Took the following to a HST yesterday in Tulsa and had a blast, made top 8 and took home dice and templates!
Han: TS, Leia, R2-D2, ID, Title, Ion Missiles, Hotshot Gunner, Engine Upgrade
Norra: ICT, VTG, Proton Bombs, Ion Torps, Afterburners, Crack Shot
(188)
Round 1:
I was given a bye and while I always prefer to play, it was nice to support my friends who were playing and take it easy at the start of the day (I knew there was a LOT of X-Wing to come!)
Round 2:
I played vs Kylo and Tavson, both heavily loaded with SNR and Prockets on the ace and Snoke plus other goodies on the Upsilon. Snoke was very effective at keeping Kylo safe from Han, but Norra swept in faster than expected around an obstacle thanks to Afterburners and Kylo got stuck between Han, Ions, and Bombs. I was able to then get behind the Ups and took it out of the fight (I think it shot 1-2 times). Kylo eventually went down and my opponent was incredible gracious in defeat, he laughed on the random hard counter and we talked about why on earth I had a 12 point bid with a boost/barrel rolling Y-Wing - but doing something awesome with a clunky frame always feels good!
Round 3:
This was streamed by Gold Sq (if the video gets posted I'll add a link here). My opponent was a wonderful guy that ended up as a losing finalist - great showing from him! He had Vader, Soontir, Duchess and a smaller bid, which is exactly what I wanted to see. This seems like an easy match up for my squad, but in reality the crits from Vader are a real problem and slightly above average variance on whichever ace I go for can leave Han with a mountain to climb, when Norra inevitably dies. I've played this match up a few times and I have lost it as many times as I have won, the games always being close.
I rushed Norra up the middle with Han flanking, he had Duchess going slow basically opposite Norra while Soontir and Vader raced up my left flank. Norra's bomb threat kept Soontir from getting too many shots off and I was able to start throwing some damage at the Striker. I was extremely tempted to boost with Norra towards Vader, but felt I had to try and get a ship off the board, so went all out on Duchess but Norra was just out of range for a lock - no Ion Torps and I'm a sad panda. Norra took a bunch of damage and I think Han dealt a card or two to Duchess. Norra starting hurting from Vader. We wrestled more with Norra and Duchess trading at range 1, while Soontir evaded shots from Han. At this point Norra had 3hp left and a Loose Stabilizer, she was opposite Duchess and I figured he would drop a Prox Mine to disrupt my obvious Leia K-Turn. So I dropped a Proton to annoy Soontir and 3 turned/boosted left to try and save her. He figured I was 1 forwarding with her and had dialed in a turn so he could br and maybe avoid shots on Duchess. We both laughed and the mind games were creating a really fun game, despite being a tournament it was incredibly relaxed the whole time.
Norra got incredibly lucky next round and survived to be annoying a little while longer, but the crucial moment came when Han got hit hit crit through on Soontir, he rolled below average and was very unlucky to pull a direct hit. With Duchess heavily wounded already and Han moving last, that felt like pretty much the game. Norra died and he ran his aces to the corner, looking to regroup and approach again. Han followed and I was able to pin him there, forcing bumps to limit the shots coming at Han and relying on his ability to threaten Duchess (who's 2 agility is extremely vulnerable to Han's low variance). Duchess died and Vader was down shields, Han not looking like getting to half so with a minute to go he ran Vader away to save MOV, while Han did the same. We both spent a long time talking before and after the game and I stayed once I was out later on to support another new friend from this great community. I'm sure he'll get me back for this win next time we play!
Round 4:
This time I was playing another local here, and a relatively famous name in the world of X-Wing, Zach Bunn of Team Covenant fame. Zach is an excellent player and has flown Vader more than I have flown anything in this game. He doesn't play too much any more, but will still show for tournaments and always racks up the wins. He was the only 3-0 from the Friday night flight and beat one of the best locals that stills plays regularly the round before. He also had Vader, Soontir, Striker although this time it was Sabaac with Seismics. Ships with lots of hull really hate Vader and I was playing maybe the best player of this ship in the State, and probably far beyond. I placed Han left and Norra right, moving her up to engage Sabaac and Han turned hard away and boosted to join her, leaving Vader out on my left flank with Soontir and Sabaac approaching Norra cautiously. The first round went perfectly for me, Sabaac took the required cards to turn her ability off and Han stripped her focus, leaving her with not much to do. Norra had also ioned her and was range 1, taking only 1 damage from Sabaac and a couple from Soontir, Vader however did put a Panic Pilot through. Next round, Sabaac dropped a Seismic and Norra a Proton, which combined to kill Sabaac, strip Vader of shields and do 1 damage to Norra. I felt like I was in a great spot and just needed to get Vader off the board where Han can go 1v1 with a Soontir moving first. Norra had to reset a little bit and a crucial round came where Han had a double modded 4v3 shot at Vader that did no damage, while Han lost 3 shields in return, Soontir meanwhile needed all paint and a blank on Norra to kill her before she could double tap at Vader. He got what he needed and it was a huge blow, no double tap and no bomb next round to shut down Soontir's options. Han now had to play cautious, trying to arc dodge and still pop Vader. I managed to get Vader to 1hp before Han was at half and time was called. We briefly messed the points up and confused ourselves, only adding half of Han and half of Norra, until I realized that caffeine and 5 hours of X-Wing is a bad combination for coherent thought - Norra had been dead for 25 minutes and he had of course earned all of her points. It ended being a close loss of about 30 points, but one I felt was very earned by Zach. I probably should have been more aggressive with Han when ahead and Vader rolled just enough at 1hp to stay alive through the last 4-5 crucial rounds - after my luck in round 3 it seemed fair!
Round 5:
A crucial game now, the winner guaranteed to take dice and probably templates. I was playing another friend from a nearby city and I was glad for a friendly face, my brain was pretty fried by this point and I just wanted to win some dice and have a beer. He was running Benthic, Lando, Wedge and I had seen him do well with this list on Friday night. I felt if he lost a ship first I'd be in the driving seat, my goal was to ignore Lando because I can't kill him quickly and he can outrun Norra. So Benthic or Wedge, whichever he gave me first. Norra and Benthic approached in the center, Han flanking left and Lando right, Wedge coming up behind Benthic. I traded 2 shields on each of my ships for most of an ioned Benthic and was able to push him out of the fight. Wedge then went after Han and ID showed it's worth, saving me from multiple shots. Wedge took much longer than expected to die, with Han shooting him 3 times and Norra 5 (1 ion torp and 2 double taps). Eventually he got caught in the corner on 1hp and tried to Tallon Roll to stay in the fight, going just off the board. Lando was only down a couple of shields from bombs and was trying desperately to kill Han. I was able to force him to disengage and then focused him down with both ships for 2 rounds. Han was at half at the end and I believe Norra was still alive - just. A solid win but thankfully he earned enough MOV to also win dice, so we were both happy!
Round 6:
Inferno Squadron and an interesting match up. At this point I had everything I had come for and was rather gung-ho with my approach, Norra melted without using any Bombs and only Wampa being dead. Han then danced around for an hour and showed just how powerful he is, getting me close to an MOV victory until right at the last when I went for broke and he got half on my Falcon. I really enjoyed weaving Han around while tanking a crazy amount of shots thanks to his ability, the title, and a wonderful 4 forward onto an obstacle that put his back corner just covered by our favorite little autothruster cloud. The game became very chill for me with a number of friends gathered around and I was happy to end my day doing my favorite thing in X-Wing, taking 1 awesome ship vs the world. I was proud of my Han play and despite some near misses moved him through multiple obstacles without hitting them, except for the one time it was intended. My opponent took the MOV win and progressed to the top 4, I wished him well and finally ordered a drink. After 2.5 years in the game I have regional dice, taking a silly 70-odd point double re-positioning Y-Wing with a huge bid to a big tournament. It felt like my kind of thing and for now I can relax and go fly some of my beloved K-Wings again.
Thanks for reading and as always, all of my lists and strategies are strongly informed by the great players on this forum, all who have given me advice are a big part of why I drove home with a big smile!