There have been a huge number of releases for Star Wars: Legion in the last few months. Whether these are brand new units or rereleases of older units with the new cards, it doesn’t really matter: there is a wealth of choice for players from every faction. Having just built the Separatist starter set, I was eager to expand my force. I’m not going to lie, while more droids sounded good, what I really wanted was some bigger things, whether they be vehicles or bigger droids. In plods the DSD1 Dwarf Spider Droid.
At £29.99 it isn’t too expensive compared to some units, but it does only come with one model. Although there are some units you will pay double for, you also get eight droid models – alas they are a bit smaller. The ratio of models to cold hard cash I was a little unsure of, but I wasn’t going to pass judgement until I had built the droid and seen the actual size of it for comparison. It did look like a really cool droid to have, so without too much hesitation, I opened the box to see what was, what.
As you would expect, there was the handy leaflet pointing you to the assembly instructions, tokens, cards (in multiple languages) and the sprue and base for the model itself. I usually always build the model first but I’m learning with Legion that it is far better to look at the cards and understand what weapons or attachments are needed first before getting the clippers and glue out.
For one droid, it certainly comes with a few upgrade cards – six in all. Looking at the droid by himself, he costs fifty points and only has a melee kick as a weapon. While I’m sure there is a case for having this droid completely unarmed, I don’t think the points would particularly justify it, this droid needs a weapon upgrade. It has six health but is only rolling white dice for defense. Self-Destruct 3 looks like a very carefully calculated gamble of when you might be able to sacrifice the droid to do damage to models around it. It could prove very useful on the right occasions. It might only be rolling white dice for defense but armour three is going to really frustrate your opponent when they are trying to take this droid down. Climbing Vehicle allows the Spider Droid to move like a trooper and Expert Climber further enhances this for climbing. Programmed means that the droid must take a programming upgrade. There are three included but along with the weapon, that means the cost of this droid is going to be a lot more than the initial fifty.
So, what are the weapon upgrades? There are three, two that cost fifteen points each and one that costs the price of these two combined, thirty. Before I get to grips with that expensive one, let’s look at the cheaper two. The first is a flamethrower that rolls one red dice and one white dice. Fixed: Front, Blast and Spray are the keywords. Blast helps to reduce the cover (if any) and spray means done right, you could be adding a lot of dice to your dice pool. Very handy but with a range of one, this is one of those up close and personal weapons. Surely my opponent would have time to either take the droid out or – well – run away! The other cheaper alternative is the laser cannon, giving you one red dice, one white dice and three black. Along with Critical 1 this seems rather handy, particularly with a range of three. As much as I’d like to use the flamethrower, it’s very situational, easier for an opponent to work around it and I just don’t think it would do the damage that I’d be hoping for. The thirty point weapon – the ion blaster – is ranged two to four, three white dice and three black dice, has critical one and impact one but perhaps more importantly has ion one. Why is that important? Because although this droid is for the droid army and I don’t expect to run into many droids, the same can’t be said for vehicles. If I’m upgrading my starter box, then my opponents surely will too. This would seem to be a handy all-rounder… except for that cost. The weapon is more than half the cost of the droid and with the two added (and we must also add a programming upgrade), that’s eighty points. That’s over two squads of battle droids. It’s a big chunk of point allocation. For me the choice is between the laser cannon and the ion blaster. With a laser cannon, that’s sixty-five points, with programming, that’ll probably take it close to two squads of droids, and it is doing a very similar job. The ion blaster – as expensive as it is – can deal with troops and vehicles and climb into better vantage points. It pains me, but I think the ion cannon is how I’m going to build my spider droid.
But we are not finished yet. The droid must have a programming upgrade; the box comes with three. One is fairly cheap at three points, the other two are eight points. Thankfully not too expensive but I’m seeing the cost of this droid going up and up! The cheapest upgrade is Engagement Protocols, giving the droid AI: Attack, Move. Now my plan is to keep this expensive Spider Droid near the back taking out nuisances. At the points cost, I don’t want to scratch that paint work! Now at three points, it isn’t too bad, but when I look at the other two upgrades that each cost eight, they all have an AI part to them. Attack and move do not seem bad but not really my style. The other two upgrades are Defense Protocols and Attack Protocols. The former gives you AI: Dodge and the latter AI: Aim. They do also come with some keywords: Defense with Nimble and Outmaneuver and Attack with Precise 2. While I think both are good, for the ion cannon, it’s the attack protocol. I could see the Defense Protocol working well with the flamethrower, but I think having something to deal with vehicles is going to be much more helpful. Although at eighty-eight points, I can feel myself gritting my teeth at the points spent!
Just from the cards, what I like is that there are a variety of ways to equip this droid and they all look like they will synchronize well with different combinations. While I’m tormenting myself with options, it will of course depend on the game, my opponent and basically what I can afford. The reason I’m stressing about weapon choices are for the model itself; I’ll get back to that in a moment. This droid can either fill a possible gap in your list or just add to a horde of droids doing even more destruction. Having only just started on my voyage of Separatists I think having an all-rounder that can deal with anything could be very handy.
With the cards examined it was onto the building of the model. The reason I have been trying to work out the weapon to have is because the model must be built with one of the specific weapons. Now I’m sure my opponent isn’t going to mind if I want to change the weapons in my list, but I would rather the model match the weapon I’m going to use most often. Unlike some builds, this one doesn’t lend itself to magnetizing the weapons easily, so it really is a decision on the weapon you want and go for it. Following the QR code to the Atomic Mass Games (AMG) website, I loaded up the instructions and got to work. While there is a variation in the weapons you can choose, there is also an alternate build with the legs as well. I’m imagining AMG are thinking players are going to have a few of this model! It is difficult on the instructions to really see the difference but I think the alternative has a couple of the legs off the ground. While I like this and I’m sure if I get another Spider Droid, I will do this build, I very much wanted as much stability for the droid to the base. Knowing the legs I wanted, the weapon I wanted, it was time to actually make it.
I have to say this is one of the most relaxing and easiest builds I have ever done. Everything is straightforward and there really isn’t anything that will prove a problem for even the most inexperienced player. The attention to detail is fantastic. The mechanism that allows the head to swivel in-universe, is modelled, even though the head of the spider droid completely covers it up! For converting or creating battle scenes this is fantastic and adds a whole different level to the model. It took me no time to start and finish the model, and I was very happy with it. Being on a bigger base, it is a good size, and I think the cost is justified, particularly with the extra options that are included.
I’ve fallen in love with this set. It’s a single model that has plenty of options, in terms of building it physically as well as for army lists. The price point compared to some units you could upgrade to is relatively cheap and I think it’s a good way to test the waters with a single expansion for the starter box. I can’t wait to run this in a game, I really hope it surprises me with how well it performs. Stay tuned for a battle droid where I test it, and several other unit boxes, out to see how well they do!
The Star Wars Legion: DSD1 Dwarf Spider Droid pack 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.
