In the midst of the tournament season and cut-throat atmosphere of 100 point death matches it´s nice to have something more casual every now and then. We played a team epic game last night and it was really amazing experience, easily one of the best X-Wing games I ever played. I´ll let good captain Jonus to shed some light on the events (with some commentaries):

"To: Major Rhymer, Scimitar Squadron

From: Captain Jonus, Gamma Squadron

Subject: First combat experience in Gamma

Sir,

I hope everything is ok in good old Scimitar. My new (hopefully temporary) assignment as 2iC of Gamma has been rewarding, but I still miss the good times with the Scimitar crew. Yesterday I had my first combat experience with the Gamma boys when we were scrambled to intercept a Rebel convoy. I would like to share this with you, I included some of the flight tracking data also.

My flight was part of a special task group commanded by Colonel Jendon - a nice senior officer by the way, a test pilot also - and he tasked me to provide some heavy punch if we encounter heavier ships. I ordered armorers to load fairly standard loadout of proton torps and clusters, with the mandatory seismics, just in case. They have the same efficient practice of having the bombs onboard as we had in Scimitar. I kept my own machine light to concentrate on leading the other three.

Jendon assigned two Saber Interceptors to provide close cover for us. Those lads were particulary bloodthirsty even for Interceptor jockeys, I was not that happy with their fire discipline. I told my guys to keep some distance. The main fighter group was led by some younger colonel flying one of those new triple-wing TIEs. Looks like a beast, we´ll surely win this accursed war when we´ll have more of those. His wingmen were two Royal Guards, so the new fighter is probably still a prototype which must be protected. Fancy interceptors they had.

The bulk of the fighter force was from the Black, I have to admit that those guys are good. I think they were some kind of a select bunch, as their flying was so neat. Six of them, led by DS-61-3 and -4. You know those two, talented pilots.

As we took intercepting vector on the convoy Jendon gave us some data on the enemy. His shuttle was fully loaded with sensors and tracking systems - a nice thing to help us out with the missiles. A small enemy convoy, one medium transport, three light freighters (most likely some of those Corellian YTs), a small fighter group of flights of A, B and X and a yacht on top of everything - maybe some Rebel leader trying to escape.

We formed up line abreast, my bombers and interceptors taking the left, Jendon in the middle, the blacks and Royal Guards with the new ship (Defender?) on the right.

Imperial setup, turned out to be quite good

I was facing the medium transport, a freighter and two B-Wings. It looked like an easy job to torpedo the transport and let the Interceptors take care of the B´s.

Setup (save the As in the lower right corner which are not showing)

We closed in but it took some time to get proper locks on the transport. Col Jendon provided some assistance on that as his ship had more powerful sensors. When we got closer we realized that the transport had quite powerful jammers which made the flying difficult. Gamma 3 was in great difficulty to use his systems, but luckily Jendon´s crew help him out to lock the target. First torpedo took the shields down. Jendon himself was firing on a YT, which I think was the notorious Millenium Falcon, maybe flown by that renegade Lt. Solo or some of his criminal crewmembers.

My close cover was not that succesful, we lost one Interceptor to B-wings as he foolishly ventured too far. Like I told, there was something wrong with those guys. I have to admit that remaining pilot got his vengeance as he was firing like a madman on B´s and YT.

[stupid flying from my side, should have stayed further back]

The Blacks boldly engaged the Rebel X-Wing flight, but unfortunately it turned out to be an elite formation, not the usual scum they field. I think we´ve faced this so-called "Red Squadron" before, but certainly they had some talented pilots - probably traitors trained in the Academy. We took some casualties in the middle. Guards and Defender were battling with some A´s and surprisingly powerful YT. It could have been "Outrider", a known pirate vessel of one Dash Rendar.

[Rookie pilot in the middle was saved by range and some lucky rolls when fired on by almost every TIE. Vessery had a decent chance to one-shot an A-Wing, but I messed up colonels´ TL shenanigan when Jendon fired first and changed the TL.]

End of turn 1, some sporadic fire on the flanks and a loss of an Interceptor

We closed in to deliver a killing blow on the transport, but the cluster missiles were not working properly. Even with assistance of Jendon´s HLC we were able to do only superficial damage on the transport and it was still flying. I have to admit that I ordered one of my bombers to face flanking B-wings as the poor interceptor was grossly outnumbered.

Blacks were having a hard time in the middle, I think we lost two rather quickly. The rebels were tougher than we expected. I cannot say much about the Defender and the Guards, I was quite busy to direct my bombers and avoiding collision with the transport.

[Miserable rolling when firing secondaries. Jonus rerolls were not helping, but luckily the GR-75 took two Direct Hits. Should have gone down in that turn]

End of turn 2, the Rebels are gaining an upper hand as Imperial casualties are mounting. Vessery was down to one hull after the first shots.

To be continued...

I had to do some bold moves to dodge the transport AND to keep Jendon out of harm´s way at the same time. As you know, a moment´s loss of concentration and you fall from your battle plan. This time it meant that one of my boys was so jammed by the enemy that he panicked and dropped his Seismic. The blast hit his two wingmen, Jendon and it almost got me also. Luckily I know how to handle bombs. On the other hand, both of the enemy B-wings, YT and the transport were caught in the blast, and the already crippled transport fell to pieces! Long live the Emperor!

My escort Interceptor was trying to overload his guns or something, but he managed to blast one of the B´s to bits. The Blacks were recovering from the initial shock, and took out two X-Wings. I think the Royal Guards managed to destroy that strange yacht, apparently it was unarmed as no-one saw it fire. The Rebels are getting desperate if they try to use unarmed ships in a battle. Sometimes I feel little bit unconfortable when we destroy those unarmed transports or other ships, but as an Imperial officer I know our cause is just. And I´m quite sure that those Royal Guard pilots won´t lose their sleep either, if you catch my drift.

End of Turn 3, GR-75 down, as are Jendon, Biggs, Rookie, Jan Ors and a B-wing. The Empire Strikes Back!

Better hug Leebo!

We had to pay a heavy price for those victories. DS-61-4, a slippery veteran of countless battles disappeared in a ball of fire, and those piratical YT´s gunned down colonel´s shuttle. A tragic loss, but I hope that the search and rescue parties will find the shuttles escape pod. Men like colonel Jendon are truly giants among us lesser men.

Gamma 4 and 5 blasted killed B-wing with their Seismics, it always pays off to have those onboard. I directed my flight to the main fight to support our fighters. We still had some torpedos onboard, and those can do nasty damage on the freighters. It seemed like the freighters were trying to disengage and A-Wings to cover their retreat. X-Wings were taken care of, I personally fired on one with some special markings, perhaps a Rebel ace of some kind? Unfortunately I cannot solely claim the kill as there were other ships firing at him. In the fighting we lost a Royal Guard and also poor Gamma 4, who got blasted while pulling a Koiogran.

B-Wing bombed and shot to pieces

Wedge and Dark Curse go down

Bombers in pursuit, a Royal Guard dies (blocked by Jonus, so much for the co-op)

My bombers were locking on the remaining X, which was clearly retreating. But it is hard to retreat from a proton torpedo, and we shot him down. Royal Guard, Defender and DS-61-3 (he´s a real killer) were pursuing the YT´s and I took on the A-wings with the one Black. We did kill two of the A´s promptly, but the lone Saber was shot down by on the YT´s. Poor guy, he fought with fury and determination. The colonel´s Defender was also caught by turret crossfire and suddenly I was the ranking officer.

A-Wings are not match for the mighty bombers

The rebel were clearly retreating, so I decided to break off and not to pursuit. Some of the ships were reporting heavy damage, and my bombers were almost without torpedoes and missiles. But also all of the remaining Rebels were heavily damaged, so surely they were unable to continue their mission. We´ll get the next time, as the Galaxy might be wide, but there is no place to hide from the Emperor´s will.

All the best to you, sir, and send my regards to the Scimitar crews.

The fleets were as follows:

Empire 1 (myself)

Colonel Jendon (HLC, FCS, Weapons Engineer, ST-321, Fleet Officer)

Captain Jonus (Squad Leader)

2 x Gamma Squadron (Proton Torp, Cluster Missiles, Seismic)

Gamma Squadron (2 x Proton Torp, Seismic)

2 x Saber Squadron (Ruthlessness)

Empire 2

Colonel Vessery (HLC, outmaneuver)

2 x Royal Guard (PtL, title, SU, AT)

Backstabber

Dark Curse

4 x Black Squadron (VI)

Nice and orderly, PS 4 and 6 only. This is the Imperial Navy, not a rag-tag group of terrorists!

Rebel 1

Jan Ors (Decoy)

Chewbacca (VI, Gunner, C3-P0, MF)

Eaden Vrill (Recon)

2 x Blue (E2, Tactician)

GR-75 (Dutyfree, Frequency Jammer)

Rebel 2

Wedge

Garven Dreis

Biggs

Rookie Pilot

3 x Prototype Pilot (Chardaan refit)

Leebo (Determination, HLC, Ourider, Recon)

(Two of the X-Wings had Flechettes, but I don´t remember which. Never used.)

Nice and varied, fairly good firepower and annoying stress dealing.

The game was excellent, the tides of battle going back and forth. Unfortunately we could not really finish, when real world limitations stopped the battle. The Rebels had lead in points, but all the ships were shieldless and/or damaged, and they were likely to lose one or two in as many round. The remaining Imperials were in quite good shape, some of them still untouched like our correspondant Jonus. So it was kind of a draw which means there have to be a rematch!

As a format, I really like the Team Epic. The team play is an interesting element, and you can build very nice and thematic lists. And run ships/combinations rarely if ever seen in normal play.

I am really looking forward to reading your entire report. What an impressive way to share!

Fantastic stuff (and those paint jobs look even better on the game table than they do in the painting threads, somehow). Nice work, and it sounds like it was a fun back-and-forth game!

Very creative write up.

Wonderful write-up - an example of how battle reports should be written

Thanks for the feedback, I was planning to write the Jonus´ official after action report, but a personal letter to a former commander gave more leeway so to speak.

The lists and the outcome of the battle made a nice inspiration, and it was totally unplanned. Ok, in the lists I like to have some kind of context, that´s why I like Epic where you are able to field proper units (pairs, flights, even squadrons). This time rebels were using so many freighters so it was clearly a convoy of some sort.

The Rebels told that they had some pre-fight problems with personnel:

- Go tell that Ors girl that her ride is all set and loaded up as requested.

- But sir, I think she´s in Falcon already?

- Well get her out, somebody has to fly this piece of junk!

It´s easier in the Imperial Navy where pilots are pilots and not doubling as crewmembers

As losses on the right flank were severe and DS-61-3 is a man of few words, this supplement to AAR is rather out of character. Having everyone with PS 6 was nice setup-wise. In advance planning, it was estimated that there would several annoying PS 5 adversaries. Leebo was there but Chewbacca having VI was a nasty surprise and Etan did not show up.

The Riverdance formation – everyone abreast with 2 cm between bases – was not planned in advance but worked. The Empire having higher PS definitely had the deployment advantage.

Vessery and RGs took a slow start to avoid Leebo’s 5 die attack. Backstabber joined them. On the second turn Vessery missed having Leebo in the arc by a millimeter and the RGs both shot badly.

The Blacks tied down the Red Squadron, but were taking more damage than giving. However, after hugging Leebo, the right flank and also some of the bombers closed in on X-wings and only Garven escaped. RG #15 was heavily damaged.

Leebo had to change course to avoid the furball in the middle. Vessery and the RGs followed, I outflew the opponent and managed to remain in the donut hole. Vessery was actually flying alongside Leebo and shooting at Chewbacca. Backstabber joined the hunt.

If the dice were miserable in the beginning, at least my green dice picked up. Both Vessery and RG #15 clung to their last hit point, dodging everything for two turns. The opposing players were starting to lose their will to fight.

After three+ hours, I had lost Vessery, Dark Curse and two Blacks. In two extra rounds, I also lost one RG and another Black, so in the end I had approx. 60 points on the table, compared to approx. 80 points everyone else had. However, both Leebo and Chewbacca were down to two or three hit points, RG #14 had only lost its shield and Backstabber and Black #26 were undamaged.