(Algernon is my usual online handle, didn't even remember it's not my name on these forums).

I wanted to make a thread for my own battle records, and for community critiques/comments/etc. I will break the battles into separate posts for ease of viewing.

This battle took place 1/24/15 against my friend who is at least somewhat versed in miniatures tabletop games, and who has approached this game with vigor - He is definitely my best competition.

Of note: I designed the lists for both sides prior to the game, and then we both slightly modified our squads before play.

I will bold the most pertinent details that highlighted each battle.

BATTLE #1

Opponent squad: (Rebel)

Z-95 - Airen Cracken
Ion Torpedoes
Munitions Failsafe
23 pts.

B-Wing - Keyan Farlander
B-Wing/E2
Kyle Katarn
Flechette Torpedoes
Advanced Sensors
Ion Cannon
45 pts.

Jake Farrell
A-Wing Test Pilot
Chardaan Refit
Push The Limit
Outmaneuver
Shield Upgrade
32 pts.

My squad: (Empire)

Decimator - Rear Adm. Chiraneau
Tactical Jammer
Ysanne Isard
Moff Jerjerrod
Predator
Proton Bomb
61 pts.

TIE Interceptor - Kir Kanos
Push The Limit - WHOOPS! (Read "takeaways" section)
27 pts.

TIE Fighter - Academy Pilot
12 pts.

Battle Recap:

Things went in my favor pretty quickly, as my opponent focused my Decimator and allowed me to close range on his B-Wing and Z-95. I focused and wiped out the Z-95 quickly, but he did get an Ion Torpedo off on my Decimator. No major harm done though. I then turned my barrage on the hapless B-Wing who has a very tough time avoiding shots. By closing range with Chiraneau and keeping at 2+ range with Kanos, you get a lot of extra hits - especially with Predator on the Admiral and a target lock on your enemy.

During this melee, Jake Farrell was off doing - you know, Jake Farrell things. He circled around behind my lines, but may not have thought through the fact that it's hard to flank a turret vehicle. He ended up outrolling me on every attack, and made off across the map with no damage. He had a Decimator, Interceptor, and TIE chasing him down, so he opted to go for a moral victory, targeting my TIEs, which both had 1 hp. He took a bit of damage, but killed the TIE Fighter before going down under a Decimator barrage of 4 hits to his 0 evades.

Result: WIN

Takeways:

- First off, to address my egregious error: I literally didn't notice until trying to recreate my squad on a squad building site while writing this post, that I wasn't allowed to use PtL on Kanos. Maybe I confused the Interceptor title card for the A-Wing's, and thought I could have an EPT, or just assumed a unique 6-skill pilot with a special skill had an EPT slot. Well, that definitely changed a lot of the battle, as I used PTL nearly every round, but I don't think the end outcome would have changed. It was definitely a huge gaffe, but I handily wiped out 2 of his 3 ships before losing any. Either way, the tl;dr takeaway: Double/triple check those pilot cards and upgrade options.

- On my opponent's side: While Cracken has a great ability, I find myself focusing him down first due to his low durability and agility. I plan to find ways to improve his survivability when I play him/other Z-95s in the future.

- It is hard to avoid firing on low-agility targets, and especially if it is carrying the bulk of a squad's point total into battle. In this battle, the B-Wing is an obvious priority target, and wiping them out is not hard due to being easily hit, and easily outmaneuvered thanks to both TIEs' maneuverability and the B-Wing's lack of such. On the flipside, my opponent opted to fire on the Decimator since it can't do much to dodge, but since it doesn't go down fast, the smaller Rebel ships were fried by focus fire very quickly. It may have been wiser to take down the TIEs and not have to worry about them.

- The Decimator is absolutely outstanding and wildly fun to play. This was my first game with it, but before even buying it I knew it would be my favorite ship. I hadn't even really studied the maneuver dial until the game started, but it is downright amazing.

- The Decimator is physically huge, and moving him down to 1 peg was necessary when one of his front prongs was up against the B-Wing's "neck" among other cluster situations.

- I underestimated Chiraneau's ability, thinking his cost and skill a bit hefty. Turns out, he deserves every bit of that 46 cost. His skill is marvelous.

- I never got to use my proton bomb, and unless your opponent forgets about it, it's not hard to steer clear of the blast radius. I want to make it happen, but may save it for more casual/non-competitive play. I also didn't get to use Moff J, but I simply never took a critical hit. He is still worth the 2 points.

- Ysanne is a must on every Decimator, I would think. A free evade is a drastic improvement to the otherwise nonexistent defense of the VT-49.

My first win playing the Empire in a 100-pt squad battle, and a handy win at that!

BATTLE #2

This battle took place 1/24/15 against the same friend mentioned in Battle #1. Once again, I had pre-made the squad lists and we modified them very slightly before battle.

Opponent Squad (Empire)

Decimator - Captain Oicunn

Dauntless

Tactical Jammer

Predator

Ysanne Isard

Mara Jade

Moff Jerjerrod

57 pts.

TIE Interceptor - Royal Guard Pilot

Outmaneuver

25 pts.

TIE Fighter - Mauler Mithel

Determination

18 pts.

My Squad (Rebels)

B-Wing - Nera Dantels

Ion Cannon

Ion Torpedoes

Flechette Torpedoes

36 pts.

E-Wing - Blackmoon Squadron Pilot

R2-D2

Advanced Sensors

36 pts.

X-Wing - Biggs Darklighter

R2-F2

28 pts.

Battle Recap:

After the first turn, I thought "Yeah, I'm doing it right!"

After the second turn, I thought "Well, congrats, let's play again soon."

Okay, it took a little bit longer, but no joke, this was a 30-minute battle if that, and an utter defeat for me.

I thought I'd be able to do some big damage with this squad, as I chose all ships that are heavy hitters with decent durability, and Biggs would draw fire for a bit allowing me to focus down his smaller ships. Not to mention, Nera Dantels had a big payload to deliver, and he was free to do so from any angle thanks to his very useful ability. I started off flying my 3 ships in a fairly close formation, with Biggs hanging back, the B-Wing towards the outside edge, and the E-Wing spearheading. The first engagement phase saw Biggs taking shots from all 3 enemy ships, and rolling 3-4 dice thanks to R2-F2. He took two hits that first combat round, I believe.

Then, Oicunn went Oicunn on me.

He crashed headlong into my B-Wing, which was unable to move through Oicunn with a green move - he had been stressed by Mara Jade the turn before. The B-Wing basically became a sitting duck, and Oicunn then promptly finished off Biggs. The B-Wing never had a chance to gain range and fire off any payload, because the TIEs wiped him out within about 3 rounds.

The E-Wing got some distance, K-turned, and ended up flying straight into all 3 enemy ships after that. He got blown away from full health in that single combat round. That was all she wrote.

Result: LOSS

Takeaways:

- Oicunn performs exactly as advertised, and the compounded ramming effects from all of his upgrades put a massive hindrance on your opponent. Notably, Mara Jade's effect was utterly crippling, especially for my B-Wing.

- I was suckered into attacking the Decimator even after I had JUST finished telling myself not to make that same mistake that my opponent had in our previous battle, when he focused Chiraneau instead of my TIEs. Without a large Rebel ship to counter it, it seems you have to focus the escort ships so then even with its great damage, the Decimator can still only attack 1 ship per round.

- Despite the abysmal performance of my squad, I see a lot of potential with this list - although I think I'll reserve them for fighting only small-ship opponents. They all have 3 attack, good defense, and comparable maneuver dials which, when they aren't being rammed by crazy Oicunn, should allow the B-Wing to fly around at long range, launching ordnance and then using the Ion Cannon to cripple ships for the other ships to bring down easily.

- The Decimator is still awesome.

BATTLE #3

This battle took place 1/29/15 against my brother, who had only played a couple of introductory core-set games with me about a week prior. He is quite inexperienced, but had enough of a grasp of the game to compete right away. Both squads had been pre-made by me, and we simply chose which side to play.

Opponent Squad (Rebels)

E-Wing - E'tahn Abaht

Ion Torpedoes

37 pts.

B-Wing - Nera Dantels

Advanced Sensors

Flechette Torpedoes

Proton Torpedoes

35 pts.

X-Wing - Biggs Darklighter

R2-F2

28 pts.

My Squad (Empire)

TIE Interceptor - Carnor Jax

Royal Guard Pilot

Push the Limit

Shield Upgrade

Targeting Computer

35 pts.

TIE Interceptor - Lt. Lorrir

Shield Upgrade

27 pts.

TIE Fighter - Dark Curse

Hull Upgrade

19 pts.

TIE Fighter - Black Sq. Pilot

Hull Upgrade

Wingman

19 pts.

Battle Recap:

First off, I really like the Imperial squadron I put together. Not only does it have 2 great Interceptors with added maneuverability (Jax's PtL and Lorrir's pilot skill), but all ships had added durability - the one weakness of small Imperial ships. The intent was to have a decent-sized, decent-pilot skilled squad that could jump into the fray, survive some hits, and shut down the opponent's action/engagement options (Dark Curse and Jax's pilot skills).

I built the Rebel squad focusing on a balanced, offensive combo of 3 ships with 3 base attack and additional secondary weapon firepower. Additionally, Biggs would be able to draw fire with his skill and R2-F2. Ultimately, both of us ended up making a lot of mistakes and mis-using our squads to lose the advantages they carried.

I started off by sending the 2 Interceptors up the left side together towards the X and B-Wings, and sent the 2 Fighters up the right side towards the E-Wing. I managed to beat up Biggs pretty well, and after about 3 combat rounds had taken him out. The TIE Fighters cut across to flank the B and X-Wings, while his E-Wing also cut across to try and support. I had suffered almost no damage by the time Biggs was gone, but things got interesting when a large cluster (my 2 INTs and his B-Wing) all got hit by the Ion Torpedoes. We all ended up smashing into each other the next round.

I eventually wiped out his B-Wing, and I think I lost my Black Squadron Pilot around then to a Direct Hit. Meanwhile, I had taken a few big hits on my other ships from the E-Wing and B-Wing. Next thing I know, I'm chasing down his E-Wing along the edge of the map, pecking away as we went. Eventually, I surrounded him with all 3 of my surviving ships - Carnor Jax fired at close range with lackluster results, and was evaded. Dark Curse brought the E-Wing down to 1 HP. The E-Wing then fired on Lorrir, who had 1 HP, at close range, and finished him off.

I then attempted to turn Jax around, but he had gone all-in the turn prior , and ended up too close to the edge of the board. I lost him trying to hard-turn back into play, not expecting the E-Wing to survive the previous round.

The final turn, both Dark Curse and E'tahn had 1 HP. I made the only move I could make to try and get a final shot off, but E'tahn moved first and went right into Dark's path. Dark had a stunned pilot crit, and blew up by crashing into the E.

And that's how I lost.

Result: LOSS

Takeaways:

- I flew like an idiot. Mainly my Interceptors. I constantly collided with other ships, taking away their actions and therefore their single greatest advantages, especially considering the pilots and upgrades they had. The TIE Fighters I actually flew in tight formation, avoiding bumping each other and cutting through the asteroid field until they ended up in the giant cluster of ships on the other side of the map. But poor planning and losing actions was wildly crippling.

- I gave my opponent a lot of leeway since he's so new. I let him redo his maneuver when he revealed a red maneuver while stressed, claiming he never knew that he wasn't allowed to do such a thing (without me taking over his dial). His E-Wing actually ended up off the map by about 1 millimeter while he skirted the edge towards the end, but I also let that fly. I also reminded him almost every round to use his actions after moving each ship. So ultimately I gave up the game, I guess, by letting him get away with so much, but that was my choice.

- I really think bulking up an entire squad of TIEs with extra Hull/Shields was a huge advantage. All 3 of my ships that didn't fly off the edge flew around with 1 HP for quite awhile. It's a build that easily would have won if I flew the Interceptors more tactfully.

- The Rebel squad would have worked even better if he kept all 3 ships together with Biggs staying at range, and focused fire early on against one of my Interceptors. But that comes with experience. I also believe the B-Wing is one of the most challenging ships to fly well for the Rebels. It moves so poorly and has such terrible evade, that it needs to be fielded with a great deal of care.

- I'm not really upset about the loss because realistically, I had "won" a couple of times during the game when I let the game continue for learning purposes.

BATTLE #4

(This battle was my second squad battle overall, and first win - it's out of order, but that doesn't matter... I wanted to copy it from my other thread and have all of these batreps in the same place).

This battle took place 1/23/15 against my older brother, who I had played once before and lost.

Opponent Squad (Rebels):

A-Wing - Green Squadron Pilot
Push the Limit
Outmaneuver
Chardaan Refit
A-Wing Test Pilot

23 Pts.

E-wing - Knave Squadron Pilot
R2-D2

31 Pts.

Z-95 - Airen Cracken

19 Pts.

B-Wing - Blue Squadron Pilot
Flechette Torpedoes

Advanced Sensors

27 Pts.

My Squad (Empire):

TIE Defender - Delta Squadron Pilot
Ion Cannon

33 Pts.

TIE Interceptor - Tetran Cowall
Hull Upgrade
Push the Limit

30 Pts.

TIE Interceptor - Saber Squadron Pilot

Predator

24 Pts.

TIE Fighter
Obsidian Squadron Pilot
13 pts.

Battle Recap:

The battle began with the Defender and TIE Fighter squaring off with the E-Wing and Z-95 on one side, while the two interceptors encountered the A and B on the other. I won the initial skirmish with the A + B, but my defender was getting beat up on the other side. After his A-Wing turned tail, I cut the interceptors across the map to assist.

I focused Cracken first, as he was supporting the E-Wing with his ability. He went down, but my defender also went soon after. I turned attention towards the B-Wing, eventually wiping it out while losing Tetran Cowall around the same time.

It wound up as a 1 on 1 with his E-Wing against my saber pilot interceptor with 1 HP. He had recovered sheilds with R2, but having the better pilot skill, I was able to outflank him and wear him down. We ended up head to head. He had 1 shield 1 hull, and I rolled 3 hits 1 crit. He rolled nothing. If he had gotten a shot off,I was probably toast. Victory by the closest margin!

Result: WIN

Takeaways:

- First off, I can say I was not economical about all of my skills and upgrades - I never used Cowall's skill, and I only used the Defender's ion cannon once. Otherwise, I used PtL and Predator like crazy. It'll take a lot to convince me those aren't the 2 best - or at least in the top 3 - EPTs in the game.

- While I wasn't smart with skill use, my opponent (even less experience than me) unwisely flew his B-Wing right into my lines of fire, allowing me to cut through him very quickly. That thing needs to hang back on the perimeter and dish out its payload to be successful.

- This was my first squad battle as the Empire, and I learned two things from this battle:
1. Fast and agile ships can absolutely roll over slower more powerful ships if used properly;
2. Pilot skill is indeed imperative to success a lot of the time. Certainly in this case.

BATTLE #5

This battle took place 1/30/15 against a friend who had only learned the basics of the game that night, in one prior small core-set skirmish. As per my past battles, both squads were pre-designed by me without knowledge of which side I would play.

Opponent Squad (Empire)

VT-49: Commander Kenkirk

Ysanne Isgard

Fleet Officer

Tactical Jammer

52 Pts.

TIE Defender: Delta Squadron Pilot

Proton Rockets

33 Pts.

TIE Fighter: Obsidian Squadron Pilot

13 Pts.

My Squadron (Rebels)

YT-2400: Dash Rendar

Outrider

Leebo

Push the Limit

Heavy Laser Cannon

Hull Upgrade

56 Pts.

X-Wing: Biggs Darklighter

R2-F2

28 Pts.

Z-95: Bandit Squadron Pilot

Ion Pulse Missiles

Munitions Failsafe

16 Pts.

Battle Recap:

I'll keep it brief-ish. For starters, my opponent was very new and overwhelmed jumping from one core-set skirmish to a full 100-point squad battle, and had a number of problems crashing his ships into each other - namely the large Decimator. Also, somehow things got screwed up and the TIE Defender was meant to be an Onyx Squadron Pilot, but the Delta Squadron Pilot was set out instead. So he lost out on initiative ahead of the Z-95... but we also played without asteroids, nullifying Dash's entire pilot skill, which hopefully somewhat made up for the missing 2 squad points.

As I said, lots of maneuvering errors on my opponent's side, whereas I actually played my side wonderfully. Biggs used his droid and stayed at range very well, taking most of the shots and avoiding most of them for several rounds. Thus far, this is about the third game I've seen Wedge in (2 times I flew him) and it's the first time he's done his fair share. He kept the Z-95 safe, and drew fire from the turret-bound Decimator so it couldn't attack Dash as well. This being my first game with the YT-2400, I was able to stay well out of Range 1 in order to use the HLC and pound the Decimator and Defender into oblivion.

The kill order went: Defender, then Biggs, then the Decimator. My opponent gave up afterwards, having only a low-skill TIE Fighter with 1 HP against my Z-95 with 1 HP and Dash with 5 HP.

Result: WIN

Takeaways:

- As I guessed, success with a "Fat" YT-2400 relies heavily on a few things:

1) High Pilot Skill - You have to see where everyone ends up in order to move out of range and use the HLC to consistently blast targets with 4 attack dice. With low skill, maneuverable ships could tactfully close distance, avoid the HLC, and rip off strong attacks against the fairly low agility freighter.

2) Added Maneuverability - It was a HUGE advantage to combo Leebo with PtL. Leebo gives Dash a boost to gain distance, and PtL gives either a barrel roll for even more range, or target lock to secure extra hits - or even TL + Focus if you picked the right maneuver in the first place.

3) Good support ships - Like I said, I flew Biggs very wisely, who was able to do some damage while dodging with R2-F2. He also stayed tight with the Z-95 until I finally was able to line up an Ion Pulse Missile on the VT-49 and proceed to punish the big ship the next turn. I have a couple more ideas for YT-2400 builds with some different support ships, we'll see how those go.

- Flying the YT-2400 was fun because it's a highly maneuverable large ship which can serve a great number of purposes. In this case, it was a heavy gunship which could circle the perimeter of the dogfight and unleash hell on its targets. It may not fare as well against a more experienced opponent or different squad types, but we shall wait and see.

Ion torpedoes on a Z-95?

Good work, some interesting stuff.

I love battle 3 where you desperately try to justify your loss by not being an utter utter dusche bag with your brother! ha.

You know what, I actually really like the 2400 with a standard Fringer in there and just Leebo, though I can see the appeal of PTL too. I'm really scared of stress with it as it's green moves are very predictable, if you get someone close to you it can be real hard to get away if you are stressed but Leebo is like a get out of jail free card. I find when I'm being chased down by something quick I can do one of two things, either a sharp 1 then a barrel roll and watch the other ship fly off into the distance trying to keep pace with me or a 4 forward, boost and barrel roll to blast away, mixing these up keeps people guessing when they get close. Also, he's not actually THAT pricey in that instance. Worth a go.

I like having an Ion heavy defence for him too, a Y wing or some head hunters with Ion Ordinance to fly around with the Fringer as he skirts the battle field so you have a chance of putting tokens on people as they try to close ranks? I've yet to REALLY get this to work (cos my sons Fricking decimator took out my Y wing in no time at all!) but it;s a Theory I like, not least of all cos the Y wing and 2400 kinda look like old beat up war horses together!

Good stuff mate, look forward to reading more!

Ion torpedoes on a Z-95?

Ion Pulse Missile, not torpedoes.

Good work, some interesting stuff.

I love battle 3 where you desperately try to justify your loss by not being an utter utter dusche bag with your brother! ha.

You know what, I actually really like the 2400 with a standard Fringer in there and just Leebo, though I can see the appeal of PTL too. I'm really scared of stress with it as it's green moves are very predictable, if you get someone close to you it can be real hard to get away if you are stressed but Leebo is like a get out of jail free card. I find when I'm being chased down by something quick I can do one of two things, either a sharp 1 then a barrel roll and watch the other ship fly off into the distance trying to keep pace with me or a 4 forward, boost and barrel roll to blast away, mixing these up keeps people guessing when they get close. Also, he's not actually THAT pricey in that instance. Worth a go.

I like having an Ion heavy defence for him too, a Y wing or some head hunters with Ion Ordinance to fly around with the Fringer as he skirts the battle field so you have a chance of putting tokens on people as they try to close ranks? I've yet to REALLY get this to work (cos my sons Fricking decimator took out my Y wing in no time at all!) but it;s a Theory I like, not least of all cos the Y wing and 2400 kinda look like old beat up war horses together!

Good stuff mate, look forward to reading more!

Thanks for reading! And yes, that Leebo copilot is SO good assuming you can avoid taking a second Ion hit from your opponent. I have a squad planned out with a low skill YT-2400 that has an Ion Cannon equipped instead of the HLC. My plan is to dance him around and blast everyone with Ion Cannon while I use some strong support ships like an E-Wing and a good A-Wing to terrorize the ionized enemies. With the right build and maneuvering, I think it may work out nicely!

I have to say this but please don't post the result of the match as the first sentence. It is just a huge spoiler for the rest of the thing

I have to say this but please don't post the result of the match as the first sentence. It is just a huge spoiler for the rest of the thing

Heh, I debated this. I'll edit them and move it to the end in future posts. I thought it might interest people in actually reading it if they saw the outcome and got curious about how it went down.

BATTLE #6

This battle took place 2/1/15 against my younger brother - the one who beat me in Battle #3. As usual, I had created the squads prior to the game.

Opponent Squad (Empire)

TIE Defender: Col. Vessery

Heavy Laser Cannon

35 Pts.

TIE Interceptor: Royal Guard Pilot

Royal Guard TIE

Predator

Targeting Computer

27 Pts.

TIE Fighter: Mauler Mithel

Targeting Computer

19 Pts.

TIE Fighter: Academy Pilot

12 Pts.

My Squadron (Rebels)

YT-2400: Eaden Vrill

Ion Cannon

35 Pts.

A-Wing: Gemmer Sojan

A-Wing Test Pilot

Outmaneuver

Proton Rockets

28 Pts.

E-Wing: Blackmoon Squadron Pilot

Flechette Torpedoes

Advanced Sensors

Hull Upgrade

37 Pts.

Battle Recap:

This match was experimental for me. Primarily, I had only flown the YT-2400 as Dash with the full HLC/Outrider+ combo, and I wanted to see if it could be put to other uses. I thought I did a good enough job balancing the squad that Eaden Vrill could constantly be ionizing enemy ships while my opponent fired on the heavily-stacked E-Wing and the dancing Gemmer A-Wing. Although, long story short, here's a very brief recap of this game:

- We all close into range, Gemmer works to cut behind the enemy ships.

- The TIEs all close too fast and outflank the YT-2400. He's stuck taking weak turret pot-shots at the agile TIEs.

- The E-Wing had taken a hit or two very early on, and quickly finds himself in the Defender's sights. Defender fires HLC, gets 4 hits. I roll 0 evade. My biggest offensive weapon vanishes instantly.

- Eaden continuously gets outflanked, picked away at by the TIEs. Finally succumbs to damage. Never gets a single Ion Cannon shot off.

- Gemmer flew around impressively, earning a few hits here and there and staying alive thanks to Outmaneuver + pilot ability.

- Gemmer finally finds himself focused by all 4 TIEs. Gets ripped apart by good attack rolls and horrible (yes, 5 blank green) defense rolls. Game over, couldn't finish off a single TIE.

Result: LOSS

Takeaways:

- I suspected this from the beginning, but it seems that the YT-2400 HAS to have a good pilot skill and upgrades to be a true force on the map. Low skill meant no chance to effectively position myself with barrel rolls and boosts (I'm putting Leebo as copilot every time from now on I swear), among other negative impacts.

- I need to fly A-Wings more. I'm always turned off when looking at their weak attack and upgrade bar, but I always enjoy flying them so much. Gemmer is a stud, I only wish he had that base EPT so I could take two.

- This match was a combination of bad luck (rolls), bad squad building, and bad maneuvering to an extent. One of the greatest issues, however, was pilot skill. My pilots were skills 3/3/5, and his pilots were 1/6/6/7. All of his competitive ships outskilled mine, and it constantly made a huge difference. Despite the miserable defeat, I did pick up some great insight from this match.

BATTLE #7

This battle took place 2/1/15 immediately following Battle #6 against my younger brother again. For this game, I created the squads just prior to this match.

Opponent Squad (Rebels)

YT-2400: Dash Rendar

Outrider

Heavy Laser Cannon

48 Pts.

B-Wing: Keyan Farlander

Wingman

31 Pts.

X-Wing: Rookie Pilot

21 Pts.

My Squadron (Empire)

VT-49: Rear Adm. Chiraneau

Dauntless

Predator

Ysanne Isard

Moff Jerjerrod

Proton Bombs

62 Pts.

TIE Interceptor: Royal Guard Pilot

Push The Limit

25 Pts.

TIE Fighter: Obsidian Squadron Pilot

13 Pts.

Battle Recap:

This bullet-point thing makes it much easier to break down the main points of the battle and cut out the wordiness, so I'll stick with that.

- To start, the large ships started on opposite corners of the map while the small ships all converged in the center around the asteroid field.

- I focused the B-Wing, because why would you not focus the B-Wing when it flies straight into the middle of the fray with its wildly lackluster 1 evade. After a couple rounds, I had knocked out Farlander while taking some hits on my VT-49 and TIE Fighter.

- The Obsidian Pilot was critically damaged with 1 HP, so he fled to a corner to try and roll away the crit effect, and meanwhile the Decimator circled around the asteroid field, blasting Dash and the X-Wing as he went.

- I lost the Interceptor very quickly around this point, if not earlier - probably to a big HLC hit. So now we've got an X-Wing and a slightly damaged Dash on my opponent's side, and a limping TIE Fighter and the Decimator with most of its hull.

- The X-Wing came in to intercept my TIE Fighter behind my Decimator, much to my joy. Because that meant I finally got to use a proton bomb!

- I decided to make the sacrifice and drop the bomb on top of the X-Wing even though my TIE was still just within range of the blast. I blew up my TIE in order to gamble on a big critical hit on the X-Wing. It ended up being the "lose 1 agility" crit.

- I then chased Dash through the asteroid field and into a corner with my VT-49, and wound up at a point where I was within 1 range of him... meaning Dash couldn't shoot me with his HLC, and I could pound him with my 4 dice+predator+target lock+Chiraneau ability. I kept forcing Dash along the edge of the map until I wiped him out.

- During this time, the X-Wing had made its way back across the map towards me, and got a lot of big hits on Chiraneau. We then proceeded to maneuver around the map for many turns until I cut my lumbering behemoth carefully through the asteroid field (I had a stunned pilot by the way) and got in range of the X-Wing. I had 2 HP, and the X-Wing had 1 shield 2 hull. I got a hit off from outside of the X-Wing's arc.

- The final turn found us facing each other, nearly touching but not quite. Lucky for me. I unleashed 4 solid hit/crits to end it.

Result: WIN

Takeaways:

- Chiraneau is simply a menace. Between the available upgrades, that ship's maneuverability, and his amazing pilot skill+ability, I can't get enough of him.

- Best maneuvering I've ever done. I was dancing artfully around asteroids with all 3 of my ships, but was most proud of snaking my Deci through the field several times without clipping anything - especially while I had a stunned pilot and 2 HP. I was very tactful about maneuvers, boosts, barrel rolls, and avoiding any friendly ship collisions. This means I'm really gaining a much better grip on the spacial recognition needed to predict moves that I need to have to succeed. This was a moral victory as well as an actual one.

- I still feel that B-Wings are a chore to fly effectively. I need to learn the secret to them, because so far I haven't seen a B-Wing do anything worth noting in a game - which is why I blew up my opponent's one so quickly once again in this game. There are definitely ways to keep it alive longer, so maybe it just takes the right squad and some careful forethought into a game plan and smart maneuvering.

- Now that I've used a proton bomb, I think I can shelf it and spend those 5 points more effectively. It is only worth 5 points against some sort of swarm build where you will likely have a chance to hit 2+ enemies at once.

Proof that I indeed A) got to use a proton bomb and B) blew up my own ship with it.

So I'm going to speak up for Eadin Vrill here right quick. He is my favorite 2400 pilot. PS3 is low, but that ship is one of the most maneuverable ships in the game. I bring dash rendar crew and call it a day. Play with some debris clouds or people slinging some flechette torps to help him shoot at some people with stress and you'll be fine. Keep him at range 3 through a rock and you'll laugh as people try and kill him.

I'd say you need to look at the squad with him. Unnamed e-wings aren't all the great. Too expensive. 3 red dice rules, but I'd take an x or b-wing instead. I ran kyle katarn in the hawk, farlander HLC in a b-wing and then eadin and managed to survive quite awhile against a 5-ship reb swarm. Lack of red dice, yes, but with some tweaking I think it'll work great. Whenever scum drops and we can throw a mangler cannon on the outrider for a range 1-3 cannon that turns a blank into a hit will make all the 2400 pilots instantly better. 3 points for the win.

Keep trying out Eadin, you'll come to think he rocks. Also, remember that decimators get annihilated by phantoms. I wrecked my buddy's deci in 2 rounds of shooting running a 2 phantom list. He had moff, ysanne and mara jade as well on there. I'd tone down the upgrades and stick to offense + moff to save yourself that one time.

my 2 cents

So I'm going to speak up for Eadin Vrill here right quick. He is my favorite 2400 pilot. PS3 is low, but that ship is one of the most maneuverable ships in the game. I bring dash rendar crew and call it a day. Play with some debris clouds or people slinging some flechette torps to help him shoot at some people with stress and you'll be fine. Keep him at range 3 through a rock and you'll laugh as people try and kill him.

I'd say you need to look at the squad with him. Unnamed e-wings aren't all the great. Too expensive. 3 red dice rules, but I'd take an x or b-wing instead. I ran kyle katarn in the hawk, farlander HLC in a b-wing and then eadin and managed to survive quite awhile against a 5-ship reb swarm. Lack of red dice, yes, but with some tweaking I think it'll work great. Whenever scum drops and we can throw a mangler cannon on the outrider for a range 1-3 cannon that turns a blank into a hit will make all the 2400 pilots instantly better. 3 points for the win.

Keep trying out Eadin, you'll come to think he rocks. Also, remember that decimators get annihilated by phantoms. I wrecked my buddy's deci in 2 rounds of shooting running a 2 phantom list. He had moff, ysanne and mara jade as well on there. I'd tone down the upgrades and stick to offense + moff to save yourself that one time.

my 2 cents

First off, I do think he's the second best pilot for the ship (because Leebo copilot beats out Leebo pilot all day). A cheap large ship with a very cool pilot ability is awesome, but the low pilot skill for such a vital part of your squad is just so rough. I also agree that I would downgrade the E-Wing to an X or B next time.

I only have played Empire vs. Rebels thus far since I only play with my own ships and a willing friend or sibling. I only have 6 ships per side, so I have not had a chance to try fighting the same sides, and I have not yet had experience with Phantoms among other ships.

Just a clarification on actions - only 1 a turn so you can't boost twice...sad day I know lol but barrel roll/ boost or the opposite is epic! Good looking reports! Keep em coming!

Just a clarification on actions - only 1 a turn so you can't boost twice...sad day I know lol but barrel roll/ boost or the opposite is epic! Good looking reports! Keep em coming!

I didn't realize that... I was re-reading the rulebook on both actions and boost, and can't find anything saying you cannot use the same action twice, although maybe I'm missing something. I think I only did a double-boost once last game, and it didn't affect anything. As you say, boost + barrel roll still rocks though.

Ya, barrel roll/ boost or boost/barrel roll is awesome. You can be very arc-dodgy with interceptors using PtL and barrel rolling/boosting out of arcs, but keeping your target in your sights. I do not have my rulebook at work or I'd find the reference for you, but I will try to remember after work today and find it for you.

I just used Leebo in the 2400 last night to great effect vs some imperials with HLC, lando crew, outrider title and determination. You still have to look out for the "donut of death" at range 1 where you can't attack, but I ran chewie in the falcon w/predator, falcon title and dash rendar crew to back up Leebo and it worked great!

Very cool. I have a squad I'm very excited to try out, probably later today, which I will post the results of here afterwards.

I also just ordered a number of new ships last night, so pretty soon I'll have a whole ton of new squad-building options!

New x-wing ships are the best man! I remember my first order and when it came in - core set, imperial aces, hawk, defender, phantom, e-wing I was pumped! Now I think I'm pushing 30 ships

New x-wing ships are the best man! I remember my first order and when it came in - core set, imperial aces, hawk, defender, phantom, e-wing I was pumped! Now I think I'm pushing 30 ships

Darn right! I've got the Falcon, Slave I, A-Wing, and TIE Bomber on the way, and I just ordered the Hawk and Phantom - figured it's the only 2 small ships in stock on MM that I don't have, so I might as well. It'll be overwhelming trying to craft some new squads with all these ships, but that's still half the fun!

I ran an atypical double generic phantom list against a decimator a couple weeks ago and just wrecked it so bad...lol it was 2 sigma squadrons (the ps3 phantom) w/recon specialist&stygium and they were rolling with 2 sabre squadron interceptors with PtL. It was loads of fun to fly! lol super fragile, but I chewed through the 16 hull in 2 rounds of shooting...it was painful lol

Good show getting stuff from Barnes & Noble! Hawk will do double duty once scum comes out!

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