17 folks showed up in Burbank today, including Dallas Parker (2013 World Finalist) - who won the event.
17 people (not bad with additional events at the same time in Santa Monica and Pasadena), three rounds played, top 2 advanced. The original timing of the event was 60 minute rounds, however it was increased to 75 minute rounds during round 1.
My list:
Chewbacca in YT-1300 (42)
C-3PO (3)
Gunner (5)
Total 50
Blue Squadron Pilot x 2
Advanced Sensors x2
25 each
Total 50
I figured C-3PO would potentially take folks by surprise. Chewie is already survivable in the Falcon, and getting additional free evades from C3PO would keep him on the board longer. In practice this worked, as most folks targeted the B-Wings first. When the Falcon got down to a 2-on-1 situation, it had a free Evade every turn, which made killing it difficult.
Game 1 vs. XXBB.
Pretty standard Wedge/X-wing ?/Blue Blue. I don't remember any upgrades in particular to Luke or Wedge. This match didn't go super well for me. I had a couple bad B-Wing moves (a K-Turn that landed on an asteroid by about one milimeter). The Falcon lasted a long time and had whittled Wedge down to one hit point, but it was only a matter of time, as Wedge eliminated the Falcon's dice and 3PO's ability.
Loss (50 points destroyed, 100 points lost))
Game 2 vs Named Ties / Focus Denial
This list had Carnor Jax, Howlrunner, Dark Curse, Backstabber (I think). Veteran Instincts onf Jax, and I think a Swam tactics in there. Carnor I believe was a royal guard tie with 2 additional hull upgrades as well.
We got into a tustle in the middle of the asteroids pretty quick, but the B-Wings managed to gum things up with Advanced Sensors, while also putting a hurt on the Tie Fighters. Carnor took a crit that caused him to get damaged if he was in collisions, which unfortunately then occured three more times to the opponent and basically ran him out. The Falcon was a beast, constantly scoring hits. Eventually Howl and Carnor were chasing the Falcon, but couldn't damage it enough thanks to C-3PO while it was scoring consistent damage with gunner/focus.
Win (100 points destroyed, 50 points lost)
Game 3 vs XXBA (Wedge + Swarm Tactics, Luke + marksmanship, Blue Squad, Prototype Pilot)
The XXBA set up in the opposite corner, and the asteroids allowed a decent bubble for the falcon. His XBAA flew straight towards my corner, while my three ships went from my right corner to the left corner. My Bs, split around the one asteroid in my area, with the Falcon heading into the middle. I got a couple hits on the A-wing and his B-wing before the first pass. His B-Wing died quickly, and I got a couple hits on Wedge, but ultimately his Luke (now shieldless), Wedge (with one damage) and A-Wing (with one damage) were all alive versus a full health Falcon. I figured I was done for, but as the Falcon slipped behind the asteroid heavy area I had set-up, he had a hard time following, and we went to the 73 minute mark with me taking out Wedge, the A-Wing, and finally Luke, with C-3PO dropping constant evades and the gunner finally coming into play (I think he had been used twice in the previous two games) with 4-5 re-rolls resulting in hits. Insane comeback.
At this point, the Top 4 were announced and I was stunned to be in it.
The #1 list by score at that point (I believe) was an Imperial Shuttle list that was fully equipped. I think it was Imp Shuttle + Firespray, but it might've had a couple TIEs of some sort.
Not sure what Dallas was running (imperial, multiple TIES and a Firespray I think). He ended up with the Rebels, and I heard oneshotted the TIE Phantom with 3 hits on 3 attack dice vs. 0 evades on 5 defense dice. Ouch. He ended up taking the whole thing. Didn't get to see there match, as third place and I played a final game as well (with no official tournament standing)
Third place was a newer player who had Darth Vader / TIE Advanced / Engine Upgrade + Krassis/HLC + Two Academy Ties. We decided to play a friendly with our lists while waiting for the Top 2 to finish their game so we could take our ships.
We set up on opposite corners and I planned to break straight for his end and then angle back through the asteroids. He sent Darth Vader out at me, which I should've realized was bait, and I took it, before Vader moved, boosted, and barrel rolled out of range. Set the stage for a head to head with my Bs and his Academys + Kariss. He didn't account for my B's being able to manuever and put fire on Vader though thanks to Advanced Sensors. While Vader sped away he got tagged for multiple damage dropping him to one. The Academy Pilots and Kariss went head to headwith the Bs after that. After the dust cleared, the Falcon was unscathed or maybe had lost a shield, Kariss had lost a couple shields, Vader was down to one hull, and the Bs and Ties were gone. This is once again where Chewie killing any crits, C3PO providing an evade, and the gunner giving two attacks (if one missed) proved critical. Vader was trying to stay at range three to not get destroyed, and was pinging the falcon slightly. I tried to kill Vader a couple times and missed on four rolls before focusing on Kariss. One time Kariss got a good roll on the HLC on the Falcon and did 3 damage, but a crit ended the re-roll ability on the cannon and the Falcon eventually destroyed Kariss with 5 health remaining.
This posed a problem for Vader. With only 2 attack dice and the Falcon assured an evade, he had to enter the territory sooner or later. Vader did manage to get two more health off the Falcon, once through an asteroid, before finally getting destroyed. The last 15 minutes of this game was vader carefully chasing the Falcon with target locks, and getting rolls to stay alive.
So that's a wrap from out here. The winner took the Phantom, 2nd place Defender, 3rd place E-Wing, and i got the z-95.
C-3PO on the Falcon is super solid. There were a few times where I guessed 0 and rolled an evade anyway, but the back-up Evade came into play a LOT. It was worth it's weight in gold. That said, I think C-3PO instantly makes the Falcon the biggest target on the board. Simply, you need to fire on it while you have multiple ships on the board still. If you let the Falcon go 1 v 1 or 1 v 2 with you, despite it's low agility, you're at a grave disadvantage because it will always have a shot on you, and always have an evade (and focus/target lock)
Fun day overall, and Emerald Games in Burbank is hosting regular Tuesday night X-Wing days, so that'll be fun as well for folks in the valley.