Here is a nice little battle report about a regional where I managed to reach the top 8 with Kimogilas with little to no preperation. Since the Kimogila is a widely unused ship, I figured that this battle report would gather some interest.
Prior to the regional
I was scouring my brain for what I could bring to the 2nd local regional, one that just happens to be after the national (go figure). A few years ago, I would have focused on bringing a dual IG and have a whole document of pre-planned manoeuvers, counters, meta analysis, etc. I always fancied tricky lists with lower PS, but with the meta being what it is (Fenn/Ghost and Miranda/Nym), I thought that being tricky would simply not cut it.
So after borrowing (and later buying) 2 kimogilas and pairing it with my other 2, I came up with a very simple list to use:
4 x Cartel Brute with long range scanners
Sunny with Light Scyk
The goal: a ton of firepower and hit points. A friend who had lived through the first few years of X-Wing observed that it was the classic BBBBZ, but on stims. He was probably right, lol. At any rate, I figured that since no one used it, it would catch people by surprise. I had only two goals: having fun and that at least half the people that I played against would have a “what the heck?” expression on their face. I managed to get both and more.
Unfortunately, I did not memorize my opponent’s lists perfectly, so some upgrades might be off.
Game 1
Wedge: BB-8, Plasma torpedo, guidance chip, adaptability.
Cracken: harpoon, guidance chip, VI
Horton: TLT, expertise (with droid), plasma torpedo, guidance chip
(There might have been other upgrades, but if they were then they did not come into play).
We jousted and I suffered a terrible alpha strike that tore a Kimogila to shreds in exchange for Wedge’s shields and 2 hull. Not good. The following round cost me another Kimogila for Wedge and reducing Cracken to 1 hull. Finally, it cost me a third to destroy cracken and reduce Horton’s shields a bit. Unfortunately for my opponent, Horton has even less maneuverability than a Kimogila, so a few range 1 shots tore him to pieces.
My opponent just shook his head and while he had played perfectly with what he had, targeting the right Kimogila and destroying it before it could shoot, my list just had too many hit points for him to destroy it completely.
Game 1 results: Victory, 100 – 66.
Game 2
Lowhhrick : draw their fire and Rey (I think). Something is missing
Norra: PTL, c-3PO, R2-D2, Title, Vectored Thruster
Ezra (sheath): Elusiveness, weapon engineer, M9-G8.
I really hate Lowhhrick and I had faced similar lists before. Norra basically telegraphs “don’t shoot me unless you can kill me”, which is hard with associated escort. I targeted Lowhhrick first and my opponent had the worst dice. A nice block combined with a kill box prevented the reinforce on the 2nd round of shooting and allowed me to kill him. Unfortunately, asteroid placement and some overconfidence on my part prevented me from blocking my opponent again and my force suddenly got scattered, which does not help to kill Norra in or Ezra in the least.
The game went to time and by then, I had killed Ezra and Lowhhrick in exchange for 3 kimogilas while leaving Norra at 2 hull. I lost, but only by 7 points if memory serves. I was ok with that, because losing early means a different brand of opponents for the following rounds and my MOV was still good. That and it was a terrific game with my opponent, so it was fun!
Game 2 result: loss, 59 - 66
Game 3
Omicron pilot: collision detector, palpatine
Quickdraw: expertise, FCS, Advanced optics, title, lightweight frame
Backdraft: VI, FCS, title, lightweight frame
Now this is where having a PS 2 lambda shuttle becomes a problem when facing PS 3 kimogilas. I had faced similar builds before and I knew that Palpatine could be leveraged to make maximum use of Quickdraw, so Palpatine had to go first. My opponent deployed his shuttle facing a corner, which was a mistake, so I placed my Kimogilas to intercept it and had all target locks on it.
On the first round of battle, Quickdraw landed on an asteroid and backdraft caused no damage while the shuttle tried to get away, suffering 5 shields and 1 hull in the process. On the following round, the shuttle was destroyed and later down the road, I exchanged a kimogila for backdraft. Quickdraw followed quickly afterwards, earning me a decisive victory.
Game 3 result: victory 100 - 22
Game 4
Lok Revenant: dead eye, autoblaster turret, extra mujnitions, harpoon, ion bombs, guidance chip
Lok Revenant: dead eye, autoblaster turret, extra mujnitions, harpoon, ion bombs, guidance chip, title, collision detector, genius
Contracted scout: a score to settle
Alpha strike vs alpha strike; may the best dice win! For some reason, my opponent chose to take the initiative, which was a bad call considering the sheer amount of PS3. We rushed towards each other and my purpose was clear, to levy the use of my bullseye and destroy the contracted scout before it could be used to block me. I suffered 2 harpoons and lost a kimogila in exchange for the contracted scout and some damage on a revenant. The second round of firing caused damage on both side and had a group of ships, including both revenants ionined. The third round of firing ended up with a 2nd kimogila lost, but with the harpoon explosion killing one revenant. Sunny died on this turn as well (it was a bad idea to keep her in range of that auto blaster0.
This left me with 2 kimogilas with a few shields down against a lightly wounded revenant. I turned around to face my opponent which in turn tried to do an unexpected talon roll. He misjudged the distance, however, and ended up outside the map.
Game 4 result: victory 100 – 56.
Game 5
Genesis Red: VI, Title, mangler
Nym: autoblaster turret, extra munitions, harpoon missiles, seismic charges, ion bombs, title, guidance chip, geninus, not sure about the EPT, trajectory simulator
Contracted scout: adaptability, dengar
(Some upgrades are missing, but they did not come into play)
I knew my opponent and while he had never played my list, he had heard (and could easily imagine) that jousting was a bad idea. We toyed and maneuvered for the first few rounds, but the Kimogila is surprisingly adapt at repositioning and delaying thanks to its barrel roll and bank 1. The extra planning and manoeuvers ended up simply delaying the engagement and keeping Genesis Red out of the first 2 rounds of battle.
After 2 rounds of shooting, the contracted scout fell easily, Nym suffered some damage and Genesis Red was left to 1 hull with a damaged sensor array (which is horrible on him) in exchange for a Kimogila. Nym tried to run away the following turn, but was stuck between rocks with 3 kimos on its back. He exploded and Genesis failed to destroyed a Kimo before being destroyed 2 turns later.
Game 5 result: victory 100 – 22.
Game 6
Lowhhrick: expertise, some other stuff that never came into play
Rey: Expertise, Finn, title (s-loop), engine upgrade, C3-PO
By that point, I was starting to feel pretty comfortable. I knew my MOV was high, so even a loss here may still allow me to reach the top 8 if I scored a high enough MOV. My opponent had a list that I dreaded, with Rey having a history of causing 5 + hits whenever I faced her and evading constantly.
I knew that Rey thrived on frontal assaults, so I decided to make the choice harder on him by having all target locks on her. We slowly maneuvered towards each other, but having Lowhhrick around made it easier for me because it made Rey’s moves more predictable. When it seemed that Rey would suddenly face 4 fully modified kimo shots alone, my opponent boosted out of range… but also out of Lowhhrick’s protective field for the following rounds.
When the shots finally started on the following turn, 1 Kimo suffered 2 shields from Rey while another lost 1 shield to Low. This was in exchange for 1 shield on Rey and 2 on Low. It would be an even trade if I did not have so many hit points, but Low was completely separate from Rey now and my entire swarm was aimed at him. I advanced aggressively, passing through an asteroid with a Kimo and blocked Low with 3 range 1 shots on top of that. 1 Kimo was left at 2 hull and a console fire in exchange for the wookie. I can’t think of a better scenario.
Rey tried to get back in the fight, in part because her orientation and asteroids forced her to, but I blocked her 4 –kturn with an aggressive move and barrel roll, leaving her facing away from me and with a stress. The wounded Kimo died and 2 of the remaining Kimos and Sunny opened fire with full dice modifications, inflicting a PS0 crit on her while she was stressed and aimed towards the corner (4 hull remaining). The following turn of shooting ended with Rey’s destruction, leaving me satisfied.
Game 6 result: victory 100 to 22.
The day ended there with a guaranteed spot on the top 8, some FFG dice and other loot. Mission accomplished.
EDIT: for those who are curious, my victories + MOV allowed me to end third in terms of rating. Not bad for a list with little to no agility and no fancy gimmicks!
Top 8
Nym: deadeye, TLT, extra munitions, harpoon, proton bomb, thermal detonator, title, guidance chip, trajectory simulator, geninus
Miranda: TLT, extra munitions, sabine, bomblet, advanced slam, cluster mines.
The following day, I faced against another guy who I knew well. Neither of us had expected to reach the top 8 and we jousted. Unfortunately, I was too timid with the joust, my dice were horrible while his alpha strike was perfect with the exact right crits applied to each ship. I ended with a loss 0 to 100, but I was still pretty happy.
My opponent is actually an artist in our area who makes custom templates, so I told him:
- I had fun (objective #1), with a non-netlist squad.
- I had over 50% of my opponents groan upon seeing my list (objective #2) + a few spectators
- I reached the top 8 and got some dice, unexpected bonus and really the real prize of any regional.
- I did not reach the top 4, but I love the personalised templates that he made me anyway, so who cares
- The trophy would have been nice, but at the end of the day, I don’t actually play with the trophy, so that’s ok.
So can run of the mill Kimogilas be fun in a competitive setting? Sure thing! If you have the extra money or extra friends who can lend you some, give it a try. 50% + groaning from your opponents guaranteed, hehehe!
Edited by dotswarlock