Sac Legion League Week 2 Battle Report

It’s Week 2 and the Sacramento League is going strong!

Following this thread on the FFG Forums, I wanted to give a different rebel archetype a whirl and take Leia on a solo mission. I knew this list would play way differently than the “standard” Wonder Twins list, sacrificing Luke and long range for raw offensive power and weight of bodies:

Leia Organa (Esteemed Leader, Environmental Gear)
2x Fleet Troopers (Extra Trooper, Scattergun Trooper, Environmental Gear, Impact Grenades)
4x Rebel Troopers (Extra Trooper, Z-6 Trooper)
3x AT-RT (Flamethrower)
798/800
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Leia is in command and doing what she does best – improving the economy of nearby squads and providing excellent command cards. In exchange, she would have many opportunities to use Esteemed Leader. Thirty-six trooper units gave this list a real horde feeling. The Flamethrowers are there as a very large threat to my opponent’s corps units. They are a high risk, high reward unit, and much like the Fleet Troopers, a single attack from them can turn a game on its head. Even through their returns diminish over the course of a game, I find flamer RTs to be a devastating unit that requires some finesse to get the most out of.

Cognizant of this list’s lack of Impact weapons, I brought Impact Grenades on the Fleet Troopers after seeing how great they were on Stormtroopers with their Surge: Hit. I surmised that Fleets like to work close up, so the grenades wouldn’t be too hard to use. The Scatter Gun’s consistent dice would further offset the variance of unmodified black dice after running and shooting. Its hits would convert with Impact and add Pierce 1 to the whole attack, making the squad extremely deadly to vehicles.

Six out of ten units in the list operate at Range 2 and below, meaning I would have to abuse line of sight as much as possible to get them into range without taking wounds early. I tweaked my battle deck to reflect this by choosing conditions like Limited Visibility and Rapid Reinforcements. I wanted deployments that would mitigate my short range and allow the Flamer RT’s to close in quickly. I took a bid for Blue Player so I could ensure that this would be the case. Major Offensive, Battle Lines and Disarray were in, Long March was out. For objectives, I cut Breakthrough because it’s not really my style, but with so many units, it’s probably worth taking over Sabotage the Moisture Vaporators.

With that preamble, let’s dive right into the game:

Last week, Luke and Leia led the rebels to victory over Vader and a small detachment of the 501st Legion. This week, I squared off with another AT-ST, but this time it was accompanied by General Veers and a full complement of speeder bikes; an Imperial Reconnaissance company.

General Veers
2x Stormtroopers (DLT-19, Extra Trooper, Environmental Gear)
Stormtroopers (DLT-19, Environmental Gear)
AT-ST ( 88 Twin Light Blaster )
3x Speeder Bikes
800/800
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I had hoped to use the flamethrowers to reave through enemy trooper squads, but there were only three of them in my opponent’s list! I went into the game not liking my chances. Speeder Bikes are quite good against AT-RTs with Impact 1 for each bike, and I doubted the Flamethrowers would be effective against them.  My path to victory seemed clear enough, though. Could I kill the bikes before they did significant damage to my troopers? At the very least, could I trade efficiently enough to win? Activating in the correct sequence would be key.  The lightly equipped AT-ST posed problems of its own, as only the Fleet Troopers could engage it with any certainty of doing damage, and its long range and Impact 3 could zone my AT-RT’s off from getting close.

Our battle site was a desert village that could have been on Jakku or Tatooine. My opponent, Jeffery, made and painted the terrain used for the store’s demo, so we had some really good looking pieces to use. On top of everything, Jeffery’s army was painted beautifully, with an eye catching camo AT-ST:

During setup, we vaguely followed the competitive terrain rules outlined in the rules reference, but with an unwritten agreement to keep things immersive. We created the matrix of battle cards and set about eliminating choices. Seeing what was in front of me, I passed my first opportunity to ban a card. Limited Visibility had come up first in the condition row, and was quickly nixed by Jeffery. I kicked myself somewhat for passing, since Rapid Reinforcements had come up last, but I wanted to guarantee Jeffery would waste a ban on Limited. I scratched Recover the Supplies in favor of Key Positions, since I would be playing Blue. Jeffery nixed another condition, Hostile Environment, and we were set.

The Imperial force would a make Major Offensive into the village, attempting to drive out Rebel elements that had massed near Key Positions at the city’s center and an important weapons cache. Veers established his command center at a domed hut near the deployment zone. By the end of the day, whomever controlled more of the village would be victorious. The map was split into four lanes, and most of the battle would take place over the central avenue west of the town center.

I had hoped to use Major Offensive to my advantage with the Flamethrower AT-RTs by putting them on the edge closest to my opponents infantry, but Jeffery smartly placed the AT-ST in a central position to block any direct attack on them. In addition, the troopers were placed well behind this blockade, meaning the AT-RTs would have to run through the outskirts of town to find any angle of engagement. I held one AT-RT back with the rest of my infantry to cover the main drag and provide another position for my troopers to shoot from safely, while the other two took up the eastern flank. I estimated four turns for them to make contact. One bike squad took up the flank opposite the AT-ST in the outermost lane, the other two deploying at its feet to spearhead the attack.

Round 1:
Me: Coordinated Bombardment
Jeffery: Maximum Firepower

Leia’s plan was simple: dig in, weather the assault, and eliminate the Speeder Bike threat. I won the roll-off, and Leia bombarded two Speeder Bike squadrons and one squadron of Stormtroopers, but the bikers only suffered one wound, whilst two troopers were killed. Veers replied with his own Maximum Firepower shot, killing off a Fleet Trooper in the process. Then, the storm began.

The Speeder Bike squadrons throttled up, took aim and fired into the Rebel horde, racking up a number of early kills. The previously hurt squad of Fleet Troopers took up position near the weapons cache, hiding behind the crates, but two Bike squads closed in on their position and they were reduced to their unit leader. The AT-ST also stepped forward into the battle, firing at some of the exposed Rebels on their way to the town center and claiming more lives. The nimble bikes had a very easy time avoiding most of the fire coming from the Rebel troops, but the Rebels on the east side moved out of cover to counter attack, destroying one bike for their efforts. The pair of AT-RT’s began their long trek through the outskirts of the village. Hopefully the AT-ST would not turn to fire on them, but if it did, then at least it wasn’t shooting at the squads trying to hold the center building.

Trading nearly a squad’s worth of troopers for a single bike was not a great start, but having two more activations from the outset helped my Fleet Troopers get into position at the east-of-center barricade for a counter-strike that would hopefully save their comrades from further harm.

(click to enlarge)

Round 2:
Me: Ambush
Jeffery: Evasive Maneuvers

Since the bikes were now engaged, it was a good bet that Jeffery would play Evasive Maneuvers. I sensed a chance to take out the weakened speeder bike squadron with an Ambush from the Fleet Troopers on the east side. The troopers leapt over the barricade to hug the center building as much as possible, hailing pistol and Scattergun fire on the approaching bike and causing it to explode before it shot again. My gamble worked, but in exchange, the Fleet Troopers were completely exposed to the approaching AT-ST.

The ground trembled, the mechanical hulk approaching and training its blasters on the squad now out of cover. Bodies were pierced by searing red bolts of energy as the AT-ST claimed four of the Fleet Troopers’ lives. With only three Fleet Troopers left on the field, my options for efficiently engaging the enemy AT-ST were evaporating.

The speeder bikes continued their attack, but their fire was much less accurate this time around, my troopers were able to resist most of the damage coming off them with the help of some lucky saves. A bike squadron had moved close enough to the AT-RT in the middle that it could shoot fire at them. The flamer rolled all paint, but only did one wound thanks to some great defense rolls. The remaining bikes shifted their attack to the AT-RT that had remained to guard the center, leaving it damaged and on one wound.

Leia ordered the Rebel squads on the eastern side of town to reinforce the center. Once the bikes were destroyed, the Rebels could win the war of attrition against what remained. To make it to the middle, two trooper squads would have to run through open ground, directly in front of the oncoming AT-ST. The two AT-RTs had reached open ground, moving as fast as possible towards the Imperial command center in hopes of striking a decisive blow once they arrived. The AT-ST had pushed forward, so they were safe for the time being.

Round 3:
Me: No Time for Sorrows
Jeffery: Ambush

I played No Time for Sorrows to shift more squads into contact with the two Key Positions, and to put Leia into a place she could shoot.  Jeffery played Ambush to make sure the flamer RT died before it could shoot, trying to extend the life of the two remaining bike squads. He succeeded, and the walker was brought down in short order.

Leia ordered the squads near her to take cover, then opened up with her Sporting Blaster, assuring the death of a bike on one wound with the combination of Sharpshooter and Pierce. Bikes and troopers continued to trade fire, but a combination of weak attack rolls and Jeffery’s above average defense dice kept those bikes on the table. The rebels survived thanks to being turtled up behind cover with Leia supplied dodges.

The AT-ST fired again, this time into the middle of the bulk of the rebel forces, scoring two kills. The remaining pair of Fleet Troopers at its feet attacked with an Impact Grenade and Scattergun, scoring an unlikely three wounds in reply. The remaining Rebel squads rallied to the middle building once more, and Imperial troops pushed up to the other side. Hand-to-hand fighting threatened to break out as both sides came to within a speed one move of eachother. Relief would soon come to the Rebels, however – the pair of flamer RTs had finally reached their destination.

Round 4:
Me: Somebody has to Save Our Skins
Jeffery: Push

Knowing what I had left in hand, Jeffery decided to get things moving first, before Leia could activate two squads out of turn and finish off the remaining biker squad, but they were out of range to receive Veers’ command. The AT-ST continued to prove frustratingly weak, only scoring one casualty after heavy cover, dodge and defense dice. Leia triggered the double activation, and between Sharpshooter/Pierce and the Rebel Troopers near her, the last bikes were finished off. To make matters worse, I pulled a Support token from my order pool immediately, flaming the squad of Stormtroopers nearest to the town center all the way down to their unit leader.

At this point, all three speeder bike squadrons had been killed, and two of Jeffery’s trooper units had been reduced to just their leader. It was clear that by turn 5, the Empire would insufficient material to contest the middle objective. Veers decided to cut his losses and retreat; the Rebellion had won the day.

The lack of troopers to hit with my flamethrowers eventually turned out to be a good thing – it only took one attack to substantially reduce my opponent’s ability to take objectives. Constantly having more activations than Jeffery enabled a lot of my strategy – something to consider since the Empire will be getting the E-Web Team at an equivalent point cost to the naked AT-RT in the future. Esteemed Leader was awesome this game – Leia managed to avoid taking any hits at all thanks to it and some lucky surges. I think it’s a must take for running Leia by herself.

Phew! That was a long one! Thanks for reading. My Week 3 report will be delayed, since I will be attending GenCon this year. My hope is to take some photos at the Legion tables and share some insights into how the Maximum Firepower event is being run. As always, please like, comment or follow!