Warboar Games/Paradice Gaming Cafe are in the unlikely position of technically being two stores, so they got to have a second Store Championship on Saturday 12th March! After having taken the plunge into my first tournament in the last one three weeks ago (see here for my report) wild horses couldn’t have kept me away. Once again I stumbled blearily to the bus stop clutching some spaceships, desperately hoping I hadn’t forgotten anything important. I’m not a morning person...
I was flying:
Darth Vader - Veteran Instincts, Tie X/1 Title, Advanced Targeting Computer, Engine Upgrade
Zeta Leader - Wired, Comm Relay
Bounty Hunter - Ion Cannon, Gunner
100pts
I learnt an awful lot at the first tournament, most important things being that my list wasn’t great and I wasn’t very good at flying it
I attempted to rectify this by going for things that I’d had a bit more practice with, including the big dark security blanket that is VI/EU Vader. He was my end-game piece, with Zeta adding some maneuverable red dice punch and the Bounty Hunter being my blocker and general nuisance. My big debate was over the Ion Cannon vs Proton Rockets on Vader, but in a couple of practice games the Ion was great fun and I like the way it prevents small ships from tanking one damage to deny Gunner, as everyone hates being ioned.
As far as flying goes, dithering cost me badly last time out. If nothing else I was determined not to die wondering this time, and had the general plan to fly the Firespray directly at the enemy as fast as possible and see how things shook out. My main aim was to do better than last time by winning at least 2 games - game on!
Game 1
Rexlar Brath - Marksmanship, Ion Cannon, Cluster Missiles
Omega Ace - Marksmanship, Shield Upgrade
Zeta Ace - Expert Handling, Shield Upgrade, Weapons Guidance
After the hassles of having to get up before lunchtime on a Saturday (the inhumanity!) all I wanted was to get on with things and start flying some spaceships. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite that simple, as my opponent arrived with what looked like his entire collection stuffed into boxes, and had to organise his list at the table. By the time we were eventually sorted out we were effectively playing a 60min match, as I’d watched matches start around me whilst I sipped tea and tried not to look too impatient.
As an regular Imperial player I thought I should beat this list, as it looked pretty non-optimal to me. I was tense the whole way through, as I was both fighting self-imposed pressure to win and I was conscious that I was playing the clock as well, but managed to take him down in the end for a 100-0 win. I don’t remember too much about the game to be honest, it was fairly straightforward and my dice didn’t let me down. My opponent was great to fly against, he was a lovely guy, he could just have done with a bit more prep before he arrived…
Blimey! One game and I’ve already equaled my record from last time. I was feeling pretty good about things going into round 2.
Game 2
Vader - VI, Engine Upgrade, Title, ATC
Fel - Autothrusters, PtL, Title, Stealth Device
Sigma Squadron Pilot - Stygium Particle Accelerator, Mara Jade
Arse… Another VI Vader was not what I wanted to see, as the double-action, last-acting big-helmeted Dark Lord is my insurance against being outflown. Luckily he was also at 100pts so we rolled for initiative... which I duly lost. This felt like it might be an uphill battle.
This was a proper dogfight, with hard maneuvering, last minute dodges, and a small miracle at the end. I managed to kill Fel and the Sigma for the loss of the Firespray, with my Vader on 1 hull point but his with a crit that meant i moved after him. Time was ticking and my opponent needed to kill my Vader for the modified win, whilst I was trying to catch his for the full win. I did my best to throw it all away by stupidly boosting my Vader into range 1 of his Vader with no shot for me (my arc-dodging definitely needs some work) after time had been called, but the Emperor smiled upon us both with his three hits being cancelled by my three natural evades, allowing me to escape with the modified win 65-41.
I was really happy with how this game went, other than the utter idiocy of my last-turn maneuver where I should have just turtled rather than trying to get out of arc. The ion cannon was proving it’s worth, allowing me to either ignore or heavily damage a ship every turn that it hit, and I felt I’d flown pretty well against what was a decent counter to my list.
2-0! I was up to 5th place in Swiss, which worried me slightly as it meant a trip to the top tables amongst the 186th Squadron guys, including the UK National Champion. At least I’d won two games, meaning that even if I blanked the rest I’d fulfilled my aim for the day.
Game 3
Lieutenant Blount - Cool Hand, Ion Pulse Missiles
Tycho Celchu - Veteran Instincts, A-wing Test Pilot, Push the Limit, Autothrusters, Proton Rockets
Ten Numb - Veteran Instincts, Mangler Cannon, Fire Control System, E/1, C-3PO
Ah, Game 3. Let us never speak of you again after this day….
I didn’t know what to do versus this list, having never faced anything much like it before. I realised that he was going to ion and then Procket something, so I resolved to try and at least make that the Firespray, hopefully leaving me with Vader to chase some other stuff around. As it happened I don’t think anything I could’ve done would have made any difference, as I experienced the most annoying dice so far in my fledgling X-Wing career. I consistently rolled one hit or one evade on three dice, after modification, and my opponent consistently rolled two hits/evades. I think at the end of the game I’d taken two shields from Ten and that was about it. 100-0 loss.
I don’t want to take anything away from my opponent, who was an absolute gent who flew a well-designed list very well, and it’s entirely possible he would just have out-flown me anyway. All the same, this was the single most frustrating game of X-Wing I’ve ever played, by quite some margin.
Game 4
Boba - VI, Glitterstim, Engine Upgrade, Tactician, Seismic Charge
Syndicate Thug - TLT, Unhinged Astromech
Syndicate Thug - TLT, Unhinged Astromech
I was annoyed by the last game, and resolved to do better in this one. Plus I was now 2-1 and the competitive nerd in me was thinking of a winning record for the day, so I really wanted this win.
This was my first game against Scum Boba, but as a committed Firespray pilot I know the dial and tricks so was pretty confident I could outfly him with Vader once I got to that point. With that in mind I aimed everything at the Y-Wings and just ignored Boba for the first few turns. The red dice that had abandoned me last match decided to turn up, and I melted both Ys in short order. Poor Boba didn’t stand much of a chance after that, and I killed him for the loss of my Firespray.
This one went perfectly, which cheered me up no end
I was now feeling pretty good, both about my list and my ability to fly it, and a 3-1 record was better than I had dared hope for. The next game was going to be pivotal, as I was back up to table 2 and, with a win, would have a shot at 5-1 which would definitely get me into top 8 (!).
Game 5
Omega Leader - Juke, Comm Relay
Howlrunner - Crackshot
Omega Squadron Pilot - Crackshot
Omega Squadron Pilot - Crackshot
Omega Squadron Pilot - Crackshot
This was going to be interesting. Definitely the most “Tier 1” list that I encountered, and something that’s proving pretty good at various SCs, as well as being the first time I’ve ever flown against Crackshot, Howlrunner, or more than four ships. I stuck the Firespray in my far left corner and, when he placed the crack mini-swarm opposite, decided to stick with what had brought me success so far by flying it straight into them as fast as possible. I placed Vader and Zeta in the middle of the board, more or less opposite Omega Leader, hoping to either isolate him with the two ships or go for a flank. In the initial couple of turns he played an obviously pre-planned opening where he refused the flank and sped Omega back into his corner to end up neatly behind the slowly advancing crackswarm. To my surprise he turned the swarm into the middle of the board, presumably thinking that he wouldn’t kill the Firespray in one turn, and this way he could turn on Vader next go. I took advantage of this by speeding Vader past and getting behind Omega, who then couldn’t TL because he need to take evades every go to avoid being killed. Zeta survived two crackshots somehow (range 3 helped!), and I used the Firespray to ion Holwrunner onto a rock.
This was undoubtedly my best flying of the day, and possibly my best flying ever. I had all three ships left, Howlie with one hull left and no actions or shots at range 1 of the Firespray, and Vader on Omega’s tail. I was already thinking about how to clear up the F/Os… and then Howlie didn’t die. Four dice with Gunner and Focus and I got one hit, after mods, each attack.
Bugger.
Howlie died next go but it was too late. Zeta died to the two remaining crackshots, leaving Vader to try and tank three F/Os plus Omega Leader, all of whom, had turned his way. I killed one F/O and another headed for the hills on one hull point, but the writing was on the wall and we ended with my Firespray trying to evade the Ties. It didn’t end well. 100-37 loss.
I may have been slightly obsessing over this game since the tourney, can you tell? Nevertheless, this was the game that filled me with confidence. I took my list to Table 2 and felt like it was at least competitive, and that I had a good chance of the win. Now I was 3-2 and determined to win my last game so I could get that winning record.
Game 6
Soontir Fel - Autothrusters, PtL, Title, Stealth Device
Carnor Jax - Autothrusters, PtL, Title, Stealth Device
Omega Leader - Juke, Comm Relay, Hull Upgrade
This game was a bit underwhelming all around, sadly. I really like my list against aces, as the combo of Vader and ion just causes major problems for them. Unfortunately my opponent’s dice were pretty shoddy all game, and he grew more and more frustrated with how probability was treating him. It didn’t help that, this being the sixth game, my concentration levels were slipping a bit. This led to me repeatedly announcing ion shots from the rear arc of the Firespray, which he had to pick me up on, and also I was a bit slow to announce a bump that was only out by a fraction, which I think may have given the impression that I was trying to get away with it. I wasn’t, obviously, but I definitely feel that an apology is due as I inadvertently did my best to convince him that not only were his dice cold but he was losing to a blithering idiot…
In the end Zeta just refused to die and spent much of the game on one hull, and to add insult to injury I shot Fel through a rock at range three to finish him off for the loss of the Firespray. 100-41 win.
A final record of 4-2! To say I was pleased would be an understatement. I hung around to see the cut and get my C-3PO, as there was an incredibly slim chance I’d make it. As it happened 7th-15th all finished on 4-2, but I had the worst MoV of all of them so finished 15th. This is why I’ve been obsessing over Howlrunner…
Still, I’d definitely count this as a success. I improved from 1-5 to 4-2 in three weeks, and feel like my list can certainly compete with most things. The ion cannon is worth it’s weight in gold, no matter what prevailing opinion says. Now I have to work on cracking top 8!
As always, huge thanks to Jason and the crew at Warboar Games/Paradice Gaming Cafe. The table service is just brilliant, as I require quite a lot of tea to function effectively, and they’d ironed out a lot of the delays that were evident in the first SC. It’s a great place to play a huge variety of games and if you can get to Bromley at all I highly recommend it. They have the X-Wing Regional there on 21st May, personally I can’t wait