Went into this not knowing how well my two-ship build would do, but I ran the following:

Boba Fett
Stealth Device
Expert Handling
Rebel Captive

Autoblaster

Kath Scarlet

Stealth Device
Expert Handling

Autoblaster

I called this squad "Scarlet Fett, Roll Out!"

The strategy here is to use Expert Handling to shake target locks when I could and to also use that ability to get better Range 1 positioning when I could. Sadly, this wasn't easy to set up. Moving these large bases "slowly" to maintain the optimal range proved difficult.

Keeping my opponent's names to single letters, because why not?

First Round:

Opponent (J):

Red Squadron X-Wing, R2 Astromech (2)

Dagger Squadron B-Wing, Fire Control System (2)

Began the first turn with his 2 X-Wings and 2 B-wings set up to my upper right. My two Firesprays were set up in the lower left, with Boba to the right of Kath. I was hoping Boba would prove a tempting target while maybe Kath could scoot up and around to flank them. J moved his squad forward, and I took Boba on a slow right turn, while Kath shot forward.

Next turn saw J's squadron make a tight right turn towards the center, with Boba creeping forward and to the right to meet them head on, but still out of firing range. Kath continued to flank and turn in towards the rear of the squadron.

Ultimately, and for the sake of brevity, Boba lost his head-on salvo with 2 B's and 2 X's slapping the holy hell out of him. My defense dice were not very forgiving, and despite throwing out some decent damage rolls, Boba fell quickly. The remainder of the game saw some cat-and-mouse tactics with Kath. She managed to heavily damage the two X-wings, but exploded to death all the same.

0:1

Round 2

Opponent (J2, the other J)

Turr Phennir

Dark Curse

Howlrunner

Soontir Fel

I can't recall all the upgrade these guys had, but I'm fairly certain Turr had Expose and Soontir Fel had Push the Limit.

Turr set up to my upper left corner, while Fel and Howlrunner took the center. Dark Curse was to my upper right. I set up Boba at a 45 degree angle close to my lower right corner (facing right). Kath was in the right hand corner facing Dark Curse head on.

Turn 1 saw Turr, realizing he was nowhere near anything interesting, do his best to make himself useful and get within sight of the Firesprays. Howlrunner moved up the middle, and Fel promptly ran straight into her. Dark Curse proceeded towards Kath. I moved Kath forward, and Boba took a bank to the left to close in right behind her. I think I ran him into her as well. Kath was able to take some range 3 shots at Dark Curse, but failed to hit.

Turn 2 saw Turr continue to make his way into the forray. Howlrunner and Fel continued to angle in towards Kath from the center, and Dark Curse also continued forward. Kath, with some helpful barrel rolling, managed to get Howlrunner in her firing arc at Range 2, I believe. Boba brought up the rear and was able to get Howlrunner in Range 3. Howlrunner took some damage with the combined firing of Kath and Boba, and lived with a single hull. Dark Curse and Howlrunner managed to strip Kath of all but 1 shield I think.

Turn 3 was ugly. Thanks to my effective barrel roll from turn 2, Kath was stuck with a hard decision. Take a sketchy 1 bank to clear stress and possibly run off the board, or take a hard 1 turn instead and ensure my safety while losing an action? Took the bank and bought the farm on that decision. Thankfully, Turr, Fel, Dark Curse and Howlrunner were all focused on here when she blipped out of existence, so Boba had a clear shot at all of them.

Ultimately, Boba cleaned up Turr Phennir and Howlrunner. I managed to keep them in his rear firing arc while running towards the center. We were running short on time, and Boba was down to a single hull left. Fel, Howlrunner and Dark curse were closing in on him, so in the last turn of the game, I hauled ass to Range 3, managed to pop Howlrunner, and dodged the incoming fire. Pulled off a modified win by no more than 4 points when the game went to time.

1:1

Round 3

Opponent (Canadian J)

Chewie, Luke

Biggs Darklighter

Blue Squadron B-Wing

I can't recall where the other 4 points were spent on his squadron, but I know Biggs and the B-Wing were stock.

CJ set up Chewie, Biggs and the B-Wing in a tight box formation close to the center of the board. I set up Kath and Boba in the same kind of formation as the previous round, but more towards the center.

I'm not quite sure of all the maneuvering in this round, as there was a lot of positioning and overlaps, but I'll boil it down to the relevant bits. Kath was focused down and met her end in the upper left corner of the board, while Chewie was stripped down to 3 hull remaining. Biggs was shieldless, and the B-Wing was missing two shields. Barrel rolling gave me a huge advantage with firing arcs, and the rebel captive delt much needed stress, preventing CJ from taking his actions. Ultimately, I was unable to remove any of CJ's firepower and my defense dice couldn't keep up with the attacks thrown at me.

1:2

Round 4

Opponent ( R )

Omicron Group Pilot

Bounty Hunter, Recon Specialist (2)

Again, I'm missing some of the upgrades, but this was the general list. 30 hp is a lot to punch through! R set up one Bounty Hunter and the Omicron Group Pilot to my upper left. The final Bounty Hunter was set up in the center. I set up Kath and Boba in the lower left, with Boba at an angle such that his first move would position him directly behind Kath.

Turn 1 had the Omicron Pilot stay put (move 0), its accompanying Bounty Hunter move towards the middle a bit, I think, and the other Bounty Hunter move along the back edge. Boba and Kath took up a formation, single file, and jetting up the left edge towards the BH and Omicron Pilot.

Turn 2 put the Omicron Pilot in a good firing position, and it managed to eat the shields off Kath. Boba and Kath returned fire and did some damage to the shuttle, but didn't manage to take down its shields. The remaining two Bounty Hunters focused fire on Kath and managed to punch through all but a couple hull.

Turn 3 put Kat behind the Omicron Pilot, while R put his two Bounty Hunters into Kath's right blind spot, outside her firing arc. Boba didn't have a shot for this or the next turn. Kath managed to take a shield or two off the shuttle, but the combined firepower from the Bounty Hunters dropped her from the fight quickly.

The remainder of the game saw Boba roll some decent evades, while dishing out stress due to Rebel Captive. R's loss of actions slowed his attacks some, but those he did throw didn't have much resistence in the end. A crit got through, giving Boba the Console Fire damage card. On the final turn, with his back against the wall, Boba suffered the final hull damage to Console Fire.

1:3

I had a great time, and learned an awful lot with this particular build. Flying these large ships wasn't much of a problem. I managed to dodge ALL asteroids during these rounds save one. My game with CJ and R were quite entertaining. My game with Other J was super tense, and while a modified win is still a win, he clearly had the upper hand had we had another 5 minutes. He did very well and I would've loved to see how it played out. My first game with J was an amazing lesson in firepower, as it was the only game Boba didn't make it out of turn 1.

My thanks to my opponents and the game organizer. I'm heading to another tournament tomorrow and will make the following adjustments:

Kath Scarlet
Stealth Device

Heavy Laser Cannon

Expert Handling

Krassis Trellix

Stealth Device

Heavy Laser Cannon

Rebel Captive

I didn't find the Autoblaster upgrades as powerful as I hoped. I attribute this to the fact that I was barrel rolling so often, the stress prevented my getting focus, which would've helped. I'd hope to keep my Firesprays at range 2-3 so as to use the HLC. In the event I'm in range 1, I'd take advantage of the +1 attack. Hopefully, I'll have 4 attacks at any given range, save my aux firing arc (can't fire secondaries in auxiliary arc). I may put the Rebel Captive on Kath, as she died first in all but one game and the captive may make her less...tasty.

Looking forward to tomorrow! If you made it this far, thanks for reading, and pardon my memory gaps.

I was going to ask about the Autoblasters. It seems to me that you only had one squad they should have been good against (round 2 and all of those TIEs) but if they weren't useful there that was most of an Academy Pilot between those two upgrades. If you wanted to put them on target the way to do that probably would have been Boba with Navigator and then either your Expert Handling or an Engine Upgrade.

Hey, I was your first opponent (J, also from Canada). It was nice meeting you. It was true that your defense dice abandoned you in that first exchange we had, but I think you flew Kath magnificently. It was quite the sight seeing Firesprays barrel roll like that. Congrats on the sportsmanship prize, and good luck on today's tourney.

Went to my follow-up tournament today in Lacey, WA. I decided to make some additional changes, last minute, and hope for the best. Ran the following:

Kath Scarlet

Heavy Laser Cannon

Expert Handling

Mercenary Copilot

Boba Fett

Heavy Laser Cannon

Expert Handling

Navigator

Decided the HLCs were in order to provide some more offensive capacity. 4 attack dice in any range sounded like a good idea. I ditched the stealth devices as well, and gave Fett Navigator to help keep him in good position.

Round 1

Opponent (K)

Howlrunner, Stealth Device, Push the Limit

Alpha Squadron Pilot (4)

K set up her 4 Alpha's in a line formation, with a (1) spacing between them. Howlrunner took up a rear position, behind the center of the line. I set up Kath and Boba in the lower right, flying side by side.

Turn 1 saw some fantastic formation flying by K. She put her Alphas and Howlrunner headed toward the right side of the board, well spaced. I took Kath and Boba forward (1), to give myself some breathing room and see where K's squadron was headed.

Turn 2, K forgot to assign her maneuver dial correctly to Howlrunner. Essentially, she left the same turn assigned which on the next turn would throw Howlrunner off the board. We decided to leaver her be, no actions, no attacks. The rest of her squadron continued forward, which took them out of range 1, so they wouldn't benefit from any rerolls Howlrunner would provide. While this may not be how the tournament rules say a maneuver assignment mistake is resolved, in the interest of an interesting fight and sportsmanship, we agreed to it. I moved Boba and Kath into firing positions at Range 3 and took some shots. I believe I put some pain on one of the Alphas (1/3 hull remaining) and maybe 1 more hit on another. Boba took some hits, I think he was down to 4 hull.

Turn 3 saw Boba ram two ships (keeping them from firing at him) and was able to get a firing angle on a third Alpha for 2 damage. Kath put some pain on a fourth, but it survived. Howlrunner continued to close the distance so she could provide her support ability. I was running out of time to start taking down Alphas before their firepower started causing me severe problems!

Turn 4 was pretty brutal. With Boba locked into nothing but ramming options, surrounded by Alphas and a closing Howlrunner, I bumped an Alpha to give him a shot at Howlrunner. Two of K's Alphas got stuck on asteroids, while Kath banked toward the center. Boba landed a Direct Hit! on Howlrunner, stripping her Stealth Device. With 4 hull left, a range 1 Alpha nailed 4 hits. Boba threw double blanks and disappeared in a hail of gunfire and debris. Kath popped an Alpha, and managed to dodge the rest of the incoming fire.

Turn 5 had Kath continue towards the left edge of the board, being chased by Howlrunner and the three remaining Alphas. We were running short on time, so the remaining exchanges were getting more intense. With wounded Alphas closing behind, Kath managed to pop another, while sustaining 1 or two damage to her shields.

Turn 6 and the final turn saw Kath splash the last Alpha and finally Howlrunner. This was no more than a minute before the TO called time.

Super close game! With time closing in and running out of board space, I count myself lucky to have thrown some heavy damage K wasn't able to avoid. Great game, and a fine display by K.

1:0

Round 2

Opponent (D)

Red Squadron Pilot

Garven Dreis

Blue Squadron Pilot, Advanced Sensors

Gold Squadron Pilot, Ion Cannon

D set up his squadron in a tight offset formation, front two slightly offset from the rear two ships in the upper right corner. I set up Kath and Boba, side by side in the lower left corner.

Turn 1 saw both of us move our ships slowly forward 1, feeling out where we were headed. Nothing special here.

Turn 2, D continued forward 1, while Kath and Boba shot forward 4.

Turn 3 D began moving his squadron to the right, headed towards the center. I continued up and banked right with Kath, while taking Boba on a tight right turn, sights right toward D's ships. Still outta range.

Turn 4, I brought Kath around an asteroid, guns pointing center. Boba slow-boated to maintain maximum potential range. D moved his squadron forward towards the center. It gets a little fuzzy here, with shots exchanged. D's Red Squadron X-Wing was in a bad way, Boba lost the majority of his shields, and Garven lost a couple shields as well, I believe.

Turn 5, D mistakenly threw his Y-Wing forward 4, intending for it to be a 4 K-Turn. Boba took a K-Turn, putting the B-Wing, Garven and the Red Squadron X-Wing in his rear arc, I think. Kath banked right and set her guns up for shots at the two Xs and B-Wing. Boba took out the wounded Red Squadron X-Wing, while Kath took the B-Wing down to 2 hull. Boba lost the remaining shields, and I think at this point Kath may have had a missing hull or two.

Turn 6, Boba took a left bank, trying to put some distance between himself and Garvin/B-Wing. D's Y-Wing had to bank to the right, looping around an asteroid but still in Ion Cannon range of Fett. The B-Wing and Garven closed distance with Fett and Kath. I believe at this point, Kath took some major Range 1 damage from the B-Wing and Garven. Boba took one Ion Token from the Y-Wing, Garven took a Direct Hit!.

Turn 7 had the Y-Wing land another Ion Token on Boba. Kath was terribly low on hull, with a B-Wing and Garven on her six. Boba and Kath didn't throw out enough damage to kill anything this round, the Y-Wing landed on an asteroid for one damage, and Boba was destined to land on one himself next round. I realize that the Y-Wing couldn't have fired and landed on the asteroid this turn, but essentially this is the state of the board before the next turn, best I can recall. Maybe the second Ion token hit Fett earlier than this...meh.

Turn 8. Boba settles on an asteroid, damage free. The Y-Wing is coming around, taking another damage after leaving the asteroid. Kath took terminal damage from the B-Wing and Garven.

Final Turn. Boba dodges another asteroid damage, banking far to his left. The B-Wing, Y-Wing and Garven are closing in. With the asteroid blocking a clear shot at the B-Wing, I barrel roll Boba into a better firing position and whiff. The B-Wing lands a Range 3 killing blow on Boba and ends the round.

With some heavy back-and-forth, this round was as intense as the last. With Boba landing on that asteroid, I was sadly unable to throw much needed damage at that annoying B-Wing. D pulled a solid win and I had a great time flying against him!

1:1

Round 3

Opponent (Young D)

Luke, R2-D2, Draw Their Fire, Shield Upgrade

Wedge, Shield Upgrade

Biggs, Shield Upgrade

By far the youngest player at the tournament, his list was quite solid and intimidating. I knew Biggs would have to die first. I just hoped I could survive long enough to take him down and put some hurt on Wedge before I lost out to attrition.

I'll keep this brief. I didn't roll a single evade result the entire game. I think this round lasted 5, maybe 6 turns. D flew his ships extremely well, keeping them all within range for Biggs to provide cover. I took Biggs down to 2 hull, but not before they caught up with Kath first, then finally Boba. Boba took some heavy hits, including a crit that dropped his agility to 1. Wedge took the final shot at him with no resistance.

This match was an exercise in positioning, for sure. With D flying so well, I was hard pressed not to barrel roll out of 2/3 of his firing arcs. Being stressed and focus-less was painful. Kudos to my opponent here. A well deserved win!

1:2

I'll continue to modify this double Firespray build, as I feel I can still make it competitive. I think I'm going to drop Fett for Krassis, throw on some Gunners and see how it goes. Think I have a couple more weeks until the next store get-together. I had a long commute home, so left the tournament before the final 4 played out. Had a good time, played some great folks and look forward to the next.

This is D from round 2. I have to say that our match was my favorite of the day. And not just because I won, but because of the back and forth nature. The only thing I remember that I didn't see you put in was when Kath got a cockpit fire, and I kept blocking her with my B-wing preventing an action to put it out. And in case you were wondering, I ended up losing in my final game, and came in 3rd overall. I hope we can get a rematch in some time.

Those action denials you put on Kath turned brutal, man! Burning alive...worse than explosions! Congrats on your 3rd place finish! I plan on hitting up this Saturday's tournament in Bellevue and hope to get some playtesting in before then. A rematch would be great. Kath will bring her fire extinguisher...

Any info on the final list(s)?

The first place list was

Omicron Group Pilot w/ fcs, gunner

2 Bounty Hunters w/ recon specialist

I don't know about the 2nd or 4th place finishers but I came in 3rd with

Garvin

Red Squadron Pilot

Dagger Squadron Pilot w/ as

Gold Squadron Pilot w/ ict, R2 unit