Game 2 of our mini-tournament was against Robert Riley from Cochise Squadron. He was running a similar list that he beat me with a few weeks ago.
Name: Robert Riley
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Moff Jerjerrod
Assault: Surprise Attack
Defense: Capture the VIP
Navigation: Solar Corona
SSD Assault Prototype (250)
• Moff Jerjerrod (23)
• Wing Commander (6)
• Damage Control Officer (5)
• Flight Commander (3)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Boosted Comms (4)
• Leading Shots (4)
• H9 Turbolasers (8)
= 310 Points
Squadrons:
• 6 x TIE Phantom Squadron (84)
= 84 Points
Total Points: 394
He had a lot of success with this list last time we played, so he pretty much has JJ stapled to his SSD. Phantoms are his new favorite squadron as well. With Boosted Comms and Flight Commander, his goal was to attack with his squadrons at range to finish off what the SSD didn't destroy. He also had Wing Commander as one of his officers, as there tends to be a lot of Slicer Tools in our meta (mostly my fault).
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Name: Robert Calkins
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Admiral Piett
Assault: Advanced Gunnery
Defense: Fleet Ambush
Navigation: Doomed Station
Victory I (73)
• Admiral Piett (22)
• Agent Kallus (3)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Quad Laser Turrets (5)
• H9 Turbolasers (8)
• Ordnance Pods (3)
• Warlord (8)
= 126 Points
Victory II (85)
• Wulff Yularen (7)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• Quad Battery Turrets (5)
• Leading Shots (4)
• Harrow (3)
• Projection Experts (6)
= 120 Points
Arquitens Light Cruiser (54)
• Captain Needa (2)
• Reinforced Blast Doors (5)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
= 68 Points
Raider I (44)
• Hondo Ohnaka (2)
• Darth Vader (3)
• External Racks (3)
• Corvus (2)
= 54 Points
Squadrons:
• Ciena Ree (17)
• Valen Rudor (13)
= 30 Points
Total Points: 398
No change to my strategy, except I was planning to draw in the Phantoms to flak them to death with Warlord , then trying to overload the SSD's defense tokens with my remaining ships.
He had initiative and chose to be first player (mostly because of Vader Boarding Team). He chose Doomed Station as the objective.
Deployment: He started by placing his SSD all the way to the right of his deployment zone, which I mirrored with my ships. My Arquitens was deployed in position to get at least a Victory Token or two off the Station from the objective. I kept Corvus right in front of the SSD after misreading the Gravity Rift rules (I read the "deployed in Distance 1-2 goes to Speed 0" instead of the "lands on the Gravity Rift goes to Speed 0").
Round 1: While my Arquitens came around towards the Station, he took a JJ turn to the right, which cut off my Raider. While my Victorys moved forward, this led me to fling Ciena and Valen to protect the Raider. After moving obstacles, I collected a Victory Token.
Round 2: He immediately activated the SSD, destroying my Raider, and attacked my flagship at long range. He squadrons focused on attacking my flagship, which all three paid dearly for, with one being destroyed. The others attacked Valen and ignored Ciena. I gained another Victory Token.
Round 3: My Victorys were able to whether this round of attacks, with the Brace always being locked down due to H9s. Valen was destroyed by his Phantoms. All three of my ships started putting damage cards on the SSD, while destroying two more Phantoms; My Arquitens rammed his SSD. I flung the Station into the Gravity Rift.
Round 4: I use Reinforced Blast Doors to get the Arquitens back to five hull. The SSD activated and destroyed the two Victorys, and put some damage on the Arquitens before ramming it; the Phantoms all rolled blanks, accuracies, and crits against the Arquitens. The Arquitens then put more damage cards on the SSD, then rammed it, getting it down to eight hull remaining.
Round 5: The SSD activated, got the Arquitens down to one hull, and then rammed it for the table. The game ended 400-240 (8-3, 160 MoV).
Thoughts: The difference between casual games and tournament games is that in the latter, you always play to win big or try mitigate how big you lose. In a tournament, I would have deployed in the opposite corner, dropped down to Speed 0 for 4-5 rounds, then walked away happy with the 6-5, 0 MoV; unfortunately, that would probably be bordering on a Negative Play Experience against a good friend for an event I'm hosting in my own home. Don't get me wrong, Robert played a great game, but I would never pit two Victorys against a perpetual SSD front arc (JJ) with H9s in an actual tournament. Honestly surprised I lasted that long against it. But it was a fun game nonetheless, and Robert was well-deserving of the victory.
Hope you enjoyed the BATREP!
