I've been looking forward to this event for a long time. It's part of the Wet Coast GT event so it's one giant ballroom filled with Warhammer, warmahordes, X-wing, etc--which is my favorite kind of event.
All of my favorite X-wing people in the PNW were going to be there, and it was a veritable who's-who of X-wing talent.
I didn't plan on making the cut, and I mostly just wanted to show off my Ghost conversion. I lit the engines green, cut the shuttle loose, rebuilt and painted the docking nest, and built the lower fuselage and wings for the shuttle out of plasticard, painted it up, then installed a couple magnets to connect the two. So when I deploy the Phantom, I physically get to deploy it, which is fun.
So I knew I was going to take a Ghost/Phantom list, and I also really enjoy flying Sabine. She doesn't make a very good Phantom though because her hyper mobility is wasted every turn she's docked. So here's what I came up with:
48: Lothal Rebel w/ TLT, Reinforced Deflectors, Hera, Ezra, Ghost
20: Zeb w/ Autoblaster turret, Chopper, Phantom
32: Sabine w/ Autoblaster turret, PtL, Kanan, Stealth Device
100 Pts
Up until the FAQ came out, I'd had FCS, Tactician, Han on the Ghost, and Ezra as the Phantom. But post-FAQ, most of those interactions don't work like they used to, so I switched to a very flexible build and not worry about trying to set up tactician shots. I kind of like this list a bit better because I had the points to buy the Phantom autoblaster to further threaten aces. Also it includes all of the characters from SW: Rebels, so that's cool thematically.
Disclaimer: I didn't take notes during the event or save army lists, so names and lists will be strictly from memory, so bear with me.
Round 1: Marshall Reeves
37: Miranda w/ TLT, Jan ORS
62: Han Solo w/ VI, C-3P0, Luke, Falcon, Engine
I deployed on the right with my Ghost on the interior so as not to expose Sabine to too much fire. Marshall deployed in the mid-board with a few intervening asteroids as cover.
I moved fast forward and cut into the middle of the table. A 4 shot TLT does wonders against low agi ships, and I was able to drag Miranda down pretty quickly, before her regen got annoying.
Han was firing at the Ghost but despite all his re-rolls he's capped at 2 damage and Luke almost never triggers. I popped Zeb out at some point though I probably shouldn't have as he got promptly blown up. Oh well, it bought the Ghost a couple turns to shoot and Threepio and the title can't repel firepower of that magnitude!
Win 100-44
Round 2: Jon Howe
Looks like I'm missing 2 points, but here's what I remember:
26: Palob, Adaptability, TLT (maybe Gonk?)
35: Scout, Deadeye, Plasmas, EM, Dengar, Overclocked R4,
37: Slaver, Zuckuss, Bossk, Gunner
Total: ??
He put his slaver on my left side, so I set my Ghost to the right of the middle to buy me time. His Scout lined up to joust the Ghost, which I was cool with, because I had a plan. Sabine set on the far right to swing around the Scout's arc and try to kill it before it gets torps off, and he set his Palob just to my left of the Scout, even better.
Using rule of 11, I knew the Scout wouldn't torp the Ghost if the Ghost only went 3, and then a 5k the next turn gave me the stress to trigger Ezra and got me into range 1 of both Palob and the scout. No TLT coming back, and no torps.
The only problem was, I pushed too fast with Sabine, did no damage to the Scout, and palob's TLT and the scout's turret stripped her stealth device and her shields on the first engagement. Palob finished her off next turn. The Ghost took 3 turns of primary range 1 shots to finally kill Palob, then I deployed Zeb and was able to focus the scout down about the same time the Ghost died.
In the end it was a slightly wounded slaver chasing 2 HP Zeb. I tried to use asteroids to cover my approach to slip past the tooth but there was no way to do it without getting shot once. The dice weren't there and he died.
Loss 63-100
Loss Lessons: Playing that battle again, I'd have stalled with Sabine for a couple turns and sent the Ghost in alone. The Ghost would get hammered but Sabine is limited until Palob is gone. Once he is, Sabine can take either a scout or slaver in the end game. She's just too slippery for them.
Round 3: Jim Kling
47: Corran, VI, Adv Sensors, R2-D2, Engine
13: Tala
13: Tala
13: Tala
13: Tala
99 Pts
Jim is one of my main X-wing opponents and unfortunately we're forced to play almost every tournament we go to. Nothing like going to a regional of 70, only to be paired against him again. Worse still, we were both 1-1 and whoever lost was almost certainly not making the top 8 cut.
I deployed the Ghost on my left, he set the 4 Zs in the middle, I put Sabine lined up to the right of middle to encourage a joust on Sabine, and he put Corran across to joust the Ghost. I didn't want to joust Corran and have a formation of Zs pin me against the board edge, so I turned the Ghost away and sped across the edge of my deployment zone. Sabine faked the joust, but arc-dodged the mini swarm and blew the shields off one with her ABT.
Corran gave up on the Ghost and tried to chase Sabine, but without PtL, Corran can't maneuver as well as Sabine and he couldn't land a shot. The Zs chased the Ghost into the corner as it K-turned into cover behind debris. TLT was knocking down Zs and Sabine circled around and started messing them up too. When he was down to one Z, I thought I had a good chance to take out Corran. I deployed Zeb and figured I could get both autoblasters and the TLT to hopefully take him down. **** guy just kept hanging in there though and he killed Zeb pretty quickly. We ran out of time. On the last turn I realized if I killed the Z I could get a modified win, but it moved out of range and instead Jim got the modified.
Unfortunately this meant we effectively took each other out of contention for the cut. Like I said, I wasn't planning on making the cut, but it was a real bummer that our hopes were dashed after game 3.
Loss 39-44
Round 4: David Drew
It looks like I'm missing 7 points off this Dengaroo list, there was probably torpedoes on one of them or something. Anyway,
54: Dengar, Punishing One, Lone Wolf, Zuckuss, Overclocked R4, Glitter, Countermeasures
39: Manaroo, PtL, Unhinged Astro, Gonk (I think), Feedback, Engine
Total: ???
I felt pretty good about this matchup. A TLT with 4 modified dice can chip through Dengar's unlimited defenses and autoblasters can do undodgeables damage too.
I lined up the Ghost and Sabine on my right, he set up Manaroo on the far left, and Dengar just to the right of middle. I raced the Ghost toward Dengar and held back a bit with Sabine. The opening engangement went well, with Sabine hiding behind and asteroid and still dealing damage and then plinking a few more shields with the TLT.
Then things started to go cold. The Ghost was getting hammered and I couldn't roll more than 2 hits with the TLT in response. All I had done by the time the Ghost was down to 1 hull and 1 shield, was strip the shields of Dengar.
Desperate, I launched Zeb. Dengar shot at the Ghost through an asteroid and did no damage, the TLT managed to plink 2 damage on (no retaliation because I was behind), then Zeb inflicted hit, direct hit and blew up Dengar. What a turn!
Manaroo flew in next but also failed to finish off the Ghost. Sabine and the TLT stripped shields and Zeb fired, pushing through 2 crits. Direct hit, Major Explosion->direct hit!!! 5 damage ended the game in the most absurd way.
Win 100-24
Round 5 Corwin Marsh
35: Soontir Fel, PtL, Title, Autothrusters, Stealth
31: Inquisitor, PtL, Title, Autothrusters
33: Omicron shuttle, Palpatine, Sensor Jammer
99 Pts
Corwin is one of those people who's a constant reminder of how small the world can be. He used to be my boss back when we both worked at domionos. A few years later he randomly showed up at an X-wing tournament. It also turns out he used to be the college roommate of one of my high school best friends.
Anyway, I was slightly bummed to play another friend at this tournament but I was excited about the matchup because my list has some serious game against aces. A 4 shot TLT can burn down a Palp shuttle amazingly fast, and the sensor jammer is largely wasted because I have a soft focus anyway as long as I'm stressed. And with 2 autoblaster turrets, those aces have to be very careful.
My opponent placed the shuttle at 45 degree angle in the right corner. I set the Ghost to either joust the shuttle or chase it, whatever he decided to do. And Sabine was set close to the Ghost but on the interior side, to protect against the inevitable flanking ace. He placed Inquisitor to joust the Ghost and Soontir on the flank.
This is exactly how I want the matchup set, and I started the opening just how I want to--fast. The Ghost went 4 forward and Sabine kept pace. Soontir realized I was gonna be on the shuttle and had to boost and b-roll on his first turn to have a hope of making it to the shuttle in time. This pulled him through a tightish cluster of asteroids on my opponent's side of the mid-board.
Next turn, 5k with the Ghost into range 1 of the shuttle, and Inquisitor ended up in range 2, in rear arc of the Ghost. Sabine boosted towards the asteroids and went straight 4 to plug the gap with a focus/evade. Soontir flew right into it, and he couldn't squirl out of range 1. Only one damage but his stealth device was gone.
The Ghost flubbed his primary and only did 1 damage to the shuttle. He took some damage in return and his TLT failed to hit the Inquisitor. Next turn the Ghost 5k'd again to joust with the shuttle but before it attacked it lost shields and took 2 crits. Double Weapons Failure!!!
4 shot TLTs are less useful when they roll 1 attack die. It died before it did another damage... Still I managed to box in the Inquisitor in and kill him with the 2 autoblasters.
In the end game, it was Sabine, the shuttle, and Soontir, all with 2 HP. I had a choice of chasing Soontir or the shuttle. I opted for the shuttle, because I needed the Emperor gone before I could risk trading dice with Fel. As it happened, Fel got a shot, I blanked and died.
Loss 47-100
Loss Lessons: Considering how close the game was, I really feel like the double weapons failures was the game changer. If I had even only taken 1, the Ghost would've done at least 2 more damage to the shuttle and Sabine would've been facing just facing Soontir. That's a matchup I feel comfortable with.
Still, can't change the random things that happen, but if I replayed the game, I'd perhaps wait one more turn before springing Sabine on Soontir. If she'd gone into the joust with the Ghost, perhaps I could've killed the shuttle and Inquisitor faster. Who knows.
Round 6: Chris Hopper
25: Blue B, E2 mod, Tactician
25: Blue B, E2 mod, Tactician
25: Blue B, E2 mod, Tactician
25: Blue B, E2 mod, Tactician
100 Pts
This was one of the most interesting to set up against because I hadn't thought about my opening to this list at all. I've thought about Palp aces, and U-boats, and crack swarms, and Dengaroo, and many more, but not 4 B-wings. I know the Ghost doesn't want to joust with it, and I know the B-wings aren't just going to let the Ghost slip behind...
He up his Bs in a box swarm on the right side. I deployed the Ghost 2/3rds to the left side, aiming for some narrow gaps in asteroids. Sabine set up to joust.
The B-wings moved at a B-wing pace up the table edge and the Ghost navigated the asteroids at top speed. Sabine slow-rolled but kept close enough to give the B-wings something to point at. I engaged with Sabine at range 3 of only 2 B-wings the turn before the Ghost slipped behind the formation. She was behind the rock from one B, and had focus/evade. No damage dealt but the stealth device and both shields were blown off. Not great.
She squirled off through some asteroids and the Ghost started half-killing a B-wing a turn. As the formation turned towards this new threat, Sabine swept behind the formation and Bs started dropping. I lost the Ghost after 2 B-wings were down and one was almost dead. The 2 attack shuttles were able to close it out. Generic ships just can't knife-fight Sabine. It's like fighting pre-nerf Echo, except she also has a turret.
I finished at 3-3 which is probably my worst tournament record yet. Oh well, I had a hoot.
Thanks for reading!