vs

Wes with VI

Wedge with R3A2

Ibitsam with Opportunist and HLC

I deployed my 2 shuttles and the saber at my bottom right, while Fel flanked to the left, rebels set up in the middle. we engaged on the 3rd turn, my naked shuttle took a pounding and survived with 1 hull point, while I stripped 3 shields from the b wing and 1 from wedge. Next turn my naked shuttle died but I got to kill wedge after forcing a bump using my saber. I then blocked his wes from k turning with the vader shuttle and promptly took him out over a few turns. leaving Ibitsam, who fell pretty quickly.

Doom shuttle had 1 shield remaining, fel had taken 1 damage and the saber had taken 2 damage.

That rebel list is pretty nasty, and I should have gone for wedge with Fel rather then Ibitsam (was range 2 on wedge or range 1 on Ibitsam and I thought I was out of arc when I target locked). Wingman was nice, not the most useful upgrade but I'm not used to using it.

100-21

Next game was my turn to use rebels, so I came up with a slightly random list.

Wedge with swarm tactics and R3A2

Blue sq b wing with HLC and Adv sensors

gold sq y wing with ion turret

bandit sq headhunter

vs

2 delta sq defenders with HLC

Jonus with seismic charge and decoy

I set up in a pinwheel formation to the left while my opponent set up in the middle. We moved quicker and engaged on the second turn, with him damaging my b wing while I failed to return the favour to his defenders (**** 3 agility). He then forced a pile up on the second turn where I'd done 4 damage to jonus and stripped the shields from a defender.

Jonus dropped his seismic charge on the 3rd turn, hitting 3 of my ships (and destroying the b wing) and 1 of his defenders, as I'd totally forgot about the seismic charge when planning my moves

I managed to Ion one of his defenders, then k turn wedge who rolled a natural 3 hits 1 crit to finish it off, but then I lost wedge and the bandit, so I was left with a 2 shield y wing vs a 2 hull jonus and a shieldless stressed ioned defender, 5 quick turns later I had killed the defender and then Jonus using my ion turret, for the loss of 2 shields.

I still dont enjoy flying rebels, but they can take a few more hits them imperials can. fighting vs ps 1 ships and having an ion turret helped me immensley, and despite having wedge, the game was saved thanks to a gold sq y wing with ion turret

100-77

so, looking forward to see who I will fight next. Planning to use either the same imperial list or a 3 tie 3 interceptor swarm, but totally undecided on my rebel list.

I played my second set of games last week.; so here's a quick report of them.

My imperial list.

Howl, hull, determinaton

2 academys

3 alphas

vs

Etahn, ptl, R2D2

Ten numb

Tarn, r7

and a few other upgrades that I forgot

I set up to the left, he set up to my right. I formed a 2 by 2 by 2 formation moving up the board, with 2 academys followed by 2 alphas followed by howl and the 3rd alpha, we ended up meeting in the centre nearer my side, unfortunately for my opponent he had just gone over an asteroid with Etahn.

I lost 2 hull from one of my interceptors and then vaped Etahn.over the next 2-3 turns I finished him off for a few more hull points of damage spread amongst my other ships. His dice rolling was really unlucky.

100-0

for the second game I took,

Wedge, swarm tactics

Cracken with VI

Blue sq b wing

gold sq y wing with ion turret

vs

Howl, determinaton, stealth

Mauler

2 academys

Echo with VI, fcs, ACD

I foolishly decided to Joust, and my dice really didnt support my decision, Echo ended up whittling down my ships while I bumped loads, I managed to put howl and mauler down to 1 hull point each but a blinded pilot crit on the y wing that had a focus and a target lock on mauler managed to save him, with only my b wing left I conceded.

0-100

Well that last game was rather foolish of me, but I do like learning from my mistakes, and I wont make that one again. I'm happy with my mixed swarm, but need more practice with them, as the most ships I've flown before was 5 (howl w swarm, mauler w swarm, 2 alpha and a RG with ptl). It's also strange to only be shooting at ps 1, and to not have Fel screaming around the board like a loony.

My rebel lists are so far out of my comfort zone, which is why I'm quite enjoying this league so far. I've seen a few nice lists I'd like to try, but I dont like copying other people's lists if I can help it, so I'm trying to find something of my own that I'll enjoy.

I should play my next league games on thursday, planning on the imperial swarm again (but with stealth on howl instead of hull) but am still yet to pick a rebel side...

so played my 3rd set of league games last week.

I used a similar swarm (only with stealth instead of hull upgrade on howl).

Howl, stealth, determination

2 academys

3 alphas

vs

Etahn, fcs, ptl, r2 and hull upgrade

Ten Numb with VI and adv sensors

2 bandits.

I had to break formation with 2 of the interceptors due to an asteroid, so I boosted them ahead to cause a distraction, ten numb managed to score 4 crits against one, 1 evade later and it was gone, I focused down the bandits first, as most of my ships had arcs on them. I lost a tie next turn, but then managed to take out Ten pretty quickly, then it took me a few turns to pin down Etahn but with 2 interceptors, a tie and howl it was only a matter of time

100-30

I thought I'd try out a falcon, so went for.

Chewie, opportunist, gunner, nein nunb and hull upgrade

1 rookie

2 bandits,

vs

Howl, swarm

saber, swarm

avenger

obsidian

2 academy's

This is my opponent's go to swarm list, and it just destroyed me. I made a major mistake with bringing in my x and z's in too late, as I'm used to imperials and the slowness of the rebels really surprises me. It would have been a total loss but my opponent went over an asteroid with his saber who only had 1 hit point left, losing him his most expensive ship.

23-100

I really need to start tailoring my list to what I will fight. Knowing that its Rebel vs Imperial or vice versa I still haven't been designing lists with that in mind, as I normally hate tailoring lists, but I'll have to start if I want to do better in the league

I'm currently 6th in the league, and a game behind. So not too shabby.

So I had my 4th set of league games on Thursday. Rebel aces was allowed with your opponent's consent (due to it only just being out in the UK in limited quantities).

First game was me flying Rebels vs Imperials.

I used.

2 prototype A wings with Chardaan refits.

Wes

Farlander with HLC and Opportunist.

My opponent flew.

Fel with ptl and stealth

Carnor Jax with Opportunist and stealth

Back stabber

Howlrunner

For some reason my opponent thought I'd be flying an A wing swarm, and as soon as we got our squads out he realized that his force was rather squishy. We set up in opposite corners and I sent my a wings round the long way while wes and farlander moved along my board edge to cut him off. Farlander 1 shot backstabber, rolling a natural 3 hits and 2 crits with the HLC (so 5 hits) at range 3 after wes had forced him to use his evade.

Carnor jax then tried a k turn but bumped farlander, and wes target locked him and 1 shot him at range 1. Farlander stripped Fel's stealth device causing 1 hit and my 2 a wings finished him off (my dice were rather hot this game, 2 A wings, one at range 2 one at range 1 firing with no focus caused 2 damage to kill Fel). Then it was a simple case of pinning down howl runner which took a few more turns. I'd lost 2 shields off wes and 3-4 shields off Farlander and wiped him out totally.

100-0

On to the second game.

My imperial list (the same swarm I've been running)

Howlrunner, determination, stealth device

academy

academy

alpha

alpha

alpha

Opponent's list

Han solo, C3PO, swarm tactics, falcon title and hull upgrade

Chewie, hull upgrade

So double falcon, but no gunner, interesting. I'd started using my swarm as my usual list's didnt do well vs falcons, but this was the first time I had flown vs them.

we set up in opposite corners again, but I ended up messing up my formation by barrel rolling backwards right with the front guys... ooops, luckily we were out of range. My 2 top ships (a tie and interceptor) moved round to flank due to a central asteroid while howl, a tie and 2 interceptors moved nearer my board edge to cut him off. My opponent was unlucky, landing on asteroids a few times and moving over them too, but once again my dice were on fire. Han shoots at an interceptor, rolls 1 hit 2 crits, I roll 3 eyes with a focus token. next turn it happens again to the same interceptor. I manage to destroy Han for a direct hit on one of my interceptors, then k turn howl, the 2 interceptors and the tie to create a killing ground for chewie. He shoots at the interceptor with only 1 hull point remaining and rolls 2 hits 1 crit, only for me to roll a natural 3 evades. My return fire wipes him out.

100-0

I really really like my 6 ship swarm so far. Over 10 games I've only lost twice with it. While howl is the natural target, the 3 interceptors pump out a respectable amount of fire, and I generally manage to engage the enemy with Howl at range 3 and 2 of the interceptors at range 2, leaving my opponent with a tough choice.

I'm still completely undicided on rebel lists, I do quite like 15 point prototype A wings over 12 point head hunters, probably due to A wings having a very tie like dial

So now I'm 4th in the league, and I still have a game in hand (which I need to play at some point).

Dude, I had a similar experience with a Y-wing (goldy) late game. I ran a gold sqd w/ion and an r2 unit. All greens on those 1-2 maneuvers was epic. He killed howl+hull and a black squadron by himself! Just awesome. Totally dig your swarm, I need another starter box to make it work though lol an an interceptor expansion as well. I just have the imperial aces so they won't look right, but they still fly the same lol

Just got my rebel aces as well and that HLC + opportunist build looks great. Tell me what you think of a rebel aces list I came up with:

farlander - opportunist, adv sensors

nera - FCS, 2x flechettes, failsafe, marksmanship (not sure on an elite talent for her - i'm open to suggestions)

farrell - test pilot, refit, outmaneuver, ptl

I figure farrell flanks while nera and farlander slug it out mid table.

I feel that 3 ship rebel lists need to really pack the fire power, as a few turns in you'll be down a ship (b wings fold to sustained shooting). Its why I try and go for 4 ships in my rebel lists

Then again i've had mixed results with 2 shuttles and Fel, so I can't really talk about having 2 ships to slug it out that have 1 agility

I love love love my swarm. I ran a 5 ship swarm to decent effect which was. Howlrunner, swarm, mauler, swarm, 2 alpha and a royal guard with PTL, yet swarm tactics seems a mixed bag, having to fly in formation otherwise it feels a waste of points, and if you are fighting a all ps9 list its a total waste. Hence why I went all ps1 (apart from howl).

running 7 ties just isn't my style (though I own 7 ties one of them broke, but I didn't want to run 7 ships even though thats the sacred number of nurgle... yeah I'm weird like that).

Haha that's funny man. I'd love to run an interceptor/tie swarm like you have there. I like the idea of the int's attack paired with the tie's just running interference lol

My newest list I came up with is actually wedge w/marksmanship, rookie, roark - moldy crow, recon, ion and a prototype w/refit. Interested to see how it flies. I flew a list with roark - kitted as before, 2xblue's w/adv sensors and a prototype w/refit which was awesome! roark passing ps12 helps that list a TON!

So I had my fifth league games today!

First game was my imperial vs rebels.

I used my swarm again

Howlrunner, determination, stealth device

academy

academy

alpha

alpha

alpha

vs

Lando, PTL, falcon title, nein nunb and gunner

Garven

rebel operative w blaster turret.

so, We engaged and I took some damage on an interceptor while killing garven. Next round I managed to wipe out the rebel operative for the loss of an interceptor, and over the next three or four rounds I lost another interceptor and tie for the total destruction of Lando. Pretty quick game.

100-48

Next game I had to fly rebels.....

3 prototype a wings with chardaan refits

Bandit with ion pulse missle

Wedge with ptl, engine upgrade, r2 unit and fletchette torps

vs

2 delta sq defenders

col Jendon, St 321 title, ion cannon, weapons engineer and engine upgrade

This game was way more interesting and fun. I managed to take out his shuttle for the loss of wedge, then stripped some shields from the defenders while my opponent killed my bandit. We then spent about half an hour chasing each other. I managed to take out one of his defender's and the other was shieldless while 2 of my a wings had lost a shield and the other had 1 hit point left. As we ran out of time he had a range 3 shot on my 1 hit point a wing, who survived, but I was unable to down his defender.

70-55

My opponent's dice rolling in the first game was pretty sub par, but he made up for it with his defender's agility rolls in the last game, while 2 red vs 3 green is never going to be amazingly reliable, he was dodging shot after shot, but so was I

I still really like A wings, as the most tie like ship the rebels have, but I don't know If I'll run 3 of them again

So that swarm seems pretty awesome man! I will say you face a lot of big ship lists, and all those red dice can't be easy to take out with one turret. I am intrigued with the a-wing with refit. I got 2 in my rebel aces packs so I'm ready to give a couple of them a try. I am also ready to give Jake Farrell a try too, he seems like he could be a beast with outmaneuver.

Cool stuff man!

You get 3 chardaan refits in 1 rebel aces pack

Yes I'm loving my swarm, seems to do pretty well vs rebels, and as the league is rebels vs imperials then imperials vs rebels that helps.

One of the other guys in the league has copied my list! but he's not doing quite as well with it as I am, which fills me full of joy

I'm currently second in the league, but I am yet to play the 3-4 people who are as good as me or better, so we'll see how that turns out. I'm hoping to finish top 6 at least, but as we will have 17 games total, im not even a third into games played yet.

That's awesome man! I have been thinking about starting up a league down here in Fort Worth, Texas where I live, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Played in a 40k tournament yesterday, spent the better half of 11 hours at the game store and played 3 games, going 0-3. The whole time I was thinking, I could have played 10!!!! xwing games by now...so probably no 40k for awhile for me lol

I love your batreps man! Keep em coming! Good luck vs those "other guys" lol

I had great success with: http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/135001/bbaaa

I love the firepower of the B-Wings, and the 3 A-Wings have speed and can cover a lot of distance quickly.

I played my first and only game with this list so far against a Whisper + Howl Mini Swarm. My opponent did not have enough experience flying his list and made a lot of mistakes that I was able to use against him.

Tempting list, but I'm mainly worried about fighting echo/whisper. Especially with rebels.

But I might give it a try cos why not

Yeah, I was a bit worried about Whisper/Echo as well. Against someone that actually knows how to fly them this list might have challenges. However, with the two b-wings and 3 a-wings, if you can cover a decent amount of space with arcs, that should make maneuvering for them more difficult.

Yesterday I had game six of the league (actually a catch up game from a previous week, but whatever).

I flew my swarm again (shocking I know).

Howl, determination, stealth

2 academy

3 alpha

vs

Chewie, c3po, falcon title and predator

Gemmer, chardaan refit, stealth device, test pilot title and predator

Jan ors (with nothing!)

I actually took some pictures this game, so I'll do a slightly more detailed battle report.

This is at the start of the third turn I believe. Having advanced there I was contemplating getting past the asteroid near my opponent's board edge and swinging around, or cutting into the centre. I decided to cut into the centre as the 360 arc from chewie would have made chasing him annoying.

We engage, a few range 3 shots and I manage to get rid of the falcon's shields, while I manage to avoid damage on the 1 interceptor he shoots at,

I decide to risk the asteroid with the 2 interceptors in the middle to advance. The front one gets a crit, but its the ignore your pilot special abilties one, so gets flipped down as he's just a grunt. Howl gets taken out by Chewie and Gemma, while my return fire puts chewie down to 1 hit point remaining.

I scatter and break formation to try and ensure I will take out chewie, while protecting my more wounded interceptor (no 3 near Jan Ors). I take some damage on interceptor 4 but then destroy chewie.

I manage to take out Jan Ors over a few turns, but I just cant pin down Gemmer. Gemmer ends up taking out an interceptor and then we run out of time (much dancing later)

So the game ends. I win 74-58

Next I thought I'd try out the same rebel list I used last time.
Wedge, ptl, engine upgrade, r2 and fletchette torps

Bandit, ion pulse

3 a wings with chardaan refit.

My opponent used.

Whisper, outmanouver, inteligence agent, fcs, acd

Echo, outmanouver, recon spec, fcs, acd

Dark curse.

This game went terrible for me, I ended up losing wedge for doing 1 shields worth of damage on whisper at range 1, and then got slowly picked apart. I didnt fly very well at all, and my opponent flew his phantoms quite well most of the time. I conceded when I had a prototype a wing and the bandit left vs everything, as there was 15 min left on the clock and I was kinda hungry

total loss 0-100

So even with that loss I'm still second currently, though there are a few people creeping closer. My next opponent in the league has lost all his games so far, and had only recently started playing x wing before the league started, so I'm pretty confident of beating him.

So today I had my 7th set of league games, vs one of the "skilled players" in the league.

I've played this guy around 5 times before, and won once. So I was a bit nervous about playing him in the league. I was off work all day so went down to the FLGS early for some friendly games vs someone who isn't in the league, and lost twice with different lists

First game was my imperials vs his rebels.
My usual swarm.

Howl, determination, stealth

3 alpha interceptors

2 academy ties

Rebel list

6 bandit z's

Roark with ion turret and Leia

I set up in my usual box formation on my left (2 academies at the front, followed by 2 alphas, then howl and an alpha at the back). My opponent set up 5 z's ahead of me , 2 in front 3 behind, with the 6th z and roark in the middle of the board.

What followed can only be described as the best dice rolling I've ever done in a game of x wing, followed by very sub par rolling by my opponent. First engagement, with everything on his side shooting before mine (apart from howl) he managed to do 1 damage to one of my alphas. In return I nuked one bandit and put another to 1 hit point remaining. next turn I killed roark (1 tie took out his shield and did 1 damage, then an alpha at range 2 did 5 damage, 1 hit and 2 direct hits). My opponent managed to take out an alpha but the dice could not fail me.

At one point I barrel rolled an untouched howl into range 1 of a bandit so she could benefit a 4 of my ships as well as getting a range 1 shot on different bandit. that round I rolled 13 hits/crits on 13 dice...

we ended up running out of time, I'd killed everything but an untouched bandit, while I'd only lost an alpha (plus a few hits scattered over the rest of my ships). I'd rolled 3 natural hits and 3 natural evades so many times during that game.

88-18

Next I tried.

Tycho, ptl, outmanouver, test pilot title and proton rockets

Jake farrel, Ptl, outmanouver, test pilot title and proton rockets

Nera Dantels, deadeye, 2 fletchette torps

vs

7 academy ties

dark curse

This game was just fun, my dice were still pretty hot but with 2 attack vs 3 agility it would take focused fire to kill some ties. Over 2 turns I nuked 2 academy ties with proton rockets, while Nera died pretty quickly to ficused fire. I lost Tycho but managed to keep jake flying pretty well (including an amazing 4 straight to land between a tie and an asteroid, only to barrel roll out of the way and boost into range 1 of a different tie). the game ended with Jake on 1 hit point and several damaged ties.

I lost, 24-67

I really like the 2 named A wings, but might swap outmanouver (which I used twice during the game) for VI and swap Nera for someone else

Lat night I played game 8 of my league games.

This time I played vs someone I knew quite well, who wasn't doing too well in the league, so I thought I'd mix things up a bit.

Game 1. My imperials vs his rebels.

I took,

Academy pilot

Vessery with VI and HLC

Rexlar with HLC

99

He took.

Etahn with VI

Farlander with Opportunist

Ten Numb with marksmanship

100

I gave him initiative.

I set up my academy tie to my far left, He deployed all 3 ships opposite it, so I deployed my 2 defender's on my right. My tie flew slowly while my defenders rushed up the board (asteroids were pretty central). I ended up parking vessery on an asteroid but managed to do some damage with Rexlar to Ten numb at range 3. Next turn vessery moved through a second asteroid and took another damage while rexlar moved slowly, and my tie swung around while the rebels tried to turn into the defnders. Over the next few turns I should have focused fire, but got greedy. I took some ffire on all my ships but managed to destroy him without losing anyone (rexlar had 2 hp left, while the academy and vessery had 1 hp left each).

100-0

Having used Jake Farrel last week, I really enjoyed him, so designed a list around making him even more fun to use.

my list

Jake, VI, ptl, test pilot and proton rockets

Kyle katarn, blaster turret, recon spec, moldy crow

Nera dantles, deadeye, flechette torps, adv proton torps, adv sensors

100

Opponent's list.

Vessery with HLC

bounty hunter

2 academy pilots.

100

He won Initiative. Asteroids were pretty central again, He set up his academies top right, and his bounty hunter top left, so I deployed all 3 ships to my right opposite his academies. he then deployed his defender in the middle. His academies ran full speed towards me, while I moved slowly, we engaged on the second turn, Jake bumped one of his ties, but received a focus from kyle which let him barrel roll then target lock his second tie, and destroy it with a proton rocket (overkill vs a 12 point ship, but such fun). Nera then stressed out his defender with a fletchette torp. Nera took fire from the defender and the tie, losing 4 shields. While his bounty hunter was moving along his backfield due to not wanting to go through the asteroids.

Next turn I ran Nera forwards with the hope of adv proton torping his defender, with kyle following. I ended up bumping with jake, but scored a hit on his defender with kyle, then got 5 hits with the adv proton torp and he rolled 1 evade... bye bye Vessery. Next turn I managed to arc dodge his BH and strip the shields, then pounded on it some more while it took out Nera. Jake came in for the 1 hit point remaining bounty hunter, target locked, then got given a focus from kyle letting him boost, which I had over judged and put me out of arc, so I ptl for a focus, barrel rolled into arc and wasted him with 3 crits. Next turn he did the same to the academy.

100-38

Kyle and Jake are so fun to use together, and Nera did her job well

So we had a catch up week, where my opponent wasn't available, then the next week the same thing happened, though this time the opponent is on equal points with me. He is 3rd and I'm 4th, thanks to margin of victory.

So I managed to get a game vs someone I should be playing in about 3 weeks, as we were both free and hadn't played in awhile.

First game was my Tie swarm vs his Rebels.

Howlrunner, determination, stealth

2 academy ties

3 alpha interceptors

vs

Farlander, ptl

Etahn

3 bandits

I set up in the lower corner, while he set up 3 bandits across from me and farlander and etahn in the center to swing around and flank me. We engaged on the second turn, and while I took a few hits and crits I was able to drop a bandit for no loss. Next turn I did a hard 1 to the right and forced Farlander and Etahn to collide with them, taking out Farlander and stressing Etahn and a bandit who had collided while attempting to k turn. Over the next few turns I managed to kill etahn and a second bandit for the loss of an interceptor. so he called the game so we would have enough time for our second.

100-18

My rebel list.

Farlander, adv sensors, opportunist

Wes, VI, stressbot

2 a wings with chardaan refit

Imperial list

doom shuttle

sigma phantom with SPA and intel agent

4 academy ties

we deployed in opposite corners, and he slowly moves down his side while Farlander and wes flank and my a wings slow fly along my board edge towards him. I then foolishly k turned them, expecting my opponent to be prepared for them swinging in, however he had tried to avoid my swing in, and lined himself up perfectly to shoot them, killing one of the a wings. I did some damage to the shuttle. Over the next few turns I killed the shuttle while farlander and wes took some damage. I then managed to take out the sigma and a tie for the loss of wes, only for me to mess up and leave farlander in range of 2 ties while the 3rd smokes my a wing.

64-100 loss.

So I'm still unbeaten with my Imperials, but my rebels are still lacking a certain something. I didn't play that great in the second game, but my opponent didnt play to great in the first one either, so that makes things kinda fair.

The battle for 3rd place should take place soon, and my opponent is good, so I'm slightly worried about it.

I also have a tournament in a week, to which I shall be bringing my swarm. As I expect wave 5 to be out after that, and am wary of how my swarm will cope with ion torpedoes...

So this week I had a catch up game and my current week's game.

My catch up game was vs someone who is pretty good, and I learnt a lot from these two games.

First was my rebels vs him Imperials.

I decided to try out a chubby chewie build.

Chewie, C3PO, falcon title, gunner and predator

3 prototype a wings with chardaan refit.

99 points

vs

Doom shuttle

Whisper, VI, ACD
Fel, ptl, TC and hull upgrade.

97! points (he really wanted the choice of Initiative )

This was only the 3rd or 4th time I had flown the falcon, so I was a bit timid with it, while rushing forwards with the A wings. I lost a few of them for the death of the doom shuttle and a few hits on chewie. Much chasing around later and I took out whisper for the loss of the A wing, only to lose chewie with fel only having lost his shield.

63-100

Second game was my revamped swarm vs an interesting rebel swarm type list.

Howlrunner, determination, hull upgrade

2 academy ties

3 alpha interceptors.

100

vs

prototype a wing, chardaan refit

blue b wing

Roark with ion turret

Cracken with swarm tactics

talon headhunter with homing missile

100 points.

we set up in opposite corners and ended up meeting near the center on turn 3, but we went a full round of shooting and lost nothing. I had bumped an interceptor who then got Ioned, so I moved him first to bump a tie and not land on an asteroid, only to get ioned again. one asteroid ended up killing 2 of my interceptors (the ioned one and one that survived the first engagement with 1 hp remaining only to crash into it on his next move). Then my 3rd alpha got 1 shotted and I was feeling rather down. However my remaining ties managed to take out Roark and Cracken, then I lost a tie.

In the last turn of the game I had a tie with focus in range 1 howlrunner and a b wing with no focus token or shields, and I only managed 2 normal hits through. Had I killed it I would have won by 1 point but alas it was not to be

45-66

My current league games went slightly better however.

My first game was my revamped swarm vs semi fat han.

Han, ptl, jan ors, recon spec, engine upgrade

2 x green sq a wings with VI, ptl, test pilot title and chardaan refit.

We set up in opposite corners again, with his han close to his corner to turn in behind the a wings. There were quite a few asteroids around the edges so rushed my swarm into the center of the board to put early pressure onto Han. I succeeded in engaging on the 3rd turn, but parked a tie on an asteroid along the way. I lost an alpha before I got to shoot but I did a decent amount of damage to Han. Next turn I split up the swarm, blocking Han while also blocking his A wings and having howl in the middle of my swarm (on an asteroid but undamaged). Killing an A wing and reducing the other to 1 hit point, while taking a hit or 2 spread out among my swarm.

Next round I moved the swarm round to cover Han's escape, as he was approaching my board edge. My opponent assumed I would swing howl round to support my remaining ships, so he boosted the a wing but didn't ptl to focus or evade. Howl ran fowards and managed to roll 1 hit at range 3, which took out the a wing (always a bonus when howl kills something), while I lost an alpha and reduced Han to 3 hit points remaining. Next turn my opponent loudly declared that his flying was stupid because I could block him off the table, although at that point I hadn't entertained the thought, I wanted to blow him up!

However I ended up blocking him off the table although it was pretty close, so we played out the rest of the turn anyway. I lost a 3rd ship but would have killed Han anyway

100-36

Second game I tried my chubby chewie again.

(see above)

vs

Kath scarlett, ptl, recon spec, proton bomb

Trellix, HLC, recon spec, proton bomb

I chose Initiative on a whim (which actually proved to be rather useful!).

I Deployed Chewie in my bottom left corner, while the a wings were next to him, Kath was in the center while Trellix was in the opposite corner. After a few turns of movement I ended up bumping one of my a wings in front of Kath which got picked on first and lost a few shields, for a few shields down on Kath. Having flown firespray's a lot (flying 2 and an interceptor in around 5 tournaments or so) I know the dial pretty well, and was able to force a lot of blocks with the a wings and with Chewie, being able to tank any hits on chewie with C3PO (I guessed one a few times and actually got it right, negating the 2 hits my opponent caused on chewie at least twice). I also never let any of my ships end up behind the firesprays, negating 10 points of upgrades. I lost 2 a wings and had the 3rd on 1 hit point remaing, and had lost 1 hull from chewie but totally destroyed both firesprays.

100-30

On Sunday I shall be taking my swarm to a tournament, along with a few people from the league (including some rather decent players). With a decimator and YT2400 being some of the prizes, I can imagine some A game faces showing up. I don't expect to win, but I do expect to have fun

Today I played my next league game, vs someone I had never played before.

Fresh from my tournament win on sunday, I flew my swarm again.

Howlrunner, determination, hull upgrade

2 academy ties

3 alpha interceptors

100

vs

Dash, push the limit, heavy laser cannon, outrider title, engine upgrade, kyle katarn

Green sq A wing, push the limit, wingman, test pilot and chardaan refit

Green sq A wing, push the limit, chardaan refit

100

We set up in opposite corners as usual, and I flew my swarm up my left flank to turn into the center after I could guess where dash was going. Dash ended up leaving his a wing escort behind and tried to rush behind me, but I managed to correctly predict where he was going and swung my ships round, taking him out over 2 rounds of fire. after that it was a simple matter to destroy the 2 A wings. I'd suffered a total of 5 damage spread among 3 ships.

100-0

For our second game I decided to run a rebel swarm over chubby chewie.

2 prototype A wings with Chardaan refit

2 bandit headhunters

2 blue B wings

98

vs

Whisper with veteran instincts, advanced cloaking device and sensor jammer

Rear admiral Chiraneau, with predator, mara jade, rebel captive and engine upgrade

100

once again I deployed bottom left while my opponent deployed top right, and I moved along my board edge until I could see where the decimator was going. He moved along his board edge so I cut in to the centre. after doing 2-3 damage at range 3 with 3 of my ships, I managed to block him for a few consecutive turns and take him out (having your opponent not roll any evade dice is kinda unsettling). I had lost an A wing, but had 5 ships against whisper with 30 minutes left on the clock. After trying to pin whisper down for a few turns, I realised I was lacking in attack dice, so tried to play smart and block decloak options where I could and protect ships as they got damaged. I lost a headhunter and basically managed to run the clock down without losing anyone else.

59-27

My opponent was pretty inexperienced with big ships, which really worked to my favour. Also facing whisper over echo really helped, as I could correctly block 1-2 of the decloak options, and protect my b wing that got reduced to 1 shield. I still feel that fat dash is a threat to swarms, but I wanted to use my imperial swarm again, as I really like it.