A starter set, a big spider, big wheel bikes, I had spent a lot of time getting bigger and better units for my Separatist Alliance force, but I had really been neglecting one of the most impactful things on an army – the leaders. At the time of writing, there were not many options for leaders for the Separatists, unless I wanted to buy older sets and card packs to update them. I did not want to go down that rabbit hole. That left me with a few options. The sensible decision would have been the tactical droids, as my force has so many droids… in fact, it’s all droids! But equally, I had built a lot of droids, and I was eager to get something slightly different, more organic, to see how it would compare to the likes of Grievous, the commander from the starter set. That left the Sun Fac and Poggle the Lesser set – at least for now.
At £29.99 for two models, as well as command cards, this didn’t seem a bad set to get. Not only would I be getting a commander, but I would also be getting an operative that I could add to my forces. I grabbed the box – a very small affair – and took a look inside. There were the typical cards, tokens, sprues, bases and Atomic Mass Games leaflet for guiding players to the build instructions. Now while I wasn’t expecting there to be alternate builds, I have got into the habit of reading the cards first before assembling and didn’t plan on changing that now.
The pack comes with two-unit cards and four command cards. Surprisingly, there are no upgrade cards in the box. Starting with the commander, Poggle, he costs eighty points so is a significantly cheaper option compared to Grievous. It is obvious though why he is so much cheaper. He only has a speed of one, rolling a red defense dice and has four wounds. His melee weapon is a staff that rolls two black dice and his ranged, which has a range of one – three, also rolls two black dice. In terms of keywords, he has Jump 2 allowing him to deal with terrain with ease. Compel for Separatist Troopers, allows you to move troopers a bit further (for a suppression token) if suppressed, whether they are organic or droid. Poggle can have an entourage of B2 Super Battle Droids and has override. The latter allows units within range five to gain a suppression token to ignore their AI keyword. This could be immensely useful, particularly when all the droids (the only units I have so far) have AI keywords! Finally, Weighed Down means that Poggle can’t jump if he has an objective token. It makes sense. Poggle has a couple of handy bits. He’s not as impressive as Grievous, but the saving in points easily makes up for this. I do like that his abilities work with all units, not just other Geonosians.
Poggle’s lieutenant, Sun Fac, costs eighty points. He has one more wound than Poggle (five) but for defense is only rolling a white dice. His weapons are also more powerful: his melee rolls two red and one black dice with the keyword Pierce 1; his range rolls one of each colour dice and has the keyword Suppressive. He has Jump 3 and Cover 1, allowing him to move and hopefully make up a little for his white dice defense. Death from Above means that Sun Fac should be hitting covered units more and he also comes with Weighed Down like Poggle. Scale gives him some flexibility moving. He then has Direct: Geonosian Warriors, which gives some advantage to running not just droids, but Geonosians as well. Finally, Sun Fac also can form a retinue for Poggle, and all the advantages that that brings. He seems quite handy, particularly for taking out small units.
There are then four command cards: three for Poggle and one for Sun Fac. I’m going to focus on two of Poggle’s cards first. ‘Let The Executions Begin!’ is a one pip card that allows allied Corps units when they activate to turn surges into criticals if the enemy unit is within two and line of sight of Poggle. In a droid army, done right, this could be immensely powerful as it’s not restricted to one Corps unit but everyone that meets the criteria. The other command card is ‘We Make Weapons’. It is four pips but is treated as a three pip when building your command hand. It allows you to issue commands to four droid trooper units and when you do issue an order with the card, you can put the order token for the unit back in the order pool, return a defeated miniature and remove a suppression token. This is very much in keeping with my style of play and I love the look you could cause to your opponent’s face when a model comes back! Both of these command cards work amazingly with a droid army, and I have to say it makes me very excited to use Poggle with my droid force.
The other two command cards I’ve separated as they rely on having Geonosian warriors in your force. I don’t have any of these – yet. I’m sure I will be for me, these command cards suit a different Separatist force, one with less droids and made up more of organics. The first card is two pip, called ‘We Serve the Queen’. This is Poggle’s other card and causes Sun Fac to lose Direct: Geonosian Warriors and instead him and other Geonosian Warriors can Coordinate. If the warriors’ next activation sees them with a face up order token, they also gain an aim and dodge token. This could be very useful, although not at the moment for me. The other command card ‘Brutal Enforcer’ is one pip but is a Sun Fac card. At the start of activation, you can choose two Geonosian warriors within two of Sun Fac and they can each jump three. Sun Fac then gets Agile and Demoralize for the round. Again, this could be a very useful card with the right units in your force. For me, who is most certainly down the droid route, they are not any good. But I like that there are command cards to help support both types of army set-up. When I do get Geonosian Warriors (and clearly, I’m going to need a couple of them!) these cards will prove hugely helpful.
I can already see how useful these two characters could be, both with units that I have and with those I hope to have in the future. This is not a set that is restricted to players who prefer a primarily Geonosian army and I really like that it has been thought about by AMG. But I certainly can’t include them in my force unless they are actually built, so it’s time to get these two made. Following the QR code onto the AMG website, the instructions are very simple, it is after all two normal sized models with no alternate builds. Poggle is the first of the two you start with. I love the pose of this model and that he’s thinking. I did catch myself thinking I’d clipped off part of his face when taking his head piece off, before realising it is actually the finger that will connect to his hand! As expected, this was fairly straightforward. I did change one thing to the instructions. I attached the thinking hand before the legs to help me line them up and then glued the legs on. Before I attached the left arm holding his stick, I glued the model to the base. I found this aided me greatly in positioning the left arm correctly. I really like the finished model for this, the details are there, the pose is just right, and it was an easy, enjoyable build.
Sun Fac is a bit more complex and requires a bit more patience. The legs have a bit of play to them, so make sure that they are lined up. Also, the arms, you are going to want to attach the left arm first and make sure the glue has set before attaching the blaster. It joins to the right upper arm by the elbow joint; it is very fine. Thankfully I had some extra thin glue and while I was holding everything in place, I very carefully added a small amount in order for it to set. The model looks great and even only being attached by one foot, it seems incredibly stable – something I am very thankful for.
With that the models were done. I am very excited for this set. I was originally concerned that I would be slightly hampered using this set because I only have droids, yet the cards and abilities that the units use are done in such a way that it doesn’t matter the composition of your army. Yes, there are advantages to having Geonosian warriors in your force but there is plenty that allow these two to be used brilliantly in a droid force. The models are very easy to build, and I think this would be a great addition for someone who is only just starting out in the hobby. For the more experienced players, it’s a chance to have a break from the monotony from the droid building and being able to assemble something quickly and without fuss. A great addition to my Separatists and one that I can’t wait to try out on the tabletop.
The Star Wars Legion: Sun Fac and Poggle the Lesser 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.
