UK South East Qualifier for the European Team Championship – A Swedish Perspective
So, going to London with work for a week was quite nice. Staying a day extra to play some X-Wing was even nicer.
During the week I stopped by over at Dark-Sphere to say hi to the 186th and play two games against Mike Dennis. As I show up they have set up our table to record the games so I can do battle reports on them for my Youtube channel (look for those in the near future),
Some testing of our lists before the Saturday’s tournament was nice.
I’m flying:
Darth Vader with Veteran Instincts, TIE X1 title, Advanced Targeting Computer, and Engine Upgrade
Soontir Fel with Push the Limit, Autothrusters, Royal Guard title, and Stealth
Wampa
Black Squadron Pilot with Crack Shot
On the day we show up a bit early at the War-Boar and register and chat a bit as Andrew Pattison (the TO) gets things set-up.
Game 1
In my first game I am paired up with Andrew Carter who flew:
Poe Dameron with R5-P9 and Weapons Guidance
Red Ace with R2-D2
2x Prototype Pilot with Chardaan Refits
Two T-70 X-Wings with regeneration and two PS1 blockers. OK, priority one, don’t get Fel and Vader blocked while using my PS4 TIEs to block his X-Wings. No actions on Poe meant no regeneration and blocking the greens for Red Ace is doable.
As he runs his A-Wings in I meet him with my TIEs, creating a cluster where his X-Wings either need to disengage or bump to have shot at Fel or Vader who I kept back and to the sides.
I first focus fire on Red Ace and then on Poe and once they are gone the A-Wings have no chance.
Result: 100-35
Game 2
Next up is the only other Swedish player in the 50 strong field… Jesper Hills, the current UK National Champion. He is flying:
Soontir Fel with Push the Limit, Autothrusters, Royal Guard title, and Stealth
Zeta Leader with Veteran Instincts
Omega Leader with Juke and Comm Relay
Epsilon Ace
This squad scares me. It has two PS9 aces, one ship hat moves at PS12, and Omega Leader who shuts down Soontir’s survivability.
We are both at 99 points and luckily I win the roll-off and give him initiative so my Fel can move after his Fel and Zeta Leader.
He divides his squad in three elements. Fell and Zeta Leader heads towards my squad, Epsilon Leader (at PS12) moves to flank while he keeps Omega Leader back to target my Soontir as I move him in to engage.
I mark Zeta Leader (the TIE/FO that can roll three red dice if it takes a stress) as my primary target and engages him with Fell and Vader in the first pass, holding Wampa and Black Sqd. Back to engage Omega Leader together with Vader as the enemy TIE will undoubtedly go for Fell.
The initial engagement goes as excpected in that I take out Zeta Leader while Omega Leader goes for Soontir. Luckily Soontir survives with one hull point remaining as I turn all my ships on Omega Leader.
Meanwhile my Vader is taken down to his last Hull by Jesper’s Fel and Epsilon Ace.
Next on my list of targets is Epsilon Ace and in exchange both Wampa and the Black Squadron Pilot goes up in flames.
As time is called I have my Fel and Vader, both at one hull point, against Jesper’s untouched Fel.
Result: 64-29
Game 3
In the third game I’m up against Rob Kane and his:
Soontir Fel with Push the Limit, Autothrusters, Royal Guard title, and Hull Upgrade
Howlrunner
3x Black Squadron Pilot with Crack Shot
We set up in diagonal corners and maneuver up on opposite sides of the board to then turn into the center. I manage to have the engagement happen with a big asteroid on the side of his squad to which he needs to turn to go after me once the initial engagement is over.
Vader and Fel manages to take one Black Squadron off before it shoots and then the war of attrition favours me with two aces shooting before his TIEs every round as he needs to keep his Soontir safe, moving before both my aces.
I end up trading Wampa and the Black Squadron Pilot for all his TIE fighters and in the end game his Soontir simply can’t get shots on my Fel or Vader. Unfortunately I couldn’t land enough hits on him.
Result: 65-29
Game 4
So far so good. In the fourth round I’m paired up with Mike Dennis, the lovely bloke who ousted me in the elimination rounds in the Nordics. After our test games at Dark-Sphere the Thursday before he decided to bring:
Darth Vader with Veteran Instincts, TIE X1 title, Advanced Targeting Computer, and Engine Upgrade
Soontir Fel with Push the Limit and Autothrusters
Cpt. Yorr with Emperor Palpatine
I win the initiative roll and let Mike go first. The plan is to take out Yorr first to make sure I can then push my damage through on his aces.
Some fancy manoeuvring sets up a nice round of firing where I can concentrate all my ships shots at the Lambda shuttle. Unfortunately one of my TIEs is destroyed before it can shoot and the damage I do is not enough. Then Mike traps my Fel and with no actions he goes down hard.
All I can do now is try to get at least half-points for the shuttle before Mike wipes me out.
Result: 16-100
Game 5
So with one defeat I am now paired against Pete Wood and his Rebel list:
Poe Dameron with Veteran Instincts, R2-D2, and Autothrusters
Miranda Doni with Twin laser Turret
Gold Squadron Pilot with R3-A2, BTL-A4, twin Laser Turret
Now, this list has no obvious primary target. Both Miranda and Poe can regenerate so if I go for either of them I need to keep going until it’s dead. The Y-Wing is a real ace-killer and can lock down both Vader and Fel if I am not careful.
He sets up Poe and the Y-Wing in his left corner and Miranda in the centre of the board, in a nice flanking position if I go for either the Y or Poe.
I place my ships on a line in between his ships so I can go either way, depending on what ship presents itself as the best target.
He moves slowly with Poe and the Y while going slightly faster with Miranda. In the turn I need to commit I send all my ships for Miranda and as he keep going 1 forward with his other ships I remove Miranda’s shields and eat into her hull for almost no damage back.
Pete now has a difficult decision, he can turn away with Miranda but then I can potentially give chase and again have all my ships shooting her. The other option is going past my TIEs but risk having both Vader and Fel at range 1 and both of them shooting before her means she might die before she can shoot.
I decide to give chase with my TIEs and move Fel and Vader so if Miranda overshoots my TIEs they will still catch her and if she tries to run they can still catch her with boosts.
In the end he turns Miranda away and all my ships again have her in arcs and light her up. One enemy down before the other Rebel ships even have joined the fight!
Now comes the crucial part of dealing with the Y-Wing. One round at long range takes away a shield and then as I move in with all my ships I bring it down to its last hull point with a crit, which is a ”Blinded Pilot” crit. Next turn Vader takes it out and in the end-game Poe manages to punch the last damage through on Vader before he dies.
Result: 100-35
Game 6
Time for the final round and a game against Grant Heywood who is 4-1 with:
Colonel Vessery with Heavy Laser Cannon, Lone Wolf, and TIE Mk.II
2x Epsilon TIE/FOs
2x Academy TIEs
Vessery is what is scarry in this game, and losing actions due to blocking from his PS1 ships. To make it harder on him I decide to bring Vader and my two TIEs staright at his TIEs while Fel flanks to draw Vessery’s attention.
Grant splits one TIE of from his main group to help Vessery with Fel.
Vader and my TIEs take down one of the opposing TIEs and then a game of manoeuvering begins. We both manoeuvre for maximum protection and for very long no ship goes of the board. Then I decide to make a run for Vessery with both Fel and Vader and manages to take him down. Now Fel and Vader, who has one Hull left, has to deal with his two TIE/FOs. With time running down I try to get Vader out of range from the only TIE/FO that’s got a shot at him. As time is called the last shooting phase reveals Vader just in range by a hair and the single hit the TIE/FO scores goes through and Vader goes down in flames.
Result: 69-64
As the result is revealed, I end up taking the sixth place with my 5-1 record; resulting in an alternate art Gunner, an acrylic range ruler and Conner Net token from CogoTwo.
It was a great tournament. Thank you so much to War-Boar and Andrew Pattison for an excellent run event!