetermined droids. I ruled that the next discovery roll would be at even odds (6+); the Imperials failed, leaving the second set of plans in the hands of the Alliance!

In the final turn there was a flurry of activity as the Rebels consolidated both droids with the plans on their left flank, and defeated a few more Stormtroopers. However, they did not manage to reach the small ship warming up in the docking bay.

The Conscripts enjoyed the game. The playing card activation keeps everyone engaged. Actions flow quickly. Some mistakes were made, mostly due to forgetting Traits. However, we agreed that the rest of the campaign will be played using Galactic Heroes!

With both Luke and Vader in bacta tanks, the next game will involve a desperate attempt by other Alliance leadership to transport the secret plans off-planet, and the Imperial actions to thwart the Rebel scum.