So given that Mr Awdry had a birthday last week, myself and Bull braved torrential rain on Saturday to visit Awdry Towers and participate in a first game of Star Wars Legion.
I had spent the last week feverishly painting my Imperial troops… and failed miserably. Mr Awdry on the other hand managed to paint most of his troops and build an Ewok village and Imperial bunker. In truth I had spent the majority of my available time reading through the rules and watching gameplay videos (which proved far more useful).
We started with the basic tutorial and went through everything step-by-step. It proved to be quite an exciting game. Han Solo showed his roguish tricky side that we all love (or not, grrr) and Vader turned out to be the intimidating, deadly presence I had hoped (albeit moving at a pedestrian pace).
After a brief interlude for pizza and a chinwag, we jumped back in – Bull taking over the command of some of the Rebels – with lots of our shiny extras, including a rather slick looking snowspeeder. My Imperials had nicked the win in the last game, but it was not to be this time. The flyer proved to be a tough and deadly addition to the Rebel lineup and a distinct lack of cover on my side of the table left my Imperials exposed from almost all directions.
Despite being disappointed that my shiny purchases had not lived up to expectation, I came away quite taken by the game. On paper it's rather 40k like, but in reality it's not – it shares more in common with Imperial Assault and X-Wing (which is to be expected). There are a few neat mechanics and overall it feels balanced (though I still don't quite understand why a trained, "precise" and more expensive Stormtrooper is a worse shot than a Rebel trooper!)
Expect to see more Legion stuff coming soon(ish).