I had been really getting into Star Wars: Legion from Atomic Mass Games (AMG) since the reboot. The new rules had streamlined a lot of the problems I had originally with the game and I was thoroughly enjoying the battles that I could have. With children, the recon missions were far better for me: less points, smaller forces, no more than two hours of play. In other words, perfect! I had been building up my forces but then I came across the Battle Deck card pack II and thought that maybe I need a change of pace.
The Battle Deck gives you twenty cards to add a bit of variety to your games and on the surface, it reminded me a lot of the mission packs that AMG have been releasing yearly for Star Wars: Shatterpoint. These packs I have adored, they’ve provided a fresh take on the game each year they have been released. While not many cards, they have added a cheap way to add some variation to the game. Which brings us to the first issue I had when I saw this pack. The aforementioned mission packs are £14.99. This means that in Shatterpoint they are a lot cheaper than buying a unit. For the Battle Deck, this is the same price as a cheap unit (the Spider Droid for the Separatists comes to mind). That isn’t a cheap alternative, that’s cards instead of hard plastic. While this isn’t inherently a problem, it does mean the pack has to do a lot more to convince me it’s worth its value.
So, what are these cards and are they worth the price of admission? You get four primary objective cards (with an additional four map cards to go with each one), four secondary objective cards and eight advantage cards (two for each of the current factions). When you look at it, there is a lot for all players. Also, I can’t imagine many players playing all four factions, which might mean that players in your group might want to contribute a few quid to get the advantages for their faction. In other words, while the price seems high to a new Legion player, I can see where you could reduce costs but equally there is a lot here compared to the Shatterpoint mission packs.
Let’s start with the primary and secondary objectives. While I like new advantage cards, it’s these objectives that I can imagine will run more like the mission packs I’m used to. For primary objectives there are: ‘Outflank’; ‘Contact, Contact!’; ‘Payload’ and ‘Cauldron’. Outflank’ is all about capturing flags, with some units having vanguard tokens that will score more. It looks like a lot of fun and one I think I would enjoy playing. ‘Contact, Contact!’ is about securing listening outposts that provide precise one. The map for this is a t-shape deployment zone, that looks rather interesting to say the least. The idea of trying to mark that out on a map could be…interesting. ‘Payload’ is about securing bomb carts and trying to get them into enemy territory to score more VP. This one looks fantastic, enough that I may have to print some bomb carts off just to add to the realism. The final primary objective, ‘Cauldron’ is securing Waypoints but if they are contested you remove one fewer suppression tokens. All of these are different, I think ‘Payload’ being my favourite on paper. They add a bit of variety to the games that are being played, which I do really like.
The secondary objectives are: ‘Failed Negotiations’, ‘Supply Run’, ‘Retrieve the Data’ and ‘Align the Relay’. ‘Failed Negotiations’ places an Exchange in the centre of the map with prisoners that players need to try and take control of. ‘Supply Run’ has players placing supply crates in contested territory which they then need to try and remove from the game. The later in the game you remove them, the more VP you gain. ‘Retrieve the Data’ has a Data Core in the middle of the board and then others in contested territory. You must recover the data! ‘Align the Relay’ is about controlled comms relays that are mainly at the edges of the board. All in all, they are all very samey, with different names. I don’t mind this too much as the primary objectives are – as the name suggests – the main ones and it is their maps that will affect the secondaries. What I do like about the secondaries is the narrative they provide for the battle, they might seem similar but the narrative aspect to them allows a much more story driven game.
These two sets of cards add variation to the game, much like the mission packs in Shatterpoint. Having seen them, they do add a lot of variety, more so than the mission packs and I think that on its own, already means I’m convinced by this set. The advantage cards seem like a fantastic bonus to add to all of this. Each faction gets two of these.
For the Separatists, they get ‘Command Override’ and ‘Armored Assault’. The former gets you to place two advantage tokens on the card. You can spend these in the issuing orders step on any unit with AI (so most of them) and they can issue an order to themselves. Not going to lie, that seems very useful indeed! ‘Armoured Assault’ allows three vehicles in the first activation phase to get an aim token. Depending on deployment and terrain this could also be immensely helpful.
The Republic get ‘Rapid Deployment’ and ‘Coordinated Strike’. The latter puts an advantage token on the card that can be spent to give two allied units in the issue orders step, Coordinate Trooper or Vehicle. Very similar to the Separatists and again, I can see being useful. ‘Rapid Deployment’ works during the first activation phase and gives two allied clone trooper units Reinforcements. You can see how these two are like the Separatists but also different, keeping in line with what we know about the Republic army and how they play in the game.
The Rebellion has ‘Scrambled Orders’ and ‘No Time to Lose’. The former allows you to place a Comms Scrambler anywhere on the battlefield causing enemy units within one to not be able to be issued orders. However, enemies also gain the action destroy comms scrambler which allows them to remove the scrambler if they are within half of it. This seems like it could be extremely useful and annoying for your opponent. It’s not too huge but something – if placed right – that your opponent is going to have to waste time sorting out. ‘No Time to Lose’ allows you to use advantage tokens in your Pass Pool to give a unit aim and dodge tokens or a recover action. Seems a great way to utilise those tokens if you are a player that finds you have a few.
Finally, it’s the Empire who get ‘Extreme Discipline’ and ‘Black Ops’. The latter allows the Imperial player in the first activation phase to choose two trooper units with six or less miniatures. If the unit has Infiltrate, they get aim and dodge tokens; if they don’t they gain Infiltrate. That sounds like that could cause a lot of trouble on the battlefield and I think suits my style quite well! The other card, ‘Extreme Discipline’, puts two advantage tokens on the card that can be spent when an allied unit gains suppression to remove all suppression, but the unit gains a wound. I feel this is very thematic, although not something I would particularly want to do. I worry about wounding my own troops. I know, I know, it doesn’t sound very Imperial of me!
While the main draw for me are the objective cards, I can’t say that the advantage cards aren’t appealing. They add a bit of extra that seems very thematic for each faction and I think I’d really like trying them out. This really is the icing on the cake for me; they are not needed but they do help justify the cost of the set. I was initially skeptical about the cost but just going through the cards, you can see how much work has gone into them all. There is a lot here that must be developed, balanced and tested and I can confidently say that when a new set of these cards does come out – inevitably they will – I know I will be wanting that set too. For me, the refresh of the game that is being played all year round, the cost justifies that. A surprisingly great small set that will have a huge impact on your games.
The Star Wars Legion: Battle Deck Card Pack II from Atomic Mass Games retails at £29.99. It is available now from high street gaming stores and online retailers including Amazon UK and Amazon US.
