tie shuttle no. 1347, carrying the captured rebel spy known as Beth Garnic, and the double agent who brought him in, was on a standard transport mission, escorted by an atmospheric strike force...
Their signals obstructed by an asteroid field, the rebel forces lay in wait for the convoy. The mission to recover the operative was of upmost importance, so they recruited some hired revenants who weren't particular about who they fought, or who they fought for...
Imperial Escort (100)
Tie bomber (16) tie shuttle (0) rebel captive (3) saboteur (2) Lightweight Frame (2) TOTAL:23
"Double edge" (19) ion cannon turret(5) Crack shot (1) TOTAL:25
"Duchess"(24) adaptive ailerons (0) Lone wolf (2) lightweight Frame (2) TOTAL:28
Academy Pilot (12)
Academy pilot (12)
Rebel Ambush (115)
Captain nym. Rey(2)Bomblet generator(3) Extra Munitions (2) Cruise missiles (3) synched turret (4) Havoc (0) Unhinged Astromech (1) Minefield Mapper (0) TOTAL: 47
Green squadron pilot (19) Charrdan refit (-2) A-wing test pilot (0) daredevil (3) wired (1) TOTAL: 21×2
Binarye pirate (12)
Binarye pirate (12)
Okay, now you get to actually see the Batrep. Enjoy!
Turn 1:
We kinda threw asteroid rules out the window, and decided to add extra asteroids to simulate the dense, signal-jamming asteroid field.
When we set up I wanted to use the asteriod cover as an advantage, so I could really utilize the duchess abilty and the tie bomber's saboteur. ( it didn't really work out that way) He set up his A-wings across from the ties, and the rest in the top left corner
Turn Two:
My ties entered the asteroids, took a focus.
The A-wings blasted forward with 5-straights, both target locked the front tie.
I made a mistake with Duchess, overshot her and ended up bumping the A, so her only shot would be a range three, obstructed, unmodified shot at a Z-95 (side note: I didn't Mention the h-6, agressor, bomber, or Z-95s because they weren't in range of anything) at the end of the round, the front tie was down to 1 hull, and one of the A's was down a shield.
Turn 3:
The front tie hard turned by one to avoid the asteroid and try to draw fire, took an evade. The next turned further inward toward the Zs and Nym, but my friend had initiative and blocked it with a Z. The other Z came in with a four straight to line up a shot on the agressor, who turned into the asteroid field along with the bomber, who clipped some debris and took a stress. The A-wings ended up bumping into my bomber, leaving only one of them with a shot at the agressor. Duchess managed to line up a really juicy shot at a Z-95, and Nym coasted in those really annoying green 3-banks. Nym took a shot at the bumped tie, and some unlucky blanks really ruined that academy's day, destroying it. Duchess got three hits through on the range-one Z, and double edge ionized the other by spending his crack shot. The A with a shot took the shield off of double edge, and the Zs didn't do much in the way of damage.
Turn 4:
The ionized Z went first, onto some debris, and didn't take any damage, while the other did his best to try and escape T H E D U C H E S S. the bomber ended up barrlleeyy not bumping the Z-95, then the A-wings 3k'ed behind me, eager try out their "wired" upgrade, and double edge bumped into the Z... not for the first time this game. Nym overshot with another three bank,which bumped into duchess, but still had an obstructed shot at the bomber. Duchess decided to use her ailerons to get another shot on the binarye pirate, and killed him off with a range one shot. Nym didn't have the best shot, so the bomber managed to evade without spending his focus. Double edge tried to spread some ion love, but without modifiers he missed both shots. The A-wings were studs this round, bringing the agressor down to 2 hull. It's not looking too good for me...
Turn 5:
The hapless 1 hull tie turns outward, trying to intercept the h-6, and the last Z is double stressed from debris and won't be in the fight for a few turns. The bomber also sets a course to engage Nym, while Double edge follows it with A-wings in hot pursuit. Duchess again puts her excellent dial to use, arc dodging and barrel rolling into range one of the A's. Nym pops another green talon roll manuver, but my interception force is ready to engage him next turn. Duchess fires, and uses lone wolf reroll to take a shield off the A. Double Edge plinks a shield on Nym, before the return fire from the A-wings took him down. Nym's shot only nabs him a stress from R.C. though, as three dice+focus is enough to dodge. Mr. Academy plinks more shield off, and then it's back to dials.
Turn 5: the 1 hull tie moves into position, predicting a talon roll from nym and banking on the hope that he's too insignificant to be worth a shot from nym. The bomber does the same, while the A-wings try to follow, but scramble to avoid the asteroid in front of them. Duchess again barrel rolls into range one of the A-wings, and nym did my expected talon roll. Duchess's shot again takes a shield off the A, and forced it to spend it's focus. Nym shoots at the bomber, ignoring the tie fighter as i hoped, and deals 2 damage. The A-wing misses it's unmodded shot, and the combined 3 dice+focus shots from the Academy and bomber bring the h-6 down to 4 hull remaining (the Z-95 is still trying to catch up to the others)
Turns 6-9:
This part is just a mess of knife fighting and k-turns, so I'll abridge this a bit. Duchess uses her great-for-knife-fighting dial to outdance the A-wing and take it out, without entering a single arc or bomblet. The bomber and Academy pilot (who really deserves a promotion by now) continue to buzz around nym and try to push damage, but the hero academy pilot rolls TWO NATRUAL CRITS, so now nym has a damaged sensor array and is PS 0 eventually nym folds under the pressure of duchess and the others, with saboteur on the bomber keeping that damaged sensor array active. So now it's down to an A-wing and a Z-95 who's kinda late to the party. Segnors loop and k-turn at speed two really pairs well with rebel captive, denying k-turns and daredevil boosts with extra stress while the hero-of-the-empire Academy tie WILL. NOT. DIE. Eventually I melt the remaining rebels, and the convoy delivers their precious cargo.
Final Thoughts:
This was a really fun game, it felt like star wars, not "generic space wars" dogfights were always down to the wire, and the balance of power stayed at 50-50 for most of the game.
Things to take away:
Saboteur is kinda cool in casual, but usually garbage.
BELIEVE IN ONE HULL ACADEMY TIES
The striker's multiple one-speed manuvers make it a excellent close-range arc dodger, and it can really move if it needs to.
Nym has a good bomb-holding ability, USE IT
Be sure to focus fire, and never split up
Thanks for reading my first batrep, I hope you liked it!
Edited by Roller of blanks