Legions Imperialis is the new successor to Epic Space Marine from the 1990s. It reintroduces small scale miniature gaming in the Grim Dark universe. Unlike the earlier games in 6mm, GW has decided to release this version in 8mm. Supposedly, this is to match the scale of the existing titan and aircraft of their other small scaled games. This allows players who already play Adeptus Titanicus and Airinautica Imperialis to use their existing miniatures in the new game. This does mean the old grognards that have old 6mm armies are somewhat left in the cold. However, the scale difference is not so stark the a player could not rebase to use the new game. For now, players can field forces from either the Legiones Astartes (30k space marines) or the Solar Auxilia (30k Imperial Guard). That’s right, 30k. For now, you cannot use forces in the 40k universe. In particular, there are only the two armies and no options for various Xenos forces (Elder, Orcs, Tyranids, Taus, etc). For now, it seems there are no plans for additional armies, but I would suspect that this will depend on how well the game does.
The game follows many of the ideas you see in 40k, with some through back elements to the earlier epic systems. The game is kind of build around match play, with players building their armies against points totals and playing one of the numerous match scenarios in the rules book. The scenarios are mostly five turns long with objectives determining victory. Objective control is based on troop type, with infantry having an advantage over armor and titans not being able to control them at all. In theory, this should balance out force builds by players to create more broad based forces.
Each Formation requires you to choose a number of compulsory units of specific force organization types and add optional units. Different formations give various force bonuses. You will have to take multiple formations to fill out your points and give a good mix of unit types. It is important to keep the formations straight, as the unit bones are unique to them. In addition, you have to keep track of your losses to make sure they have not broken. As such, you probably want to have some type of roster to manage this.
The units themselves have a straight forward stat line that provides for its movement, close combat factor, defense save, morale and wounds. In addition, it has a weapons section (which includes all primary and optional weapons options). These show the range, to hit, number of attack dice (with one being the most common), armed piercing modifier and special rules. In addition, Many units have additional special rules (traits) that are listed by key word (of which there are twenty pages of entries in the rule book). It seems this is where the secret sauce is in the game. Getting through this will be daunting to the new player. However, I suspect that players will figure them out over time. Unfortunately, there are no game aids to help with this. The unit cards are useless and there is no QRG. Further, there are no game aids available on the GW website yet (just errata).
The most common traits are Anti Tank, Light Anti Tank and Light. These affect your ability to shoot at different classes of targets. None of these provide an advantage, but they limit your ability to harm units that are not their intended primary targets by not allowing AP values to by applied. It is clear that the best weapons are the ones that do not have any of these traits, as they are universal. These traits will be figured out quickly, as they are very common. Most of the others will take some checking in the rule book, until you have them down for your force.
Each turn is split into a number of phases. You start with the Orders Phase and decide what each detachment of your force will do this turn. This is done by both players at the same time in secret by use of order tokens (there is a black and white sheet in the back of the book that you will have to copy and cut out). This means each player has to plan out their moves for the turn and anticipate what their opponent will do.
The First Fire order allows a unit to fire before others at the cost of not moving. This is the order you use when you want a base of fire and are in a defensive stance. The Advance order allows a unit to move and fire.. If you forget to put a marker down, you get this order instead. It is most likely the most common order, as it is the most flexible. The March order allows you to move units double their normal speed (triple for infantry). However, the units cannot shoot or enter melee voluntarily. This is the order for covering ground and getting across the battlefield. The Charge order allows units to move into base contact with an enemy unit. As long as one of the unit in the formation can get to the target in a single movement, other units int he formation can move up to double to move into contact.s: A detachment can move up to double it’s movement as long as on base ends in base to base with an enemy unit. Fall Back orders are a negative morale roll result that replaces all other orders. Once you have this, you just have to run away and are pretty much out of the game.
Once all orders have all been assigned to units, both players flip their counters to reveal all their orders. The players then roll off to see who wins the initiative (high roll on a D6). Each player then alternates activating their formations activations until all eligible units have moved during the movement phase. This gives players a chance to pin their opponent with timely charge, before they can run away or to establish a base of fire to overwhelm an enemy formation later in the turn.
There is an overwatch mechanic in the game that allows players to do first fires against units with a negative two to hit modifier, before they finish their moves. This will often not be desirable, due to the two hit effect. However, there will be times it is worth it, to weaken a charger or target someone moving out of range.
The Combat Phase is broken into three separate sub phases. It starts with First Fire (units on First Fire orders get to fire), Engagement (melees are resolved) and Advancing Fire stage (units under an Advance Order get to shoot). Just like the movement phase, all combat is alternating, so the sequence chosen by the players is important, as units can be destroyed before them get a chance to fight.
Melee is resolved by opposing players rolling 2D6 and adding the CAF value of two units in base to base contact. The loser of this roll takes a wound, which will kill infantry base and most vehicles. Outnumbering is key here, as each outnumbering base gets to add an extra D6 to their roll. With most units having a CAF of 0-3, adding a D6 will tie up the odds against even the most elite foe. Each additional base adds another D6. So cheap infantry will take their licks, but should be able to overwhelm most smaller opponents under the weight of dice.
Once all the units involved in a melee have fought, the side that lost the most individual fights needs to test against their morale. If they fail the roll, they are changed to a Withdraw Order. Units also have to text to Withdraw any time they are under fifty percent from their starting strength. Units on Withdraw must them move back at double speed during the end phase of every turn. There is not ability to rally units, unless their is a special unit to do it (I have not found this key work yet). In many cases, it seems you can just remove these from the table.
From a basic mechanics perspective, the game is not bad. It gives the player many decision points during the turn to figure out what order to use and when to maneuver your units to where. The key word mechanic is all the rage now in game design. Overall, it helps the game a lot. However, the lack of reference support really makes the learning curve steep. I think any new player would be served to create a cheat sheet listing all their respective traits to help them through the game (otherwise, you will be flipping through the rule book constantly). If you can get past that, the mechanics work well and should give good results, with plenty of back and forth fun.
I’m not totally clear on why they went with the 30k theme. The lack of Xenos armies misses the mark with old Space Marine or Epic Armageddon players. Not to mention the change of scale that somewhat throws old players with large collections under the bus. Because of the cost of the game and armies, it is not a back up game that you can just play once in a while (like Blood Bowl, Necromunda, etc). The lack of player aids (the unit card sets are awful) and web support downloads make it a bit of a challenge to use as a pick up game. If you like the models and just want to play, go for it. If you’re a fan of NetEpic, Epic Armageddon or 40k Armageddon, you will probably be happier just playing those games. As a stand alone game on its own, it works. However, it just feels a bit too costly and incomplete….
- Manteuffel