Star Wars: Legionhas released its new ruleset, which contains a surprising ban. Over the past few months, Atomic Mass Games has slowly revealed itsupcoming new editionofStar Wars: Legion, which will see new versions of many of the factions used in the game. UnlikeWarhammer 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 withGrey Squadron Gaming,VP of creative development and strategy Will Shick said thatPalpatine 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.
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, theStar Wars Legionsubredditis 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 ofStar Wars: Legionare ultimately beholden to Disney and Lucasfilm. However, the removal of Emperor Palpatine is a bad sign forStar Wars: Legion. While some games regularly cycle out units in favor of upgraded models,Star Wars: Legionhas 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 forStar Wars: Legion.
Source:Grey Squadron Gaming,Reddit
Star Wars
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.
