Bump, for happening this coming week!

Hopefully try to make it. I take it will be 2 rounds each day?

Looking forward to this, and have been breaking my brain for the last two weeks trying to figure out a good list for breaking the new meta!

I have no idea what I'm going to fly yet. I haven't gotten any matches in in months. So I'm debating whether to go old school and comfortable, or play something new.

Old school! And yeah, 2 rounds each day. We figured that 2 short week nights would be better able to fit into busy schedules this winter.

Looking forward to seeing you here!

Bump for starting tonight!

Could you post the current standings when you get a chance?

Ask and ye shall receive..in a sec. And just to clarify, there is a 3-way tie(including margin of victory) for 4th place. Crazy!

1st Jeff Alexander
2nd Nick Sibicky
3rd Steven Jesionowski
4th Tim Mills
5th Joe Fiala
6th John
7th Maldus
8th Keith Nyberg
9th Jerry Mauch
10th Robert Tengelin

Wow that is crazy close.

Phantom and fat(ish) Dash sitting 1 and 2.

That Dash build would probably be higher if Nick hasn't allowed me to retroactively use Vader on his Dash. My shuttle had two hull left. Had we done another round of shooting, his HLC probably would have finished it and he would have survived with one hull left.

I was spacey all night last week. I know you reminded me a few times about tokens, too. I blame the 13% bourbon-barrel aged stout.

Darn. Wish I could come to this.

As always Round the Table hosts a great tournament and the prize pool was fantastic!

Great competition and congrats to Jeff for the 4-0 sweep of the field.

I had a ton of fun and won a Starviper!! (when it comes out )

I hope this does but come off as a slight against Jeff, but I was surprised to see Whisper do so well in a field with so many Decimators, plus a Falcon. However, that build is horrifying, and the fact that he lost ONE SHIP in four games is a testament to how well he flew it.

I feel like I need to fly a Han next week, because that pilot card is just so, so pretty.

Thank you, Nick & Tim!

Yeah Jeff's list was pretty good. All 3 ships could put out a hurting.

Whisper loaded up with Rebel Captive, ACD, FCS, and VI

BH w/ Tactician and Backstabber w/ SU

My Decimator + Defender combo just could not get any hits to land on a turtled up Whisper. By the time I took two turns trying to inflict damage on Whisper he had put a hurting on the Decimator and Vessery. Can't really block Whisper that well with only 2 ships. Then I turned my attention to BS and the BH but by then it was too little too late. I couldn't focus either down.

In hind sight I should have just gone for the easier to hit ships and hoped that I had enough Decimator left to get some shots in on Whisper. But in reality it was a uphill battle from the start with my list. Jeff flew Whisper very well too. I designed it to take on Fat Dash and other Deci's, I learned it suffers against Phantoms.

I think I'll run Whisper instead of Vessery along side the Decimator, which I love.

Yes that Han card is sweet, but I wanted the SV.

I hope this does but come off as a slight against Jeff, but I was surprised to see Whisper do so well in a field with so many Decimators, plus a Falcon.

Thank you, Nick & Tim!

None taken! And another round of thanks to the proprietors for running this tournament in a fine pub and with such a large and spread-out prize pool.

A big part of doing so well was correctly anticipating the metagame. I knew that Wave 5 was going to be legal and that the tournament was scheduled after a lull in the weekly store league. I figured it would be a bad idea to enter a tournament when A) I hadn't played for almost three weeks, and B) there would be brand new ships I'd never flown or faced, so I hopped on Vassal to get current. It taught me a lot about Dash and his Stupid Boosting Tricks.

I was mostly worried about Dash and Phantoms, so I thought about what hurts them both: stress. A stressed Phantom can't cloak (even with ACD). A stressed Dash has to worry about asteroids because he can't boost/roll off them, so flying onto one wrecks his shot. (Debris fields aren't tourney-legal yet.) So I put this list together piece by piece:

Whisper + VI + ACD + FCS + Rebel Captive

Bounty Hunter + Tactician

Backstabber + Shield Upgrade

It's 97 points, for a crazy-low initiative bid I never actually needed. I never faced a Dash+VI or another Whisper+VI.

Every upgrade on Whisper turned out to be a major factor. Rebel Captive hamstrung enemy actions in a big way. Fire-Control System gave me the consistent heavy damage I needed to bring down YT-2400s and Decimators. It also let me spend Whisper's action on Evading, which I saw done to great effect in the GenCon finals this year.

The Bounty Hunter was decent. It was a solid, cost-effective ship. With no mobility, it was tough getting Tactician to trigger. I don't own an Engine Upgrade, though, and going to Kath or Fett to add Expert Handling would have restricted me to an Academy/Obsidian TIE for my third ship.

With 23 points left, I could only add one more ship. I wanted 3 attack dice, to pack punch. I vacillated between Backstabber + Shield for durability (though not always 3 dice) and a 1 PS Alpha Squadron Interceptor for blocking. In hindsight I probably should have gone with the Alpha + Hull Upgrade, but I was paranoid about coming in at 97.

And here's what I faced. It's from memory, so a couple upgrades are missing.

Game 1: XXYZ: Biggs, Garven, Dutch, Airen

Game 2: Dash + HLC + Outrider + Lone Wolf, B-Wing + Ion Cannon, B-Wing

Game 3: Dash + HLC + Outrider + Lone Wolf, 3x Prototype Pilot A-Wing

Game 4: Kenkirk + PTL + EU + Ysanne Isard + Mara Jade, Vessery + HLC

So, yeah. Wave 5 ships. I pretty much called that right on the nose.

My placement strategy for asteroids was to place them less in my opponent's way and more out of my way. I'm still not great at missing them.

How did I not lose my Phantom to turrets? Because generally, the only thing that shot at it was one turret, which was often unbuffed due to stress, while Whisper had 4 Agility from ACD, an evade token from acting, and a focus token from her own ability (made more reliable by FCS). Also, my opponents in games 2 and 4 sometimes fired their turret at the Firespray instead, and game 3 I had clutch green rolls.

(Seriously, game 3 was a fluke. There's no question Nick outmaneuvered me. He got Dash past two attempted blocks, got his A-Wings in my Firespray's way more than once, and took more shots on Whisper than anyone else. I put Whisper into spots with only one decloak direction open. I went three whole turns mid-game without the Firespray shooting (one on a rock, then two turning around). But I one-shot an A-Wing early and my green dice were on fire all game.)

I wholeheartedly disagree with the idea that you should have swapped Backstabber for an Alpha, for two reasons:

1) Backstabber with Shield shoots at PS6, putting him ahead of Oicunn, Biggs, Chewie, and a host of other very common ships seen in this format, and has a bit of crit protection against all of the Vader crew card seen on the various Decimators and Shuttles thanks to that shield upgrade.

2) YOU WENT 4-0 AND LOST ONE SHIP. Please don't come out and say, "Yeah, I think this build could have performed better than 4-0 and one ship lost."