So although I didn't finish super high, I thoroughly enjoyed my Gen Con tournament experience. There were a lot of great players and it was great to talk tactics and such between rounds!
I was running a Rebel list I'm calling "The Trident"
List: Rebels-296
CR90 B (39)
- General Dodonna (20)
- Dodonna's Pride (6)
Nebulon-B Support Refit (51)
- XI7 Turbolasers (6)
- Raymus Antilles (7)
- Salvation (7)
Nebulon-B Support Refit (51)
- XI7 Turbolasers (6)
- Redemption (8)
Nebulon-B Support Refit (51)
- XI7 Turbolasers (6)
2x A-wing (22)
Tycho Celchu A-wing (16)
Objectives: Most Wanted, Contested Outpost, Minefields
My goal with this fleet was to take first player and table my opponents, even with a possible bad objective selection I felt I could still table my opponent. My objectives were based around funneling my opponent into a certain spot where I could focus my frontal firepower to obliterate them. My three Nebs would start in a close formation; Salvation would be in the middle and Redemption would try to be placed on the side that was least dangerous. Dodonna's Pride would usually be placed first so I could see my opponent's general area before placing my Nebs. I would start at speed two and usually that meant turn 2 shots. I would plan either a Navigate or Engineering to save the token and concentrate fire from then on. Depending on who would be taking fire I would change that ship to engineering when needed. Dodonna's pride was very useful for controlling the activation game, especially if my opponent only had 2 ships. I would be careful with it, since with Dodonna aboard it is a juicy target, but it would usually be able to force a crit or two through a game. The Nebs just run right at their targets, and are usually able to obliterate them by the time they enter close-medium range. Don't be afraid to ram, but also make sure not to obstruct your own shots. Tycho and his companions are there to hold up Rhymer and other bomber threats, and they do their job remarkably well.
Round 1:
My opponent was a Rebel player with two Assault Frigates and he had 2 Y-wings, 4 A-wings and Luke. Dodonna was on his rear AF with expanded hangers and flight controllers, his lead had combat upgrades. I had lower bid and I chose for once to give up first player. This move (and one other) cost me the game, I deviated from my normal strategy since I though my numbers would keep me ahead in the activation game, but not going first cost me big. We played minefields and my setup gave a good idea of where my opponent would be. However I made my second mistake two turns into the game when I failed to start a turn against his frigates. He was able to out flank me and took down my entire fleet while I managed to only kill a single frigate and a few A-wings. 1-9 loss
Round 2:
Imperial opponent with a Demolisher with engine techs and expanded launchers, as well as a Vic-2 with Motti and various combat upgrades. His squadrons where 10 tie fighters. I had lower bid and chose to go first. I took Most Wanted from his objectives and he picked his flagship and my outside Neb. With initiative I was able to run my corvette into point blank range, do some damage, and force a crit through. The crit was where he took a damage every time he finished a maneuver if his dial was higher than speed 1. He ended up taking 3 damage from this during the game since he used engine techs once to get into range. My A-wings hid out in some debris and his ties tried to engage but couldn't do much damage. My Nebs moved towards his flagship and with Most Wanted and 3 Nebs it went down fast. it managed to take down Redemption and my corvette with a few enhanced armaments side volleys. His Demolisher was bringing both my remaining Nebs to low health, but with initiative I did the final damage to him before his activation which most likely would have finished me off. 9-1 win.
Round 3:
Imperial opponent with two Victory class star destroyers with Tarkin. This was my final match of the day and due to fatigue I'm forgetting most of his list. He had Rhymer, Fel, and Vader as well as a generic bomber. I can't remember his ship upgrades. I again had lower bid so I chose Contested outpost. A turn one Rhymer strike took down the shields on Salvation's front, but I was then able to tie Rhymer, Vader, and the bomber up without engaging Fel. He gained several victory tokens over the first few rounds until I closed distance. I destroyed his lead star destroyer and finished his second a few turns later. This cost me two of my Nebs and maybe my corvette as well. Final score 8-2 win.
Round 4:
Having ended in 17th place after the previous day I was hoping for a top 16, or if I was lucky, a top 8 finish. My opponent this round was an imperial with two Motti Vic-2s. He also had a Rhymer ball. I had lower bid so I chose Minefields. Due to that setup I started angled instead of straight forward.
The way his destroyers deployed allowed me to fire frontally at his rear ship, while taking side and rear shots at his fore ship.
His fore ship also hit a mine which due to Motti's death allowed me to finish it off shortly after. Tycho died, but he prevented Rhymer from doing anything and my other As killed two Ties. 10-0 Win.
Round 5:
After my three wins vs imperial opponents I was hoping for another similar matchup. I had reached table 3 and found my opponent was another rebel player with two assault frigates and a CR90 A plus Tycho and two A-wings. Garm Bel Iblis was the admiral and both Frigates had Enhanced armaments. One had Paragon, the other Gunnery team. I was disappointed, but hoped I could mend my earlier mistakes against this type of list. I had lower bid so I chose first player and Advanced Gunnery. He chose Paragon and I chose Salvation. His frigates were clearly going to try to flank around my side, and I made the mistake of turning a turn to late. This resulted in getting outflanked by the strafing guppies and losing Salvation. I was outflanked and had no way to take down a guppy so decided to cut my losses and disengage. However I lost another frigate before I could get out of range. Our squadrons traded. 1-9 loss.
After the last round loss I dropped to 15th place overall, and my final round opponent Bryan moved into 2nd place. I spend a good deal of time talk with him after our game, discussing tactics and how I could have played better. Much thanks to him for that and congrats on his finish!
I hope some of you find this an interesting read. I have audio interview from both Champion and Runner-up that I will post later this evening so stay tuned for those!
Edited by JJs Juggernaut