We have a new edition of the game, no matter what lies Atomic Mass tries to tell about it, so it’s high time that I take a break from updating those worthless unit guides and updated something that actually matters.
I want to be real with you, I just deleted two big paragraphs explaining who I am and why I’m here because this was my first article! That was three years ago to the day! I’m truly blessed that I didn’t make anybody upset enough for them to summon the effort to stop me from writing things like this, and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon.
I know what you’re thinking: why should I trust you, Evan, on such a subjective premise? I will have you know that I have watched all 13 films (no Clone Wars movie but yes to both Ewok Adventures), all the live-action shows, the good episodes of Clone Wars and Bad Batch (several!) as well as the good episodes of Rebels (much less several…) and some assorted comics. I’ve also played quite a bit of Battlefront 2 which is helpful for certain vehicles and BB-8, who if ever released will certainly have a “Jedi Arts” style attack with 18 red dice.
He’s coming for you
For this “article” I will be assigning ranks to all the units in the Rebel Alliance with regards to their canon-accuracy. As a shorthand, we’ll refer to and the Legion version as “the unit.” To get started, we’ll set a benchmark with the unit I (and by proxy, The Fifth Trooper™) consider to be the gold standard and go down the list from there. If you’re reading this, it’s now updated for Legion 2.6, the whole thing, so no need for that blue text. You’ll notice that quite a few units are TBD, that’s because just like with the unit guides I decided not to waste my time until we see the new cards, but we’ve still got quite a bit to cover so let’s get into it!
Commanders
Luke Skywalker
Here’s where I can truly show my “worth” as a canon “expert.” Luke does shoot a few dudes with stolen stormtrooper guns on the Death Star…but did you know that Luke never even fires his blaster in Empire Strikes Back? Not once. Obi-Wan, known for sneering at blasters, uses one several different times in the canon. But does he get a ranged attack on the card? NOPE. In fact, he has several opportunities (the wampa, the slug that swallows R2, his ill-conceived one-man assault on Cloud City) and he brandishes it anemically during a couple of those instances but he never once pulls the trigger.
In the past, Luke’s blaster was a bit of a weird joke because it was two dice with Pierce 2 but no sharpshooter, so it would obliterate dudes in the open but usually completely bounce off of cover. Now it’s like…a legit weapon. With Longshot? Sharpshooter?? HE DOESN’T SHOOT THE GUN!
Not a great start AMG. He gets some points back with his native Inspire 1, I mean just look at that him.

Rank: Gorgeous, but still, D
Leia Organa
I think they finally have somewhat captured the badass-ness of this character, who has gone through a lot through the canon (now even more since the first time I wrote this, given her ramshackle rescue as a child from a bumbling hobo named Obi-Wan Kenobi). I wish her command cards had a little more personality, the bombardment feels like something the generic commander should have…because that’s literally the case for the other factions (even Empire if you count Blizzard).
Still, even though it’s cool that her gun is better than it used to be, I can’t ignore the fact that it’s basically worse than Luke’s who as I’ve already stated DOES N
Rank: B
Rebel Officer
Originally I wrote: “His insignia is that of a Major, same as ol’ Bren Derlin (such a name!) who recommended that speeders “Take Cover” from the cold, Inspired some troops right before the evacuation, and most importantly never even bothered to try shooting anyone.”
They made it even better by exchanging the Sharpshooter for Exemplar, and there’s no exemplar quite like Bren Derlin, who apparently didn’t die on Hoth despite commanding the fairly-doomed infantry there. Despite that brush with death, he apparently even showed up on Endor too!
What a guy…our man Bren

Rank: S
Lando Calrissian, Han Solo, Cassian Andor, Jyn Erso, Wicket
What’s sort of funny is that when I originally wrote this I put Jyn’s rank as a “?” because I said she needed to be redesigned to represent anything even a little close to the way she was represented in the film. Well, turns out I was right. What we’ve heard so far about her sounds promising, as for the rest we’ll just have to see.
Ranks: TBD
Operatives
R2-D2
It’s downright woeful what became of our little trash can from a gameplay perspective, but from a canon perspective this unit card does at least capture the relative tame-ness of R2 in the original trilogy as a “combatant.” He’s often getting bullied by others (Jawas, swamp slugs, Vader’s TIE fighter, Yoda’s cane) and getting caked in various colors of dirt and slime and/or exploding. In fact, I think I can count five times he was disabled in one form or another in the OT versus two (?) secret missions (the death star plans and sneaking Luke’s saber onto Jabba’s barge) which…well that actually does check out doesn’t it?
Rank: S
Luke Skywalker
I know he still has his old card but AMG has confirmed he’s not changing so it’s kosher.
I’m pretty sure that the only new canon stuff relevant here since I first wrote this is his appearance in the extremely strange mid-season switcheroo in Book of Boba Fett where we lurched from Tatooine to that rice paddy planet to commit one of the most heinous offenses of plot-whiplash of all time by yanking Baby Yoda out of Luke’s arms like five minutes after he got there. While I did appreciate the Lone Wolf and Cub references in that episode, it did hint at Luke’s shortcomings as a teacher. Ahsoka even showed up to basically smirk at how bad he is at it.
Well we already knew he is a veritable blender when it comes to fighting, but what does this new material mean for his portrayal in the game otherwise? Well, as Luke became a real Jedi he lost the Commander rank (and thus is unable to share his courage) and now also loses Inspire 1. Seems appropriate to me, but maybe he’ll figure out the whole leadership thing if given time!
Oh…
Rank: A
Chewbacca, Sabine Wren, Din Djarin, Ahsoka Tano, Boba Fett, IG-11, The Bad Batch
Looks like I’ll have my work cut out for me in this section when we get these cards, even though I bet most of these won’t change much. Just get ready for me to question the Rebel affiliation for Boba Fett because honestly, what the hell man? Are we calling Cobb Vanth and his band of dusty hicks Rebels now?
Ranks: TBD
Corps
Rebel Troopers
This is our first unit that basically came right from Battlefront instead of the films, and based on the previews we’ve gotten of the new sculpts we’re about to get even more alien heads which is one of the best reasons to play Rebels in that game. Plus, their drab coloration makes them curiously harder to hit than bright-white stormtrooper armor. I think they nailed it!
Rank: A
Fleet Troopers
The pinnacle moment of fleet troopers in canon involves:
Two squads standing by in a short hallway for intruders, mostly out of coverTaking careful aim from behind LOS of the enemyLosing one full squad immediately against one unit of suppressed stormtroopers (who only take two wounds themselves) while the other one panics (and goes down in the next hallway).
A slightly less pinnacle moment (for them) is when they do the same thing against Vader himself and…it goes even worse.
“K I’ll take zero then” “…yep”
Rank: SSS
Ha…ok
Well, as you can see, the devs snuck another one past LFL by turning a perfectly canonical unit into a patently ridiculous one by committing the crime of making them playable for the first time in the unit’s history. With the addition of charge and a surging double white melee profile Fleets actually pose a little bit of a threat to force-users, including Darth Vader. I’m sorry but…no, I’m out.
Utter travesty.
Rank: FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Rebel Veterans AND Mark 2
I gave this a rank of incomplete the first time around because the only time we really saw these guys as portrayed in Legion (Hoth) they did extremely poorly. They basically lined up in those trenches to achieve little else other than their own deaths, but at the time at least they were pretty decent in the game so it seemed a bit incongruous.
Well, now, the main role of Rebel Veterans is…to exist, so that you can add another Mark 2 in your army, which eventually gives you a spam mob whose job it is to sit there, take up space, and give your opponent something to shoot at.
….
Rank: S
Ewok Skirmishers
I was ready to rip this one apart but then on my deep dive into Wookieepedia I found two things.
First, there’s this little lady, who apparently became an expert hacker for the New Republic despite the relative lack of electrical devices found on Endor. So, begrudgingly, I have to accept the fact that Ewoks joined the greater Rebel effort to at least a small extent. I can’t exactly extend that bridge as far as having up to three super units of little dudes with spears but it was at least gonna put this into C- territory.
Then I found this:
YEAH MAN I’M PRETTY SURE I FIND THIS DISTASTEFUL, I’LL TAKE THE DROID THANKS
Rank: Problematic
Support
FD Cannon
A unit that, in Legion, has lived a tortured existence since its inception aside from the occasional jank-artist raising their head out of the Indianapolis area to show off for a bit. The shift to the 2.6 rules has made it an even tougher sell in my opinion given the fact that it can only occasionally contribute to objectives. It still has the of being significantly stronger in the game than it appeared to be in Empire with its incredibly poor armor penetration even when hitting the most vulnerable point of a spindly-as-hell imperial walker.
You might say it has both cannon problems and canon problems!
………..
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Rank: B
AT-RT
As another unit extracted from Battlefront, I can safely say that it now feels much more like it does in that game, where a bunch of dudes shooting regular blasters at it will actually bring it down fairly quickly.
Rank: A
Tauntauns and Swoop Riders
We’ll see what their new cards bring them, but given that Legion is pretty much the only property out there that wants you to think that Tauns are anything more than slightly speedier and nicer versions of camels, my hopes are not high.
Ranks: TBD
Special Forces
Rebel Sleeper Cell
Remember when Andor’s group ran directly toward that dam with guns blazing, firing more (and better) guns than three full squads of stormtroopers combined? Yeah man, me neither.
This unit is great on the table but its thematism is so weak that I had to make up a word to give it justice. This Cell doesn’t do any “Sleeping” at all, it’s about as aptly named as a Buick Roadmaster.
OBEY YOUR MASTER
You know what’s weird? This could basically be “fixed” if Pathfinders and Sleeper Cell just switched names with each other. Infiltrate and Danger Sense make a lot more sense for a sneaky unit that’s always on guard than one that basically charges directly into danger. Let’s be honest, when you consider troopers, commandos, pathfinders, and these guys we’re getting pretty dang long in the tooth when it comes to “dudes and ladies wearing brown and green fatigues” aren’t we? No one would even really notice!
Rank: F
Ewok Slingers
Yeah I can’t get past the therapy ewok thing let’s keep moving on
Rank: No
Rebel Commandos, Pathfinders, Mandalorian Resistance, Clan Wren, Wookiees
Another big list to look forward to, also this is your reminder that Wookiees technically exist as Rebel units in 2.6 because for some reason I have yet to see them on the table!
Ranks: TBD
Heavies
T-47 Airspeeder
On my first go-around I had only a small gripe with the tow cable, but the 2.6 rules changes (where all ground vehicles can get a free pivot before they move) takes it from “sad” to “comical.” It’s gone all the way from “may really screw up someone’s plans” to “the mildest of inconveniences.” It does not even give an immobilize token, and it is a tow cable.
I’m trying to imagine the carnage that would happen if a tow cable nailed something like a speeder bike, it should automatically destroy a model right? Hell it would probably one-shot an AT-ST when you consider the physics of it all, even if you’re using the dumb fake physics of Star Wars.
They do still go down easy though, even easier in fact, just about as easily as in the film where it basically takes one shot from a vehicle to do so. So that’s worth a few points at least.
Rank: C
X-34 Landspeeder
In yet another entry that was lifted directly from Battlefront 2 we have an unequivocal canon home-run compared to how it was before. In that game, the landspeeder exists to dump a bunch of ammo on the enemy and then zoom around a bit before dying if they’re up against 2-3 guys but promptly dying if there are 4 or more. While there is no Unstable Astromech in Battlefront its role in Legion is to help ensure that the speeder meets its fiery death just a little sooner so it serves the canon despite being an invention for Legion.
Guess what it has never been able to do in BF2 though? Carry heroes around. And now it don’t do that in Legion either, and thus in both games it serves as an equal reminder that the Rebels are too poor to afford an actual main battle tank so they settle for this garbage. Well done!
Rank: S
AA-5 Speeder Truck
Before I wrote…
When you open Wookieepedia for this thing it actually defaults to the Legends (disgusting!) page because it’s trying to hide what we already know: while its source is listed that this came from the scrap heap of a West End Games RPG sourcebook. I distinctly remember picking one of those books up in “Borders Books and Music” (RIP) during my childhood (RIP) while my dad browsed CD’s (RIP). Poor little Evan had no idea what an RPG even was, and thus I found these mostly picture-less books quite a bore. Now here I am, 25 years later, trying hard to conclude this “article” with something clever to say about the “canon accuracy” of a hover truck from a fiction within a fiction? Well you know what, I’ll tell you what I think, as soon as they put this thing in something more significant than a financially exploitive tower defense mobile game. Take that, West End Games.
Rank: NOT. APPLICABLE.
No notes
16 Responses
sons on top
Sons on top
Well done Evan. This is a great read.
Thanks Jeremy! I hope this has inspired you to accept the Holiday Special as canon. This is the way.
This just felt like a salty rant about the original trilogy, which I thought was the one trilogy everyone liked? A lot of this just focuses on oddly specific scenes and one or two abilities of the unit, which makes it all feel cherry picked just to trash on certain rebel units or the movies themselves. A fun concept that I wish was done better.
*waves hand*
“This is the content you are looking for.”
Jedi mind tricks or not, this is indeed the content I am looking for. Absolutely fun to read.
Thank you so much!
I enjoyed this far more than I had any reasonable right to expect. The Cassian section? *chefs kiss*
Also RIP West End Games, and RIP my increasingly distant childhood as well.
I’m really glad you enjoyed it! The West End Games story is literally a sad one when I looked it up, I was too young to have really played the game before it was one with the force unfortunately. Luckily I had the “Guide to Weapons and Technology” to keep my interest.
The force is strong with this one… At least when it comes to creative writing. Excellent read and extremely entertaining. Thank you
Thank you Gavan, though I bristle at the notion that this is mere entertainment and not science
great article. one glaring error. chewie does get a medal. original comic series. it’s OK though. you only read the good stuff! 😀 really great read. thanks!
Thank you for the compliment and for checking yourself on your correction before you wreck yourself
This was awesome! could we get one for Empire? I’m an imp myself…
Thank you! I talked about Empire a couple weeks ago on “Notorious Scoundrels” but there will also be a write up later, I’m thinking of covering the clankers next.
sweet!