Whew, keeping notes on these events is hard. This is my first go at it, and my apologies if I've misremembered anything.
I decided to fly the Tie Swarm (Howlrunner with PTL + Stealth Device, Backstabber and 5 x Academy Ties). I made this choice for a couple reasons. First, I've never flown a swarm before and I think with the new releases, the swarm may be less viable in future, so now was my opportunity. Secondly, the current meta in Winnipeg has settled on a small number of elite ships. I thought the swarm might fly well against that meta. Having said that, I was ignoring my own tournament advice – choose small fleets to minimize your decisions over a long day. As you can see below – that was an issue at the end.
First Round vs Dan from Halifax
· Luke with Squad Leader, R2D2 and Hull Upgrade
· Biggs with Shield Upgrade, R5P9
· Kyle Katarn, Recon Specialist, Blaster Turret, Moldy Crow Title
Dan was a really nice guy – he wasn't travelling to play in Regionals – but to visit family and it was serendipitous that our Regionals was during his visit. He came prepared. I had initiative, and the asteroids ended up strewn across the right side of the map. So I set up on the left. He set up on the right. He slow played forward, and I didn't really want to circle around the map to catch up, so I k-turned after the second move to change the angle of the approach and perhaps meet at my board edge. It worked, and I managed to isolate Biggs early with the entire swarm. With Biggs gone, Luke followed shortly after and then it was a hunt to remove the Moldy Crow. Dan was a lot of fun to play against – it’s obvious he loves the game – and enjoys seeing a good move – even when his opponent makes it. I’d love another match, but Halifax is a bit far from Winnipeg. Record 1-0 with no losses
Second round vs Mark
· DoomShuttle (Omicron Group Pilot with Vader)
· Soontir with PTL
· Krasis Trelix with Heavy Laser Cannon and Rebel Captive
I know Mark from the local scene, but have never had the chance to play. I know he had run the tables with this build at the one of the Imdaar Alpha events, and I figured he be bringing it to Regionals. I almost changed my build to Determination vice PTL when I was thinking about this build. I’ve also never flown against the DoomShuttle, so this was going to be interesting. The asteroids were scattered fairly homogeneously over the map – which favoured Mark and hindered my swarm. I set up my swarm in the clearest lane on the left, and he set up centrally. I overplayed Backstabber, and he ended up in Soontir’s sights and dead. Over in the main battle, the merger favoured Mark – he killed on Academy and Vadered another (to kill it), which didn't worry me, but I managed to kill the Shuttle the next turn. I thought I might be OK. But then I turned to chase Krasis. And promptly flew multiple ships through multiple asteroids. I think I lost three ships that way. Mistakes were made. I’d like a rematch, but much as I blame my poor flying, Mark made all the right decisions. Record 1-1
Third round vs Chris from Winnipeg
· 2 x Outer Rim Smuggler
· 2 x Gold Squadron + Ion Turret
Chris and I have met at a number of events. And I must apologize to him – every time we play, I manage to mess up a move (knock over a ship, place it in the wrong place, etc) and he has always allowed me to correct it. A great guy. But, I need to be more careful (Chris, next time we play, don’t let me fix those things…). We rolled for initiative, and he lost. Which meant I move and shoot first. This really hurt his planned strategy, as we were both running action-denial lists, and now the momentum was on my side. We both didn't want asteroids in our way, so they were clustered in the lower right. I started left, he started right, and we flew right at each other. He had some self-denial bumps and his first smuggler went down quick. He did manage to ion Backstabber to cause him to land on an asteroid, so there were moments of glory for Chris, but the end came fairly quickly. Lesson: don’t joust with a swarm. Record 2-1
Fourth round vs Chris from Shiloh
· Jonus with Veteran Instincts, Homing Missiles and Seismic Charge
· 2 x Scimitar with Assault Missiles + Seismic Charge
· 1 x Scimitar with Concussion Missile + Seismic Charge
Ugh. If there was a direct counter to my list, this was it. And at 2-1 I couldn't afford a full loss. I need some points to at least guarantee my spot in the finals…. Chris did a good job of sprinkling the asteroids about to break up my approach. I changed my deployment to be 2 Academies then one range away Howlrunner then one range away the next 2 Academies. With Backstabber and the last Academy as flankers on the far right. The hope here was the Howlrunner would be hard to hit (with her Stealth Device + PTL) and thus minimize splash damage. It kinda worked. At the merge, I lost an Academy or two, but killed Jonus. This looked good. But, I had to scatter to avoid the bombs post-merge and could not refocus my swarm. Even though I managed to kill another bomber, my swarm was slowly taken apart. Loss. Record 2-2. But, I make the finals on points killed!
Semi Finals vs Scott
· Lando with Nein Numb and Determination
· Biggs with R2F2 and Stealth Device
· Rookie with R2
Scott and I have played a number of times. He’s a good player (and is the reason for the F in our LGS… hmm that was meant as a compliment…). He’s first place right now, but we’re both getting tired (and this is only our fifth game…). The asteroids are set up central right. I set up left. Scott decides to joust with me and sets up right across from me. And, as usual, his dice abandon him (I think this has been a common occurrence in our meetings – his dice roll blanks – and I can’t miss). Biggs gets too close to the swarm and does not survive the initial merge. Though he does damage some ships, none are destroyed. A k-turn follows to repeat. However, my fatigue shows and I fly the damaged Tie off the map and another bumps my own ship (so doesn't k-turn). But the dice reward me and the rookie dies. Though Scott does kill some ships and is ahead on points, the Freighter is badly damaged and doesn't last long. I make the finals.
Over on the other Semi-final table are the two squadrons I lost to. A bomber swarm against a doom shuttle. I'm really hoping for a shuttle win. Time is called.
Mark has 46 points left on the table (the Firespray with one hit left). Chris has 45 points left on the table (two bombers, one with one hit and the other with two hits). Chris congratulates Mark…. but isn't victory based on points killed? While the TO figures it out, they decide to duke it out. Mark kills the last two bombers, but not before he knows he’s lost. It’s based on points killed. Since Chris only started with 98 points, that means Mark has killed 53 points to Chris’s 54 points. How close is that! That was really the final match, cause now I'm facing Chris’s bombers. Again.
Finals vs Chris from Shiloh’s Bombers
The asteroids were set up with a wide-open middle. I take it (spread out as before). He sets up left. I mix up my Backstabber and Academy dials so they don’t make the merge. However, I survive the merge with the loss of only one Academy and a lot of ordnance fired. Then, my fatigue show through. I miss-turn one ship. And I think I have room to k-turn behind (I debated flying 5 straight to clear the bombs). I didn't have room. Three ships gone. Then two more. Then game. Chris certainly out-foxed me into the corner, and I spent a lot of time thinking how I could have done better with my build. But he was flying the rock to my scissors. But I'm not complaining, he earned the trophy (other’s should have stopped him from making the finals
Final Thoughts
Well, I'm glad I had a chance to fly the swarm before they go extinct. I have a lot more respect for player’s who fly this at tournaments. And it was fun to fly it once or twice. But not six times in a row. Too many decisions, too many opportunities for errors, too fatiguing. Oh, and don’t try to joust with them. They will decimate you. And that’s not finesse strategy, that’s just a hammer. However, I still feel the critical turn is the post-merge turn. How you handle your squadron the turn after the initial merge is (I think) more critical than that first exchange of fire.
Aside: what is this merge thing he’s talking about? In modern fighter combat, that point in the battle when the opposing forces come together is called the merge. It’s critical to control your angles at the merge – in part for that initial combat – but more critically for the post-merge positioning. The phrase works here too, so I use it. And no, I'm not a fighter pilot. So, though I was in the Air Force, I flew a desk, and just learned the term.
Thanks to Jim for running another tournament. Thanks to everyone who came out – it was a lot of fun. And congrats to Chris on his well-deserved win.