BATTLE #12

TOURNAMENT #2

This tournament took place 3/8/15 and included 6 participants.

*As with the previous tournament I joined, the TO decided to use 150-point squadrons and store credit for prizes, as the FFG prizes have still not arrived.

My Squad (Scum 150 pt):

Firespray: Emon Azzameen

Andrasta

Seismic Charges

Proximity Mines

Proton Bombs

46 pts.

Z-95: N'Dru Suhlak

Predator

"Hot Shot" Blaster

Concussion Missiles

27 pts.

Aggressor: IG88B

VI

Accuracy Corrector

Autothrusters

Mangler Cannon

46 pts.

Y-Wing: Kavil

VI

Blaster Turret

R4 Agromech

31 pts.

Battle #1

In the first battle, I fought the only other player brave enough to test out Scum. He used both IG88 A + C in order to make use of his IG-2000 title card. He also had N'Dru Suhlak and the top-skill M-3A. If I recall, we traded some fire after starting most ships in opposite corners from each other (I couldn't put my Z-95 flanker straight in front of his 2 Aggressors... That'd have been dumb). My Z-95 escaped IG88 fire with 1 HP thanks to my opponent landing on an asteroid with one, and accidentally attempting a red move with his other stressed IG, which I promptly parked on another asteroid facing the wrong way for him.

I smashed the M-3A when it came into an easy position, then chased down his Z-95 as well. My firespray and one of his IG's got into a battle along one side of the map while my Y-Wing peppered him from alongside. I was damaging that Aggressor a lot, but then my opponent made another red move while stressed and I flew his ship off the board. He finally killed off my Z-95 before match time ran out.

I won with only 1 minor casualty, and he only escaped with 1 Aggressor surviving. Of note: I won this game, but my opponent made some huge mistakes in his flying, and I also out-rolled him like crazy.

Result: WIN

Battle #2

I fought my second battle against a player using Chiraneau, Vader, Backstabber, Dark Curse, and Mithel. At the start, Mauler and Vader broke off to engage my flanking Z-95. Mauler and Z exchanged some hits, but eventually he broke off to assist the rest of his squad. Meanwhile, I ripped up Backstabber while taking huge hits on IG88B and Kavil. I did manage to drop some big-time bombs with Emon, critically damaging Chiraneau and Dark Curse with a Proton Bomb and also damaging 4 ships (including 2 of my own) with a Seismic Charge.

Eventually, it turned into a very crippled Chiraneau, Mauler, and Dark Curse chasing down Emon - my only ship to survive a massive dogfight which lasted several turns. Emon got some shots off on the Deci and came within 1 hit of killing him before succumbing to fire. Of note: The opponent expertly used Ruthlessness and Mara Jade on his Decimator, which added a lot of damage and maneuvering advantages for him. My great rolls from Game 1 also came back to bite me in this one, where I couldn't get a big roll on either side to save my life. Law of averages indeed.

Result: LOSS

Battle #3

I fought the final battle against an opponent using Chewie, Biggs, Wedge, and Jan Ors. He made the mistake of flying Wedge towards my flanker instead of sticking with Biggs, so I quickly focused him with all of my ships to eliminate that major offensive threat. Wedge got several hits off on my Aggressor before going down, however.

After some skirmishing, I got another Proton Bomb off, this time on Chewie and Biggs. I ended up wrecking Biggs once I came around to face him with my big guns. At this point, my Aggressor was limping badly and shields were mostly gone on my ships, but I made quick work of Jan Ors as well. At some point my Y-Wing was killed, but then the hunt was on, as I pursued Chewie with my 2 large ships and the Z-95. Luckily, once the Falcon is alone and out-shipped, he has very little in the way of defense, so I took this game after only losing my Y-Wing. Definitely my best game of the day.

Result: WIN

Overall placement: Third out of Six

*First place winner used a squad of Oicunn, Rexler, and a Firespray - possibly 1 more ship? I have not fought him before, so not 100% sure

Takeaways:

- My favorite new ship - in both design and pilot skill - is Kavil. Y-Wings are absolutely viable now, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Initially, I had tested him out using a combo of Unhinged Astromech (all 3 moves are green) and PtL, to get both focus and TL. Then I realized I could get the same result without the stress by using the R4 Agromech. By spending the focus in order to fire the Blaster Turret, you get a free Target Lock for better damage on that same attack... PLUS, Kavil gets an extra die against ships outside his arc. He drove my opponents mad because he put out a lot of damage while just floating alongside their ships, and he often wasn't focused because of the big intimidating Aggressor and Firespray on the map, or the more squishy Z-95 off on his own. So yeah, Kavil + Agromech + Blaster Turret = awesome.

- I think I forgot to use Autothrusters a few times (literally got StarViper in the mail the morning of the tourney, so I quickly grabbed AT's and swapped out 2 points for them before the tourney), but they definitely work better on small ships with a little more maneuverability. The Aggressor ends up in close quarters pretty quickly, it seems. But if I used them every time, I might have wound up with a few more points in the tourney.

- Emon with Andrasta makes for good laughs, if nothing else. Dropping bombs successfully is highly satisfying, so getting to do it multiple times per game is great, and he gives you the ability to do it more effectively with his ability. I must say I don't think I'm crazy about Proximity Mines, because it takes an action to use them and you have to be fighting someone who isn't very bright, or drop them RIGHT in front of an enemy ship. I think I'll swap out those points for something else in the future.

- My Aggressor build is what I would call a "fail-safe damage" build. I think IG88C has one of the best abilities - my first opponent used boost/free evade on both Aggressors almost every round, and coupled with his Stealth device, damaging his IG88s was maddening - but I opted for an offensive approach instead. I could use my action for focus or evade, then if my first attack roll failed, I would get a second attack with Mangler cannon. If I rolled bad with that, I could cancel the roll and take the 2 hits from Accuracy Corrector. In this sense it worked well, but the Aggressor is fragile or a large ship and I think it needs an extra defensive upgrade to survive.

- Lastly, I had one game where N'Dru Suhlak was able to flank and use his ability with some success, but in general I wound up too close to friendly ships and never had any success with the Hot Shot Blaster. I did get to use a 5-dice Concussion Missile to wreck Darth Vader, which was satisfying... but the Hot Shot is another 3 points that could likely be allocated better.

- Reminder: Kavil is awesome.

Tournament #3

(If it's TL;DR, just check my squad out in the link and then skip to the "Takeaways" section, and maybe look at the Results of each round).

Hey all,

BatRep from the April tourney I took part in. As has been standard for this location, they have been holding 150-point matches with store-credit prizes since FF prizes haven't been received by the store yet.

It was a small gathering this time sadly, with only 4 players. We all faced each other over the 3 rounds. Here's the squad I fielded: http://xwing-builder...1/150-pt-5-ship

Fun fact: We played on a new mat the TO purchased - it looks kind of odd/colorless/obnoxious at first, and I was not interested in it when I saw it online awhile back, but playing on it was actually not distracting at all. On top of that, the TO also got the physical asteroids which were attached to bases by metal pegs. The bases matched the asteroid tokens, so you could place the tokens then place the asteroid right on top of the token by matching up the appropriate base. They were.....very intimidating to see on the board, but VERY cool. They were made of actual pumice, or volcanic rock it seemed.

I'll briefly describe each of my competitors and how the match went:

Battle #1

Opponent used a Rebel squad of Corran Horn, Jan Ors, Biggs, and Nera Dantels, all heavily upgraded save for Biggs, who ran barebone. He usually flies Imperial, so he had a lack of experience with his ships. Right off the bat, I went after Nera with Boba, Guri, and Kavil because he had 2 Adv. Proton Torps on Nera. I made sure to make quick work of him before he got into range and got the torps off. After that, I ripped up Biggs pretty easily and ended up chasing down Jan Ors with Guri. My other ships tried to bring down Corran, but couldn't quite finish him off before time expired.

Result: WIN (Timeout)

- 3/4 enemy ships destroyed

- 0/5 ships lost

Battle #2

Opponent used a Scum squad with double Aggressors (C + D), Kavil, and Serissu. He is not a particularly great player, so he made several maneuvering errors, and his upgrades were not exactly what I would call "optimal." He did wisely have Stealth Device on both Aggressors, but when you're flying into asteroids and other ships, the boost + evade + 4 green combo kinda falls apart. The one that really pained me: He took Kavil and put BTL-4A on him, along with R4-B11 for his droid with Blaster Turret. That ship was just a mess. I basically worked him over with Boba and Guri at close range, while Kavil did his part blasting everyone with 4 dice + Marksmanship, and refreshing each turn with 3 speed moves. My Cartel Spacer also kept himself out of dangerous spots while "Mangling" everyone from afar, to a decent effect. I wiped out the fragile Serissu and the derpy Kavil quickly, then chased down the Aggressors without much trouble.

Result: WIN (Total victory)

- 4/4 enemy ships destroyed

- 0/5 ships lost

Battle #3

Opponent used a 6-ship Imperial squad of Mauler, Howlrunner, Backstabber, Turr Phenir, Carnor Jax, and Vader. He was already out of the standings by Round 3, and seemed frustrated... not to mention he plays very aggressive/fast especially with Imp ships. Knowing this, I moved a couple of my ships into range of his Speed 5 + Boosted Interceptors on Turn 1, and tore them up with good rolls right off the bat. After that, it took about 2 turns to simply bully my way through his Fighters with my superior health and guns, and he rage-quit before I could kill his Vader.

Result: WIN (Total victory)

- 6/6 enemy ships destroyed

- 0/5 ships lost

Takeaways

So if you're keeping score, I lost exactly 0 ships. Total.

Part of me wants to say it was somewhat weak competition - all due respect to these guys as I've lost to them before. Opponent 1 had no Rebel experience, Opponent 2 doesn't fly particularly well especially with big ships, and Opponent 3 had already mailed it in. However, I also beat my brother in a test match the night before without losing a ship.

Here's what I think worked well - to give myself some credit:

- (*Primary takeaway*) I took ships that were all self-sufficient to some extent, and basically relied on some simple synergy between the pilots and their upgrades. I often get caught up in trying to build the "perfect-synergy" squad, and then you realize how hard it is in reality to get all the pieces to come together to make that perfect squad work. Going overboard with how pilots will support each other, etc. often leads me down a dark path. Instead, I took a squad with a healthy balance of attack, defense, health, and maneuvering options. The Z-95 and M3-A were meant to be a nuisance but not worth wasting attacks on, while Kavil and Guri were meant to provide self-sufficient attack platforms that could take a hit or two if they got caught in a bad spot. Boba was meant to charge in and wreak havoc while re-rolling dice like mad thanks to Predator and pilot skill, while 2 focuses were in reserve to flip those Focus rerolls to hits or evades.

- I remembered to use skills and upgrades for the most part. I forgot Guri's a few times, but I focused on using Boba's skill, and it was truly outstanding coupled with Recon Specialist and Predator. On that note: Boba did NOT need Engine Upgrade to situate himself near enemies and get use of his skill. He moves well enough to do it on his own, and keeping him un-stressed made a big difference, as opposed to taking Push the Limit or Stay on Target or some such. It's not an easy ship to de-stress in a busy 150-pt. match.

- I maneuvered well in general, and chose my actions and upgrade options tactfully. Inertial Dampeners worked like magic with both Boba and Guri. Guri's Dampener let me camp in a perfect spot to Range 1 somebody, while still getting Focus via her ability, and a target lock from FCS.

- Part of me thinks I rolled particularly well, but I also realize that I put myself in situations that allowed me to roll - or reroll, well. Lots of Range 1 maneuvering, Boba skill, Guri skill/upgrade combos, Kavil having a wide range of maneuvering options to de-stress and focus/Marks, and not doing anything rash with the Z or M3-A. Overall it was a heck of a fun run, and I'm trying to soak it in as I'm sure I'll never put up another showing like this again!

*I'm done recording battle "numbers," since I've played many more battles than are recorded but only plan to give BatReps for specific battles such as test runs for competition-level squads or battles with note-worthy occurrences.

5/4/15 "May the 4th Obligatory Battle" AKA Competitive Squad Test Run

Had to do something to celebrate Star Wars Day, so I convinced my girlfriend to play a match with me. I hastily constructed an Imperial squad for her... meanwhile, my squad was designed with extensive planning with the intent of being a competitive, tournament-quality build, so in that regard I probably had an unfair advantage. I also have way more experience, so that's a double handicap... but anyway, this is less about the win/loss and more about testing my squad's viability.

8/8/2015 Tourney Results

Long story short, I ran this list: http://xwing-builder.co.uk/view/242894/scummin-and-bummin

I won the first game against the TO's 8 year old son quite easily, not that I'm proud of that. I had to remind him of his actions and abilities every turn.

The second game was the worst. I played a rookie player, but a veteran of card games (and the U.S. Army, as it were). His buddy helped him craft a list of ultra durable 1300 and 2400s. Leebo and Chewie, with RecSpec/Jan Ors for a focus/evade on the 2400, and C-3P0 on Chewie. It was going okay until the first hull damage of the day for me was "Ignore pilot ability and EPTs" on Boba. The rest of the game was a joke, as my backbone was rendered useless just like that. Didn't stop him from putting Skill 0 and a Direct Hit on Kavil in the meantime. Worst crit cards I could possibly draw.

The third game I played against a veteran player who used Dash/Corran (for the first time, but he knew what to do). I truly believe I would have won if I hadn't boosted Kavil on the first turn. But I did, and Corran double-tapped him and Dash hit him as well, killing Kavil on Turn 1. It was suddenly a 70-to-100 point game off the bat. I got Dash to 2 hull but that's all I could muster.

It was unfortunate that I got some terrible crits and played stupidly in the third game, but it was a new experience for me to play in an actual competitive 100-point tournament against meta/solid lists. With that first one out of the way, I look forward to next month and I really do think I have the skill to hang with the competitive players in my area.