Another weekend, another game of Task Force tournament prep. My weekly opponent and I are pretty much set with our lists and are now down to testing and tinkering with them. Only three weeks to go until the event. Here are the lists:
Name: Task Force Bossdictor
Assault: Advanced Gunnery
Defense: Fighter Ambush
Navigation: Doomed Station
Interdictor Suppression Refit (90)
• Minister Tua (2)
• Engineering Team (5)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• Targeting Scrambler (5)
• Grav Shift Reroute (2)
• SW-7 Ion Batteries (5)
• Interdictor (3)
• Electronic Countermeasures (7)
= 122 Points
Squadrons:
• Bossk (23)
• 3 x Firespray-31 (54)
= 77 Points
Total Points: 199
The plan with this list is to have a very low bid so that my opponent can choose to be first or second player; we are going to have a lot of new players to the tournament scene at our Task Force event, so the last thing I want to do is just crush them with evil objectives and a huge bid. Since they will likely choose second player and have an objective that is beneficial to them, Grav Shift Reroute lets me manipulate the playing area a little to suit my fleet better. My squadron component is good, but not too strong for a 200-point game. And my Interdictor can survive at close to long range, while able to put out decent damage at medium range (and long for one round). And as much as I want to play an MSU with 3-5 ships, it would just get vaporized in our large ship/H9 and XI7-heavy meta, which would be no fun. And if I happened to be 2nd player, I chose a variety of objectives for my opponent to consider (one to make ships more powerful, one to make squadrons more powerful, and one for more objective play [and Grav Shift shenanigans]).
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Name: Task Force Centicore
Assault: Surprise Attack
Defense: Asteroid Tactics
Navigation: Salvage Run
Arquitens Light Cruiser (54)
• Skilled First Officer (1)
• Early Warning System (7)
• Slaved Turrets (6)
• Centicore (3)
= 71 Points
Arquitens Light Cruiser (54)
• Skilled First Officer (1)
• Early Warning System (7)
• Slaved Turrets (6)
= 68 Points
Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Darth Vader (1)
= 24 Points
Squadrons:
• Ciena Ree (17)
• Valen Rudor (13)
= 30 Points
Total Points: 193
My opponent had the same goal as he did a few weeks ago: Destroy the enemy with massive fire at long range while having a simple squadron component designed to lock down enemy squadrons.
Note: He initially chose Fleet in Being as his yellow objective, but I let him know that the objective would really relegate his ships to the center or lose his objective tokens, neither of which was a good thing for him.
My opponent had initiative and chose to be second player. I chose his Asteroid Tactics.
Deployment: My opponent placed all the obstacles in my half of the board, but failed to realize that I could place my Grav Shift Reroute token at distance 3 of all of them. I then placed my Interdictor in the left corner at Speed 2, trying to force his two Arquitens to my right side. He deployed his Arquitens across from my ship in a conga line, with his Gozanti being in the opposite corner to push squadrons with Centicore . My squadrons were placed ahead of my Interdictor, with his ready to protect whatever ship needed them. After deployment, I pushed all the obstacles away from the center, giving my Interdictor an open lane and my squadrons distance from the hungry Exogorths.
Round 1: I drop to Speed 1 and move forward through the open lane. He moves forward at Speed 2 with his combat ships while pushing forward at Speed 1 with his Gozanti. Our squadrons both get set towards the middle for a likely engagement in Round 2. Exogorths get placed in the playing area.
Round 2: I reveal a Repair command (which I token) and continue forward, staying out of long range. He does the same, but pulls his squadrons back so I don't pounce on them in force. No Exogorth attacks available. I move my squadron ball to the center, staying just out of close range of his Arquitens flak. Exogorths get placed in the playing area.
Round 3: I reveal a Navigate command and bump up to Speed 2 to set up my shot for the next round. Even though my opponent has me at long range with both his Arquitens, he rushes his activation and moves his ship before firing (we re-play it so he can fire, but he is well aware that this would definitely be a missed opportunity at an event). I brace and redirect the damage. He activates the other Arquitens, fires, and I am down a significant number of shields. Using his Gozanti, he activates his squadrons and pulls them back even further (to protect the Gozanti?). No Exogorth attacks available. I use this opportunity to dive in with my squadron ball against his Arquitens. After some amazing rolls, he is down to minimal shields and one damage card. Exogorths get placed in the playing area.
Round 4: I reveal a Repair command and go back to full shields on the left/front/right hull zones. Popping my Disposable Capacitors, I fire at long range against the side of his Arquitens (just barely out of double arc too), taking away his remaining shields and adding another damage card. After firing and moving with his Arquitens (bringing my Interdictor back to where it was at the start of the round plus two damage cards), he activates his squadrons with his Gozanti and sends them into my squadron ball, bringing one Firespray to two hull remaining. No Exogorth attacks available. Because of Valen Rudor, all my squadrons focus on Ciena Ree, bringing he down to one hull with her scatter discarded (and due to her counter, my damaged Firespray now has one hull left). Ciena also countered against Bossk, bringing him to six hull and activating his special ability. Exogorths get placed in the playing area. (notice that the Exogorths are having absolutely no effect on this game, mostly due to my pushing all the obstacles away from the main battle area).
Round 5: After repairing, I engage the rear Arquitens at long range, but he just evades the die away; pity that the Arquitens is most likely going to limp away. But I end up at close range of his Arquitens, so now Targeting Scrambler and the Interdictor title get to work. He takes away shields again, but does not add any damage cards. With his squadrons out of range, he has to wait for two of my rogues to activate first. No Exogorth attacks available. I attack Ciena Ree with one of my minimally-damaged Firesprays and destroy her. I then attack Valen Rudor with my severely damaged Firespray to bring him to two hull. Valen turns and destroys that Firespray, and Bossk then destroys Valen. Both Bossk and my other Firespray move to try and catch the Gozanti or the tail Arquitens. Exogorths get placed in the playing area.
Round 6: Regarding ships, it is pretty much a repeat of Round 5, except that my medium range attack against his Gozanti gets scattered. I then ram his Gozanti to give it a damage card. Arquitens both fire and move safely away. Bossk and the other Firespray in range pounce on the Gozanti, but do not roll well enough to bring it down. The game ends, with me winning 30-18 (6-5, with a 12 MoV).
Thoughts: Contrary to what it may look like, this was a pretty fun game. I had to consider when was the best time to move into his long range convergence of fire and he had to decide when the best time was to bring in his squadrons. It also came down to the wire. After discussing the game, no changes to our lists are anticipated, except maybe my opponent changing out Asteroid Tactics for another yellow objective. Both of our lists did what they were designed to do, but were not able to overcome the strengths of the opposing list.
Hope you enjoyed the BATREP!