A shorter review than usual, about the Star Wars Legion wargaming figures of the Galactic Empire’s fearsome special forces units.
Unit: Imperial Death Trooper
Brand: Star Wars Legion (Fantasy Flight Games)
Scale: 1/48 (approximately)
Price: £23.33
Rating: 4/5
(Important Note - this is NOT a review of the gameplay of these units in Star Wars Legion. While yes, they are figures made specifically for this game, I currently have not been able to play it... though I would very much like to. This is a review of the quality of the figures and the techniques that I used to paint them, so if you’re looking for tactics and strategies you’ve come to the wrong place!)
Background
I’m incredibly glad that Fantasy Flight Games brought out Star Wars Legion last year. Star Wars has desperately needed its own miniature wargame, and it’s a franchise that is ripe with possibilities for this. I’m aware that there was an older Star Wars miniature game by Wizards of the Coast, but this was before my time. But Star Wars Legion finally came along and it’s delivered with some very great quality figures, which I’ll gradually talk about more in future reviews.
But I’ve decided to make my first review about the Death Troopers, mostly because they’re one of the first Legion sets I’ve completed. So let’s get straight into it!
The Build
Since these are wargaming figures, there isn’t too much building to do. Most of the figures are separated into three main parts - the torso and legs, the arms and the head. Assembly is incredibly simple (as it probably should be for these types of figures), so you can go from a pile of body parts into a miniature special ops squad in mere minutes.
I’m fairly new to wargaming miniatures so I didn’t really know what to expect with details and whatnot, but I have to say I was incredibly impressed. All of the little details of the full-sized trooper uniforms are present in the miniatures, and despite the general uniformity of the Death Troopers there’s still some variety in each figure. Most of the figures are holding the E-11D blaster rifles we see the troopers with in Rogue One, though one is equipped with the DLT-19D heavy blaster rifle and another with the SE-14R pistol.
One trooper is also holding a thermal detonator, and some have shoulder pauldrons (which, in the films, indicates a soldier of a higher rank). Other troopers even have the small headlights on the right side of their helmets seen in the film. The figures are incredibly screen-accurate for their size, and there’s so much attention to detail that makes them so pleasing to look at. Each miniature has a different pose which gives them great variety, too.
Painting these figures was definitely one of the most pleasing experiences I’ve had in the three years I’ve been building models, though this is probably because of the simplicity after dealing with many more complicated models. There’s not much to worry about when all you’re painting is flat black armour, after all! I used Citadel Abbadon Black for the majority of the painting, with some Leadbelcher over the blasters and some of the greeblies (additional pieces for detail) on the armour. Using a very thin paintbrush I made the eyes green, and honestly at this point the figures could be considered an acceptable quality already.
I wanted to take a step further, though! There’s so much detail on these figures, And I couldn’t just have it all just hidden away due to the pitch black armour. I wanted these troopers to stand out a little more, so I used the technique of drybrushing - something I’m sure many of you reading this will already be familiar with.
For those who aren’t, drybrushing is using a paint by wiping most of it off the brush - but not all of it - so when you start painting over the surface of a model, it can be used to highlight detail without covering the original colour completely.
To bring out the detail on the Death Troopers I went back to the Leadbelcher paint and applied it to the entire armour plating, so this way it would also give the miniatures a metallic shine. Since this was my first time trying drybrushing, I think I overdid it so I used the same technique with black paint to tone it down. Finally, I used my go-to wash of choice, Citadel’s Nuln Oil, to bring out the details on the blasters and generally make them look grimier.
Conclusion
I had an absolute blast building these Death Troopers, and I think any Star Wars fan would feel the same way. The moulding on these miniatures is excellent and there’s a lot of detail that is faithful to the original design. My only real criticism is the price - for what you get with regards to the miniatures alone, the set is incredibly expensive, though this may be to compensate for the game rules and tokens. Despite the price tag, I think these figures are incredibly worthwhile and a great addition to any Star Wars collection.
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