I always look forward to an X-Wing tournament. It's the perfect opportunity to cram in a bunch of games with some like-minded folks and this last weekend I travelled down to Lanark to take part in the Store Championship at Knightly gaming. My goal for the day was the same as always: Try and win a game and enjoy myself as much as possible.

My list was:

Darth Vader (29)

Veteran Instincts (1)

Engine Upgrade (4)

TIE/x1 (0)

Advanced Targeting Computer (1)

Soontir Fel (27)

Push The Limit (3)

Autothrusters (2)

Royal Guard TIE (0)

Targeting Computer (2)

The Inquisitor (25)

Push The Limit (3)

TIE/v1 (1)

Autothrusters (2)

Total 100pts

I didn't take any notes on the day so my apologies to anyone whose name I forget and the lack of upgrades on my opponents lists.

Round 1: Drew

Drew was flying a list of 4 Y-wings with a plethora of upgrades. I've faced Drew a couple of times at other tournaments and it hasn't gone well for me, today was to be no different. I managed to focus down one of the Y-Wings quite quickly and then spent the rest of the game bumping, fluffing my attacks and generally having a poor time of things while drew took advantage and plinked away at my ships. I managed to escape with the Inquisitor still running around as time was called but the game was well lost.

0-1

Round 2: Edwin

Edwin was flying a list of 2x G-1A Starfighters and 2x Kihrahz that he had never flown before. Some good positioning aided by some hot dice on my part put me on the front foot and the match ended up with Vader and The Inquisitor chasing the last G-1A as time expired. First win of the day and my goal for the tournament reached, I could relax and enjoy the rest of the day now while Edwin could enjoy the cheesy pasta he had ordered for lunch!

1-1

Round 3: Sam(?)

Sam was running Bossk and Guri and I had never faced either before so was looking forward to flying against this list. Vader went head to head with Guri while Fel and The Inquisitor went after Bossk. They managed to get in behind him and went to work and were then joined by Vader to finish him off and deal with the subsequent arrival of the Pup. Guri was left to face all 3 of my pilots by herself and didn't really stand much of a chance.

2-1

Round 4: Grant

Grant had won the previous weeks store championship I attended in Stirling so I wasn't exactly enthused to have drawn him. My fears were soon realised as this match lasted all of about 25 minutes before he wiped me off the board! He was running Scum Boba and a contracted scout so I decided to go after Boba first and then impressively managed to do absolutely no damage to him. A quick rethink of my strategy led me to focus on the scout to try and salvage something from the game as it was rapidly spiralling out of my favour and I managed to take out the Jumpmaster to give me some points and the satisfaction of at least destroying something. The quick end to this game did allow me to take advantage of the free tea/coffee offered by the venue as I watched the match on the next table so it wasn't all bad!

2-2

Round 5: Richard

Richard was running a list consisting of a Jumpmaster, a G-1A and a Z-95. This being the last round I was hoping to squeeze out a win and finish the day above .500 and this proved to be my closest match of the day. I got rid of the Z-95 and had put some damage into the G-1A as time was starting to wind down but then Richard managed to punch through Fel and take him out which left me with the decision to go after the G-1A or try and focus down the Jumpmaster. I opted for the latter and managed to do enough damage to give me half points which left me with a modified win at the end.

3-2 (1 modified)

So after a thoroughly enjoyable day playing against some really good lads I managed to scrape over the .500 mark and finish a respectable 12th out of 27 overall. Considering that I'd given myself the meagre goal of winning a game and not getting completely mauled I was more than happy with the days work.

A big thanks to Brett and the folks at Knightly Gaming for hosting the tournament. First time I've been down but a great little shop and the free tea/coffee laid on was a fantastic little perk between rounds. Looking forward to going back for the regionals later this year.

Congrats on you victories. I was playing the exact list except a 29 palp shuttle leaving a 2 point bid and won a store championship. I have took out palp for this inquisitor build and now run this exact list and am loving it but haven't had a chance to play it that much. Was initiative ever a issue? Any pointers on its weakness?

With Vader running at PS11 I never had too much of a problem with initiative as I never had to face anyone at that PS. The only problem I had was that I didn't always fly particularly well, bumping and losing actions with this list is the kiss of death.

I really like the Inquisitor, those 1 greens are great and being able to snipe at range 3 and deny the extra defence dice was quite effective on the occasions I managed to pull it off.

Well done on the performance and thank you for the write up. It's great to see someone like yourself writing up reports regardless of the outcome who final position. Hats off to you sir.

Thanks!

While I really enjoy reading the battle reports from the guys that make the top cut in tournaments I think it's good to hear a little about the rest of us who make up the cannon fodder from time to time.