I was pretty excited to make the 3.5-hour drive up to Kansas City for the store championship at Mission Board Games. My plan was to meet up my best friend, who moved up to KC a few months back. Unfortunately, he fell ill the night before, so I was stuck with an extra ticket and seven hours in the car.

Still, I had a great time and played with some cool people. First of all, I was impressed with the turnout: 13 players, mostly all from the neighboring area. There were a few Imperial squads and I was running Rebels (no surprise there J), but most of the squads were Scum (again, no surprise).

My list was the typical Luke and eRangers list, with Hera, Gideon, C3PO, Chopper, an Alliance smuggler, and Rebel High Command rounding out my points.

The store announced that they were using the Basic structure, which I thought was a bit strange, so there were only four rounds with no top cut.

My first round was against a nice guy who was running Iggy and some other typical Scum units. The map was Jabba’s Realm and he made the mistake of opening his door with my eRangers waiting. The game ended fairly quickly, with the final score 40-4.

My second round match was the To Your Stations mission on ISB. First round, I opened my door, but seeing my eRangers waiting he didn’t open his. That allowed me to dart into the hall and secure those two stations. I moved someone next to the third station and he moved a wWequay and Chopper up to challenge it. That drew my Luke out and I moved over and damaged him. Next round, he went first and moved up with his IG-88 to get a shot on Luke, but only did minor damage. I then activated Luke and slaughtered the Weequay and Chopper, then moved back behind cover. My next activation I took out IG-88 (who was left exposed so he could get his attack in on Luke) with my rangers, and the game was mostly over from there.

Round three was the Anchorhead crates mission. I played against an interesting list with Iggy, Vinto (with Prey on the Weak), Greedo, Rebel care package, a Bantha, Under Duress, and Beast Tamer. We both opened our doors first turn, but he used Vinto to do so and I was able to kill him and C3PO with my rangers. He moved up with Iggy to attack my Luke, then played his card to get in two more attacks, but sadly for him his rolls were terrible. Since he was left exposed, I took him out rather quickly. He swung his Bantha around the top to pick up a crate and then drop it off round two, but that left me open to focus on only his other units, so by the end of round two he was left with only the Bantha, I think. Luke only had a couple of health left, but he hung on till the end.

3-0! On to the Finals!

My last match up was what I expected/hoped for. I played against @seef1033, whom I got to hang out with some at Worlds and who made it to the Top 8. This was one of the best matches I’ve played in a long while. His list was Iggy, two sets of eQuays, Greedo, Hired Guns, and Rebel Care Package.

We played the patrons mission of the Anchorhead map, and I drew initiative so I took the top. First round I opened my door and focused my rangers. He moved everyone up behind his door and hid all of his Weequays, focusing two of them. He also swung his Hired Guns around, interacting with a patron with one and moving the other next to the terminal in front of the door with the other. I killed that one with Hera and brought Luke down to kill the other, parking Luke behind his door. That drew Iggy out. He swung to the side and damaged Luke pretty heavily. As expected, I played Son of Skywalker and got in two attacks, and then moved Luke up behind the hallway at the top (using the extra two movement I gained from Heart of Freedom). Then, at the start of the next round, I played Call of the Vanguard and killed Iggy with my focused ranger. At this point I felt pretty confident. But that would change.

After this he opened his door with C3PO and I prepared to slaughter him with my rangers. Ugh… He Xed my first attack, and then with my second he rolled the block and the evade, which was just enough to cut my attack to three damage. Still alive. My next attack was with a focused ranger, so I opted for Greedo, hoping to take him out before he activated. But sadly I only did 6 damage—because of 3PO’s evade! So, instead of killing two figures and damaging a third as I had hoped, I killed no one. He then moved up with his unfocused eQuays, and they killed chopper and damaged Luke, but at least he was still alive. But of course he was setting up for Squad Swarm, which he used to kill Luke before he could activate. Ouch. At this point, felt the game shifting his direction. Greedo interacted with the other patron in the large room, and he moved one of his eQuays toward the one on the outdoor tile. I interacted with a patron with my Smuggler and then moved onto the terminal.

Round three I killed Greedo (with my Alliance Smuggler—his moment of glory!) and took out two eQuays and 3PO, while he killed a ranger and 3PO and interacted with the far patron. That brought his total to 31, with his last two eQuays standing next to the final patron in the middle. All he needed to do was to interact, and he would have initiative next turn. I had Take Initiative. So, with my last activation I moved up with Gideon to be next to the terminal, preventing that extra card draw, and attacked his front eQuay.

Round four. I played Take Initiative and thankfully he didn’t have Negation (we checked later and it was the top card—go Gideon!). I just barely killed his front eQuay with my ranger and then moved down adjacent to the patron, preventing him from interacting. From there, I was able to withstand his final attack and use my remaining units to finish off his last eQuay, pushing me to 40, making me the store champion!

It was great match against a great opponent. Really had a blast. The store was also great, so if you’re ever in KC, stop by Mission Board Games. The people working there were great, and even demoed a game (Ice Cold, a well-deserved kinderspiel winner J) for me after the tourney was over. (On a strange side note, though, @seef1033 ended up placing third in the tournament, which seems odd after he went 3-0 and lost only to me. Is that possible if his first three opponents went on to lose too many games? I sort of thought if you made it to the final table you were guaranteed second.)

Thanks for reading! I was really pleased with the variety of lists (even though, yes, the majority were Scum) and the high turnout. Loving where this game is at right now!

-ryanjamal

There was probably several 3-1 squads and his point difference a was maybe a little lower?

sounds like a great bunch of games . We had a record turnout in our neck of the woods as well.

Nice, really enjoyed the detailed report of game 4! Would you mind sharing your command deck? I'm having a lot of trouble with it for my rebel decks.

5 hours ago, burek277 said:

Nice, really enjoyed the detailed report of game 4! Would you mind sharing your command deck? I'm having a lot of trouble with it for my rebel decks.

Sure thing! My CC deck was pretty standard for a Luke Rangers list. Those hunter cards eat up most of your points.

Son of Skywalker (don't leave home without it!)
Assassinate
Heightened Reflexes
Tools for the Job
Call of the Vanguard (a must for elite rangers)
Negation (you pretty much have to have this because of Take Initiative)
Heart of Freedom (I run this in every Rebel list; it's so good!)

After that, I'm left with my zero-cost cards, which aren't too surprising either:

Planning
Take Initiative
Urgency
Devotion (helps to draw SoS)
Positioning Advantage
Mitigate
On a Mission

Hope that helps!

-ryanjamal

@ryanjamal Great write up. I was running the Banatha list and had a great time playing you and everyone else for that matter. I would love to do that mission all over again now that I've learned a thing or two about my list!

Just to clarify a bit I was running IG w/FotK, Bantha w/Beast Tamer, Vinto, Greedo, Jawa, RCP, Black Market. I felt the need to roll a Bantha after seeing how well @pheaver did at worlds, and I really wanted to use the new and improved IG. Worked out till those stupid rangers showed up haha. Opening my door was a BAD choice, but I just really wanted Luke's 12pts. No such luck.

I also agree that it was a bit strange that @seef1033 pulled 3rd and I got 2nd. I can only guess that since we both went 3-1 and our only lose was to you, that that some how gave me the boost based on my other opponents. He is a good buddy of mine and I have no problem stealing his almost glory :-)

Was a fun tourney and congrats on showing us KCers how its done!

1 hour ago, wannabepudge said:

@ryanjamal Great write up. I was running the Banatha list and had a great time playing you and everyone else for that matter. I would love to do that mission all over again now that I've learned a thing or two about my list!

Just to clarify a bit I was running IG w/FotK, Bantha w/Beast Tamer, Vinto, Greedo, Jawa, RCP, Black Market. I felt the need to roll a Bantha after seeing how well @pheaver did at worlds, and I really wanted to use the new and improved IG. Worked out till those stupid rangers showed up haha. Opening my door was a BAD choice, but I just really wanted Luke's 12pts. No such luck.

I also agree that it was a bit strange that @seef1033 pulled 3rd and I got 2nd. I can only guess that since we both went 3-1 and our only lose was to you, that that some how gave me the boost based on my other opponents. He is a good buddy of mine and I have no problem stealing his almost glory :-)

Was a fun tourney and congrats on showing us KCers how its done!

I was glad you brought the Bantha (well, I was intimidated by it, but glad to see it on the board). It's a really fun unit and can totally wreck things. And yeah I think you're right about opening your door. I was thinking that if you had positioned Vinto at the front of your deployment zone or boosted him two spaces with Gideon he could have opened the door and gotten to safety, but it might have been best to wait until round two to open it or to swing everyone around the other way. Overall, I like your list. I just worry about not having enough disposibles to open doors or run objectives (which is why the Alliance Smuggler is one of my favorite units). But props for not running double eQuays, which is what I almost always return to when I run Scum.

Also, that totally clears up about the rankings. If you both only lost to me, then it would be down to the records of your other two oponents, so it makes sense that you could end up second. I was just thrown off because I hadn't considered someone else with a 3-1 record with their only loss also being to me. The math was making my head spin :-)

Really enjoyed our game!

-ryanjamal

Great write up ryan thanks for that. Sounds like the final was just an awesome match up, love to see Rebels beat Scum

I've been toying with scum lists since there were all the rage at Worlds, but would love to stick with my Rebels instead.. your list has inspired me. How do you use hera? Do you keep her in the back to add that extra damage when necessary for the Rangers to finish off a figure? What about Chop? I was running the same list with Ben instead, do you miss not having a second tank up there with Luke to soak? Especially on Anchorhead?

I get nervous with Jabba's map and the eRangers, sounds like your opponent basically gave you best case scenario, but after watching some of the streamed finals games those eRangers can be next to useless against a clever opponent on that map, negating the range bonus.

2 hours ago, FrogTrigger said:

I've been toying with scum lists since there were all the rage at Worlds, but would love to stick with my Rebels instead.. your list has inspired me. How do you use hera? Do you keep her in the back to add that extra damage when necessary for the Rangers to finish off a figure? What about Chop? I was running the same list with Ben instead, do you miss not having a second tank up there with Luke to soak? Especially on Anchorhead?

I get nervous with Jabba's map and the eRangers, sounds like your opponent basically gave you best case scenario, but after watching some of the streamed finals games those eRangers can be next to useless against a clever opponent on that map, negating the range bonus.

Hera is somewhat tricky. She is a jack-of-all trades sort of unit, which is to say she's not really great at any one thing. I tend to keep her back with the rangers, since they often benefit the most from the added surge, but sometimes I try to push her up enough so that Luke can use her ability, as long as she's not exposed. It sort of depends on the map. Her attack is fine enough, and her health is sturdy enough that she can withstand two attacks usually, maybe three on a good day (she's often parked next to 3PO, so that helps). Chopper is fun, but he is situational. On most maps I can park him next to a terminal round one and ward off my opponent or at least zap him. Then I move him up to be annoying round two or three. But on Anchorhead he doesn't usually get down to the terminal until late game, and even then I don't often get to use his ability. I should probably rush him over to the far terminal if I'm on the top, but I like having him close to the center tile in case I want to rush up and attack. I also make use of his Ram ability a lot, pushing Luke forward or moving my damaged units to safety. But in my Finals match, all he accomplished was to move Luke forward one space and then die, lol.

I do miss Obiwan, but really he needs to be Ahsoka . His lack of mobility is extremely hampering. He either has to move into being exposed and then die quickly, or he has to take cover and then be out of position. He does have a lot of health and can sustain taking fire a bit (in theory--curse you Hunter cards!), but if I push him up and he's exposed, most likely my opponent can hang back and take pot shots, but that plays into their hands. I'd rather have more units that can fire from a distance and thus draw my opponents out.

2 hours ago, FrogTrigger said:

I get nervous with Jabba's map and the eRangers, sounds like your opponent basically gave you best case scenario, but after watching some of the streamed finals games those eRangers can be next to useless against a clever opponent on that map, negating the range bonus.

Yep, they sort of suck on Jabba's map. You'll just be at a disadvantage against a lot of other builds on this map. You can open your door and hope they do the same, but most likely you are going to be drawn into that center room. I've managed to get five spaces away surprisingly often by having rangers on both sides of the room and firing crossways, but whatever you do you're at a disadvantage. Haven't really figured this one out yet. I'm sure by the time I do I'll be on to a new list or this map will rotate out .

-ryanjamal

Congrats on the win but I thought no one could win with Rebels anymore?

Thanks for the write up @ryanjamal. I also enjoyed our game. If I could have it back again I would've listened to myself and left IG behind round one---although having heart of freedom you probably would've gotten him anyway. Well played and well deserved victory. Go rebels!

14 hours ago, ryanjamal said:

Also, that totally clears up about the rankings. If you both only lost to me, then it would be down to the records of your other two oponents, so it makes sense that you could end up second. I was just thrown off because I hadn't considered someone else with a 3-1 record with their only loss also being to me. The math was making my head spin :-)

Really enjoyed our game!

-ryanjamal

Unless they use some other kind of Strength Of Schedule, it doesn't matter if you win or lose. You'll boost my SOS equally if I win against you, or lose against you. All that matters is how much do my opponent's win, compared to how much my fellow 3-1's opponent's won.

So you want your opponents to win as much as possible, except against yourself (obviously).

I'm missing many of the models, so I ran this list yesterday: Luke, rRangers, Mak, Gideon, C3PO, eTroopers, RHC. I also took many of your suggestions about the Command cards, but once again had to make allowances for what I have. I really liked the list, especially Mak seems like he can really easily pay for his cost if you can focus him up and use him to finish something off. I often get impatient, however, and just rush ahead too much.

Your list had really helped me and I'm enjoying the rush of rebelious spirit!

If you're running Mak, try to make space for his command card and Intelligence Leak, and Comm disruption (if you have them). Those spy cards are killer! That's hard to do with all those Hunter cards taking up your points. You could drop your eTroopers for eSabs with Targetting Computer (I prefer them to eTroopers even if you do lose a figure), which would free up one point for Balance of the Force (which gives you three more points to spend on command cards). My only other thoughts is that it helps to have a figure for opening doors and running objectives like the rSmuggler (whom I'd take over RHC, but that's just me) and that most people prefer the elite rangers over the regular (let's you use Call of the Vanguard, for one).

Happy gaming!

-ryanjamal

I would definitely use the eRangers if I had them! I'll try to proxy them and Call the Vanguard, it does seem extremely powerful. Using rRangers + Mak seemed like an interesting combo.

One issue I see with the Spy cards is that if Mak dies, they are useless. I think Rebels could really use a card like Zillo that would allow them to drop extra Command cards, especially since a lot of their power comes from character-specific command cards that are useless in the later turns if their figure is dead.

Edit: I see now that Rebel Saboteurs are Spies as well, that would definitely help.

Forgive my ignorance, but how can you have rRangers and not eRangers??

2 hours ago, burek277 said:

I would definitely use the eRangers if I had them! I'll try to proxy them and Call the Vanguard, it does seem extremely powerful. Using rRangers + Mak seemed like an interesting combo.

One issue I see with the Spy cards is that if Mak dies, they are useless. I think Rebels could really use a card like Zillo that would allow them to drop extra Command cards, especially since a lot of their power comes from character-specific command cards that are useless in the later turns if their figure is dead.

Edit: I see now that Rebel Saboteurs are Spies as well, that would definitely help.

You can also use Comm Disruption even if all your spies are dead, you can only negate a 0pt card then, but if you disrupt Take Initiative or Element of Surprise, it could be the turning point or at least save your bacon.

44 minutes ago, buckero0 said:

You can also use Comm Disruption even if all your spies are dead, you can only negate a 0pt card then, but if you disrupt Take Initiative or Element of Surprise, it could be the turning point or at least save your bacon.

+1
Somebody negated my Devotion (preventing me from drawing Blaze of Glory in Rd 1) during my only loss in a local store tourney last weekend. Ugh...
Comm Disruption with no spies would have done it too.

1 hour ago, FixB said:

Forgive my ignorance, but how can you have rRangers and not eRangers??

rRangers come with Jabba's palace, eRangers and Call the Vanguard come with the Alliance Rangers pack.

20 minutes ago, wannabepudge said:

rRangers come with Jabba's palace, eRangers and Call the Vanguard come with the Alliance Rangers pack.

But you don't have any figures for rangers in Jabba's Realm? (Or I'm going to complain to ffg! :))

Just now, FixB said:

But you don't have any figures for rangers in Jabba's Realm? (Or I'm going to complain to ffg! :))

I could be wrong, but they would come as the cardboard tokens, not figures. Yes the tokens are annoying, but that's how the Rebel Troopers and Sabs were too in the core. Call the Vanguard for sure comes in the pack though.

24 minutes ago, wannabepudge said:

rRangers come with Jabba's palace, eRangers and Call the Vanguard come with the Alliance Rangers pack.

don't forget Heightened Reflexes. That rangers pack is loaded with good stuff.

definitely a pack worth getting. I have yet to actually use my figures though ever. I've got 3 Fenn painted up (don't ask!) so I always use them instead.

You can't technically use tokens in a tournament. Just saying.

Many places might be willing to get ya hooked and let ya for a chill tourney. But more people would probably let you borrow too.

13 hours ago, aermet69 said:

Unless they use some other kind of Strength Of Schedule, it doesn't matter if you win or lose. You'll boost my SOS equally if I win against you, or lose against you. All that matters is how much do my opponent's win, compared to how much my fellow 3-1's opponent's won.

So you want your opponents to win as much as possible, except against yourself (obviously).

Yeah, it likely was the SOS. I ended up 2-2 with a competitive loss to @seef1033 and a different 36-38 loss where the opponent rolled around 5 dodges with Vinto. That includes a double dodge against my last eWeequay. (Heightened Reflexes was the very bottom card of my deck). So, I'll take credit for ruining @seef1033 strength of schedule and subsequent third place finish.

Out of curiosity, can you gain more than 40 pts in competitive play? I can't remember off the top of my head. I had two opponents concede my first two games once I got up or killed their centerpiece figures. Would playing it out improve my score or strength of schedule?