The 50Worst Legion

For my first unit review I’m going to take a look at everyone’s favorite nurse droid: IG-11.

INITIAL THOUGHTS

Upon initial inspection there are a few things that really stand out: a range 4 Gunslinger attack with Sharpshooter 1 and surge to hit. Currently we only have 3 units in the game that natively have Gunslinger (Han, Sabine & Rex) and they are all range 2. While both of IG’s ranged pools are less consistent than the other native gunslingers, the increased range requires less setup and allows IG to attack from a safer distance. Most dice pools at range 4 are not very large and the combination of Armor 1 and Impervious with red defense dice can make it tough to stack wounds on him from that range.

Move up 6 inches and IG-11 trades a black die for a white die in order to get Pierce 1. This does put him in range of larger dice pools but can make him much more potent on offense. Before we look do too much more analysis we should take a look at the Programming options IG-11 can take:

“BOUNTY” PROGRAMMING

Let’s start with the flashier option. Gaining Bounty is huge because it puts another victory point in play for you. On top of that, you also get the benefit of adding Pierce 1 to all of IG-11’s weapons if you bounty a commander or adding Suppressive to all his weapons if you bounty an operative. (Note that if you are running a double bounty list, the benefit is only given based on the unit that IG-11 selects as a bounty target so you will only ever get 1 benefit).

Against lists with no operatives you won’t get the choice between Pierce or Suppressive but what about when you run up against a list that has an operative, which should you choose? Pierce 1 might seem like the obvious choice (especially since Pierce stacks so his range 3 weapon becomes Pierce 2) but I don’t believe the choice is that simple. Pierce is strong, no doubt about it, but that should not be the first thing you look at when choosing your bounty target. If IG-11 is the only bounty hunter in your list a strong case can be made to essentially ignore which benefit you are going to get and simply select your bounty target as you would with any other bounty hunter, i.e. choosing a weaker target that is easier to defeat or choosing an aggressive force users to try and keep them at bay. IG-11 is not the best suited to threaten a force user on his own as much as some of his peers, but sometimes merely the threat of collecting the bounty is enough to make your opponent think twice about their moves, which could be all you need.

While a case can be made for choosing your bounty target as you would with any other bounty hunter, I believe an even stronger case can be made for choosing your target specifically based on what benefit it gives IG-11. As I mentioned above, IG-11 is not as well suited to threaten higher profile targets as many of his peers, and considering the softer targets such as generic commanders are usually harder to get to, equipping him with the tools to be most effective in the game you are in might just be the right decision. One thing that should not be overlooked is that bounty targets are chosen AFTER setup. This means you will have seen the objective, condition and deployment before you choose which unit to bounty. Playing a condition like War Weary or Hostile Environment? Suppressive could be very strong in that game. While it is tough to consistently make units panic in Legion, limiting actions can be just as crucial to victory as eliminating units, especially in an objective based game.

The other factor to consider is the make up of your opponent’s army. Droids do not care about suppression as much as other trooper units so Pierce might be the right choice against a CIS army. Pierce is also arguably the better choice against a GAR or Empire list that is full of red save units. If you are only going to 1 or 2 hits through on a unit, keep your opponent’s defense dice from being a factor. Playing against a rebel list full of white save units? You might get more bang for you buck from Suppressive than you will from Pierce.

Before we move to the other programming option let’s take a quick look at the drawback of “Bounty” Programming: the AI options. “Bounty” Programming gives IG-11 AI: Aim, Attack. This AI combination means IG-11 really wants an order if you want to do anything other than attack. Having a range 4 weapon means that unless he is behind an LOS blocker, he is highly likely to have something that he can shoot at. This forces you to have to potentially have to make attacks against suboptimal targets. The option to take an Aim first is nice, but really only helps you when you are already in a place where you would want to be aiming and attacking anyway.

“NANNY” PROGRAMMING

The less flashier but cheaper of the programming options (and sorry Empire players, a Rebel only option). With this programming choice, Rebel players can choose to take Grogu as a counterpart to IG-11, which means The Child can be fielded separately from or completely without Din Djarin. While I don’t think taking Grogu is as bad a choice as some players, I do think taking him as a counterpart to IG-11 is bad. Grogu’s latent ablility is less than a 50/50 chance to heal a friendly trooper unit and it has to be a non-droid trooper unit so Grogu can’t even heal IG. The only real benefit to bringing Grogu with IG is for The Hand Thing, but given that you are already forced to take IG-11’s 3 pip (more on that later) that is effectively a 3rd of your command hand that you don’t have a choice on. That’s just not worth it for me.

The one advantage (aside from being 0 points) that “Nanny” Programming has over “Bounty” is its AI choices. AI: Dodge, Move is far superior to Aim, Attack as it gives you the option to move if needed. Having the choice of moving as your first action makes add much more flexibility to your activation. You can move into position to attack more optimal targets, you can double move towards scoring an objective or you can double move towards safety.

COMMAND CARDS

Now that we’ve examined the unit card, let’s take a look at the command cards IG-11 brings to the table:

ANTI-CAPTURE PROTOCOLS

Let’s start with the elephant in the room: the 3 pip. This is the first command card we have seen that must be taken if your army includes the corresponding character. That is already a big checkmark in the con column for me as it limits your flexibility and creativity with your list. Another mark against it is how conditional it is in that you really only want to play it if IG-11 is about to be defeated. The Self-Destruct weapon he gains is powerful (and can gain Pierce if using “Bounty” Programming) but that is the only effect this card gives. If IG is close enough to be able to use the Self-Destruct weapon then is is also probably close enough to be defeated before the card is played.

MECHANICAL CARNAGE

Attacks that can hit every unit in range are not to be overlooked. Most of those effects are melee or range 1, this one has it’s range bumped to range 2 but with the restriction that it can only target units AT range 2, which means any units at range 1 are ineligible to be attacked. So watch out for sneaky forward cohesions by your opponent to get a mini into range 1 if you are trying to setup for this card. This card also does not give a specific weapon to use so you can choose either of IG-11’s ranged weapons to use for each unit you are attacking. The other thing to be aware of with this card is since none of IG-11’s ranged weapons have Versatile, if he is engaged he will not be able to make any attacks at all since the card forces him to attack units at range 2.

A MACHINE MADE FOR KILLING

While this card can be taken and used by IG-88, we are just going to look at is with IG-11 for the purposes of this article. Free tokens are great in any capacity so getting an aim just for being nominated for the card is solid. Demoralize is very conditional as it requires you to be at range 2 of at least 1 unit but Steady is great in a game where action economy is crucial. This card isn’t flashy like his other 2, but it is very solid and much more flexible for when it can be played, which makes it arguably the best of the 3.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

So now that we have seen all the pieces of the puzzle, how do you play IG-11? The first decision to make is obviously which programming upgrade to take. Empire players don’t have a choice but I would say for Rebels more often than not the choice should be “Bounty” Programming. The only time I would ever take “Nanny” Programming is if I were running a hero hammer list and was really concerned about AI: Aim, Attack. I would never run Grogu as a counterpart to IG-11 and if I am strapped for points where I am thinking about saving 5 points I am either cutting a different upgrade somewhere else or I am just not running IG-11.

Now that IG is programmed, what role do you want him to fulfill on the battlefield? There are 2 main ways to play him, you can either have him sit at range 4 and try and pick off minis from a distance, or you can march him up the field and threaten your opponent with his command cards. Sitting at range 4 is the safer play as he will be taking the least amount of shots and his attack pool is strongest at that range, but his command cards encourage you to advance up the field. Given that you are forced to bring his 3 pip it might feel like a waste to never use it if you are sitting at range 4. That’s OK. In a 6 round game you will have 1 command card that never sees the table anyways. Sitting at range 4 also means you probably aren’t taking IG-11’s 1 pip, which frees that slot up for whatever other character(s) you are bringing. The 2 pip slots in well either way you are playing IG-11, but is also a “must take” if you have better options for other characters at that slot.

Whichever way you play IG-11, the thing you will want to make sure you have a plan for is his AI, especially if you are running “Bounty” Programming. At most you will get 3 orders on him from his command cards, but that is only if you are brining/playing all of them, which given the conditional nature of 2 of them you might not. IG-11 does have both a training slot and a comms slot so he can run Seize the Initiative and/or HQ Uplink to give himself an order when a non-IG-11 command card is played.

Seize is the cheaper option but the training slot is slightly more competitive with the likes of Hunter and Offensive Push as viable options. Personally I would probably lean towards Seize as IG-11 is more likely to be targeting single wound units, but if you want him to aggressively go after a bounty target then Hunter would be the choice for the training slot and I would try to work in HQ Uplink. The other option for getting him an order is running a commander with Underworld Connections. This is something you might be doing anyways if you are planning on running multiple mercenary units and most of the commander options for Rebels and Empire have a command slot. The only ones currently that do not are Luke, Cassian & Iden.

IG-11 also has a gear upgrade slot that I think really only has 2 choices: Recon Intel or Emergency Stims. Both would be used if you are taking the approach of marching him up the field. An argument could be made for Environmental Gear, but outside of his Self-Destruct attack he doesn’t need to be closer than range 2 so unless you are anticipating a table crowded with difficult terrain I wouldn’t bring it.

Emergency Stims would the be choice I would make as it gives you a 2 wound buffer if you are wanting to use his Self-Destruct attack, which is important given that once he hits 3 wounds he needs to not only survive the round but most likely the first activation of the round you play his 3 pip as you are likely to lose priority when you play that card.

PIERCE 1 OR PIERCE 2?

Running “Bounty” Programming with a commander as the chosen bounty target creates an interesting decision you have to make when IG-11 is at range 3, do I attack with 2 black, 1 white and pierce 1 or 2 white, 1 black and pierce 2? While Pierce 2 certainly is powerful, to quote everyone’s favorite Mon Calamari: IT’S A TRAP! The odds of getting multiple hits with the 2 black, 1 white pool are a bit higher than the 2 white, 1 black pool, 1.623 required saves vs. 1.385 into no cover. The gap does close when attacking into light cover, 0.798 vs. 0.652, but in neither scenario is the average number of required saves going to approach 2 with the 2 white, 1 black pool. (Note that since IG-11 has Sharpshooter 1 I did not do the calculation based on heavy cover). So while the ceiling is definitely higher with a Pierce 2 attack, your chances of actually doing 2 wounds are greater with the pierce 1 attack as you are more likely to force them to roll 2 saves, 1 of which can be pierced so even just 1 blank still results in 2 wounds. The average number of hits for the 2 white, 1 black pool does get up to above 2 (2.017) when attacking into no cover with an aim token though, so if you are able to get a unit in the open with an aim token then take your chances with the Pierce 2 weapon.

SAMPLE LISTS

List building is one of my favorite parts of this game. The following are examples of lists that are designed to highlight the different playstyles of the unit as discussed above.

REBEL DOUBLE BOUNTY

Use your corps and special forces to harass the enemy from a distance and handle the objectives while the 2 bounty hunters run into the enemy lines. Underworld Connections allows you to give IG-11 an order on an early Standing Orders if you don’t want to lead with one of the bounty hunters’ cards. Comms Relay on Din allows him to pass off his order to IG, which both ignores IG’s AI and triggers Din’s Independent if you want.

PULLING THE STRINGS GUNLINE

This Empire list takes the opposite approach and focuses on IG-11 in a range 4 gunline. With Pulling the Strings, Palpatine can let IG-11 attack 4 times each turn. This can be especially powerful if you are able to choose an operative as the bounty target. Combined with the suppressive attacks from the mortars, this list would be able to dish out a ton of suppression which could really hamper your opponent.

RIDING SHOTGUN

Another fun thing you can do that I have tested a couple times is throwing IG-11 into a landspeeder and driving him up into the enemy lines. The speed of the landspeeder can let you get up close very early in a game and a late activation of it can allow you to setup IG at range 2 for the Mechanical Carnage play the next round. Letting the landspeeder do the moving for IG-11 also means you don’t care as much about his AI so aiming and attacking is what you would be doing more often than not anyway.

IN CONCLUSION

Defensively, IG-11 should be one of the more durable pieces in your list. As a Droid Trooper he doesn’t have to worry about being suppressed and he can be repaired as opposed to healed. This can be beneficial as repair droids are cheaper than medical droids. Units like R2-D2 and Del Meeko also come with built in repair and are great choices for lists that might want to use IG-11.

Offensively IG-11 does not throw enough dice to wipe a full strength squad, but gunslinger allows him to clean up multiple squads late. Being able to attack at range 4 makes it harder for squads that are down to their unit leader to escape from him as well, especially on a more open table. His “Bounty” Programming upgrade also makes his attacks that much more potent.

IG-11’s biggest drawback his is AI. More often than not he will programmed with AI: Aim, Attack, which is less than ideal. If you can navigate your way around it it won’t be an issue, but that is something you have to make sure you plan for during list building. IG-11 can be a very flexible piece during the game, but that flexibility is lost if he is force to Aim or Attack at the beginning of every turn.