A Tale From the Middle of the Pack

On April 16, 2016, I attended the Atlanta Regional at Giga-Bites Game Café. For starters, this FLGS is incredible – lots of space, great food, and great atmosphere. There were 77 players total for this Regional with a Top-16 cut after 6 rounds of Swiss. The TO – James Ayers – did a fantastic job keeping the tournament running smoothly.

So for my list – I’ve had a lot of experience flying Scum and Villainy Boba Fett and I’ve had a ton of fun flying Dengar. I love where FFG is taking turrets – being a decent pilot; this gives me some ability to recover from mistakes with the PWT.

Boba Fett (39) + VI(1) + “Gonk” (2) + Glitterstim (2) + EU (4)

Dengar (33) + ‘Punishing One’ (12) + 4-LOM (1) + R5 – P8 (3) + Predator (3)

The idea was to destroy aces with Dengar’s ability + 4-LOM and R5-P8 – making low health ships think twice about shooting at Dengar and dealing direct damage. Also to use Boba to rush into R1 – take some fire – fly away and regenerate shields with “Gonk”.

Round 1:

My opponent was Richard Thompson flying:

IG – 88B + HLC + Glitterstim + Crackshot + Autothrusters + IG-2000

IG – 88C + HLC + Glitterstim + Crackshot + Autothrusters + IG-2000

This match was late starting as my opponent was missing components (luckily, other members of the community had the pieces to pick him up). It was obvious that my opponent was shaken up by these events, which I think led to some mistakes during this game. Once we started, the match was fairly close as we initially jousted with Boba being able to get into R1. “Gonk” proved his worthiness as he regenerated 3 shields for me during this match. I was able to take him out with a lucky dice roll (HHCC naturally), which allowed me to win 100-76 as he had taken out half points from Boba.

Round 2:

‘Whisper’ + FCS + Rebel Captive + VI + ACD

Omega Leader + Juke + CR

Yorr + Emperor Palpatine

I was feeling great after my round 1 win to see myself lined up across from Jesse Cheung – I knew he was a Top 4 finisher at the ATL Regional last year. This game started off with him fortressing somewhat in his corner – baiting me to come after him. Once the combat began, I was able to get some damage into ‘Whisper’ with Dengar millimeters from the board edge. Dengar had received the ‘Damaged Engine’ critical making his hard turns red – due to the Rebel Captive he already had a stress. I completely forgot about the critical as I dialed in a left 1-Hard turn which was now red. Jesse – what a showing of fly casual – did not fly Dengar off the board, instead chose a left 1-bank because that is the maneuver I would have chosen had I not forgotten the critical. Dengar was still millimeters from the board edge but was now able to fire before Whisper could cloak to kill her. The match came down between Yorr & Omega Leader vs. Boba. We can all guess how that ended – but I did take half health from Yorr. Loss (58-100).

Round 3:

My next opponent was Seneca Pressley with a really cool list:

Zuckuss + Mist Hunter + Tractor Beam + Adv. Sensors + VI + Outlaw Tech

Tel Trevura + Deadeye + Proton Torpedoes + Boba Fett + R4 Aggromech + GC

N’Dru Suhlak + Lone Wolf + Cluster Missiles + Glitterstim + GC

This match was a blood bath – I lined up Boba and Dengar across from N’Dru to hopefully kill him before he could get his CM off. I was able to have my initial engagement with N’Dru at R3 but was only able to deal one damage to him. The next round, Boba got behind him at R1 and Dengar was at R2 of him. They were unable to PS kill him – so he shot Dengar with the Cluster Missiles. After the first Cluster Missile shot, Dengar fired back and killed N’Dru before he could fire the second one. After that, Tel and Zuckuss were able to absolutely destroy Boba and Dengar. I was impressed with Zuckuss. Loss (25 – 100).

Round 4:

My opponent was David Stine flying:

Dash + HLC + Outrider + Kanan Jarrus + PTL + EU

Corran Horn + R2-D2 + VI + FCS

I knew going into the future matches that I had to win out in hopes of making the Top-16. My PS ended up being the best counter to Dash as I was able to get both ships into R1 of him and kill him within two rounds of fire. I was able to clean up Corran with a full health Dengar and Boba without much difficulty once I got behind him. Win 100-0.

Round 5:

My opponent was Todd Wallace flying another cool list:

Contracted Scout + Deadeye + Overclocked R4 + Plasma Torpedoes + EM + GC

Contracted Scout + Deadeye + R4 Aggromech + Proton Torps + EM + Boba Fett + GC

Drea Renthal + R4-B11 + Plasma Torpedoes + EM + Dorsal Turret + BTL-A4 + GC

This match started with my opponent being highly frustrated after being moved around due to match-up error. We set up our ships and I was able to get the initial engagement with a Boba behind a debris cloud (one of his JM5k had hit the same debris cloud) with two torpedoes lined up at him. With GS, an evade token, an extra dice from the debris, and a re-roll from being at R1 of a ship – Boba was able to completely evade 2 torpedoes! I thought that this match was swinging into my favor as I took down one of his JM5k’s with torpedoes still on board. At this point, I made a couple of mistakes and he made a couple of good blocks – finally taking Dengar to 1 hull remaining. Drea also had 1 hull remaining, so I attempted to use R5-P8 – which ended up killing both of us! I was frustrated but the chips just weren’t made to fall in my direction. He turned out to be a nice guy – I can understand how having to set-up, move, set-up again can be frustrating. Loss (57-100)

Round 6:

My opponent was Daniel Luh flying:

Prototype Pilot + Chardaan Refit

Bandit Squadron Pilot

Gold Squadron Pilot + Ion Cannon Turret

Blue Squadron Pilot + Ion Cannon

Blue Squadron Pilot + B-wing/E2 + Tactician

This was a really cool list as well – awesome to see a control list. We were both 2-3 at this time and knew that Top 16 dreams were long gone. We ended up basically jousting with Boba popping GS and only taking a couple of damage, another stress, and he was ioned. Luckily, I was able to take the A-Wing and Z-95 off the board quickly. With the rear arc, Boba was able to continue dealing damage even without actions to the 1-AGI B-Wings. I was able to finally knock the turret off the board and stay out of arcs of the B-Wings and finish them off with Dengar. Win (100 – 48)

Overall, this was a great tournament and I had a blast. I had hopes of Top-16 and felt like I had a chance through Round 5. My opponents were fun to fly against and I saw some very cool lists. I will say that “Gonk” might have been the best choice I made – he regenerated at least 2 shields in each round. I only used 4-LOM in the match vs. Jesse as no other ships really required the use of him. I did not see as many aces as I was expecting. Just wanted to write a report from the middle of the pack player who made several mistakes which possibly was the reason I missed the Top-16. I refuse to blame the dice because I had average dice at least for most of the day. Thanks for reading!

Excellent report, thanks for writing it.

I've played a few games against Boba and Dengar lists recently and Boba definitely seems the weak link to me, I'm not 100% convinced he's worth the points. What do you think after six hard games at the coal face?

Thanks!

Boba was definitely the weak link in most of my games - I'm still not quite sure what to pair with Dengar currently. 'Gonk' did help Boba somewhat - but once Fett leaves R1 he struggles to punch damage through. I'm thinking that a switch away from VI may be needed to help with damage outside of R1 - and possibly taking Recon Spec over GS because Boba has difficulty shedding stress without being predicable. All in all - as much as I want Boba to be top tier, I'm just not quite sure he is there currently.

Excellent report! Thanks for taking the time to write this, I'm also a "middle of the pack" player when it comes to my win/loss ratio so it's really nice to see a report from someone at the same level of play as myself. Thanks again.

Excellent report! Thanks for taking the time to write this, I'm also a "middle of the pack" player when it comes to my win/loss ratio so it's really nice to see a report from someone at the same level of play as myself. Thanks again.

Thanks! The question is now, how do we get out of the middle of the pack?! I'm hoping that thinking critically about each of my matches - seeing where my mistakes were will help me as a player.

I've been trying to do the same. It's a tricky business, this improving! I think I'm pretty good at recognising my mistakes afterwards, but putting that knowledge into practice in future games is proving harder...

Personally for me it's simply an unwillingness to run the current meta shaping lists. This game has so many fantastic combinations and pilots I just can't bring myself to running the same U-Boat/Super Dash/Palp Aces list over and over and over. Sadly this means I don't focus on one particular list and I don't think I've ever attended an event with the same squad twice, it seems though that that's how you improve at the game, by running the same thing repeatedly until you know how to fly it in your sleep.

Yeah, I definitely agree - I'm in the same boat. I'm always trying to run something outside of the box. That's really why I chose to use 'Gonk'. Ha. I can definitely see the merits of continuously running the same squad to develop familiarity with those ships - we have several guys in our local meta that do just that and typically find themselves making the cut at tournaments.

Do any of you use Vassal at all? I want to use it and have played a friend a couple of times. I think it can be an excellent resource to improve and just another way to enjoy this awesome game.

I tried a while back but got put off with the set up requirements. I'm not the most literate of people when it comes to PC's and despite following an online guide I had issues getting it set up properly. I've seen it in action and it does look like a great tool for improvement so If you can overcome the initial set up I'd reccomend it.

It's imprtant to not forget the reason we play the game is to have fun, this is why I think I'll always be stuck in the middle of the road because I play simply for the enjoyment of seeing those ships zooming around the table and getting to say "Pew Pew" whenever I roll those red dice. I don't play for wins, medals, tokens, dice, I'm not a competitive player and I've come to accept that the middle of the road isn't that bad a place to be.

That said I'm going to be attending the Yavin event at the UK Games Expo in July and I'm hoping to put in a good performance so I guess despite everything I just said I'm going to have to settle on a list and get some practice in! we have some fantastic players in my local group and I know i can count on them to give my list a good pounding and get some solid feedback on what I did wrong and what I could have done better.

Yeah, I'm primarily interested in Vassal because I will not be able to make it to my FLGS over the summer. I want to improve because I find fun in competing - I'm also a very casual player though. I love playing the missions out of the expansions, or playing 150 point games.

I definitely think I will remain a middle of the pack player - i love running lists that are outside of the meta and I'm perfectly happy never winning anything.

Good luck at Yavin! Any ideas of a list, or not quite ready to spoil it?!

I've been so busy recently that I just have had no chance to get any practice games in. I want something I'm going to have fun with but at the same time It has to be something that can stand up to the current meta lists. Its a toss up at the moment between the following.

Wes Janson - VI, R3-A2, IA.

Keyan Farlander - Advanced sensors, PTL.

Jake Farrell - PTL, Proton Rockets, Chips, Test Pilot, Adaptability.

I've flown this the most in my recent games. Wes has been my go to pilot since the transport came out, I throughly enjoy Keyan and I've really only just gotten into flying Jake. I've won my last seven games with these guys but I've not been able to test them against the U-Boat list yet.

Alternative was to drop Keyan and replace him with a Lothal Rebel armed with ABT, Baffle and Chopper crew. Wes will remove tokens weakening the initial strike, Jake can hopefully flank and land some prockets whilst the Rebel creates a anti ace range one bubble.

I've been toying with the idea of just going "screw it" and taking the following list for fun only.

Soontir Fell - PTL, SD, AT, Title

Deathrain - Enhanced Scopes, Cluster Mines, EM, TieMk2

Epsilon Pilot x2

Flew it at a local event a while back and went 3-1 with it. Not only did I have a tonne of fun using Deathrain I actually got some great comments from my opponents saying how funny it was to see a Punisher on the table at a comepetitve event.

Thoughts? What would you guys do?

I really like both lists - I think both will be a blast to fly. I do think that the Rebel list may be a little more competitive if you plan to face a lot of JM5ks because of Wes stripping the focus and stressing that ship along with Jake & Keyan to get into R1 and blast away. I do think Autothrusters may be a good call for Jake if you can make the points for it.

The Imperial list will be a blast - just don't get Deathrain caught in arc against the JM5ks! Soontir is always a solid choice and with the 2 Epsilon Pilots you should be able to get some blocks.

I think in the long run either will be a blast to play - they have their strengths and weaknesses like most lists. I think the main choice will be 'which will I have more fun flying for multiple rounds?'. I would also go with the list you have practiced with the most if you are looking for a higher ranking - having knowledge of how ships fly, etc. can be just as important as the list itself.

So after finally getting some practice in I've decided to go with the Rebel list but I'm switching Keyan out for a Lothal Rebel with ABT, Chopper and Hera crew. I had a friend bring his Triple Uboat list round and spent a day flying against it. I found that Keyan just kept getting singled out and annihilated despite my best efforts to keep him at range/out of arc.

I tried the Rebel and found that it stood up to the Jumpmasters much better. Wes stripped a focus from one then weakened it allowing for the rebel to land some decent hits before moving in to block and deny further actions. Jake then flanks in and hits them with prockets, I found that the moment you remove one of them from the table they become a lot less scary. It is of course entirely down to managing and surviving that initial engagement.

Oh man - that's awesome. I love the Lothal Rebel with Hera crew. That dial is fantastic and so unpredictable. Plus with ABT, aces will have to worry about getting in that space.

I definitely think that Jake and Wes with the Lothal Rebel will be a great match up against JM5ks. As long as you can manage the range in the first engagement, you should be golden.

Good luck! Can't wait to hear how you do at Yavin.