Cancon is Australia's largest tabletop wargaming convention. It is held annually in Canberra, the nation's capital, on the Australia day long weekend. You can't get any more Aussie than that!
I've long heard how massive this event is, and this year I got to experience it for the very first time. Oh boy was it big! It's bigger than the Big Merino at Goulburn, the Big Pineapple at Woombye and the Big Banana at Coffs Harbour combined.
Cancon was held across 3 massive pavilions at the Exhibition Park In Canberra (EPIC). This was the Legion pavilion. We shared it with Age of Sigmar which had 240 players!!
One of the other pavilions which hosted Infinity and 40K.
Star Wars: Legion tournament
The inaugural Cancon Star Wars: Legion tournament had a small but respectable 14 players. Having fallen in love with Legion over the last couple of months, I signed up for the tournament. I had very little expectations since this was my first Legion tournament, and I usually provide easy wins for my opponents at tournies. I also had very little Legion experience, having played grand total of 4 games going in. What I got was far beyond my expectations. I got to meet, roll dice and share my passion for Star Wars with a terrific bunch of people. Every game was enjoyable, and all but one went down to the wire. Ok now let's have a look at the army I took.
An entire legion of my best troops
I started painting my Imperials soon after the game released in March 2018. It was a slow burn until I signed up for Cancon in late 2018. Painting for a tournament is an awesome motivator. I started painting every night, and then momentum took over. In the end I even had time to do up my very first display board, and I'm pretty chuffed with the results.
The big boy.
General Maximilian Veers, commanding.
Foward troopers, for the Empire!
I wanted to do something different so took two teams of Saboteurs rather than snipers.
Tournament action
Right, time to get into the tournament action...
Game 1 vs Nick (Rebels)
Key Positions, Long March, Rapid Reinforcements
Nick is a regular on the MOTF youtube batrep channel. He ran Luke, Han, troopers, snipers and ran them well; finishing 3rd overall for the tournie. I surprisingly managed to hold my own, and only lost narrowly on points. On the last turn I committed the AT-ST too early and Nick sent Luke in with Son of Skywalker. The destruction of the AT-ST meant we tied for the central objective and Nick had a decisive lead in points killed.
"This isn't my fight." I managed to panic Han with 7 suppressions! He cleared enough of them and used Luke's Courage 3 to just stay on the board though.
My Snowtroopers rapidly reinforce into the Rebels' flank. Luke fails his charge and cops a full barrage, only to make all but one of his saves.
Game 2 vs Rob (Imperials)
Recover the Supplies, Long March, Clear Conditions
I had a bye in Round 2, and was matched up against Rob for Round 3. Rob also ran Imperials, with Lord Vader himself accompanied by Bobba Fett, Stormtroopers, Scout troopers and 2 E-webs. The central supply crate was located in no man's land with little covered approach. Only Vader was brave enough to attempt the objective. The Sith Lord force lifted the crate amongst a hail of fire, only to be squarely planted in the back by the AT-ST as he turned back towards his lines. After another tight tussle, I pulled out the w on points.
Rob's Imperials
Midgame. Rob's scouts have grabbed a supply crate, another squad of Stormtroopers have another crate in the house on the right. Vader attempted the centre crate and was shot down by the AT-ST.
One of my favourites shots from the tournament. My legion deployed and ready for action.
Game 3 vs James (Rebels)
Intercept the Transmissions, Advanced Positions, Mine Field
This was the only decisive battle I fought in the tournie. Unfortunately I was decisively on the losing end. James piloted his list of Han, Chewie, 2 AT-RTs, troopers and snipers expertly. In retrospect my deployment was very poor, giving my troops little cover to approach the central transmitter from. I then dithered between staying back and pushing for the central objective, all the while being slowly picked apart. Towards the end of the game James sacrificed Han in a ballsy move to deny me the transmitter near my deployment zone. The only bright spot for the Empire was smoking Han, Chewie, an AT-RT and a bunch of troopers.
James' rebels quickly set up an unassailable position covering the central communications console.
While the bulk of my army milled around in confusion behind this wall. Those who poked their heads out got shot.
These two squads of Stormies salvaged some pride for me. They took on 2 AT-RTs, a Z6 squad and a wounded Chewie, and won.
Game 4 vs Josh (Imperials)
Intercept the Transmissions, Long March, Rapid Reinforcement
This was my favourite game of the tournament because it produced an epic cinematic ending. Josh ran a Palp list with 2 Royal Guards, Stormtroopers and Snowtroopers. I played well, mining the central objective, destroying a unit of Royal Guard, degrading his line infantry and rapidly reinforcing some Stormies into his deployment zone.
I was feeling confident heading into the last turn as I was leading 2-1 in VPs and had more troops close to the central objective. Josh made his move with Palpatine at this moment. The frail-looking old man slowly strode through the smoke, and unleashed a devastating force lightning strike on my army. Two squads of Snowtroopers who had only taken a single casualty between them up until that point ceased to exist in an instant. With their demise, the rest of Josh's army advanced and control of the central transmitter changed hands decisively.
What's more with a healthy Royal Guard unit in tow to Guardian, Josh can absorb most of the attack aimed at Palpatine and the decimated trooper squads contesting the objective. In state of half shock I watch the Royal Guard do exactly that to my initial volleys of counter-fire.
With only 2 activations left, it was time for heroes to stand up and roll some crits. General Veers advanced into the carnage at the centre of the battlefield, drew his E-11 and shot a lone Stormtrooper Sargeant in the head (first roll 3 blanks, reroll 1 crit). Now I'm only one trooper unit leader behind in the arm wrestle for the objective. The AT-ST had the last activation. The Walker aimed and fired into the Emperor at point blank range. It scored only hits which can all be Guardianed off. Spending its single aim I picked up the two red dice and said a Force prayer... and roll 2 crits! One of them slipped through Palpatine's formidable defences and took his last wound. The central objective was tied, and Palpatine's demise meant I claimed the battle on points!
If you needed proof Imperial Royal Guards are insane, here it is. With the rest of his squad gone, the Royal Guard Sargeant charges into my lines alone in an attempt to buy time for the Emperor.
Tournament wrap up
After two days of intense Legion action, I finished with a 2-2 record (officially 3-2 due to the bye) and Best Painted. I couldn't be happier as I really put a lot of work into this army, mainly by getting an hour of painting done each night after the kids go to sleep. Given my very limited Legion playing experience, I am also very happy with the 2-2 record. Game play is an area that I've traditionally been weak in, and something I want to improve on. Shout out to Fred, Iro and Jim who gave up their valuable time to play practice games with me, so that at least I wasn't a complete rookie for the tournament.
Best Painted! And got me a box of Imperial Specialists as prize, sweeet.
Cool alt art command and upgrade cards, plus commander tokens. Double score!
Three things I learnt about the game:
1. Have a clear and workable plan on how to approach the central objective, execute it.
The one decisive loss I suffered was due to poor planning at the deployment phase, and then dithering once the action commenced. I need to plan out routes of approach before deployment, particularly for the slow Snowtroopers.
2. AT-STs are not consistent enough to be the army centrepiece.
My Scout Walker had its moments, taking down both Vader and Palp in this tournament. However there were plenty of other times when it fluffed attacks. When more than 30% of my points are invested in one model, I really need more consistent returns from it. Throwing mostly black and white dice, getting jammed up by tight terrain, being too tall to get cover, and having little opposition armour to use its Impact 4 on are all factors that contributed towards its under-performance. It is also vulnerable to a variety of attackers including Impact, Pierce and good ole crit fishing. Some of these weaknesses can be mitigated with Spotter, Astromech Droid and the upcoming Arbmab upgrade; however that means investing more points into an already expensive platform with inconsistent damage output.
Finally I wanted to acknowledge the really terrific bunch of people I had the privilege to Legion with at Cancon. From Lindsay who organised and sponsored the event (check out his FLGS Games Cube), to my fellow players who I had an absolute blast playing and chatting with, to the eventual winner Pascal Tiger who was an absolute gentleman and generous to a fault in sharing his tactical insights. It's a small beginning for Legion at Australia's national wargaming convention. The game is not a year old yet, and with a great community like this I look forward to many more Cancon Legion Tournaments to come.
Around Cancon
There were some terrific Infinity tables on show.
The Infinity tournament had 70 players! I got out of the game a while ago, but it was good to see it doing so well.
I asked the Mrs if she wanted this. It went down like a lead balloon.
Aussie wargaming humour
Sorry about the long post, here's a Gargant.
