Hi I am currently an xwing player and decided to dip my toes into legion. I picked up the core set and a few expansions that quite frankly I bought because I liked the looks of the units. Here is what I currently have.

1 core box, 1 extra set of dice, Wookie Expansion, Chewbacca, Bossk, and imperial specialists.

I play board games with a couple friends and my son non competitively and build lists for fun and flavor rather than the current meta. I do plan on collecting both imperial and rebel units and I have no desire to expand into the clone wars stuff. Maaaaaaaaaaybe I might get into the seperatist stuff way down the road.

My question is given what I already have does a second core set still make the most sense to get me where I need to be or given the price of the older expansions should I go that route to flesh out my armies? If I should skip the core box do you guys have a recommendation on a couple units on each side that won’t over complicate the rules while me and my son are still learning. He’s 14 and plays magic the gathering and xwing with me. I appreciate any help.

thanks!

A second core set is always what I would recommend. Especially since it sounds like you are buying stuff for two people to use. Just the Corps units in the core set would cost $100 if bought separately, so on top of that you get another AT-RT, another Speeder Bike, more dice, movement tools, and range rulers, and more barricades (also another Luke and Vader, but those aren't really useful). Honestly it wouldn't be a terrible idea to get two more core sets.

Yeah second core set is definitely worth it. I ended up with 3 through being shipped the wrong product, but I kept that too. I just play casual at home with my brother and having a set of movement tools each plus extra dice speeds things up a lot. In terms of what expansions to buy, so far we bought one of everything released for the Rebels and Empire (some are still on order though). If I could do it over again I'd probably buy the expansions in order of release, as some keywords are defined better on their first printing, but not on subsequent releases ie Entourage is explained on the Emperor's card, but not on Krennic's.

In terms of what we have - Deathtroopers and Shoretroopers get used a lot. Veers and Leia are good standard commanders to build an army around - cheap on points but improve the performance of troops and vehicles around them. Krennic is similar. Operative Vader and Luke are good fun, but maybe try some variety before getting these. Scout troopers and Rebel Commandos are good buys because of their sniper rifles. You can actually make 2 units from each box, one regular unit and one two man strike team (usually the sniper). Strike teams are used a lot whereas regular units not so much, but at least it's good value until you build up an army. We don't use the medic/repair droids too much, but they have their uses now and then. It's something I want to use more of. The expansion packs are also hit and miss. DLT20a for Rebels is a pretty good upgrade, and the RT is good on stormtroopers. But they're lovely minis. Fleet troopers and Snowtroopers are great at close range, but the former suffers weak defence and the latter can be a bit slow at speed 1, but make up for it with a free attack. Boba Fett is good fun, as is Bossk, though competitively I think people see Boba as overpriced. Han and Chewie synergise well. R2d2 is also great fun, and can get you extra victory tokens for only 35 points. He's something extra for the enemy to worry about. In terms of Vehicles and canons etc, we have a landspeeder and occupier tank, both fun to use occasionally, but not a staple. We also have both canons which get used occasionally. A well placed e-web canon can cause trouble for defending an objective. We have Veterans and Pathfinders, but I find them hard to get the most out of - pathfinders are quite particular. Jyn works well in synergy with luke or leia but I wouldnt field her alone. The emperor is devastating, especially with Vader, Deathtroopers or Snowtroopers close by as he gets to basically use an allied unit to attack if he wishes. Dewback is surprisingly good, as are Tauntauns - they're really fast with loads of bonuses. I'm still waiting on delivery of royal guards, Sabine, Cassian, Iden, ATST and Snowspeeder yet so can't comment. All in all I'd say we get some use out of each expansion, even if it's only 1/4 of the minis.

TL:DR all expansions have some merit, and the minis look cool, so just buy what you like and have fun.

I would get the second core set as it is a good value for the money beyond just the Minis. It also gets you extra dice, which is always good. As to beyond that, it really depends on your play style and what you are looking for in a list. Also, keep in mind that a lot of sets are hard to get a hold of right now as the supply chain has been weak due to the pandemic. I can't speak much for the Rebels, but for the Imperials, Veers and Krennic both are good commanders, Shore Troopers are great Cores for ranged fire. Snows have their uses and can be really effective with certain scenarios. Dewbacks are be a good option as well (favor the T-21B or RT-95 over Flamer) to disrupt flanks and draw fire. Also can be fun with a Comms Jammer run along far flank to limit order tokens. But, expect it to be squishy under sustained fire. Hope this helps some

Thank you so much for the replies! Gives me a great direction to start with. I really appreciate the feedback.