Padmé Amidala recently joined the ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic in Star Wars™: Legion, opening up a wealth of strategic options with her unique abilities and powerful command cards. Just as skilled with a blaster as she is negotiating in the Senate, Padmé Amidala is effective at both completing objectives and boosting friendly units. Join Legion expert Mike Syrylo today as he discusses the basic techniques to use these skills most effectively!

The flavor text for Padmé Amidala reads “Spirited Senator,” and no two words describe her Star Wars: Legion personality more than these. Whether you’re recreating the Battle of Geonosis by pairing her with Obi-Wan Kenobi, telling new stories about her times with Captain Rex, or having a mother-daughter duel with Leia Organa’s Rebels, Padmé Amidala has all the tools you need to get the mission accomplished. She comes with six health, white defense dice that surge, and (usefully) a Courage value of three, putting her in the upper echelon of Legion courage values.

Let’s go over some of those tools in greater detail.

Unit Card

The most apparent, and potentially strongest, combination Padmé Amidala has on her unit card is between the keywords Exemplar and Quick Thinking. Just like Jyn Erso and Iden Versio, Padmé Amidala is able to take both an aim and a dodge token with one action. Not only does she possess the Nimble keyword, allowing her to gain a new dodge token every time she spends one, but she also lets her friendly units within range 2 and line of sight spend her green tokens. For example, if you have a Phase I Clone Trooper lining up an important shot, Padmé Amidala would be able to Aim and use Quick Thinking to generate two aims for that shot!

Padmé Amidala also has access to a Looted E-5 Blaster, which packs a Red and White die shot out to range 3 with Pierce 1. Nothing crazy, but it does allow her to utilize her Sharpshooter 2 keyword to reduce opponent’s cover by two, meaning that any successful dice results will trigger her Pierce 1. Quiet, but effective.

Authoritative is also a very strong, flexible keyword. It allows Padmé Amidala to transfer her order and issue it to someone else within Range 2 of herself. Basically, Padmé Amidala is a mobile, extended Comms Relay. This is especially deadly when paired with Obi-Wan Kenobi, as it allows Obi-Wan to have two 1 pip priority turns, meaning he is able to act quickly on the turns you want him in the fray.

Command Cards

Earlier, I mentioned Padmé Amidala’s strongest combination on her unit card. This only gets better with the introduction of her command cards. Let’s count down and begin with her three pip, Diplomatic Cover.  Padmé Amidala introduces a new mechanic to Legion with her three pip: Permanent. Exactly like you would think, this command card’s effect stays throughout the entire six rounds of a game! This card specifically includes a choice of effects as well.

Using Divulge, Padmé Amidala can reveal this card at the start of the “Deploy Units” step of Setup. If she does, she gains Secret Mission and Infiltrate. If you recall, Secret Mission allows you to score a victory token with a free action if you are within your enemy’s deployment zone. Combined with Infiltrate, this is an incredibly powerful tactic. Should you choose not to Divulge the card, Padmé Amidala gains Reliable 1, our favorite keyword from the Phase II Clone Troopers, which automatically generates her a free surge token at the start of each turn. When combined again with Exemplar, she becomes a mobile surge token battery for clones, Jedi, and Sabre tanks alike.

Padmé Amidala and Leia Organa share many characteristics, both in personality and within Legion. Aggressive Negotiations functions very similarly to Leia’s No Time for Sorrows command card. Not only does the ordered unit have the ability to make a free speed-1 move, but they also have the choice to instead gain a green token. Is your Rex in a dangerous spot? Get him a dodge. Obi-Wan is just outside melee range? Now he’s engaged! This card grants Padmé Amidala and your army a lot of flexibility on where and when you play it.

As a side note, due to Authoritative, Padmé Amidala is able to order the Sabre tank using this card, potentially giving your tank TWO free aim tokens to start the turn, if you combine this card’s aim generating effect with the comms upgrade Linked Targeting Array. Pretty deadly stuff.

Padmé Amidala’s one pip,  Our Fate is in Your Hands, is rather unique. Most one pip cards come with a devastating attack or an offensive ability; hers is more supportive. “Danger Sense 2” elevates her survivability–useful if she has just scored a Secret Mission–and strips suppression from friendly trooper units around her. However, these suppression tokens get transferred to Padmé Amidala herself, which charges up her Danger Sense ability while allowing her troopers to perform actions without worrying about losing their second. Also, as mentioned before, Padmé Amidala’s ability to pass her orders makes this card incredibly versatile; essentially making it an Ambush with a bonus for Padmé Amidala herself.

Weaknesses

There are two main weaknesses that require the player's attention while using Padmé Amidala. Unlike many of her Republic companions, Padmé Amidala rolls white defense dice. Therefore, you do have to pay more attention to where she is placed on the table, as she is more vulnerable to being taken off the table quickly when fired upon. She also only possesses Exemplar, and because of this, other units can use Padmé Amidala’s green tokens, but she is unable to use theirs.

The second weakness comes in the form of Padmé Amidala’s firepower, or lack thereof. Without any uses of Fire Support, Padmé Amidala only rolls two or three dice at a time, so positioning her in a direct firefight with an opposing unit is not always the best option. She is great at finishing off a single unit leader or two, but full squads? Best leave that to the Clones.

Finally, let’s go over a quick list idea that uses Padmé Amidala, the Clone Wars Core Set, and Captain Rex. This list is pretty straightforward, but showcases many of the synergies that Padmé Amidala possesses. Five Phase I troopers allow plenty of Fire Support options to combine with Padmé Amidala, especially when combined with her ability to convert attack surges to hits. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala work well together due to Exemplar and Authoritative, as Obi-Wan effectively has two 1 Pip turns and has the ability to spend Padmé Amidala’s green tokens (including standbys!) due to Exemplar.

There are quite a few more synergies present here, including Guardian and Secret Mission, and we encourage you to discover some of them! As your Republic army grows, Padmé Amidala unlocks some really neat lists with Phase II Clone Troopers and ARCs, and we will be diving into some of those tricks soon in our article covering more advanced strategies for using Padmé Amidala!

Mike Syrylo is an avid Legion player and blogger.  He enjoys golf, power lifting, and exploring local breweries.  You can find articles and other great content by Mike and his colleagues on their blog.