Star Wars LEGION: Skywalker Tactics
Let’s talk about using the big hero himself on the battlefields of Star Wars Legion.
As both one of Star Wars greatest legends and the first Rebel commander to come out Luke Skywalker has a special place in Legion. While the introduction of Leia, and soon Han, may see less armies taking him he remains a powerful force for the Rebels to use. Learning to master Luke is going to be key to winning battles. Let us take a look at how to get the most out of him.
The Basics
At first glance Luke shares many similarities with Darth Vader, like father like son after all. Both are powerful combat chareters that want to get stuck in the thick of things. Luke is not quite as powerful one on one as Vader, but he is faster, at speed two, and cheaper at 160 points rather than 200. Anikan’s Lightsaber is a powerful melee attack with 6 black dice and Impact/Pierce 2. His DL-44 Blaster Pistol also gives him a ranged attack, unlike Vader. It’s 2 red dice and Pierce 2 makes it very deadly to enemy troops. Lukes also got an offensive surge, converting to crits, which is solid. At 6 wounds and with a red defense die he can take a hit, and he’s pretty brave as well, though he can suffer from negative morale.
Luke also comes with a whole host of special abilities. Deflect adds to his durability, giving him defense surges and allowing you to put damage on your attackers. But remember that dodging rather than moving isn’t always wise. Immune:Pierce is nice as well, meaning he can tank even the most deadly hits. Charge grants him extra mobility, since it allows him to attack in melee after moving. He can thus move-move-attack, giving him a large threat range. Lastly Jump 1 lets him move around the battlefield easily and helps him, ahem, spring ambushes.
A Jedi , Like His Father Before Him
Young Luke can take up to two Force Power upgrades and which ones you pick will really make a big difference. Lets take a look at them.
While costly at 10 points, Battle Meditation is nice because it is a passive ability Luke doesn’t have to worry about readying it at all. It also helps him out as he often wants to be charging ahead and he will likely be out of range of some of his units. On the other hand most vehicles can take Long-Range Comlink which has a similar effect. Your force make up will determine which is a better choice, but its great to have options. Still you can most likely do better.
Force Push is another powerful option. Anything that lets you move enemy units around is a great help. It’s useful for pulling enemies into you, thus extending your threat range. In addition you can use it to push enemy units off objectives or out of cover, setting up great combos.
Force Reflexes is another useful, if situational power. Dodge is great for Luke, as it lets him Deflect. However as I mentioned using an action to dodge rather than move isn’t great. With Force Reflexes you can double move and dodge as well. Win-win. On the other hand its is a 15 point upgrade and it, like most powers requires you to exhaust it.
Saber Throw is a way to give Luke another attack option. For ten points he gets the other to make a half strength attack at range 1-2. While it’s only a three dice attack it does keep its abilities, so it’s an ok attack. However Luke already has a decent ranged attack. Spending 10 points to basically trade your 2 red dice attack for 3 black isn’t a great trade off for me.
Jedi Mind Trick is a power Light Side ablit that let Luke give an enemy trooper unit 2 suppression tokens. For 5 points this is a powerful ability for Luke. Combined with some regular suppressing from shooting this can easily push enemy units over the edge and see your enemy run off the table. This ones a keeper.
Upgrades
Luke also has a gear slot and can pick (currently) from three options.
Targeting scopes improves Lukes aim action. Whihle these seems nice I don’t really find myself taking a lot of aim actions with Luke. To earn his points Luke need to me moving and killing. If not he needs to be dodging or recovering. Aiming just isn’t in it for him.
Grappling hooks could be useful, but they are going to depend on your terrain. Luke’s Jump 1 already lets him ignore a lot of terrain effects, still its cheap.
Like grappling hooks, Environment Gear is a little redundant due to Jump 1. Again Jump 1 already lets Luke ignore difficult terrain on that move. Environmental Gear is good if you want Luke to be able to double move through difficult terrain freely, but I don’t know how often that comes up.
Hero of the Rebellion
Like all commanders Luke also gives you access to three command cards, powerful tools you can use on the battlefield.
Son of Skywalker, used correctly is a very powerful card that turn Luke into a killing beast. By allowing him to attack twice in a row this ensures he can deliver maximum carnage. Not only that but by being a 1 pip card it gives you a high likelihood of going first. Using this you can activate Luke at the start of a turn, move twice and then attack twice. It’s put to best use with a pair of melee attacks which can kill or cripple most units in the game. I call it my Darth Vader killer. If you can manage to get Luke to activate last on the prior turn you can actual have him attack THREE times before the enemy gets to do anything.
My Ally is the Force is a great early game card allowing you to hand out some free dodge tokens. While Rebel Troopers gain a lot from Dodge tokens, keep in mind that Luke can also benefit from this, allowing him to activate deflect. This is a great way of giving your units dodge tokens at the start of the turn rather than on their activation and is great when you need to move across the table fast, allowing you to double move and still get a dodge in.
While maybe not as powerful as Vader’s Master of Evil, Return of the Jedi can still turn battles in your favor. In addition to granting Luke a dodge token, always good , it allows you to pull some suppression tokens off nearby allies. When needed this can save units from being pinned, or worse, running off the table.
A New Hope
Luke is powerful both as an individual combatant and a leader. Cheaper and faster than Vader he still packs a major punch and can tear through enemy units. I like to run him with Force Push and Jedi Mind Trick. This puts him at 175 points, but hes well worth it. He can smash into enemy forces and deal a lot of damage. While his force powers allow him manipulate the enemy army to his advantage. He’s still a character you’ve got get into combat with the enemy to make good use of, so don’t hold him back. Yet he remains more, fittingly, balanced than Vader, and this allows him to do more than just charge at the enemy Use him well and victory will be yours. So get out there, put him on the table, and may the Force be with you.
Let us know how you like to use Luke, down in the comments!
