For many of FFG's games, one of the most common reccomendations for what to buy after the core set is another core set. In the LCGs, this gets you extra copies of all the cards, including some very powerful ones. Even before X-wing gotba second core set, imperial players often bought two since buying two tie fighters and a dice pack only cost two dollars less than a core set that came with all that as well as spare templates, an extra damage deck, and an X-wing you could trade for something. Armada, however, broke the model. Each faction only got ships worth less than half of the coresets value, and while another maneuver tool and more dice are one of the more common purchases, those two inexpensive purchases and a handful of redundant fighters weren't worth 60/70 dollars. So, how does Legion measure up?

At the most basic level, a duplicate legion core set gives you $75 of usable miniatures (Two trooper units and a Support unit, each worth $25). You also get an extra Commander, but until we get a Luuke Skywalker commander that's not much use aside from conversions and displays. Factoring in the almost essential extra set of damage dice ($15 right there), a spare set of maneuver tools and objective cards, and some more Barriccades for the terrain starved, and at the surface level you've got a pretty good deal. However, it's not quite that simple.

For one thing, do you really want all those units? While you will need a third corps unit, both faction have another type of corps unit on the way. Maybe you want some Snow Troopers who won't leave Darth Vader behind, or the powerful close range blasters of the fleet troopers. Or maybe you'd rather an AT-ST and Veers instead of more speeder bikes. Another thing to consider is that some cards are unique to the individual expansions- The corps unit expansions comes with copies of the Impact Grenades and Climbing Hooks upgrades, and it appears that the Speeder bikes and AT-RT also come with at least one unique upgrade. Even if you do want a ton of Stormtroopers, you'll probably want at least a few copies of impact grenades to repel angry AT-RTs trying to squish your troopers in a melee.

So where does that leave us? If you do want all the units from the core set, It's still probably a good deal, especially if you plan to get even more of those units or plan to play both factions. Still, forewarned is forearmed, and if you plan a bit ahead, you figure out what the best deal for you is.

Something else to keep in mind is some people are in a similar situation to myself, where I have two people who will be interested in playing the game, and a need/use for both factions in the box. For my situation, two cores is a fantastic deal.

As to the "unique cards," the Grappling Hook and Impact grenades will also be included in the next wave of Corps units, meaning they aren't as unique as in past FFG Star Wars miniatures games wherein a particular card is ONLY in a specific expansion. The Comm Jammer (which is the "unique" card for the AT-RT and the Speeder bikes. [As a side note, the Speeder bike apparently has two copies of Comms Jammer weirdly]) is also included in the AT-ST and the T-47 Airspeeder. This means that the third party price of these cards is likely to be less, as they are significantly more common, should you need physical copies for Official Play. Concussion Grenades and Targeting scopes currently have no other source besides the Core box.

I think this is the first FFG game where the second core set is an absolute judgement call.

I plan to get two mainly because I will gain Extra Dice, Tokens, Terrain and Measuring Tools. Having the spare Luke and Vader means I can paint them both and pick the one I like the best to play with.

Paint one Luke in ESB tan and one in RotJ black

Oh oh!!!! and buy an IA luke in ANH Tatooine clothing and you'll have a full set

1 hour ago, Caimheul1313 said:

Concussion Grenades and Targeting scopes currently have no other source besides the Core box.

They do come with 4 copies each however so unless you are splitting one core with a friend you should be able to get extra copies secondhand.

1 minute ago, Orcdruid said:

They do come with 4 copies each however so unless you are splitting one core with a friend you should be able to get extra copies secondhand.

Fair point, especially with as quick as I am about pointing out how relatively easy copies of Impact Grenades and Grappling Hooks should be to obtain.

58 minutes ago, Orcdruid said:

They do come with 4 copies each however so unless you are splitting one core with a friend you should be able to get extra copies secondhand.

Speaking of which, do we have exact numbers on the upgrades in the Core set? Hmm... 4 Concussion Grenades, 4 Targeting Scopes, 2 Rebel Troopers, 2 Storm Troopers, 2 of each Weapon specialist... That's 20. I know it has 35 upgrades... Let's see... There'd be the 3 AT-RT weapons, Force Choke, Jedi Mind Trick, 1-2 copies of the other force powers. That's 28 or more likely 31... Which would likely mean 2 copies each of the Comms Upgrades. So I guess I just answered my own question.\

EDIT: I was wrong. Having checked an unboxing video, the core set also includes 2 copies of an unpreveiwed Force power, Force Reflex, which is 15 points and provides a free dodge token when exhausted. It does not come with Comms Jammer.

1 hour ago, Nihm said:

Paint one Luke in ESB tan and one in RotJ black

I have two paint challenged friends that I will be painting for, so 4 Lukes and 4 Darth Vaders may be my limit and best if I want to keep whatever semblance of sanity I have keep variations to a minimum.

1 hour ago, Nihm said:

Paint one Luke in ESB tan and one in RotJ black

No, no, paint one set as normal Luke and Vader and then paint them for the opposite side. The extra Luke as the Luke who joined Vader and the extra Vader as the Infinities Episode VI redeemed Vader.

Something, I've been wondering though is if they might end up down the line releasing a Jedi Luke as a specialist/Spec Ops sort of character considering that Han was the one in charge at Endor. Speaking of it would be great if when Han comes out he comes as both a specialist and a leader.

9 minutes ago, Amanal said:

I have two paint challenged friends that I will be painting for, so 4 Lukes and 4 Darth Vaders may be my limit and best if I want to keep whatever semblance of sanity I have keep variations to a minimum.

Sanity, who needs that? Power rangers luke squad anyone?

1 hour ago, Orcdruid said:

Sanity, who needs that? Power rangers luke squad anyone?

remove 1 hand and have end of ESB luke!!

My take is this.

For both sides, but especially for a rebel player (where 2x cores cant even build 800 points!) 2x cores is the smart money for now.

Snowtroopers/Fleet troopers are nice, but unless you want to play the one list over and over, with all the advantages and disadvantages that come with that choice you want options, and to have options you need the mini's to make those options. (Btw that means when we get new trooper options that means 3-5 packs of each, just incase!)

The cards so far are a non issue, you'll pick those up in the course of expanding anyway.

If you convert/mod (and plenty of people want to alienate their rebels more........) it's a smart choice as you're paying less to get the spares you want.

we don't yet know how durable the movement templates are (although if armarda is any indicator they should be good) so there's that to consider, not to mention how much easier it makes life if you're sharing to get friends into the game.

You have the other faction to sell. Now i wouldn't advocate trying that here on the forums, but i expect with an online LtP and RR there will be a strong secondhand market for those not wishing to purchase a core to get into the game for 1 faction......

2 hours ago, Squark said:

It does not come with Comms Jammer.

Comms Jammer is the non-core upgrade that is included in all four of the initial release vehicle boxes. As I mentioned previously, the Speeder Bike comes with 2 copies surprisingly enough, so spares shouldn't be too terribly difficult to come by.

5 hours ago, Nihm said:

Paint one Luke in ESB tan and one in RotJ black

Tbh they’re probably gonna release a rotj luke

2 minutes ago, Jabby said:

Tbh they’re probably gonna release a rotj luke

Luke Skywalker: The Last Jedi

That is the speculated reason for the "subtitles" on the different character cards.