Saturday 20th February saw the Warboar Store Championship in Bromley, with 56 entrants the largest SC to be held in the UK to date. What better place for me to try my luck at my first tournament? I’ve been playing for about six weeks but have gotten the bug and wanted to give some competitive play a try so I packed up my Imperial Firespray at some ungodly hour in the morning and struggled onto a bus for some spaceships.
I was flying:
Krassis Trellix - Heavy Laser Cannon, Tactician
Omega Leader - Juke, Comm Relay
Zeta Leader - Predator, Comm Relay, Stealth Device
The idea was to throw lots of red dice until things died. I realise Stealth Device would probably be better on Omega, but I wanted Zeta to live as long as possible. I was confident that it would be fun to fly for a bunch of games in a row, and there was nothing too complicated to remember.
Game 1
Han Solo - Millenium Falcon title, Veteran Instincts, Gunner, C3PO, Engine Upgrade
Poe Dameron - Autothrusters, R2-D2, Predator
First game and I know enough about my list to know that this is going to be an uphill battle. The EU means that getting Han in arc of the HLC is going to be tricky, and chasing him with the F/Os means they’re likely to be eaten before they can push enough damage through against C3PO.
Knowing this I aimed everything at Poe and managed to take him down, but for the loss of both F/Os. I then spent quite a while chasing the Falcon with Krassis, but only managed to whittle down the shields before finally being tabled.
100-40 loss
My first opponent was a gentleman getting back into the game after a hiatus of nearly three years, and was a pleasure to play with. We both appreciated the classic Firespray vs Falcon dogfight that closed out the game, and I felt pretty good about things despite the loss. First competitive game under my belt, what awaited me in game two?
Game 2
Bossk - Mangler Cannon, K4 Security Droid
Cartel Spacer - “Heavy Scyk” title, Heavy Laser Cannon
Cartel Spacer - “Heavy Scyk” title, Heavy Laser Cannon
Binyare Pirate
Three cannons, that’s what! Having never played against either a YV-666 or Scyks I wasn’t really sure what to do. My opponent Az deployed across his edge, and maneuvered to give him firing arcs that covered the width of the board. I deployed all three ships in a corner and, in retrospect, should’ve booked it up the side as fast as possible to isolate the end Syck and the Pirate before Bossk could get over there. In the end I dithered, and totally underestimated what a damage monster Bossk is. The Firespray died to mass cannon fire, the F/Os took out a Scyk but for the loss of Omega Leader and Bossk put an exclamation point on things by one-shotting Zeta Leader.
100-23 loss
I flew rubbish in this game and knew it immediately, really feeling my inexperience against Scum lists. Still, I learnt an awful lot and Az was another excellent opponent.
Game 3
Soontir Fel - Push the Limit, Autothrusters, Royal Guard Tie title, Stealth Device
Turr Phenir - Push the Limit, Autothrusters, Royal Guard Tie title, Stealth Device
Carnor Jax - Veteran Instincts, Hull Upgrade
Ah, the triple aces list, flown by Damien. I’ve never played against interceptors before, but had tried out a list with one for a couple of games so at least I wasn’t facing anything that was going to surprise me this time. I stuck to my corner deployment with Omega on the outside to try for a flank and Zeta on the inside of Krassis. The interceptors advanced and I jousted with Krassis whilst trying to keep them in arc of the F/Os. This was the one game where Tactician really helped, at one point allowing me to double stress Soontir, but I was unable to capitalise. I managed to take out both Turr and Carnor but for the loss of the F/Os, which meant I had to chase Soontir with the Firespray. Another incredibly fun dogfight ensued, as the end of the game approached I’d got Soontir down to one Hull but Krassis was in similarly bad shape. I threw caution to the wind and went for the shot but Soontir also had me in arc when time was called. His red dice were better than my green and Krassis left the table.
100-63 loss
Damien was another great opponent, also attending his first tournament. He wrote his thoughts on the tournament here.
Game 4
Commander Kenkirk - Expose, Ysanne Isard, Gunner, Darth Vader
Echo - Push the Limit, Advanced Cloaking Device, Rebel Captive
Back to new things with the first Decimator I’ve ever seen on the battlefield. I knew it would take a lot of killing but I had very little faith in my ability to predict Echo so decided to basically ignore her and concentrate on Kenkirk. My opponent helped in this regard by deploying the Decimator opposite my three ships and Echo in the other corner. This meant I managed to get some good damage through before the Phantom arrived, and thanks to my K turns and the ugly dial of the Decimator we ended up with everything in the corner I’d initially deployed in. Echo was feeling the pressure of multiple arcs and unfortunately left the board after an over-ambitious decloak and maneuver. This allowed me to chase down Kenkirk and finally put him away for the loss of Krassis.
100-45 win
My first competitive win! Obviously helped enormously by my opponents misplay, but things were looking pretty good for me at that point regardless, she was in arc of pretty much everything and the HLC and Zeta were piling the damage on the Decimator. This was probably my best flying of the day, and a list I felt was a good matchup for me.
Game 5
Keyan Farlander - Expert Handling, Heavy Laser Cannon, B-Wing/E2, Kyle Katarn
Blue Squadron Pilot - Heavy Laser Cannon, Fire Control system
Blue Squadron Pilot - Ion Cannon, Fire Control System
I’ve played a game or two against a B-Wing and felt like this was a winnable matchup as long as I kept out of the arcs of doom. However, in what was becoming a recurring feature I dithered and ended up retreating with Zeta when the B-wings turned towards him, rather than trying to accelerate past and draw their fire. This meant he wasn’t in the fight for a few turns, and my lack of focus fire meant that the Bs were able to wipe me out for the loss of the HLC Blue Squadron pilot.
100-31 loss
This was the game I was most disappointed with. I did most things wrong and fought most of the game with Zeta flying around pointlessly. Must do better next time...
Game 6
Kath Scarlet - Heavy Laser cannon, Ruthlessness, Gunner, Engine Upgrade
Echo - Mara Jade, Advanced Sensors,, Push the Limit, Advanced Cloaking Device
John was flying two exquisitely repainted ships that had been turning heads all day. My initial idea was to treat this exactly as I did the Decimator list earlier and ignore Echo whilst trying to kill Kath. Unfortunately the Engine Upgrade made it hard to get her in arc with Krassis, and I think fatigue was starting to takes its toll. It didn’t help that John was flying his Phantom well, and when I Iost Krassis to Echo and Kath killed Zeta the writing was on the wall. A comedy chase scene ensued as Omega Leader was pursued around the edge of the board, at one point surviving a roll of four natural hits with four natural evades (!) but the end was inevitable.
100-0 loss
Another great opponent to finish the day. John was an absolute pleasure, as were all of the guys around us. The bottom end of the tables was an incredibly friendly place, as we flew our suboptimal lists with a lot of laughter and chat.
So, I finish my first tournament 49th of 55, with a record of 1-5. I was happy with this, my main aim beforehand being to win a game, but I definitely feel as though I could’ve won more. My list was a lot of fun to play, the firespray seems decently maneuverable for a big ship and I remain convinced that the F/O has one of the best dials in the game. I found it hard to keep Krassis at optimal range and ended up with him in the mix most games, so I think I’ll save some points by dropping him down to a Bounty Hunter with Gunner. Likewise Omega Leader might be a superb end-game piece but I’m not good enough to get him there so I might use the saved points to swap him out for Carnor Jax to give me a better mid-game. Lots to think about anyway!
Huge thanks to Jason and all the crew at Warboar and Paradice Boardgame Cafe, not least to the cafe crew who kept caffeine and blood sugar levels up with table service all day. If anyone reading this is thinking of dipping their toes into the competitive scene I can only recommend it. I doubled the number of games I’ve played, saw loads of ships I’d never played against before, and now I can’t wait to do better next time 
