Star Wars: Legion Just Released Its New Ruleset, Including A Surprising Character Ban
Star Wars: Legion has released its new ruleset, which contains a surprising ban. Over the past few months, Atomic Mass Games has slowly revealed its upcoming new edition of Star Wars: Legion, which will see new versions of many of the factions used in the game. Unlike Warhammer 40,000, Atomic Mass Games is releasing the new rules for free for all players to use, with physical versions of new cards set to be released in the coming months. However, the official release of the rules was not without controversy, thanks to the removal of several units.
The new ruleset, unveiled yesterday, focused mainly on rules clarifications and changes to keywords. Several units were also removed from the game, including Emperor Palpatine and the Imperial Royal Guard. In an interview with Grey Squadron Gaming, VP of creative development and strategy Will Shick said that Palpatine was removed because he didn't fit within the scope of the story and the game, as well as existing in the same space as upcoming units that will appear in the Imperial High Command box.
Does Emperor Palpatine's Ban Impact Star Wars: Legion?
Emperor Palpatine Wasn't A Central Star Wars: Legion Character, But Fans Are Still Upset
From a lore perspective, removing Palpatine from a wide-scale skirmish game makes sense. While the Emperor was a Sith Lord and the puppetmaster behind the downfall of the Galactic Republic, he was never depicted as having an active role in any large-scale conflicts. The other Commander characters all have in-canon battlefield experience, but the Emperor always preferred to command from a distance as opposed to using Force Lightning to mow down Rebels.
Andor Showrunner Hints At "Legacy Character" Recasts In Star Wars' New TV Show
Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy hints at potential recasts in season 2 of the upcoming Star Wars TV show - and there's a simple reason for them.
Shick stated that removing Palpatine from the game wasn't "making or breaking" the Empire faction, as the character could only use a handful of trick plays to be viable in combat. However, the Star Wars Legion subreddit is filled with angry players, expressing dismay that the character was banned. Other models have simply received debuffs to lessen their impact on the battlefield, so the wholesale removal of miniatures was largely seen as a negative, regardless as to the lore consequences.
Our Take: Character Bans Set A Grim Tone For Star Wars: Legion
Removing Characters From Play Is Not A Sign Of A Healthy Game
As a licensed game, the makers of Star Wars: Legion are ultimately beholden to Disney and Lucasfilm. However, the removal of Emperor Palpatine is a bad sign for Star Wars: Legion. While some games regularly cycle out units in favor of upgraded models, Star Wars: Legion has positioned itself as a more cost-conscious alternative with its free release of the new rules.
Banning units from play isn't the sign of a healthy game, and now many players are stuck coming up with an alternative battle scheme. Some of those players may choose to switch game systems in general, which bodes poorly for Star Wars: Legion.
Source: Grey Squadron Gaming, Reddit
- Created by
- George Lucas
- First Film
- Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
- Cast
- Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal
- TV Show(s)
- The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions
- Movie(s)
- Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Star Wars: New Jedi Order
- Character(s)
- Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Rey Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Inquisitor, Reva (The Third Sister), The Fifth Brother, The Seventh Sister, The Eighth Brother, Yoda, Din Djarin, Grogu, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
