Had a blast today despite getting smoked. Definitely needed more time to play and build a fleet, but life gets in the way. Of the three rounds, I played 2 (had a bye). The first game was nearly a complete route, but I took photos of the 2nd game of the day.

Setup was Advanced Gunnery. Opponent ran a two VSD setup and I ran a two Neb B Escort and one CR90 setup. We both had some fighters. I had the choice and opted for 2nd player.

Turn One- I used my Corvette as the bait ship. We really liked the one end of the board.

Turn Two- Opponent bit hard on the Corvette. All the fighters decided to get it on.

Turn Three- Fighters fought and the jets turned up on the Corvette. Realizing the Nebs would end up pretty darn worthless as I had them creeping expecting a fight.

Turn Four- I'm winning the fighter war, and everybody's ship is pretty much screwing around.

Turn Five and Six- forgot a photo at the end but it was over. I couldn't get the last TIE fighter following my Corvette. Came up one hit short. I won by 21 points: all in fighters.

I think you can guess why I didn't get specific on the builds... It was practically a non issue. If I was going to play again, I'd probably cut my fighters down and add a 2nd Corvette. I'm thinking two-three squads max.

That is a gorgeous playing surface.

That is a gorgeous playing surface.

A member here built that table. Don't know if you can see on it, but the set up lines are all marked, but subtly so it doesn't hurt the aesthetics. It's even more beautiful in person than it is in the pictures.

Come on in and take a bow, dude!

Stasy, you played well. A split in your first tournament is nothing to sneeze at. Every time you play you'll get better and better. You certainly "get" the game, and as you mentioned in the other thread, nothing replaces seat time.

You were a great addition to the tournament; hope you can come out to the next one in a couple months.

That is a gorgeous playing surface.

I will be here in the corner coveting that table.

I can send anyone who is interested a quick how-to on putting that table together (it does fold up completely), though I will warn that materials alone are around $200.

I don't need a table that good but I will take the list. I could maybe make one and sell it to a game store I know of

1) Started with this 6' folding table: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-6-Centerfold-Table-Multiple-Colors/33148258

2) Add 1 sheet of 1/2" (15/32") plywood (cheapest that seemed relatively flat) in 4'x8' and had Lowe's cut it into 2 sections each 4' by 3'1" (extra inch overhang on each far edge of table for mounting plexiglass later)

3) Spray paint outer visible edges of plywood with black spray paint

4) Use long (either 2" or 2 1/2" I think?) skinny (1/8" diameter) machine screws with a tapered head (for countersinking into plywood to get a smooth, flush surface to mount image)

5) Align plywood halves onto folding table so they are square with table fold line and align them to fit together along this folding edge

6) Drill several holes (I think I used 9 per side, 18 total, in a grid/square with 1 in the middle). This part is a little bit of trial and error due to the "bubbled" surface on the underside of the table. It kind of looks like an egg carton. You need to be sure that the protruding screws when inserted (after countersinking the top edge of the holes) stick out enough to get a washer and nut on them, but not so much that the table no longer folds nicely. They also need to be out of the way of where the legs fold up and into the table. Then fasten and tighten (without over-tightening) all the screws with washers and nuts on the underside.

7) Print out a full size copy of the image provided by member "theruleslawyer" in thread "Print 'n Play mat": http://i.imgur.com/l548ciL.jpg

I would recommend printing on semi-gloss paper (what I did) and not using matte paper (it comes out very "blurred" and streaked looking). Not sure of local print shop cost for this full size 3x6 print. Could be as low as $35, but likely more in the $80 range. I was able to do it for ink and paper cost (~$25) using a large printer I had access to.

8) Tricky part. VERY CAREFULLY cut the image perfectly in half using a razor blade/knife

9) Use double sided permanent tape to mount the image onto the two halves of plywood now attached to the table

10) Get a 3' x 6' sheet of clear plexi-glass/acrylic. Maybe your store can cut it in half for you, but at my Lowe's, it was too big to fit into their cutting jig, so I had to take it home and again VERY CAREFULLY use a carpenter's square to score a "perfect" centerline about 100 times (exaggerating, but take your time and do it a lot seriously) before "breaking" down the scored line to get 2 halves.

11) Mount the 2 halves of plexiglass to the table halves using 24 clear mirror mounting clips (12 per side) with the extra "spacer" for thin material. I utilized 4 along each edge (except the folding edge that meets in the middle), meeting at the corners. For the folding edge, I used a single piece of 2" wide fully transparent packaging tape stretched as taught and bubble free as possible (been ~2 months and still seems to be holding well, even with the humidity).

Voila and enjoy! Cost breakdown:

1) $40

2) $20

3) $5

4) $5

7) Varies (~$25 for me)

10) $65

11) $10

Total materials: ~$170 (plus up to $60 more for increased image print cost)

With advanced gunnery you could take down 1 of the VSD if your Nebulons made a turn towards it. Corvette probably could get behind it for a turn ot two also.

I grabbed my 1/2" birch sheet wood this morning. After I hit the gym, I'll be working on my table top. I was hoping to go MDF, but for a few bucks more and for the lightness of it, I'm hoping it's worth it.