I’m going to be transparent here, and I need you to support me, reader. I just finished The Clone Wars. Yes, the iconic CG animated show which depicted the battles, drama, comedy, and emotions of the time between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, which initially ran from 2008 until its cancellation in 2013, and its subsequent renewal on both Netflix and Disney+.
It changed my view of the Star Wars prequels because it fills in so many narrative gaps, and it introduces a ton of characters that are given the space to actually grow. One of those characters slowly became a favorite for me: Hondo Ohnaka.
Hondo Ohnaka is a Weequay pirate, which, for those who don’t know, are aliens with leathery brown skin (they were working on Jabba’s sail barge). Hondo is a pirate king, and in The Clone Wars, he assisted the Republic many times, but he did attempt to capture both Dooku and Generals Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker…he is a pirate, after all.
Characteristically, he’s a solid pirate. Self-centered, but ultimately good at his core. Similar to a Jack Sparrow. Every situation can yield profit.
Atomic Mass Games decided to reward us Hondo fans with two lovely kits. First off is the Weequa Pirate Unit expansion, which includes Hondo and 9 other pirates. What’s pretty rad about this kit is that since they are pirates, any of the armies can utilize them. I’ll add them to my clone army, because that’s just fun
Asmodee North America
And what’s a pile of pirates without an awesome ship? They also sent over the WL0-5 Speeder Tank, which is a MASSIVE model, and comes with 3 different pilots. Depending on your flavor of pirate, you can choose from some deep lore aliens. Shadows of the Empire fans, you’re gonna find a Falleen in this kit, and that makes me pretty happy.
Asmodee North America
Options, options galore!
What’s in the boxes?
As to be expected, both kits come with a lot of great options on the sprue. Instructions, like all Atomic Mass products, are available online.
Clean sprues means easy to assemble and play!
The quality here is outstanding. From my initial look, I didn’t see any difficult mold lines, and I’m thrilled to see Hondo’s pet is making an appearance! I might take that lil guy and put him on the tank…
Both boxes come with respective cards and tokens for the units, so let’s break those down as well.
These cards are stacked.Love the options for the tank.
Hondo is a super flexible Operative unit, which allows him to fight alongside any other unit (thanks to the Mercenary keyword). He also has a unique keyword, My Mood Is Based On Profit, which allows him to change the value of all of the other keywords, based on the pips of the command card played that round. With Standing Orders being a 4 pip card, that means all of his keywords are now rank 4. He also adds a lot of combat ability to the game, so you’ll want to take advantage of his grenades, Arsenal ability, and then get out of combat with his Nimble keyword.
His Weequay Pirates benefit from him, as they use Self Preservation to keep themselves from being panicked, and they get Swashbuckler, which is a new keyword that gives them a free Dodge token after they spend an Aim token…which they gain with Independent. Powerful cards, but like all things Legion, it depends on your dice rolls. They come with some nice upgrades, including some Heavy and Personnel options. Designate a model as a Captain, and it’ll help with Self Preservation. Use Weequay Pirate Squad, and you can drop them into a tank. Long Rifle adds a heavy weapon to the squad, which is made better via Aim Tokens, and an Electrostaff Pirate will add some immunity to Piercing, which allows them to get into combat with anyone with a Lightsaber.
So let’s talk about that tank you’re going to put your pirates on. The WLO-5 Speeder Tank is the biggest mini I’ve been sent by Atomic Mass and for good reason. At 10 health, it’s a beast to hit, with Armor 5 helping the player cancel 5 hit dice in the attack pool!
It has a speed of 1, which makes sense, but the base size is massive, allowing it to cross the field a lot faster than a trooper. So load it up with pirates and get across the field!
Arsenal 2 means it can contribute 2 weapons to the attack pool, making for big attack hits with the Anti-Personnel Lasers and Heavy Laser Cannon, and you can swap both the crew and pilot with both model and card options. My preference will probably be the Pirates, which will gain an Aim or Dodge token for pirates within 1 range of the Tank, and the pilot being the Pirate Captain, which will allow me to remove Suppression tokens from my other pirates.
This model is awesome, and I can’t wait to get it built and featured on a later date.
Thanks again to Atomic Mass Games for sending over these units, and stick with Gaming Trend for all things Star Wars: Legion!
