So I played in my first tournament this Sunday, it was a small one with just 8 players. I had a great time but unfortunately got my butt kicked! I was running:
Kath, K4, PTL, Engine
Torkil, Ion Turret
Palob, Ion Turret, Rec Spec
I had had several practice games with this list and it did well against elite ships which is mainly what I expected to see. Unfortunately it suffers from the fact that if Kath dies then it doesn't do much damage! Anyway, on to the matches.
Game 1 vs Matt
Soontir Fel, PTL, Autothrusters, Stealth Device, Title
Darth Vader, Predator, Title, Adv Targeting Comp
Juno Eclipse, VI, Title, Adv Targeting Comp
I lined up in the middle of the board, with Kath on the right and the HWKs on the left. He put all of his ships towards the tight hand corner. As I said before, my list had done well against elite ships so I was feeling confident going into this match. Way too confident as it turns out, because I flew terribly! I rocketed forward with everyone but the fastest the HWKs can go (and not be stressed) is a 3 forward, whereas Kath did a 4 forward and boosted. This left her pretty much on her own against all 3 of his ships. Very silly move. By the time the HWKs did arrive to help Kath was shields down and had taken 2 consecutive crits, both of which were Direct Hits. Kath got deleted soon after. The HWKs managed to finish off Vader (who Kath had softened up a bit) and Ioned Soontir facing the edge of the board. One more Ion would have flown him off but it was not to be. At the end of the game Soontir had 1 hull left and Juno was undamaged.
Lessons learned: Don't fly Kath alone into the face of 3 aces.
Game 2 vs Ben
Boba, VI, Engine, Inertial Dampeners, Proximity Mine, Tactician
IG-88C, VI, Advanced Sensors, HLC, Autothrusters, Inertial Dampeners
I lined up slightly to the left of center, he went into the left corner. I went forward more conservatively this time, whereas he slow rolled with his aggressor but zoomed forward with Boba. Round one combat saw Kath do 3 shields to Boba for nothing in return. Next round everyone moved up close to each other, managed to steal a token from IG and Ionised it. Kath also helped to strip the shields from IG completely. Boba dropped a Prox Mine on Palob, killing him. We both then tried to re-position but my opponent K turned over a rock and took a damage, then had to fly over it again the next turn for another damage. Ouch! Kath finished off IG and then her and Torkil ganged up on Boba.
Lesson learned: The potency of your ships' abilities increase dramatically if they all happen at once!
Game 3 vs Si
Biggs, Experimental Interface, R2-F2
Rebel Operative, Tactician, Ion Cannon
Gold Squadron, Ion Cannon
Gold Squadron, Ion Cannon
This was by far the strangest game of X Wing I have ever had. He had 3 Ion cannons and I had 2. There were usually 3/4 Ioned ships per turn so very few decisions needed to be made. We both set up in the middle opposite each other and both rolled towards one another. The key moment in this game came when I did a 1 forward with Kath and then tried to boost towards his ships. It didn't fit by literally 1 millimeter which left a stressed Kath facing the big asteroid in range 2 of 3 ion cannons. Oh dear. It took Kath 3 turns to fly completely over the rock and be able to shoot again. By this time I had killed Biggs but Kath was in a bad way. Biggs had put 2 consecutive crits on her, both of which were (again!) Direct Hits. I had shuffled my deck 3 times since this last happened! Sad face. Kath went down and that just left a huge Ion-off. As I said it was very strange as there were 5 ships left but usually only 1 or 2 dials needed to be set each turn. I managed to Ion off an almost full health Y-Wing which left his HWK and other Y both on 1 hull. Unfortunately, Palob had been killed by this point and Torkil had only 1 hull left too. Eventually my defense dice betrayed me and Torkil went down.
Lesson learned: Don't leave ships pointing at rocks when in range of Ion Cannons!
Game 4 vs Si (a different one)
Darth Vader, Title, Adv Targeting Comp
Juno Eclipse, Title, Adv Targeting Comp, Engine Upgrade, Proton Rockets, VI
Maarek Steele, Title, Adv targeting Comp, Calculation
(There must have been something else on here too but I forgot to write it down)
I was pretty terrified of this list after my first match today. My list just finds TIE Advanceds really hard work with all their movement and evades! Just stand still so I can shoot you! Anyway, started out conservatively again, my opponent gunned for Kath immediately so I knew I was in trouble. After a few turns he had a shieldless Juno in range 1 of Kath's rear cannon. I had a Target Lock and a focus, while he had Prockets. We both knew this would be painful but Torkil allowed me to shoot first! 5 dice into Juno, 1 hit 4 blanks. That's ok, I have a TL. 2 hits 4 blanks. He rolls 3 natural evades. His turn. 5 dice, 3 hits 2 crits. I roll blanks. what are the crits? 2 Direct Hits. Again. For the third time. I even gave my deck an extra special shuffle after last time. Now I am not one to blame dice (usually my poor flying is much more evident) but this exchange was just horrific. Kath comes off the board the next turn. My HWKs then try to at least kill of Juno before they die but another crit to Torkil lost him his Ion Cannon and that was pretty much it. My opponent was a lovely guy and had me laughing throughout the match, but I was feeling pretty glum since that was the last match of the day. When things go wrong through my own fault I can live with that, but when your luck is that poor and you can do nothing about it, it makes me a sad panda.
Lesson Learned: Fear the Prockets!
Overall, I had a fun day, despite the fact that I only won 1 game! I learnt a lot and will hopefully not make the same silly mistakes I made today again! Thanks to all my opponents who were all great guys. Back to the drawing board and will hopefully get you next time!
