Warboar is my local store, so I decided to take on regionals despite not being anywhere near the required standard! Overall it was a great day, I didn't find the 6 games too tiring... I flagged a little around game 4 but then came back for the last 2.
My aim was to win one game, eventually ended the day 2-4.
I took Han Solo and BB8 Poe, both at PS11. I had been playing Chewie and Corran Horn in the recent league season, so this seemed like a decent match with at least some potential to compete.
Game 1 v Vader, QD and Inquisitor
I won game one! I felt relatively in control of this game, my one-point initiative bid decision turned out to be really useful. I managed to get all of QD's shields in one round, then it was relatively easy to dodge Vader's arc and eventually kill him. Inquisitor was left at the end for a roughly 70-30 win.
Game 2 v QD and 3 harpoon gunships
Had a very clear plan for this one, which very nearly worked. I sped straight towards the harpoon boats, taking my opponent a bit by surprise. Poe stripped one target lock but I slightly misjudged his speed meaning the second boost was out of range one! Luckily Han was then able to boost past the final gunship and put himself out of arc. So I took no harpoon damage and piled all of my fire into the one who still had a target lock. Unfortunately (story of the day) I couldn't do enough damage to finish off the final hull point. I then swung everything onto the flanking Quickdraw, engaging him for a couple of rounds. Sadly some amazing green dice allowed him to survive and critically damage Poe with his return fire. Game eventually came down to the three gunboats vs Han, and they got him in the end after a prolonged chase. Lost 100-30ish.
Game 3 v Fenn Rau, Thweek and Dalan Oberos
I was really pleased to see this matchup, love playing against aces. Sadly my opponent had a large bid, and Thweek stealing my PS11 meant he would move last. I think I handled the game pretty well, managing to take out Dalan in the first few engagements. The game then went into a real dogfight for a while. A key decision happened when Poe 'escaped' from an engagement with a stressed Thweek in what I thought was absolutely the right move. Unfortunately I had forgotten about Contraband Cybernetics, which allowed him to do a red turn and barrel roll while stressed, landing at R1 to kill Poe. After that it was an upill battle for Han. I haven't faced Dalan or Thweek or Cybernetics before, so a good learning experience although disappointing not to get a win. Lost 100-30ish.
Game 4 v Dash and Miranda
I went after Dash first, trying to close into R1 and keep the pressure on him. I managed it OK, finishing the game with one hull left on Dash. Unfortunately he was able to get enough shots in to wreck Poe (no regen) and do serious damage to Han. Almost got Dash in the last exchange but he killed Han in return with HLC. Miranda wasn't really relevant to the game, I think she did one or two damage with TLT and none with bombs. I lost, scoring half points on Dash.
Game 5 v Rey/Lowhrick
At this point the early positivity is really starting to wear off! I wasn't too worried about the list, but I hadn't seen this particular combination of push the limit, Jyn and Jan on Lowhrick. Basically he had an evade and a reinforce token every turn, and my max four dice attacks were only able to push through a maximum of one damage per turn. By the time I realised he was almost impossible to damage I had wasted about half the game chasing him around the board, allowing Rey to hammer me with some serious dice. Lost 100-0.
Game 6 v Rey/Lowhrick
The same list again! Seeing Rey and Lowhrick again was a bit of a blow, since I was desperate to get another win to make the results look more respectable. But at least I had the previous game as practice, and I was aware of the impossibility of damaging the wookiee. So this time I piled everything at Rey, applying as much pressure as I could. The plan worked in general, but I lost Poe to wishful thinking as I anticipated my opponent trying a sloop that looked very risky. Obviously he didn't (!) and turned into Poe, obliterating him with Rey's front arc fire. Han was on his own again. This is where the Solo heroics started. Han managed to stay out of Rey's front arc and finished her with the help of some strategic gamble dice rolls. He suffered a damaged cockpit in return, reducing him to PS0 to take on Lowhrick. A few turns followed of Han chasing Low around the edge of the board, chipping off some damage. Staying behind him meant the Jan Ors, Jyn Erso combination couldn't fire, and a gap opened in the defences. Eventually my opponent made a small mistake and overshot with a move, leaving Han out of his 180 arc. Han finished off Low with only a couple of his own hull remaining. Won 100-70ish.
Overall
So I finished 2-4, which was better than my objective of one win but also could have been so much better. Losing Poe to a couple of mistakes really highlighted the difficulty of flying him without R2D2. I feel with R2D2 I might have ended up with one more win at least. And the match against scum aces was going my way until the Contraband Cybernetics got me killed in a position where I thought I was completely safe.
A very fun day, and I think I can say I am getting better at the game. Things that used to seem impossible to play against (QD, ordnance) I now at least have some idea of how to beat. And I'm definitely much better at choosing and judging my moves.
It was maybe wishful thinking to believe I could do well with BB-8 Poe in this environment. One mistake means he is crippled quite often. I think taking a cheaper and more resilient wing-man and investing a few more points into Han might have improved the list.
Anyway, thanks to Warboar, TNX Squadron, 186th, and a few great opponents from Wayland games and beyond.
Edited by ayedubbleyoo
