Star Wars: Legion — Crab Droids Review & Assembly

First appearing in the Cartoon Network’s 2003 Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series, these Techo Union LM-432 Crab Droids, also known as ‘muckrackers,’ had a short but memorable moment in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith during the Battle of Utapau when a clone trooper hopped on its back (head?) and put it down. They appeared throughout the 2008 Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series as well, so their inevitable inclusion within Star Wars: Legion was only natural, especially with the Aqua Droids being recently added to the game.

Let’s dive in!

Cards and Upgrades

The expansion comes with two Crab Droid miniatures, each with their own unit and upgrade cards, tokens. The pack comes with a paper insert with a QR code for the assembly guide. Unlike other Star Wars Legion Support units where there are two miniatures to one unit, the Crab Droids are a 1:1. If you’re not planning on playing both, or need a third, you can split the box with a friend. Like with all new Atomic Mass Games expansions there are four sets of cards, each with the different languages.

 There are 4 unit tokens; two in the original format with the CIS logo and two in a new, as yet identified design. There is speculation this is to match the new design in the new Core Boxes, due out in the fall later this year. Both tokens have the Support unit icon, but just have different graphic designs to them. 

The unit and upgrade cards are in the new format, so the keywords, icons, and dice are a lot easier to read and follow. 

Base stats are really solid. Health-wise, they’re 5 wounds, with a 3 threshold, with red defense dice and Armor 2. So not a softshell crab, but they aren’t going to stay in the tank for long. Combat is where they shine. They have red defense dice, and they surge to hits. For 70 points each, they’re not cheap, but they do bring a lot to the table, especially if you’re looking for mobility early game. Their weapons and armor help keep them around longer to defend points, or have them assist in taking down some enemy heavy armor. 

They have two upgrade options for the cannon: Heavy Laser Cannon and Twin Blaster Cannons. These options give your army list a little more flexibility for ranged attacking. 5 black dice, Impact 3, Range 1-3 for the HLC is nothing to ignore on the field. However, if taking down enemy Armor isn’t as important, you can take the Twin Blaster Cannons for a 2 Red, 2 Black, Range 1-3 for half the price.

Their keywords are impressive; boasting seven total! These little muckrackers have lots of mobility (Climbing Vehicle, Reposition, Scout, and Scale), and take some hits (through Armor) and deal out some nasty melee (with Impact 2 and Pierce 1). Scouting Party is the real shining star here, as it helps other CIS units get into the battlefield faster.

Assembly:

Each model comes on its own sprue, which are part of the new ‘connected sprue’ designs from AMG. This is such a great design because it prevents the sprues from bouncing around inside the box, potentially damaging the smaller bits, like the eye stalks and gun barrels. The instructions are pretty straight-forward and you’ll want to stick to the order. There isn’t any option for customization other than the weapon choices, so you don’t have alternate poses to work with (unless you start Frankenstein-ing them). Given their size, they are rather light, with a majority of the weight being in the thick base. 

There are some clever engineering designs, especially for the smaller areas. The clips and shapes create some additional surface area, which is great for creating extra area for bonding with the super glue. 

I did run into a bit of an issue when assembling them, however. The shoulder/hip joints are subtle and if the legs don’t sit right in them, you can wind up with legs that don’t fully or evenly affix themselves to the base. 

My assembly is definitely user error, but it is something to be aware of when you’re building them. I used some Vallejo Mud Texture to build up some texture at the feet to help cover the gaps and reinforce the model. 

Something else to note is that the head/shell plating have some noticeable gaps underneath the head. While normally this wouldn't be an issue, the model is angled upwards and so you can see some of the gaps where the two halves are joined. If you’re worried about this sort of thing, it’s an easy fix with either gap filler or sprue goo. Chances are, no one will notice anyway. 

The hard plastic makes removing the limited mold lines very easily. It took me about 30 minutes to assembly bot droids and get them ready for priming and painting, which I will cover in a future article. 

Follow Gaming Trend for more Star Wars: Legion reviews, unboxing, and articles, and don't miss the second part of this review where we paint it up and get it tabletop-ready to fight the Republic!