X-wing is the game that brought me into miniatures gaming, and it holds a special place in my heart. I’d been stepping away from the game recently, getting hyped for Legion. 2.0 has me excited about the game again and I’m looking forward to the new edition.

What does this have to do with Legion? For those of you unaware, X-wing 2.0 has done away with points and upgrade slots on cards. Instead, FFG is releasing a free squad builder app that can be updated at regular intervals. Future balance changes will be implemented by changing point costs and upgrade availability on units. Upgrade point cost could even vary by unit.

Now I can understand why FFG wouldn’t want to have implemented an app from the get go on a new game. Problems with the app would potentially affect the health and viability of the game in a way that wouldn’t be the case for a game with an already strong community. However, I already see balance issues with Legion... that stem directly from point cost rather than any failure of mechanics.

For example, grenades cost exactly the same on Rebel Troopers as they do on Stormtroopers, despite conveying more of a benefit to Stormtroopers. The same can be said for Esteemed Leader on Veers instead of Leia, at least until Rebels get troopers with a red defense dice (at which point app based costing could be equalized). Worst of all, by most accounts armor is overcosted. The T-47 airspeeder is already in danger of being left behind by the meta, with no mechanism for enhancing its efficiency. Other than changing point values, I have a hard time seeing how FFG will be able to address these concerns, and FFG has shown an unwillingness to alter printed point values in the past except in extremely over powered cases.

I don’t really have a solution for any of this, Im just curious what the community thinks. I’m really enjoying Legion, and these issues aren’t currently impacting the health of the game in my opinion (The limited options make the T-47 an attractive choice regardless if its inefficient, there’s enough points in a list to tolerate getting less efficient use of certain upgrades than your opponent). I just can’t help but think these small issues will balloon as more and more units are added, and I’m worried about the future.

App based for Legion would be really smart, especially when they inevitably introduce more factions.

2 minutes ago, Hawkstrike said:

App based for Legion would be really smart, especially when they inevitably introduce more factions.

Agreed. I just wonder if they’ll be willing to say “ignore the point costs on the cards” at some point? I don’t want to wait for Legion 2.0 six years from now.

Then again... it would be easier for them to release card packs for Legion (Given the lack of cardboard).

Personally, I don't own a tablet and I despise doing listbuilding and that kind of thing on the small screen on my phone, I'd much rather do it manually on my PC. Even if the app is made available on PC, I'd probably still prefer not to use it because I won't have any control over it - if FFG make a change I and my group disagree with, well, tough, app says no. But, so long as it's not the only way to access the point values they can do as they please - a PDF will do, which I understand they are doing with XW2.0.

10 minutes ago, Yodhrin said:

Personally, I don't own a tablet and I despise doing listbuilding and that kind of thing on the small screen on my phone, I'd much rather do it manually on my PC. Even if the app is made available on PC, I'd probably still prefer not to use it because I won't have any control over it - if FFG make a change I and my group disagree with, well, tough, app says no. But, so long as it's not the only way to access the point values they can do as they please - a PDF will do, which I understand they are doing with XW2.0.

Yes, definitely appreciate they’ll have the pdf available as well (and the updateable rules reference pdf for Legion is something I really appreciate).

I believe the X-wing app also lets tournament organizers enter list building restrictions for their events. Not sure if it lets them alter point costs, but if it does that may be one solution if your group disagrees with a change.

Pretty sure it is way too early for this sort of thing. X-wing is huge, which is why they put those kinds of resources into that game. This game has a long ways to go before getting that level of support.

One of the first interviews with Alex Davey after Legion got announced had him talking about this type of app. I think it might have been Team Covenant.

19 hours ago, Mep said:

Pretty sure it is way too early for this sort of thing. X-wing is huge, which is why they put those kinds of resources into that game. This game has a long ways to go before getting that level of support.

I was actually really surprised they didn't have something like this from the start. Static cards seems very old fashioned. Keeping units balanced has been a huge problem in war games since forever. Games like Infinity have benefited hugely fromarmy building apps where they can change point costs, abilities and sometimes text as needed, either to fix unintended issues or balance over or under powered units. In the case of Infinity (and some other games) this has even allowed them to do away with printed rules for units entirely. No more having to buy an expensive book or cards. Every unit profile is available for free through the app or a pdf from the site.

I hope FFG will move in this direction for X-Wing, Armada and Legion.