Closed Lanes: Legion is Beginning to Feel Like a One-Way Street
November 18, 2024
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This article will be a comprehensive unit guide to Mandalorian Resistance in Star Wars: Legion. I think Fantasy Flight Games hit a home run with this unit: great sculpts, fun to paint, amazing stats. The Rebel faction finally got their Death Troopers, but Mandalorian Resistance are a cut above. Mandalorian Resistance are the definition of a quality unit, with excellent stats and powerful abilities at a high cost per model. Mandalorians are crazy mobile, crazy defensive, and they aren’t bad at shooting or fighting in melee.
Mandalorian Resistance come in two modes, either as a generic or as Clan Wren. Before we go into that, let’s start with a general overview of this unit’s strengths and weaknesses.
Just like Sabine and Boba, Mandalorians have Speed 3 and Jump 2. Their mobility means they can shift their focus and apply pressure to a different part of the board. This type of flexibility is unique – most units in the game move at Speed 2, and once they get into a fight, hold their ground or get pinned by suppression. You can get a lot accomplished with 14 total inches of movement while ignoring height 2 terrain.
Essentially Sabine Wren if she were a Special Forces unit, This keyword stack makes Mandalorians one of the most defensive units in the game, and completely the opposite of “mainstream” rebel units. Exceedingly tanky, especially with Situational Awareness and a Dodge token. Once engaged, they can be hard to dislodge.
Mandalorian Resistance are strong at both kinds of attacking, throwing 2 black dice at range and black/white in melee, making them highly adaptable. Their heavy weapon options specialize them further in either direction, with the Beskad Duelist making them terrors in melee or Tristan Wren giving them Lethal and Suppressive when shooting.
Low total wounds: Resistance with a Beskad Duelist have only four total wounds, meaning any failed saves cause the unit to degrade quickly. Force Choke and Poison are arguably the most dangerous for them, since these types of damage bypass their considerable defenses. Blanking on Mandalorians is extremely painful, and you’ll want to take steps to safeguard them when this happens.
No unit-level offensive keywords: All of the offensive keywords on Mandalorians are tied to their choice of heavy weapon and upgrade suite, and they do not have offensive keywords like Marksman, Sharpshooter, Charge or Relentless baked in.
Their keywords require tokens: Nimble, Lethal, Long Shot and Duelist don’t work without a token. Without their tokens, Mandalorians lose a lot of effectiveness. Clan Wren has the easiest time of all getting a free token as long as they are with Sabine. You will want ways to feed tokens to your Mandalorians in every list you build with them, whether that’s through upgrades or by other means.
Takes a valuable special forces slot: Rebel Snipers are huge value in every Rebel list (yes, even against droids in certain conditions.) Taking Mandalorians means you can’t take three. But three snipers are not strictly necessary to be successful, and there are now Rebel lists that skew towards Mandalorians since they are such a tough and specialized unit. Your mileage may vary if there are a lot of Clone players in your local area.
Mandalorian Resistance can be taken as a generic unit, but you can also take Clan Wren, consisting of a single 2-health Mandalorian, Ursa and Tristan Wren. Notice the two heavy weapon icons on the card to make it legal to take both. This unit functions somewhat differently from the generic unit, coordinating closely with Sabine Wren via their Retinue keyword. This keyword grants them a free aim or dodge token if they are within Range 2 of Sabine. Clan Wren also has two health per model and will be largely focused on shooting. Notice that their Combat Expertise melee attack goes from Black/White to Black/Black per mini, so they can hold their own if they get engaged. From an objectives standpoint, Clan Wren functions like a second copy of Sabine, and they should be near her at all times for max value from Retinue.
The generic heavy weapon for Mandalorian Resistance is the Beskad Duelist, sporting two red dice in melee and a fantastic new keyword, Duelist. This generic heavy gives Mandalorian Resistance a clear melee focus. A “Beskad” is the name of the sword the duelist wields.
The text means that when you either attack or defend, spending aims or dodges for their normal effect triggers the effect of the Beskad Duelist. Mandalorians already have Impervious, so becoming Immune: Pierce is more of a convenient bonus than anything else. This effect can trigger multiple times thanks to Nimble. Yet, the real fireworks come from gaining Pierce 1 when spending an aim for attacking. This means that Beskad Mandos in melee with an aim transform into Diet Jedi. Sometimes it tastes just like the real thing when you get the Pierce -and- the dice modification!
The younger brother of Sabine Wren, Tristan takes Mandalorian Resistance in a shooty direction, with two black dice, range three, Lethal and Suppressive. Once again, you’ll want an aim token to trigger Lethal. You’ll also want to make use of Tristan’s extra range, pairing him with Jetpack Rockets for strong Range 3 mini-nuke. Tristan also has two wounds, putting the total wound count for the unit up to five, but be sure not to wound him first – while he has a wound token, he must take wounds before anyone else in the unit.
Sabine’s mother brings her formidable leadership skills into the generic unit of Resistance, granting them the Dauntless keyword in a manner similar to Sabine’s Darksaber. This is extremely useful when you need to extract while under fire, or really any time suppression would deny you the chance to move as your first action. Long Shot 1 is more of a convenient bonus than anything else, but it allows Clan Wren to make an attack similar to the Tristan/Rocket nuke in generic Resistance. Like Tristan, she also has two wounds, but is the unit leader.
Mandalorian Resistance have access to Training, Comms, Gear, Grenade and Armament upgrades, similar to Pathfinders and other Special Forces.
There are several strong options in the Training slot:
Offensive Push: Tactical is absurdly strong in a unit that benefits so hugely from having tokens when attacking. Good for all types of Mandalorians. Synergizes well with certain command cards (see Hero Synergies below).
Situational Awareness: Removes their one defensive “weakness” which is critical hits with pierce. Makes removing them time consuming and painful. Exceptional with Sabine/Clan Wren due to Retinue, but pairs well with any source of Take Cover.
Tenacity: Arguably only for Beskad Duelist mandalorians, Tenacity counteracts losing dice from defeated miniatures by adding a red die back into the attack pool, softening the falloff from taking wounds.
One upgrade really stands out above the rest, and that is HQ Uplink. Rebels tend to have issues with order control. Allowing Mandalorians to act alongside the 1-pip cards of your heroes makes them that much more powerful. Uplink can also trigger a number of useful card effects that require a face up order token.
Comms Jammer: I think Mandalorians have the mobility to get in close with this upgrade, but it’s more of a gimmick than anything else.
Recon Intel is the standout here. Extra movement for Mandalorians is super preferable to everything else offered here. Remember that Recon Intel plus a Speed 3 move can put a Mandalorian on a middle objective like Recover the Supplies.
Grenades: useless, do not take.
The “X” means that this upgrade is discarded once used and can’t be recovered. Jetpack Rockets are most useful on Generic resistance, giving you 4 red with blast and Impact 4. This can overcome a challenge many Rebel lists have of not bringing anything to handle Armor. The primary tactic with this upgrade generally involves Tristan Wren. Move, exhaust Offensive Push for an aim, then discard Jetpack Rockets to combine them with Tristan Wren. 3 red, 2 black, Lethal, Suppressive, Blast, Impact 3. This is the aforementioned “mini-nuke.” Excellent for taking out one of your opponent’s valuable units.
This is far from the only valid tactic. With Range 4 and Blast, you can use the rockets by themselves to blow up low-wound count units like Strike Teams. If you have the opportunity, you can also split fire with Tristan. Also, each unit of Mandalorians can equip these Jetpack Rockets, and Mandalorian skew lists lean into this fact. Twelve red dice with Impact and Blast is a hell of a drug!
In a nutshell, all of these objectives make use of Mandalorians’ mobility and relative independence. Speed 3 makes them professionals at Breakthrough and Bombing Run. On Recover the supplies they are hardy box carriers that can Jump to safety.
On Sabotage the Moisture Vaporators, you can place your vaporators in places only the Mandalorians can reach. Most of the time this means your opponent can never threaten your objectives. Also, a unit of Beskad Mandalorians function like Luke Skywalker, “zoning” an opponent’s forward-placed or otherwise vulnerable vaporator. It can engage and probably win a one-on-one with anything that gets close, and move quickly enough to get into base contact and Sabotage/Repair at the last moment to steal the game away from your opponent.
Supply Drop has a ton of excellent upgrades that Mandos crave, specifically Bacta Capsules for extra wounds and Holoprojector for extra orders. Rapid Reinforcements basically grants up to two units of Mandalorians Infiltrate, but has its own drawbacks. There are other conditions, like Limited Visibility, that work well with Mandalorians, but may not play well with other units in the list, like Snipers and DLT-20s. The full list must be considered, and this also goes for Deployments.
Generally speaking, any time a Mandalorian can engage an isolated enemy unit, or start closer to the enemy, that will be an advantage. The one case where it may work against you is against Clone Overwatch Standby castles. I’ll say again that these are Mandalorians’ favorites, but always consider your full list.
2-1B Medical Droid: If there was ever a unit that could benefit from a medic, this would be the one. Insane value returned per medic wound here: Beskad Mandalorians can be anywhere from 27 to 32 points per model, while the equivalent points expenditure from the medic is 9 per wound. Always include a Medic if possible, and taking two might even be worth it.
Portable Scanner/Electrobinoculars: Mandalorians are token hungry, so consider bringing along a copy of either one to feed them. Not necessary if you’re already running Calculate Odds or Take Cover elsewhere.
Mandalorians have synergy with nearly all the rebel heroes. We’ll look at what I feel are the most effective. Mandalorians are relatively new and real-world games of Legion are a lot rarer since COVID, but there are still games being played online to provide some practice and some data. Cassian and Leia are the primary standouts here, providing a cheap commander for Sabine and Clan Wren and granting considerable buffs to the Mandalorians in general.
Cassian Andor: a commander that is rapidly becoming the cornerstone of competitive Rebel list-building, Cassian has multiple synergies with Mandalorian Resistance and Clan Wren.
Covert Ops: Cassian can use Covert Ops and make your Mandalorians the new Commander, changing their rank and making them immune to Force Choke. Good for protecting your Beskad Duelist or Tristan.
Volunteer Mission: The free recover is extremely powerful, protecting them from high amounts of suppression, and allowing them to use HQ Uplink and Offensive Push all over again. Also grants Danger Sense 1 on the Mandalorians’ considerable save, and stacks with Impervious. All around amazing.
Last Stand: Only applies to Wren, but they can still be a valid target to gain tokens from this card if they are wounded. More likely to hit Sabine or K2 with this card.
Leia Organa: many of the synergies Leia has with Tauntauns apply when it comes to Mandalorians as well, and she is the most popular choice for running multiple units of Mandalorians.
Take Cover: Leia is Nimble, so is Sabine, so are Mandalorians. More dodges, more Nimble.
Strict Orders: Just as good on Mandos as it is on Tauntauns, but even more vital since Mandalorians don’t have keywords like Relentless. (Ursa’s Dauntless can help a little here)
No Time for Sorrows: For making your Mandalorians move Even Faster. Use this to move into contact with objectives, or start engagements with your Beskad Duelist. Since the move granted by this card is a Standard Move, you can exhaust Offensive Push for an Aim, shoot, and then jump away to safety, or use the aim action if you entered melee for even more accuracy. Effective even if you don’t go first since Mandos have excellent saves and Strict to back them up. If Mandalorians use HQ Uplink, they gain the free move from this card.
Somebody has to Save Our Skins: Putting Leia’s activation and the Mandalorians’ activation together can get them out of a suppression bind between Inspire 2 and Strict Orders.
Sabine and Clan Wren: Clan Wren has the Retinue keyword which means they gain an aim or a dodge as long as they are within range 2 of Sabine. Super useful to gain a dodge for Nimble and Situational Awareness or an aim for Tristan’s Lethal or Ursa’s Longshot keywords. Really makes Clan Wren sing as a unit, I would not recommend Clan Wren without her.
Legacy of Mandalore: Straightforward synergy here, works with both types of Mandalorians.
Luke Skywalker: His command cards synergize best with Mandalorian Resistance, but he is already an expensive unit in your army, and therefore works best with a single unit. Commander Luke has Courage 3, which can also be a great help to Sabine and Clan Wren.
You Serve Your Master Well: Use this to “double tap” with a Beskad Duelist. Activate Luke before the Beskad Mandos to allow them to attack, and if this defeats the unit the Mandos are engaged with, they are free to move and shoot or swing in melee with a different unit.
My Ally is the Force: Free dodge for Nimble, also works when the Mandos use HQ Uplink. Great for any combination of Luke and Mandos.
Return of the Jedi: Face up tokens and some minor suppression relief.
K-2SO/R2+3PO: Mandalorians love Calculate Odds for the free tokens.
Jyn Erso: Her Courage 3 keeps your Mandalorians in the fight, plus she has the command slot for Strict Orders.
Trust Goes Both Ways: Quick Thinking fuels Mandalorian keywords and Inspire is always welcome.
Complete the Mission: Mandalorians can be targeted by this and become immune to suppression and panic for a turn, massively useful for generic Resistance completing objectives.
Han Solo and Reckless Diversion: Mandalorians in cover with a dodge are now the best target for this card, but they need a way to get that dodge token without activating. Portable Scanner on a Rebel Trooper unit would be an ideal way for them to get this.
This list is an offshoot of the old Cassian/Luke archetype, dropping a sniper and Luke for Sabine and Clan Wren and cramming as much long range shooting in around it as possible. Sabine brings her Combat Shield, Situational Awareness and Symbol of Rebellion to make her as hardy as possible with three uses of her shield. Wren, on the other hand, is focusing on shooting with Offensive Push. Very much an all-rounder list designed for tournament play.
This verison maximizes the number of Mandalorian models you can take. This is designed to max out the amount of Jetpack Rockets you can take. Offensive Push is there to ensure the Beskad Duelists are able to pierce on the initial engagement. Tristan has it to trigger Lethal. Leia takes command to give the Mandalorians some suppression control with Strict Orders, Take Cover for Nimble, and even more Blast + Red Dice with Coordinated Bombardment. A real “elite” rebel army that is not hero or operative spam. You can shrink to 9 activations to take a bigger bid. Play No Time for Sorrows, use the Uplink on Tristan’s squad and let it rip with free moves. Neutral Command cards maximize order control on the Mandalorians and Strict Orders coverage.
If you’ve made it this far, you should be equipped with a healthy amount of information that’ll make you a better Mandalorian Resistance pilot. While Mandalorian Resistance are elite and have high saves, taking wounds on them should be viewed as seriously as taking a wound on Luke Skywalker or Sabine Wren. They need to be played carefully, exploiting their mobility to get to places where the number of shots they take will be limited. Every time you leave them exposed, it needs to be a calculated risk that is necessary to win, and they had better have a dodge token at some point. Seeing red and charging into combat early will get them killed (unless you have insane dice luck.) Surging red defense dice can always been broken by volume, especially against GAR fire support.
The key to operating Mandalorian Resistance well is timing. Last/first activations over the turn, engaging strategically to limit damage, picking targets to remove models that threaten them before the defending unit activates, all of these tactics are essential to playing Mandalorians well. Bide your time until you can strike your opponent hard with as many modifications as possible, offensive and defensive. Otherwise, find a place to hide and refuse engagement.
This line from The Mandalorian TV show sums it up best:
“When one chooses to walk the way of the Mandalore, you are both hunter and prey. How can one be a coward if one chooses this way of life? Have you ever removed your helmet? Has it ever been removed by others? This is the way.” — The Armorer
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7 Responses
Jetpack Rockets can also be devastating when equipped by a Clan Wren Unit. With an aim token, it can break havoc with 2 red dice, 3 black and 1 white.
I tend towards to like more Clan Wren than regular mandos due to their natural sinergy with Sabine.
You mention 3red 2 black with Tristan + the Jetpack rockets. Wouldn’t it be 2 red 2 black? Since Tristan can’t use the rocket if he’s firing his primary weapon?
I thought this too. I’ve been scouring the rules to see where I went wrong.
Maybe he put Tristan into a regular Mando as the heavy upgrade?
this is what I think it is too. Shouldn’t it be 2 red dice (from the rockets fired by Ursa and the generic resistance mando) and then 2 black from Tristan?
I thought this too. I’ve been scouring the rules to see where I went wrong.
this is what I think it is too. Shouldn’t it be 2 red dice (from the rockets fired by Ursa and the generic resistance mando) and then 2 black from Tristan?