I have been on the legion tournament at the UK game expo this weekend.
After this i just wanted to give my impressions (MY, subjective, not general...).
But from what what i saw, legion is no good tournament game right now (because of the rules, the meta and because there are so few units).
First of all i REALLY dislike the tournament rules and the structure for it. Win/Loss with 2 hours, number of rounds like Armada and SoS as first tiebreak are stupid. I don't really know how many we were, but 32 did register. The plan was to do 3 rounds. This means 4 player with 3 wins in the end. And the SoS is no real good Tiebreaker for this to decide a "winner".
In the end we have done 4 rounds. But even with this there should be 2 player with 4 wins. So no clear winner.
This might be fine for cassual tournaments or games. But if they want to make legion as a "real" tournament game, they really have to rewrite the rules. Or find a way to make a difference point system like it is with Aramada.
Second is the Meta. I was playing only with what i had. I didn't really expect anything with this list. I even expected to loose all matches. I had never done a 800 point match so far, and i have no real list. I just added all i have (AT-ST, 1x Speeder Bikes, Vader, Veers, some Trooper).
But all 4 matches were against exact the same Rebel Lists. For two reasons.
- The game just favors activations (even worse than Armada does). More units, especially Trooper, means better chances. So Basiacally: 2 generals, 6 Corps. Rest the cheapest you can use. And this is exactly what i was playing against. Luke, Leia, 6 Corps (mix of Fleet and Rebel Troppers). Rest 2-3 AT-RT.
- There are not enough units to make so many different lists (at least for rebels).
I am not even sure if there has been any Airspeeder at all. Yes, i saw a few AT-ST, but because of the way the game is working (Victory points as only win condition) it cannot really work on most missions (at least it did not work well for me). The only one that i could really play was the " Recover The Supplies". Because each side will get his two tokens, and there will be only a fight for the middle one (at least this way in the game i had it). In this case you can use the AT-ST to attack all that are going for the middle.
Intercept The Transmissions need trooper, Breakthrough and Key Positions need more units (again in favor of 6 corps). And depending on the terrain it means you might not even be able to cover/protect these tokens with the AT-ST.
After the 4th round i was a bit annoyed that i was playing 4 times against the same list. But on the second thought, there is no other list that you can play right now if you don't want to play the Airspeeder (i was told that it is really bad). You can only use a max. of 3 AT-RT. And you can only play two Generals. The possibilites for lists are really limited right now. The 6 corp units even had each the Z-6. I just assume it is really hard to even fill the 800 points right now (unless you add an Airspeeder).
The current meta is so limited because there are no alternative "expensive" units right now. The game is missing the vehicles. And it might become even worse with Han and the Commandos (kicking out the AT-RT for more Troopers).
Third is the terrain. Yes, lot of terrain is good and should be done. But We had some maps so filled with buildings that it was not even possible to move the AT-ST around (not to mention an Airspeed, that would just have crashed in one building after another, some were to high for an Airspeeder with Speeder 2). Troopers could just move around really free and just hide from the Walker. It is really hard when the game is already in favor of more cheap units. But if the terrain is making a big vehicle even useless, it is really not helping at all. It only will lead to lists with no big vehicles at all, because they cannot be used.
Why should you use an AT-ST with Mortar Launcher, when you can never fire it, because you have no clear line of sight.
Fourth: This might be really a subjetive notice from me. But i find the rebels are way superiour to imperials right now. They are cheaper and in some kinds better.
Rebel Troopers vs. Stormtroopers. They are really about the same (red defense, white attack and attack surge for the Imperials, black attack, white defense and defense surge for the Rebels). And still, the imperals cost 10% more.
Nearly each Rebel Trooper unit had a Z-6 Trooper. This seems to be an auto include. A unit that can add 6 white dice on range 3 is just to good for 22 points. Thats half of the points of a full imperial squad (yes, it missing the attack surge...). But it adds 6 white dice. For only 22 points. I find this one really insane (and way better than the DLT-19).
When i compare Luke and Vader, i really cannot see why Vader cost 40 points more (25% more than Luke). Luke is so much better with speed 2, Jump, Son of Skywalker, surge to crit.
Yes, Vader is also great, when he can get into range. But with only Speed 1 and no jump it is way more difficult for him. Once he is in range, he is deadly. No question about it. Even the Saber throw, with 3 red, Impact 3, Pierce 3 is really good. But is this really worth the 50 more points compared to Luke?
Especially when you take the Son of Skywalker. A 1 pip card that give this ability is just insane. It should have been 2 or 3 (IMO!). Yes, Vader can get a second attack as well with his 1 pip. But for this he suffer one damage, you have to draw it again, and your opponent can react to it with another activation. For the Son of Skywalker it comes all to the terrain again. But on the maps we had it was really no problem for Luke to get into range of any unit he want, and just "jump" it and kill it (unless you totally mess up the dice, but this is bad luck and not so common).
Next are Leia and Veers. Yes, Veers is cheaper. But Leia seems to be so much better. Inspire 2 (instead of 1 for Veers). Sharpshooter 2 (instead of 1 for Veers), Nimble, for endless Dodge Tokens, Take Cover, for free Dodge Tokens (and endless ones for the Rebel Troopers). Offense and Defense Surge (but only a white defense). I was even surprissed that she cost more than Veers, i was expecing a 70 point card.
Last point was the legal product part. This one really does not matter this much. Especially because i could not have played rebels at all, because i didn't buy anything but the core set for them.
Leia and the Fleet tropper were legal for the tournament. But the sad part is, that you could not buy them at the expo. This is really a big problem in general. In Germany they were hard to get. If you did not preorder them, you had nearly no chance to get them (unless you want to pay a really insane price for them, and might have a delivery time of more than one week). They were sold out in all my normal stores in the first day. Next release in a few month. I was checking each store at the UK Game Expo. Not one had Leia or the Fleet Troopers (i was checking on the first day). I asked a few, and they said: sold out before the expo.
The problem i see with this is, if FFG is giving out this few with the first print, they should not make them tournament legal. It is really not nice if there is a rebel player who just cannot play the newest set, because they made such a limited first print.
But as i said, it did not matter for me, and i was not expecting anything with my list. So there was no difference if the opponent had Leia or the Fleet Troopers. But it was a bad suprises. I did not check Leia or her abilites, because she should not have matter for this tournament (legal 11 days after, so from 4th).
In the end i have to say it was a fun tournament. Even when i see some problems with the game. The normal rules were, more or less, fine. Even when i really find the Line of Sight rules a little bit strange/confusing. And a bit to extreme abuseable (hidding the unit behind cover and only keeping the leader out is abusing, i hope no one is denying this).