What The Mandalorian Means for FFG Star Wars Games

The Mandalorian is stellar, let’s talk about what it means for Fantasy Flight’s line of Star Wars games.

*Warning mild spoilers for Episodes 1-7 of the Mandalorian*

The Mandalorian has found pretty much universal praise from Star Wars fans and is a great piece of TV storytelling. It’s a super fun show and adds a lot to the Star Wars setting. While we can, and will, enjoy it on its own, it is also fun to think about the possibilities it brings to the FFG Star Wars line up. Today lets take a look at what the show means for Star Wars on your tabletop. 

X-Wing

I think it’s pretty safe to bet that Mando’s personal ship the Razor Crest will be showing up in X-Wing at some point as a Scum and Villainy ship. It’s a good looking ship, pretty important to the plot, and recognizable as well. We’ve also seen a couple of fighters or gunships in the show, piloted by people after the Mando, in Episodes 5 and 6, and a new version of TIE fighter in Episode 7. All of these, as well as some of the other ships we get glances out in the background of spaceports, are options for the game. I think we can safely say that Scum and Villainy should get a good wave out of the show, but I’m not sure it holds much else for other factions.

Destiny

FFG’s Star Wars card game can adapt pretty much any item, person, or plot point into a card. As such the Mandalorian gives it plenty of new things to play with. I expect a Mando focused expansion in the future.

Star Wars RPG

The Mandalorian opens up a lot more of the Outer Rim and the life of an average person. I’d expect a nice sourcebook, aimed at bounty hunters and rim dwellers soon. It’ll likely also add to the post-Empire (government not movie) setting lore.

Armada

The Mandalorian focuses more on the small scale parts of life and less on the grand wars of the stars. As such it doesn’t have a whole ton to offer Armada as its scale is pretty small. We do see a decently sized New Republic prison ship in Episode 6, and some of the fighters could be adapted to squadrons in Armada. None of these things are really that important however and there a lot of things that should have priority for Armada adaptions first. I wouldn’t expect much at this point.

Imperial Assault

Imperials, assaulted.

This is the one FFG Star Wars game I’ve never played so I don’t really know much about it. It’s a skirmish game/kind of RPG light though. Pretty much any of the infantry sized people in the show, of which there a ton of distinct charterers could get adapted. It’s a rich source for the game.

Legion

Alright, this is the big one. The Mandalorian seems to be a huge boon for Legion and adds a lot of things the game can pull from. For the Rebels, we’ve got the introduction of a potential new unit, the Rebel Drop Troops, the unit Cara Dune served with. This appears to a pretty elite unit and would be a great addition to the game. For the Imps, we don’t see any real new types of infantry, but we’ve got a few hero types with The Client, the Imperial Doctor and most importantly Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon introduced in Episode 7, who is just begging to be an Imperial leader.

While both the original factions get new stuff in the show, it’s a non-existent faction that has me really excited. People have been pretty interested in the idea of a Scum and Villainy faction for Legion since the game first came out. The Mandalorian seems to make that faction a lot more likely and gives it a lot to play with. In leaders and operatives, we’ve got more than a dozen new characters to draw from, from the Mando himself to the motley crew of episode 6. For troops, we’ve seen not only swarms of generic bounty hunters and estate guards (from the pilot) but also bands of Klatooinian raiders and Outer Rim world militia.

For heaver options, you’ve got the awesome Mandalorian wrecking squad from Episode 3 and the looted ex-Imperial AT-ST from Episode 4, both of which can deliver firepower. For support, you’ve got options like Blurrg cavalry and repusler mounted heavy guns such as the one used in the Pilot. I’m likely missing some stuff, but just from what I’ve mentioned, it would be easy to build a whole faction. No doubt the final episode, and later seasons, will add even more stuff. All in all its looking up for Scum and Villainy this holiday season!

Let us know what you are looking forward to most, 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.