FFG Star Wars: GENCON 2019 Predictions

What can we look forward too at Gencon this year when it comes to FFG’s Star Wars miniature lines?

GENCON 2019 is coming next week, and it’s usually a time for big announcements in the industry. With that in minds, I’m looking forward to, in particular, whatever Fantasy Flight Games is going to announcing for their miniature games. FFG normally has some big announcements ready for GenCon. Last year they announced both the Super Star Destroyer and that all of their miniature games were getting Clone Wars expansions. This year however I’m not as sure what they are going to be announcing as their games seem to be chugging along, with a lot of unreleased product still coming. Let’s take a look at their three main miniature games, X-Wing, Armada and Legion (sorry Imperial Assault fans) and what news we might hear from them.

X-Wing

Out of the three X-Wing is the one I am least expecting a big announcement for. 2.0 is chugging along, but it’s still fairly new, so I doubt they will shake things up too much. The Clone Wars factions announced last year are out and being fleshed out. This is a mature game that doesn’t need anything crazy. They’ve already announced the new upgrades for EPIC ships as well, and we are waiting on that. I do expect news, likely the announcement and preview of a new wave and possibly news on more big ships, maybe new Clone Wars ones. Overall I expect news, but business as usual news and nothing groundbreaking.

Legion

Legion is just about a year and half old and growing strong. Due to its newness, like X-Wing 2.0, I wouldn’t expect any crazy shake-ups. So far the game has two pretty fleshed out factions, that are still getting expanded on. It’s also got a full Clone Wars line coming out soon. This was hinted at last GenCon and formally unveiled back in March. Again, with major new releases slated to come out soon, I wouldn’t think they are going to break the game right now, and it’s far too soon for a 2.o Edition.

Though it’s got a solid base Legion does feel like it needs a big announcement this GenCon. It’s a growing game, but still young and fighting for traction, and that means it needs big announcements to keep the momentum going.   I’m just a little at a loss for what a big announcement could be. I’d love to see a new faction, say Scum and Villainy get announced, but that seems an odd thing to do with two other new factions as yet unreleased. Maybe a real line of terrain or a campaign could be coming. Alternatively, a large model, like an AT-AT or LAAT, would be great.

Armada 

Call me crazy, call me a dreamer, but of all the FFG games I have the most hope for a big announcement from Armada right now. Currently, Armada is the oldest ruleset of three games, and its a solid game.  It’s got two well-developed factions and loyal fan base. However, the offerings over the last year or two have been… pretty slim. The Super Star Destroyer, announced a year ago, still hasn’t hit shelves, and nothing new has come out for the game in around a year. This is a game that could use a lot of things and has some real opportunity for announcements. 

Now, all that being said, we do have a few things we know are coming down the pipeline. The Super Star Destroyer has been marked on the boat, so it’s possible they will have them for sale at Gencon. There is also a new campaign expansion coming, so its possible they could show more of that at the show. More importantly back at Star Wars Celebration, they announced that Clone Wars expansions were coming in 2020. I think its highly likely we will get an announcement about that and maybe show off some ships.

As far as other brand new things they could announce there are a few. I’d love news on some kind of Scum and Villainy faction, as it would work well, but given that we are getting Clone Wars factions that haven’t even been announced yet I don’t think we will see that. An Armada 2.0 announcement would, however, make a lot of sense. The game’s been around for a while, and the release of the new factions would be a good time to go over all the rules and tighten things up. A big 2.0 release with the Clone Wars ships makes a lot of sense. They could also announce another extra-large ship. They’ve said the Super Star Destroyer was only the fist ship of its class, so announcing the next one would be big news. Lots of good possibilities.

WILDCARD: Episode IX Force Friday

Last but not least – we need to prepare for this year’s Force Friday – which has been announced for October 4th. This is after GENCON, but as in previous years, you should expect a set of Episode IX products to get unveiled on October 4th or immediately after that.

Let us know what you think FFG might announce at Gencon, down in the comments! 

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.