Well, I did say that I wanted to update this before Monday, and here we go! So, update time, even if it's honestly not much.

B-wings: Lost Gold Squadron

Alternate Angle: Engines

Alternate Angle: Front

Painter's note: Dull, but traditional, and an excuse to paint more yellow. Oh, and those wavy lines on the lower hull? That's as close to freehand as I can get.

Codex: Lost Gold

Cursed Flight

Codex: Cursed Flight

Author's Note: I finally came up with something for those extra A-wings.

Mines/Defence Platforms

Alternate Angle Starfield

Builder's note: I like 3D terrain features that you can plop over objective markers. I had these laying around so I figured 'meh, why not?' Ssemi newish defences and 12 yyear old BFG terrain, 'tis a fun mix. I wonder if I should update my asteroid field.

...

Well that's it for now. Like always, I haven't a clue when the next painting update will come, but I am working on a little bit of something related at least. We'll see how it goes, no promises on anything.

Loving the star field bits and pieces. Where are the mines from?

Always great to see updates to this thread.

Made 'em. Thankfully I might have built them some time ago, but I didn't primer them. Each one is the same:

• Q-tip's plastic tubing
• The cap from a superglue lid (the bottom section)
• A plastic bead of some kind for the ridged main body
• A small screw for the top.
• A 'sensor' mast from one of the spare Battlefleet Gothic parts that I had, though even a paperclip or two will work quite well. (screws are slotted, glue it inside and it works all well and good)

My only recommendation if anyone out there is going to try something like it: get a plastic screws/anchors for the top they re top heavy, and yet still stable enough on a 25mm/~1” flimsy plastic base (the plastic is just from the front of a fighter box, so that really is an indication of its strength).

Gah, I have one more update but I should really wait for a bit before posting it, or else we're going into a lull season until Wave II, or until I crack and buy an assault frigate or second gladiator to cut up, maybe some Imperial Squadrons... something.

Having just painted up my own rebel models, I have to say your work is fantastic.

In particular, your X Wings are phenomenal, as, anyone who has tried painting them can tell you, the X wings are by far and away the worst cast.

I still can't get over how amazing these look. You have inspired me to work on some lore for my fleets. Thanks for sharing Vykes.

Thanks a ton Rocmistro, mate. I do appreciate it. H'oh man, don't I know it. Those x-wings they really are the worst sculpt of the lot from cleaning to painting. Whatever plastic FFG is using it almost has that horrid static cling when trying to clean off any mold lines, ill-aligned parts on the wings, almost no real indication of what the canopy space is on the sides, it really is a nightmare. Those A-wings and B-wings are fun to paint, Y-wings are easy to paint, but X-wings are an absolutely pain. Hmm, got any pictures of your squadrons, mate? I'm always interested in seeing what people come up with.

Thanks a ton Chancellor, it does mean a lot to me and I'm glad I could be of some inspiration. Lore and personalization has always been one of those things that I like putting emphasis on because it does get people more involved. It really does add a lot of flavour and individuality which I think are important elements of anything creative. Plus, it's always fun to share and get new ideas, so it adds to that sense of growth in a fleet long after you've put the brush down

I've done a lot of these things before, but usually from scratch and always traditional ground-based cartography. This was interesting using so many different NASA sources. Anyway:

Map:

Rebel Briefing: Operational Changes

The lights dimmed in the Pel Mondarr' s auditorium, and with them faded the last trailing notes of already muted conversations. More than three dozen officers and command staff packed in to the frigate's overcrowded theatre, camped around a wide holographic projector and a still vacant podium.

But at long last, Commodore Lylent emerged from the adjacent annex. The Lion's of Korrell' s fleet officer cut an ostentatious figure as he crossed over to the raised dais. Everything from his glossy patent leather boots and frogged regimental jacket, to the glittering silver scabbard held by the medallion bedecked sash, was arrayed with meticulous care. The commodore peered down his aquiline nose at the congregation of sell-swords, Alliance starfighter aces, and bounty hunters. He began only after the holographic projector had completed rendering a crisp likeness of the entire subsector behind him.

“ Officers of the Lions of Korrell , welcome. This may be the first that many of you have met each other face to face, but that doesn't mean we are strangers. Let me be frank and let me be clear: we are at a critical crossroads in our operations against the Empire. We have allies that are ready to pledge support to our cause; however, in many cases we need to show them that their overt support will not be tantamount to suicide. For that, we need to mount a significant successful operation to prove our capabilities beyond a shadow of a doubt. Captain Thorn, if you would.” He gestured out into the dark sea of faces.

The figure that emerged from the anonymous mass didn't have Lylent's poise, or his demeanour, or even a sliver of his confidence. She was barely five feet tall, hair severely tied back in a series of braids, swarthy complexion barely reflecting the light. The unassuming tawny flight suit had only a single red patch on its shoulder, the mark of an Alliance officer.

She finally glanced up at the shrouded assembly of captains and their staff while clearing her throat. The mousy woman began as if already in full swing, “The Empire is at a tipping point but our own situation could be vastly improved. Our fighters are consistently running into the lower limits of the acceptable range for munitions, fuel, refits, and replacement parts. Meanwhile, the Imperial fleets have been massing reinforcements in our previously neglected corner of the sector.”

The bookish girl pointed to the holographic map. All over the projected subsector, a complex weave of arrows emerged linking each system to the next along the hyperspace routes. Two new windows appeared next to each point of interest, displaying streams of numbers that tumbled down like a waterfall. The readouts moved faster than the human eye could see, but it was readily apparent that the numbers were steadily increasing.

“ Imperial resolve isn't measured in the number of star destroyers and cruisers moored in their dockyards. Rather, it's measured by the amount of materiel that they're willing to divert from other theatres of operation. A star destroyer can disappear overnight, seven-hundred thirty thousand tonnes of new military grade supplies, cannot. Therefore, we can deduce that they are planning a major retasking of forces at the sector level. This is something we may not be able to contain for much longer without significant outside support.”

There was a less than comfortable pause as the lights flared back to life. It left the officers and their assorted staffs blinking back spots, but Thorn herself seemed unphased.

“ Intercepted communiques reveal that the Empire is planning to dispatch between two and six Imperial-class Star Destroyers, which may arrive as early as thirty days from now. The ISD Shining Waters and the ISD Iron Dragon have been spotted at the Skynere shipyards. Their crews have new uniforms with fleet patches matching that of the Event Horizon battlegroup. A battlegroup that we know contains the SSD Event Horizon, and is currently orbiting the sector capital in the Alzoc system. This is the beginning of deployments in the region, not the end. Our window of opportunity is closing. Commodore.”

She bowed then ceded the podium to the more flamboyant commander. The scarred man nodded once and ascended the steps. There was a momentary gleam to his eyes, though a scowl crossed his lips.

“ I propose the implementation of Operation Deathknell. Its aim is to degrade the Imperial Navy's current supply buildup and swing the balance of power back in our favour. For this to succeed, the first phase must be completed within one standard month. It has two primary goals” He tapped the podium and then absently flicked a wrist at the hologram, displaying several flashing red symbols in various systems.

“ A great deal of the pressure placed on the Imperial sector authorities comes from the Kolishna Mining Corporation based in Allutia, the Havashin family of Laven, and Fangdon Factory Works Incorporated centred around their complexes in the Scythe system. These are the political factors that control Port Eikron's primary economic interests. Without these, the peoples of the heavily populated Lentarra corridor have no work; no work means no food. No food means a dissatisfied and easily disgruntled population. “

He smiled and continued with a cheerful lilt, “Ladies and gentlemen. Our first objective is to attack the Imperial supply caches amassed at the military base of Fort Respite. We will eliminate most of their fuel supplies, munitions, replacement personnel, and other war materiel, thus depriving the Empire of the freedom of movement and their operational redundancies.”

Lylent continued, a certain predatory grin now entirely unrestrained as he gestured at a few glowing red marks, “The second objective is to strike at the industrial and civic infrastructure. Starfighters will begin targeting navigational buoys while our fleet cooperate with a number of sympathetic partners with the aim of applying significant pressure to the three star systems in question: Allutia, Laven, and the Scythe. The less these economic players press for Imperial assistant, the more we will de-escalate our attacks on their assets. It's simple game theory: who will crack first and realize that they can eliminate their rivals without lifting a finger. If proper control can be exerted, then we may see a secession of hostilities through all of Ceknell by the end of the season. For the time being, your new targets of opportunity include: bulk transport, mass conveyor, cruisers, fuel-transport craft, work ferry, system defence monitors, luxury liners, mineral purification ships-”

As the list of civilian and non-combatant targets grew, so did the number of officers nervously shifting in their seats or fidgeted with buckles and suit panels. Lylent blithely proceeded, “-emergency broadcast beacons, local picket vessels, and system patrol craft in addition to any and all Imperial military targets. High priority will be given to guild-charter craft and Imperial shuttles that may be transporting officers and staff.”

“ S-sir.” The second in command of Red Squadron raised his hand as if back in an academy, “Most of those targets are barely armed. And the others are for local protection against pirates. How will the civilian population react to us hounding soft-targets while letting pirates go unchecked?”

“ You aren't having doubts about our cause now, are you Lieutenant?” Lylent lofted a brow. “If you feel uncomfortable taking part in our endeavours, then by all means, do speak up. But let me put your mind at ease. The people will react by blaming their governors for their failure to provide adequate protection for themselves, their families, and their businesses. These same individuals will still require an alternate source of food, work and protection. And if it wasn't already clear Lieutenant, we are their only alternative. Of course, if the citizenry of Ceknell don't react rationally then they have themselves to blame for the consequences. I trust you'll agree.”

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Minor update and that's really about it for the foreseeable future (unless people wanted more written codex stuff, I'd have to actually hear something for that to happen though). I've done a lot of these things before, but usually from scratch and always traditional ground-based cartography. This was interesting using so many different NASA sources. Anyway:

Lol not sure if the cardinal directions mean anything in space, but I like the map!

I'm glad you decided to start your own thread mate, not for the 'hijacking' but because I think it deserves more exposure on its own than my somewhat neglected little corner of the now defunct painting section. It's seriously well done I'd have commented this morning but I just got home and English no workies, word choice... poor, syntaxly! (That is to say I was barely coherent )

I put most of the comments there, but I still adore those X-wings for the fact that I thought 'skull Squadron' right off. -sighs, not having watched Robotech in almost two decades- There's a really really cool Aliance 'Skull squadron' patch out there that would fit, too. It is a great job, and no worries, you didn't have to take 'em down at all.

As for you CenterPoint....true

This is relativistic map, let the astromech figure out the coordinates. Cardinal directions work when there's a point of reference and a prime meridian, and that's almost always the Galactic core. Thankfully, the Empire seems to use that Galactic relativistic thing, which makes it easy. Naturally, what isn't mentioned is how do they know which way is 'north' in the first place (who told them how to hold the bleedin' map?). I guess we'll go to the old fallback, “An Emperor did it.”

I was going to make the whole side a trumbledown info bar, but it looks too 40Kish so I scrapped it. I guess as long as it's clear which way is 'up' from the usual Star Wars maps, all's well and good. I wonder if it works because hyperspace routes are the only reasonable way to travel long distances and they're 2D-enough to work like a roadmap (I kinda have a feeling the nav-bouys work as both the dividing lines on a highway and the 'mile marker'.)

But you are quite right, CenterPoint. A true map of space wouldn't just need XYZ, but XYZn, where n is the calibration used in order to take into account spin and other astrological degradation from orbits to other cosmological disturbances. Meaning if we wanted a proper coordinate system, something like 1A1A-1A1A-d/m/y needs to be established and we'd have to know how to hold the map. The dual alpha numeric thing is nice as you can get into greater specifics by just elongating the pattern (11AA11AA-11AA11AA-d/m/y) which exponentially increases precision while ensuring that there's not too much confusion. Of course, even the basic octet coordinate system gives nearly 4.6 billion combinations without needing those extra bits (which push the number up to 20.1 'short' quintrillion combinations).

... I do love tumbledown info bars though, I just wonder how to make it look more Star Wars, less Fallout/40K.

(unless people wanted more written codex stuff, I'd have to actually hear something for that to happen though).

I'm certainly not going to say "Oh more, more!" and ask you to keep up the fluff just for me, because I know how time consuming it can be. I will simply say that I appreciate it, read every bit, look forward to more, and really dig what you've been doing here. Fantastic job, on ALL of it!

Thanks mate, I might put up a little bit then. I was just more or less worried people wouldn't take too kindly of it if I didn't have any new ships or squadrons to justify it. Admittedly, there not many people to disappoint but it's still no use in pushing it to the top of the list if it's unwelcome.

Many thanks again jme , I kinda needed that today.

I might see if I can write up a miniature battle report (and get some pictures if my opponents consent.. and I remember).

Thanks mate, I might put up a little bit then. I was just more or less worried people wouldn't take too kindly of it if I didn't have any new ships or squadrons to justify it. Admittedly, there not many people to disappoint but it's still no use in pushing it to the top of the list if it's unwelcome.

Many thanks again jme , I kinda needed that today.

I might see if I can write up a miniature battle report (and get some pictures if my opponents consent.. and I remember).

You might be surprised. Thanks Lyraeus. Again, that's part of the point in a way: if there's only written work and nothing painted for a bit, it feels like a partial betrayal of trust. Like FFG putting out Star Wars spoilers, only for it to turn out to be the card game (you might like it, but it's definitely different from Armada).

I have some plans for when Wave 2 has an official release date. Until then, it's a question of if I can pull the trigger on the CR90, knowing full well I won't be using it compared to the MC30.

Do written things! I live reading what you post about your fleets. It brings those models to life that a great paint job does not.

For you having the two undeniably intertwined makes them go from great to spectacular.

+1 for the fluff, it's very refreshing

I enjoy the storytelling, but don't force it.

Agreed, but if inspiration strikes, by all means share. Personally I loved reading about your little chunk of that galaxy far far away.

Wow, thanks mates. Didn't think it got that kind of a reception. Alright, no worry, no big aggressive story push, but you might get some now and then in this weird little inter-wave hiatus. Basically, if anything big that happens I'll try to put up (notably, if Operation Deathknell actually works and finishes the immediate campaign before wave 2 releases. It's possible).

Here's the closest thing I have to a 'preview'.

From an old 'unreleased' boring ol' Gladiator engine picture I toyed with in 'get better at photoshop' day.

Well, here's what we've got this week, it's an interim thing and not much more than something to stave off posting pangs. That said, it's no longer the only thing on the docket.

After Action Report: First Battle of the Convoate Belt

The Yenkurra patrol ship slipped into the asteroid field, its thruster banks glowing white hot in a desperate attempt to keep it ahead of its dogged pursuers. Two sleek renegade vessels ploughed the desolate wastes of the traverse, hot on its tail. The GSD Crassus stumbled into the renegade's net far too late for it to slink away unnoticed.

“ Have the Dagobah Tramp accelerate and keep track of that Gladiator. I don't want any surprises, Captain.” Commodore Lylent was answered by a quick affirmation by his underlings. Lylent rested an elbow on his command dais, looking out over the heads of the dozen officers and cadets on the bridge of the Pel Mondarr. He stroked the head of the vicious creature sitting by his feet. The womp rat gave a snarl of satisfaction, drool gliding from its toxic fangs and pooling by its master's feet.

“ Commodore, we have another signal on our long-range scanners!” One of the fresh-faced cadets shouted, looking up from a blinking panel. Lylent quirked a brow and scratched his cheek along the jagged white line that ran the length of his face.

“ What is it?” Lylent asked with a laborious sigh and slumped back in his throne-like seat.

“ One Victory-two class Star Destroyer. Its transponder is...” there was a short pause as the recruit waited for the identification, “It's the Vindictive , sir.”

The renegade leader hummed, “Vindictive. I'm not familiar with her.” It prompted no further response from the trainee.

“ Sensor officer, keep a track on this Vindictive . Tell me if she alters course.” Watching the forward view screen, the commodore lazily reached over to tap at the hololithic display runes on the armrest. It brought up a 3D image of their immediate surroundings. The triangle icon representing the Crassus began to yaw and slingshot around a much larger glyph. “Prep Dagger Squadron for launch.”

“ Aye-aye, sir!” affirmations rang through the brightly lit command deck as the sudden bustle of activity intensified. Orders were relayed and double checked, instrument panels retasked; the chirps of electronic displays echoed like a symphony on the bridge of the Pel Mondarr as the vessel slipped into the asteroid field's fringe.

“ Sir!” the sensor cadet chimed, “Another signal off to starboard, high. Transponder... Sparrowhawk, sir.”

Another red blip appeared on Lylent's display before he flicked the red to white with a twist of his wrist. “So it is, so it is. So that's where you've been hiding. Hmm, helmsmen: slow us to one-third power. Lets see what our.... laconic friends want.” He turned from watching the two Imperial ships and focused on the grey silhouette heedlessly crashing through the asteroid field.

“ Sir, Captain Rochet reports he's nearing the engagement envelop and wishes to disengage before-”

A sudden pained squeal silenced the sensor officer. The womp rat bucked and wriggled as Lylent's nails cut into its back. “Shhhhh.” The writhing beast settled down amid a panting whine before the commodore held up a hand. “I want to see what she does.”

Amid a few flashes of emerald-hued turbolaser fire obscured by the mire of cosmic debris, Commodore Lylent stared at the slowly intensifying dot that shone on the Sparrowhawk 's bow like a lantern in the night.

A bright orange and white flash was a momentary distraction, “Sir, the Dagobah Tramp -” the command glyphs flickered like a ripple across the whole bridge. The vermillion spark on the horizon flared, dancing dust motes racing racing around the infinitesimal light. A cascading hiss echoed from the external audio amps, a sound of disembodied steam and static.

Amidst a great blinding corona, asteroids were ripped away by a single powerful white beam. It lanced through the darkness, turning it as bright as a sun for a single moment, searing after images into the retinas of everyone on the Pel Mondarr's bridge. A massed groan arose from the command crew before the Nebulon-B's visual dampeners automatically dimmed the view ports as much as it could. The rasping static erupted into a howling scream.

“ Status?” Lylent blinked back the dots from his vision. There was no reply except the ringing in his ears. “Status?!” the man's fist thumped against the arm-rest of his command dais.

“ Sir....” The crew stared in rapt fascination as the ripple of explosions roiled out from where the Vindictive had been moments before. The incandescent inferno that raged among the stars was a testament to the devilish destruction wrought by the silent interloper. The younger sensor cadet looked up, eyes wide as saucers, “What was that?”

It received no reply for several long seconds. A crooked smile glided across the commodore's lips as he watched the expanding fireball, “I haven't a clue. But I'll be sure to ask Immule next time he rears his head.”

+++

Player's note: And that's why I didn't mind Opening Salvo with the Salvation/XI7 combination. It played reasonably, but with a 2 ship 'super upgrade' fleet, it felt like a foregone conclusion after the Sparrowhawk pasted the upgraded Victory (and there were 3 other ships, 2 Neb B 2 CR90 total. 1 CR90 did nothing and became something of a deployment drop). I think it was a 3 turn game, got in another non-campaign game after it which was a lot of fun and persuaded me about something...

Anyway, next time I'll hopefully get up an illustrated battle report with a bit more substance now that I transferred all the Armada resources to Battlechronicler. Not to mention some better picture stuff. It's still more 'I'm having fun figuring out how to do non cartographic things' than something serious.

First thing's first, small report thingie:

After Action Report: The K-Group Incident

++Begin Transcript: 14:03:10++

“ Bear in mind, everything you say may be entered into evidence in the event of an investigation by a future military tribunal. State your name and rank for the record.”

“ Arboe, Dachun D. Captain of the Victory Star Destroyer Pe -”

“ That's sufficient Captain Arboe. You were privy to the events which unfolded on the tenth of O'three-ten at the Ashwargo Kolishna refinery. Provide your report for the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order, regarding the events that transpired after the K-group Ashwargo distress call which activated the lead elements of the four-seven-seven fleet.”

++Hololithic projector initiated++

“ ...Fine. We dropped out of hyperspace after we got the word from local sources about something more than a raid on the Kolishna plant in Ashwargo. It took about two hours, but the admiral had put us on high alert. It didn't take us any more than five minutes for the Pegasus to come online and make the jump.”

“ Before the Dawnguard , is that correct?”

“ Yes. We had explicit orders by Fleet Captain Hackett, to maintain formation and not to alter course until the Dawnguard could fully translate from hyperspace and could issue additional orders.”

++Hololith projection 1++

“ Continue.”

“ As I said, we dropped out of hyperspace and arrived three clicks from A-plant. I ordered all-ahead full as soon as I spotted the pair of frigates closing in on plants B and C. There wasn't much we could do for E-plant.”

“ Why not, Captain Arboe?”

“ Their striker corvette had already launched a full spread of torpedoes. The whole refinery went up before we got the readouts from the sensor teams. I rolled the Pegasus on its axis so any long-range rockets or torpedos would get us rather than the refinery. I know how much of a fuss those Kolishna richers can kick up over their f-” [transcript expunged]

“ That last tirade will be stricken from the record. Remember Captain, you are on your honour as an Imperial officer so keep this civil. Now, what happened to Fleet Captain Hackett and the Dawnguard ?”

++Hololith projection 2++

“ Fine. The Dawnguard dropped out of Hyperspace. Hackett insisted that I pull alongside and to sweep around the enemy fleet, pinning them between us and the station defences. Of course, the station didn't have any defences that would bother a rust bucket of an Ugly, let alone a top end starfighter; and if Hackett thought that we could box in capital ships, he was delusional.

Anyway, their corvette was setting up for an attack run against D-plant, but their two frigates came straight at us with a whole wave of starfighters. So we launched the Lawbringers and the T ibanna Bats, and before you knew it we were trading long-range turbolaser fire. I don't know what they're using, but it's cutting through our shields like they were gelatin. The Pegasus lost a few bow plates, some sensors, things like that but no fatalities.”

“ And the Dawnguard ?”

++Hololith projection 3++

“ Hackett kept closing on that lead frigate, cutting hard and drifting towards one of the asteroid pens, or whatever it is they call those collection spots. Anyway, the frigate levelled a full salvo into him and tore the Dawnguard 's tower to pieces before firing its burners and rolling away from his forward guns. It couldn't have been any more than forty meters away from the Dawnguard.

There was vapour trails that didn't come from atmosphere, so adjutant Camlee suggested that it was coolant from a damaged reactor: we saw the ventral scarring. Some of those Lawbringers tried to intervene, bomber pilots facing down a frigate. You got to hand it to them, they knocked down the frigate's shields before some fruit flies jumped them. [Note. Ref #1400L, Common Ceknell parlance for A-wing starfighters]

I don't know if it was Hackett or some secondary gunnery officer but they opened up with everything they had: turbolasers, concussion missiles, heavy lasers, even a few of those rusted ion cannons. The frigate buckled and broke up but the Dawnguard overloaded after that. She became unresponsive, shield projectors went down, there was no response to our hail as she drifted towards the asteroid collection thing.

I ordered the Pegasus forward at maximum speed, trying to draw a bead on that corvette making a run on D-plant. We must have spooked them and they broke away from us after they tried to fire a full spread. They fired too close and the fuses never armed before they impacted against the plant's hull. The corvette swerved to avoid hitting the escort frigate and didn't come back, it just cut and ran.”

And you let them go. Once again Captain Arboe, what happened to the Dawnguard ?”

“ Planted itself into an asteroid. Look, I'd say 'talk to Captain Ozlanse' but that's going to be hard right now, isn't it? He's in the bacta, the fighter screen was shot to pieces and I ordered a recall under the suppression fire from our heavy guns. The Dawnguard is going to need a bit of work, but the rebel fighters that strafed it only did a bit of superficial damage. The drive core was already in shut-down after the gunners had their fun. The rebels only kept it there, shredded some of the couplings, sensor domes, exposed hangar bay, nothing structural.”

++Hololith projection 4++

A few of our pilots made it back and we shot down quite a few of those rebel flies at the same time. Then we turned to protect D-plant. When we turned, that frigate gave up and broke off its attack.

We spent a little while holding off their heavy bombers and a few crack strike fighters, but it was over. I dispatched our shuttles for pickup and evacuation of the Dawnguard and the two refineries, and tasked what TIE's we could to SAR.”

++Hololith projection 5++

“ You didn't dispatch stormtroopers to the refineries to secure them?”

“ The intact ones? No.”

“ And you didn't let Fleet Captain Hackett board the Pegasus immediately?”

“ Hmm, there's a captain that sure wasn't willing to go down with the ship.... no, I insisted on medically critical cases first, Hackett was given a communication suite so he could relay orders.”

“ He said you gave him a data slate and told him to write his complaints down while you did, and I quote, 'real work'.”

“ No comment.”

“ Miss Arboe, the record will show that you violated your commanding officer's orders on multiple occasions, which may have resulted in the destruction or decommission of one of his majesty's vessel. You are also responsible for the failure of the operations, which may have claimed the lives of up to six-hundred refinery workers with the Kolishna Mining Corporation, after your failing to intercept a renegade raid. This gross neglege-”

“ Wait just a damned second you political a-[transcript expunged]- and that's where you can cram your aspirations!”

“ You are hereby relieved of your command of the VSD Pegasus , which will be placed under the charge of a more able officer. Your adjutant will be seconded to the fleet captain for the duration of the deployment, until the sub-sector authorities can better place her. Your field demotion will take effect immediately and you will be remanded to the Prozerras prison colony on the second planet of Lan's Folly, to be made permanent pending the signature of Admiral Kassik. Good day, Miss Arboe.”

++Hololith projection 6++

+++End Transcript: Ref. 3565.81C, Lieutenant Arboe, Dachun D. +++

Player's note: while the game included a lot of hot dice rolling, the rebel fleet I'd say outplayed the Imperials (IE, me) but it had a few big errors which skewed the results (not the least of which was the speeds just not cooperating with the rebel player. But they're new so, yeah). Keep in mind, all pictures are merely representations, they aren't 100% accurate and I'm going by memory and a few light notes. I'll try to spice up and pretty up the pictures, and take better notes in the future.

On one hand, I wanted to get a chance to snap up 2 objectives then force the third as a 'do or die' scenario, any rebel ship that got that last 3 ^rd token would come under the front guns of a pair of VSD and anything hurtling in from the side still has to face off with fighters and the VSD's somewhat weaker broadsides. I let my opponent toy with the 'give' of the measuring gauge as much as they wanted, figuring it would give just a few often needed milimeters.... almost worked. The Metalhaus (CR90B) was out by no more than 2mm on a speed 4 manoeuvre. It tried to cut and arc back around, away from the VSD and fighters but it just made a turn and couldn't recover. It flew off the table and handed me its points.

The Dawnguard was a Dominator VSD I, like always, and thanks to its shield-eaters it tore apart the Redeemer ( Nebulon B ) but only after a bomber gave it a knock. That 1 damage made the difference, without it I'd have been looking at a far weaker Pegasus that might have been easy enough fodder for the rebels. Rebel wise, some good rolls chewed up my fighter screen, but good positioning had Luke and a B-wing Yavari-go-round my poor VSD I with Dodonna. Shield collapse critical from Luke in addition to 2 regular damage hurt, the B-wing did 3 more once the shield was down. Then it headbutted an asteroid after also landing on an objective token... so, yay. The hot rolls I had was end-game. That Luke/B-wing combination got tried against the Pegasus . Them an A-wing and Wedge all set up against it (I mentioned they murdered my poor TIEs, right?) Pegasus double arced a few of them for 2 turns (picture isn't accurate to that, I did my best to set that up in the game though), concentrated fire on some others, and in the end if finished off the A-wing, Luke, and took Wedge to 1 HP. My concentrate fire token reroll came up as a blank on Wedge and the game ended. Pegasus took 1 damage the whole game, Absalom (Yavaris) was holding though its shields were gone, everything else was gone.

Nominally, points were 195 for the rebels to 190 for the Empire. If the Metalhaus would have got the objective, it would have been a handy 75 extra points, but if that one concentrate fire token would have come up as a hit, then Wedge would be gone and the Imperials would be up 15 points. Of course, with the Ceknell rules it's moot: 'fly off the board' thing cuts down the points to 25%, so Rebels were at 195 and the Empire was at 150. The Imperials passed their secondary objective “Attention on Deck”, but so did the Rebels in keeping the Absalom alive with “A Face on the News” for a total Margin of Victory of 6-4 in favour of the Rebels.