Join us for a look inside two of the Imperial expansions for Star Wars Legion and our thoughts on the new rules, components, and building the models themselves.
The two expansions of the Imperial forces in Star Wars: Legion, Stormtroopers and Speeder Bikes, give great additions to the starter box’s forces.
Take a look at this quick review then be sure to press play on the video below to watch the entire review and unboxing!
Stormtroopers Unit Expansion $24.95
No image is more iconic and symbolic of the Empire’s power than the expressionless helmet of an Imperial Stormtrooper. These soldiers have been deployed on hundreds of worlds across the galaxy, and everywhere they go, they keep the boot of Imperial oppression firmly placed on the neck of all who resist.
In the Stormtroopers Unit Expansion, you’ll find seven Stormtrooper miniatures, identical to the ones included in the Star Wars: Legion Core Set, along with the unit card and upgrade cards that you need to add another unit of Stormtroopers to your army.
The Stormtrooper box comes with seven plastic miniatures, one unit card, five upgrade cards, eight tokens, and one rulesheet. All the miniatures come in individual bags for easy assembly. The token card includes a standby, aim, dodge, three suppressions, panic, and an order token. The Stormtroopers have Precise, which gives you an addition dice to roll when you spend an aim token. They get to shoot one white dice, which is the weaker of the two shooting dice. In hand-to-hand, they roll one black dice. They roll a red dice for a save.
For upgrade cards, this unit comes with Grappling Hooks (3 points), Impact Grenades (5 points), HH-12 Stormtrooper (34 points), DLT-19 Stormtrooper (24 points), and Stormtrooper (11 points) cards. The Grappling Hooks give ‘Expert Climber’ ability, which prevents having to roll defense dice or suffering wounds when climbing. Impact Grenades give a bonus to rolling against units with armor. It rolls one black and has a range of 1. The HH-12 Stormtrooper adds the rocket launcher upgrade to the unit, though that model cannot use the weapon and move in the same activation. The HH-12 has Impact 3, changing several rolling results when attacking a unit with armor. It shoots three blacks and has range 2 – 4. The DLT-19 Stormtrooper adds a mini with the DLT-19 weapon to the group, which is a heavy blaster and has Impact 1. It shoots two reds at range 1 – 4. The Stormtrooper card adds one additional stormtrooper to the unit.
Don’t miss our how to paint stormtrooper video.
The miniatures are fairly well detailed, made of hardish plastic, and do require clean up of mold lines. The arms snap in fairly easily but will require gluing to hold in place. They come with 25mm bases. The kit comes with the rocket launcher, the heavy blaster, sergeant, and four regular stormtroopers. They paint up fairly easily, showing good details with a lot of potential for great contrast and showing techniques. They do look fantastic on desert bases but can work with many different terrain settings.
74-Z Speeder Bikes Unit Expansion $24.95
The howl of a 74-Z Speeder Bike racing past is not something that’s easily forgotten. The Empire commonly uses these speeder bikes for scouting and reconnaissance missions, but they can also be deployed to terrifying effect on the battlefield, where their sheer speed often prevents the enemy from taking a clean shot.
The 74-Z Speeder Bikes Unit Expansion includes a unit of two 74-Z Speeder Bikes, and all the unit cards and upgrade cards you need to expand your forces with these lightning-fast speeders.
The Speeder Bike expansion comes with two plastic miniatures, one unit card, three upgrade cards, nine tokens, and one rulesheet. The models come with the stands and bases required to assemble and mount them properly as well. The tokens include six wound markers, aim, dodge, and the order token. The unit itself has cover 1, which means they always get to cover when defending against ranged attacks. They also ignore terrain that is height one or lower. They get one white dice for saves and have three health points each. Shooting, the Blaster Cannon is fixed front, impact one, range three, and has one of each shooting dice. Fixed Front means that defenders must be inside the front arc. The hold-out blaster is range two, rolling two black dice for firing. They have compulsory move, so they have to move when activated and cannot stand still.
The Speeder Bikes come with three upgrade cards: two Comms Jammer (15 points each) and one Long-Range Comlink (10 points). The Long-Range Comlink allows you to be issued orders as though you are in range of the nominated commander. The Comms Jammer prevents enemy units at range one to be issued orders unless they issue orders to themselves. This is great to jam opponents plans and cause havoc.
Work in Progress Pic of the Speeder Bike
The models come in multiple parts, which will require glue. The model does socket together well, but dry fit prior to gluing since some of the turbines are fiddly. Once assembled and painted with base coats, the models do look fantastic. The poses in the expansion box are different than the one from the starter set (painted model above is from the starter set), but none-the-less look amazing with good detailing. Lots of good potential in these models for painting in different shades and giving each model some individual flair. The models come in a little tray to easily store vehicles as well.
There we go, the first two expansions for Star Wars: Legion Imperials. Be sure to stay tuned for more fun content regarding painting, playing, and rules as Legion continues to be revealed. Be sure to check out the entire review and build by pressing play on the video below!
Models provided by FFG for review
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
