I placed 24th out of the 44 entrants in the 2016 Winnipeg Regional X-Wing Tournament.
Disclosure: It wasn't because of dice.
I played my first game against a great guy named Jay. I remembered him from last year's regional because [a] he was one of those guys whose minis were decked out with magnets and what not and because he himself exuded an obvious love of both the game and Star Wars in general. Jay was flying an hundred point Scum list that I'd love to describe in more detail, but didn't take notes, and the tournament details were entered into TOME (rather than Juggler, for instance). So I can't look up the list precisely. I remember that Jay was flying a Firespray, a Starfighter and a JumpMaster-5000.
In 2015, I used to play every other week in a league, but I hadn't played a game since last year's regional. The fellow whom I used to go to league games with stopped playing XWing, so I ended up stopping as well - not out of lack of interest, but more out of lack of opportunity. Needless to say, I was *quite* rusty.
I've been following the forums all year long, and in this way not only maintained but continues to fuel my interest in the game. When I decided to attend the Regionals, I had to decide whether I was going to fly turrets or not. I had purchased pair of JumpMasters, and felt pretty confident that I'd make the cut if I flew a couple of Contracted Scouts along with either some Z's or more likely Zuckuss. But I knew my friend Steve would be flying Echo and Whisper (He won our regionals last year with that same build) and I wanted to play something that would give him pause - so I decided to play an Imperial list:
Darth Vader with the TIE/X1 title, Sensor Jammer, Lone Wolf, and a Stealth Device. (34 pts). I wanted someone to draw (and shake off) the proton and plasma missiles I was expecting from various Contracted Scout Builds. He worked very well in this capacity. I lost him in only one game. In a couple of games he emerged unscathed, and in the remainder only slightly scathed.
Soontir Fel with the Royal Guard title, PTL, Autotrhusters, and Targeting computer. (34 pts). His role in this build was to be another ace, and someone who could be where I needed him to be with good dice, and a reasonable chance of survival.
I was sorely tempted to go with Carnor Jax, loaded out just like Soontir, but that would mean I'd have to shave points off Vader, and I really wanted Vader to have some end-game survivability, so I didn't want to get rid of the Lone Wolf, or any of the other goodies. So I decided upon The Inquisitor with the Tie/V1 title, PTL, and AutoThrusters. (31 pts). This would give me 3 red dice, an 8 Pilot Skill, and keep my initiative bid at 99 pts.
My strategy was simple: Stay out of arc, take evades as a rule, and let the dice do the rest.
My round with Jay went to time - I managed a modified win (65-69) having taken out the second ship with a minute or two left to play. Jay flew well. Had we had more time, I'm not sure who would have one it. I don't believe I had any real hits on his remaining ship (was it the scout or the Firespray?), but Vader was slippery as heck. I think either one of us could have pulled it off.
My next two games were against David and Kevin. Both games went to time. I don't remember my game with David at all. But He won with a modified win. I think Kevin was running two TLT Y-Wings and Dengars. I managed to take out both Y's, but lost the Inquisitor right away, and Soontir about mid-game. Had I done a K-Turn for my last turn, Vader would have had a good chance of doing enough damage to Dengars to change the end score, but I wasn't thinking in terms of MOV at that point - and thought I might have enough time to swing around and try something else. He took a full win, bringing me to two losses and a modified win at the halfway mark.
At this point, I knew that even if I won the next three games with full points (two losses, three wins, and a modified win) it wasn't very likely (but not impossible) for me to make the cut. So I came at the last three games with less stress.
My fourth game was against Ronnie. He was flying a firespray, Dengar and a Z95. It was actually a pretty fun round. I'm pretty sure I tabled him in the end, but I lost my Inquisitor. I don't remember details of the game all that well, but I do remember that our chit chat as we played was great. It is so much more fun playing with people who can be competitive and friendly at the same time. It was my first full win of the day.
Game five was with Patrick - my first and only non-scum pairing. Patrick was playing a Decimator with Vader (Crew) and Echo, and I took Echo out of play on my third turn, but using Vader to great advantage, he soon took out Soontir and my Inquisitor, and was very close to taking out Vader as well. His last gamble with Vader (Crew) to weaken my Vader, left him with only a single hull point, and because of a crit he had previously suffered he didn't survive the next round. My win, but it was very close, and entirely lucky. It could have gone either way in the next round.
So I came into Game six with two losses, two wins, and a modified win. My MOV was better than middling, and if I could win big, I had a chance to make the cut. I was paired with Dexter who was flying two Contracted Scouts and Zuckuss. We were both 99 point builds, so I won the die toss and chose to have initiative. He lined up his scouts along the edge to my right (his left), and I put Soontir and The Inquisitor on the other side of the mat lined up against Zuckuss. I lined up Vader against his scouts, hoping to draw out some the first of his torpedoes. He fired off his first volley, and neither was able to touch Vader. At that point He turned both scouts towards the inner map, as I had turned Soontir and the Inquisitor from the other side of the map as well. Unfortunately, I began to bump myself and lose actions, and having not played in a year, I flew Vader purposely through a debris field forgetting that I would be stressed for doing so - that was the beginning of the end. My fleet died in a cluster in the center I couldn't really get out of in time. Dexter tabled me before half our time was out, and that ended my run.
Everyone I played did a great job, and we all had fun. The tournament organizers were great, keeping things running well - and the atmosphere was friendly and fun. My buddy Steve made the cut and won his game flying echo and whisper, putting him into the top 4, but he lost the next round playing again the only fellow who had defeated him in the swiss rounds (Ryun).
Lessons learned
If I were to do it again, I would definitely have taken Vader with the exact same layout - he consistently flew into hell, and flew out unscathed. those Sensor Jammers really coupled well with the 4 green dice, and Lone Wolf. taking an evade every turn.
I may have swapped out The Inquisitor for a Lambda shuttle with some upgrades... I think that would have been a bit more effective in hindsight.