Scum list // Imperial list // VASSAL file

2 Sigma Squadron Aces remain after a fierce battle of out-positioning. Only Boba remains for the Scum player. In the opening exchange of the match the phantoms managed to shave off 3 of Boba’s shields before moving on to squash the 1-agility 4-Lom. The phantoms have just this round deleted the pesky Palob, but Sigma Squadron #2 lost their evade token and shields for the effort. The Imperial player has killed 104 points while the Scum player has killed 100 points. There are 10 minutes left in the match. The Imperial player is the first player. Boba has 1 charge remaining on his Seismic Charges upgrade. We begin in the end phase.

An interesting scenario. The first question should probably be, can the Imperials realistically go for 10 minutes without losing half point of Sigma #2 (or even on #1 since all it takes is two good shots and some bad dice). That seems a little unlikely, especially considering the position of Sigma #2. I think the Scum player should probably be doing a 1-straight or 1-bank right to clear stress. A 2 or 3-straight looks a little risky as it leaves the Firespray facing the corner with very few options and it's 2 damage away from giving up half points. It's also likely to drop the seismic now, as that likely gives 2 potential rocks to target. A 1-bank seems most likely as it leaves a Boost option if required to get arc or to get away from the closest debris if the seismic is going to destroy it.

I think Sigma #1 should probably cloak, then decloak right into a 1-bank to avoid any bomb damage so as to keep health as high as possible to avoid giving up half points. Decloaking left into something like a 3-straight is more aggressive but runs the risk of clipping the debris or taking bomb damage. Sigma #2 is much harder. Can it avoid being at range 1 of either of the rocks? A 1-hard left into a barrel roll left probably does, but leaves you unable to cloak next turn, and potentially vulnerable to taking a shot from Fett. It also takes you out of the fight, more or less for the rest of the game. Worth noting that even if we can half-point Fett, losing Sigma #2 still loses us the game 149-150.

I think we can afford one turn of shooting with the Phantoms so I'd probably decloak right with #1, then 1-bank left and Focus. Sigma #2 would hard-1 right and Evade. I think if it tries to run, it's going to have to barrel roll to avoid damage from the seismic, leaving it with no tokens or cloak bonus, so the best we can hope for is to go after Fett and not die in the process. If Fett doesn't drop his bomb and we somehow don't take damage then we're in a better position to run next turn.

No matter what you do you are cloaking with Sigma 1 at the end of the turn.

SS1 then decloaks left. SS2 does a 4 straight and barrel rolls right for the block. SS1 does a 2 straight. You are probably giving up half points on SS2, but Boba will be shields down and will need to stress for the focus anyway. If he stresses, SS1 can continue the blocking train.

25 minutes ago, Micanthropyre said:

No matter what you do you are cloaking with Sigma 1 at the end of the turn.

SS1 then decloaks left. SS2 does a 4 straight and barrel rolls right for the block. SS1 does a 2 straight. You are probably giving up half points on SS2, but Boba will be shields down and will need to stress for the focus anyway. If he stresses, SS1 can continue the blocking train.

Does the 4-straight clear? Also, does a BR block the 1-bank right form the Firespray? I wasn't sure it did and failing either of those moves leaves SS2 pretty much dead. Seems a little too risky to me, though I admit the Imperial player is in a tricky position whatever happens.

I don't have confidence that I could preserve the points as-is for the next 10 mins, so my win condition is getting half points on Boba, under the expectation that I will almost certainly lose half on one of my Phantoms in the next 10 mins. At this point, taking a single Seismic is acceptable, assuming it allows me to get good shots in the process. Boba is looking at a 1 bank to clear stress and he most likely wants to go right in order to orient his rear arc and escape the blast radius on the left debris, which has a better chance of having one or both Phantoms at range 1. He would have the option of boosting to further escape arcs or just focusing if he has good shots to leave open hard turns for the following turn.

My moves:
SSA 2: 4 straight, BR right, as far back as possible
goal: block 1 right bank from Boba, avoid being shot, force Boba into his own blast radius regardless of which obstacle he Seismics, avoid blast radius of left debris, have arc on Boba if he one banks left.

SSA1: cloak, decloak left rear, 2 straight, focus/BR as needed
goal: set up range 1, out of arc shot on blocked Boba, tank seismic as needed

Annnd I misjudged the 4 straight - it bumps in VASSAL

resolution of the round ended up being:

System:
SSA1 executes left decloak, evade action
Boba drops Seismic

Activation:
SSA2 bumps on 4 straight attempt
SSA1 executes 2 straight, focuses
Boba 1 right banks, clears stress. Sees that he has what appears to be range 1 rear arc shot on SSA2, who will be at 2 health after the Seismic detonates. He has to decide if he is confident he can kill SSA2 with his shot - if he doesn't, he'll be looking at 2 shots from the Phantoms that will almost certainly put him below half health. He will be up on points with SSA2 below half after the Seismic goes off. He opts to 1 right boost, getting out of SSA2's arc.
Seismic detonates, 1 damage to both Phantoms, SSA2 below half.

Combat:
Boba uses Han, range 3 shot on SSA1 deals no damage (holds Focus for Juke defense)
SSA1 lands 1 damage on Boba

Scum player is now winning, Imperial player needs to take 1 more health off of Boba without losing SSA2 or taking half of SSA1. One round left to go. Boba is stressed.

2 hours ago, Jike said:

Does the 4-straight clear? Also, does a BR block the 1-bank right form the Firespray? I wasn't sure it did and failing either of those moves leaves SS2 pretty much dead. Seems a little too risky to me, though I admit the Imperial player is in a tricky position whatever happens.

4 straight = 4 small base lengths, looks like SSA 2 would land with its back right corner on top of the front left corner of Fett causing a bump and leaving SSA 2 in range of the seismic. If the 4 straight had cleared a barrel roll right on SSA2 would have blocked a left 1 bank on Fett.

Looks like the range 1 from Boba with focus + 2 rerolls on tokenless SSA2 has about 95% chance of killing it, so not sure the boost away I assumed from Boba is realistic

Basically 1 turn remaining. Cloak SSA1. Decloak SSA1 to right (inline with mid of SSA1's base). SSA2 Hard left 1 into a left barrel roll mid to clear for SSA1 and be clear from the seismic. SSA1 bank 2 Left, Focus and hope for good rolls. Fett is likely going to 2 or 3 straight, Lock and Focus up via Han Gunner or 4 Straight. He's got the points advantage so disengaging straight forwards to open up the range after dropping the seismic makes the most sense for him.

I don't have Vassal so I'm estimating distances based on base size and memory...

Here's what yours looks like at the start of the Engagement Phase (Boba did the 2 straight here, giving him options to not fly off the board if there are additional rounds)

https://imgur.com/a/0946jW5

4 minutes ago, Transmogrifier said:

Here's what yours looks like at the start of the Engagement Phase (Boba did the 2 straight here, giving him options to not fly off the board if there are additional rounds)

https://imgur.com/a/0946jW5

So the seismic card indicated which of the debris fields that was going to be removed? What is the damage spread right now?

That was me making a call based on context (the other debris would miss SSA2). SSA1 got nicked by the Seismic detonation and is at 1 shield going into the Engagement Phase.

10 minutes ago, Transmogrifier said:

That was me making a call based on context (the other debris would miss SSA2). SSA1 got nicked by the Seismic detonation and is at 1 shield going into the Engagement Phase.

Now it is just hoping 3 red can get past 2 green plus focus and the evade on SSA1 is available for def against the Firespray freeing up the focus for offense (swap if the Firespray burns the focus for its attack). Here's hoping for good dice. Needs 2 hits on the Firespray and to not loose more than 1 on SSA1, though it can loose a couple if it doesn't get a bad crit.

Well the good news is that Boba can't really afford to spend his focus on offense due to the threat from Juke, so he's relying on the Marauder reroll only for his offense. He's got a tough decision to make - shooting SSA1 is unlikely to land 2 damage, which he needs to get ahead on points, but would also hopefully eliminate tokens and help avoid taking the 2 damage that will put Boba at half health. Shooting SSA2 is more likely to do the damage he needs to get ahead on points, but that leaves SSA1 with a Juke + Focus shot at range 2 and then able to cloak / decloak to keep pressure on (assuming they will play one more round).

5 minutes ago, Transmogrifier said:

Well the good news is that Boba can't really afford to spend his focus on offense due to the threat from Juke, so he's relying on the Marauder reroll only for his offense. He's got a tough decision to make - shooting SSA1 is unlikely to land 2 damage, which he needs to get ahead on points, but would also hopefully eliminate tokens and help avoid taking the 2 damage that will put Boba at half health. Shooting SSA2 is more likely to do the damage he needs to get ahead on points, but that leaves SSA1 with a Juke + Focus shot at range 2 and then able to cloak / decloak to keep pressure on (assuming they will play one more round).

I misread who had more points... I was reading this as a "Imps are down 4 , what do they need to do to win" not "They're up 4, how to they avoid loosing"... /facedesk ?