36 minutes ago, The Jabbawookie said:

You and the players are doing a fantastic job with the flavor, reading these reports is really enjoyable!

Thank you for the kind words, I'm glad you're enjoying the battle reports so far!

I'm currently working on the second match from round 2. First Commander Korr was sent to Mustafar on orders from Vader, while Agent Fulcrum instructed the General Pul-Lar to stop him. Now these 2 are going to fight at Dagobah. Intriguing... The Force is strong with this campaign!

BATTLE 4: GOLRIN KORR vs PUL-LAR at DAGOBAH

Commander Korr watched from the Rancor’s bridge as a pair of Rebel ships winked out of existence, escaping into the sanctuary of hyperspace. He had failed his mission to Mustafar. Not only that, he had failed Darth Vader.

Things could not have started out worse for this campaign. What had seemed like an ambitious career move only a rotation ago now felt like reckless bravado that could end up costing him everything. While Golrin had never worked directly for Vader, he had heard the rumors and knew what happened to those who displeased the Emperor’s enforcer. After all, people didn’t call you “The Dark Lord” because you had a reputation for being a warm and caring person.

High Command would be expecting a status update soon, and the collar of Korr’s uniform tightened around his neck at the mere thought of contacting Coruscant. What would he say? That he let some Blockade Runner escape with the Empire’s secret plans for Mustafar? Vader would never make a mistake like that, and therefore wouldn’t tolerate any such excuses from Korr either. No, he had to delay. Had to find a way to fix things. Otherwise, sending a HoloNet transmission to Vader now would be suicide – literally.

But keeping everyone waiting for hours while he figured out what to do wasn’t a long-term solution. Plus he had another problem to deal with. Maarek Steele – a force-sensitive protégé, Hand to the Emperor and Vader’s personal eyes and ears aboard Korr’s flagship – was there to witness his defeat by a pitiful band of ill-equipped insurrectionists. Surely the famed pilot would tell his masters what had transpired. Or would he?

Maarek’s TIE Defender had been shot down during the engagement and Korr had to send out a retrieval pod to rescue him. Would the Imperial ace be willing to admit his own shortcomings in Korr’s mission – their joint mission as it were? Or would Maarek keep his mouth shut for another chance to impress Vader and come away with a win? Korr was banking on the latter.

To get things back on track, all Golrin had to do was find where the Rebels had fled, then hunt them down and destroy them entirely before they could tell anyone what they'd seen. Their Pelta flagship’s reactor was leaking after a close-range broadside from his fleet’s other Gladiator, the Talon, so Korr knew they were running low on fuel and couldn’t have gone far. He dispatched his VT-49 – call sign Gunner – to reconnoiter the closest uninhabited systems, places where the cowards would likely run to for repairs and rendezvous with reinforcements. It wasn’t long before the Decimator sent back an encoded message – the Rebel Scum had been located on Dagobah! He had them now. Commander Korr ordered his fleet to prep for jump and smiled. Finally, it was time for the Revenge of the... Imperial Naval Academy, class of BBY ’19.

Unlike his last encounter against General Pul-Lar, Korr changes his tactics and aggressively engages with the Rebel fleet.

Knowing its role as a carrier is key to the enemy's success, Rancor and Talon ignore the CR90 to focus all firepower on the Pegasus.

Ramming speed! And the Pegasus' wings get clipped!

Can Korr's fleet survive the Rebels' sustained bombing runs?

Why yes it can, and without a scratch. Commander Korr emerges victorious and holds off the inevitable Force Choke for another day.

First Player: Imperials
Objective: Most Wanted
Result: 119-0 Imperial Victory!

REBEL LOSSES
Pelta Command Ship "Pegasus" (unscarred)
Lancer Pursuit Craft "Cyclops" (unscarred)
Lancer Pursuit Craft "Medusa" (unscarred with Repair Yards token)
X-Wing Squadron "Blackbird" (scarred)
X-Wing Squadron "Martin" (scarred)

IMPERIAL LOSSES
—

VETERANS
—

REBEL BASES AND PRESENCE MARKERS END OF TURN 2

MON CALA (Starting Base / Sector II)

• Skilled Spacers
• Repair Yards
• Defensive Retrofits (10/5)
• Ship Title (10/5)

MONTROSS (Starting Base / Sector III)

• Skilled Spacers
• Squadrons (30/15)
• Offensive Retrofit (10/5)

YAVIN (Presence / Sector II)

MUSTAFAR (Presence / Sector V)

No new Rebel bases or presence markers on Turn 2.

REBEL STRATEGIC EFFECT TOKENS GAINED END OF TURN 2

x1 Repair Yards

x1 Skilled Spacers

REBEL STRATEGIC EFFECT TOKENS BANKED END OF TURN 2

x1 Resources

x2 Skilled Spacers

IMPERIAL BASES AND PRESENCE MARKERS END OF TURN 2

KESSEL (Starting Base / Sector III)

• Resources
• Ship Title (12/6)

RYLOTH (Starting Base / Sector IV)

• Skilled Spacers
• Diplomats
• Weapons Team (10/5)

FELUCIA (Presence / Sector II) NEW!

• Resources
• Officer (10/5)*

DAGOBAH (Presence / Sector V) NEW!

• Destiny
• Offensive Retrofit (8/4)

*Unique upgrade unlocked from playing a campaign objective.

IMPERIAL STRATEGIC EFFECT TOKENS GAINED END OF TURN 2

x1 Destiny

x1 Diplomats

x2 Resources

IMPERIAL STRATEGIC EFFECT TOKENS BANKED END OF TURN 2

x1 Destiny

x1 Diplomats

x3 Resources

x1 Skilled Spacers

REBEL FLEET STATUS END OF TURN 2

TASK FORCE TRIDENT

+ Vanguard (4 pts)

+2 XP (total 3, spent 3, banked 0)

Ambush Gunner II (3 XP)

TASK FORCE MAJESTIC

+1 Boosted Comms (4 pts)

+2 XP (total 3, spent 2, banked 1)

Rapid Deployment (2 XP)

Low Fuel Condition

IMPERIAL FLEET STATUS END OF TURN 2

VICTORY DIVISION OMEGA

+ Captain Brunson (5 pts)

+ Minister Tua (2 pts)

+2 XP (banked 2)

FAST CARRIER TASK FORCE

+1 Ordnance Experts (4 pts)

+2 XP (banked 2)

I'm really enjoying these flavorful reports. I just picked up my copy of RitR, but thanks to work I probably won't get a chance to dig into it for a bit. It's nice to experience the campaign vicariously.

I’m also really liking this narrative story style! I’d love to do the same but we just have to get the ‘ole campaign engine actually up and running....so maybe eventually

12 hours ago, MortalPlague said:

I'm really enjoying these flavorful reports. I just picked up my copy of RitR, but thanks to work I probably won't get a chance to dig into it for a bit. It's nice to experience the campaign vicariously.

11 hours ago, cadetvw said:

I’m also really liking this narrative story style! I’d love to do the same but we just have to get the ‘ole campaign engine actually up and running....so maybe eventually

Thank you! Your kind words are much appreciated!

Initially, I was worried people would be less interested in these narrative battle reports, preferring the tactical play-by-play style that's more commonly seen here. While that might still be the case, if at least a few of you like this approach then I'll keep doing them this way. Hopefully the pics do enough of the tactical talking for me.

My goal with these reports is to show how participating in a campaign can be more immersive, and therefore fulfilling in a different way, than standalone play. My other goal is to inspire people to shake off that inertia and give their first Armada campaign a try! It can take a bit of extra work to set things in motion, but once you do I find players are really excited to play their next game and see what happens next.

By the way, I definitely know what it's like to live vicariously through online battle reports for games I love but I don't have enough time to play, so I'll keep rolling out the content. Speaking of, this campaign meets again on Sunday, November 3rd. In the meantime, I'm working on the write-up for another RitR campaign I started, this one with 6 players.