Star Wars Legion - “Rebel Sabotage!”

In August I ran my first in-person with the (fully vaccinated) Fawcett Avenue Conscripts in almost 18 months. I introduced the boys to Star Wars Legion. I had originally planned to start a narrative campaign, set during the Galactic Rebellion era, back in the spring of 2020. Then came the lockdown. Conscript Greg was back in town for a few days, so Dallas suggested that I run some Star Wars to celebrate.

A Rebel band led by Princess Leia was trying to destroy a pair of power generators, while the Imperials tried to repair them. Concentrating on their mission, the Rebels managed to destroy one generator as the Imperials shot at them unmercifully. The AT-ST caused the most casualties of any unit in the board.

This was a tactical tie, but a minor strategic victory for Leia.

For the next game, Luke Skywalker will be leading a strike team across the same city as this scenario, trying to hack a communications net. The loss of one generator will hamper the automated Imperial defenses those Rebels will be facing. Will Darth Vader appear to try and stop his wayward son? You betcha.

It was great to catch up with everyone. Thanks to Dallas for hosting and providing the generators. And,

Bonus, I got to show off the cool figures and terrain I have been collecting since the fall of 2019.

Star Wars Legion - "I am no Jedi!"

 

There is no official figure in Star Wars: Legion for TV fan favourite character Ahsoka Tano. So, I used the soft plastic figure from FFG’s Imperial Assault board game to fill that gap. She is smaller than the ~1/47 scale figures that are standard in SW:L; Ahsoka is noticeably shorter than most other characters in The Clone Wars cartoon, so I am fine with it.

 

After re-basing the figure on a 27mm base, I used my usual zenithal highlights, acrylics, and then oils for blending and detail. I went with a very limited palette, similar to how Ahsoka appeared at the end of the final season of The Clone Wars. I differentiated the harder texture of her armour by using sharper, point highlights.

 

I plan to use the figure in Rebellion-era games. However, white lightsabers looked merely unpainted to me, so in the end I went with blue blades. Weirdly, I found the most difficult parts of the project were cleaning off mould lines from the soft plastic, and painting her lekku (head tails).

Star Wars Legion - “Somebody has to save our skins!”

Star Wars: Legion does not have official models for Leia, Luke, and Han as they appeared in the original 'Star Wars' movie (Episode IV: A New Hope).

These recently released figures are three of eight(!) different poses Felipe Manivel created for the trio in ANH (here, Leia in her iconic “cinnamon bun” hairdo and Luke and Han wearing stolen Stormtrooper armour). I love the anatomy and detailing. I purchased 3D prints from Order66 Miniatures and BigFatChefsCustoms, both on Etsy. 

I did my usual black priming with Chaos Black, and airbrushed zenithal highlights with Vallejo greys and whites. I laid in basic tones in acrylics, then used oils for blending, especially the flesh tones and various neutrals and greys for the robe and armour.

I have now painted up four different versions of Luke from the original trilogy.

Painting Challenge Entry: "Luke, it's too late!"

 

Star Wars: Legion does not have a model for Luke as he appeared in the original 'Star Wars' movie. I saw that movie with my brother on its release day, and at least a dozen times that summer. By now, I have seen it 50 or 60 times. 

I purchased from Order66 Miniatures three different, newly-released poses for Farmboy Luke. It's a very nice print, with an iconic pose, good anatomy (check out those hands), and almost completely unnoticeable printing lines. 

I did my usual black priming with Chaos Black, and airbrushed zenithal highlights with Vallejo white. Some acrylics, then oils for blending, especially the flesh tones and various neutrals and greys for the kimono style top. I added a couple of small tears to his top. I changed the colour of Luke's pants and undertunic a bit, and darkened his puttees and boots. Otherwise his legs from hips to toes would all be the same kinda off beige colour.

So, I have now painted versions of Luke Skywalker from all three of the original Star Wars trilogy.

All last year I only painted 12 figures. For this year's challenge, I am now on track to triple my output, LOL! Thanks to Curt and all the minions and fellow participants for the impetus to get out and paint. Cheers!

Painting Challenge Submission: Star Wars Legion - "They're not suits...They're Droids."

 

In Season 2 of the Disney+ television show, 'The Mandalorian', Dark Troopers were introduced as new villains for the Star Wars galactic heroes to overcome. They kidnapped Baby Yoda (Booo!), and helped defend Moff Gideon's light cruiser. These evil mooks were given a comic book origin; this third generation of trooper were no longer armoured humans, but powerful droids.

I wanted to introduce a few of these impressive troopers to our games of Star Wars Legion, but they are not manufactured by Asmodee or Atomic Mass Games. There is a strong community of sculptors and gamers out there, creating rules and figures for as yet unreleased or non-canon characters.

Accordingly, I picked up a couple of suitable 3D printed figure sets online to use as proxies: a 5-figure strong "Authority Dark Droid Squad" and a set that consisted of a "Rescuing Hero Wizard" with "Sliced Droids". For the latter two, one is crushed as if by a giant invisible hand, and the other is sliced in half from head to crotch, showing off its interior machinery. 

[The header photo above shows the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker figure I painted, fighting off a couple of Dark Troopers, as Mando & Baby Yoda (which I purchased for a fundraiser), and Sabine Wren (also my painting) prepare to deal with another.]

These 7 models are nice renders. I don't have a 3D printer, so I ordered resin prints, which had fairly subtle artifacts of printing (those horizontal lines). They are brittle; a couple arrived broken, but the resin broke clean and were easily repairable with super glue.

Studying stills from the show, they are basically black shiny armour with a few metal bits showing at the elbows and knees, with glowing red eyes and 4  lights on their chests. The armour really reflects lights sources.

After undercoating them with Chaos Black I under painted the guns with Vallejo Grey Black and painted the joints with various grey acrylics. I kept the rest simple. I arbitrarily selected a single light source located to their front and slightly to their left sides. I worked up reflections and catch points using indigo and titanium white oil paints. Other amour highlights were slightly rendered with neutral grey oil. I picked out the eyes and chest lights with GW Evil Sunz Scarlet. The sliced up one was further detailed with various orange and yellow acrylics and oils. Groundwork was Golden Garnet Gel (Fine), painted to match the sandy bases of most of my other SWL models. To finish I dirtied up their legs with Vallejo weathering powder, fixed with Vallejo Pigment Binder.

In the game these models are tough, shoot a strong gun, and are fearless, but they are not strong in close combat. Plus, characters with lightsabers will trash them. There's also online social media groups for unofficial game cards.

These were fun to paint and are a menacing addition to my Star Wars Legion collection. 

Star Wars Legion - Reinforcements

In addition to painting the odd figure here and there myself, I have been augmenting my Star Wars Legion collection with various figures that I have purchased or commissioned.

Arguably, the television show The Mandalorian has almost single-handedly revived the Star Wars franchise. Certainly, it's my favourite piece of Star Wars media in the last 20 years or so, with the possible exception of the film Rogue One. My first entry is the titular character, Din Djarin and his adoptive son, Grogu.

Before Christmas, UK Facebook user Jonathan Corps held a fundraiser for The Fairy Godbrothers charity (they send sick children to Disneyland and such), selling several 3D printed Mando and Child figures that he had painted. He left the bases empty for the buyers to place terrain to suit. It's a lovely, delicate print (see Baby Yoda's cute little fingers), and Jonathan painted it in striking fashion. I just added some acrylic garnet gel medium and painted the groundwork to match the rest of my collection.

The next several entries are from the Polish commission painting service, Minis for War. 

Jyn Urso is one of the main characters from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The model is a decent likeness of actress Felicity Jones. Minis for War have really shown the character's grit and determination.

  

Also from Rogue One, I commissioned a second squad of Pathfinders, so I can field two squads with two different heavy weapon options. I like especially how the alien squad leaders were rendered. in game terms, my two Pathfinder squads have good synergy with Jyn, infiltrating near the enemy.

I recently painted the LE Luke Skywalker. He will be a great commander for these Rebel Veterans. At my request, they based them in a more desert scheme, instead of winter groundwork (like when the troop type first appeared on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back). The figures remind me of coalition forces serving in the Middle East (with an alien twist).

First seen in Empire is this Rebel Veteran Mark II medium repeating blaster. Very dangerous looking, and a welcome addition to my Rebel forces, who don't have a lot in the way of heavy weapons and war machines.

   

Also first appearing in Rogue One are these imperial Shoretroopers. They have also appeared in The Mandalorian; they seem to be a type of garrison troop. Their groundwork is suitable for Scarif, Tatooine, and other sandy places. I like the details Minis for War did on the armour. 

To support the Shoretrooper squad is this last Minis for War commission, a DF-90 mortar. In the Star Wars Legion tournament meta, for awhile Shoretrooper squads and mortars were the "go to" choice to fill up one's Imperial "Corps" unit slots (i.e., the mandatory rank and file troopers, as opposed to elites or heavy support); this was due to a peculiarity of the rules that has since been rectified in a (free) revision via downloadable PDF. I do love my Stormtroopers.

 

First appearing in Rogue One, but also appearing in Star Wars Rebels, and as part of Moff Gideon's forces in The Mandalorian, are these Death Troopers. Like their movie counterparts, in the game these troops shoot straight and hit hard. The central figure with the raised fist is a named character from Rebels, a female Death Trooper named DT-F16.  I obtained these on eBay from  UK modeler "protechpainting". 

What's better than a squad of Death Troopers? Two squads of Death Troopers! I got these from eBay painter "sweathoger". With their starship decking bases, they go with the Darth Vader that SteveB painted for me. I will field them with the alternative figure to DT-F16, the model with the DLT-19 repeating blaster (which looks a LOT like a WWII German MG 34 dressed up for sci fi).

At the time of writing this article I have 114 painted Star Wars Legion figures, walkers, and speeder bikes. lots of choice for the scenarios I am writing, in the hopes of playing face to face games again in the hopefully not-too-distant future. Stay safe!