Yeah, I'm in Afghanistan, and I got my Wave 2 ships!

I have so much to say, but right now the first thing I want to do is I would like to thank Hothie very, very much for being so generous. All of the ships look amazing and feel pretty solid with no broken pieces from any of the boxes. In addition to the Wave 2 Ships we also received a Core set and thw Wave 1 expansions and let me tell you all right now that the game is a hit!

When mail call came around 1600 here and we opened up the box, it was like a late Christmas, with huge smles and excitement waiting to play a game.

after unboxing everything another Squad Leader and myself set up the quick start game rules.

He took

Obsidian SQ Pilot

Academy TIE

I took

Rookie Rebel Pilot

playing the game felt wonderful, the ships moved in towards eachother slowly at first to get the hang of flying. AP went gentle 3 left Rookie went 1 right Obsidian went 2 strait then barrel rolled left. Round two started with a 2 gentle turn from AP then a 1 strait by Rookie with a focus and then a 3 hard left by Obsidian with a barrel roll to the left in an attempt to get out of range. Round two had the first combat action, with Obsidian showing the barn door side of the ship to my Rookie at range 2. the dice showed hit, hit, blank and Obsidian rolled an evade, focus eye, blank so he took 1 damage. Round 3 began with AP doing a 4 K-turn and getting stressed, Rookie banking to the right 2 and focusing, and OSP taking a hard three right, colliding with the Rookie and losing an action. OSP took a shot at Rookie and whiffed, Rookie couldn't shoot, AP missed at range 3. Round 4 had AP do a Hard 1 right, keeping the stress, Rookie did a 4 Kturn and took stress and OSP took a hard 1 left. Rookie was yet again facing the side of OSP and this time with no threats. He took the shot at range 2 and got a hit and a crit and a focus! OSP rolled an evade and a focus and a blank. we both spent our focus tokens and cancelled the regular hits and when he flipped over the crit BOOM! two damage, Bingo, JESTER'S DEAD! AP lined up the shot at range 2 as well and connected with a hit and a blank versus Rookie's Focus and blank. Rookie loses a shield. Next round sees the AP attempt to move out of Rookie's firing arc by doing a hard right 2 green to remove stress and barrel roll right. Rookie takes a soft left 1 to remove stress. Rookie then Lines up a shot at range 3 of the AP and fires, hit, crit, blank. AP rolls evade, focus, blank, blank. The crit was a ship trait that caused him to lose his attack power til he re-rolled it. Round 7 saw both ships turn towards eachother and then stop just short of eachother at range 1. AP rolls to fix his weapons and succeeds, Rookie fires and rolls 4 Blanks! AP fires and goes blank, blank, crit which then gets eaten by the shield. Both of the ships try 4 k-turns in round 8 and get stressed. Both fire at range 3 with no results. Round 9 is 5 Strait by the AP, keeping stress, and a 1 green right (wanted left but mixed up the dial) for the Rookie removing stress and gaining focus. No firing. Round 10 AP does a hard 3 right and Rookie does a K-turn. Round 11 AP almost flys off of the table but barely keeps it on with another hard 3 right. Rookie does a four strait with a focus. Round 12 has AP hard 2 right and focus, Rookie takes a gentle 2 right getting into range 1. Rookie rolls hit, hit, crit, focus. AP rolls evade, blank, blank. VICTORY FOR THE ALLIANCE!!!

I have pictures, but for some reason they are not loading.

After that game we had a large crowd around usin the Team cage. we set up for a seven man, almost 380 pt Rebel VS Imperial Brawl that took about 4 hours of amazing maneuvering and arguing over some rules. The rest of the dudes picked the game up very quickly and were very happy to continue playing. We finished our third and final game at 2 AM before finally calling it quits. It was very, very fun and got all of those who played talking about strategy for today!

Hothie, the gift that you have given to us is irreplaceable. The joy and excitement are welcomed de-stressors and came at a perfect time. There are not enough thank yous in the world that can express our gratitude for such a generous gift, especially one that gets the dudes talking about strategy and StarWars! I am looking forward to training them in the ways of squad building just as we train for our real world mission. My Joes are very, very quick and have picked up the game to the point where they knew to kill Wedge before any other Rebel. All I can really say though is Thank You.

First In, Last Out!

That's awesome. So it was 1x core + 1x every expansion? Must be Star Wars overload.

Brother, I know how hard it is to be so far away from home with little to do but play the same old card games. And as much as you have followed this game online, I knew how excited you would be to play it in person. I'm so glad that the guys have also found joy and excitement in this game as well, and I know it will bring them closer together and give them at least a few positive memories of their time across the pond.

The package was a little way of saying thank you to you and your squad for all of your service. Your service is what allows us the freedom to play the game over here without worry. We all know that. Let us never forget it.

Oh, and try flickr for the pictures. FFG doesn't like photobucket for some reason.

I have to pop in here for two reasons - one, to move this to the top so it gets a little more attention, and two, to relate my personal experience.

It is an extreme privilege for me to be acquainted with hothie. As a new player I watched the Worlds matches live, being unable to attend, and when I heard him say he lived close to me I decided to try to contact him. He responded immediately, and opened his home for my spouse and I to come over and play. He let me play his Falcon, when there were only four of them available in the world. We became friends, and when the Kessel Run events came around we travelled to three of them in one weekend. He openly talked strategy all along, and gave us insights into the game that helped our play. My spouse was not very confident in her ability, but with his coaching and teaching she was able to get a second place at a Kessel Run and bring home a Slave-1.

This is a man who will sit across the table from you and help you defeat him. He is not a person who will just let you make an obvious mistake, he will say "Do you really want to do that?" or "You might want to think about doing this instead." There is no killer agenda, he genuinely wants to help you become a better player. I know that from my association with him my game has improved tremendously, and my spouse is now better at the game than I am - **** YOU!

Seriously, you could not have a better ambassador for this game than Hothie, who is a true World Champion in every sense. You need look no further than the contents of this thread to know that there is a dedication and a willingness to share that is above and beyond the call of duty, as cliche as that sounds. I count myself very lucky to know this man personally.

To InstantAequitas and all those who serve, I can only echo what hothie said. There are no words to express the gratitude we have. I can only hope that I will someday have the opportunity to sit across the table from you and play this game that has brought us together from around the world. Until then, I wish the best for you and yours, and may you all return home safely.

ziggy2000 said:

i'll drink to that,

here, here

Cheers!

Just another random fact about Hothie, when Star Wars Minis from WotC was huge, he ran a program (I can't for the life of me remember what it was called) that collected minis without cards and cards without minis, and would send these lost souls to people who have lost the corresponding part for their own stuff. As long as I've know him, Hothie has been helping those who play star wars minis in any format, and for that , I continue to salute him.

Thank you for the kind words gentlemen, but let's not turn this into the gushing about Hothie thread. Zig, you mentioned my World Champs video, which Instant Aequitas watched as well. Do you remember the shirt I was wearing that day?

(soapbox) To many people "Support our troops" is a bumper sticker or a sign, especially if they don't have anyone in their family currently overseas. For those of us who have been overseas, it's more than that. It means next to nothing if you don't live it. I know what it's like to get a package from home. It takes your mind off of whatever job you have, if for only a little while. It reminds you that there is something more out there, that there is a home to go to someday.

In my job as an electrician, I do have to be careful of hazards, but the electiricty isn't actively trying to kill me. InstantAequitas's job is very dangerous, and it takes a special man to be able to do what he does every day. If I can take his mind and the minds of his men off of their stressful jobs for a little while, I'd gladly do it and do it again. Sending him this game is such a small thing, but it means more to him and his men than anyone can describe. I get that. If this is how I can support our troops, then that's what I have to do. (/soapbox)

Thank you, InstantAequitas, for your service and what you do every day. May you find as much enjoyment and comraderie in this game as we do back here. And I will see you after you get home so we can get in a game or two at GenCon. ;-)

Eruletho, Orphans Project. Swinefeld is doing it now. I sent him the file I made up, and he's running it on bloomilk now.