tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68993686115832104542024-03-26T08:11:04.691-05:00Cannot Get Your Ship Out: the speed zero maneuverStar Wars: Armada tactics and strategy blogEric Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10721846237539911453noreply@blogger.comBlogger526125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-61169774944221830522023-09-10T20:28:00.002-05:002023-09-10T20:28:52.945-05:00Raddus Rite-Up from Stewbucket! AKA Fleet Building 313A: A Blue Fish Case Study<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">More free content from the blog mines! Stewbucket (previous Worlds judge!) wanted to write this and it seemed pretty interesting (and i will freely take most content thrown my way, blog for the blog gods). Take a look about fleetbuilding and his insights, below!</span></span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hey everyone! I’m Stewart Maxfield (known as Stewbucket around the Discords), here with an article I told Geek to title “Fleet Building 313A: A Blue Fish Case Study”. This article is about building a list in general, but as told through one very specific list I built recently. If you’re a newish player, poking around this blog looking to build a list, look out for </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">certain pieces of advice in bold</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. This case study is by no means the only way to build a list, but there are themes that any experienced Armada player will harp on. I’m going to offer you advice through this </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">one </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">concrete example and show you opportunities to think about building something of your own. If you’re not a newish player, feel free to critique my decisions, laugh at my incapabilities, and build something better. You can PM me on discord or send an email </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-4628a49a-7fff-c427-4210-39b6cc798436"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I managed to build something that I really enjoy - and it might even be good! It’s got a great W-L record (I think only 2 or 3 losses out of 15 plays?). It went 3-0 and won one 10-person store tournament. However, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">it was not built to necessarily be the top end of competitiveness, but for fun.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> I want to show you, dear reader, how you might think about something </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">you</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> find enjoyable so that you don’t always find yourself spontaneously combusting. Fly things you love! Armada oughta be fun - and flying fun things doesn’t mean you have to lose (all the time). </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Without further ado, a list:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Name: Jane and the Boys (“Only Cowards Stay While Traitors Run”) (</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkg8pkCPDLo" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkg8pkCPDLo</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Faction: Rebel</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Commander: Admiral Raddus</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-top: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Assault: Most Wanted</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Defense: Asteroid Tactics</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Navigation: Infested Fields</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-top: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">CR90 Corvette B (39)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Admiral Raddus (26)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Hondo Ohnaka (2)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Engine Techs (8)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Jaina's Light (2)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">= 77 Points</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-top: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">GR-75 Medium Transports (18)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Toryn Farr (7)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Bright Hope (2)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">= 27 Points</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-top: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">GR-75 Medium Transports (18)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Adar Tallon (10)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Boosted Comms (4)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">= 32 Points</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-top: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">MC75 Armored Cruiser (104)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Intel Officer (7)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Ruthless Strategists (4)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Electronic Countermeasures (7)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Ordnance Pods (3)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Point Defense Ion Cannons (4)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Quad Battery Turrets (5)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">= 134 Points</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-top: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Squadrons:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Dutch Vander (16)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Hera Syndulla (Ghost) (28)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Wedge Antilles (19)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Shara Bey (17)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Gold Squadron (12)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Scurrg H-6 Bomber (16)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• 2 x A-wing Squadron (22)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">= 130 Points</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-top: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Total Points: 400</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 533px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="533" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/v4PpnoHEjk9Rfld7AUNzgZNuuPM93nlXLJCW5MUWzXBjIh4A66ZY4mRlN7YB7uTsHNAE74sFn9w8mJ0A23SV1dOr_G2BuGLikQtZafZIESUnlr6sKaJGQavAlfDyiFKQgF-Sup4Uu5ygsZFi" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(Obligatory CGYSO joke image) <span style="color: #2b00fe;">- the man gets us!</span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Before I get into how all the small bits work and then how they fit together, let me talk about some of the thoughts that led to its initial inception. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The first was a long-standing frustration with Ruthless Strategists. You too may have a card that drives you nuts. You know it should work, but how? What could you do to make it better? (San Hill? Commander Woldar? You know the ones - cheap, but so niche you gotta have a serious plan for it). In my case, I hated the fact that RS seemed to always act like a deterrent. Nobody was willing to engage my squads in Ruthless distance. To use the card, I had to keep my own squads close, which meant they weren’t bombing. I wanted to use Ruthless more proactively - I didn’t want to wait for my opponent’s cooperation. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The second was an irritation with some MC75 slander I’ve heard since the ship was released. “It has terrible defense tokens”. “It’s not an ISD”. “Run an MC30 instead”. This lack of respect for perhaps my favorite Star Wars Moment has driven me to put it in lists over and over. I ran an Ackbar ‘75 for a minute, I’ve used Dodonna and Sato for its APT, I think I even ran it with Madine one time. It’s a beautiful model and it deserves to be on my table any chance it gets. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19Ui_oLzCgo" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19Ui_oLzCgo</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 351px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="351" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/qRwlj3Rihbt4CpdAC7uw7FoLiyQ74DG-b3rwNlNWQWateMsyIAJgJNALQzmD8BtLYwNR1ZRnDG_UK4mr5A7f1Mpep4F9-IqaKc9bxfTsBAYDuaS8zHz5XiSmAxdXvIothz4XkIXWvrFRxNuf" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The third was some squadball noodling, trying to run something I hadn’t tried before. No great flashes of irritation or insight, just </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">a desire to do something I hadn’t done before</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. What if I ran the Ghost, but didn’t include any other rogues? Might be fun to have a squadball that was potent in the ship phase, but uber-flexible in the squad phase. Too often I run Hera with pre-deployment plans of who she’s going to target. What if I gave her more flexibility? Flexibility and competence are kinda her thing. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Pausing for a second. These questions only seem to go together because of the list I posted at the beginning. If you go back to my head when I built the list, they didn’t seem to do that. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Your thoughts about list building might seem similarly disjointed. Pick a couple of them, and try to tie them together.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> How </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">does</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Hyperwave Signal Boost work? What could support it? Where could it offer support? Or, something simpler - is a Lancer a good bomber? What is Cloak? Your incoherent thoughts might have some usable threads - </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I can’t recommend enough the act of writing things down and forcing your brain to concentrate on exactly what it wants</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. (Discord can be good for this. Friends too. Or my mom, who asked “Wait, why doesn’t everyone just bring the hyperspace fish? He seems like the best.” when I tried to explain this to her). </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I goofed around on Ryan Kingston’s builder for a while, trying to get a Ruthless hammerhead to pop out of Profundity (too expensive), a double-MC75-double-Ruthless thing (no room for squads) before coming to what I consider the first true iteration of the list.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Along with that first version, let me offer a concrete piece of advice on list-building. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Work from known into unknown. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This is a maxim of surgery (don’t futz around in the hilum of the liver until you’re certain what you’re looking at) and oughta be a maxim of fleetbuilding too. What do you already know works? How can you incorporate your idea into something already known to be functional? What have you or others done in the past that led to success? This isn’t an invitation to copy/paste others’ ideas, but it does mean that you shouldn’t cast aside conventional wisdom unless you think you’ve got a good reason. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Consider why good things are considered good.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 423px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="423" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/j2xvY4bR_iKELkxS4Zq6KjRotaHjb8UlwWkG92ERs4h9_xoAFP0D2E_mICOQuTywvyY6A2gbJozeHfC16oghO9xGHYfSSX7vKrvQInyxb1SxuOEq9A_HRrNLCyKkBYK4_7VwPpS0ZLjf0I1q" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(I’ll take any excuse to toss in Chesterton’s Fence. This is good advice for surgery, relationships, your clothing, and most anything where things may need changing.)</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In my case, the “known” was Patrick’s worlds-caliber list that incorporated some rogues, two flotillas, and an incredibly squirrely CR90 flagship to complement a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">mean</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Mon Karren drop. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">My “first” iteration was this: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-top: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">CR90 Corvette A (44)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Admiral Raddus (26)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Engine Techs (8)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Jaina's Light (2)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">= 80 Points</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-top: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">GR-75 Medium Transports (18)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Toryn Farr (7)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Bright Hope (2)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">= 27 Points</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-top: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">GR-75 Medium Transports (18)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Adar Tallon (10)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Boosted Comms (4)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">= 32 Points</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-top: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">MC75 Armored Cruiser (104)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Ruthless Strategists (4)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Electronic Countermeasures (7)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Ordnance Pods (3)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Quad Battery Turrets (5)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">= 123 Points</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-top: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Squadrons:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Dutch Vander (16)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Hera Syndulla (Ghost) (28)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Wedge Antilles (19)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• Shara Bey (17)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• 2 x Scurrg H-6 Bomber (32)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">• 2 x A-wing Squadron (22)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">= 134 Points</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-top: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Total Points: 396</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 166px; overflow: hidden; width: 578px;"><img height="166" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/YUo2WbOePqsG8tCMAWqPVc2Vl6buOlwLELuqjb888OMRNn1PeLgcD23em1iC1_lpjvgtk0qnq5E5AnGcjv_Apa3bOSYoJ5-MD6nJPc2kdRB5xeKfYc7UFZS84tSbE4f7wJ2puFGoh7195ABe" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="578" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(Let me here thank Sam for always being available for bouncing ideas around, and I quote, “[Sam’s] excellence and responsibility for every ounce of [Stew’s] armada skill and listbuilding abilities.”)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Let’s go through the flotillas, and then Jane, and then the squadball, and then the MC75, and I’ll tell you what questions I asked myself which led to the final version (which, admittedly, is pretty darn similar to the “first” version). </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Flotillas</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You’ll notice that these had no change from the beginning to their final version. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Work from known into unknown.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Flotillas are a staple of rebel lists for a reason. Dirt cheap, with a useful fleet support slot, can be staffed with handy unique officers, and Squad 2. So, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">what do I need flotillas for?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Is it just activation padding? Do I need them to act as carriers? Do I need their tokens? Do I need homes for officers that can’t fit anywhere else? Are they going to aggressively get in the fight and explode, or are they going to try to stay out of it? These are questions you oughta consider, too, when adding flotillas (all of which are covered nicely in this</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/04/gr75s-we-all-float-down-here.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">how to use flotillas article</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> right here on this very website).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Well, for my purposes, I </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">need </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">the following:</span></p><br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Cheap activations for optimal Jane positioning for optimal Ruthless Drop Ship placement.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Home for Toryn (mandatory for two ships with blue flak and a whole bunch of squads throwing blue dice).</span></p></li></ol><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And, I’d like to have the following:</span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Home for Adar? Nearly every squad in this list is worthy of a double-tap. Dutch shutting off two key aces? A </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">third</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> shot from blue-black bomber? Delicious. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Carrier capability? The Armored has squad 3 and I’ve got Hera, but these guys will probably have to pitch in sometimes</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Token generation? I might need ECM on my drop ship, and I can’t get the readying token from a turn 1 dial, as the ship isn’t on the board. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Slicer tools? A dropped Ruthless ship can’t go first, so I’d like some way to make sure enemy squads don’t all abandon the death zone.</span></p></li></ul><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the end, the cheapness won out. All the other things are nice, but I need space for a flagship, a squadball, and a drop ship. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Forcing yourself to consider the bare necessities can help you avoid building piñatas and thus delivering points to your opponent. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For me, this was:</span></p><br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">A flotilla that can deliver Toryn, some flak and occasional squad commands to the center of the fight. She might explode, but she’ll be annoying before she does. Bright hope will deter potshots and keep her kicking longer. Native nav dials can put her into places where the </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">only</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> shots available are ones that Bright Hope makes irrelevant. No space for her to fill that Fleet Support slot, no need for her to give up another 3 points if she dies. If I had to fit something, it was going to be Parts Resupply (for ECM) or Slicer Tools. But all that made the cut was Bright Hope and Toryn herself.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">A home for Adar to swirl around the battlefield. He can start the game at speed 2 and just goof around, pinging anyone who would like to go twice or get repositioned. I want to use Adar’s ability something like 4-5x per game, and so he needs to be able to reach. Coincidentally, this will also keep him alive. If I had to fit something, it would have been a BCC for the black dice from those bombers. But 8 points is a lot, and all that makes the cut is Boosted Comms and Adar. </span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 492px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="492" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/2vKr83j76Yybc09hvn2rAcsdQyGcKoiIicsxnITF0z_VJ6Vc8WlrrvUuOLQZKiPjsj6OxXLmLsXN-OWaHwhsKY_BeoJP3x_sgAlI9JJ7YNbYfIkb0fFzFro6rIwnwqV4VZjBdRW4z637wM-5" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Jane St-Clair:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So, a Raddus flagship </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">needs </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">to be able to do two things:</span></p><br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Not Die</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Provide a large enough threat area for drop-ship dropping, either by size or by navigation.</span></p></li></ol><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For me, it would be nice if it could also:</span></p><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Shoot enemy ships in a meaningful fashion</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Shoot enemy squads in a meaningful fashion</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Be cheap enough to fit everything else I want</span></p></li></ul><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I wavered between a CR90 (who stays alive due to her Engine Techs) vs an MC30 (who stays alive due to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Foresight</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">). Other things would end up too expensive, and these two ships have the best navigational capabilities. I went all-in on squads, which meant that I had to cheapen the flagship drastically. (Working through this, I cut from a CR90A to a B to make space for more upgrades on the drop ship - more on that in a minute). The only mandatory upgrade in my eyes was the simultaneous defense (that is, escape) & offense (that is, drop-ship placement) from Engine Techs. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I also considered running, with my limited budget, Lando officer to avoid a surprise assassination; cluster bombs to make it easier to escape with a rogue on my tail; and Hondo and Jaina’s Light. In the end, Hondo and Jane won out, due to their ability to support the rest of the list, even if they may seem suboptimal for the 90B itself. So here’s another piece of concrete advice: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Never build in a vacuum. Consider not just how upgrades impact a given ship, but the whole list. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Mr. Giled Pallaeon has made this point before, talking about “a system of systems”: just because somebody’s “quickbuilds” are good, it’s often rare to see them </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">together</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> because they have difficulty supporting each other. Jane needs to support the list, not just be well-kitted on her own. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hondo gives me the flexibility to do things like grab an eng token for ECM, grab a squad token for Adar, grab a squad token to yeet Shara, grab a nav token to live when I’ve dialed engineering on the drop ship, &c. His one-time free support to anyone in the fleet is superior to what protection Lando or Clusters can buy. Jaina’s Light, again, is known to be good - but the specific reasons it got included here are for (a) positioning and (b) toryn-powered blue flak. If the goal of the Ruthless build is to wipe the enemy squads early, unobstructed pings will only help speed that along. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the end, Jane gets cut and cut until only her important characteristics remain: </span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Positioning power for both dropping and living.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Support for the mission in the form of flak and key tokens at any time.</span></p></li></ul><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">MC75:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I’ve talked about the other ships needing to stay slim for the MC75’s benefit, but - for the good of the list, he needs to be slim too! Which takes us to another guideline of fleetbuilding: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Be able to defend the decision for every single upgrade included. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For the MC75, here’s how I did that. Lots of things tried to make the cut, but only these 6 were worth my while:</span></p><br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Ruthless Strategists. The central thesis of the list is trying to get this card into position, so it must be included. Other cards like Ordnance Experts are a big opportunity cost, but the list functions extraordinarily differently without the Ruthless.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Ordnance Pods. Here, the MC75 sacrifices his anti-ship capabilities for the good of the squads. He would like ExRax to dump on his landing target or an unsuspecting squadron (and doing so might help him live longer!), but the goal is to clear the skies. An extra attack from which to ping Ruthless is absolutely clutch. Enemy Tycho locking down the ball? With a double-arc, man’s dead in a single activation. APT, ACM, and WAB were all considered, but they fit better with the Ordnance version rather than the Armored.</span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">A side-note here, on bringing the Armored: I knew I wanted blue-ranged flak for a larger threat range in addition to the larger squadron value for putting my people in position before firing off the Ruthless flak. The ability to bring a turbolaser, in addition to a longer threat out my side arcs, was icing on the cake. This goes into </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">not building in a vacuum</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> - although an Ordnance cruiser may be better strictly as a drop ship, it lacks the ability to support everyone else as I need.</span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Defense: Point-Defense Ion Cannons and ECM. The ‘75 is not known for its tankiness. If it’s going to do its job, it needs a little sticking power. PDIC is really only competing with Leading shots, which would be the only dice correction on this thing. (</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Dice correction is very handy.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">) But what’s this ship’s goal? Why is he in the list? The central goal was that he’s an infinitely mobile flak boat! If his shots occasionally whiff on a ship, I’ll have to live with that. PDIC can gut-check any double hits dice, goofy crits, and keep squads (sort of) at bay. It also happens to be 2 points cheaper, and keeping him cheap makes room for expensive things like Toryn and Hera. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Raddus drop-ships often die</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">; if you can make them last just an extra round and be as cheap as possible, then they can do their work all the more effectively. (During that store tournament I mentioned earlier, PDIC and ECM contributed to the drop ship surviving each game on 4, 1, and 1 hull respectively)</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Offense: Intel Officer and QBT. Here are perhaps my least-defensible choices, but both fit into how I want things to function. If you were netlisting and copied my build, these two slots are likely the first ones you edit. Which brings me to another bit of advice: </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Sometimes, upgrades that work well for you might not work well for your friends, and vice versa.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;"> I don’t mean in the sense of “ah my Corran Horn always rolls badly!” but rather in the je-ne-sais-quoi of “Huh, he seems to play very aggressively and go fishing for hit/crits with his OE; I, on the other hand, seem to play cagey, and thus don’t desperately fish. Maybe External Racks is a better fit for me over APT?”. Consider not only how your fleet works with itself, but how it works with </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">you</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">. You are, after all, its most important ingredient.</span></p></li></ol><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But, back to my choices: IO provides double-duty of “screw your scatter, Deltakin” and “Screw your brace, large-ship-in-my-face”. The MC75’s 5-dice out front and sides is particularly nice for IO, I’ve found, as both shots can make roughly the same damage. I’ve popped Recusants in a single activation because they thought to save the brace for my second shot (and thus avoid my IO), only to see it acc’d away. Delicious. The ability to target an enemy salvo for extra defense (lookin at you, Anakin) or a redirect (to soften them up for my squads) provides additional utility. For a long time, this slot was Raymus Antilles, as Raddus drop ships are often hungry for tokens. I decided to outsource Ray’s duties to Hondo, and it (sort of) works. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This outsourcing weakens the MC75, but I believe it strengthens the list as a whole. Your ships need to make sacrifices for each other - this applies before they even hit the table.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As for the QBT; you may look at a flak-based list and think “This idiot didn’t bring LTT”. First of all, fair. Second of all, how badly </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">do </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I need one-squad shots? I need to melt his whole screen, not simply an annoying ace. Many times, I’d rather blast the whole side with my blue-enabled range, triggering RS multiple times. Third of all, the MC75 needs to be dual-role. (The need for oomph against ships is also what led me to IO over Draven’s triple-down on flak). I need him to be able to contribute meaningfully against ships - and dropping at speed 1 in the midst of some speedy smalls, getting an extra blue at each one, can often mean the difference between their death and them speeding away after discarding an evade. In the face of another ship trying to jump over me (lookin at you, Recusants and Assault Frigates), QBT can provide 4 blue dice on 4 attacks before Hondo slips me a Nav and I run off at speed 3, never to be seen again. In fact, on some occasions, QBT has induced my opponents to stay at a lower speed, thinking I plan on sticking around - when in fact, all that does is keep them in range of my speed-3 fighters eager to feast on their shieldless areas. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Squadball:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Building a squadron coverage is worthy of it’s </span><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2018/05/fleet-building-201-heavy-squadron.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">own series of articles</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, so I won’t go in to as many details here. I will simply put forth some questions I asked myself while building my coverage:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Who is going to provide anti-fighter duty?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Who is going to provide anti-ship duty? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(and its logical follow-up, “How vital is anti-ship duty - what else in the fleet is going to be shooting at ships?)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Who can reasonably work both jobs?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Who can be sacrificed so others can accomplish their tasks? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(For this list, specifically in the realm of triggering Ruthless Strategists)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So, I first turned to two cheap-as-heck buddies, happy to be rogue with Hera (a requirement from the start, you remember) or happy to be pinged with Adar for a second shot: Wedge and Dutch. They have reliable black anti-ship (with Bomber to boot), and are fairly tanky. Wedge’s escort provides a little cover for some more important pieces, like the bombers. Filling out my fourth ace was tricky, as there are some quality bombers, some quality anti-squad, Ten Numb (whose auto-damage would be lovely combined with Dutch and Ruthless), and Jan Ors. I decided that what I really needed was </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">someone to be sacrificed so others can accomplish their tasks </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">- Shara Bey. Her counter would work nicely with Ruthless and her speed would pin the enemy until the MC75 could activate. This is where the two A-wings come into play, as well. While all three of these have black dice anti-ship, which is great for squadless matchups, their first role is as pins - waiting until the AA guns arrive. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">With that in mind, I need some bombers. I don’t have a lot of anti-ship in the list, and so I had to make certain I could provide some hurt in the form of my squads. The sneakiest part of this group is the fact that it can throw four 2-dice bombers at you with a single squad token: Adar taps one of the scurrg, Gold, and Hera, and the remaining 3 are rogue. (Yes, I know Hera isn’t a bomber, but blue/black with Toryn support is pretty great). I had to make some cuts from the first iterations, but turns out that Gold Squadron, supported by Toryn, is pretty darn good for his cost. The only thing I really miss is the native grit I wanted from the scurrg, but his 6 hull for 12 points (a 4 point discount!) is a great target for Ruthless. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the end, I have 3 light sacrificial pieces (and thus happy to be RS’d), 3 flex aces (tanky, worthy of Adar, and willing to be RS’d if necessary), and 2 high-hull bombers. Any one of them can pitch in to ship combat or provide a pinging point for Ruthless, and only the bombers are poor at anti-squadron. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Although I can think of some key weaknesses for this squadron group </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(Yularen Arcs, for one), </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I am confident in their ability to meaningfully contribute regardless of my enemy’s coverage, from squadless all the way to the full 134.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 440px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="440" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/oy0YVbu71jLM9bWO86r-v_yNeclgFkzo9H-OgJxLIDZVvOspJkmgdJgTv4BYFpWlJKpxG-t1xIJUubyhnjlKoBI_7yF2gO-9W-OD8gVcKqhirRrJAx_1NdmeeEvmKdkJifC7klUQnLbdJDey" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So, that’s the list. I’d tell you how to fly it, but that wasn’t really my goal (and if you’ve read this far, you can probably get the gist of how it works). I hope this glimpse into someone else’s listbuilding has at least been educational, and if you’re new, I hope it induces you to tinker around a bit. This game has a lot of shenanigans to discover, and each one of them is a lot of fun.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">P.S. If you’ve skipped to the end, I’ve copied each </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">bolded</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> piece of advice and stuck it here:</span></p><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">If you’re bored, find a desire to do something you haven’t done before</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Your thoughts about list building might seem disjointed. Try to tie just a couple together by writing things down and forcing your brain to concentrate on exactly what it wants.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Work from known into unknown - consider why good things are considered good.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">What do I need flotillas (or other small ships) to do?</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Forcing yourself to consider the bare necessities can help you avoid building piñatas and thus delivering points to your opponent</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Never build in a vacuum. Consider not just how upgrades impact a given ship, but the whole list.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Be able to defend the decision for every single upgrade included. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Dice correction is very handy.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Raddus drop-ships often die.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Sometimes, upgrades that work well for you might not work well for your friends, and vice versa.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Your ships need to make sacrifices for each other - this applies before they even hit the table.</span></p></li></ul><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Regarding squad-building specifically:</span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Who is going to provide anti-fighter duty?</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Who is going to provide anti-ship duty? </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">(and its logical follow-up, “How vital is anti-ship duty - what else in the fleet is going to be shooting at ships?)</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Who can reasonably work both jobs?</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Who can be sacrificed so others can accomplish their tasks?</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Make sure you are confident in your squads’ ability to meaningfully contribute regardless of your enemy’s coverage, from squadless all the way to the full 134.</span></p></li></ul><br /><span style="color: #2b00fe;">That was REALLY helpful, thanks Stew! If you want to write more you just let me know!</span></span>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-42736381922789278962023-08-01T21:05:00.001-05:002023-08-02T20:30:28.396-05:00LSO 2023 After Action Report - Kelorn<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Hey guys, Kelorn asked if he could write an AAR for the Lone Star Open, and I will take any free article that gives me those sweet, sweet pageclicks. You know you want to read what he wrote, so hit the jump!</span></span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhO-nOF9zB3_GneCGeO2kOfhWCNDxUCERQuWtZYntAalXBI1wpMtgQHiNeMRhQoCZ2kieR_cECx92iJjEADBbnqXaixeQBFdbUeNM2FaL-71oy_fRHdF4KjVwmuaJBdMG0bkqMutRQBUOuheQjMU25GgyjKShjR3mp1iRv5Ot2dTHyRYsHmumG1pYXxOJhg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhO-nOF9zB3_GneCGeO2kOfhWCNDxUCERQuWtZYntAalXBI1wpMtgQHiNeMRhQoCZ2kieR_cECx92iJjEADBbnqXaixeQBFdbUeNM2FaL-71oy_fRHdF4KjVwmuaJBdMG0bkqMutRQBUOuheQjMU25GgyjKShjR3mp1iRv5Ot2dTHyRYsHmumG1pYXxOJhg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: x-small;">The key is to make the joke and then never explain it</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span></span><p></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">How goes it everyone? It’s Kelorn again coming back to you with an After Action Report from Lone Star Open 2023 in Allen, TX. This year AMG designated LSO as a Worlds Open Qualifier event and thus the Top 4 players would receive invites to Worlds. Of those 4, the first place winner would also receive travel and accommodations at Worlds. Pretty exciting stuff, as last year Texas didn’t get a Qualifier for Worlds. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-4c2b90bf-7fff-8c5e-f401-5aceda94d456"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The event did sell out; with 46 players buying tickets and 45 showing up to play on Day 1. As soon as the Qualifier status was announced, there was a huge influx of people grabbing tickets. We had players from Chicago, Utah, Florida, Vancouver, and Quebec; as well as locals from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Dallas, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. It nearly doubled last year's player count of 23. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of that is to say that the tournament was set up to be four rounds on Day 1, followed by a Top 12 cut for three rounds on Day 2. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tournament Prep</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unlike last year, where I had been playing weekly games, I had only played a couple of games since playing in TXO in late May. As my experiment at TXO with the Pryce Ravager SSD didn’t pan out, I was at something of a loss on what to play. I tossed around bringing back some of my Agate lists from last year, as well as Anakin, Plo, and Bail from the GAR faction. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the end of the day, Agate Starhawk didn’t seem like a good idea and I honestly didn’t feel like I had enough experience with GAR in general to pull off a faction switch at this late date. FoxOmega and I independently came up with an Ozzel list that was virtually identical and when he indicated he wanted to try it, I loaned him some Firesprays and was back to the drawing board.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then I remembered Collin Looney’s success with King KOG at the Last Chance Qualifier and thought, “Why not? That looked like a ton of fun!”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So off I went to the LCQ T4 and took a look at his list. I made a couple modifications to the list to suit my play style, but by and large, the list is the same as what he had in the LCQ:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pcQLonac60c5D-cR-x2hrvD0YZkCg5QZUx5DhtLphgLuNV20VUgr7t5OhKcgXsnxcZVa120nmgvqrXb_tKGrEyF5sI3Uoi9o6XKkFAno2vs6j9KR4MyxWwhsbRR6CmwANE5tnwsquP3W4UTI8e1o1Jc" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Assault: Most Wanted</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Defense: Rift Ambush</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Navigation: Infested Fields</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gozanti Cruisers (23)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Darth Vader (1)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Comms Net (2)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 26 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Onager Testbed (96)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• General Romodi (20)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Governor Pryce (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Sensor Team (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Veteran Gunners (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Orbital Bombardment Particle Cannons (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 138 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ISD Kuat Refit (112)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Admiral Ozzel (2)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Boarding Troopers (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Electronic Countermeasures (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• External Racks (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 128 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gladiator I (56)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Skilled First Officer (1)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Ordnance Experts (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• External Racks (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Demolisher (10)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 75 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Squadrons:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• 4 x TIE Fighter Squadron (32)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 32 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total Points: 399</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The changes I made were to drop Rakehell and Point Defense Ion Cannons and swap to Pryce, Sensor team, vet gunners on the Onager. My theory was that I was ok with trading a 128 pt Kuat, as long as it traded up for me, but that the ability to get double accuracy on the Onager whenever I needed it might pay off.</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Day 1</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fox and I drove up Friday night and met up with the early arrivals for dinner at On the Border, which is kind of a tradition for us to eat there the last three years. They were a little shocked when we called ahead to ask for a table for 25 though. Fox’s choice of the Grand Papi for dinner did come back to haunt him, but that’s a story for another day.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ian and Allen, the TOs for the tournament, had worked with Front Line Gaming (the event organizer) and had 23 tables set up for us in the back corner of the convention hall. Saturday morning we didn’t start until 10 AM, would play two games, have a break for lunch, then have two more games to finish up at 930 PM.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Game 1</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My round one opponent, Josh (Dr keter on discord), was flying what he called German Motti. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Raider I (44)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Admiral Motti (24)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Ordnance Experts (4)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• External Racks (4)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Corvus (2)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">78 Points</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gozanti Cruisers (23)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Parts Resupply (3)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 Points</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Arquitens Command Cruiser (59)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Captain Needa (2)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Engine Techs (8)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Reinforced Blast Doors (5)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">81 Points</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Arquitens Command Cruiser (59)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Commander Beck (3)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Engine Techs (8)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Reinforced Blast Doors (5)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">82 Points</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Squadrons:</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Tel Trevura (17)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Darth Vader (TIE Defender) (25)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Valen Rudor (13)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Colonel Jendon (20)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Black Squadron (9)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Tempest Squadron (13)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• 2 x Firespray-31 (36)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">133 Points</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total Points: 400</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This list was super interesting and I have to admit I completely underestimated it. I chose to go second, with Josh choosing Most Wanted. Josh set up with his raider on the backline, one Arq on each side and the goz and squads in the middle. I chose his left Arq as the most wanted target and my gozanti as my objective ship. His plan was to bait me to split up my fleet, which he succeeded in accomplishing. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I set up my Onager on the left side, with the Kuat and the Gozanti in the center. Demo was on the right side, backlining to the left to either assist the Onager or follow the Kuat. My thought was that the Onager could solo one arq while demo and the Kuat would kill the raider and other arq. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/15fVZCzRB99JctZdr8cadHHwofyA2xuj5hCtsfgzw3iBRJUMeTXiyr1EGy9ksi47VwnQoIvKlOVJqUIht3YLNtjsjVUAXwAU2yqoB2RDQo1ZLndY9x61ZYYGRSqWmIFbrdYa4QOk2985CWGo3jr0rYk" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As soon as Josh started moving his ships that plan was out the window. What I didn’t realize is that he had Engine Techs on the Arqs, which lets them double click the end joint at any speed, the engine tech with another double click. I instantly realized this meant my Onager was never going to catch the left arq and I used a hammer on an eggshell to use the onager to kill his gozanti over the course of the game.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The problem became that I had turned my Kuat to the right with the initial ozzel move and my turn 1 move, trying to engage the right Arq. His rogues started to bomb my Kuat on the squad phase of turn 1, and that’s never good for long term survival. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/b8rQwknm3Gxky625ax1VEchsSURl3VQA2n8X_D4cOFU43rD7PqI7ivdxzXgANT9L8wGd1ImhrgypXYiHVmSi-1Sz6o9IAtzSVlLBPc1c-jYIeeDThK1QfgUuRq3lBgU3fVXN2Tl2nB6MsQVgPwwKKnc" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My initial thought of following my Kuat with Demo was out the window. The left Arq was in behind my Onager and it was the objective target. So Demo rushed to the left side of the board, eventually killing the Most Wanted Objective ship with its barrage of close range firepower, aided by the side arc of the Onager. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/aP3R7fEPwg0RIu1ymrHowMH4TVXJs6VA7O8S_nJPYX_n5kk8hJLIQrcSemZkqn9zOp8L24jUJTmG-QXDocBNFnkEk4xLA5pq7kU4SUkWAUBRpq9vwZIy0EDuVrxqVEOqYNQDsjpATTyYjM_TuoVB7Yc" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the right side of the board, my Kuat was in desperate straights, having been bombed repeatedly, despite the best efforts of my four tie fighters. Despite my repeated attempts to bait him into my front arc, Josh dodged close range of the Kuat front arc repeatedly with both the Arq and his Raider flagship. On turn 6, I ended up with a killshot of five damage on the raider flagship, but he evaded the five damage into three, and his raider finally burned its ex racks to put the Kuat out of its misery. Thus turning what would have been a nice 8-3 win (if the Kuat lived) into a 5-6 loss. </span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Game 2</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Round 1 had included five 10-1’s so my 5-6 loss put me in the middle of the pack. I was hoping to be matched with someone I could bootstrap myself up the ladder a bit. Alas, I ran headlong into Steve Smaha’s triple venator anakin list.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Venator II (100)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Anakin Skywalker (29)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Clone Captain Silver (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Local Fire Control (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Flak Guns (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Thermal Shields (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• External Racks (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• DBY-827 Heavy Turbolasers (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Tranquility (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 155 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Venator II (100)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Barriss Offee (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Local Fire Control (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Flak Guns (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Thermal Shields (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• External Racks (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• DBY-827 Heavy Turbolasers (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 125 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Venator I (90)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Hondo Ohnaka (2)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Local Fire Control (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Intensify Firepower! (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Flak Guns (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• External Racks (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• DBY-827 Heavy Turbolasers (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Resolute (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 118 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Squadrons:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 0 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total Points: 398</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, KOG doesn’t match up badly versus Anakin, as KOG likes to blow up ships. The problem is that it’s essentially a damage race. Which, with Anakin, is always dicey… (pause for laughter).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74oWOtAhQyTkopEYvch3ssFX8es9JN5gXccCDulr2QG4bkmqlwftaVEtNt3gZfRRkpPr4HTZ1cIjjvTBJ98zXg9dZ7G_7qwDjNX1T2c5B2NVeEjCcBEzm7rXaJjT7FFtD2Esbdu1YnDCe4IOipshNb87HAL9jsdLm3rnmWTV6-n0BmX3ZkONFvW08H4q-/s320/steve%20allen.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="320" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74oWOtAhQyTkopEYvch3ssFX8es9JN5gXccCDulr2QG4bkmqlwftaVEtNt3gZfRRkpPr4HTZ1cIjjvTBJ98zXg9dZ7G_7qwDjNX1T2c5B2NVeEjCcBEzm7rXaJjT7FFtD2Esbdu1YnDCe4IOipshNb87HAL9jsdLm3rnmWTV6-n0BmX3ZkONFvW08H4q-/s1600/steve%20allen.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">My shtick!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve had bid on me and chose to go first, which made sense, as it would allow him to punish my Kuat before it could shoot. He also chose my Most Wanted. I outdeployed him, so his setup was complete before I had to commit. All three venators in the center of the board, with Anakin in the middle, Barriss to my left, and the Venator 1 to my right. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And here, friends, is where I made another mistake. I KNEW I could kill the Venator 1, so I set up my ships on the right side to engage it first. The problem was that I didn’t think I needed Most Wanted to kill it (which was right), if that was the case, I thought that killing Anakin’s flagship would be more important and made it the Most Wanted Objective (which was wrong).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What proceeded was the fastest game of Armada I have ever played.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In thirty minutes, my Kuat closed in and killed the Venator 1 with help from the Onager on turn 2, but not before the Ven1 mortally wounded the Kuat. Anakin slowed down in the center, which let Barriss cut across the center of the board to finish off the Kuat on turn 3. Anakin chose not to block the Onager’s front arc, so the Onager and Demo polished off Barriss at the end of turn 3 and they sailed off to the left of the board while Anakin flew to the right. Game over as we moved our ships through turns 4-5-6 without ever getting another shot. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the end of the day I got a 7-4 win. Which had I not been a dumb-dumb and made the Ven1 the Objective ship, would have netted me a 9-2. Important lesson there friends, DON’T GET COCKY.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Game 3</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fox and I went to lunch and we reflected on the morning’s games. Fox had gotten two bad losses and needed time to recover, whereas I was solidly in the middle of the pack at around 21st. I had 12 tournament points and figured I needed to get to about 26 minimum to make Day 2. Preferably 28, so my goal was two 8’s. Not unreasonable, but not a cakewalk either.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we got back to the hall, I found out I was paired with Juan (aggieTlatoani) for Round 3. He was flying his patented Luminara fleet that had recently kicked the crap out of my SSD fleet at TXO in May. This time, though, would be different.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Venator II (100)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Luminara Unduli (25)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Expert Shield Tech (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Ordnance Experts (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• SPHA-T (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Thermal Shields (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Assault Proton Torpedoes (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• XI7 Turbolasers (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Tranquility (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 159 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Acclamator II (71)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Intel Officer (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Ordnance Experts (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Thermal Shields (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Assault Proton Torpedoes (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Swivel-Mount Batteries (8)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 99 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pelta Transport Frigate (45)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Clone Navigation Officer (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Projection Experts (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Munitions Resupply (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• FB-88 (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 62 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Squadrons:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Anakin Skywalker (Delta-7) (24)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Ahsoka Tano (23)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Axe (17)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Kickback (16)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 80 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I outbid Juan and chose 2nd. Juan chose Rift Ambush. This started a string of games that had me playing Rift Ambush. I set up all the obstacles, with the Rift in the center and a U of obstacles with the base of the U toward my opponent’s board edge. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/A2dfBh0c4VtMVfhFmAb4XraLAyhD9xtCvEcCSkaJSxzf8EG2pLPEiM6vbpuhvWNTTsiScXAaimIOIRvwsHxjNLYVTf8ZwVS5Wg1wBanNN9AW-M4BnL4mjCIayWXGETiAX9LyPpPQxOtM-OigHg4iqJg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, have you ever used your boarding troopers and external racks on turn 1? Yeah, I hadn’t either, until this game. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Juan set up his Pelta and squads in the center, the venator on my right and the acclamator on my left. I set up my Kuat across from the Venator, the Onager angled in to keep both enemy ships in ignition arc, and Demo set to come left to right and follow the Kuat. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Start of turn one, I used Ozzel officer to move forward one. Juan then chose to move the venator at speed 3, then the rift move to get all the way into close range of the front arc of the Kuat. This guaranteed that I couldn’t shoot him with the Onager the turn the turn that I used Boarding Troopers. </span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With no choice, I used BT to exhaust the brace and redirect, then hit him with external racks and the front arc. He used his thermal shields which discarded his brace. He removed my blacks and a blue, but I used exracks and it resulted in 3 damage cards on the Venator. I rammed the Venator with the Kuat, then rammed it again with the rift move, leaving the Venator on 5 damage cards turn one. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/IA1cCLrojEFhH2r2Du-s-O-4IyAcJiXv6hT5Hgvt5RkNSC5vX-6Qq5M4GWwlblWrk68js0WXB39IBabxr007za4eSjryjVmVwHoLYsvwsTVH6CUOSPkSfLQMQL793QjqPxw0vr49pFXOukvhlc7bBTg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Turn 2, the venator activated and whiffed its shot, and then quickly expired to the combined fire of the Onager and Demo front arc. After that, Demo slowed down and let the clam come into its side arc, repeatedly hammering it while the Onager side arc gave a helping hand. Meanwhile the pelta eventually fell to a combination of the Kuat and the Onager ignition arc. The double guaranteed accuracy from the Onager was crucial, locking the Brace and Evade of the pelta and hitting it with 6-8 damage. The clam tried really hard to kill Demo, but after unloading several times, Demo and the Onager scooted away, the Kuat living on one hull point as it dodge asteroids to run away. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 443px; overflow: hidden; width: 589px;"><img height="443" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_tXFzIgRxOpiTTXiuk9o5-wNuKQTjT0QpzDDNPM7jZ7QxRoFhLseWPbNpxte-Hzg0EKiF4IWdq1RkVfbH7JOWbxJU7udKrosqx-HLY_0KiysBEgCyL3M-KOlHZHzvaNx3Bqc_mu8JwFKefbw6XQZU8U" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="589" /></span></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/an02ndOplikgtNwlZZqtSA2kPV6CjuIdu3irUmkLLB23RE1pdLHdyavdpdYNzBW0YGFdZgsA4qHC-c3qgj4rJrbop-LA0wqQZp8l87GQDjsEsb8HaTAXKXqCgrXwQIzX7bgNoj8uvu-AXHLnPbR7Ueo" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a 400-58 table, trading my Gozanti and squads for all of his ships and a 10-1.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Game 4</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point I was on Table 4 and paired with Matthew Chambers. His fleet, Ozzel’s Yacht Club, was a beefy double ISD2 fleet with Palpatine officer and double Boarding Troopers. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Imperial II (120)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Admiral Ozzel (20)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Wulff Yularen (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Boarding Troopers (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Electronic Countermeasures (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Point Defense Ion Cannons (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Chimaera (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Entrapment Formation! (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 170 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gozanti Cruisers (23)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Hondo Ohnaka (2)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Comms Net (2)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 27 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Imperial II (120)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Emperor Palpatine (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Boarding Troopers (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Electronic Countermeasures (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Point Defense Ion Cannons (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 137 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Squadrons:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Tel Trevura (17)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Soontir Fel (18)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Tempest Squadron (13)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Black Squadron (9)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 57 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total Points: 391</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I knew that if I let both ISDs get in close to the Kuat at the same time, I’d pay for it. At this point I had 22 Tournament points and a 6 would just about lock me into the Top 12. A five would be borderline, but I had a pretty decent MOV after my 10-1. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Matthew had bid and chose to go second, giving me the only game I played as first player. I chose his Advanced Gunnery. We essentially corner deployed away from each other. If he wanted to play the game and go for it then I wanted to delay the action as long as possible, decreasing the number of ISD2 front arc shots my Kuat would take. Matthew chose his Palpatine ISD2 as the Adv Gunnery ship and I chose my gozanti, trying not to give up points if I could. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/2uFLXxQvOgWXy02n87JbWzxu1WV6W9a6Q8xfnj0QX5hg6W9i-eUJDlAfk9BIbwIuJWYFHZepAv6Z-SYNpV0BFeO595zJXOMI1jR-c0Syh3RJaw3i6T7sX6X8ECyBAyrdhodom3Mdb5-Sq1-YCX_baQg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To that end, I slow-rolled it. My Kuat and demo went to speed zero after I lined them up facing the two ISDs. The Onager tucked in behind the Kuat and slowed down. In my head, if he chose to slow down and not engage, I was willing to take the 5 TP and squeak into top 12, which probably meant he would too, with a 6. At the same time, going slow would delay an engagement until later in the game, lowering the number of possible shots coming into my ships.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/xCT48hXLAnxdJ53BPa1hsD91vzyyzkbF3-y9SB8LZEQczukFT3GNB_5v22-b_IU7BOzNuMi3BZJPtvp-lvvlflj9sl_FX3N9wrD8gjFfBKSumJXA6gCHnGu1W6sEhwdj0ob4kAPZ9ptRfzNqjuoK-8E" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alas, Ozzel had both of the ISDs barreling down at me at speed 3 and I puckered my butt for what was coming. On the way in, my Onager got shots on the Flagship, taking down most of its shields. But on the most important turn, he kept the flagship out of close range of my Kuat, so I switched targets to the Advanced gunnery ISD2. I hit it with Demo twice, the Onager ignition arc, and then boarding troopers and the ISD2 front arc, taking it down in a hail of fire in a single turn. The Kuat had been taking damage, but before the Palpatine ISD died, it used advanced gunnery to kill my Demo (luckily it had already blown its wad). </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/t-QBNk-vwI9ymreiwNj1qukI-WrdZMAxQD625P-lV120S51Ql3RFxDlkN2jOl7ynjZ22A2aAJ1puviQWtYpvR9xRURkd2Lrr46tDDEjqNhWlWAPR1eGTbRMlqxd6FAsU8Z9DJ_L1jiR48yF9divxBys" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point his flagship had taken a fair bit of damage and he chose to run from the Onager that was essentially on full health. My Kuat made a run for it, and got chased by his squads. Turn 6 my Kuat had 1 hull left and Matt was able to get Tel in range for ONE LAST SHOT… that whiffed, letting my Kuat live. Since I had killed the objective ship I got 257 points, while Matt got my Demo and 4 squads for 107. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/WnxKpcKVbZ-L-yJ33rITiGgWyRP0Rb5tDE60LsB80FZlO98C41TIBKzw2je4MrBNii6pP5q4-lhFKd02YoZSwLeZ-fUD5LJIUl7uGlIEZGYrNMmijP689kzYUS0QZYq8rxIC6m7iz_L80D-LGe8O4hU" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This gave me a solid 8-3 win and catapulted me into third place for Day 1. But what would Day 2 hold in store?</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Day 2</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once again we had a late start, with round one starting at 10:15 am. Before we started I spent some time helping Fox get this monstrosity of a sector fleet (7 peltas and 7 c70s) together out of Allen’s bottomless GAR box.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the players from the Top 12 didn’t make it, and the number 13 player, Joseph, was given the final slot. It was the moment of truth and pairings were generated… giving me Jordan as my round 1 opponent.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, those of you who don’t know, I played Jordan at GSG and he tabled me the last round of Day 2, which kept me out of possibly getting a worlds ticket. It had been a grueling game vs his Agate MC30s fleet and this would prove to be the case again. It was a little different now, taking advantage of Rapid Reinforcements 2.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Kyrsta Agate (20)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Expert Shield Tech (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Ordnance Experts (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Electronic Countermeasures (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• External Racks (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• H9 Turbolasers (8)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Foresight (8)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 119 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Lando Calrissian (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Ordnance Experts (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Advanced Projectors (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• External Racks (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• H9 Turbolasers (8)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Admonition (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 95 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">GR-75 Medium Transports (18)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Ezra Bridger (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Comms Net (2)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 23 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">GR-75 Medium Transports (18)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Adar Tallon (10)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Boosted Comms (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 32 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Squadrons:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Fenn Rau (24)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Jan Ors (19)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Shara Bey (17)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• 2 x Scurrg H-6 Bomber (32)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• 4 x Z-95 Headhunter Squadron (28)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• A-wing Squadron (11)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 131 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total Points: 400</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had bid and chose second, with him choosing my Rift Ambush. In retrospect, I probably should have taken first, but I was afraid of him having some kind of farm objective with his squads that I just wouldn’t be able to take. Regardless, decision made, Jordan chose Rift Ambush and we started to put out obstacles…</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Only to be told to stop, we were on delay. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the Top 12 players had collapsed on the ground and EMS had been called. It was a scary ten minutes as Joseph, who’d just been added to top 12 and who is a Doctor, monitored the player until the Ambulance arrived and they took him out on a gurney. He DID end up coming back and telling us that it had been an ocular migraine and that he was ok later, which we were all very grateful for. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unfortunately, this left us in a pickle. Our Top 12 had now been reduced to 11. The order of events was important here. The pairings had been generated, the timer and deployment had begun, and the player, before he collapsed, had stated that he conceded the game. The TOs discussed it, brought in Fox as an independent 3rd opinion and decided that it was no longer possible to add another player. It was also unclear as to who would be added, as players 14 and 15 were not present. The top cut would proceed with a bye being given to the lowest scoring player in round 2 and 3. This was a little controversial, but I believe, given the order of what happened, this was the correct course of action.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once that had been resolved, we were cleared to resume play, albeit a fair bit later than we planned. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jordan out deployed me, which meant my entire fleet had to be deployed before his MC30s were deployed. I mostly corner deployed to the right, with the kuat near enough to the rift to try to use it to catapult and the onager in the right corner. Demo was deployed to follow the Kuat or assist the onager. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/its05kDFSLP5Slw1CAjx1yFG7o11qRFSgHvxFM-P0GvPIYNm_Yj53m-XMh42f70w1AQNjhtshkPj3Jshm43y0NnmdDAWmUY3uxK0cOHioW5mKuSvQ4qo1CTxV0dNUvVucZP4aZClse6CpRmJzbfCHDo" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jordan chose to deploy his MC30s across from the Onager. On turn 1, my Kuat made a hard right, with Ozzel and a nav dial speed 2, to try to form a kill box for the right MC30 (foresight with Agate). It was nearly perfect, with Agate nearly forced to move into the front arc of the Kuat. Alas, Jordan found a speed 4 inside turn that got Foresight into the Kuat’s side arc and out of deletion range. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/f2DtOXEcoZ9tsB-SrPDAncaC3lADpcjW4jIvLuPeqc1IY9zxHYbdlI4DhX26aMXNqOx56firsnj296HtqeozI1TuYY6QrFs1ZfxU1uU_wom8XmBbIorfA8HvgBqiWF5V5OAryOyZeCZR4t0IcqUC5qM" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was able to use the onager, demo, and Boarding teams to get rid of both of Foresight’s evades, but the side arc from the Kuat wasn’t able to kill Foresight in one go. I made a critical mistake, turning the Kuat toward the onager in an attempt to bump foresight, but missed, leaving my Kuat front to front with my Onager.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/27_uIaTYdXS09TIV7D61v1zp5B18pBMb_p5d5QmwnuJhxt_FYiy3a1kYCXG3IVVW0xMmLffI2iaW2Zc1sNZzV6adtDXGmi_ssNQjCuXrYDFy9HBL5sToiTet65TGySSCXHRCJLdWKqozaAkPpPIuDBA" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Turn 3 started, with Foresight trying to run away, but getting caught on my Gozanti and falling back to the first position. I delayed, using the Onager to shoot foresight and hurt it badly, while watching the Adar GR75 and my gozanti ram themselves to death, literally, with the Rift Ambush extra moves. Admonition finally activated and unloaded on the onager before jumping both the onager and demo. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Demo activated last, blasting Admonition with 6 black dice and rolling TEN damage… which Lando promptly made me reroll into 4 and admo discarded a token and turned it into 2. Demo then jumped over the ISD and landed a kill shot on the flagship, finally finishing it off with the exact damage needed.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is where it all kind of fell apart for me. I forgot to shoot Admonition with the onager side arc, so I missed out on doing that damage. The onager and Kuat were stuck, with the squads finishing them off. Demo tried valiantly to use the rift to catch a speed 4 ship, but nearly got killed chasing it down. Turn 6 I was barely out of close range and that ended any chance for me to table Jordan. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A really hard fought game until the end, with lots of opportunities for both of us to win. With everything dead but Demo, I only got points for his flagship and adar gr75. 162-325 and a 3-8 loss. </span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Game 2</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point, I had my work cut out for me and I went to lunch with Fox, who was exuberant after playing Downsizeit in the first round of the Sector fleet tournament with his silly number of ships. Since I was tied for last, it was possible I would get a bye round 2. As I was eating my sandwich, pairings were released and Drew got the bye while I got matched with Scott and his SSD.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SSD Assault Prototype (250)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Moff Jerjerrod (23)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Director Krennic (8)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Emperor Palpatine (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Governor Pryce (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Gunnery Team (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Flak Guns (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Quad Laser Turrets (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Leading Shots (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Overload Pulse (8)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Quad Battery Turrets (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Ravager (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 336 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gozanti Cruisers (23)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Darth Vader (1)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Comms Net (2)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 26 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gozanti Cruisers (23)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Repair Crews (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 27 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Squadrons:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 0 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total Points: 389</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, in theory, KOG should table an SSD fleet. The question is what do I lose to do it. The Kuat can die if I can’t kill the SSD fast enough.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scott had bid and chose to go 1st, choosing Rift Ambush again. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scott deployed the SSD between the obstacles and to the left of the Rift. I deployed my Kuat slightly to the right of the SSD, with the Onager at about center board. Demo I split to the left, trying to force Scott to make a choice on what to engage. Either turn toward demo and blow it up while the Kuat and Onager are basically unopposed all game, or turn toward the Kuat and try and race for damage. I used Rift Ambush at the start of turn 1 to havethe SSD perform a speed 1 maneuver and change its dial to speed 2.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scott chose to turn toward the Kuat and the dice-roll-a-thon was on. On turn 2 the SSD slammed the Kuat, proccing Overload Pulse as it went. Then the Onager and Demo forced the SSD to spend both its braces before the Kuat discarded them both with Boarding teams. Turn 3 the Kuat took another big hit, leaving it on one hull. Again demo and the onager shot first, leaving the Kuat to fire the final shot (I needed one damage and got 8) to finish off the SSD on turn 3. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With nothing lost on my side, the 400-0 left me with a 10-1 and vaulted me back into contention.</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Game 3</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was a gaggle of players at 13 and 14 points and basically anyone could be paired with anyone in that group. Eventually I got paired with Joseph and his Starhawk/Liberty list.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MC80 Battle Cruiser (103)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Ray Antilles (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Caitken and Shollan (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Engine Techs (8)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Point Defense Ion Cannons (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Spinal Armament (9)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Mon Karren (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 143 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">GR-75 Medium Transports (18)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Comms Net (2)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 20 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Starhawk Battleship Mark II (150)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Kyrsta Agate (20)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Expert Shield Tech (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Walex Blissex (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Boarding Troopers (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Point Defense Ion Cannons (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Unity (10)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 204 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Squadrons:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• 2 x YT-2400 (32)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 32 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total Points: 399</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We rolled off for initiative, with me winning the roll and choosing second, with Joseph choosing Rift Ambush for one final time.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I out-deployed Joseph, so I was able to see his disposition before any of my combat ships went down. His Starhawk was in the center angled toward the left. His MC80 was in the far left corner, running down the board edge. I chose to deploy to the left and focus on the big boy Starhawk, as I knew that given its deployment, catching the MC80 was unlikely. I chose the MC80 to do a speed 1 maneuver and slowed it down to speed 1, trying to make Joseph think that was my target.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I moved forward with Ozzel and Joseph turned his starhawk hard to port, lining up with my Kuat and onager, and moving an extra one forward from the rift. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/gNYhqxROg28ktteY5jGwmRmwWSDiDwAiFf4bUtDsjE0e0UAlVZWsGLIsBaVPZVSKkW5dXTeeLLMt_TIZcXJrAunHUVgyirpVItCubQXRe6FbCYJSMu7ghtHG_NatHyP3Suu-EFo0km8wz1PewuDj1Wk" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And here, friends, I made another mistake. Instead of going forward at speed 2 with the Kuat and letting the rift get me to close range, I went speed 3 and the Rift move left me double arced by the starhawk (whoops). The Starhawk was stuck until the Kuat was dead, which was starting to happen quickly. The MC80 couldn’t come in directly, because of the Rift in the center of the board. It chose to try and cut behind the Starhawk after lobbing some long range shots at the nearly dead Kuat. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After taking those shots, Joseph made an inside turn towards his board edge with Mon Karen and then engine techs, which made the liberty go off the board. Something similar had happened to me at Golden State Games on the very first round and it was really rough. After that, the Starhawk killed the Kuat, but Demo and the Onager finished it off, giving me a 9-2 win with 400-152.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Again this was a quick game, and I knew that if Tables 1 and 2 got no better than an 8, I would win with my huge MOV. Alas, Mack and Jordan both got huge wins, scoring a 9 and 10, respectively, leaving me in third place, but with a Worlds invite.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was an amazing tournament, with me digging myself out of a hole both days and ending up third both days. I got to meet a ton of people who listen to the podcast and who wanted to shake hands and take selfies. All of my opponents were amazing and really gave me a run for my money.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Until next time, I’ll catch you on the Armada Podcast. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P.S. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ll be at Worlds this year! (And not as a trashcan)</span></p></span>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-47153997174446716172023-06-14T20:32:00.001-05:002023-06-14T20:32:58.479-05:00Know Your Enemy/Commander's Corner: Davits Draven<p>Hey, a new Rebel commander! That guy from that thing and some comic books, let's learn about Davits Draven!</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1638" data-original-width="1197" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjE7BIDMJoRhzH3BLpYUxBprEvdILNjhW1nmQXxthKwQWY9o7hep75ZRGcqCKwKpX8Z52-NJPlFrJH911lJBFehqGHW1uiEkCqurMIlcYoJ0ZZ7dTETvohe4ztipvvWxIaL0q_DDZI7sRPNpcsn__XOY59rvh3fePGk6BqlXXrB7p8ssjsNwThS5od-4w=w292-h400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="292" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">He's definitely gonna appear in some other properties, right, and not die in a comic offscreen?</span></td></tr></tbody></table></p><span></span><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><b>The Card!</b><p></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="289" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbGKXBDODGvxlSMYmyAG754Kj_zcIpG4FU9pVqfdCGH_6kHqSYQP4nyT73lzxNHujegkeean4VE7JZc0KBzQZyxWL949EaS4Ty0yHNEd6Qm0lmARAUkP9Z49sgx0ONb-HePKY1HGsVQZkmp9UM3d8FP33XOR86GtKP0xZqWdV3_NIdkHgkd1LnqdyP9Q=w278-h400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="278" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rebel players when they try to figure out how he actually worked had this face</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Our second card to be promoted from officer to commander (<a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/06/rebel-officers.html">Kyrsta Agate</a>, albeit in the same box), Draven is here to help act as the intelligence officer that'll win you the game. AFTER deploying fleets (and selecting your missions, and and and, so you have full information before you choose), grab 2 dials (and dials aren't revealed like command tokens, so who KNOWS what you could be grabbing to mess with your opponent?)</p><p>At the start of each ship phase (AKA after dials are set for all ships), you can reveal and discard a command dial from the card. The FAQs and forum clarifications SEEM to basically be implying and making it so that "when your opponent spends a dial, the dial only uses the token effect in the Rules Reference Guide, pages 3-4, instead of the dial effect."</p><p>This means that they can't add a yaw with the nav dial, they can only change speeds by up to 1*. You can only activate ONE squadron with the dial**. You can only reroll one die with the con fire dial and no adding in dice***, and you can only resolve half of your engineering value with an engineering command****. There is nothing stopping you from taking the dial as a token, and using it that way, however, unless of course you already HAVE a token of that type and aren't flying <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2021/06/separatist-ship-review-recusant-class.html">Nova Defiant</a> or <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2019/08/super-star-destroyerstar-dreadnought.html">Executor</a>.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1QnqeSyfaZ7Yd_5K_L6qDj1q8TDFCxKgVNWaQXMIg-Wk5cPH7d9WDZaVoSNK93w2QSEUPvqkWE1ZN3Dvwm4Uq15Ur_Y_Wcb-xsC8XT4e65dD-FMQaPt4QVwvl3kFjV9TnPfP0CjG5bshD84zqehPtWmMKwH-C02Usoyoy2Jf7BiI5pkhwsOrpF-72Dw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="223" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1QnqeSyfaZ7Yd_5K_L6qDj1q8TDFCxKgVNWaQXMIg-Wk5cPH7d9WDZaVoSNK93w2QSEUPvqkWE1ZN3Dvwm4Uq15Ur_Y_Wcb-xsC8XT4e65dD-FMQaPt4QVwvl3kFjV9TnPfP0CjG5bshD84zqehPtWmMKwH-C02Usoyoy2Jf7BiI5pkhwsOrpF-72Dw=w288-h400" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Now for the fine print and legal speak!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>*This means that you can't use <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/06/support-team-upgrades.html">Nav Team</a> with the dial as a command, but you can trigger <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/06/support-team-upgrades.html">Engine Techs</a> or take the dial as a token and use it for <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/06/support-team-upgrades.html">Nav Teams</a> that way.<br />**This means that the <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/lmc80-battle-cruise-crazy-just-be-glad.html">Liberty</a> title, because you're using a dial as a "dial" means you only get one squadron, not 2 as you're not taking the token. Nothing is stopping you from taking it as a token, however, but a "dial and token" effect would be 1 from the dial and 2 from the actual token interacting with the <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/lmc80-battle-cruise-crazy-just-be-glad.html">Liberty</a> title. <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/08/imperial-ship-review-quasar-fire.html">Pursuant</a>, because nothing is spent and no command is revealed, however, acts at full strength.<br />***Unless you're <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2019/08/super-star-destroyerstar-dreadnought.html">Ravager</a>, then you spend the dial as a reroll mechanic and the token you got for being a huge ship to give you an additional die. <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/06/imperial-officers.html">Director Krennic</a> also counts as triggering a dial for his ability, you just don't get to also add in the die for the initial CF dial.<br />****<a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/06/support-team-upgrades.html">Engineering Teams</a>, <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/02/nebulon-bs-jousting-for-fun-and-profit.html">Redemption</a>, <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/rebel-specific-upgrades.html">MCEF</a>, <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-officers.html">Wat</a>, etc let you get around this by adding in Engineering points after the fact like <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/04/know-your-enemycommanders-corner.html">Ackbar</a> adds in die after the initial roll.</p><p>I'm done getting into every single counter-example; go ask on the rules forum as I'm still making this all up with the best clarifications I can for why/how this works; no one specifically has said "treat it like page 3 of the RRG" but that's the best I've got (because I asked a literal month ago and no one has answered me yet). Ask your TO for your specific example before a match happens/at the start and try to plan around it.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgz5TNB_sR01Kbnm7Lac_7AKJLFa_bMnUPfO3-WdMB3ZppYzk_GMsesge6tPQOuqG-PeC2loC7MKsNj0xqmMc0ye1c9gDzvteJEgkJcK4axPanC4ubuT57J1IYnRaUMivnlgfRUaHeh3p5TDh6oBwj6LccCPIjPR7sglIMh6IR6ZLoxHi3jYH425OxmJA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="223" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgz5TNB_sR01Kbnm7Lac_7AKJLFa_bMnUPfO3-WdMB3ZppYzk_GMsesge6tPQOuqG-PeC2loC7MKsNj0xqmMc0ye1c9gDzvteJEgkJcK4axPanC4ubuT57J1IYnRaUMivnlgfRUaHeh3p5TDh6oBwj6LccCPIjPR7sglIMh6IR6ZLoxHi3jYH425OxmJA=w287-h400" width="287" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I'm getting to the reason for these jokes, I promise</span></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>The OTHER thing he did is because you're treating these dials as tokens, you get into the new and really weird "token+token" situation which has never happened before (and has actively been prevented). Squadron token+token is 2 squads, 4 if you've triggered <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2023/05/four-rr2-squadrons.html">Fenn Rau</a> as well. Engineering token and token is basically your Engineering value, flat, (+1 if you're the <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/04/imperial-ship-review-interdictor-cruiser.html">Interdictor</a> as 5/2+5/2 makes 6, as any mathematician can tell you, for really large values of 5). Nav token and token is just changing speed by 2, no clicks, unless you have nav team, then it's 1 and a click if desired. And as for con fire? Well, it looks like you reroll 2 dice. However, since all of these dials are still "dials", while you do need to perform the entire "con fire add die" effect as one, if you're doing dial and token, you can do them one after the other. Indented sidebar!</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">So on a regular con fire dial+token, you can add in the dial and then immediately do the token effect afterwards; I know because I've been flying <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/08/know-your-enemycommanders-corner-leia.html">Leia</a> longer than you. What that means is you can then by that reasoning do the dial (reroll one die) and immediately follow it with the token (reroll) effect; on potentially 2 different dice as needed OR the same die (as a dial+token con fire can let you reroll the dice you just added in). Basically you can go crit fishing as desired as you reroll your dice, so long as you do one then the other immediately afterwards.</p></blockquote><p>Alright, I think that's enough wacky shack ruling talk, let's get to the good part!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4K692MnNSele9dBiIk2fGP5hzHI_Q2XJdmiDkT0emNQSMMdwYu4v6AhxinUcGX-jEjyz9hpgUDtixdVGgfTYuDjbEw9z4UYfhObcczjzgTOKrHngMDkwHc8PAm6xVSsqP6pTZvHg0z7WEmTzvUD-pmihnVIrNL7qY5tAomwbqj39hYkvd6cHxBw8fhA/s498/jack-sparrow-lonely-island.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="498" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4K692MnNSele9dBiIk2fGP5hzHI_Q2XJdmiDkT0emNQSMMdwYu4v6AhxinUcGX-jEjyz9hpgUDtixdVGgfTYuDjbEw9z4UYfhObcczjzgTOKrHngMDkwHc8PAm6xVSsqP6pTZvHg0z7WEmTzvUD-pmihnVIrNL7qY5tAomwbqj39hYkvd6cHxBw8fhA/w400-h174/jack-sparrow-lonely-island.gif" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Why Play Him!</b></p><p>You really like Blue Deck Magic. He can shut down giant squadron activations your opponent was planning on doing, he can stop a repair spam list in its tracks, and he can make it much harder for <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/03/cr90-corvette-everyones-first-ship.html">CR90</a> spam lists to be where they want to when they can't turn as well. He's a blue control deck in commander form, where you basically get to decide 2 turns out of the game what you'll allow your opponent to do. If that appeals to you, go for it. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzITq_aJ-6ykoEc73OicBRTF0JgM8rd82HFi1gOGjArA2uKo2ps68suYrujXfxJ-Iz1c0FUrJLTjgClIWmirJa4Mhhm6MyHNJaeoiXXEsm8G-8bUjKeZ6DRWQC2B514uvSf-FlXsnsa38EP9lzyZBU_NnM23yeaPV-gjxearHxpCBccm_eFewL2pe15w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="265" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzITq_aJ-6ykoEc73OicBRTF0JgM8rd82HFi1gOGjArA2uKo2ps68suYrujXfxJ-Iz1c0FUrJLTjgClIWmirJa4Mhhm6MyHNJaeoiXXEsm8G-8bUjKeZ6DRWQC2B514uvSf-FlXsnsa38EP9lzyZBU_NnM23yeaPV-gjxearHxpCBccm_eFewL2pe15w=w287-h400" width="287" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I'll allow these jokes now</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Or rather, he limits what your opponent can do that turn to "just token form." Many of the above examples are useable but only somewhat seen. He's really good at stopping your opponent from doing a massive squadron launch that turn..... unless they put <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/08/imperial-ship-review-quasar-fire.html">Pursuant</a> on the <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/08/imperial-ship-review-quasar-fire.html">Quasar</a>, I suppose. I'm making these counterspell jokes, but he doesn't STOP your opponent from doing things a la <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-commander-review-count-dooku.html">Dooku</a>/<a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-officers.html">Asajj</a> raid shenanigans, he just sorta.... limits your opponent's options. He's not Raid, able to be prevented if you have a token, but he's also not stopping your opponent from resolving the dial and any associated abilities. Raid from <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-commander-review-count-dooku.html">Dooku</a> prevents you from using the command, unless you have a token and a dial to do one of the associated dial or token options. Draven lets your opponent do the command, albeit in a very reduced form. So <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-commander-review-count-dooku.html">Dooku</a> prevents using <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/weapon-team-upgrades-best-defense-is.html">Gunnery Team</a>, while Draven prevents any dice from being added to the attacks. Your mileage about what's better/more helpful for you.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZ4AvvQzc5SgBmTZCpAOJ4BWZ6sBRX3DfUKwv4DsN0wthnX0HTezGcCU3732f_qDa-V97kL7NElgMc2reZ5aTxCB2AWObB5oiwrm_98noo36qSTY-GOqC3rliTUk4QwOdWBmyY2uTcWTuq4MkfjMPhs26oxK8lPVM8wRfnB4A-fKNj0LkUw7gBSPW4tA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="310" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZ4AvvQzc5SgBmTZCpAOJ4BWZ6sBRX3DfUKwv4DsN0wthnX0HTezGcCU3732f_qDa-V97kL7NElgMc2reZ5aTxCB2AWObB5oiwrm_98noo36qSTY-GOqC3rliTUk4QwOdWBmyY2uTcWTuq4MkfjMPhs26oxK8lPVM8wRfnB4A-fKNj0LkUw7gBSPW4tA=w400-h288" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It's a bit, now</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>Common Ships!</b></p><p>The issue with Draven is that while he LIMITS your opponent from doing things for 2 turns, he doesn't really lend himself towards anything specific. "<a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/01/know-your-enemycommanders-corner-kyrsta.html">Agate</a> doesn't really either!" No, she makes ONE ship in your fleet extra tanky and is cheap, allowing you to get better benefit/use on that ship for longer as the game goes on. That's a specific something, but it is something. Draven..... doesn't. The power of his ability is dependent on both what your opponent brought and your ability to guess/prevent that from happening.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVgJiHuVkObdZ4AITNi_TNZZzHBiz7Vx3ezXfmzXLd_aoBSlmx7KhaTKUcU2-wGJh7qxKX7SliFvquQlE96qyQh1KEQJV70mQ9DhrC6qXPjsqD408mZx8AGmDj9yIJsY_FwL60Zz6s-3J8XCpWTGDfOr4dTKuGumHZdPWvdSNobDsPNQ_qoHVmjrBv0Q" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="223" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVgJiHuVkObdZ4AITNi_TNZZzHBiz7Vx3ezXfmzXLd_aoBSlmx7KhaTKUcU2-wGJh7qxKX7SliFvquQlE96qyQh1KEQJV70mQ9DhrC6qXPjsqD408mZx8AGmDj9yIJsY_FwL60Zz6s-3J8XCpWTGDfOr4dTKuGumHZdPWvdSNobDsPNQ_qoHVmjrBv0Q=w288-h400" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A blue deck joke article? You knew this was gonna pop up</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The standard Prodigal Sorceror <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/03/cr90-corvette-everyones-first-ship.html">CR90</a> is always worth including, but it doesn't do anything specific for him over any other non-Cracken commander. I've seen a <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/lmc80-battle-cruise-crazy-just-be-glad.html">Liberty</a>-title <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/lmc80-battle-cruise-crazy-just-be-glad.html">Liberty</a> build or 2 floating around; as combining him with <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/p/squadrons-index.html">Fenn Rau</a> and the <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/lmc80-battle-cruise-crazy-just-be-glad.html">Liberty</a> title can mean 4 squads from one token, or even 6 if you can spare the one dial (don't make it a habit). Considering your opponent won't be commanding squads in bulk form that turn, it allows you as a Rebel commander to get an alpha strike with your squads, which is not generally something that happens usually. Making a true <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/lmc80-battle-cruise-crazy-just-be-glad.html">Liberty</a> battlecarrier in the Imperial fashion is fun but I honestly don't know one month after release if it's a great build or just really fun now that it finally works, kinda.</p><p>In the realm of no-specific synergy, the standard Rebel good stuff of <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/04/mc30-curse-of-flying-hellfish.html">MC30s</a>, <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/04/gr75s-we-all-float-down-here.html">GR75s</a>, and <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/03/cr90-corvette-everyones-first-ship.html">CR90s</a> have been dominating Rebel list building for a while, no reason for them to change now. Well, <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2023/05/you-underestimate-my-power.html">Anakin</a>, I suppose, but that's a different (Fighting Fleets) article (when I get more time and experience fighting him).</p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWsit2b3Y-iqk9T5Vd-DOInWYIS3O5f8DtPv-pqhSsbPvWVAs55Kdx3cqepK0Jp8mzQuBopsZodVVl5UD4bp19BIu99Swr84YMY5tKK3XSnNw30cWCDZ6eBDx9oNyXicOgCCToLvmUmdLPlhZOQc1XpD5PLNByPWNrpdk_fhVBxdeUeCcYhi2SDk_Xxw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="223" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWsit2b3Y-iqk9T5Vd-DOInWYIS3O5f8DtPv-pqhSsbPvWVAs55Kdx3cqepK0Jp8mzQuBopsZodVVl5UD4bp19BIu99Swr84YMY5tKK3XSnNw30cWCDZ6eBDx9oNyXicOgCCToLvmUmdLPlhZOQc1XpD5PLNByPWNrpdk_fhVBxdeUeCcYhi2SDk_Xxw=w288-h400" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A man with stronger conviction wouldn't make this joke. I am not him.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></b><b>Fleet Building!</b></p><p>Since he's stopping your opponent from getting fully powered dials, he's a good partner with Raid mechanics (<a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/06/rebel-officers.html">Rex</a>, <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/p/squadrons-index.html">Fenn Rau</a>, maybe even <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/rebel-specific-upgrades.html">Jyn</a> if you can figure out a trick for her) and <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/03/fleet-support-upgrades.html">Slicer Tools</a> inclusions to mess with next turn as well. Your shutting down of their squadrons means he's pretty good with an <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/03/squadrons-encyclopedia-3-medium-fighter.html">MFC</a> hitting their squads with an alpha strike.</p><p>His commander ability, though, stops your opponent from doing what they want to do fully; it does not buff your fleet/dials/commands/etc. The fleet you bring is entirely going to be based on what it does normally and how you can then use that to win when your opponent can't do what they want. Hence: blue deck magic. Good luck, and stop counterspelling my Giant Growths and Overruns, dangit.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimAnB9F8qNozpGkKLOmULWm2sE-H3qSCTOJf09ga-dvbRAD7NDmz3nzpWvNaH-HzSlDjhJ1ARcswGStwtES0QANW4Fu0VOMykId1MUXz6qmi9MIeoZ7zrVnzcPcWRs1Y2ixAKk-zRsbWGcBqDTA1rDPzptNKtXnsO2sszxGseho0CQKAD2EDAjUAtQKA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="223" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimAnB9F8qNozpGkKLOmULWm2sE-H3qSCTOJf09ga-dvbRAD7NDmz3nzpWvNaH-HzSlDjhJ1ARcswGStwtES0QANW4Fu0VOMykId1MUXz6qmi9MIeoZ7zrVnzcPcWRs1Y2ixAKk-zRsbWGcBqDTA1rDPzptNKtXnsO2sszxGseho0CQKAD2EDAjUAtQKA=w288-h400" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I just like this one, no other reason for inclusion</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-81696286507112066862023-05-23T20:51:00.000-05:002023-05-23T20:51:32.154-05:00Two RR Officers!<p>Before I dive into Draven, I figured I'd punch out Pryce and attack Assaj: hit the jump, kids!</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="291" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnaP7VWKku92R5LEf3OfZr8tW3EdXtDR9AiqTiXHARcpqMH5bfSSowFNS8lQs326xKyD5P6GM3Ct27zg_ixkl5_vzD3Bke8FAcaAJywFKXRAbsulyPdunI7S4HbMzUd4Caz_NcaXtctvIFBS4WhwboY-vXUvtoW2gKbaBAhC8mVjSdEs7zNUJDvoJmVQ=w282-h400" width="282" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Guess who's back, back again....</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Governor Pryce is back, and she's.... slightly less mean! Once per activation (which means both yours for regular attacks and your opponent's for Salvo ones), you can spend a shield to change a die to any face. Free double hits on your red, all for the low low cost of 1 shield! Free accuracies! Free hit/crits on your black dice! Annnnd you're now flying a near shieldless <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/02/imperial-ship-review-imperial-class.html">ISD</a>, good jorb.</p><p>In essence, she's easy to understand (trigger crits, get accs, improve damage, combo with <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/04/turbolaser-upgrades-or-knowing-is-half.html">Quad Turbolaser Cannons</a> for a free double red accuracy) but the trick to her is making sure your shields remain up; if I'm shooting you in a shieldless zone, you can Salvo all you want but you can't Pryce a dice. Hence, you're going to want her on ships that can have friends either tossing them shields with <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/06/support-team-upgrades.html">Projection Experts</a> or engineering tokens (possibly both). Realistically, because of her expense and need for spending shields, she's on a large or huge base. <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/01/imperial-ship-review-onager-class-star.html">Onagers</a> for extra crit damage from range, <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/02/imperial-ship-review-imperial-class.html">ISD</a>s with <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/01/imperial-commander-review-general-romodi.html">Romodi</a> for getting REALLY mean shots at red, or <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2019/08/super-star-destroyerstar-dreadnought.html">Super Star Destroyers</a> with the aforementioned <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/04/turbolaser-upgrades-or-knowing-is-half.html">QTCs</a>. Either you naturally roll a red accuracy OR you force her to give you one and get a free one for the trouble. I reiterate, again, that you want to make sure you keep your shields up. In the words of a famous ex-Jedi, "It is unwise to lower your defenses!" Good card, expect to see her on some beefier lists helping (or attempting to help) murder your ships. And watch out, small bases, your Evade is about to get locked down (he says, having had this happen to me like 4 times in one game).</p><p>The one upside for non-Imperials slash downside for those Impos is that if she's driving the ol' space-bus, then <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/06/generic-officer-friends.html">Intel Officer</a>, <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/06/imperial-officers.html">Tua</a>, or whoever else isn't in there, and 7 points makes for a more expensive ship if/when it dies. Watch out for that, especially as you keep spending shields for her ability.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="291" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEix79G-5WXO4Zcu6TaFt2nt--QksmsBYJQ4nni3W_ZeT5LMlKEgzwD9ISP0L8NP84VedOSLH09Ks7Oo5H3fMWXVqDmdbNciKKAjOtleNssf1d08WgxSacT3tK7LORnLqCXnceDOK6wm9wb7Pvhw3LBrOsqbSzQuQ7KfFf8MoBnAbrf66qUAdioilbd7pQ=w283-h400" width="283" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Twice the officer, double the Raid shenanigans!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Assaj took an FAQ or so to get her understood, but now that she's been clarified, she's..... present! The FAQ on the forums states that the token you're gaining is the same as the one you're removing (not a raid token). Let me lay out how and why you want to take and use her:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Your opponent has a raid token on their ship, and a command token to possibly clear it and trigger the command (most likely squadrons but it could be nav as well).</li><li>You, using <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-commander-review-count-dooku.html">Dooku</a> or <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-specific-upgrades.html">B2s</a>, give them a second raid token (for the purposes of this exercise, let's say you give them a concentrate fire raid).</li><li>Assaj attacks and lets you remove the con fire raid ("remove 1 raid token") and the command token they wanted to use to clear the raid ("1 command token"). You then get that command token, effectively stealing it from them.</li><li>They are now sitting with their original raid, no token to clear it, and have just been attacked by your Assaj ship. The earliest they can pass a command token (to clear that initial raid, if they were even thinking about it) and activate that ship is after another activation of yours. Or they can discard the dial they have and never get to resolve that command.</li></ul><div>Assaj is for the <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-commander-review-count-dooku.html">Dooku</a> players and somewhat for the <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2021/06/separatist-commander-review-tf-1726.html">TF-1726</a> players. With respect to other commanders, she seems prohibitively expensive as she would DEFINITELY require adding <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-specific-upgrades.html">B2s</a> onto another ship before you can even start to see her benefit and like, I suppose? But pair her with <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-commander-review-count-dooku.html">Dooku</a> and get to raiding for sure. Put her on your <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2021/06/separatist-ship-review-recusant-class.html">Patriot Fist</a> or <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2021/05/separatist-ship-review-providence-class.html">Providence</a>, as they are very token hungry beasts and can really appreciate having a free extra (whatever you're stealing). She looks like a "win more", but what she's actually more of a full-court press (and help <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-commander-review-count-dooku.html">Dooku</a> win). If you can prevent them from getting out of the jam you're putting them in, that's how you win, not win more. She's worth using, trust me.</div><p></p>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-49233540746320257952023-05-17T20:39:00.002-05:002023-05-17T20:39:28.620-05:00Four RR2 Squadrons!<p>Hooray, we got 4 new squadrons! Let me dump them all HERE before inserting them into their own posts. Hit the jump for some cool new stuff!</p><span></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><a name='more'></a></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEildEBhXg3T1ElUL5t-C0RW3R6FZrRLYknUhYc2dciIyaWMW5H_VX0roT2kALsyf6OGtcLxIZnSYihBW4jDggIVyt_4yTAODkbdCiH2A8n67dEi1QmwsAp5Me5-6KLD2o0rK4qLVvFByBpEt-_ftQpa0mM2NtfGN_DEBdYK2xxZOt5CqRaYt7VGfN_Afw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="290" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEildEBhXg3T1ElUL5t-C0RW3R6FZrRLYknUhYc2dciIyaWMW5H_VX0roT2kALsyf6OGtcLxIZnSYihBW4jDggIVyt_4yTAODkbdCiH2A8n67dEi1QmwsAp5Me5-6KLD2o0rK4qLVvFByBpEt-_ftQpa0mM2NtfGN_DEBdYK2xxZOt5CqRaYt7VGfN_Afw=w448-h640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="448" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Start a fire!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p></p><p>Starting myself out with an easy one here.</p><p>So at its most basic, 14 points for a 2 brace bomber is great in GAR. Your other aces are usually so expensive that he's well worth just being cheap for one of your token aces. The OTHER cool thing is that if he's unengaged, he gives out Rogue. If a squadron moves more than distance 1 away from him, however, he loses Rogue. Which means (thanks FAQ page)!</p><p>1) If you want to give a lot of your bombers Rogue, Matchstick has to lead the charge. Squads that start before him and move more than D1 away, they don't have Rogue anymore. If they stay within 1, they're fine, of course.</p><p>2) Shooting and killing whoever is engaging Matchstick (making him unengaged) immediately allows that bomber to move away, as that squad now has Rogue.</p><p>3) Any bomber that moves into D1 of Matchstick immediately gains Rogue, with all the moving and shooting that entails. So Match runs in and bombs something first. Then, anyone who follows him in a proverbial fire storm (OH I GET THE NICKNAME NOW) can follow after him and also shoot the ship he's near.</p><p>Think of Match as like a weird <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/02/hwk-290s-and-jan-ors-intel-squadrons.html">Jan Ors</a> style aura, with an on/off switch of engagement. If he's unengaged, and you're within distance 1 of him, you gain Rogue and are viewed as having always had it this whole phase (so it's fine to land near him and shoot). If he's engaged, or you're not within distance 1 of him, you're a regular squadron.</p><p>If you're bringing bombers, bring Matchstick to pair with them, freeing up some of the ships commanding them to go do other things. Especially fun is bringing Y-wing Anakin with him and <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-power-of-plo-koon.html?m=0">Plo Commander</a>. What if a Rogue 2-dice bomber who can ignore engagement, gets to reroll both dice, AND adds a free accuracy? Hoof, mean. And if you're not flying for the GAR, start thinking about taking SOME squadrons, for sure.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9Q0vkX2WDyBUS6rz9QXq0y-6reoAB12Lvo396U5rD2b7zifGV_PF2MB1HW77o6A3hMqun0Ia4OmtGicjIvHx9-IvqFcjsWRao-Dz_mEgWv0DGLEi95PC6FBEUj996ceEkSMb9fxRfcxo3pLhasFgmRqjc-o8686Z2gI2XkcNw3dk9YsJY3PqG4JV1_A" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="290" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9Q0vkX2WDyBUS6rz9QXq0y-6reoAB12Lvo396U5rD2b7zifGV_PF2MB1HW77o6A3hMqun0Ia4OmtGicjIvHx9-IvqFcjsWRao-Dz_mEgWv0DGLEi95PC6FBEUj996ceEkSMb9fxRfcxo3pLhasFgmRqjc-o8686Z2gI2XkcNw3dk9YsJY3PqG4JV1_A=w451-h640" width="451" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">If you can name what he ever actually did in the EU WITHOUT going to Wookieepedia, I'll be impressed</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Vult Skerris is.... a guy! Who flew for the Empire! And now he's in an Interceptor! I don't care enough to go look up what he did in THE LORRRRRE, because it doesn't really matter. At 18 points, he's one of the more expensive Imperial options, tying him with Soontir. He also can't "regular" attack in the squadron phase. But he can make counter attacks, specifically, a strong counter-4 (boosted with <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/01/imperial-squadron-review-tie-fighter.html">Howlrunner</a>, or <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/02/imperial-squadron-review-jumpmaster-5000.html">Dengar</a>, or whatever myriad other ways you've got).</p><p>His job is to alpha in and attack (again, Defender dice are solid!), and then be a real pain for your opponent with his counter-4. However, he has... a scatter and an evade. That is SIGNIFICANTLY squishier than a Scatter/Brace like every other scatter ace. The evade could reroll that hit into a blank or crit! It could also do absolutely nothing, so when an <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/01/lock-s-foils-in-attack-position-mighty.html">X-wing</a> or <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/weapon-team-upgrades-best-defense-is.html">Flight Controllers</a> boosted <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/republic-squadrons-v19.html">V19</a> or <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-vulture.html">Vulture</a> or or or rolls "DECENTLY", that's a dead Skerris. He's fine, I guess? Maybe with like <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/01/imperial-squadron-review-tie-fighter.html">Valen</a> or whatever over Cienna, because you want to spend more points or something? Give me a legitimate reason to take him over Cienna for a delaying screen or a reason to put him in 134? I've seen people try him, but I haven't seen any Imperial players SUPER excited about him, especially because he doesn't do anything significantly different for the faction that they already had. Sorry you lost the squadron battle this Rapid Reinforcements, Impos.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhz6eSlD1bBK3vZlLt3aUa_DmbZQVi1Fmylj9DaOAIQGLJNzVmG2mBNlIlPAzl4jI8X7OH2pxv_UkH_9bwi0fPMGh7Dlskue6E6aEWytmzWc8joXcFQ83fNcbHz035AdCuUxCX7-S3dGj1pJqBZtBwuQnD8flooEO_FUiXC741AllX2EJvxf-XeXm3peQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="289" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhz6eSlD1bBK3vZlLt3aUa_DmbZQVi1Fmylj9DaOAIQGLJNzVmG2mBNlIlPAzl4jI8X7OH2pxv_UkH_9bwi0fPMGh7Dlskue6E6aEWytmzWc8joXcFQ83fNcbHz035AdCuUxCX7-S3dGj1pJqBZtBwuQnD8flooEO_FUiXC741AllX2EJvxf-XeXm3peQ=w445-h640" width="445" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ah yes, when he flew that squadron in the movie. You know, like he did. I haven't seen Clone Wars</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Wat Tambor! Belbullab! Can't take his <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-officers.html">officer</a>! What WILL CIS players do now? He's also the first (and currently ONLY) way to get Escort in the CIS. He also has Screen, which means those 3 <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-hyena-class.html">Hyenas</a> you're escorting are helping YOU by making me reroll attacks. That's also, like <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/ion-cannon-upgrades-she-blinded-me-with.html">PDIC</a>, an "always on" ability, even if your defense tokens are gone. Mathematically, screen should be reducing damage. IF my friend Justin was doing the math right (notice how i have pawned this off on him), Screen-3 after a 4 dice (no <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/12/toryn-farr-rebel-haiku.html">Toryn</a>, no <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/01/lock-s-foils-in-attack-position-mighty.html">Hera</a>, etc, just 4 blue dice) shot should result in 0 damage 31% of the time and only 1 damage 41% of the time; this is of course a lot of hinky math that (again) didn't assume your opponent has ways of modifying his die rolls. But hey, it's a great start!</p><p>Add on your defense tokens, and you can survive a lot longer than you would think. The Relay-1 is a nice topping on the cake; may I suggest pairing him with <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-droid-tri.html">Phlac-Arphocc Prototypes</a> to help "protect" your bombers? But you're taking him for the Escort and Screen. Wat is good in small screens too; him and a few <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-vulture.html">Vultures</a> can make a solid dent, especially when he leads the charge and acts as a swarm node for them all. The main obstacle to taking him as a squadron is that you can't take his <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-officers.html">officer</a> card, which means you CIS players are going to need to fill that chair. However, if you're going CIS134, he's your first squadron as you figure out the number of <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-hyena-class.html">Hyenas</a> to add after that.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpMUKApn9iMJD691jZNCwjNPu4AiTfFipl38pE8j3oPoE7i7UXke3WBxHiPpL0KF4uDG8R07Ge3dcCgI7wgA_0v_sVgUyztJkNc89ahUAeIEJ47XfLzhsCrb4goFMST4-tQ-tiDV1rFA6QLpiu8HxJ9_yYdLAMUix2Xu5vHRgUm5o0gycHTZ3FfflLlA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="291" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpMUKApn9iMJD691jZNCwjNPu4AiTfFipl38pE8j3oPoE7i7UXke3WBxHiPpL0KF4uDG8R07Ge3dcCgI7wgA_0v_sVgUyztJkNc89ahUAeIEJ47XfLzhsCrb4goFMST4-tQ-tiDV1rFA6QLpiu8HxJ9_yYdLAMUix2Xu5vHRgUm5o0gycHTZ3FfflLlA=w453-h640" width="453" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Probably appearing in the Thrawn movie, because who isn't at this point?</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Lastly, we have Fenn Rau. The Mandolorian! Well, not that one. The one who fought against the Empire! Again, not that one. His armor is blue! No, not her now. The one in Rebels!</p><p>Fenn has a few solid abilities going for him. First, Escort and speed 4. Pairs well with RR1 <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/01/lock-s-foils-in-attack-position-mighty.html">Hera and Biggs balls</a>. A lone Brace token isn't much, but with 7 health.... he also has Assault, which, again when paired with <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/01/lock-s-foils-in-attack-position-mighty.html">Hera</a> and maybe even <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/12/toryn-farr-rebel-haiku.html">Toryn</a>, can get that blue hit for a raid token, and then the black can be damage. Nice if you need it, great if you can figure out how applying it helps you win the game.</p><p>The main bits about BEING a Gauntlet fighter haven't changed from the <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2018/06/imperial-squadron-review-mandalorian.html">Imperial one or Gar Saxon</a>, but you have 2 things in faction they do not: <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/12/toryn-farr-rebel-haiku.html">Toryn Farr</a>, and <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/01/lock-s-foils-in-attack-position-mighty.html">Hera</a> in an X-wing. I can't stress enough how important they are to you doing ANYTHING with his stats; 2 blue and a red are really mediocre for 24 points, and even though <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2018/06/imperial-squadron-review-mandalorian.html">his anti-ship has an 87.5% chance of 1+ hits</a>.... I'd like higher, personally. I like Raid in Rebels, especially as you can hit someone with either a nav or an engineering mid-game and finish them off the next turn; Rebels excel at chipping into someone and not at one hit KOing them, so lean into that and make sure that you can finish them off next turn.</p><p>You're mainly taking him for his coolest ability, the long one that required like 3 FAQs. When he activates, immediately afterwards you can grab 2 generic friends at distance 1 and activate them as well, just as if the ship itself was activating them. Which means if <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/weapon-team-upgrades-best-defense-is.html">Flight Controllers</a> or <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/02/nebulon-bs-jousting-for-fun-and-profit.html">Yavaris</a> bombing for that second die against ships? The 2 generics can get that bonus as well, so long as Fenn was at D1 to activate them. Imagine a 5 squadron 5 <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/02/nebulon-bs-jousting-for-fun-and-profit.html">Yavaris</a> attack, or 6 squadrons with <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/weapon-team-upgrades-best-defense-is.html">Flight Controllers</a> (3 base from an <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/03/assault-frigate-generalist-space-potato.html">Assault Frigate</a> or <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2018/05/mc75.html">MC75</a>, a token for a 4th, and Fenn's friends for a 5th and 6th) rolling into some Imperial pilots. And not only was Fenn there, but <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/02/hwk-290s-and-jan-ors-intel-squadrons.html">Jan Ors</a>, <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/01/lock-s-foils-in-attack-position-mighty.html">Hera, and Biggs</a> decided they were all fighting the Empire today!</p><p>He also works if you use a token to only push him. Which means that the <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/lmc80-battle-cruise-crazy-just-be-glad.html">Liberty</a> title with a token pushes 2 squadrons, one of whom is Fenn, who pushes 2 on his own. One squadron token, 4 squads pushed. Now THAT'S efficient.</p><p>You're going to want to find ways of either rerolling his dice (the aforementioned <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/01/lock-s-foils-in-attack-position-mighty.html">Hera</a>/<a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/12/toryn-farr-rebel-haiku.html">Toryn</a>, who can work to improve a LOT of his output), especially as he doesn't have Bomber. In practice, he's going to be very likely seen with either 2 <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/02/scurrgs-space-manatees.html">Scurrg</a> generic bombers as extra muscle into your opponent's ship, or 2-3 generic <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/01/lock-s-foils-in-attack-position-mighty.html">X-wings as part of a Biggs/Hera</a>/<a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/02/hwk-290s-and-jan-ors-intel-squadrons.html">Jan Ors</a> ball. Because he's speed 4, don't outfly your coverage unless you need to (as a <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/06/know-your-enemycommanders-corner-jun.html">Sato</a> spotter, for example), because if you're not at D1, your friends don't get to activate and he's probably not worth 24 points then. Special mention, of course, to <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/06/rebel-officers.html">Rex</a>, to REALLY get him and Raid going.</p>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-67018303557815681752023-05-10T16:40:00.002-05:002023-05-10T16:59:08.873-05:00You Underestimate My Power!<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s a truism of Star Wars: you can never have too much Darth Vader. AMG has brought us another incarnation of the Chosen One with the release of Rapid Reinforcements 2. To distinguish him from the other versions of Anakin, you’ll see this version referred to as “Commandakin” by the Armada community at large, including by yours truly. This is a print and play expansion, so if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can find the release on AMG’s website or through </span><a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ce432b1f9d2be000134d8ae/t/6440126f3d7c6d6ef36b1391/1681920631235/SWM_RapidReinforcements_02.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">this direct link</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Try not to let your jaw drop too much when you start reading this card…</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Card!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXxQUIxCJQyPQf7tiVxwWYbSQ0o8ihmqeu2bqXEqOed3Fwg_OuHBO-LGjX5bNN-jAe_Rwo80KmvenUzGpyVePPLTmQEBTaVAbj1x1igEGZNWiy8q167ehCnzZTNfdPV-ydP9tFaYCS1_-lavtogVXeuid1BfFYxT8f1WK-sK_ya0eR1sO768wzCiYY9w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="224" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXxQUIxCJQyPQf7tiVxwWYbSQ0o8ihmqeu2bqXEqOed3Fwg_OuHBO-LGjX5bNN-jAe_Rwo80KmvenUzGpyVePPLTmQEBTaVAbj1x1igEGZNWiy8q167ehCnzZTNfdPV-ydP9tFaYCS1_-lavtogVXeuid1BfFYxT8f1WK-sK_ya0eR1sO768wzCiYY9w=w451-h640" width="451" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Ani heard you like Salvos</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s important to recognize this card has two abilities rather than just one. The first paragraph just straight up buffs all of your salvos. This is completely independent of the second paragraph, so don’t let anyone tell you it only happens during the second paragraph’s special attack. That, right off the bat, makes Anakin pretty decent. GAR already depends heavily on salvo for its ship-based firepower, which Anakin makes even better. A Venator under Anakin gets to roll up to four dice for its salvo outright. Before we even get into the second part of his ability, Anakin makes your salvo outright better.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The second paragraph was the most confusing upon release, as it does some things that we’ve never been able to do in Armada before. There's two ways you can use this. First, and most obvious, use allows you to resolve your salvos offensively rather than just defensively. Gone are the days of relying on an opponent to shoot you in order to do a good chunk of your damage potential. After one of your ships attack, you can spend a salvo token to make a salvo. All the normal rules of salvo apply, so a ship can’t salvo you back after this attack. AMG has clarified that this Salvo attack uses the same arcs and line of sight as the first attack. And yes, this does mean that Anakin’s ships get to effectively attack three times during their own activation. You can attack, use Anakin’s ability to attack that same target again with a salvo, and then use a second arc to conduct another attack. You can also attack, attack, and the salvo if that’s your preference. Force help anyone you’ve managed to double arc with a Venator. They’re in for a bad time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The second way to use this part of his ability, which might be less obvious at first glance, is what we call the "double salvo". You know what a salvo attack is? An attack. “Once per activation” includes </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">enemy</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> activations, not just your own. That means that after you resolve a salvo </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">attack</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> during an </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">enemy </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ship's activation, you can spend </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">another</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> salvo to do it again. AMG clarified that it's indeed a whole separate attack, so you could tap a second salvo on your ship or even discard the salvo you just spent. This part of his ability is…controversial to put it politely. At risk of editorializing in a how-to guide, we here at CGYSO really don't like how punishing this is for small ships, such as Hammerheads, consulars, or other small ships that rely on double arcs and finesse to survive. This version of Anakin is very strong against those types of ships, while not helping Anakin at all against things that counter him, such as ignition attacks (which cannot be salvo'd). AMG, if you're listening, I like the design idea, but this part of the ability is too much. I'd love to see the wording here changed to "Once per a friendly ship's activation…" It makes for a strong commander, with a unique ability, but doesn't overly punish small ships.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why Play Him!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqV27r0HDFkX2VwoT2RlJqHXHgen513zYqFdWXYGYcZMDgUCTfPbHTjhzXcMpGKihJe5oZgWnRrfS674Qt4xT9o2ggg9OD2F4DfJyBIyT0ISBG9g9Xvn3JaAI1hMwfOhq1110JhzrS3CT8CQ_3Ub3hwx2rs_Q5EypVplv55m-iefq0KXe5IRGggLxN6Q" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="1920" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqV27r0HDFkX2VwoT2RlJqHXHgen513zYqFdWXYGYcZMDgUCTfPbHTjhzXcMpGKihJe5oZgWnRrfS674Qt4xT9o2ggg9OD2F4DfJyBIyT0ISBG9g9Xvn3JaAI1hMwfOhq1110JhzrS3CT8CQ_3Ub3hwx2rs_Q5EypVplv55m-iefq0KXe5IRGggLxN6Q=w400-h198" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">They're definitely related</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anakin does what most versions of him do: better living through offense. If you want to play a more aggressive, ship-heavy style with GAR, Anakin is your guy. I like to say he’s essentially “free double arcs” because his salvos often match or exceed the side arc of the GAR ships he likes to use. I think AMG also did a great job of tying this to the salvo token. By doing so, they allow for some interactions that reflect Anakin overreaching and getting himself into trouble. For example, you really *really* don’t want to get yourself caught by a ship packing Boarding Troopers. While that’s dangerous for anyone, stripping away key defense tokens like your brace, it’s especially nasty for Anakin because you’re also losing uses of major offensive firepower. If you enjoy playing aggressive to the point of recklessness, Commandakin is your guy.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ships!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhLcMAlT1zUAwCWqn32FQRigqFYS6LU8LOoGztb30IiE07HTXOe3mwzEqM5_M9af3htT0liOGynwaNZsSjP8pPu1O8mYIh8Ze3YBA9ePCG99who7jSYC_fqVhxWk6CpB3OungtvmZ12T_1O7TxfDy_RF_EhwS80uMWd7gZ018UyRruGRRhSGtAjLFNJg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="1024" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhLcMAlT1zUAwCWqn32FQRigqFYS6LU8LOoGztb30IiE07HTXOe3mwzEqM5_M9af3htT0liOGynwaNZsSjP8pPu1O8mYIh8Ze3YBA9ePCG99who7jSYC_fqVhxWk6CpB3OungtvmZ12T_1O7TxfDy_RF_EhwS80uMWd7gZ018UyRruGRRhSGtAjLFNJg=w640-h306" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">When you see Anakin, your mind probably goes straight to a Venator. It is easily the most natural fit for an Anakin fleet. It has the slots to take both Flak Guns and DBY-827 Heavy Turbolasers. This combination gives the Venator four salvo dice at medium range with Anakin and guarantees at least one critical. At medium and closer, that equates to two damage with a black die. Anakin and SPHA-T make an interesting combination for GAR. SPHA-T, as an ignition attack, doesn’t allow a defender to salvo. Since Anakin’s offensive salvo is still…you know…a salvo, it too doesn’t allow a defender to Salvo. If you’re dealing with a salvo monster on the other side of the board (looking at your Mr. Starhawk), Anakin and SPHA-T is a pretty interesting way to crack that can open. It also creates a rather hilarious paradigm where Anakin is his own best counter. I think there could also be room for cheap Acclamators looking to use their salvos offensively. An Acclamators 2 with Thermal Shields, External Racks, and Ordnance Experts is only 84 points. With a close range double arc, it can throw six dice out the front, five dice out the side (with the Racks), and follow it up with three more dice from its salvo. Peltas with Reactive Gunnery are also a solid option. Three reds are nothing to laugh at.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fleet!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0oWoB4aRJtnx8bsGWwtcRVf5UuXrZcPHy7mIaGTzDGtOrVm3IgfYLt6hccWXBJQOPksrOojsPX6A-jca6wPrpvUSgMyUASIOw26FaTtlXmTBOJlO4MEAwGhuCn_TlWNQKe2js93mnHIt8G8QF0su6oKkTTfdE8vK8pdrjhzKEN_HfvNZVFAT7WFuyCg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="340" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0oWoB4aRJtnx8bsGWwtcRVf5UuXrZcPHy7mIaGTzDGtOrVm3IgfYLt6hccWXBJQOPksrOojsPX6A-jca6wPrpvUSgMyUASIOw26FaTtlXmTBOJlO4MEAwGhuCn_TlWNQKe2js93mnHIt8G8QF0su6oKkTTfdE8vK8pdrjhzKEN_HfvNZVFAT7WFuyCg" width="197" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unless Anakin loses the double salvo, the obvious thing to do with him is to start with two Venators and then build a support structure around that. I'm always loath to go without squad cover as GAR, so you'll need to navigate some list building tension between maximizing Anakin while covering yourself against potential weak points. Here's one possibility:</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don't Stop Me Now v2 (89/400/400)</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-831d6373-7fff-c0b7-082e-4168be28a629"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=================================</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Venator II-class Star Destroyer (100 + 47: 147)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Anakin Skywalker (29)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Skilled First Officer (1)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Local Fire Control (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Flak Guns (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Electronic Countermeasures (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· DBY-827 Heavy Turbolasers (3)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Venator I-class Star Destroyer (90 + 20: 110)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Skilled First Officer (1)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Local Fire Control (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Intensify Firepower! (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Flak Guns (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· DBY-827 Heavy Turbolasers (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Tranquility (3)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pelta-class Transport Frigate (45 + 9: 54)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Munitions Resupply (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Projection Experts (6)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 x ARC-170 Starfighter Squadron (5 x 15)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Matchstick (14)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blockade Run</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Contested Outpost</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Doomed Station</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">The strategy here is pretty straightforward. Venators do the bulk of the fighting, blasting away with salvos. The ARCs follow along and behind, looking to either cover the Vens or finish off any ship lucky enough to get past. Matchstick allows the ARCs to operate independently of the Vens as needed, freeing up the Vens to Nav or Repair. Be sure to lead as best you can with the Ven 2, as even with Tranquility, PE support, and squad commands, the Ven 1 is liable to go down quickly. Still, I love Intensify Firepower, as it stabilizes your normal attacks and makes your Anakin salvo ridiculously dependable in combination with DBYs. You can all but guarantee five damage from your salvos at medium range, with the occasional spike even higher. Just be warned, you’re probably not going to be winning many friends if you bring this to a casual game night. Anakin is looking extremely strong at the time of writing, so we recommend giving opponents a heads up before you become “that guy.”</span></span></div></span>Truthinesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07570269864109016330noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-13174763408770867052023-05-04T20:16:00.002-05:002023-05-04T20:16:35.953-05:00Rapid Reinforcements 2 Announcement Post!<p>Alright, we finally have enough rulings that I can start getting these articles out. Almost everything has been clarified and these sure.... are cards, alright. I'm working on getting all these out for people and may even have some help soon writing them up, but we'll see how those all get out soon enough. I have..... many feelings about these cards, and the FAQs that arrived today. I will try not to let them color my judgment too much as the site exists to advise people how to play these cards; I will use those rulings to help write the articles, though!</p><p>Expect the first ghost when the clock strikes onnnnnnnne! Or uh, I mean, article, uh, soon</p>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-91089427265480865512023-04-26T20:02:00.003-05:002023-04-26T20:02:10.235-05:00<span id="docs-internal-guid-cbba0de6-7fff-ad4d-760d-bea8ae10aa2a"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiaATy_OrsudvnD-qUZcBR_hy1_5cfoCtHc6ZWMfg2w5TXCja2MsWATg_wHtBnsJQcke5GkeFohGS0GEoaEwe42dXGlu2E4CvO9LywXqibwOTz3LZRdbL6V5maIOQNeRsuLRDtEAbL9EWLyPQgXvgnRW36r5ixVkTGv3atejZktueYgMQ179u1f37EvJA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiaATy_OrsudvnD-qUZcBR_hy1_5cfoCtHc6ZWMfg2w5TXCja2MsWATg_wHtBnsJQcke5GkeFohGS0GEoaEwe42dXGlu2E4CvO9LywXqibwOTz3LZRdbL6V5maIOQNeRsuLRDtEAbL9EWLyPQgXvgnRW36r5ixVkTGv3atejZktueYgMQ179u1f37EvJA=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><b><br /></b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Bonjour mon amis! I'm here (again) with Elred's article, as the first time it didn't seem to take and I was having trouble wit the pictures. So, let's let Nicolas take it away for trial number 2!</span></span><p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Worlds recap: how to steal a fleet and crash</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hello there,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m Elred, a not-that-experienced armada player from France who somehow managed to grab an invite at our local World Qualifier in Lyon last fall. I’m writing this recap because I’ve always been a big fan of this blog (it’s actually the reason I started playing Armada) so it’s a great honor to be able to actually write something for it ! Let’s hope it’s not too stupid…</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So for Worlds I was planning to come with Ryan’s SSD/Onager fleet, as I took a big interest in it a few months ago, and started bringing it locally (it was my fleet for French WQ) and fiddling around upgrades and discussing with Ryan about it. I did okay at French WQ, I managed to win a small 12-players tournament in Paris. Then I played the fleet in the Vassal World Cup as a final prep for Worlds, made it out of pod and… Swiss phase kinda turned me off it. I noticed there was too many options for an experienced opponent to negate the strength of the fleets and not play along my plans. And experienced opponents were going to be all I would face at Worlds…</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I reasoned to change my list at the almost-last minute, and go back to what I played at Italy WQ in September (and almost made cut with): Zeran’s triple recusant fleet ! We have a funny rivalry about building lists for starwars games (going back to X-Wing) and he was part of the French squad for Worlds, planning to play his signature list, so even if I crashed it was still going to be a very funny experience.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So here’s the list:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Name: Zeraneries</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Faction: Separatist</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Commander: Mar Tuuk</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recusant Light Destroyer (85)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Tikkes (2)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• XI7 Turbolasers (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Patriot Fist (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 99 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recusant Light Destroyer (85)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Intel Officer (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• XI7 Turbolasers (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 98 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recusant Light Destroyer (85)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Intel Officer (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• XI7 Turbolasers (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 98 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hardcell Transport (47)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Mar Tuuk (28)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Munitions Resupply (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 78 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gozanti Cruisers (27)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 27 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Squadrons:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 0 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total Points: 400</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And just so he doesn’t murder me in my sleep. It’s ZeRan’s list. Golven’s. There I said it :D Context for those who don’t know, this fleet has been shaking up the French meta for the last year and a half or so, ever since CIS goz released. It is a very extreme fleet, and Golven is very good at it, so when he started winning events with it, it caught some experienced players unawares while CIS was still a very unknown faction at the time.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As you can imagine, the gist of it is burying the opponent in red dice while telling them the brace will only work once, and they can only redirect 1. The fleet strategy is pretty simple, aim for a full table against all fleets that don’t have Corvus or rogues. At least one Recusant will die in the process, but it’s okay. The actual goal is to limit the losses after that (usually by killing everything). </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsJEBcmII60-c5vtdlvnHSsl2RD9Pjgc_3v1my2d845gSaxMr3wnmgrljuCTFv2WlgsvhpOjoOtEPHhmW-NSXM9xR97D-xmwslJjva3Jr4e4kkUoI-7KOKkDBj3fQQqB7sUNbLaau0bks3n9Utu9jX9L6DuqEtl2t3QpfrLlWmSonYnOx1iwYUjMxqRA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsJEBcmII60-c5vtdlvnHSsl2RD9Pjgc_3v1my2d845gSaxMr3wnmgrljuCTFv2WlgsvhpOjoOtEPHhmW-NSXM9xR97D-xmwslJjva3Jr4e4kkUoI-7KOKkDBj3fQQqB7sUNbLaau0bks3n9Utu9jX9L6DuqEtl2t3QpfrLlWmSonYnOx1iwYUjMxqRA=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The fleet can take down pretty much any ship in the game (save an SSD) extremely fast, and unlike some other ships, the Recusant can turn around and stay in the fight in round 5 and 6, so once battle is started you don’t really have a way out unless you start killing recusants fast yourself. It is pretty barebones for dice mods, but it does the job very well regardless, as Mar Tuuk + generous arcs will have you roll SO. MANY. DICE. At some point there will be damage, and it will drill through hull very fast. Even in such a build, PF still has about 55% of outright oneshotting flotillas at long-range, which can cause serious activation issue to the opponent as 5 activations is already a lot (with 2 of them being pseudo-pass-tokens).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the same time, there are fleets out there that cause incredible issues to this fleet, and they are quite prevalent nowadays: rogue fleets, mainly, as these Recusants are pretty much harmless to squadrons. But matchup-dodging is a skill, right?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyways ! This is what happened at Worlds for me:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Round 1 against Jack Otto</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jack was running a Gunnery Team ISD2, an Interdictor, Demolisher and a Gozanti. He chose to go first, we played on my Contested Outpost and he grabbed it through Grav Shift.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuKlwWRX8XWDZqGYfQL-xM7R3h62q_w4SuUhP_hiedhDxdJv6lFIpLVXVWmyZvktu1I6eFwzfe9ytJ8afKHdWTZfXshdzc10cCk43zbBrbvJdEkaoEO0Z9vRXp55rDuMrC4B7ja3UrAaqxgKmfX2Eo5vlXQFj3Y1kjGeXKm_GZ43T0YM8f92DGRTZMTw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuKlwWRX8XWDZqGYfQL-xM7R3h62q_w4SuUhP_hiedhDxdJv6lFIpLVXVWmyZvktu1I6eFwzfe9ytJ8afKHdWTZfXshdzc10cCk43zbBrbvJdEkaoEO0Z9vRXp55rDuMrC4B7ja3UrAaqxgKmfX2Eo5vlXQFj3Y1kjGeXKm_GZ43T0YM8f92DGRTZMTw=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a first game, the matchup wasn’t too bad, as all of these ships will definitely not enjoy the xi7 IO combination. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In turn 2, Demolisher made a quick pass to try to hit the right recusant as hard as it could, and then died to PF shot in the butt.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9vJvNLAOPrS_cAbY7mI52W6ycIpOdorY9qlMoER-vllT6FCeGADlWsI_25AgJkURt9CBTy7n3idNWbcimHQ0fSFTimQ2ns5Qo-RwQmkxL_7EF2W05xakz4LLCEbNoy4UeFbXQ81plfaS-wIXIfMkyPzvrnX3l3zIgzkcEzdK6DS5Sep11pbFgotTd7g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9vJvNLAOPrS_cAbY7mI52W6ycIpOdorY9qlMoER-vllT6FCeGADlWsI_25AgJkURt9CBTy7n3idNWbcimHQ0fSFTimQ2ns5Qo-RwQmkxL_7EF2W05xakz4LLCEbNoy4UeFbXQ81plfaS-wIXIfMkyPzvrnX3l3zIgzkcEzdK6DS5Sep11pbFgotTd7g=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My fleet moved up to the interdictor next and chewed it up terrifyingly fast (I got quite lucky with some clutch accuracies), </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Initially, I wasn’t quite sure I could take down the ISD too for a full table, as I knew I was going to lose a Recusant by the time Demolisher and Interdictor died, but it became a very, very tangible prospect by the end of turn 3. And indeed, the ISD got taken down turn 4 to the massive xi7 red dice damage from long range. My Gozanti and Hardcell fell prey to the ISD’s gunnery teams as the 2 remaining recusants were tearing it apart, which combined with Jack’s early grab of the station brings the final score to an 8-3 in my favor.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which was a very good start for Worlds day 1 ! My first objective of not getting completely beat up was already achieved.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Round 2 against Robert Coldwell</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Robert (InRobWeTrust on discord) was playing a similar fleet to mine, though slightly more standard I would say. 2 Munis, PF Rec with swivels APTs, and a hardball BoB. It could be a good matchup that had the potential to snowball in my favor very fast, depending on if I was letting enough time for the Projection Experts to go to work. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlMPcj9XGaJL3cCOw4J9cRbkbvshxFWRUnCk6nMq1QIIKgr7Cg39T0C6vQg_jejt38SHIGKy6b5VZffYHO61IOOHZpV45b03tSClR146iPTma9k84UXCMawbcBlzIyIOt8FoeVFVJqwzFYYnz3DcfCveFx8-eMEPeApyKupXThwO-c5wa5Rh_bfQEnAg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlMPcj9XGaJL3cCOw4J9cRbkbvshxFWRUnCk6nMq1QIIKgr7Cg39T0C6vQg_jejt38SHIGKy6b5VZffYHO61IOOHZpV45b03tSClR146iPTma9k84UXCMawbcBlzIyIOt8FoeVFVJqwzFYYnz3DcfCveFx8-eMEPeApyKupXThwO-c5wa5Rh_bfQEnAg=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was able to set up my PF on a flank so it would sweep around a Muni, BoB, and stay in a safe place to keep contributing.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But in any case, it was going to be a bloodbath, and a bloodbath it was. We played on my Contested Outpost again, though this time it was less contested. At the same time, there was so much damage coming from both sides that we basically annihilated each other. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnom03olXNP32x9VDhaJTsnbX9p9vlywh_ISzyXhB8OJRhR5WYv1sHEvtLe85BszdICTiPAhIWVeOpppVymBrkgPc_bm6RPwgvShK5XAKAPyFmy1ORkdgD-ud49oBvzhKtNuk8aCAlcbcOn8s6TlrPFtPUssy8Vj2VwQt7EeqkWEi2ubLAIcyXPyc-gQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnom03olXNP32x9VDhaJTsnbX9p9vlywh_ISzyXhB8OJRhR5WYv1sHEvtLe85BszdICTiPAhIWVeOpppVymBrkgPc_bm6RPwgvShK5XAKAPyFmy1ORkdgD-ud49oBvzhKtNuk8aCAlcbcOn8s6TlrPFtPUssy8Vj2VwQt7EeqkWEi2ubLAIcyXPyc-gQ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There were a lot of dice events in this game (some double damage rec salvo, a comms noise Muni at speed 0 not dying from a PF shot, etc), but it was a very fun one. In the end, it came down to my PF against his PF by the end of round 6.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everything else was dead, and it was ironic because I’m a big lover of lean, max-efficiency PF and the score was such because Rob was running the fat PF. We end on a 6-5 to Rob with 15pt MoV</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Round 3 against Adam Newton aka “AngryEwok”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So the fun fact going into this game was that I didn't know that Adam was AngryEwok. I could tell very quickly that he was very experienced though, and that I had a tough game ahead of me.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He was running Ackbar on a AMFk2, 2 CR90s, 2 GRs and a few rogues, though nothing really frightening at first glance.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Adam gave me first player, and I took some time to ponder whether I would be worse off with Intel Sweep or Advanced Gunnery. Now I know, taking Ackbar’s AG is bad, really bad. But maybe my AG recusant could be able to come at such an angle I would be able to AG 2 arcs on the same ship for a pretty much guaranteed kill? In the end, I decided to take the chance with AG, which was the biggest mistake I made on the day.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You see, I had failed to actually count my opponent’s deployments. And as it happened, he had 4 deployments before putting down any combat ships, i.e. my actual targets. Which means, as I was first, he would put every important piece of his for the matchup AFTER I put down my entire list. I notice this as we start setting up the AG and I already understand the mess I’m in. I’m not going to be able to set up PF to kill a CR90 fast to give me some breathing room on incoming damage from his AG potato. So I set up centrally and understandably he set up a gunline that can skirt around my long range and wait for me to come in before getting out.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEge7E23fQi0-MLVyktmnCHa_PuVgiJ9DWD3I4jYZqAlnhTt14kQh7Bk0AvnfleJForyzsymWYYYwU0uwAJOOZGzYhD3CHoDdBZ5VeEufPNI-2wTWy20iJYl7T-PKWIC697FzjZd6v6sL1cfUZq7Z5Y8D7h9SoMDyjUEAsi-ozheb25CXyjq8UDCpmExbw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEge7E23fQi0-MLVyktmnCHa_PuVgiJ9DWD3I4jYZqAlnhTt14kQh7Bk0AvnfleJForyzsymWYYYwU0uwAJOOZGzYhD3CHoDdBZ5VeEufPNI-2wTWy20iJYl7T-PKWIC697FzjZd6v6sL1cfUZq7Z5Y8D7h9SoMDyjUEAsi-ozheb25CXyjq8UDCpmExbw=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe I should have disengaged immediately but I reckoned I couldn’t prevent him from catching a recusant for at least a 4-7 anyway, and decided to see what I could do. Which turned out to be not much. I had to slow one rec down at speed 0 so it wouldn’t be instantly eaten and stay out of range so the other would come in. A single activation from the potato put 3 cards into another. The rogues, though not overwhelming, were very helpful to kill it fast. In the end, I tried to cut my losses seeing how there was nothing I could do, but not before losing 2 recs, including the AG one, for a 9-2 in his favor, having scored 0pts.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I learned the hard lesson of not to take Ackbar’s AG, and most importantly, COUNT THE DAMN DEPLOYMENTS. What happened there is just not the kind of stuff you can do in such a competition if you want to do remotely well.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also I must say, despite the schooling I received, it was a very enjoyable game, Adam was a very nice player and I really appreciated playing him :)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Round 4 against Robin Keats</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So now I’m at 15pts and I pretty much know my only shot at day 2 is a 10-1, and (supposedly) so does my opponent. I’m up against an Agate HMC80, IF Pelta, 2 CR90s, a GR75 and Tycho/Shara. It’s a matchup I know I can handle, so I’m thinking maybe I can make it out.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Robin makes me go first, and I see he has Abandoned Mining Facility and Ion Storm (I don’t remember the blue but it was bad). My reasoning was, Ion Storm will have him make a line of obstacles and go speed 2 to get to cover. I can catch him fast and hard to overwhelm a few of his ships quickly, it could work out okay. AMF would let him farm the points while I close in, I’m not a fan and don’t take it.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that’s the second big mistake of the day! I hadn’t accounted for the fact he was going to farm points like crazy on my ships. Overall, the game worked out like I thought it would (Robin made an L with rocks rather than a line), but we traded more evenly than I hoped. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiprBf-bi3tz8Oqfj36_TOnKHYWuhdevD9zoequhUEzHL9xTfyI_7Yj1eXFus_aKc3iZkVDH2IWax4kHEP7r10tBWMAX-MndB5eY6DTWH75XtzlxFpyyjmRkuTtn-wkRUNwAT1Z14ocJfntwTsndYjTY-0el_ypxl2tseNazkWDqnvusjkQ4vfpE0vLVg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiprBf-bi3tz8Oqfj36_TOnKHYWuhdevD9zoequhUEzHL9xTfyI_7Yj1eXFus_aKc3iZkVDH2IWax4kHEP7r10tBWMAX-MndB5eY6DTWH75XtzlxFpyyjmRkuTtn-wkRUNwAT1Z14ocJfntwTsndYjTY-0el_ypxl2tseNazkWDqnvusjkQ4vfpE0vLVg=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 9pt;">I had to spend one more shot than I wanted into the Pelta, and the Agate HMC80 took quite a longer time to take out than I thought it would. All in all it added up and by the time Agate was gone, I had lost all 3 recusants. In the last round, it was his CR90 vs my Hardcell, with the GR75 and the squads still alive. My hardcall shot his last 3-dice shot (2 reds + CF) of the game against the damaged cr90… for 3 blanks ! And that was it, betrayed at the end by the fact I didn’t bring much dice mod. Ironic !</span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Robin had farmed 120pts off my recusants through the ion storm crit (which caused all sort of trouble by the way by making me lose nav and CF tokens), which means he took the victory 8-3, 442 to 283.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As he kindly explained to me after the game, I should definitely have taken AMF. That was a mind-blowing discussion for me and I’ll remember it as a proof of how much I still am very much a newbie at this game. I had pretty much instantly dismissed AMF due to his 5 ships being able to farm on it easily. But the truth is, at least on AMF, I could match some of his farming while my recusants closed in, while Ion Storm was letting him farm *me* and cause me all sorts of extra damage and token discards. It made so much sense, except I wasn’t able to see it at game start.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Robin was also very kind, just like all my previous opponent, but I want to specifically mention it here, because we were fighting for day 2 on a big win (he missed it by 1pt as a result on our game) and that game was one the smoothest, most sportsmanlike game I’ve ever played considering the stakes.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Conclusion:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the end, I finished 65th. Which, while a bit disappointing after a good start, was to be expected. I didn’t practice the fleet as much as I should have (for lack of time), and I learned that I still have so much more to learn still, especially about playing first, playing out a game in my head at objective selection and not making dumb mistakes as a result.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Worlds was still a great, great experience for me. Meeting everybody was a blast, finally putting faces on discord names, and seeing what top-level Armada looks like was very interesting to me. Of course, I’ve said it a few times already, but all my opponents were super nice, and I really enjoyed the tournament, despite the ladder crash.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also we were 12 French players total over X-Wing and Armada this year, it was the first time so many of us could come, and we’re all very hyped for next time.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-l4cbc9AIIqnup3IDKgB-STu3Cpr0NlMlYt0Bg5pi1eLM9_DMnt2XOAlSRcWTi97hLdGu_8Ym9W4catTDrSZ777UWfdq63ZQ7f6Fr8vKfWWhFXENeoKB4p46-wVxglrZTQHj013G2UVOvDpm3HLXrvr-p_kWtM81GsVoAv7H3bjDDArvwGdsfyJfFYg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="6944" data-original-width="9280" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-l4cbc9AIIqnup3IDKgB-STu3Cpr0NlMlYt0Bg5pi1eLM9_DMnt2XOAlSRcWTi97hLdGu_8Ym9W4catTDrSZ777UWfdq63ZQ7f6Fr8vKfWWhFXENeoKB4p46-wVxglrZTQHj013G2UVOvDpm3HLXrvr-p_kWtM81GsVoAv7H3bjDDArvwGdsfyJfFYg=w640-h478" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(I’m the second guy from the right)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For what it’s worth, Golven (second guy from the left) finished 29, only missing the cut by taking a 10-1 loss in round 4 against RealVeers, running possibly the worst matchup imaginable for our fleet. Matchup-dodging is a skill, as I said :D</span></p>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-5950201094594912812023-04-25T21:45:00.001-05:002023-04-25T21:45:24.217-05:00Xantos part 2!<p><span style="color: #2b00fe;">And in the interest of getting off my butt and finally posting both of these (to which I again thank Xantos and Elred for their patience), let's get Xantos's Worlds experience out as well.</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgACqmYHlgqNK6rfZ2_uTi0KWYBEmBy8SuSrS_xdhKFnPgrPkUvFjxP5HK-4p6JU9lFlLhPMCZsCi4xkcUjB169o6Em1sFLQ5Pbr4jp82kbFOfN6461ovd5qfBP1eIdWDisqxDDHHukdscSiuWBRL0NXhajiEYf2rSL-BFUcLaAlIMQyKMGR7JNbfJdgg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="624" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgACqmYHlgqNK6rfZ2_uTi0KWYBEmBy8SuSrS_xdhKFnPgrPkUvFjxP5HK-4p6JU9lFlLhPMCZsCi4xkcUjB169o6Em1sFLQ5Pbr4jp82kbFOfN6461ovd5qfBP1eIdWDisqxDDHHukdscSiuWBRL0NXhajiEYf2rSL-BFUcLaAlIMQyKMGR7JNbfJdgg=w640-h336" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Full credit, this was Damon's joke, I'm just stealing it for the header</span></td></tr></tbody></table></p><span><a name='more'></a></span>I have returned! Back by popular(ish) demand, I have returned to do a write-up of my games in the actual World Championships, or as everyone else called it, day 1. I don’t remember as much about my games beyond the LCQ, so this recap is gonna cover all of my games (keep reading to find out how many!) and be a bit shorter than the previous one. You’re welcome! <br /><br />Anyways, preamble blah blah, it’s the World Championships! After getting second place in the LCQ on Thursday, I was graciously allowed to participate in the actual tournament, filled with 79 of the greatest players in the world. Talk about competition! And for some reason, I was still flying Dooku, who was in a 5-way tie for the second-best Separatist Admiral. <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2023/04/armada-worlds-2023-lcq-recap-xantos1159.html">See my previous post</a> to hear about the list and all its fun shenanigans, or don’t and just keep reading! I can’t tell you what to do. Onto the games!<br /><br />My first match was against Mariano Banchero, flying a Screed list with an interdictor, Onager, and some Gozantis. I chose second, and he picked my ion storm. He had grav shift reroute on the Dictor, so I dropped all the rocks in a line as close to my side as possible, and spread out so he could only move two of them. He deployed across from a couple rocks in the middle of the board, and pulled two of them closer to his side to try and lose his objective tokens. I don’t really remember how I deployed, but I remember thinking I just had to kill the Onager and trap the interdictor with my muni, and I could easily table the list.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-hNZnyKQcmqUFcOyUDEOOn_ShBEHpNPUXwKtHVnj6wHLVv4TL4gM-_A_nl9M9SiIdup6KazLN_O6BxsbUuFzCiuXXpUiNFxkbiIEwJAcpXGyzdKPLvQpnkysdKf8eZKiuoNOzlX5ykOVjeKcUq1m9gDM1thsTXIjOyoYaGZ-ScmgNGxwLp7D9fIrFFw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="892" height="547" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-hNZnyKQcmqUFcOyUDEOOn_ShBEHpNPUXwKtHVnj6wHLVv4TL4gM-_A_nl9M9SiIdup6KazLN_O6BxsbUuFzCiuXXpUiNFxkbiIEwJAcpXGyzdKPLvQpnkysdKf8eZKiuoNOzlX5ykOVjeKcUq1m9gDM1thsTXIjOyoYaGZ-ScmgNGxwLp7D9fIrFFw=w640-h547" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">Whose legs are in the background? </span><span style="text-align: start;">The world may never know…</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />While I didn’t end up trapping the interdictor (he also avoided my tanky flagship), I was able to trade the recusant for his Onager and a bunch of extra goodness to end up with a strong win, 311-138 (8-3).<br /><br />Game two was against Thomas Hougaard flying a Sloaneager. I again picked second, and he surprisingly picked my Abandoned Mining Facility. I figured I could farm a bunch of tokens on rounds 1 and 2 while denying his points, and then kill some of his ships/squads in the remaining rounds. While I did end up getting 120 points from the objective, he used his deployment advantage to run the quasar far away from my ships, and let the Onager hammer my Hardcells.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjeren6HlpKhIzS20CFumIh5TGGbme3zDf7pDR4QxurssrsIb8OhBMngf4HmvhYvQKXn0If8VtbcoOzSYEf82UZ9XxZvMLfgBWH6o2rTEQVoqbGpQW9QVUN-Tv4_i5Wg3_iDWHSA_01Kkd3B3eHcwyVcen-ekb4KCpLv4soWHFCAFCQ4vvLl3gljNS-pw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="505" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjeren6HlpKhIzS20CFumIh5TGGbme3zDf7pDR4QxurssrsIb8OhBMngf4HmvhYvQKXn0If8VtbcoOzSYEf82UZ9XxZvMLfgBWH6o2rTEQVoqbGpQW9QVUN-Tv4_i5Wg3_iDWHSA_01Kkd3B3eHcwyVcen-ekb4KCpLv4soWHFCAFCQ4vvLl3gljNS-pw=w640-h486" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">Hmm, this doesn’t </span><span style="text-align: start;">look good…</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />While the Quasar ran and sent Maarek-and-friends to do Maarek-and-friends things, the Onager and my fleet met in the middle of the board. I lost slicer Hardcell early to slow down his squads, and then some other armada stuff happened (sorry, don’t really remember this game), and it came down to my PF taking a couple of solid shots at the Onager to try and kill it. Unfortunately for me, his Onager had Tua and ECM, and was just able to survive and slip past my ships. His squads cleaned up more of my ships, and he walked away without losing anything, 280-120 (8-3). This put me at 11 TP, averaging 5.5 points a round, and plopping me right into the middle of the standings. You know what that means…<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0bPwInDLfANJDxknxa0pOKdLiYEklB8msivNzYQHEIL0qDAATwYIcsRSg1f6avQMksjfwr4XeqyUksf-nosa2ZMfCQAzwXZuX0t2-ZIALF854lJXtxRyR14-UFo4PkOY1UVGY3FMmvAESGsRISUEBx7jwG1Qkmjc-BacYsTBIYonDw6d2HQ3CMrCUZQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1173" data-original-width="1563" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0bPwInDLfANJDxknxa0pOKdLiYEklB8msivNzYQHEIL0qDAATwYIcsRSg1f6avQMksjfwr4XeqyUksf-nosa2ZMfCQAzwXZuX0t2-ZIALF854lJXtxRyR14-UFo4PkOY1UVGY3FMmvAESGsRISUEBx7jwG1Qkmjc-BacYsTBIYonDw6d2HQ3CMrCUZQ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">I’m not trapped in </span><span style="text-align: start;">here with you, you’re trapped in here with me!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />My round three matchup was another Sloane list, this time flown by Samuel Wang, and featuring an ISD instead of an Onager. Since my last match went so well, I decided to change things up a bit and picked first. I was hoping to trap his ISD and prevent it from escaping like the previous Onager had, and maybe get an extra activation from my recusant before Maarek bombed it to death. I picked his asteroid tactics, and dropped my ships spread out in the middle of the board, with the slicer Hardcell on one side, and Patriot Fist on the other. He chose to sent the quasar towards the recusant, and the ISD through my ships, banking on his squads to help clear a path. Because of my first player activations, I was able to steer the recusant clear of his ISD while still pummeling it with shots, and the ISD ended up turning to face the rest of my ships.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOl6KS3mhf2oJeLirAXa_k4R6tXQSBDseXS_GKkLYfWykEHn1v4tMTK7mmQV64rVqsOfnRERgSqYreqVCvVCdcxBgoAyUV9YW_AMgF-G9RlZR0AjourNzK1GBNytP9W3q8ePLsFfBgOTO0y4ukQFiKo1giByXIzclOlr5qhQvTpAuyhDJff6W0NuDMog" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="522" height="533" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOl6KS3mhf2oJeLirAXa_k4R6tXQSBDseXS_GKkLYfWykEHn1v4tMTK7mmQV64rVqsOfnRERgSqYreqVCvVCdcxBgoAyUV9YW_AMgF-G9RlZR0AjourNzK1GBNytP9W3q8ePLsFfBgOTO0y4ukQFiKo1giByXIzclOlr5qhQvTpAuyhDJff6W0NuDMog=w640-h533" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">Quasar: Oh </span><span style="text-align: start;">boy, I can’t wait to meet Patriot Fist. I’ve heard such great things!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Samuel ended up splitting his squads, meaning the recusant was still healthy enough to do Patriot Fist things (read: absolutely ravage) his quasar before scooting away. That left his ISD softened up vs. three very angry ships. He swung for the fences, trying to kill both my flagship and the battle Hardcell in the middle, but ended up falling short of both. All of my ships were pretty heavily damaged, but all were able to just squeak out, earning me a 400-32 (10-1) win, only losing my vultures.<br /><br />After that big win, I jumped up to the 7th table against Dennis Rachke for my final match. He was also flying Sloane, this time with Corvus and Centicore.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtJhKf00DENKUFwUPgygInAn7i5Jhh1uDl_orkSFEskQqnlk_SFLiWvNEZCVghb1fuWsc2Ka4yNRoQRtu4jK30XntRUdJJWZz8qtIHeAH1bG6ChtTHrFaqOK6J19iH7U0Vx_DybrFjPz6MiP8w0LHlgc3tpeIECTRydnDSzTx56QX_WdEV_zGZMgQ7Kg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="506" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtJhKf00DENKUFwUPgygInAn7i5Jhh1uDl_orkSFEskQqnlk_SFLiWvNEZCVghb1fuWsc2Ka4yNRoQRtu4jK30XntRUdJJWZz8qtIHeAH1bG6ChtTHrFaqOK6J19iH7U0Vx_DybrFjPz6MiP8w0LHlgc3tpeIECTRydnDSzTx56QX_WdEV_zGZMgQ7Kg=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">I’m sensing a trend…</span><br style="text-align: start;" /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />I knew I probably needed to win this match to make the top 26 cut, but I also knew I could easily get destroyed by his squads while his ships ran me around in circles. In fact, I had lost my final Vassal World Cup match to almost the exact same list. I decided to go second to avoid any farming objectives on his side, and force him to try and engage with me if he wanted a big win. He chose my Ion Storm, and I once again dropped PF and the slicer Hardcell opposite the Munificent in the middle. I was relatively sure he couldn’t kill my muni, so my plan was to float it up the middle while being very cautious with the Hardcells, and use flak to protect my ships and squads. He used his deployment advantage to drop the quasar flying away from my recusant, and put his Arquitens on a deep flank. However, he had one final advantage to reveal before the match started…<br /><br /><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjN1jAKQiC4omUIiJASSS7U68OSQkDlfc-5qhfb40yFFXNkUJUGvtnHYvREZWKql3DgizBBnsrlOBcb5Do44dDFxdHWnIegGjvA2054i2uSdkUef3KIlt6mHseInbvcVTRNADsDbpwJqUO0czfSkUyay8RxFMc7q2b8QrCMOCKcS4pAP8Akfk7IvPKPbA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="534" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjN1jAKQiC4omUIiJASSS7U68OSQkDlfc-5qhfb40yFFXNkUJUGvtnHYvREZWKql3DgizBBnsrlOBcb5Do44dDFxdHWnIegGjvA2054i2uSdkUef3KIlt6mHseInbvcVTRNADsDbpwJqUO0czfSkUyay8RxFMc7q2b8QrCMOCKcS4pAP8Akfk7IvPKPbA=w640-h402" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">Light up </span><span style="text-align: start;">squadrons! Those things are so cool!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div>My hardcells hid near my munificent while the recusant went Gozanti hunting. Dennis was very cautious with his squads, always keeping outside the ranges of my flak and vultures. With the quasar and Arquitens circling, he got a couple of shots off against my Hardcells, but couldn’t finish either off without committing harder than he was willing to. I picked off a couple squads while protecting mine, and nabbed his Gozanti with PF before circling back around and trying to catch his Arq against my back edge. He was just able to avoid the recusant, ending the match 51-16 to me, a slim 6-5. I was pretty thankful to escape with the small win, knowing it could have easily swung in his favor with some luckier bombing runs on the Hardcells. After the dust settled, I was sitting at a very respectable 27 tournament points, and ended day 1 of Worlds in 12th place, making the cut for day 2. Huzzah! More post!<br /><br />I feel like I should write something celebrating my day 1 performance, or talking about how much tougher day 2 was going to be, but ehhhhh, you’ve heard it before. Plus, I said I’d write less. More matches, here I come!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxCMV_gyunSLPkz-kX09zK76Zzx-s8BSl0t3e9dyro0GfUozTHvQtpfBIRyT4-q1oWO8sjGC_1hcueNQzd4inUGzEbIwQsBM1YvNGrVD_Gno1WnC9LW8ZIim1xHsNyQCulZOlVl_Ux11F6ztnkwYxXvDZpX6FnUCT0kLq5jIBZpbPHpqVMlTdb-NUttw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="472" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxCMV_gyunSLPkz-kX09zK76Zzx-s8BSl0t3e9dyro0GfUozTHvQtpfBIRyT4-q1oWO8sjGC_1hcueNQzd4inUGzEbIwQsBM1YvNGrVD_Gno1WnC9LW8ZIim1xHsNyQCulZOlVl_Ux11F6ztnkwYxXvDZpX6FnUCT0kLq5jIBZpbPHpqVMlTdb-NUttw=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">Huzzah, a Dooku joke </span><span style="text-align: start;">about making day 2!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Game 1 was very similar to my first matchup from yesterday: an Onager and Interdictor with a couple aces, this time with Romodi and a bid. My opponent, <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2023/04/james-aka-malador-aka-did-john-get.html">James McCartney</a>, also had a grav well on his Dictor, making his objectives even better. He was the only person I played who outbid me the whole tournament. James chose second, but had Abandoned Mining Facility, which Dooku is infamous for flipping on opponents, so of course I picked it. He dropped the grav well on top of my dust field, and used grav shift to drag it away from me, but Wat Tambor and the muni still managed to farm some points round 2, and since Dooku blocked a lot of the Interdictor’s farming, the game was effectively even.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi95oI8G_R5zniKXSN2_Zg1Frl26UAOr6f6uWQ35auMSfwxXoZl08PjtsKLrEjpisMS57-sJykvoT3yKkY1n8S2VAEdihgG5E_YpvOWLgxX30ecbOA2f4Lxmdy7yYU6O4xRYy0XIMTaCFFK36lC5RXmJRHgN6NzvrW1JcbcmUxjaGxu5DTDktiWbsRiVA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="695" data-original-width="1073" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi95oI8G_R5zniKXSN2_Zg1Frl26UAOr6f6uWQ35auMSfwxXoZl08PjtsKLrEjpisMS57-sJykvoT3yKkY1n8S2VAEdihgG5E_YpvOWLgxX30ecbOA2f4Lxmdy7yYU6O4xRYy0XIMTaCFFK36lC5RXmJRHgN6NzvrW1JcbcmUxjaGxu5DTDktiWbsRiVA=w640-h414" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">It’s gonna come down to a good old-fashioned </span><span style="text-align: start;">shootout.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />My recusant had a long journey in, but with first player, I figured I could soften his Interdictor and take out the Onager, and leave my muni to out-tank his Dictor. Patriot Fist went flying in, and ended up just outside of close range against the Onager. The Recusant swiftly perished after one more shot at the Onager, leaving the rest of my fleet to grind it down.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgiKocx0nyfgL7KrYAhYni0BTImGOVIVG85w3jf9nwcvWaMqVIYP80E7iAUAFoSjGmvCJepNf-cx7G8Aae1tFg3o2kTuIeEnLrNF_X3drg0tBs57xxdcIIugVXxZBLLWshVy1ReW6IQnmwutipMpflVlAcmLciUxIwZmR0_npGBZuAVy2ZyIwyY3L5Q4w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="624" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgiKocx0nyfgL7KrYAhYni0BTImGOVIVG85w3jf9nwcvWaMqVIYP80E7iAUAFoSjGmvCJepNf-cx7G8Aae1tFg3o2kTuIeEnLrNF_X3drg0tBs57xxdcIIugVXxZBLLWshVy1ReW6IQnmwutipMpflVlAcmLciUxIwZmR0_npGBZuAVy2ZyIwyY3L5Q4w=w640-h326" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">I have too many pictures where the recusant is missing. Won’t someone think of the droids?</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />By the time the Onager finally fell, my flagship was dangerously low, leaving me no choice but to flee his interdictor, which had repaired the damage done earlier in the game. Unfortunately for me, Maarek had survived multiple vulture and flak shots, and came at my Muni with a vengeance, eventually felling it with the help of Jendon and the Interdictor. I was unable to kill either of his Gozantis either due to the dust field blocking any early-game potshots, so I ended the game 229-316, a 7-4 loss. It was a close match, but since James went on to win the whole tournament, I don’t feel too bad about losing to him. All I could do was try my best in the next game.<br /><br />Game 2 was against John Thompson flying a Donager list. I took second, and he picked my infested fields. I had the final deployment, and set the recusant on a nasty flank, with my Muni flying up the middle hoping to tank through his Onager shots. John also had some serious squad power that I was hoping the exogorths would save me from. I nabbed most of the infested tokens, and was very happy with how the game was looking top of round 2.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNZGbMc2MPW6cM9CpDLujfq9_TwvZT1PE4nWpeuhLcNlLcsmEJagBkpC-TSghtXuAcmiy5t-i3Zu_N7uBPeZ52dZl8BuNuYzHSv9pg-xkolROBFpYIlUaOcOMPWqMTNOmnYLi3pSYxwZMZdRDUr743i2inqxURqK6ZfZTvEQEmTvsHbDTNzymFFI1hnQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="478" height="582" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNZGbMc2MPW6cM9CpDLujfq9_TwvZT1PE4nWpeuhLcNlLcsmEJagBkpC-TSghtXuAcmiy5t-i3Zu_N7uBPeZ52dZl8BuNuYzHSv9pg-xkolROBFpYIlUaOcOMPWqMTNOmnYLi3pSYxwZMZdRDUr743i2inqxURqK6ZfZTvEQEmTvsHbDTNzymFFI1hnQ=w640-h582" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">A recusant’s </span><span style="text-align: start;">dream</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />I was hoping to kill both Onagers and get a big win, but in my greed, ended up barely getting my recusant stuck in an Onager’s ignition arc. He quickly took advantage, using his rogues and first player to kill my recusant before it got to kill his Onager. My remaining ships were enough to kill one Onager, but not both, leaving me with a slim 240-194 pt win, a 6-5. Not the big win I was hoping for. Still, a win is a win, and I had two more matches to try and claw my way back with.<br /><br />Game three was against Nick Litrenta, also flying an Onager, this time with an HIE Raider 2, although still with a big nasty rogueball. I chose second, and he took my infested fields, and with his deployment advantage, put the Onager and Raider far away from the recusant, and lined up against my flagship. He also jumped his rogues in to steal my infested tokens, but I was able to trap and kill them because of it, limiting his bombing power.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOm26cBCV5nl701JEQqhLEOWHIcEfMAFgbMdx4fWTuh6aQzTVp0XDmybbli5_BJKi3xXMczGe3_O8Cl4e9D2829ILQY3137VxCPDz-3bCy4zdsiornarIzLxjiciuCkGKe3Zi-iO9FlA199Rgl4BfCDBYErwfRR6nJi8CYVxEOSK5bnch8_baI3vZu5A" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="624" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOm26cBCV5nl701JEQqhLEOWHIcEfMAFgbMdx4fWTuh6aQzTVp0XDmybbli5_BJKi3xXMczGe3_O8Cl4e9D2829ILQY3137VxCPDz-3bCy4zdsiornarIzLxjiciuCkGKe3Zi-iO9FlA199Rgl4BfCDBYErwfRR6nJi8CYVxEOSK5bnch8_baI3vZu5A=w640-h492" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">Patriot Fist is exhausted from chasing after all its targets.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The raider didn’t trigger HIE from range due to Sa Nalaor, but got enough crits to push it through the next round before slipping away along my back edge. The muni was dangerously low, and my other ships were still a bit out of range of the Onager. Wat furiously used his duct tape to hold the muni together, but it eventually fell to the Onager. My ships finally arrived and began to return fire, and the Onager cut and run. It still had two hull remaining in the final round, but due to his pathing, was facing my pile of obstacles that had been trapping the rogues earlier.</div><div><br />The Onager wasn’t wiggly enough to avoid the asteroids, and fell to a structural damage on the final round. While my flagship was worth more than the Onager and Nick had grabbed more tokens from infested fields, I had managed to kill enough of his rogues to sneak a 205-198 point win, 6-5. It was a nail biter, coming down to the final round, which gave me no time to rest before my final game. One more chance for a big win to make the cut.</div><div><br />My final match was against Mirko Lang, who broke my streak of 8 imp games in a row by flying a TF separatist list, interestingly without a Patriot Fist. He had two comms frigates, two naked Gozantis (scandalous!), and a Providence. I won the roll off for initiative, and chose second, forcing Mirko to play my infested fields. I knew this was a great matchup for me, especially without the defensive retrofits on the Munis. I could easily kill one of his ships, and probably a second if I was lucky, but I needed to be careful not to let his Providence run wild. I set my battle Hardcell up as bait, and deployed the rest of my fleet to rush his Munificents.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgG0tQ6AOavyKQglPk3VdwjsmG0uSZ7lR88MqS2tiNvpGXeIHCwDqWPXN1_pu9VTuQ0MvsVTfEGdYAbhidOpZYXUt3w5VMlatkpoFSpXyRpX-2NYFOAw19zgi3E2o2v2irO8Ql6B3IZkecVHO0Y25-k-zFszkupQPqgyyS81GfavSRYLPBfl4i5vrGAFA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="517" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgG0tQ6AOavyKQglPk3VdwjsmG0uSZ7lR88MqS2tiNvpGXeIHCwDqWPXN1_pu9VTuQ0MvsVTfEGdYAbhidOpZYXUt3w5VMlatkpoFSpXyRpX-2NYFOAw19zgi3E2o2v2irO8Ql6B3IZkecVHO0Y25-k-zFszkupQPqgyyS81GfavSRYLPBfl4i5vrGAFA=w640-h460" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">Finally, a</span><span style="text-align: start;"> deployment advantage. I was sick of all the squad lists getting the last drop. Now I can be the </span><span style="text-align: start;">one to flank!</span><br style="text-align: start;" /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />My squads grabbed their tokens and ran, although one of the rocks ended up being a bit too far forward. I moved my rocks in front of Mirko’s Munis and set the trap. Meanwhile, his Providence fell for my bait and tried to pick off my Hardcell, but ended up swinging too wide to impact the rest of the fight. My Hardcell scooted off to play with the Gozantis, eventually escaping. Mirko’s first muni had no chance of survival surrounded by my ships, and he quickly realized he had to cut his losses and run. I couldn’t get in front of his flagship muni in time, and it managed to slip through the gap in my killbox left by the escaping battle Hardcell.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEht0Pi6UUa7ojTJYQtkpyaRTuHBh91NYcel7NTE_Xgf0W8voZdgUMJTSB9nFeml-6hyjpaSgcp5UzWmmt47-lPk6q5ITwSTKQNL5Kbxe2U8oWb_ZahZCpwoXOluGszRKehVUrBT_12ejKdwbguEIQzwmQGwf9cYliQJCxHzbVdsjLFhswzfG2_V2jD16A" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="624" height="507" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEht0Pi6UUa7ojTJYQtkpyaRTuHBh91NYcel7NTE_Xgf0W8voZdgUMJTSB9nFeml-6hyjpaSgcp5UzWmmt47-lPk6q5ITwSTKQNL5Kbxe2U8oWb_ZahZCpwoXOluGszRKehVUrBT_12ejKdwbguEIQzwmQGwf9cYliQJCxHzbVdsjLFhswzfG2_V2jD16A=w640-h507" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everybody scatter!</td></tr></tbody></table><br />We took a few potshots in the ensuing round, but there was too much distance to put a finishing blow on anything. In the end, Mirko only got a few points from tokens, leaving me with a 118-45 point win, a 7-4. I’d now won three games in a row, but they were all small wins, and not enough to overcome my first-round loss to James. I finished the day on 23 tournament points and 13th place overall, 2 TPs below the top 8 cut for the final day of worlds. My run was finally over.<br /><br />Phew! That was a lot of games! I was feeling seriously stressed by my third day, and was kinda glad I wasn’t moving on to the final day. Major props to everyone who made that cut and played three more games on Sunday, they’ve got some ridiculous skills and stamina. On the summary side, I ended my tournament run at 10-2, with a combined 82 TPs, averaging just under 7 points a game. I was also the top placing separatist player, which means a I got a cool medal!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3TFYHlvES6ObEEUmVd9N3BupIoPS5LDzLKIu7QLthRXMhjWOjHidh2ZIln__J35jLBAU_0RJE1--r_UuxkdRmxd-1KlvXRGiIzKh3Pw6UfnTipLpl91MMN7tcWL77pbyoElV2gtui-W6FUDBLHr5YDLYJdqxp5WCvFb14h5jE7YgxozasRYSLiJmrJw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1073" data-original-width="864" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3TFYHlvES6ObEEUmVd9N3BupIoPS5LDzLKIu7QLthRXMhjWOjHidh2ZIln__J35jLBAU_0RJE1--r_UuxkdRmxd-1KlvXRGiIzKh3Pw6UfnTipLpl91MMN7tcWL77pbyoElV2gtui-W6FUDBLHr5YDLYJdqxp5WCvFb14h5jE7YgxozasRYSLiJmrJw=w515-h640" width="515" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shiny! <span style="color: #2b00fe;">And a cool purple shirt, too!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Anyways, this is about the point of the post where I sum up and thank people, yeah? Worlds was a ton of fun, and I got to play so many great opponents and meet tons of cool people. I’m super looking forward to next year! Shoutout to the whole Judge crew as well for keeping the tournament running smoothly (and also side events! Sector fleet on Sunday was a blast), Ion Radio for streaming, CGYSO for getting me into armada and posting my recaps, The Armada Podcast for convincing me to give Dooku a shot, and the whole community for being so awesome. Can’t wait to see you all next year!<p><span style="color: #2b00fe;">And at the MOMENT, that's everyone. Check out the Tournaments section for all the rest of the write-ups! And if anyone still wants to publish theirs, drop an email to geek19@gmail.com!</span></p></div>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-51783591755753456702023-04-25T16:12:00.001-05:002023-04-25T18:10:39.339-05:00Truthi vs the World<span id="docs-internal-guid-eb049888-7fff-81f6-2605-68ce6be80803"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMwljidDu9w2_-kRXOOujnk42COF8mLjlcohI_TXwbB7WbYlZOA28fPrR3hqTojz68sCQT1CwnGTDIEUPQN3QXMY-EfmbuC5tSRafS1TwG7OipltfQfx-KyWuNPT02xrUIG4nDHfP-JfOiomKEkb4Ca-PKfwlUDvs2B7-jB9BLWfFM41oj4XHqT7G0lw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1278" data-original-width="1920" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMwljidDu9w2_-kRXOOujnk42COF8mLjlcohI_TXwbB7WbYlZOA28fPrR3hqTojz68sCQT1CwnGTDIEUPQN3QXMY-EfmbuC5tSRafS1TwG7OipltfQfx-KyWuNPT02xrUIG4nDHfP-JfOiomKEkb4Ca-PKfwlUDvs2B7-jB9BLWfFM41oj4XHqT7G0lw" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hey all! Your friendly neighborhood Truthiness here again. With all of our guest takes on Worlds experiences, it only seems right that I also add my own perspective as part of the BIG crew. We can’t let Biggs be the only one of us writing something, after all. I think it’s pretty common knowledge at this point that I went into Worlds pretty dejected with the state of the game. With no confirmation that a Worlds 2024 would even happen and no news from AMG on the horizon, I was bracing for this to be the last hurrah. But then I actually got there, surrounded by people who love this game. That kind of energy is infectious for me, and as the weekend progressed, my optimistic nature reemerged. If you take the combined LCQ and Worlds numbers, there were over 130 individual people that showed up to Adepticon to play competitive Armada. That is the most people we have </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ever</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> had. And man, the play that was on display was, in my opinion, the best I’ve seen. And the meta? Holy hell was there a lot of fleet diversity. Each of the top 8 was a completely unique fleet, heavily tailored to the person running that fleet. Adam had his signature Ackbar, Sebastian was rocking that crazy Onager+Firesprays fleet that originated in Europe, and Nick had his now infamous Irish Cream GAR. Jason’s Donager was a fearsome force. The two fleets that could be said to be closest in structure were Daniel’s Rieekan and Justin’s Cracken, and well, those fleets play noticeably differently because of who the players are and what their commanders do. Oh and neither fleet on the top table of the final round had maximum squads. That’s the first time that’s ever happened in our game. All of that put together says to me we have an exceptionally healthy game. Anyway, time for my journey!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wouldn’t be a Truthiness fleet if I didn’t make a last minute swerve, and this tournament was no exception. I had been rocking a Venator/Acclamator/Consular GAR fleet leading into Worlds, but I had become increasingly concerned that the Acclamator, even with Nevoota Bee, wasn’t pulling its weight. I had an alternate idea, but I hadn’t run it at all. I got two pick up games on Thursday to warm up and give my fleet the final shakedown. Thanks to Adam Newton playing with a 2V2P Lumi fleet for that game, all my worries were put on full display. I decided to implement my back up plan, and geek was kind enough to give that fleet a pick up game. It performed much better, so I made the last second call to change. I ended up with something very close to Nicholas Larson’s (UnskilledFirstOfficer) VWC winning Y-Wing spam. Here’s the full fleet:</span></p><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSUVU-uNlmBnuDtuzNWNnKZnmIzUWG0tbpExIfmCqAT1P6XECsRzrNCOKAcS9b3J-G5FSJz3sLCu3DgjwGL7pinoJkefFiZrYgihyhv7Q4-_0iC665vHEC4xllYXkl3um2ejftS1cvQqBC9Ny1mDywO0BlWN-W5snuyOWS6UkuK-p2yFsCvdGf3mEGgQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSUVU-uNlmBnuDtuzNWNnKZnmIzUWG0tbpExIfmCqAT1P6XECsRzrNCOKAcS9b3J-G5FSJz3sLCu3DgjwGL7pinoJkefFiZrYgihyhv7Q4-_0iC665vHEC4xllYXkl3um2ejftS1cvQqBC9Ny1mDywO0BlWN-W5snuyOWS6UkuK-p2yFsCvdGf3mEGgQ" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Does my naming convention make sense? Nope.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Name: Seven Seas of Y</span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Faction: Republic</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Commander: Bail Organa</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Assault: Precision Strike</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Defense: Fighter Ambush</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Navigation: Superior Positions</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Venator II (100)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Bail Organa (28)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Flight Commander (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Ruthless Strategists (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Flag Bridge (0)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Electronic Countermeasures (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Ordnance Pods (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Tranquility (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Mercy Mission (0)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 155 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pelta Medical Frigate (49)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Clone Navigation Officer (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Projection Experts (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Bomber Command Center (8)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Expanded Hangar Bay (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• TB-73 (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 77 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Consular Armed Cruiser (37)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Radiant VII (1)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Comms Net (2)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 40 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Squadrons:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Anakin Skywalker (Delta-7) (24)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Axe (17)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Kickback (16)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• 7 x BTL-B Y-wing Squadron (70)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 127 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total Points: 399</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The key difference between mine and UFO’s fleet is the squad ball and the Venator. They’re minor differences, but it created a significant difference in how we each played. UFO has the same aces, but had a generic Delta-7 instead of a seventh Y-Wing. While I love that squad ball, I wanted some of the ship upgrades a bit more. I felt I could slim down a bit to get all the ship toys I wanted. I fell in love with Flight Commander, Ordnance Pods, and Ruthless Strategists while I was messing around with a Plo version of this fleet because of the order of operations. By having Flight Commander allow flakking to happened </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">first</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and then commanding squads, I found that between flak and the aces, I could break Y-Wings free for bombing faster and easier, but since it came at the expense of the squad ball, I was more reliant on RS to clear other squads. I should note that Mercy Mission is a quiet star of any version of this fleet. Mercy Mission is damned near required for GAR in my mind, as it flips the dynamic of games. That free 40 points (assuming you don’t go and die), makes getting a 7-4 win a very easy prospect, and also flips the scoring dynamic if someone opts to just run away. In a tournament as competitive as this one was likely to be, I was looking for every advantage I could get.</span></p><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjd1MHhEjXnThfCr_xbY3IzUAFLKAjfh-I0R8YCE-CmquIAaBk0oEJmulpYt9YL5rgIq49-X0_3_qnkPjNiDG1Zw7RNxN_Et56OXCTTRrsZVK4a9NzSVFs9F-dORYaj67Ic2R0JKXjOToOeaZEerLE0ds9QaNVtaPdMTr0feFAKnw0j9JAxz0MOuj2TkQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1133" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjd1MHhEjXnThfCr_xbY3IzUAFLKAjfh-I0R8YCE-CmquIAaBk0oEJmulpYt9YL5rgIq49-X0_3_qnkPjNiDG1Zw7RNxN_Et56OXCTTRrsZVK4a9NzSVFs9F-dORYaj67Ic2R0JKXjOToOeaZEerLE0ds9QaNVtaPdMTr0feFAKnw0j9JAxz0MOuj2TkQ" width="319" /></a></div><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My first opponent of the tournament was the reigning Polish National Champion, Piotr, running the very fleet that had carried him to Polish victory. This was a field full of familiar names, but he was one I especially didn’t want to play right off the bat with so few reps with my own fleet. And oh man did I botch this match up. I took first and selected his fighter ambush. Piotr outplayed me in the squad game big time, wiping my squad wing with minimal losses in return. My biggest mistake, though, was failing to use my Bail repair not once, but twice in a row. That’s four shields I could have regen’d on my Venator. Guess how many hull it died by? One. I had essentially sacrificed my squad wing to take down the ISD, so a win was contingent on getting the Venator out alive. Remembering either of my two missed Bail repairs would have flipped this to a win to me, though a narrow one. Alas, instead I took a 4-7 loss to start the day. I could console myself with the fact Mercy Mission changed the MoV enough to save me a tournament point. This became a theme on day one.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigzn9ZXrTsHB8MYRFCEOrAYLo7vx1uJKYkCC1C8eez0TQWAHxC6i2siQVCqyI2wy8wfeFyEnGiac0VgKVuf1_6w0ROdEL3HwQz20txKRLkC8s09lQrRmhizeTdF0jR8QEKR18m9FDWyWYeoLJOq8F155O8ynTX35X7ax8ncV3H8uk9C7IiGQU_I9tpYA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1133" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigzn9ZXrTsHB8MYRFCEOrAYLo7vx1uJKYkCC1C8eez0TQWAHxC6i2siQVCqyI2wy8wfeFyEnGiac0VgKVuf1_6w0ROdEL3HwQz20txKRLkC8s09lQrRmhizeTdF0jR8QEKR18m9FDWyWYeoLJOq8F155O8ynTX35X7ax8ncV3H8uk9C7IiGQU_I9tpYA" width="319" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My second opponent was my evil nemesis, the DreadLordLoki. Loki and I have squared off a few times before, and he was rocking a fleet similar to the one I had barely beaten at NOVA Open. Instead of an Onager, however, he had an Interdictor supporting his Gunnery Team Cymoon. Loki gave me first player, and I decided to risk Most Wanted, banking on my ability to Bail repair and Projection Experts through the damage. This game came down to two critical moments. First, my Pelta managed to slip directly between his Cymoon and Interdictor, ensuring it was able to keep contributing throughout the game. The second was my Venator activation on turn three. I had activated my Pelta first to avoid taking a gunnery team shot from the Cymoon. Loki then opted to activate the Interdictor, which had a double arc shot on my Venator. Between Romodi obstruction and Most Wanted, man did it hit haaaaaaaaaard. It did six damage with an accuracy (I opted not to ECM at this point) and then seven damage (which I braced without having to ECM) to my Venator. My Venator then went, just barely killing the Cymoon with its own double arc and its commanded bombers. If I failed to get that kill, I don’t think I was going to be able to avoid the Cymoon front arc, and would have had to burn my brace to stay alive. I think Loki made absolutely the right call in doing the Interdictor first, but the dice were with me on this one. With the Cymoon cleared out, I had a comfortable path to victory from there on. I almost got the Interdictor for the table, but couldn’t quite get through its repair spam. Mercy Mission again pushed me up a tournament point, taking an 8-3 to a 9-2.</span></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHq3n2dlQUaWyrfDqprumS3l8g1YPdh5soadpOZarkv6hNbL0tHL41jPy6azSMXbMb6AknABwrk_N3G61ZZqlvlmNX9Vapk6k5L5oom9V7QW00nCBDI55ASu4XI-w3v5hvUOfdi9yrRquHTp-ufik0mnaucgYTKfiYeCU7d0LpC8oRbcvesLklwD2hyQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1133" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHq3n2dlQUaWyrfDqprumS3l8g1YPdh5soadpOZarkv6hNbL0tHL41jPy6azSMXbMb6AknABwrk_N3G61ZZqlvlmNX9Vapk6k5L5oom9V7QW00nCBDI55ASu4XI-w3v5hvUOfdi9yrRquHTp-ufik0mnaucgYTKfiYeCU7d0LpC8oRbcvesLklwD2hyQ" width="319" /></a></div><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My third game was against Ryan Becker, who was running a BT SSD with a BT ISD 1. To say going right at this fleet would have been dangerous is an understatement. I thought hard about going for the SSD kill, but opted for the more cautious route of getting the ISD 1 and hoping I could pull even enough on Contested Outpost points that I would still get the solid win. In hindsight, it was definitely the right choice. I nailed the ISD with my flood of bombers on turn three. I started trying to work on the SSD on turn four, but with the Jerjerrod SSD repairing and fishtailing every turn, depriving me of both ship and bomber range, I couldn’t even get it to half health. Still, Contested Outpost ended up being an even split, giving me a solid 8-3 This was my only game of the day where Mercy Mission made no difference to the tournament points.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikBkgf6qEg5JIeOJ8m8iNLwi7aUXjXcEtpoyGMhaLIEBsnN_GrCzHo9unlvVqqeZRbLzysqhc2DRFX-vt2of9p2653WodbT9OL-jrm6PXiVP9QQSI7I6dhkKbBJQCYZRRWXKzbR97_hdO1XVtC3mS5V8saKcUFz1--mjhCnmCCU-m2U66XFoMmKR5aYw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1133" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikBkgf6qEg5JIeOJ8m8iNLwi7aUXjXcEtpoyGMhaLIEBsnN_GrCzHo9unlvVqqeZRbLzysqhc2DRFX-vt2of9p2653WodbT9OL-jrm6PXiVP9QQSI7I6dhkKbBJQCYZRRWXKzbR97_hdO1XVtC3mS5V8saKcUFz1--mjhCnmCCU-m2U66XFoMmKR5aYw" width="319" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My final game of the first day was against Louis Andre, running a Jerjerrod ISD and supporting squads. I took his Asteroid Tactics, confident I could keep moving well enough to avoid the worst of the Exogorths. In hindsight, I majorly messed up my Mercy Mission ship movements, going wide left out of habit rather than cutting across the center of the board, far away from the ISD. Louis turned that into a beautiful and continuing fork, repeatedly forcing me to activate the consular first to keep it alive. There was a moment on turn three where I knew I could either win the squad war, or save my Mercy Mission ship. I think I again made the wrong choice here. I wasn’t confident I could fully clean up his squad wing without significant losses, so I opted to save the safe points and hope Anakin would hold out just a little bit longer. That didn’t happen, and my squadrons just collapsed from there. In retrospect, I think the Anakin activation I passed up would have saved me the game, albeit very tightly. Despite that choice, I still came awfully close to losing Mercy Mission. It came down to the last Firespray activation, which left the Consular on a single hull. In the end, I lost most of my squads while only getting a Gozanti kill in return. Thankfully, the Mercy Mission’s points kept it to a 5-6 loss, which kept me in contention for day two.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiq3CwQFGhdJJBKAVtYtRLGaLvzwfq86-912uF5yFKi4ZicHuEgoKNyEzg8v9EDMgH-jscW3o6N7eu1vlAXXI4_ed5jJe6A_fsKa9dVUQthhPLb0_2h6PstVtwgyd130wrPchYeTFJ3-dDPFzx1bBiLk5TLdZ_PJbujOgxsJYtbSwfl14htmBmGIGGbVw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1133" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiq3CwQFGhdJJBKAVtYtRLGaLvzwfq86-912uF5yFKi4ZicHuEgoKNyEzg8v9EDMgH-jscW3o6N7eu1vlAXXI4_ed5jJe6A_fsKa9dVUQthhPLb0_2h6PstVtwgyd130wrPchYeTFJ3-dDPFzx1bBiLk5TLdZ_PJbujOgxsJYtbSwfl14htmBmGIGGbVw" width="319" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Day two started out baaaaaaaaaaaad. For one, I forgot to take all but one picture all day. But more importantly, I knew Donager was going to be a problem, and sure enough, Jason’s Donager was brutal. I was hoping to get one of the Onager in exchange for the inevitable death of my Venator, but just couldn’t pull it out, unable to pile on enough damage to an Onager before my ships went down. I did really well in the squad fight, though, breaking my Y-Wings off to bomb and cleaning up his squad wing without losses. This was almost a 4-7 loss, but my Mercy Mission Consular took a side shot at medium range that included a double hit red and critical hit blue. I tossed my evade…only to have the exact same results come up. That clinched a full tabling for Jason. Had I taken just a single less damage, the Consular was likely to live to get the Mercy Mission touchdown. It was going to be a brutal game regardless, but starting day two at the very bottom of the field was not something I wanted.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next game was against Jason Dedrick and his Ackbar MSU. We have played more times than I care to count, so I knew what to expect from his fleet. He had a seven activation advantage to my three, so was able to last-first with key ships no matter how much passing I did. We played my Precision Strike, which ended up fairly even, with a token or two advantage to Jason by the end. I tried to nail a CR90 early with my squads, but it slipped away on one hull. Bail and Projection Experts kept the Venator largely out of trouble, so Jason focused down the Pelta. Unfortunately for him, one of his CR90s got in the way of his MC30’s escape route, and ended up costing him his flagship. That gave me the 7-4 win I needed to start climbing back into the field. The dice were unkind to both of us in this game, so at times it felt like a bit of a slap fight. Still, the win was a win to get me climbing of the hole.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My third game of the day was easily the most frustrating for my opponent. The dice HATED poor Aiden and his TF-1726 LMSU swarm. I had played Aiden in the VWC, and I knew he could quickly overwhelm my Venator if given the chance. He took my Fighter Ambush, which I leveraged immediately. Bypassing my usual turn one repair to use for ECM later on, I instead passed a squad token to the Venator and used my Flight Commander to launch a turn one squad attack at a Gozanti. My goal was to try and get the early kill and knock Aiden off balance from the start. Despite the BCC being out of range, all of my bombers hit with </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">every single roll</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of my seven squadron attacks. Even the ones that were evaded. The game largely cascaded from there. I was able to pick off all of his Hardcells, and nailed his other Gozanti with a perfect roll from my Pelta. The one bright spot for Aiden was his Patriot’s Fist absolutely demolishing my Venator. Remember how I forwent that repair token on turn one? Yeah…I wasn’t able to ready my ECMs because of needing to clear raid tokens, so PFist got a brutal shot at my fleeing Venator to finish it off. Fighter Ambush tokens were the main decider of this game. I had no chance at killing PFist with the Venator down, but I kept pushing Y-Wings at it anyway to farm tokens where I could. This was almost a 10-1, but my last three Y-Wing whiffed their shots without the BCC in range, depriving me of Fighter Ambush tokens and keeping me 10 MoV short. Still, I couldn’t complain about a 9-2, which put me firmly back in contention for a top eight finish to the day.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The pairing for my final game pretty much sealed my fate. I expected to need an 8-3 or better to be able to make the top eight cut. However, the match up gods gave me a farmhawk instead. And not just any farmhawk. A boarding troopers farmhawk. My Venator had no real shot at surviving any kind of prolonged engagement with that thing. And with PDIC and a full complement of rogues, I had no real hope of killing the hawk with my squadrons. So instead, I took Advanced Gunnery, looked to leverage my Mercy Mission advantage, hoped I got an opening to kill enough squadrons to make it a 7-4, and prayed that was enough for the cut. The game played out pretty much as expected, with no meaningful engagement until turn six. I had an opening to try and nail two YT-2400s with my last activation. I played the engagement perfectly, getting one YT down to a single hull, had Anakin come in with the perfect roll to splash the wounded YT and get another down to a single hull. I just needed a Y-Wing to come in and finish the job. Instead…whiff. That single hull YT then went on to be the deciding factor in killing Kickback. Had the Y-Wing not whiffed, I would have had my 7-4 with a 64 MoV. As I expected, though, I would have needed an 8-3 to make the cut anyway, so it ended up not mattering.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the end of day two, I had climbed back up to 11th place, missing the top eight cut by 2 tournament points. Not bad for a fleet I barely knew and changed the day before, eh? Just with previous years, I had an absolute blast meeting people and playing such challenging games. As a consolation prize for not making the top cut, I got to play in the 800 point sector fleet tournament, where I beat up DreadLordLoki again, and then got to create this moment with Gilarius:</span></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFxiZKczta_SK5ueSdCCivPlfeDM-4kICqvBHMkewzMZtCf_788B8Opf_NLU7qpo4HK_9P_7I1r3FAe6O49XY2BSNbuUZHZN7ft7gQnn9Na2LEQKN5dgWhg97Hq45FK_LOpR3MNzq-KUzl_o862LWRUFQBIwBkhvHaYV8Af2-uEEPjpa_b_GWR80Ajog" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1133" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFxiZKczta_SK5ueSdCCivPlfeDM-4kICqvBHMkewzMZtCf_788B8Opf_NLU7qpo4HK_9P_7I1r3FAe6O49XY2BSNbuUZHZN7ft7gQnn9Na2LEQKN5dgWhg97Hq45FK_LOpR3MNzq-KUzl_o862LWRUFQBIwBkhvHaYV8Af2-uEEPjpa_b_GWR80Ajog" width="319" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spoiler, I did NOT successfully run that blockade. Leia Nebs OP, please nerf. We had people coming and watching our game just for the cinema of it. It was just pure, unadulterated fun.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-1c615eb1-7fff-37ca-01c7-859e3d45e75e"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">The cherry on top of it all? AMG announced both Rapid Reinforcements 2 </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">and </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">the OP system for the coming year, including confirmation that Worlds will once again be at Adepticon in 2024. I’m going to hold off on a RR2 reaction until we get some clarification on some of these cards. Until then, Imp players should feel free to drool uncontrollably over the new Governor Pryce. My enthusiasm for this game got a huge shot in the arm thanks to Worlds, so expect some more editorials from me in the coming months. I’m going be trying to focus on a single fleet this competitive season (no, seriously, stop laughing), so expect me to do a breakdown of that </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">development process. And, of course, I’ll be here for all the juicy RR2 details…just as soon as we understand how most of them are supposed to work.</span></p>Truthinesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07570269864109016330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-5677353946046303392023-04-16T21:29:00.005-05:002023-04-16T21:29:47.945-05:00James AKA Malador AKA Did John Get the Winner<p><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Why YES I did get the man who won it all to write one of these up! I'm most grateful that he hasn't sent me a "dude, where's my article" e-mail having sent me this write-up a solid week ago. To THE write-up!</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGKQ7ueVn2drVi_25DJYaxCMBLC_cApdwgXzpEh4o51kisXBkn_cY8pr6FEd9wB5j0ltrxudrmq7Ff9ozPe1GI7O0cYZeXNEZ3ScDnGGAX_AbutI1kV54-CWAQ7eiNZTmEbJZx3m-MNccPDjT75inBtkxoDrqNT_O_E4FYSbWF-KnVi4TIMQBMo9-MeA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGKQ7ueVn2drVi_25DJYaxCMBLC_cApdwgXzpEh4o51kisXBkn_cY8pr6FEd9wB5j0ltrxudrmq7Ff9ozPe1GI7O0cYZeXNEZ3ScDnGGAX_AbutI1kV54-CWAQ7eiNZTmEbJZx3m-MNccPDjT75inBtkxoDrqNT_O_E4FYSbWF-KnVi4TIMQBMo9-MeA" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: x-small;">Did I find the lamest Google image search possible? Listen he was in A STAR WAR!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></p><a name='more'></a>Although I’ve been playing the game for 5 years this was the first World Championship I have attended, and even the first non-UK tournament, so to win this was such an amazing feeling – as such here is the story of my journey there.<br /><br />I got my invite through winning the London Grand Tournament event in October 2022, which included accommodation and flights to Chicago. I had won a ‘prime’ event previously (securing the ticket) and came second at the other large UK event (UKGE), but to win and thus secure flights and accommodation was amazing.<br /><br />The list I decided to bring was one I had been using for around two years on and off, and the same one I won the London GT with:<br /><br />Assault: Ion Storm<br />Defense: Abandoned Mining Facility<br />Navigation: Doomed Station<br /><br />Onager Testbed (96)<br />• General Romodi (20)<br />• Admiral Titus (2)<br />• Veteran Gunners (5)<br />• Gunnery Chief Varnillian (6)<br />• Medical Team (1)<br />• Orbital Bombardment Particle Cannons (5)<br />= 135 Points<br /><br />Interdictor Suppression Refit (90)<br />• Captain Needa (2)<br />• Auxiliary Shields Team (3)<br />• Disposable Capacitors (3)<br />• G7-X Grav Well Projector (2)<br />• Grav Shift Reroute (2)<br />• Point Defense Ion Cannons (4)<br />= 106 Points<br /><br />Gozanti Cruisers (23)<br />• Darth Vader (1)<br />• Parts Resupply (3)<br />= 27 Points<br /><br />Gozanti Cruisers (23)<br />= 23 Points<br /><br />Squadrons:<br />• Maarek Stele (21)<br />• Colonel Jendon (20)<br />• Tempest Squadron (13)<br />• Ciena Ree (17)<br />• Valen Rudor (13)<br />• TIE Interceptor Squadron (11)<br />= 95 Points<br /><br />Total Points: 386<br /><br />The aim of my list is to fit my preferred play style and also be competitive at the same time. I much prefer to go second and so with a 14 point bid I can guarantee that in most of my games, only losing out to a potential 20 point bid farm-hawk. This meant that I generally knew what objective I’d play, and so was able to use the Interdictor’s upgrades to further manipulate that, generally moving the obstacles towards me while forcing my opponent the slow ray round to engage.<br /><br />Using an Interdictor and two Gozantis meant at times I would lack damage, and so Maarek and Jendon come into play here to boost the damage output the list can bring. My other squadrons are there to help fight off the likes of a Sloane ball, or Rebel rogue squadrons, allowing me to tie the opponent down long enough so that the Onager can target the carrier.<br /><br />Looking at the upgrades on the Onager, I decided not to use Sensor Teams, as in my experience it reduced the damage output, instead relying on the Veteran Gunners re-roll (as well as Darth Vader strangling Titus and Romodi) to find those accuracy’s, as well as Varnillian. This combination of upgrades I found game the most consistency, and, after testing the dice rolls, allowed me to one-shot a CR90 at extreme range when it is within my black die range around 80-90% of the time.<br /><br />Where my list struggled was facing against ships with multiple defence tokens, such as Agate Starhawks or SSD’s, as I didn’t have the Intel Officers to burn through the defence tokens.<br /><br />Why did I choose this fleet? I think for one I was extremely comfortable with it, it fits my play style of being second player, and I have experience flying it so understand the match ups and scenarios. I always believe that being comfortable with a fleet is much more important that the fleet being competitive or meta.<br /><br />I know that a lot will say that Onagers are overpowered, and I will agree to that, however only two Interdictors made to the day 2 of the main event, and I was also only one of two people to bring Tempest Squadron out of 31 Imperial players on day 1 – so not everything about my list is standard.<br /><br />My games:<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">Day 1<br /></span></b><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWa2Syazn0IHi0Lm1vstRc7LWRKOBuoPeP1z2xMOqJBQoEGSM584QUdHC3B2mVk9OrceRqfEXAmd7U0GR43F62NnyNMVoNU7Sm-BOCL_rHa3XK1QInL-zhl6yiMbcyMkGTtXLbWeNa6A1I-4Ul2I7JfzbzDU45gRPX7cIGzQLCiGqa0icQRnDsLFIfqQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="1021" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWa2Syazn0IHi0Lm1vstRc7LWRKOBuoPeP1z2xMOqJBQoEGSM584QUdHC3B2mVk9OrceRqfEXAmd7U0GR43F62NnyNMVoNU7Sm-BOCL_rHa3XK1QInL-zhl6yiMbcyMkGTtXLbWeNa6A1I-4Ul2I7JfzbzDU45gRPX7cIGzQLCiGqa0icQRnDsLFIfqQ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br />Game 1 vs Marc Hein: 5-6<br /><br />My first match up was against an Agate Starhawk with raid and speed manipulation capability, I had the bid and so we played my Ion Storm. From turn 3 I decided that the Starhawk was not going to be taken down, and so instead went for the squads and GR75’s instead. This was a tough first game and I lost the Onager and some squads, while Marc lost both transports and a collection of his squads.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsfgVKXLOOuE2DrIoB41ehu2BGGV1sezZ3D_qru9vL6LzAWR3OE9vYwSHZyXMuHekkRmHbIDBQIYMg1ln3GEW-V2RsIhAS8nkcG3EP5oQphEE-eN4l6L76Wfu_4hETnLVUeoMNN3iPpL0bXNcLYWUzqU0suhi5s_G54Hh6c9MgvES-3VQe8RB_x239AA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="731" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsfgVKXLOOuE2DrIoB41ehu2BGGV1sezZ3D_qru9vL6LzAWR3OE9vYwSHZyXMuHekkRmHbIDBQIYMg1ln3GEW-V2RsIhAS8nkcG3EP5oQphEE-eN4l6L76Wfu_4hETnLVUeoMNN3iPpL0bXNcLYWUzqU0suhi5s_G54Hh6c9MgvES-3VQe8RB_x239AA=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />Game 2 vs Jakub Charmo: 9-2<br /><br />Jakub was running double Venator with squads (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">4 ARCs, DAnni, and a Y-wing with RLB Ven2</span>), and this was more my happier match up. We played Doomed Station, with the Venators deployed facing down the station. I decided that a straight up fight would not work for me, and so deployed on the other side of the rift. I then used the grav shift to move the station and rift closer together, meaning the station was lost on T1 so that Jakub could not score any points from it. The slowing ability of the rift left the Venators open to Onager shots, and they were both brought down (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">see dice on the Ven1 below</span>)<div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXasHLLcIPmlHY4QgiRCfHq6Ji6szlqtU_uUwqrLI5zgBgnIDY2KsCGDSysEYSLSeh96hT9CZaaC2ptTp1qdJnGFoE_FaAsuuuX1sIalf74TBh4PVdNUdzBXe25VrMZCrOFePfA_BisdFdPRD2CD4CYRASAaqzgqIywqPczCd0kq5UgBjKTZ5WNcFIXw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="404" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXasHLLcIPmlHY4QgiRCfHq6Ji6szlqtU_uUwqrLI5zgBgnIDY2KsCGDSysEYSLSeh96hT9CZaaC2ptTp1qdJnGFoE_FaAsuuuX1sIalf74TBh4PVdNUdzBXe25VrMZCrOFePfA_BisdFdPRD2CD4CYRASAaqzgqIywqPczCd0kq5UgBjKTZ5WNcFIXw=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">RIP Ven1</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />with me losing two squadrons <span style="color: #2b00fe;">total</span>.</div><div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhr7F4TH5Cg21iloC4r8wTGMH36fpc_xZL1M9VH66mJ-8dn7dB93I4Ux5QEsVmzIyQfSe8dMjbYrfFATmbI35OT-a-uciv4hbUWsWY1Ve66fTBd2OeZMqXgGqkBR5cuQ7mwIdYtultUXkvyNEU8pVzsp-cllINn-hi-tVN01ZwYqEGTyGa2bX_YvE_dMA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="767" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhr7F4TH5Cg21iloC4r8wTGMH36fpc_xZL1M9VH66mJ-8dn7dB93I4Ux5QEsVmzIyQfSe8dMjbYrfFATmbI35OT-a-uciv4hbUWsWY1Ve66fTBd2OeZMqXgGqkBR5cuQ7mwIdYtultUXkvyNEU8pVzsp-cllINn-hi-tVN01ZwYqEGTyGa2bX_YvE_dMA=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />Game 3 vs Piotr Swielicki: 10-1<br /><br />Piotr was running a Sloane list on an ISD 2 with a quasar to back it up. Ion Storm was the objective, and the ISD deployed facing down the Onager, ready for a 1v1. At the end of this tussle, with Maarek lending a hand, the ISD was downed and the Onager was limping away on a few hull remaining. With Sloane dead the remaining squads could not finish off my flagship, and I was able to bring down the Quasar, tabling Piotr.<br /><br /> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNkiothRZbRyKB40Wm4yEPCj4aJxkH8mFxbmyOZm6Y4LOxM7ikc_0RPY7nH1rps-jGprC_4x4OUwfuiaMNbhNzroUv4N34Ww8ZYAQQD6MDxyZLiWtglMGEqjILnsPCMyI4-WWzNpTtAj4z5K59fdk2_BQdqKU1YfRRS4bNIWzGjkx6PpCy2F8XeG5hbA"><img alt="" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="802" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNkiothRZbRyKB40Wm4yEPCj4aJxkH8mFxbmyOZm6Y4LOxM7ikc_0RPY7nH1rps-jGprC_4x4OUwfuiaMNbhNzroUv4N34Ww8ZYAQQD6MDxyZLiWtglMGEqjILnsPCMyI4-WWzNpTtAj4z5K59fdk2_BQdqKU1YfRRS4bNIWzGjkx6PpCy2F8XeG5hbA=w640-h468" width="640" /></a></div><br />Game 4 vs Daniel Unzeitig: 5-6<br /><br />At the top table in the last game, neither myself or Daniel really wanted to commit to a fight as we both had an idea we’d be though to day 2 with a 6-5. Thus, at the start of turn 1 Daniels started to run away with his CR90 swarm commanded by Riekkan, with his rogue squadrons providing a buffer. I tried to chase to farm a point or two from Ion storm, and this lead to one of my Gozantis almost falling to Lando, while I did lose Maarek and he lost Wedge. A reasonably boring game but this is what happens in game 4, and I do apologise to the stream for having to sit through that.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiD8UrHqAX-PvzJl0-Q7e8pPdOqdtPzd7oKHjDgt41258A-ImdKCOSAojbcPGAFwWamL4atYrpNynlsMisAWWIIBCePsWI0h-cz83hTsmxSOuqykFtB1lDOCrWLS5PuLHOUyhWRVqUtnjVJincx9tYuVQxuVBcXben3FRvUkMZ8jkHVADR_XAP34koOOg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="762" height="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiD8UrHqAX-PvzJl0-Q7e8pPdOqdtPzd7oKHjDgt41258A-ImdKCOSAojbcPGAFwWamL4atYrpNynlsMisAWWIIBCePsWI0h-cz83hTsmxSOuqykFtB1lDOCrWLS5PuLHOUyhWRVqUtnjVJincx9tYuVQxuVBcXben3FRvUkMZ8jkHVADR_XAP34koOOg=w640-h530" width="640" /></a></div><br />I ended Day 1 in 6th place on 29 tournament points.<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">Day 2<br /></span></b><br />Game 1 vs Damon Jordan: 7-4 (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">Look for Xantos's writeup later this week!</span>)<br /><br />Damon was running a Dooku list with a Recusant, Munificent Star Frigate (flag) and two Hardcells, choosing Abandoned Mining Facility to play. His raid tokens meant I struggled to farm much from the objective, and the Recusant came in fast targeting the Interdictor. The Recusant brought the Interdictor low but paid with it’s life, meaning that the remaining ships had to take up the damage, and they did drop the Interdictor. Damon’s flagship was blocked in by my Onager and did eventually drop, leaving the Hardcells to flee. This was a tough game as my non-engineering token generation is lacking.<br /><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfv_P7XjzxB6FQHeMGwM_f-jkfBmrm9AVuCmY9JqZZ31mMqvjKR44V57MTEoGnAJYuqWqU1fIXNTd6VaH3YxFz4-lk0eKWpV2Avlcyy2xQ1Why4vZa1sUXEeX3tuib69dMesOugZM-r5HX-fJspcCtv5D4Rq6pcQpQspcjbMoE7KravUZc7HDl7A_MIQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="900" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfv_P7XjzxB6FQHeMGwM_f-jkfBmrm9AVuCmY9JqZZ31mMqvjKR44V57MTEoGnAJYuqWqU1fIXNTd6VaH3YxFz4-lk0eKWpV2Avlcyy2xQ1Why4vZa1sUXEeX3tuib69dMesOugZM-r5HX-fJspcCtv5D4Rq6pcQpQspcjbMoE7KravUZc7HDl7A_MIQ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br />Game 2 vs Louis-André st-Laurent: 9-2<br /><br />Louis-André was running an IDS2 carrier with Moff Jerjjerod and a bunch of squads, and a Raider with Instigator to boot. Playing Doomed Station I was able to farm a lot of points from the objective, while our flag ships tackled each other, with my Disposable Capacitors lending a hand. The ISD dropped at the end of turn 3/4 when Maarek pulled a structural damage critical card, dealing just enough damage. The raider came in on turn 5 to kill the Gozanti’s and farm some objective points.<br /><br />Game 3 vs Adam Newton: 7-4<br /><br />Adam was running his standard Ackbar on an Assault Frigate II, with two CR90’s and a collection of squads. This was the closest game for the bid wars, where Adam has a 10 point bid, but my 14 point bed managed to keep second player. We played Ion Storm, with his fleet coming fast down the middle looking to out flank me. His flagship and CR90’s dealt solid damage to my Interdictor, while I shot back with my ships and Maarek killing one CR90. As we were both thinking tactically about the game, we hit the time limit during turn 5, which was rough for Adam as on turn 6 he would have killed my Interdictor swinging likely to him, but we were told to stop.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiD8UrHqAX-PvzJl0-Q7e8pPdOqdtPzd7oKHjDgt41258A-ImdKCOSAojbcPGAFwWamL4atYrpNynlsMisAWWIIBCePsWI0h-cz83hTsmxSOuqykFtB1lDOCrWLS5PuLHOUyhWRVqUtnjVJincx9tYuVQxuVBcXben3FRvUkMZ8jkHVADR_XAP34koOOg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="762" height="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiD8UrHqAX-PvzJl0-Q7e8pPdOqdtPzd7oKHjDgt41258A-ImdKCOSAojbcPGAFwWamL4atYrpNynlsMisAWWIIBCePsWI0h-cz83hTsmxSOuqykFtB1lDOCrWLS5PuLHOUyhWRVqUtnjVJincx9tYuVQxuVBcXben3FRvUkMZ8jkHVADR_XAP34koOOg=w640-h530" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Did John just copy the above picture? Prove I didn't!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Game 4 vs Daniel Unzeitig: 6-5<br /><br />This game was almost a carbon copy of the previous game 4 match. However, this time I had learnt from my mistakes, knowing to hold my Gozanti’s and squads back from his rogues. In the whole game I rolled two dice and Daniel rolled 1, ending the game on a 6-5.<br /><br />I ended day 2 in 2nd place with 29 tournament points (again), just losing out on 1st to Jason Hughley by MoV.<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">Day 3<br /></span></b><br />Game 1 vs Adam Newton: 7-4<br /><br />A rematch against Adam was good to have after how the previous game ended. We still played Ion Storm and Adam send the Flagship and Jainas Light down the middle, while the other CR90 went around my flank. On turn 2 I managed to put both the flagship and Jainas Light into the black dice range of the Onager’s ignition token, Jason moved the Assault Frigate first so I took a shot at Jainas Light one-shotted it. At this point Jason was on damage control, pulling the flagship, squads and GR75’s to the other board edge. The outflanking CR90 came in on the final turn to ram a Gozanti to death, however this left it in the rear arc of both my capital ships, and in range of Maarek and Jendon, which caused it to go down too.<br /><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnqJJdlz0pJ3bMG0ZOEdJGreyDw3w3hDCdFNQlY8KJ5EEOFrqY2ZuO7VW0LGIOh6aCHQUhNUilTmBTyYD-z6hL8HAPcpG_6Pmk07GEqem5SnXM2XFgCKFHv9PHBlFIsxa2ad5c22mxdv5DchH27DppO5xwICAgY9zTXuizitfYtZ7wTt4EVSqVJaMXmA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="757" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnqJJdlz0pJ3bMG0ZOEdJGreyDw3w3hDCdFNQlY8KJ5EEOFrqY2ZuO7VW0LGIOh6aCHQUhNUilTmBTyYD-z6hL8HAPcpG_6Pmk07GEqem5SnXM2XFgCKFHv9PHBlFIsxa2ad5c22mxdv5DchH27DppO5xwICAgY9zTXuizitfYtZ7wTt4EVSqVJaMXmA=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br />Game 2 vs Daniel Unzeitig: 7-4<br /><br />Finally, after the two previous games, Daniel and I had to actually fight each other. This was by far the technically hardest game I have played, as Daniels skill with the CR90’s meant that every move I made was incredibly important. Through the use of proximity mines, squadrons and two CR90’s, Daniel brough my flagship down at the end of turn 3, while losing one CR90’s in the process. Looking to table me he turned the other CR90’s towards the Interdictor, however one more CR90 dropped soon after, and with his squads tied up with my squads the damage was not there. He ended up ramming on of my Gozantis to death before fleeing with only his flagship and a few squads remaining.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJLOktQ8UC16zYoOHXppjdBM5infzTVU95aZFjsJWNbrp7Ikc3Bc5Z6s9LnEy-YiD5MSahgkly8OfYK0-KNEDqPweDOYLfe-r7Okv_b_ccLnGt9Ox-WtMtOYEGmpDHJ87_YhS1bm5RWGGevzegXmocQMPdz6kitb2F_0w5l13Dw8g4c1giYEDJLtbTqA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="672" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJLOktQ8UC16zYoOHXppjdBM5infzTVU95aZFjsJWNbrp7Ikc3Bc5Z6s9LnEy-YiD5MSahgkly8OfYK0-KNEDqPweDOYLfe-r7Okv_b_ccLnGt9Ox-WtMtOYEGmpDHJ87_YhS1bm5RWGGevzegXmocQMPdz6kitb2F_0w5l13Dw8g4c1giYEDJLtbTqA=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #2b00fe;">And for all the marbles....</span><br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhu-TuaySU9chTsQwCeEph2tXMREIevpDeOevxUveF6KXrnxUjtDE5BboIedG0D8kU6x0tcbqvGFCWehxHl6K1k0VG0K3V3gY4uRK_fzJ6_F32uRbBgesDvEjBwZrmTMwFfK9kCuSeEOUosezNV35En1bsch8mPHqbdky7D3VWdHNnzY60YRCtOP6ZBCg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="518" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhu-TuaySU9chTsQwCeEph2tXMREIevpDeOevxUveF6KXrnxUjtDE5BboIedG0D8kU6x0tcbqvGFCWehxHl6K1k0VG0K3V3gY4uRK_fzJ6_F32uRbBgesDvEjBwZrmTMwFfK9kCuSeEOUosezNV35En1bsch8mPHqbdky7D3VWdHNnzY60YRCtOP6ZBCg=w635-h640" width="635" /></a></div><br />Game 3 vs Jason Hughley: 6-5<br /><br />Jason was running his double Onager fleet with Romodi. I have faced a fleet like this before with mine, and know that I would struggle to close the ignition gap with my Interdictor limited to speed 2, however I would try my hardest. We played Ion storm, and through Grav Shift I was able to move the obstacles out of the way to deny him his Romodi advantage. His Cataclysm deployed facing my fleet while his flagship was outflanking me. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOCm_sBoA88IH7BH7fk25AHlVPYqrPnxD4FDKTMRAZbO2rZFb6ahucM8j4xy4DS9mUcFOb3NTWEKrJls0gkc4BH9-72-kF_7VhrWY0yszDSabBv1_hKygPfuPj7glmJn9JiZSdcDhETei_Siwvr843pdMYdpoNPEpWwImDcWidn1NULRTl21lzTlTNMw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="605" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOCm_sBoA88IH7BH7fk25AHlVPYqrPnxD4FDKTMRAZbO2rZFb6ahucM8j4xy4DS9mUcFOb3NTWEKrJls0gkc4BH9-72-kF_7VhrWY0yszDSabBv1_hKygPfuPj7glmJn9JiZSdcDhETei_Siwvr843pdMYdpoNPEpWwImDcWidn1NULRTl21lzTlTNMw=w640-h512" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div>On turn 2 Cataclysm shot my flagship, dealing the critical card, ‘Depowered Armament’, which meant I lost the ignition shot from my flagship at his Onager. This was probably the worst card I could have drawn, as I lost around 8 damage onto his ship. I had to take a step away from the game to regain my composure, and reassess my objectives in the game. Through disposable capacitors, and my flagship getting into close range I did deal some good damage to Cataclysm, but not before I lost my Onager.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjM1LpOsFy34DPSB5p44N23TwRVt59Ch7PzyHatK1yF-E3pOOWlVIYtAmWSHoo3Gm4-g8b29L1BX0dVtr0nLLK-TocNJxZUaQlg3pCmnYXcC5CI4bNjKCPm5FHtUQFJssGZEy6UniK64brOBAXkXOkmOhn2CMwArDby-312s6hsx0etnj6E3HK-nkX2oA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="640" height="553" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjM1LpOsFy34DPSB5p44N23TwRVt59Ch7PzyHatK1yF-E3pOOWlVIYtAmWSHoo3Gm4-g8b29L1BX0dVtr0nLLK-TocNJxZUaQlg3pCmnYXcC5CI4bNjKCPm5FHtUQFJssGZEy6UniK64brOBAXkXOkmOhn2CMwArDby-312s6hsx0etnj6E3HK-nkX2oA=w640-h553" width="640" /></a></div><br />I used Maarek and the Interdictor to finish off cataclysm while Jason’s flagship moved in. On turn 4 Jason’s flagship landed on an asteroid, drawing the card ‘Projector Misaligned’, causing him to lose all 5 shields on the front arc. My Interdictor was then able to block the Onager from leaving, gaining a double arc so it continued to overlap the rock. At the top of turn 5 his flagship had 1 hull remaining, so he shot my Interdictor dealing all but 1 damage to it. This meant that he then rammed my ship killing us both – leading to a mutual tabling. After some research a mutual tabling causes a 6-5 win to the second player no matter the objective.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCpDZqmbUGerueSXgvbOrorL-xHmFWIy0S_EQq1i1hh0SI3J6U-4f_-Oohf4Bt6Lpvouz2MiATcXs-dfqOi15-CFFJWaR4qBTPWvofL2CNZv7-o1V5nd7LlMbO4gfshz5sqCrpDUBWsTxDMeuVVsYieq6cZVcxJqybF_xWYUok5BeA1S4_pq37oSO4hg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="478" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCpDZqmbUGerueSXgvbOrorL-xHmFWIy0S_EQq1i1hh0SI3J6U-4f_-Oohf4Bt6Lpvouz2MiATcXs-dfqOi15-CFFJWaR4qBTPWvofL2CNZv7-o1V5nd7LlMbO4gfshz5sqCrpDUBWsTxDMeuVVsYieq6cZVcxJqybF_xWYUok5BeA1S4_pq37oSO4hg=w621-h640" width="621" /></a></div><br />I ended day 3 in 1st place with 20 tournament points – winning the 2023 World Championships.<br /><br />Overall it is hard to me to be nothing but pleased with my performance and play over the three days, I enjoyed every game I played and every opponent was lovely to play against. I don’t believe I made many mistakes with my strategy or play style, with being second player knowing that I’d generally be the one dictating the kind of game that gets played. And am of course absolutely ecstatic to have won the World Championship.<br /><br />Going into the tournament my aim was always to have fun and get into the top 50% of what ever day I was playing and win one game, even on day 3 my aim remained get top 4 – having no clue that I might win the whole thing. It was only when I was told by a judge that all games had finished and I’d won, did I allow myself to finally get excited and acknowledge the win.<br /><br />The entire tournament was an absolute pleasure to attend, especially as there aren’t too many players in my local area, to see so many players competing and enjoying the game was amazing. Also, getting to talk to so many players, sometimes finally putting a face to a discord handle was great, and just generally having a great time.<br /><br />Being able to travel to the USA, so far from home, to play at the premiere of tabletop gaming was such an honour and privilege. And I do thank all of the UK players I’ve played against in the past for helping me become a better player myself, could not have done it without you.<br /><br />And so finally I will say thank you to our whole community for being amazing, and I look forward to coming back next year to defend the title!<br /><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Thanks James! We've got a few more of these reports lined up and some already written! Any interest in getting your own out there? Email me at geek19@gmail.com!</span></div>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-23366430814236819172023-04-11T20:29:00.002-05:002023-04-11T20:34:06.639-05:00Gilarius and THE Sector Fleet Game!<p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: inherit;">I'm currently in process of getting more of these together; I've got a write-up from James, the winner, who I appreciate and have in a longer format that I promise I am getting to but currently have a bit of editing to do, along with a few more. However, today I have Gilarius from the UK. As a man after my own heart running Leia, how could I NOT give him the floor? Hit the jump for the details!</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgESbqCHqN_cRBFv6LdyxVm16g8zO4cvxtLTFDHdt3wZLBkoiCedXVjDN3MJMBzkNzQmcRkxWm4ISn8m3qI7vpL34VIlZ9IOy1HUgobAMcVKPWtiRYuAvqc8iTUyBZxpYR26kaMuFVvtjcZCQgCqZRJzSibu18Y4VCJAM2VsA8kfEV5nRfAoxJlWW9A5g" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1200" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgESbqCHqN_cRBFv6LdyxVm16g8zO4cvxtLTFDHdt3wZLBkoiCedXVjDN3MJMBzkNzQmcRkxWm4ISn8m3qI7vpL34VIlZ9IOy1HUgobAMcVKPWtiRYuAvqc8iTUyBZxpYR26kaMuFVvtjcZCQgCqZRJzSibu18Y4VCJAM2VsA8kfEV5nRfAoxJlWW9A5g" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: inherit;">I have been advised to tell you lot that it is in fact, coming home. Also, Richmond FC wooo.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a name='more'></a></span></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 19pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sector Fleet at the World Championships 2023</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (With All The Nebulons.)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 468px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="468" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/TnM8VfulSitJL4UgfA6L_MUZrQxwN_ATrKckwHHXuKRwDc03-Kew4Gr9R4SVZj-ytvt0VeN-nzrPbudCIPXBt8EjcCgBIbbph3oRRuXxNC2gEZ1vUl7LGEVu2z1NpMvxRQc-CtwY3hjuLfBaClKk-Ds" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, I own a Nebulon suitable for playing X-Wing with. And an Arquitens too.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gilarius (aka Ian F aka ‘that Nebulon Guy’) here.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Nebulon is a poor, maligned ship. It is neglected by almost all players, used only because of its titles 95% of the time – and fails to pull its weight in many of the games it is present for.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John wrote a fine article about it</span><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/02/nebulon-bs-jousting-for-fun-and-profit.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. He illustrates nicely what it is good at and what it is bad at.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Sadly for the Nebulon, its weaknesses far outweigh its strengths. Most of the time…</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Why do I play Nebulons then? Well, there was one large reason: several years ago, when I first started playing Armada, I ended up buying some second hand lots of ships. After selling off a spare Victory or two, I found myself with 5 Nebulons. No-one wanted to buy any of these off me. I didn’t want to waste them completely, so I asked around for fleet ideas using at least three. Justin Read suggested what turned into my first tournament fleet:</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 Nebulons (the cheapass version, also called the ‘Support Frigate’. This is the one I use exclusively), each with Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (LTTs had not been released) and Auxiliary Shields Team (recently released); and Leia Commander on board a CR90a with Jaina’s Light title and TRC. This was the 38pt commander version. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">(I remember those days....)</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I tested the fleet out and loved it immediately. The ISD was the then king of the hill and about 75% of fleets I was facing had one. 5 Nebulons annihilated an ISD. 2 turns to kill it, and generally no Nebulons would be dead in return, although two or three would be limping. SSDs also died easily. And any enemy large ship that was silly enough to park in my front arcs.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I took them to my very first Armada tournament: a Regional, being held in Stirling in Scotland. I won all 3 matches, finishing in 8</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> place. Not large wins, but far better than I expected.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Massed Nebulons worked very well! Or so I thought…</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over the next two years, I discovered that their weaknesses were quite hard to cover up: those narrow front arcs that allowed such easy double-arcs on enemy large ships also exposed their sides. Bomber squadrons killed them easily. Gladiators (well, Demolisher at least), and MC30s would avoid their fronts and kill them in their sides. CR90s could kite them and win the damage race easily. I tried several variations, but in the end I had to accept their fate: w</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ith practice, I could win 75% of my games – but rarely by enough points to place well at events.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But my mantra that if you had enough Nebulons you could kill anything and everything led me towards theorycrafting fleets for Sector Fleet games. Covid and lockdowns world-wide prevented me from testing them out – but then Phoerix on discord proposed an online 800pts tournament!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I played a test game. And, to my utter disappointment, I had to report to Phoerix that spamming lots and lots of small ships was not a good thing for his event. They made the games take too long for a world-wide event where random time-zones were already an issue, and the unfortunate victim of the Nebulons really didn’t enjoy being blown to smithereens.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Consequently, the event changed rules to promote large ships and restrict my beloved Nebulons.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The ‘Monster Truck Rules’ are much fairer for larger points battles though and I recommend them highly – for every small base ship or flotilla you have, you must take one large ship or two medium ships.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lockdown over, covid pandemic easing, playing in person resumed. AMG announced the World Championships to be held at Adepticon in 2023!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Right, I just need an invitation!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">London got a World’s Open Qualifier. Only 21 players turned up. Ok, I have a chance! I went unbeaten on day 1 to get the invite, and then finished 3</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">rd</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> behind a certain James McCartney and Jacek from Poland on day 2.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then it was announced that one of the side events at the World Championships would be 800pts Sector Fleet!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With no special fleet restrictions!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If I was ever going to get to use my ridiculous fleet with 13 Nebulons and a Pelta, this was it. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who cares about making day 3 anyway? I was going to play Sector Fleet and enjoy myself!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 17pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Fleet</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-13 Nebulons (Aux Shields Team apiece) - I did have to borrow 5 and their AST cards;</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-1 Assault Pelta (Leia, Intensify Firepower!, Hondo officer).</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">794pts. I dithered about whether to add anything else to the Pelta, but couldn’t decide between Ex Racks, Phoenix Home to add Raymus and swap Hondo for Ahsoka, or Aux Shield Team. In the end I went with the 6pt bid to keep it simple.</span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhU4nVtKBV2b98__OhPVKoxPHcF1u42miIgobnboAggwfMApTDN1AJn-r3k3xGfhSV5kCnqUZ5e-WSPkKotdJ69UOW5obIXs7RucpoTV9_rqdpWix2XeSZj91GKi1ptRhLjl0HFYGF8NSJOKEzEbQjRhDx41BfGufxjXMXNodrCkR8HAFJcJaJbcgHepg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="641" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhU4nVtKBV2b98__OhPVKoxPHcF1u42miIgobnboAggwfMApTDN1AJn-r3k3xGfhSV5kCnqUZ5e-WSPkKotdJ69UOW5obIXs7RucpoTV9_rqdpWix2XeSZj91GKi1ptRhLjl0HFYGF8NSJOKEzEbQjRhDx41BfGufxjXMXNodrCkR8HAFJcJaJbcgHepg=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practicing!</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The ships needed names. My normal Nebulon fleet was called ‘The Nebulons of Death’ because they either killed stuff or died miserably trying. And those names needed to have a theme – of dying miserably. Sean Bean provided many more names than I needed, so I could avoid the most famous ones, and the ‘NebuBeans of Death’ were born!<br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had a wonderful time at the World Championships; my vague worry that I might do *too* well and have to play in the Top 8 cut was unfounded as I crashed out on day 1, so I could concentrate on my main event.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I met loads of people who were only distant voices across online games, or names on discord chat channels. Famous folks, like John and Eric who wrote this amazing resource for all new players and continue to support the game. Bloggers, podcasters, and just good folks who love Armada.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/5Luq38RpTUv8gnrZ0f6bUh2-5LQpLqoOJpDtAAQZyMe7WRc05CW7ytOQkHuBICcvJ6J4GnLpUJHGkMVK8xkeNSo_5pQHlYaLvsLEH3RWisF_oLwrFrvJCfTMsFyien8PaOK8yCZC27Xobu4a3SKj7XU" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Who are all these people anyway?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 462px; overflow: hidden; width: 346px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img height="462" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/V0PU62xA87jPuXCx3iVDcIMAcHY2AS6vqLfwYh7D9uz_BOuzWwlbcSRINkFqC1WUdVjK_ZhdMzJzJef6pzIBIkcLkmedqB2d62Mw_NqP_6e8m1GllehOOXelJfkbnGzfJZK2rM_fvldyGQ_SqzxMVQo" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="346" /></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">James, looking suitably amazed.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Karneck, of course, and his judging team. Ion Radio. Grant. And three of my friends from the UK: Chris, Rhys, and the new World Champion – James McCartney. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whilst the top 8 battled it out, I played two games with my NebuBeans.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Game One, vs Robin.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Robin had a fully-equipped Executor-II class SSD, two Interdictors, and two Gozantis.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had the bid, chose first, and picked Robin’s Fleet Ambush.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 468px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="468" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/WAT1ivJGEe6D-kGEtvgN3uU_VjfAbLj1SeqM6EQrMTpb2GVZVgmlrLOKslgB8PNuFzGwjhCFakFpcHCV1QFfwYkE8FfOYJ7Byw03nq1DWAcJIIJCOA6-RkRm4YKK5ak8RjhaKTo2rio88yzaf_XbL-8" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Turn 1, deployment</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This went well for both of us: the SSD could reliably one-shot Nebulons by getting triple accuracies and 8 (or more) damage per front arc shot; meanwhile the sheer weight of fire meant that his ships burned down pretty quickly!</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 526px; overflow: hidden; width: 394px;"><img height="526" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/7gO7zuR_UFQxX1RJXpOedFEAlRnRBnBkltfxaf26Yrjffng6tvXWZ04J85uEfNh1xPWzH43N1-Gfc4GJGiqhGenHsc9Fqf4rHT6jOhjR3wUec7yQ4PcvWJZSyuZ4u2N5aTVZbbFsCBx_TyOuzSe1QIk" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="394" /></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">33 damage cards needed!</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I tabled him in exchange for 8 Nebulons. A good win, very enjoyable. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the most fun games of Armada I’ve played…but, as it turned out, not *the* best game…</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Game Two, vs Truthiness</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (aka Chris Fritz)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My first game against a ‘name’ from the various blogs and discord. Truthi had brought Bail Organa on a Venator 2; plus a pair of Venator 1s running fleet commands (AFFM and IF); and 3 Peltas, with bombing upgrades – BCC, and a pair of Fighter Coordination Teams, to help his EIGHT (yes, eight) ARC170s to kill my ships, plus Kickback, Axe, Ahsoka, and Splashakin.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have I mentioned that Nebulons really, really dislike being bombed a lot? I wasn’t afraid of his ships…but those ARCs could wreck my fleet!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I again had the bid, went first, and picked Truthi’s Blockade Run. This may or may not have been the ‘best’ choice, but as soon as I saw it I asked Truthi if he wanted to play it. He said ‘Yes!’ so we played it.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Observe the greatest Blockade Run there has ever been in the entire history of Armada, possibly the greatest game of Armada ever. Just look at it. Isn’t it beautiful?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLlYHdrsp-v6tmP17NUuv_TZpbCUrss9VMTZgRMGochBC2wdK4ohjjl3ee1Wy2C8c0vy6yBj1CXdtOgufcu3IasKZeaFkfdJDN44jXTTETO-NX6_w3rKPA22k-y5pu5MU5b3jf2R1psTXVKw2rfs_F38-Mz5-v-bhVuTPOHHC0vFCP4T03WF4MEK1Mpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLlYHdrsp-v6tmP17NUuv_TZpbCUrss9VMTZgRMGochBC2wdK4ohjjl3ee1Wy2C8c0vy6yBj1CXdtOgufcu3IasKZeaFkfdJDN44jXTTETO-NX6_w3rKPA22k-y5pu5MU5b3jf2R1psTXVKw2rfs_F38-Mz5-v-bhVuTPOHHC0vFCP4T03WF4MEK1Mpg=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deployment. A full blockade!</td></tr></tbody></table></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0Pow-U9L5S2Asv4s-x7nx1CQ62f_HZOauX1kb7d6vC_gF7oxCFGA1K2-zMAHXugs8oCg4Y7tuypVxFc1OdJ-Cg8tDGUS01RzLbWtJ_9zG31WFm4Z2jGI-m0DrYjZYdkO4Ew-uBQ3g8wtyLEE3DD7nBFyGioyMeX5KbqwHtCrYULDrBxDxPRUCXqTcBQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0Pow-U9L5S2Asv4s-x7nx1CQ62f_HZOauX1kb7d6vC_gF7oxCFGA1K2-zMAHXugs8oCg4Y7tuypVxFc1OdJ-Cg8tDGUS01RzLbWtJ_9zG31WFm4Z2jGI-m0DrYjZYdkO4Ew-uBQ3g8wtyLEE3DD7nBFyGioyMeX5KbqwHtCrYULDrBxDxPRUCXqTcBQ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yup, that’s a Gunline alright!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhARY36NWnAx0-ZzuOsNqLAlsQ0vm-700i8qD6fkqKny3GVaIyoZ3bTTgVkWgK5pQmLRxLwhHRUzxLvJPn0gZhIG2eADAmOogbcb290-9Po-Xgg1mUiaq2NmaMUCjP29ioOdVCEIoqyTC1NDxx4WYMsiJCNUjK-p-w-hCdQIrZuY46wkbnye7iR6ws5NQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1422" height="539" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhARY36NWnAx0-ZzuOsNqLAlsQ0vm-700i8qD6fkqKny3GVaIyoZ3bTTgVkWgK5pQmLRxLwhHRUzxLvJPn0gZhIG2eADAmOogbcb290-9Po-Xgg1mUiaq2NmaMUCjP29ioOdVCEIoqyTC1NDxx4WYMsiJCNUjK-p-w-hCdQIrZuY46wkbnye7iR6ws5NQ=w640-h539" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Turn 3, no deaths yet....</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEijkLinammR7bKhp6Z0cDtLKBsPtfzfscLOcroRh2VdA4NtIePgtsfdFMoFB3g534Gpy0UQl9UmgFMezXpVOVdfW4197wxwXgHvD-QPxoNKwUXFM1VrC6bcugErlIom2Jze_C2Ae2W9PbmL52WHkGOBXXRSXtopNBe5UXBmS8Cw0yPFTVh3A9mzIumAtA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1596" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEijkLinammR7bKhp6Z0cDtLKBsPtfzfscLOcroRh2VdA4NtIePgtsfdFMoFB3g534Gpy0UQl9UmgFMezXpVOVdfW4197wxwXgHvD-QPxoNKwUXFM1VrC6bcugErlIom2Jze_C2Ae2W9PbmL52WHkGOBXXRSXtopNBe5UXBmS8Cw0yPFTVh3A9mzIumAtA=w640-h482" width="640" /></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Turn 4 begins</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We played to the end of turn 4, where we were told to stop and pack up as quickly as we could. No time left!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’d lost 5 Nebulons; Truthi had lost two peltas and two Venators. An 8-3 to me, but he’d have clawed back more points if we’d played on. 3 more Nebulons were on fire and I’d struggle to kill any more of his ships – although I reckon my own pelta would have been able to block his last pelta from reaching the end-zone.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Are massed Nebulons the best possible Sector Fleet? Hell no! </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But they were the most fun it’s possible to have!</span></span></p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-1e9ec0d0-7fff-7fa9-f53f-aed90f2d0ca5"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Nick Litrenta won the event, with a pair of 10-1 wins. I finished in 4</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> place.)</span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b00fe;">Thanks Ian! We've got a few more of these reports lined up and some already written! Any interest in getting your own out there? Email me at geek19@gmail.com!</span></p><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-138144784941084250" itemprop="description articleBody" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; orphans: 2; position: relative; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; width: 706px; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="clear: both;"></div></div>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-1381447849410842502023-04-03T16:40:00.001-05:002023-04-03T16:40:19.128-05:00Black Admiral's Worlds Write-Up!<p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Today's Writeup: Black Admiral! Top 8 player write-up below!</span></span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD8KLea07pGATZlFL4moYsjw-bISrHa7aEoCYi5wa49qL20vViExp7q15rUfb8jvdHJMavo4uLFKW9iIdF4DAkWNfuxEz77r4EV-lQpiaI4i640D5GZhWbbsnv8Y0KafVQ2KMsyWZef-beTX5n6L6AKaKmEUq9JLrfDKmjW9GbwtJ3YJgXUEnUq_P_CA/s760/GeneralRieekan-BaseSeries5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="570" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD8KLea07pGATZlFL4moYsjw-bISrHa7aEoCYi5wa49qL20vViExp7q15rUfb8jvdHJMavo4uLFKW9iIdF4DAkWNfuxEz77r4EV-lQpiaI4i640D5GZhWbbsnv8Y0KafVQ2KMsyWZef-beTX5n6L6AKaKmEUq9JLrfDKmjW9GbwtJ3YJgXUEnUq_P_CA/w300-h400/GeneralRieekan-BaseSeries5.png" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looks just like him, coat and everything!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Long have I waited... And I believe we all did. Four years of break between World Championships is good for football (the real football; not the game where you carry an egg with your hands - sorry, not sorry!) but not for our beloved Armada. Yet that huge gap only boosted the hype growing inside of me for the last season.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ_nJxYYftlgQXQ6n3s3yr1aiRoQ5CCL0bPzNkXC-IVazKjUf0Cd2RY3TCs-p18fZmBht9DGtX1z3s75JqMB_OXPWdiBzZBfzrChrn3g5P2z4qRobE3kgXI0_7OoU8-kx84HlaQ6vJPkL_IiXnDEkb_YVSd4lEnTGdqwF0LZHSu3c3dKA128R1tYYBkw/s1779/screenshot_20230402_002924.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1779" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ_nJxYYftlgQXQ6n3s3yr1aiRoQ5CCL0bPzNkXC-IVazKjUf0Cd2RY3TCs-p18fZmBht9DGtX1z3s75JqMB_OXPWdiBzZBfzrChrn3g5P2z4qRobE3kgXI0_7OoU8-kx84HlaQ6vJPkL_IiXnDEkb_YVSd4lEnTGdqwF0LZHSu3c3dKA128R1tYYBkw/w388-h640/screenshot_20230402_002924.jpg" width="388" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With my list packed; I came to Adepticon with hopes to continue a great streak that I had in European tournaments recently. Knowing how tough will it be; I chosen my flag list; Rieekan MSU Rogues (picture for the reference). Pretty classic one, so I will focus on small choices:</p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Rieekan (over Cracken): While I understand that in ship-heavy metas people prefer Cracken to counter Mar Tuuk, Salvos etc; I try to find balance between being good vs ships and good vs squads. Intel's nerf only buffed zombies, so to me Rieekan is crucial to win squadron battles, or at least keep enemy bombers away. Second thing is; some of Corvettes may die eventually anyway and Cracken's obstruction wouldn't change much. Rieekan provides me at least one more important activation, so to me; he is superior in that comparison.<br />- Lack of flotilla: Activations ain't that important anymore, so after winning Open in UK, I resigned from GR-75. I decided that I need Adar Talon and at least minor bid, so I had to cut some points.<br />- Proximity Mines: Underrated piece of Armada. They are especially good against other MSUs (MC30; I'm looking at you), MK2s, Munis, Demos or key flotillas. They have potential to screw up opponent's formation or force them to choose whether to flak squads or take some damage instead. Another thing is that; as I forfeit one GR-75; I had to swap Most Wanted to either Precision Strike, Rift Assault or Ion Storm. Last two are avoidable for certain lists, or easier for opponent to score as well. Precision Strike however stacks with 3 (up to 4 with Adar) Bombers that I have, but mostly with my TRC. Combined with Mines; I can easily score some early points, or possibly dig for some nasty crits.<br />- Fighter Ambush (over Asteroid Tactics or Capture the Vip): I simply assume that I need to have all farming Objectives against squadless lists. Against most of squads-oriented builds; I will either go 1st due to bid, or win the engagement, or won't let my opponent score e.g. due to draw (as it often is with FA). With such maneuverable ships; I don't really suffer that much from being outdeployed.<br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Geek note: also a proxy mine fan, as well. See, I'm cool!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's what it is with the list. I won't briefly describe my matches; 11 games would be wall of text and that privilege is reserved for the ones who reached absolute peak. I just wanna thank all my opponents; Mack Dalla Lana, Michael Gill, Clement Bin, Jason Dedrick, Nick Brown, Jason Hughley, Patrick Doupe, Justin Rasmussen and James McCartney three times <span style="height: 1.2em; width: 1.2em;"><img alt="😅" aria-label="😅" class="an1" data-emoji="😅" loading="lazy" src="https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/15.0/1f605/32.png" style="height: 1.2em; vertical-align: middle; width: 1.2em;" /></span> (congrats on the win, well deserved!). It was a real pleasure to play against y'all, nice sportsmanship and really tough nut to crack.</p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When it comes to my games; I can only refer to; how they corresponded with the list I played and with my assumptions from before the tournament. Saying that; I'm really happy about the choice I made; almost each game has been decided by the other piece of my list; mines, squads, firepower, commander, mobility, or some of them combined. I was never in position in which my opponent's list meant I couldn't score high against it (apart of one mirror match, but that's understandable, as it's usually the case). I knew that; as long as I won't make mistakes, it shall work properly in a longer perspective, and it turned out 100% accurate. Realising the plan in first 9 games, I made some crucial mistakes in 10th Round, so I couldn't recover. Everyone who makes it to the last stages of a huge tournament has appetite for more, but in the end I can't complain. Event was absolutely great, I've met fantastic people playing my favourite game - that's what you call a quality time!</p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite being quite sceptical about AMG on a daily basis; I have to admit that tournament was organized well, without significant delays or controversies. Additionaly the package around it was worthy; enough space, nice banners, great stream (thanks; Ion Radio!) etc. It really looked like World Championship of one of their games and looked like they care. Only thing that I have to provide negative feedback for is; such things as size of the cut cannot be changed in the manner it happened out there (from Top20 to Top26 - announced between the rounds). Even if intention is improvment of structure, even if side effect is positive (like more of lovely players can still have fun on a next day) - it just shouldn't happen; especially at Worlds. Tournament structure type can affect long term strategy, like for instance; choice of the list - it shouldn't be touched since like one week before the event at least.</p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall however; I enjoyed these few days like never before! Three days of play is absolutely exhausting but energy provided by interaction with great people compensates everything! One love for our great community; hope to see you eventually at future events. Who knows - maybe even in Europe? In Poland; you will be most welcome anytime!</p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Black Admiral over and out.</p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thanks Daniel! We've got a few more of these reports lined up and some already written! Any interest in getting your own out there? Email me at geek19@gmail.com!</span></p>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-16287980452991549412023-04-02T21:08:00.003-05:002023-04-03T16:39:02.472-05:00Armada Worlds 2023 LCQ Recap: Xantos1159<span style="color: #2b00fe;">In what I'm hoping will be the first of many of these, I've reprinted Xantos's LCQ write below the jump. There will hopefully be more of these, but for now, hit the jump for one of the LCQ winners!</span><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSOSqYDpneEFlcQ4xtBLdBhwQK63maG-BwTHGTz8I3mkknCgVcKAn5hPFZXwK-ot9HD0n5mRiasXdPncQA6DNN6w5q_0I6n2N0YieakrThyRuADVIISIlJ7lXI21jIQm6J_v9efQAnf0p1N9CELXqyybzRhu62dMj4Y4JQSLrMWQt8lajYzLDwNuI24w/s498/dooku.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="211" data-original-width="498" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSOSqYDpneEFlcQ4xtBLdBhwQK63maG-BwTHGTz8I3mkknCgVcKAn5hPFZXwK-ot9HD0n5mRiasXdPncQA6DNN6w5q_0I6n2N0YieakrThyRuADVIISIlJ7lXI21jIQm6J_v9efQAnf0p1N9CELXqyybzRhu62dMj4Y4JQSLrMWQt8lajYzLDwNuI24w/w640-h272/dooku.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amusingly, John was the one to grab this gif </td></tr></tbody></table><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>Greetings, blog-readers. My name is Damon, and I’m here to share some battle reports from the Star Wars: Armada World Championships, because John asked for some in the discord and I have an English degree, goddammit. You may know me from my performance at worlds this year (more on that later), or from my discord shenanigans (I’m Xantos1159 on discord, an amazing name chosen all the way back when I was 12), where I regularly make fun of comment on the Armada Podcast and hang out in Separatist chat, trying to help aspiring droid overlords. What follows is a very extended report (GPs not the only wordy one!) on my games and experience in the Star Wars: Armada Last Chance Qualifier, a tournament held at Adepticon prior to the actual World Championships. While worlds itself was restricted to people with invites from winning large tournaments, the LCQ was open to anyone, with the top 4 players advancing to worlds proper the next morning. With 50 top players signed up, it was going to be a tough ask. Let’s get into it!</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5JjW2bcgT66EI36BufvmU4GRhET8wUyBauRkHOO1ULzYh-e2r8Xz9WvNb9HU1ZT5z-HE7-X0SPtVSjsABXboe1RqHjd8PNThhnfpRtRwMlXNwQf_KJaCR8Le5HQSFofAERr8RDCC10X6o3kNI8pOJmraRuMq6oj97sJPLlGw7lSP1uCJhGenTSrz_nw/s261/lcq%20pic%201.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="261" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5JjW2bcgT66EI36BufvmU4GRhET8wUyBauRkHOO1ULzYh-e2r8Xz9WvNb9HU1ZT5z-HE7-X0SPtVSjsABXboe1RqHjd8PNThhnfpRtRwMlXNwQf_KJaCR8Le5HQSFofAERr8RDCC10X6o3kNI8pOJmraRuMq6oj97sJPLlGw7lSP1uCJhGenTSrz_nw/s1600/lcq%20pic%201.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rick Flair? And Dusty Rhodes was RIGHT THERE</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br />Worlds!<br /><br />I’m going to talk about the list first, because I’m boring like that and enjoy my preamble. I’ve been playing seppies since they were released and our best lists were triple munificent and a supporting hardcell (we’ve come so far since then… now we take a recusant), and armada for a couple months before that, in mid-2020. I actually started with Dooku before quickly moving onto kraken, who I considered slightly less useless for my triple muni-archetype. Thankfully, we soon got the providence and recusant, which kraken loves to provide accuracies for. I ran a prov with IF for a while alongside a muni and two hardcells, before swapping to a recusant with Patriot Fist, which I affectionately refer to as “The Reason Seps are Viable”. I enjoyed this list, and toyed around with a couple variants, including double munificent, hie on a muni, mar tuuk, more squads, and even a goz or two when RR1 came out, but nothing stood out as significantly better than the rest. While the rest of separatist players were salivating over RMM, a PF recusant with two thermal shield and pdic munis, I thought two munis were a bit inflexible, and easy for opponents to fly around. I actually left the separatist faction for a bit, trying out some empire lists in search of a stronger competitive list. Then, enter FoxOmega and The Star Wars Armada podcast.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmzQ0UqCUpACz0VdsihUAY4U10ZUU5rZfPH76Fs5NjWRT-Oa2h2C16vtZlY5oyaw3miAGhIB0VGszI8HCRGgwJvtAnPN-T8628hRR4-ZgZacC_wAEQdBBoX5SNgRldbOMinhmo311JL4DPsqe8W-bfGezAM0jwPov6lhDv79J8CreeHIE9xeeajGvESA/s257/lcq%20pic%202.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="257" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmzQ0UqCUpACz0VdsihUAY4U10ZUU5rZfPH76Fs5NjWRT-Oa2h2C16vtZlY5oyaw3miAGhIB0VGszI8HCRGgwJvtAnPN-T8628hRR4-ZgZacC_wAEQdBBoX5SNgRldbOMinhmo311JL4DPsqe8W-bfGezAM0jwPov6lhDv79J8CreeHIE9xeeajGvESA/s1600/lcq%20pic%202.jpg" width="257" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">100% accurate picture of FoxOmega</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>For those who haven’t heard, Fox co-hosts a podcast with Kelorn and Armchairjedi (formerly JulietWhiskey) where they cover recent tournaments, meta developments, and all things Star Wars Armada. I highly encourage everyone to give it a listen, if only to hear the hosts argue about food. Anyways, Fox is also a separatist player, and regularly talked about his Dooku obsession on the podcast. One of the lists he mentioned was shockingly similar to my last kraken fleet, except with the aforementioned Dooku at the helm. I decided to give it a shot.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoT31MCWVsLNAVu3C2TadCNHtp_DyGOZwimFmHLd7WODY8UjKfn3WLQI_e0XsQnCATld8NIgsiIsvtMxStw3jU5w7ElZ-fqBvDkgANtuh0RViglyADKUMq3E4y7y_UqxGAX9gqSopAV7rc_0d5gVX2iLsGl_E1R80xi0pJ-Mp9oBNQ7ob5GRmRfl5NBg/s300/lcq%20pic%203.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="175" data-original-width="300" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoT31MCWVsLNAVu3C2TadCNHtp_DyGOZwimFmHLd7WODY8UjKfn3WLQI_e0XsQnCATld8NIgsiIsvtMxStw3jU5w7ElZ-fqBvDkgANtuh0RViglyADKUMq3E4y7y_UqxGAX9gqSopAV7rc_0d5gVX2iLsGl_E1R80xi0pJ-Mp9oBNQ7ob5GRmRfl5NBg/w640-h373/lcq%20pic%203.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Dooku contemplating all the puns he can make with his list names</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>This is where I tell you that the fleet was amazing and clicked immediately and it was love at first sight and blah blah blah, but it wasn’t. I still thought Dooku was kinda trash. But I was enjoying my return to Separatists, and there was a tournament coming up, so I decided to make it work. I thought about what Dooku could do really well, and my answer at the time was objective play. The <strike>Fox</strike>FarmHawk and other second-player focused fleets were in vogue, so I cranked the bid up to 12, picked second player, and let Dooku do his raid thang. I’d been running ion storm with kraken, and thankfully it still works without him, albeit triggering the crit effect less often. Abandoned Mining Facility is the flashy objective, raiding opponents repair while Wat Tambor sucks up 50 points from the dust cloud r2. Finally, the bog standard infested fields rounds out the trio, either shoving rocks under ships or throwing hungry space worms at hopefully-helpless squadrons. It’s a nasty trio for opponents, and I was already practiced with all three objectives.</div><div><br />I did well in a few practice games, so I took the fleet to The Battle for Endor, an online tournament on TTS, where I ended up placing second overall, way outperforming any kraken fleet I’d flown. I tweaked the list, and took it to the Vassal World Cup with a reduced bid and the goal of learning how to play the list as first player. I ended up squeaking out of the pod phase, and did quite well in the swiss phase until I ran into Relent, who knocked me out of the running with his Sloane fleet (he ended up placing second overall, which makes me feel a bit better about the loss). I made a few more tweaks, dropped the bid again, and settled on this final version to bring to worlds:<br /><br />I’ve been looking forward to this<br />Author: Xantos1159<br /><br />Faction: Separatist Alliance<br />Commander: Count Dooku<br />Points: 394/400<br /><br />Assault Objective: Ion Storm<br />Defense Objective: Abandoned Mining Facility<br />Navigation Objective: Infested Fields<br /><br />Recusant Light Destroyer (85 points)<br />- Patriot Fist (6 points)<br />- Rune Haako (4 points)<br />- Sensor Team (5 points)<br />- Reserve Hangar Deck (3 points)<br />- Linked Turbolaser Towers (7 points)<br />- External Racks (4 points)<br />= 114 total ship cost<br /><br />[ flagship ] Munificent-class Star Frigate (73 points)<br />- Count Dooku (30 points)<br />- Sa Nalaor (5 points)<br />- Wat Tambor (5 points)<br />- Medical Team (1 points)<br />- Thermal Shields (5 points)<br />- Linked Turbolaser Towers (7 points)<br />- Point Defense Ion Cannons (4 points)<br />= 130 total ship cost<br /><br />Hardcell-class Battle Refit (52 points)<br />- Reserve Hangar Deck (3 points)<br />- Linked Turbolaser Towers (7 points)<br />= 62 total ship cost<br /><br />Hardcell-class Transport (47 points)<br />- Tikkes (2 points)<br />- Slicer Tools (7 points)<br />= 56 total ship cost<br /><br />4 Vulture-class Droid Fighter Squadron (32 points)<br />= 32 total squadron cost<br /><br />Honestly it looks like really standard separatist stuff to me, but I’ll walk through it just in case. The most important piece is the recusant, and is usually my last deployment. It goes fast and blows stuff up before usually exploding itself. I prefer ltt to swivels/trc/slaved/other turbos because generally I aim to double-arc starting t3 or 4, and occasionally I need to tell Maarek Stele to F off. I found that guaranteeing an accuracy is really important, and since I don’t have Kraken, sensor team gets the job done (I tried vet gunners instead, but it was still too inconsistent). Rune lets me use a nav dial t1 while still having banked tokens later in the game, and ex-racks make this thing MEAN at close. You’ll see it come into play in a couple of the games, but unfortunately my opponents were usually trying to prevent it from triggering. Lame.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihhhamHkfZGWfhvU1QD2g18jhCg-cMlM8pG4J7KdtuE2GA4R7i8uRxljdSRmL-CFAv4DfPuP242vYy0drQZy5whktqKRQWYIoAZnHJWD8d7KRyL8fwT949HOQn0aIpUuAP9QR7iJvKnRVCMD7MRMRfTofByJ5zWNW7t4Lup3BxitEFO7uy4dnPE0ZQHg/s334/lcq%20pic%204.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="334" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihhhamHkfZGWfhvU1QD2g18jhCg-cMlM8pG4J7KdtuE2GA4R7i8uRxljdSRmL-CFAv4DfPuP242vYy0drQZy5whktqKRQWYIoAZnHJWD8d7KRyL8fwT949HOQn0aIpUuAP9QR7iJvKnRVCMD7MRMRfTofByJ5zWNW7t4Lup3BxitEFO7uy4dnPE0ZQHg/w640-h428/lcq%20pic%204.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Enemies fleeing from the might of Patriot Fist</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>The muni is standard defense all the way down, with Sa Nalaor being a great additional layer of defense, often evading/rerolling nasty dice. Medical Team triggered 2/3 times in the tournament, once allowing the muni to survive on one hull, which is more than worth the points. I generally prefer thermals to ECM because I can use it twice in that crucial round, it doesn’t have a cost to refresh between rounds, and I don’t see a lot of dice-add in my games. The tikkes + slicer tools hardcell is there to actually shut down squadron or other crucial commands once they’ve cleared the raid, and generally just be a nuisance. The ships round out with a battle hardcell, a flexible piece that I can deploy first and nav to where I want to be, and then support my list with anti-ship or anti-squad, usually some mixture of both (you know I’m desperate when the battle hardcell starts pushing squads). I actually considered taking a second ltt battle refit over the slicer-cell, but decided to stick with what I knew (especially after seeing UFO win VWC with his Y-wings, can’t let those things run wild). Finally, 4 vultures (with two extra from RHD) add a few deployments and a bit of crucial anti-squad defense. Generally they’re able to delete a few key pieces with the help of all my ltt flak, as well as slow down some of the bombing. They did great work over the course of this tournament in most matches, only really folding to a couple Sloane lists.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0iqpa5H6Ukh5CVhafDgDHeTXtypz4-huXoULbogk4AfE11XICdrK1EaWNj_jtCeB81UmOFf4hL88hKLoVFGRq8xVfd948uHs4ZulHMCNWBmqs09PLkEot33_s0FvWPqmcgIwnIwwZX9-3DMv7yZfTHoRv2CFEWbwHco8MCmT0DeoMmV3yI9jCbWYCIw/s329/lcq%20pic%205.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="329" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0iqpa5H6Ukh5CVhafDgDHeTXtypz4-huXoULbogk4AfE11XICdrK1EaWNj_jtCeB81UmOFf4hL88hKLoVFGRq8xVfd948uHs4ZulHMCNWBmqs09PLkEot33_s0FvWPqmcgIwnIwwZX9-3DMv7yZfTHoRv2CFEWbwHco8MCmT0DeoMmV3yI9jCbWYCIw/w640-h512/lcq%20pic%205.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">They look so menacing, yet explode so fast</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>With the list recap out of the way, I’m ready to actually talk about the tournament! Are you excited? You should be! This was the biggest in-person Armada tournament ever (I think), and only my second in-person tournament (thanks, Covid). I was pumped, as was everyone else who traveled out to Chicago. Shoutouts to all the cool people I got to meet throughout the tournament! It was amazing putting faces to all the names I’d learned throughout the years, and getting to play some top-notch armada against some of the best players in the world. Seriously, this event was amazing, and I can’t wait to return next year, although hopefully with an actual invite this time. If I wanted to play in the actual worlds tournament, I needed to place in the top 4 of the last chance qualifier, which was stacked with 50 amazing players, all vying for one of those 4 spots.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbNXubNIJQM3SMsuWjUit17sKkFKfwGXJoMJoTxuNNBx4bopSbNufssTpW_1PEGXPbXYGggm0c77ObIXmnQoUEYiYSuXyR-56gK2R03ekJjd8JUvQKiSSsJNjmUZ-dFTV7OH5eLNNk2-U3sU7eWOhnPWOUrKnBF3rjCZnm-oo3XXF7zkzYPkUO7tLQmg/s406/lcq%20pic%206.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="305" data-original-width="406" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbNXubNIJQM3SMsuWjUit17sKkFKfwGXJoMJoTxuNNBx4bopSbNufssTpW_1PEGXPbXYGggm0c77ObIXmnQoUEYiYSuXyR-56gK2R03ekJjd8JUvQKiSSsJNjmUZ-dFTV7OH5eLNNk2-U3sU7eWOhnPWOUrKnBF3rjCZnm-oo3XXF7zkzYPkUO7tLQmg/w640-h480/lcq%20pic%206.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Players getting the rules run-down before the tourney</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br />I was confident I could win most of my matches, but winning big enough was another story. It wouldn’t matter if I went 4-0 if all my matches were 6-5. I needed to go for big wins. Luckily, the same was true for my opponents, meaning I could count on them not running away. One of us was going to win, and I just needed to make sure it was me. After some lovely leftover breakfast pizza, I headed to the venue for day one, nervously eyeing all the lists appearing around me. I hoped many of them would be inexperienced against Dooku with him being an unpopular admiral, and that they would be unprepared for my raid. However, I also had another secret weapon up my sleeve: this amazing world’s shirt with art by AdmiralTater, brought by John/Geek19 himself:</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0SAW_UJvnnQ6kPG4wSovMRu1ttbTBpKH-m6XePfZPk8SLDvSTkhSnyfYX9pXJCnzM3yNT6mynXG4spwDRjgvUzmZKzukZZHxY-LnVEiQL5A_tczejhzv2jTPylQfWtlQl0_RDLwvtqSodXlL1XNlwHyLfBrmHelQI9Kd1ea9xEJXiU7NJ6lBH1hiJcg/s424/lcq%20pic%207.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="419" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0SAW_UJvnnQ6kPG4wSovMRu1ttbTBpKH-m6XePfZPk8SLDvSTkhSnyfYX9pXJCnzM3yNT6mynXG4spwDRjgvUzmZKzukZZHxY-LnVEiQL5A_tczejhzv2jTPylQfWtlQl0_RDLwvtqSodXlL1XNlwHyLfBrmHelQI9Kd1ea9xEJXiU7NJ6lBH1hiJcg/w632-h640/lcq%20pic%207.jpg" width="632" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">With my amazing purple shirt on, how could I possibly lose? <span style="color: #2b00fe;">Get im, Grimace!</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Sooner than I was ready for, round 1 pairings were up. I was facing Jamie Nasmyth flying a Plo Koon list (full lists and standings are available <a href="https://t4.tools/events/4680669f-2be9-4cb7-99ea-d2410021783d">HERE</a>). Plo was on a Venator 2, supported by two peltas and a mix of y-wings and ARC-170s (alongside the usual Splashakin and Axe). I had bid and chose second, forcing a nasty choice for James, who eventually went with Infested Fields. Rather than risk running them over, he dropped his rocks on my side of the field, letting me grab all 5 infested tokens before the game was over, so I was already winning before we started deployment. To counteract this, he deployed the venator aggressively, flying right at my ships, with the two peltas trailing behind. He sent the squads in for an early run against PF, while my vultures bided their time.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgApz0j2n3nfzrrcwdGhgfMo5t0lDvC7kpCKNeH1KxMmAV60J06oOzmI_FRMC4-BWcj_dAMEjc4uK12R2XxLJMpv_BRSyvGEgxPUpbOaSv4Xxvet4uYUibXL1Mh8zPVl6MU-ONR390iAkz4-Txo1gfna7GyHtaeOdB4zV1ZNAHssl49cj5MxWba7YfuA/s363/lcq%20pic%208.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="363" height="526" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgApz0j2n3nfzrrcwdGhgfMo5t0lDvC7kpCKNeH1KxMmAV60J06oOzmI_FRMC4-BWcj_dAMEjc4uK12R2XxLJMpv_BRSyvGEgxPUpbOaSv4Xxvet4uYUibXL1Mh8zPVl6MU-ONR390iAkz4-Txo1gfna7GyHtaeOdB4zV1ZNAHssl49cj5MxWba7YfuA/w640-h526/lcq%20pic%208.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Jamie lining up his bombing run</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Due to his activation disadvantage and Dooku raid, his squads ended up out of position, with the bombers separated from the carriers and surrounded by hungry exogorths, while splashakin tried to deal with my vulture swarm. The Slicer tool hardcell chose this time to make its attack run, further hindering Jamie’s squad play. His Venator took heavy fire on the way in, and tried to turn away from Patriots to escape, only to be boxed in by a hardcell. With the rest of my fleet surrounding it, the venator dropped fast.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-zK54QzbWyEeMuIKL0m3lS9YgRjvcPNVFe5d82Q8eC2xcIaJ8dNiOdvnaEbUgEwswpN3iPJWFdimefr0SuX0YwaFxyR-Fg-_595hxbtZBp-9bp70vgGo6CIKpENK7RKy8_-hCJrswuWBePhKBhBFN0s4-7TAmtbP-95X_a1VCV_FqrmbSOdPEStqXA/s624/lcq%20pic%209.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="624" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-zK54QzbWyEeMuIKL0m3lS9YgRjvcPNVFe5d82Q8eC2xcIaJ8dNiOdvnaEbUgEwswpN3iPJWFdimefr0SuX0YwaFxyR-Fg-_595hxbtZBp-9bp70vgGo6CIKpENK7RKy8_-hCJrswuWBePhKBhBFN0s4-7TAmtbP-95X_a1VCV_FqrmbSOdPEStqXA/w640-h406/lcq%20pic%209.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Hastily edited meme go!</span><br style="text-align: left;" /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Things went from bad to worse for Jamie. With his squads still stranded and hounded by exogorths, my recusant was still healthy enough to launch an attack on his peltas, actually one-shotting one with an absolutely disgusting 10-damage roll, with an acc from sensor teams to lock the brace. His final pelta quickly fell to the rest of my fleet, with only a few vultures being claimed in return. When the debris settled, I had won 475-16, a 10-1 with the highest margin of victory possible (mov caps at 400), a great start to my day. Jamie was a great sport about it, and would go on to 10-1 his next opponent before eventually finishing the tourney in 36th.<br /><br />Since my first game was so fast, I had a bit of time to scout out the next round. There were several other players who got a 10-1 in the first round, including Colin flying a kuat + onager + demo, Scott flying another plo list with a clam and a victory, and Samuel, who was to be my r2 opponent. Keep those other names in mind though. They might show up later.<br /><br />Samuel and I ended up being top table that round, meaning we had the pleasure of playing on the Ion Radio Stream (Their channel is https://www.youtube.com/@IONRadio, and here’s the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/r-aOIOlaw4Q?feature=share&t=9901">link</a> to my match if you’d like to watch). They streamed throughout the entire event with an amazing setup, providing play-by-play for the top table, as well as analysis of the lists and events as a whole. Huge props to them for streaming the entire event; go check them out and give them all the youtube money. It was super easy to be on stream, and they were very accommodating and nice to chat with. Seriously, go check them out. They’re amazing.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOlxC_ctszkOcEX4TGfBNaJkx01bGfkULE9vq9hjKHd0dyh0GGA7Zo5S5uUrm5iywzt-bokwcPXRaHmDpqMTv51F0jF7JF7YfmKbDTulJ-HJc9fcY1gYiPQDLFkMb3Ix3opq9BB6UCACn37srQn1cpoYnFZhNMxKQXIf8X88gBsAh5FIc8N0Cc4Wneaw/s176/lcq%20pic%2010.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="176" data-original-width="176" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOlxC_ctszkOcEX4TGfBNaJkx01bGfkULE9vq9hjKHd0dyh0GGA7Zo5S5uUrm5iywzt-bokwcPXRaHmDpqMTv51F0jF7JF7YfmKbDTulJ-HJc9fcY1gYiPQDLFkMb3Ix3opq9BB6UCACn37srQn1cpoYnFZhNMxKQXIf8X88gBsAh5FIc8N0Cc4Wneaw/s1600/lcq%20pic%2010.png" width="176" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Seriously, how they kept the energy up for 15 games is beyond me</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Samuel was running his brother’s (Louis-Andre, another amazing player who somehow made Konstantine look viable) fleet, a JJ fleet with an ISD2 and raider, along with a gozanti and a buttload of squads, including Maarek and his life-mate Jendon, as well as Defender Vader and two firesprays. Talk about bombing power! I once again chose to go second, with Samuel choosing my ion storm, a choice he told me he regretted after the match (spoilers!). We deployed on the left side of the map, with his ISD and raider staring down my Recusant, while the rest of my fleet looked to rush the ISD’s side while hopefully not dying to his squads.</div><div><br />Turn one was mostly positioning, and at the top of r2, Sam’s squads pounced on a couple exposed vultures. However, that left his bombers open to counter-attack, and my muni sniped a firespray with the help of two vultures who locked down his other bombers. He decided to play more cautiously with the squads from then on, clearing the vultures and moving away from my flak boats and towards the recusant. Unfortunately, by that point it would already be too late. My recusant had floated right in front of where the ISD was going, and it was raided for squadrons without a token, having burnt a token the round before. A crucial ion storm proc stole his nav token, sealing the ISD’s fate.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdcnvEdphtoCyers9nxHgapeoOewHKAN4L2FcqdYQWsMGzmcxSaxUrNGvpxDYwehXXzGcLqZnkK_PqE4QN7XVhFKkF9Zr451aLIeBZNwJBSR4Q1YGjNrm1DPyJVwcBrPLeotJ_YzMoY_-zlQlzCLM0jwvkG6UgWeFHoaJiozFT6gA6l8v48YIDjlhUug/s299/lcq%20pic%2011.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="299" height="415" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdcnvEdphtoCyers9nxHgapeoOewHKAN4L2FcqdYQWsMGzmcxSaxUrNGvpxDYwehXXzGcLqZnkK_PqE4QN7XVhFKkF9Zr451aLIeBZNwJBSR4Q1YGjNrm1DPyJVwcBrPLeotJ_YzMoY_-zlQlzCLM0jwvkG6UgWeFHoaJiozFT6gA6l8v48YIDjlhUug/w640-h415/lcq%20pic%2011.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Hey, this looks familiar…</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Without the assistance of its bombers, the ISD could not take out the recusant, and was forced (just barely) into a nasty double arc. The rest of my fleet finished what the recusant started, taking out the ISD, while the recusant flew away, taking out the gozanti as well. I picked off a couple more squads, and had scored ion storm several times, so I thought another big win was in the bag, until disaster struck.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcpvjmlEi2VOoQUXbohtrvMq9JboI4RkUEoMUPfQFSi6Au79HWv90yUBdTSdC5Gx6sOWod4gtPfWeJd0RsEMJhgkyb66gOPPZTEtkZp0ZIABfN-9c2kM2XkUU0DX-114DexkbFdhPwXcgsZUvKJG96T-THR6090XZcfNaeIy27Pjrbto39qcvuXjDZ-A/s310/lcq%20pic%2012.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="167" data-original-width="310" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcpvjmlEi2VOoQUXbohtrvMq9JboI4RkUEoMUPfQFSi6Au79HWv90yUBdTSdC5Gx6sOWod4gtPfWeJd0RsEMJhgkyb66gOPPZTEtkZp0ZIABfN-9c2kM2XkUU0DX-114DexkbFdhPwXcgsZUvKJG96T-THR6090XZcfNaeIy27Pjrbto39qcvuXjDZ-A/w640-h344/lcq%20pic%2012.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tragedy....</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>It’s difficult to see in this picture, but in my excitement and haste, I neglected to slow my recusant and ended up off the board by a hair. That’s right, on the top table in the biggest tournament of my life, I flew my recusant off the board in front of stream, god, and everyone. Shame on me, on my father, on my father’s father, etc. Fortunately for me, I had more than enough points to counteract the loss of my recusant, still winning the game 343-146, an 8-3. Far from the worst outcome. While I was upset to not get another 10-1, it was still a large win, and I was making a strong case to qualify for the World Championships. I shook Samuel’s hand, and went about finding some lunch before returning for round three. Samuel ended up finishing the day with two more wins, ending up at 6th and just barely missing the cut to Worlds.</div><div><br /><span style="color: #2b00fe;">OM NOM NOM CON FOOD/Blogpost lunch break!<br /></span><br />After some questionable lunch choices, I was back for round 3, although not at the top table. Colin had continued his dominance with another 10-1, and was set up to play someone at 19 TP.. Meanwhile, I was paired with one Scott Healy, who you might remember from getting a 10-1 in the first round. He was also flying Plo Koon, this time on a consular totally-not-a-lifeboat, with a clam and victory set to push the actual bombers, consisting of 6 (6!) ARC-170s, alongside Splashakin and Axe. I chose second again, and we set up my infested fields, with his ships deploying to the right of the rocks, and across from my recusant. It was a familiar set-up, but things wouldn’t go as well as they did in the previous rounds.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_SDWgY2CfavdiWGi1tv7g8Om-fBuG37dJrK5HpzDtwRczzQKA-60gxCfRCEBIVHlaXcZ2hbUgTW3Ke53YCpi3Zdl1LqKSe78Pxls-q2GruDi494uCDgwgHiaDWWjtHwZ5R0o4mhWy9u9Du4j3c5LyULOywsIAc_2FVLHpdBPLzL65lDMKOwYIGEwSw/s468/lcq%20pic%2013.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="468" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_SDWgY2CfavdiWGi1tv7g8Om-fBuG37dJrK5HpzDtwRczzQKA-60gxCfRCEBIVHlaXcZ2hbUgTW3Ke53YCpi3Zdl1LqKSe78Pxls-q2GruDi494uCDgwgHiaDWWjtHwZ5R0o4mhWy9u9Du4j3c5LyULOywsIAc_2FVLHpdBPLzL65lDMKOwYIGEwSw/w640-h490/lcq%20pic%2013.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Table 3 swag!</td></tr></tbody></table><br />His ships and squads moved up slowly, and I positioned PF right in front of the acclamator, planning to do the same maneuver as my last match. Unfortunately for me, he had a squad token to clear to raid, and Patriots took four ARCs to the side, rolling a perfect 8 damage after Nevoota Bee. I was alive, but barely. Then the Acclamator went to take its shot. He had ex-racks, but as long as I could redirect and brace, my front shields should keep me alive. He rolled as I waited with baited breath, and beheld his red accuracy. After ex-racks and my parting salvo, the recusant was removed from the board, and the clam scooted into the side of my fleet, damaged but very much alive. Meanwhile, the Victory was at full health and bearing down my hardcell, and my vultures were taking heat from Splashakin. Things were looking grim.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjydpmFLCJ7VOSGyshtN8FubXdnahY2VM-QlNq_DLRR0VHeMMmTs2_0c5RSGI8ajHjX5hplSDjfpCa4pCYExBZsDUvyHUI2T7sBDedTPrjmDA1GPNxBYT96h939bPQYSlOV-4pP9dsqwJ8M69C9N1Jv0dNJxRCcN92eKOFkZGgUFItnVduc3-z4b9T1w/s453/lcq%20pic%2014.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="453" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjydpmFLCJ7VOSGyshtN8FubXdnahY2VM-QlNq_DLRR0VHeMMmTs2_0c5RSGI8ajHjX5hplSDjfpCa4pCYExBZsDUvyHUI2T7sBDedTPrjmDA1GPNxBYT96h939bPQYSlOV-4pP9dsqwJ8M69C9N1Jv0dNJxRCcN92eKOFkZGgUFItnVduc3-z4b9T1w/w640-h324/lcq%20pic%2014.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">I feel like something is missing here…</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>This seems like a good point to talk about stress. 4 rounds of armada is a lot, especially in one day, especially especially when you’re in the biggest tournament of your life trying to qualify for the other biggest tournament in your life. I had a moment after my recusant died where I just sat down and felt my soul leave my body. I thought I was out, that there was no chance of a comeback, and that I’d be banished to the lower tables without a shot at worlds. This was my moment, and I had blown it. That’s it, go home, you’re done. It’s tough to keep playing when you feel you’re already out. I can only imagine some of my previous opponents felt similar dread when they realized their flagship was doomed. Armada is a tough game to play. I’m just going to take this moment to point out the mental fortitude of all the players in this tournament, playing 4 rounds of some of the most brutal armada I’ve ever seen. We all entered that gauntlet, and only a few of us emerged. It was an amazing experience, and simultaneously one of the most stressful times in my life.<br /><br />After my brief panic attack, I recovered by chugging a water bottle and resumed the game. I knew it would be tough, but my munificent was untouched, and is one of the tankiest ships in the game. If I could stay alive and take out one or both of his ships, maybe I could make the game close. Thus, I spent the next hour and a half clawing and scrabbling the best I could. His arcs started to get chewed up by the exogorths, and my hardcell sacrificed itself to take out the clam and delay bombing on the muni. His victory traded shots and salvos with my flagship, with Wat Tambor frantically stealing shields from my surviving hardcell, praying for pdic to buy me just one turn. It came down to a bombing run from the Vic. Medical team saved me a damage, pdic saved another, and it came down to the final ARC. He moved in, prayed to his dice, and rolled two accuracies. The vic couldn’t finish me off, ended up colliding with several rocks, and eventually fell while my munificent scraped away on one hull. In the end, I had gotten enough from tokens and the exogorths to claim a 7-4 victory, 299-217. What a game.<br /><br />Gosh, even writing this makes me feel like I need a moment. It was unquestionably the most stressful game of my life, coming down to so many crucial rolls on both sides. Scott was a fantastic opponent throughout, and we agreed that it could have gone either way very easily. In the end, Scott had a happy ending, winning his final game and finishing in 4th, making the cut for worlds tomorrow. I loved how weird his list was, and was super happy to see him make worlds after the tournament, and I continued to check his progress throughout the tournament. Even in midst of the stress, we made friends and had a great time playing. Star Wars: Armada is a truly special game, and I just want to stress again how amazing this event was. Onto the final match!</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdUhaWl0pGo2nwsWItbYGXZTmLpOYDAwauJDZy2MlfE1P7qFLkPdu128HdM64LzmCuw5AzPWx9j3ulUty8UJcmWXCVBzUKMe9L3vgGfHLj-5sXmg1n6w12U9kZ3dLynKCTnwY4ckYvDI_mphZtAEPEp9_rtPvJaBdlV-80huhCNCFtj0QJRcmjh91w9w/s448/lcq%20pic%2015.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="252" data-original-width="448" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdUhaWl0pGo2nwsWItbYGXZTmLpOYDAwauJDZy2MlfE1P7qFLkPdu128HdM64LzmCuw5AzPWx9j3ulUty8UJcmWXCVBzUKMe9L3vgGfHLj-5sXmg1n6w12U9kZ3dLynKCTnwY4ckYvDI_mphZtAEPEp9_rtPvJaBdlV-80huhCNCFtj0QJRcmjh91w9w/w640-h360/lcq%20pic%2015.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Bee da dee daaaaa....</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>My match took the full time to complete, so I had barely any time to prepare for my final match. I was in second place overall with 3 wins, and while there were a few other undefeated players, they all had smaller wins than me, with one exception: Mr. Colin Looney, otherwise known as OutboundFlight on Discord. He had destroyed his opponents in all 3 games, and was sitting at a massive 29 tournament points. He was all but guaranteed to make it into worlds. Meanwhile, while I was at the top of the pack, I was at 25 tp, barely above several other players. I had to win to move on, and I had to do it at the top table, against the best player that day.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFtGZ_7PjuXmDHS5Og4B_BhEzdVb31FOULbSzPTb8kWKDDTvX8nirXpkbGlmghHm2aQnka5SJbcVQUiWt8tbAcsYkzQ0lwG9I_2kTCmI3HjaU9R3VKusoV5f7yRuGI9Hrja31P1fwZ4Y6XwbxMCJf63ezyhDdIb_A0chFs3FCJred3YA4hpAf8Y6cXKw/s359/lcq%20pic%2016.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="359" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFtGZ_7PjuXmDHS5Og4B_BhEzdVb31FOULbSzPTb8kWKDDTvX8nirXpkbGlmghHm2aQnka5SJbcVQUiWt8tbAcsYkzQ0lwG9I_2kTCmI3HjaU9R3VKusoV5f7yRuGI9Hrja31P1fwZ4Y6XwbxMCJf63ezyhDdIb_A0chFs3FCJred3YA4hpAf8Y6cXKw/w640-h360/lcq%20pic%2016.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Colin sitting at the top like</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Exhausted, I made my way over to the top table to shake hands with Colin. This match was also streamed on the top table by Ion Radio (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/zFaoiFTY03E?feature=share&t=9703">LINK</a> here!), so another huge shoutout to them. I especially loved getting to use their official plastic range-rulers, a huge improvement over my single cardboard ruler. Colin was flying a Kuat, Demolisher, and an onager with Romodi, as well as a gozanti and small tie screen. While he could stomach a small loss, I knew I needed to win to advance, or risk getting passed by big wins at the lower tables. I had bid, and in a deviation from my previous games, chose first. It was a tough choice, but I wanted to deny a first activation to his black dice ships, and hopefully protect my ships a bit more. I was prepared to pick his hyperspace assault, when he surprised me and revealed rift ambush as his yellow. It was a no-brainer to me. He dropped the rift surrounded by rocks, and deployed behind them to gain romodi’s obstruction bonus. I dropped on the opposite side, planning to speed around the rocks and take advantage of the rift and rocks making Colin approach cautiously.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjomQyB5qvjumexvSpckfbLMBx4wY3i5w3j_DV9Owila27goFZOJslw2s4aEpzKM94y6mJp20ykhqVIop86RzfaYBC30ytv0inJ_SvwYtxaKqbu0l_jnfvRCeT8yMlmZdLg5ZHnm9zqRfCt3HgmV6OCKgWugJrTPhJsPpbg6s31bFt_sHJ-Kq9medm_xw/s382/lcq%20pic%2017.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="382" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjomQyB5qvjumexvSpckfbLMBx4wY3i5w3j_DV9Owila27goFZOJslw2s4aEpzKM94y6mJp20ykhqVIop86RzfaYBC30ytv0inJ_SvwYtxaKqbu0l_jnfvRCeT8yMlmZdLg5ZHnm9zqRfCt3HgmV6OCKgWugJrTPhJsPpbg6s31bFt_sHJ-Kq9medm_xw/w640-h470/lcq%20pic%2017.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Check out the sweet paint-job on his ships!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>It was clear from the outset that we were both exhausted. He forgot his rift ambush move, I activated both hardcells in a row without letting him activate, and then he forgot to put down an ignition token (I let him replace, although I don’t think he ended up with a shot). We were a sloppy mess after 8 hours of armada. As we got into gear, his Kuat swung towards my muni, and the rest of my ships surrounded him, while his onager and demo lined up attack runs from the rift. Mid-way through round 2, his kuat lept forward into my guns, looking to drop its boarding troopers and exracks, and then escape to the other side of the board. He also avoided being at close range of my recusant, denying me my return ex-racks shot. Unfortunately for him, he just missed the double-arc on the munificent, leaving him with only a side arc shot. Still, his onager and demo lined up their own shots, looking to be the first fleet to kill Dooku’s flagship.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqM7bImo0dufoiOG30t4JNZaQtDZi_kCzIXCpJWd1EfqG2JapybKS-gvdq5uumX9pcqCDb43dMC8ksSbvGy6aA5hfJTdDaI78w6dO9rG-BvoXyJ6EMabbknIHG55wGjdi6YwMb6rOnKbMy78uT970L_wYyPxGQToUXr1d3T5mmC0rPU-POl0mJ1X2iw/s356/lcq%20pic%2018.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="356" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqM7bImo0dufoiOG30t4JNZaQtDZi_kCzIXCpJWd1EfqG2JapybKS-gvdq5uumX9pcqCDb43dMC8ksSbvGy6aA5hfJTdDaI78w6dO9rG-BvoXyJ6EMabbknIHG55wGjdi6YwMb6rOnKbMy78uT970L_wYyPxGQToUXr1d3T5mmC0rPU-POl0mJ1X2iw/w640-h474/lcq%20pic%2018.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Oh Mr. Kuat, where are your friends?</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>In the end, my damage would prove too much for the kuat, but not before he would severely damage my hardcell and flagship. The hardcells lept past to attack his onager, while the muni remained trapped between the smoking kuat and healthy demo. Patriot fist activated first to finish off the kuat, while the onager finished off Dooku’s flagship and tried to escape. I was hoping the rift would slow him down enough for my remaining ships to finish it off, but in the end, I didn’t have enough damage to take it out. I settled for his gozanti and tie-fighters. It was a very close match, but my bonus kills at the end dragged me exactly onto the 7-4 line, 190-130. Colin was still ahead of me in tournament points, but with 32 points overall, I had secured second place in the Last Chance Qualifier, and would be advancing to worlds proper the next morning. I had done it.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqsF4nbxMg95cwD7Y12xZcFHlbemcl7MwKu21SrHA9cOThE4fB0hZEF0G62GzmZb8zN4ewiEvhPvDrStJ_r9O9jLq4mJjhRDy1Tlw_jRXZqkZPdiEj1jp3ImR6hJQkUCcXk9HBOgFJjZ0aYkS81G8P9SL3A2P7n41He3z13fUeEQoI7c7SQFX4jIWgcA/s412/lcq%20pic%2019.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="208" data-original-width="412" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqsF4nbxMg95cwD7Y12xZcFHlbemcl7MwKu21SrHA9cOThE4fB0hZEF0G62GzmZb8zN4ewiEvhPvDrStJ_r9O9jLq4mJjhRDy1Tlw_jRXZqkZPdiEj1jp3ImR6hJQkUCcXk9HBOgFJjZ0aYkS81G8P9SL3A2P7n41He3z13fUeEQoI7c7SQFX4jIWgcA/w640-h324/lcq%20pic%2019.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Victory indeed</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>A few things before I wrap up. I know I’ve written so much already, but permit me a few more words before I finish. First, I had so much friggin fun during this tournament, in case I didn’t make it clear. All my opponents were amazing people and I’m glad to have met and played with them. Two of them made worlds with me, and another just missed the cut. The tournament itself was run super smoothly, and we got tons of swag for playing. We all got a printed copy of RR1, a bunch of shiny alt arts, and some tokens, and a bunch of the top placers got to pick out expansions from the prize wall. Colin got an SSD for his amazing performance, while I walked out with a second Separatist Starter Pack. We all celebrated, and went our separate ways to prepare for day one of worlds. I made a particularly poor choice in dinner, but no one wants to hear about that misery. Instead, I’ll just thank everyone who made that tournament possible, all of my opponents, Ion Radio for the stream, and this blog for getting me into armada. Stay tuned for my report on worlds day 1!</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Thanks Damon! We've got a few more of these reports lined up and some already written! Any interest in getting your own out there? Email me at geek19@gmail.com!</span></div>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-60624972779932887352023-03-31T15:35:00.001-05:002023-03-31T15:52:20.465-05:00Armada World Championship Recap: Biggs - Or "How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Crab Bucket"<p> Long time no see, huh?</p><p>Fun fact, I wasn't supposed to go to Worlds. I had Shmitty's "extra ticket" from winning 2019 GenCon, and figured it wouldn't even be honored, and that I'd just be showing up to hang out and watch some Armada games. But, the ticket was honored and I was off to play Star Wars Armada on the big stage. Garm Bel Iblis and the Dumpster Fire that Shmitty and I came up with earned me the ticket, so in the spirit of "dance with the one who brought you" I resolved to bring a Dumpster Fire to Worlds and see how well I could do.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg7vLCtiZI9LKfKkl_ICK-qV26QQc2XbKq4mg7ZTTRIJSuwT8p2p59inZmA3pcZ2w6u1D9Z0TZb0cErrg4KDJGhc_T-LgyB5vjMeK6nTUw9yfI1EFJ7AbwIR09mDCTDNOi2wvJRfvTvb6Verg5rS1TEB0KCLWTKOrFi-4MmOTQSx95ccX--veH4Ate7A/s3264/IMG_20230324_081839567_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg7vLCtiZI9LKfKkl_ICK-qV26QQc2XbKq4mg7ZTTRIJSuwT8p2p59inZmA3pcZ2w6u1D9Z0TZb0cErrg4KDJGhc_T-LgyB5vjMeK6nTUw9yfI1EFJ7AbwIR09mDCTDNOi2wvJRfvTvb6Verg5rS1TEB0KCLWTKOrFi-4MmOTQSx95ccX--veH4Ate7A/w434-h326/IMG_20230324_081839567_HDR.jpg" width="434" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>I remember joking just prior to the tournament starting: "I shouldn't be here, and I'm going to make it someone else's problem." Oh, how right I was.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">My List</h2><div><div><br /></div><div>Garm Fire: The Final Dumpster - 397/400</div><div><br /></div><div>Assault Objective: Marked For Destruction</div><div>Defense Objective: Asteroid Tactics</div><div>Navigation Objective: Infested Fields</div><div><br /></div><div>Modified Pelta-Class Command Ship (60)</div><div>- Intensify Firepower! (6)</div><div>- Disposable Capacitors (3)</div><div>- Ahsoka Tano (2)</div><div>= 71 points</div><div><br /></div><div>[flagship] Assault Frigate Mark II A (81)</div><div>- Garm Bel Iblis (25)</div><div>- Boarding Troopers (3)</div><div>- Electronic Countermeasures (7)</div><div>- Ezra Bridger (3)</div><div>- Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)</div><div>= 126 points</div><div><br /></div><div>Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57)</div><div>- Yavaris (5)</div><div>- Skilled First Officer (1)</div><div>= 63 points</div><div><br /></div><div>Hammerhead Scout Corvette (41)</div><div>- Slaved Turrets (6)</div><div>= 47 points</div><div><br /></div><div>1 Lando Calrissian (23)</div><div>1 Shara Bey (17)</div><div>1 Tycho Celchu (16)</div><div>2 A-Wing Squadron (11)</div><div>1 Gold Squadron (12)</div><div>= 90 points</div></div><p>A classic Biggs style Dumpster Fire build, with an AFIIA as the flagship, with LTT for extra flak powers, Boarding Troopers to punish anyone who gets close, and ECM to keep it alive. I had included Ezra Bridger as extra insurance against Interdictor related shenanigans.</p><p>I just like a D-Caps Command Pelta vs an Assault Pelta, though I feel like the Pelta was often in a better position for flak than it was for commanding squadrons.</p><p>Yavaris was a new entry into my Dumpster Fire. It did give my squadrons a little more punch, but it was often the primary target of any opponent.</p><p>The Slaved Turret Hammerhead punches way harder than you expect a Hammerhead to punch. 10/10 no comments.</p><p>My squadron ball is my favorite squadron ball. "Medium-Well" point cost, punchy for it's price with A-Wings, the A-Wing aces, and Lando, plus Gold Squadron could punish anyone who went with no squads, and should be able to trade up against anyone that brought 134 of squads. At least that was the plan going into the games.</p><p>For objectives: Marked for Destruction is an objective no one ever seems to take, gives me dust clouds to hide behind, and involves Purrgil which opponents don't quite understand. Even at a high level, it gives me a good advantage against someone not expecting it. I expect to play this objective the most because other than the novelty factor, it doesn't explicitly benefit my list much. Asteroid Tactics and Infested Fields let me win squadron fights, which let me win games, simple as that.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRxTybVBJehs47fUMiAzbXhkAHOcahFRDEO4m9mBibin_FcMplqpLCLMzzjYJLufKUuw9ESdwj_8YO6HkTThkAbx1Zv88JALeH41NFj5FSL1uI8xmxbuzUtSM5hxx8II8e6Wnxcorwd2Ik3qGuVjyJEX92B3wsX8yGe5ES3J9TDaVpE1BHJmP6n-_sug/s4080/IMG_20230324_111816049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRxTybVBJehs47fUMiAzbXhkAHOcahFRDEO4m9mBibin_FcMplqpLCLMzzjYJLufKUuw9ESdwj_8YO6HkTThkAbx1Zv88JALeH41NFj5FSL1uI8xmxbuzUtSM5hxx8II8e6Wnxcorwd2Ik3qGuVjyJEX92B3wsX8yGe5ES3J9TDaVpE1BHJmP6n-_sug/w173-h230/IMG_20230324_111816049.jpg" width="173" /></a></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Round 1: Daniel Wolf - Germany - Table 2</h2><div><br /></div><div>MC30c Torpedo Frigate</div><div>- Lando Calrissian</div><div>- Ordnance Experts</div><div>- Assault Proton Torpedoes</div><div>- H9 Turbolasers</div><div>- Foresight</div><div><br /></div><div>CR90A</div><div>- General Dodonna</div><div>- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits</div><div>- Jaina's Light</div><div><br /></div><div>CR90B</div><div>- Dodonna's Pride</div><div><br /></div><div>GR75 Transport</div><div>- Adar Tallon</div><div>- Boosted Comms</div><div><br /></div><div>GR75 Transport</div><div>- Toryn Farr</div><div>- Quantum Storm</div><div><br /></div><div>Squadrons:<br />Hera Syndulla (Ghost)<br />Dash Rendar</div><div>Corran Horn</div><div>Norra Wexley</div><div>YT-2400</div><div>Rogue Squadron</div><div>Gold Squadron</div><div><br /></div><div>Daniel came in at 400 points, and that meant I got to hand him my objectives. He quickly decided on Asteroid Tactics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPoFYKP1aomabaz8hrBW4CvHzflek4lw9ZGsVdhI-yTf-jJpzqGiSK_YUB5iI3DOVSTcPaRofWXNgyuzksPRh8NdoAwT5O128dyaLW-2CG4G4UUtj8vM-0qxy_DOR67wkU04m9Iro1PgfVRLf3HhlsadfvQvHQgTGmgvCKHwgiPUAYDFYmx8nAin7pqw/s4080/IMG_20230324_100057574.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPoFYKP1aomabaz8hrBW4CvHzflek4lw9ZGsVdhI-yTf-jJpzqGiSK_YUB5iI3DOVSTcPaRofWXNgyuzksPRh8NdoAwT5O128dyaLW-2CG4G4UUtj8vM-0qxy_DOR67wkU04m9Iro1PgfVRLf3HhlsadfvQvHQgTGmgvCKHwgiPUAYDFYmx8nAin7pqw/w512-h386/IMG_20230324_100057574.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><br /></div><div>I had set up to have my smaller ships catch his MC30 with my squadrons, and set up a kill box if it tried to cross over. He gunned up to speed 4 in an attempt to double arc my Yavaris, but just missed the double arc, and instead got Foresight eaten for his troubles. Unfortunately for me, other than Corran Horn and Foresight, his other ships were much to fast and his squadrons too punchy for me to put much more of a dent in his fleet. I lost a few squadrons squadrons, Yavaris, and the Hammerhead in the exchange. Unfortunately the game was called on turn 5, and swung on him getting just enough to kill one of my A-Wings. He got a small MOV win, 148-141, giving me a 5-6 loss but a respectable number of tournament points.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Round 2: Przemyslaw Niedzielski - Poland (I hope I spelled that correctly) - Table 21</h2><div><br /></div><div>Recusant Support Destroyer</div><div>- General Grievous</div><div>- Rune Haako</div><div>- Boosted Comms</div><div>- Reserve Hangar Deck</div><div>- Linked Turbolaser Towers</div><div><br /></div><div>Recusant Support Destroyer</div><div>- Tikkes</div><div>- Flight Controllers</div><div>- Boosted Comms</div><div>- Reserve Hangar Deck</div><div>- Linked Turbolaser Towers</div><div>- Patriot Fist</div><div><br /></div><div>Gozanti Cruisers</div><div><br /></div><div>Squadrons</div><div>- DBS-404</div><div>- Phlac-Arphroc Prototypes</div><div>- DIS-T81</div><div>- Droid Tri-Fighter Squadron x5</div><div>- Vulture Droid Fighter Squadron x2</div><div><br /></div><div>I had the bid once again, and chose 2nd player, and he chose Marked for Destruction. We both deployed cagy, with me in a similar deployment to my last game, my ships angling to the right. We began to punch one another, trading ships and squadrons. I got one of his Recusants, and a decent number of squadrons, while he got everything but the AFII, and most of my squadrons. Ultimately, the score was 248-194, in another 5-6 loss for me.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;">Round 3 - Silvio Gollnick - Germany (Table 21)</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Starhawk Battleship Mark I</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- Krysta Agate (commander)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- Walex Blissex</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- Ezra Bridger</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- Point Defense Ion Cannons</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- Linked Turbolaser Towers</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- Amity</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pelta Command Ship</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- Adar Tallon</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- Projection Experts</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">GR-75 Medium Transports</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- Toryn Farr</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- Comms Nets</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Squadrons:<br />- Lando Calrissian</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- Corran Horn</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- Shara Bey</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- Dutch Vander</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- VCX-100 Freighter x2</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Well, that's not what I wanted to see. With a bid of 396, Silvio was able to choose 2nd player for himself, and with that I knew I was out of luck. I was not build to take out an Agate Starhawk, especially not one with projection experts feeding it more shields. I had a choice of Advanced Gunnery, Fire Lanes, and Doomed Station. Both Doomed Station and Fire Lanes were just inviting him to have free points (120 and 270 respectively), so my only hope in winning, and salvaging any sort of points from the match were to take Advanced Gunnery, hope to win the squadron fight...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">... and run.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhva-vKsVJsaC3JhmXI0h8hCatMPcsGFz-qbWbHhEyooUEV8NtUhUjEPyDxdw8M7MbKY8hJ52R-_hQHB9F_pHVt1yGDVRxRRPiUsXop64lqqyCeKycFIsBPv9P8iPwZK4bgC9QWtOgNas2fyw7HTsUvK6Ez9NL__nVoVdmY2J4eSjF_BlpxV1K3gBVnOw/s4080/IMG_20230324_150125485.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhva-vKsVJsaC3JhmXI0h8hCatMPcsGFz-qbWbHhEyooUEV8NtUhUjEPyDxdw8M7MbKY8hJ52R-_hQHB9F_pHVt1yGDVRxRRPiUsXop64lqqyCeKycFIsBPv9P8iPwZK4bgC9QWtOgNas2fyw7HTsUvK6Ez9NL__nVoVdmY2J4eSjF_BlpxV1K3gBVnOw/w479-h361/IMG_20230324_150125485.jpg" width="479" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top of Turn 2, Running<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I gave my AFII Advanced Gunnery, the plan being to have it dance into the squadron fight just long enough to snipe a few squadrons with LTTs, and then bail out. The other ships would just run for the edge and avoid the Starhawk entirely. From there, my squadrons could win the squadron battle netting me a 6-5, or a 7-4 if I was lucky. It wasn't a good plan, but the only one I had that could reasonably give me a win, and it nearly worked.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nearly.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The AFII did manage to get into range of the enemy squadrons, and flak some of them down. But the Starhawk turned in and added it's own flak, and chased the AFII away from the fight. Ultimately he had squadron commands for his squadrons, and I did not. More annoyingly, his Lando escaped death on 1 hull, which let him eat my Lando instead. The part of the plan that worked? Not a single shot was taken against a capital ship the entire game. Shara was left alive to escape to fight another day, but I had only managed to kill Corran and Dutch. 73-38, for another 5-6 loss.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Round 4: Nathanial Beaver - North America(?) - Table 24</h2><div><br /></div>ROGER ROGER SWAWC</div><div><br /></div><div>Munificent Star Frigate</div><div>- Mar Tuuk</div><div>- Wat Tambor</div><div>- Projection Experts</div><div>- Electronic Countermeasures</div><div>- Point Defense Ion Cannons</div><div>- Linked Turbolaser Towers</div><div>- Sa Nalaor</div><div><br /></div><div>Munificent Star Frigate</div><div>- Projection Experts</div><div>- Electronic Countermeasures</div><div>- Point Defense Ion Canons</div><div>- Linked Turbolaser Towers</div><div><br /></div><div>Recusant Light Destroyer</div><div>- Tikkies</div><div>- Veteran Gunners</div><div>- Assault Proton Torpedoes</div><div>- Swivel-Mount Batteries</div><div>- Patriot Fist</div><div><br /></div><div>Hardcell Transport</div><div>- Hondo Ohnaka</div><div>- Engineering Team</div><div>- Parts Resupply</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Going in to this game, at 15 Tournament Points, I knew I needed a 10-1 or at least a 9-2 to claw my way into a Day 2 position. With this in mind, I shifted to a new plan: Table the Opponent, fast. Now, a Dumpster Fire is not build for this plan, but you've gotta try with what you've got. With this in mind, my plan going in was to take 1st player, my opponent's red objective, and try to win the joust. Seeing no squadrons, I thought I had a decent enough shot at it, as I could do bombing runs on his fleet without worry. So I took his Rift Assault, and hoped for the best.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Again, it was a plan that nearly worked.</div><div><br /></div><div>We both deployed aggressively, and he drove his flagship forward too quickly, trying to cut off my AFIIA which was cutting in fast and hard from the right flank. The AFII then jumped in front of his entire deployment with my final activation, jumping in front of his flagship, and then Garm Tokened himself, and activated first the next turn, raiding Mar Tuuk's Brace and Redirect. From there it was a matter of mopping up the crippled Muni. Unfortunately, that was the last thing that really went well. I would eventually bag the Hardcell with my squadrons, but the combined Patriot Fist / Munificent were too much for the rest of my fleet, and my AFIIA limped away with 3 hull as the only survivor that wasn't a squadron. Token scoring was 4 vs 3, primarily because my AFII was way, way out of position as the rest of our fleets fought in the obstacles. Final Score: 222-255, for yet another 5-6 loss.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidlaXFuyk_hYKrE4J28MJAazhCn96dSKjlcfQsdu_U45O8qKX38zvveP3wliTQIm1aXkSFw6jp57nKDFBWPsZ8-6K7eP6KXkUbNS8SJ6VZ7V8czpDDWUg4UZknSsXcOCbuwUqVtEUVM9dJTg0W54lLpW2hfki3eMOFf0fAdYf_XPQD8T4vccIe6WEbFg/s4080/IMG_20230324_192810590.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="648" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidlaXFuyk_hYKrE4J28MJAazhCn96dSKjlcfQsdu_U45O8qKX38zvveP3wliTQIm1aXkSFw6jp57nKDFBWPsZ8-6K7eP6KXkUbNS8SJ6VZ7V8czpDDWUg4UZknSsXcOCbuwUqVtEUVM9dJTg0W54lLpW2hfki3eMOFf0fAdYf_XPQD8T4vccIe6WEbFg/w488-h648/IMG_20230324_192810590.jpg" width="488" /></a></div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;">Takeaways:</h2><div><br /></div><div>Worlds has always been an amazing time to have some good games of Armada, and 2023 Worlds was no different. I could not imagine having more fun losing 4 really close games against some amazing opponents. Every single opponent I played deserved to be in Day 2, and I like to think that playing me knocked them out of it. (In the case of Round 3 and Round 4, that is almost certainly true, Silvio missed the cut by 1 or 2 spots.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Does this mean the Dumpster Fire is viable in 2023? Maybe? With a few tweaks and a player who's had more than a handful of games since COVID started?</div><div><br /></div><div>But more than any of that, Worlds continues to be where the community comes together to make Armada something truly special. Until next we meet, all of you!</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0iIOScaVngbLoVFAWjsyrb8PUnX1kBldOGmpmM_RGn5wb8jcL4yob8dkN1c7C-6QoHKYSkHKTo8HwOO7N1hVRh7UwhnFegQtFj_yHQAd-5NMBz8gOSJvZjknTTae7D6kfEyJvkBFps3HPJMOnLGGMZC9o8k089WdgguvU4wcNS3lIoVUc1UkQg4yA8w/s4080/IMG_20230324_215450166_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0iIOScaVngbLoVFAWjsyrb8PUnX1kBldOGmpmM_RGn5wb8jcL4yob8dkN1c7C-6QoHKYSkHKTo8HwOO7N1hVRh7UwhnFegQtFj_yHQAd-5NMBz8gOSJvZjknTTae7D6kfEyJvkBFps3HPJMOnLGGMZC9o8k089WdgguvU4wcNS3lIoVUc1UkQg4yA8w/w584-h440/IMG_20230324_215450166_HDR.jpg" width="584" /></a></div><br /></div>Biggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10671403672769089154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-8724194432712578372023-03-20T21:19:00.005-05:002023-03-20T21:19:57.241-05:00Armada Worlds Updates! Shirts! Food! Drinks!<p> We continue our series of posts, as John tries to pull out every stop he can.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhxlgBAiUiXSfKAY42Rtr4xooMbXe6VwsbsDBGIN_QSB7qZQuX-JmSz1RealGa_-MTo9G6qp5Yw8iATahebHMe0ChllGR_QhXlJB-u0gJcfmVMJJMnrhsdtuDKXoAOM45qLOJm0YslFJ3Lgh3AwGAJGJNncSHMpi6wS62sr5CFU696mwX3L9H-kz9Iiw/s498/hamilton-freedom.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="283" data-original-width="498" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhxlgBAiUiXSfKAY42Rtr4xooMbXe6VwsbsDBGIN_QSB7qZQuX-JmSz1RealGa_-MTo9G6qp5Yw8iATahebHMe0ChllGR_QhXlJB-u0gJcfmVMJJMnrhsdtuDKXoAOM45qLOJm0YslFJ3Lgh3AwGAJGJNncSHMpi6wS62sr5CFU696mwX3L9H-kz9Iiw/w640-h364/hamilton-freedom.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I'm going out with Hamilton gifs and Muppet jokes, just like you all expected from me.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span><a name='more'></a><b>Shirts!</b></span><div>The shirts HAVE been ordered, purchased, and arrived at my house. Ooooo look a picture below. There is ONE PERSON who still owes me money and I WILL be demanding said money before your shirt is given over to you. Everyone else, I'll be at breakfast Thursday and wandering the con for much of the day. Friday I'll be at breakfast and then the actual tournament itself before heading to the Irish wake. Who knows, I might even luck into playing on Saturday!</div><div><br /></div><div>I'll have a few extra shirts in my possession, so if anyone wanted one and didn't get one, hit me up and I'll see what I've still got (first come first served on those)! But they look GOOD in real life and you should definitely hit me up for one.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM71xuMtKC8bqr2KjmJcWV5PfmuOUeK-7-vkAcVlYGJ0el7umCUugiDnM7pqvC_wN-ewsQuwG5noVL4TaD89aG_NmMnF0_uxBUXVqYZPTTmGTJniTkN0LulF3AMonaWtSZAsuLkgLKj7zovwSNH3kBvAAMcC_ulTh36xsJZBhwzWpsaqv0JR6fL6LAZA/s4032/20230317_165008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM71xuMtKC8bqr2KjmJcWV5PfmuOUeK-7-vkAcVlYGJ0el7umCUugiDnM7pqvC_wN-ewsQuwG5noVL4TaD89aG_NmMnF0_uxBUXVqYZPTTmGTJniTkN0LulF3AMonaWtSZAsuLkgLKj7zovwSNH3kBvAAMcC_ulTh36xsJZBhwzWpsaqv0JR6fL6LAZA/s320/20230317_165008.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">What a great Fit! (I drive a blue one)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><b>Food!</b></span></div><div><span>First, breakfast, the most important meal of the day. For the Last Chance Qualifier, we're meeting for breakfast at RICHARD WALKER'S PANCAKE HOUSE (1300 N Roselle Rd, Schaumburg IL 60195) at 6:30 AM. Because several people are going to need to get to the convention and play, I can hold waiting on tables until 6:35, but if you come after that you're on your own. LCQ starts at 8, so we gotta eat quickly. Assuming none of us end up with food poisoning, that's Friday's breakfast place as well, same time. That's RICHARD Walker's, not Walker's Pancake House. If you get to Walker's and it doesn't open until 7, congrats you went to the wrong one.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgI6Z3kaf7YHrJ2aZNDqJ7u2jSc30nmuhE7c2yHN2De4-9LseA2zvDv511kKrAQ6fgDNfhxe9ixBjSKW3JR-T5uqroivoloe2QkzHNMJefnomjV08PtiFKSpTW9UZga7GkbGieMWr9_YG2OdDua3cliGV24WFfgC8I6IqT6YCqSNnaOxaDoJ_BA6bW-Ww" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgI6Z3kaf7YHrJ2aZNDqJ7u2jSc30nmuhE7c2yHN2De4-9LseA2zvDv511kKrAQ6fgDNfhxe9ixBjSKW3JR-T5uqroivoloe2QkzHNMJefnomjV08PtiFKSpTW9UZga7GkbGieMWr9_YG2OdDua3cliGV24WFfgC8I6IqT6YCqSNnaOxaDoJ_BA6bW-Ww" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sadly none in Chicago... plenty of Malort though!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div><div><span>Thursday dinner is going to be planned, uh, later. I'll figure it out Thursday, haha! As for Friday....</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><b>The Wake!</b></span></div></div><div><span>Armada as a game, is at best on life support and more likely actually in hospice care. We can blame the pandemic, we can blame AMG mismanagement, but that's not important right now. What IS important is celebrating ALL we love about the game and the friends we made along the way, and all the great memories we made in this tiny, insane community.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>So Friday post games we're heading out to Miller's Ale House in LOMBARD at 9 pm (post Worlds). That's like a 15-20 minute drive BUT it's a) near the convention so it's uber/lyftable if needed and b) NOT next to the convention so it won't be stacked full of nerds all trying to eat and drink at the same place. Come help me close down a bar like I'm 23 again like AMG is closing down our game! Meet Armada bros, play the yub-yub song, drink a mess, get a safe ride back to your hotels!</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><i>"But Armada is fine and still alive!"</i></span></div><div><span><a href="https://grief.com/the-five-stages-of-grief/">Lemme just save myself some time and DEFINITELY agree with you.</a> This is NOT the event to bother me or anyone else about how the game is alive. I 100% do not care, this is the "chill with Armada bro's event" where no one harshes my vibes. Come party and drink, let's hang out and remember the good times. Feelings about the state of the game and how it's healthy or what you think of it can wait until post-Worlds. Chill, get drunk, party.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOiIm-ipoL1PHXTlEpxtk5gFaLDMOjwvsEIeFN8-XGyYieejXZlkJqYivaWuliRr2hbf1ROK-QYVAiRe_fcsa0cwD3TI7l6pcjAPQC-eebFiKxPv5VrMKeVQmIDU04wenfGfl4AcV-SgnDvewFgidKDyakdyGSBQg7QWLGtygTPkkz2xT7WXehM4dr_Q" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="1358" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOiIm-ipoL1PHXTlEpxtk5gFaLDMOjwvsEIeFN8-XGyYieejXZlkJqYivaWuliRr2hbf1ROK-QYVAiRe_fcsa0cwD3TI7l6pcjAPQC-eebFiKxPv5VrMKeVQmIDU04wenfGfl4AcV-SgnDvewFgidKDyakdyGSBQg7QWLGtygTPkkz2xT7WXehM4dr_Q=w640-h384" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Heresy update: I like the Special Edition song, it's bittersweet and memorable and makes me happy I watched Jedi and sad that it's over now. There's a MESSAGE there about our game.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />See everyone this weekend!</div>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-37441833575472830482023-02-20T20:46:00.002-06:002023-02-20T20:46:09.853-06:00One Day More (Shirts Update!)<p>We're in the home stretch now.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8F83QpN3_K6YdG9-nHAffsiLnt2MJEdbtgkHIquQWVtdzB3ox9xcq7YppXvp8ATD8tIGTUCJ0hzF1muInTFhKCPtyLQjtIpBVFxIDrLR8EcTtZA0eu63JeLJZDiO7IXuh-ZV50xQ1bd1udzxC-31zQ9QMPcyqgiVwhDGyXlUIohtw4e88uWVY_xcpyw/s640/one-day-more-le-miserable.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8F83QpN3_K6YdG9-nHAffsiLnt2MJEdbtgkHIquQWVtdzB3ox9xcq7YppXvp8ATD8tIGTUCJ0hzF1muInTFhKCPtyLQjtIpBVFxIDrLR8EcTtZA0eu63JeLJZDiO7IXuh-ZV50xQ1bd1udzxC-31zQ9QMPcyqgiVwhDGyXlUIohtw4e88uWVY_xcpyw/w640-h360/one-day-more-le-miserable.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It's impassioned plea time, y'all!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span><a name='more'></a>We've got one more day before I need to commit to my shirt guy whether or not we're doing these Worlds shirts. I want to, I very much want to, as a memory of this Worlds. But I cannot legitimately get these unless we get 60 people willing to order. $40 is a STEEP ask for a shirt; $45 is next to impossible (they're expensive BECAUSE I've got that full bandolier instead of just getting a generic front design).</span><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Truthy has suggested I go full Catholic guilt on you guys and you know what? I want a shirt, so:</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span>I put a good amount of effort into these, trying to make a nice memory for everyone so we'd all remember the great times we're going to have at Worlds 2023. The Armada Community has gone through hell, these days, and AMG continues to ignore us. I just wanted to show the community that we're still here. We're still together. WE'RE THE ARMADA GAME and what matters to it. I just thought you all would understand that and be there with me.</span></div></blockquote><p>Right now, I have 36 shirt orders. I NEED 24, and if you want to be in on it and look as cool as the rest of us, I NEED YOU TO RESPOND TO THE SURVEY BELOW BY 4 PM EASTERN TIME TOMORROW.</p><p><b style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://forms.gle/P7VaieEWDSScaZjt6" style="color: #1c9bce; text-decoration-line: none;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>https://forms.gle/P7VaieEWDSScaZjt6</a></b></p><p>IF YOU HAVE NOT RESPONDED TO THE SURVEY, I DO NOT HAVE YOUR INFORMATION AND THUS AREN'T GETTING YOU A SHIRT THE SURVEY TAKES 5 MINUTES AND IS VERY EASY.</p><p>If I get 60 total people by then, I tell the shirt guy we're doing it. If not, it's done, it's over, we go home from Worlds shirtless with only the lack of prizes from AMG to remember us by and no shirts. All you'll have left is the memories of the games that fade away with the friends we'll never forget. AMG has written us off, time and time again. But WE are what's going to keep this game going. I referenced the Andor "working together to break out of prison" because it's what these years under AMG have felt like. I'm referencing it, but there really IS only one way out of this AMG nightmare, and it's by working TOGETHER. One way out, guys. Click the link. Update you all tomorrow.</p><p>-geek</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b7bgtu2O4E</p>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-21369900435441613272023-02-16T20:44:00.004-06:002023-02-16T20:47:39.350-06:00Worlds Shirts Update!<div class="separator"><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2023/02/worlds-shirts-2023.html">Well we're 2 days in and we're accumulating orders</a>! So far 27 of you have responded saying you want one of these bad boys. However, I've heard from several of you that brown is "kinda ugly" or "kinda bland" or "I don't want it in brown."</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPbalq2a7K28UNOPmnJ7GWuuX3xUaGnIhNV8yU0DLvIJAp9m0BaWx9kn6LBf561gDEvQCo_-ynKplg4nUtwxUzBtia7esV-8uB3YRIVifo5b6gNiG6u8U4Ixfy3uLUZDJprxnQ1GKILR4tx1Jd9BafwRbXiUFTZnu9mGxu1OqeogkZd6j0OBMK9C17RQ/s460/burgundy.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="460" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPbalq2a7K28UNOPmnJ7GWuuX3xUaGnIhNV8yU0DLvIJAp9m0BaWx9kn6LBf561gDEvQCo_-ynKplg4nUtwxUzBtia7esV-8uB3YRIVifo5b6gNiG6u8U4Ixfy3uLUZDJprxnQ1GKILR4tx1Jd9BafwRbXiUFTZnu9mGxu1OqeogkZd6j0OBMK9C17RQ/w400-h200/burgundy.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Did you really expect a Kinky Boots joke today? Well, congrats.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>So that being said, the NEW last question on the survey is "What color do you want the shirt?" Perhaps an orange a la the band in the show?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM7whfQWnUWaSBrIGR9S9baWzeSe9i-sb71edL5b-t5_agHax4aTzGKNvrV1WRRRzEYTDzrWP_ByebFttxL85AH-2xC4ghkl5Tne4PxZXiM0JBEZ7Z0abQhcjhmuqU8fqh-bSr3Sr5sxPrDUf18RtLdcyy8oyNqOVRHoqiPcUbvngr7rJcb11JbFCENg/s2867/example_orange.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2867" data-original-width="2700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM7whfQWnUWaSBrIGR9S9baWzeSe9i-sb71edL5b-t5_agHax4aTzGKNvrV1WRRRzEYTDzrWP_ByebFttxL85AH-2xC4ghkl5Tne4PxZXiM0JBEZ7Z0abQhcjhmuqU8fqh-bSr3Sr5sxPrDUf18RtLdcyy8oyNqOVRHoqiPcUbvngr7rJcb11JbFCENg/w376-h400/example_orange.jpg" width="376" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Or maybe you're feeling like Brasso from the show and you have a brick to bring with you?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJgKyE7rsyIpZAu3oM3V8DrO09uNeu3P7bw67rOqmeY_Lx4r7Ng_7-0_1zj9nGMf7zsoHF9VEtSz-kg6eVu5Ig8WLJ3-meNnl3FhLA_tePZFWWuophtCqMRH916Xt5BTCsavAKHGl7S-ZA84_RTVi5BM4NySWulmhwBUPPD3hGkL3cJnl5LwYGyg23IA/s2867/red_example.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2867" data-original-width="2700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJgKyE7rsyIpZAu3oM3V8DrO09uNeu3P7bw67rOqmeY_Lx4r7Ng_7-0_1zj9nGMf7zsoHF9VEtSz-kg6eVu5Ig8WLJ3-meNnl3FhLA_tePZFWWuophtCqMRH916Xt5BTCsavAKHGl7S-ZA84_RTVi5BM4NySWulmhwBUPPD3hGkL3cJnl5LwYGyg23IA/w376-h400/red_example.jpg" width="376" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Whatever you're feeling, we now offer the shirt in multiple colors* (assuming it's all allowed by my shirt guy. Worst case I'm getting everyone orange and saying "eh, good enough, it's not brown.")</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="color: #202122; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://forms.gle/P7VaieEWDSScaZjt6">https://forms.gle/P7VaieEWDSScaZjt6</a></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">FIVE days left, ladies and gents. Let's get those orders and colors in, please!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHDfkd23MF3Ml4JAzOSnM1FEFrYiMcVje2dWEzt9WueMprYuf3pMVspAinN71jugLNM_S1UN1bfKKrY1jlU1LUHrBOHIUQQii-WZJbbCCw5oQqe4KYJDz9X9yD-J2Fi2z-ZHKHgbm_TEyMjROUUROw1dV_0pl4pozg5XuaH5JKpCglCt2lu1ghn8NmhA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="1680" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHDfkd23MF3Ml4JAzOSnM1FEFrYiMcVje2dWEzt9WueMprYuf3pMVspAinN71jugLNM_S1UN1bfKKrY1jlU1LUHrBOHIUQQii-WZJbbCCw5oQqe4KYJDz9X9yD-J2Fi2z-ZHKHgbm_TEyMjROUUROw1dV_0pl4pozg5XuaH5JKpCglCt2lu1ghn8NmhA=w640-h272" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It's the new red!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-16150772699207338512023-02-14T21:24:00.001-06:002023-02-14T21:25:33.674-06:00Worlds Shirts 2023<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My name is John Zuidema. I'm the.... author here for Rebel and GAR articles. I'm speaking to you from my house in Northern Kentucky. We are, at this moment, in control of the blog.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqv719LnbEEKCLDr8SVSQXKq7O2Fc87huq03VsNEnzh7XgflOwfyUius4VPV9jSCtb9cjSvmJKBW7mX-AqyO7lPsNcg81vqB6iqzvzaXvVlSq1d9K4SeBWUxmbRjBgZEwWeP9swmJyUZjD6hcYsKiBFDN7b6wOcdv7h_B9w6aupTDJNLbI_RV0XB-wyg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqv719LnbEEKCLDr8SVSQXKq7O2Fc87huq03VsNEnzh7XgflOwfyUius4VPV9jSCtb9cjSvmJKBW7mX-AqyO7lPsNcg81vqB6iqzvzaXvVlSq1d9K4SeBWUxmbRjBgZEwWeP9swmJyUZjD6hcYsKiBFDN7b6wOcdv7h_B9w6aupTDJNLbI_RV0XB-wyg=w640-h358" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">How many seconds a day do you think they think about us? No more than 12...</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">How long we hang on, how far we get, how many of us make it out, all of that is now up to us.... We will never have a better chance than this and <span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">"</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">I would rather die trying to take them down than giving them what they want.</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">" We know they killed two games on Level Two..... We know that no one outside here knows what's happening....</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">There is</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">One.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">Way.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">Out.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">Right now, the game is ours. You need to run, climb, kill [the other person's spaceship]! You need to help each other. You see someone who's confused, someone who is lost, you get them moving and you keep them moving until we put this....behind us. There are 5,000 of us. If we can fight half as hard as we've been working, we will be home in no time. One way out!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0zE58ob42OxWzIFoOvWKRoSB5XMLfAhPWuU4V1DSROZLfVSUbzwknjzNoH9FH4Ab0CyZWFtEKu1X-Q-RM16GfHEdsJJq6rGJW11SZ--5U9MROl_9kox-1WVjd8mFK7WILYYwcuoACTwUDlBSyOSjcXn8AHmZMTWSOtQOQgrlknOIfapmzNr8qYRxsbg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="915" height="555" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0zE58ob42OxWzIFoOvWKRoSB5XMLfAhPWuU4V1DSROZLfVSUbzwknjzNoH9FH4Ab0CyZWFtEKu1X-Q-RM16GfHEdsJJq6rGJW11SZ--5U9MROl_9kox-1WVjd8mFK7WILYYwcuoACTwUDlBSyOSjcXn8AHmZMTWSOtQOQgrlknOIfapmzNr8qYRxsbg=w640-h555" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Memories of better days</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">Let me start again. Armada Worlds is happening in a few months and I would like to make shirts for it. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">As of right now, I know of no plans for AMG to provide shirts for Armada. I can be pleasantly surprised, but with a general policy of..... ignoring our game, as nicely as that can be said.... I wouldn't expect them to provide any. One of the best parts of Worlds 2018 was the prizes. Everyone who attended got a shirt, seen below with our fanciest model. It reminds me of how fun of an experience that was and of all the Armada friends I've made.</span><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidlxowk1RgCAvJ2JVURBKR-nu6OclUX70_qXcCDlM4rPzfLtrkJOnf4q1n5D7LKXvz-k2baAduIiRju6fU84jiOsM8PxTs_KQ9bT4633GlTBRrpmWORcXJWxNCIOjVsf7nxSfAx9aRoLZY8s1JTpRW_nciryeoPCIiM8aziWkLbz8QMWYHF3GsQIMjBA/s3264/IMG_20230213_101357941_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidlxowk1RgCAvJ2JVURBKR-nu6OclUX70_qXcCDlM4rPzfLtrkJOnf4q1n5D7LKXvz-k2baAduIiRju6fU84jiOsM8PxTs_KQ9bT4633GlTBRrpmWORcXJWxNCIOjVsf7nxSfAx9aRoLZY8s1JTpRW_nciryeoPCIiM8aziWkLbz8QMWYHF3GsQIMjBA/s320/IMG_20230213_101357941_HDR.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I guess it all started the first time I went through the second grade. I caught my reflection in a spoon while I was eating my cereal, and I remember thinking "Wow, you're ridiculously good looking, maybe you could do that for a career."</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">So in that vein, I've been working on making shirts for this year's Worlds, ones to blow out all the stops. A picture of the concept is seen below.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZlm80b-qeBu0uPPbZFU4JwoLWKFWFCFEQ_PnIYEmxVai06y1j4_ud-joUfYKVhPcJxHqJZZMuoutwlX5RDwAcR4NedqlVUDOY-tDIBRe5MNOU4tT1HGgmHOQrlMIyih5WbBQr4fVhcSOnHaodbHvqW1frdepaXf03bYmvblGAL3jOIrECWLFtJoq4EA/s2867/example.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2867" data-original-width="2700" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZlm80b-qeBu0uPPbZFU4JwoLWKFWFCFEQ_PnIYEmxVai06y1j4_ud-joUfYKVhPcJxHqJZZMuoutwlX5RDwAcR4NedqlVUDOY-tDIBRe5MNOU4tT1HGgmHOQrlMIyih5WbBQr4fVhcSOnHaodbHvqW1frdepaXf03bYmvblGAL3jOIrECWLFtJoq4EA/w602-h640/example.jpg" width="602" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Admiral Tater does GREAT work and I appreciate him so much</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Right now, if we only get 60 people willing to go in on this, shirts will be $40 each (oof, I know). If we can get up to 72 people buying in, that's $34.50 a shirt. Not the cheapest, but this is the ONLY Armada Worlds (and Last Chance Qualifier!) shirt being made and this is your ONE chance to get one. I'm going to need responses FAST, which means I am requesting you fill out the survey below and let me know you're interested by February 22nd. A week is a fast turnaround time, but we need these made and we need to get going on that. If I don't GET 60 people interested, I'm not making them (I can't ask you all to pay more than $40 for a shirt, no matter HOW nice it is.) So no pressure, but tell all your friends if YOU want a shirt (so we have enough to get them made).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Being willing to go in on this with me is just the..... first spark of the fire. You KNOW everything you need to know [about why I'm doing this] and you too feel everything you need to feel. <span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">And when the day comes, and we all as <b>one game</b> pull together, we will be an unstoppable force for good. I love you all more than anything [they] could ever do wrong.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So if you want one, I'm going to ask you to fill out the following Google survey.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #202122; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://forms.gle/P7VaieEWDSScaZjt6">https://forms.gle/P7VaieEWDSScaZjt6</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: inherit;">Paypal requests will be coming from geek19@gmail.com, but let's hold off on that until I get a little bit further in the process (and can tell you exact prices). Pickup will be at Worlds; I plan on being there for the LCQ and can hand out shirts (and shots of Malort!) that morning, along with Friday, the first day of Worlds, and Friday night at the Armada Irish Wake (expect a post about THAT soon enough). <b>I'm NOT shipping these </b>(as that is gonna get crazy expensive), so if you want one, show up or have a friend show up and claim it for you. If you want a shirt, fill out the survey, easy as that. As for why I'm doing this if I think the game is dying or [other reasons], all I can say is:</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXtRV-WpITjMdjQE4Ho9oNlmUgMOox9HT3078vCAY07qvqVDkJbXBvX8Hx_ub6WVO5fJWijUp7DXA6vkOrTAkfsM2TP5A-k08l6Mzilxy2inKaEj_b7RKWbEm6pBNYT9tMFbTju7gfIbBYdRwlVp6tKzYODVuK8xaW0QRMlHANytXifAWlX1kpyxt23Q"><img alt="" data-original-height="146" data-original-width="345" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXtRV-WpITjMdjQE4Ho9oNlmUgMOox9HT3078vCAY07qvqVDkJbXBvX8Hx_ub6WVO5fJWijUp7DXA6vkOrTAkfsM2TP5A-k08l6Mzilxy2inKaEj_b7RKWbEm6pBNYT9tMFbTju7gfIbBYdRwlVp6tKzYODVuK8xaW0QRMlHANytXifAWlX1kpyxt23Q=w640-h270" width="640" /></a></div></div><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this. Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they've already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this. The... need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of [their] authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Try.</span></span></p>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-40545099589184376582022-11-13T19:09:00.003-06:002022-11-13T19:09:33.499-06:00GAR and CIS Starters!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtLY_s6kCBYOBNElXlpUqDIwTLJi6MxzS32921fLrAu_xNFUeCfxtWEcq2iDFixxYnUgGl3CgvxOpEc0Pxwim-oZ_ElHeqCpKjGeTJR6PeliFNNGaB6yJZrao40cnVyZYkxGPVuwyP9xjh7ztyHvLdxe88Qj5CGwWbOWD14QXTfP-h0VRKF4Q3kv-zOw/s480/CloneWars.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="208" data-original-width="480" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtLY_s6kCBYOBNElXlpUqDIwTLJi6MxzS32921fLrAu_xNFUeCfxtWEcq2iDFixxYnUgGl3CgvxOpEc0Pxwim-oZ_ElHeqCpKjGeTJR6PeliFNNGaB6yJZrao40cnVyZYkxGPVuwyP9xjh7ztyHvLdxe88Qj5CGwWbOWD14QXTfP-h0VRKF4Q3kv-zOw/w640-h278/CloneWars.gif" width="640" /></a></div><p>In the realm of "better late than never", I decided to craft a post for the GAR and CIS beginner player, for how to get into the game for Under $250, just like the previous Rebel and Imperial articles. This article has the benefit of both coming as a result of those AND allows me to make some edits and thoughts based on what I've learned from those articles, AND we're able to combine those articles into a way of "what should I run as a starter fleet with this faction?" I ran into this instance last week myself, as we had a new guy who I had to cobble a fleet together for him on the fly, and I'd prefer not needing to do THAT anymore! Onwards with the article!</p><span></span><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>The benefit of doing this is that a lot of things cost very similar amounts of money; the GAR fighter pack costs the same as the CIS fighter pack, so I can almost interchangeably write this article.... until we hit a few different spots.<p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Our rules, as stated previously by Eric and myself:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">400 point fleet, $250 max. As Eric mentioned, PLEASE buy at your local game stores whenever possible, as they let you come in and play there all the time, generally with helpful employees, friendly counter staff, and hopefully a good and growing community. To DIRECTLY steal from </span><a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/03/building-imperial-fleet-on-cheap-250.html" style="background-color: white; color: #1c9bce; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration-line: none;">Eric's article</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> (thanks for doing the work for me, man!),</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /></p><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">I also want a selection of ships that are very easy to expand off of for when we want to bulk out our options more and try other commanders, so in general it would be ideal to avoid doubling up on ships or squadron packs early on. I want newer players to be learning lots of different elements of the game, seeing what they like and don't like, and being able to cheaply progress outward bit by bit towards other archetypes that interest them without having to make another big $250+ investment all in one go again. Finally, the fleet in question is going to have to use upgrade cards available only from the items purchased themselves - no snagging cards from eBay or borrowing from friends - those are perfectly acceptable things to do, but we can't assume that everyone can or wants to do either of those right away.</span></blockquote><p>All sorts of easy, right? Well, about that....</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHaXdJ4V85p5uoIemb5urLdP3-Ic8b3DJZhyWriLRzZ6u7EJaPTbbFWhhX_tfXBvFNvHUhIght_7ZiqtqUHGdMlKGGaZ5X7w3yXTyL_K4VvCyxnD7UgozH8I0U4GenXgscyHj_vt0R7S4jvFj8yGvRRlcmwTi2e2BoaNZqM6RfebdhbJWl878g_HO_9Q/s1000/Acclamator_I_ships.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="1000" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHaXdJ4V85p5uoIemb5urLdP3-Ic8b3DJZhyWriLRzZ6u7EJaPTbbFWhhX_tfXBvFNvHUhIght_7ZiqtqUHGdMlKGGaZ5X7w3yXTyL_K4VvCyxnD7UgozH8I0U4GenXgscyHj_vt0R7S4jvFj8yGvRRlcmwTi2e2BoaNZqM6RfebdhbJWl878g_HO_9Q/w640-h370/Acclamator_I_ships.webp" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Oo, this guy bought 2 starters!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><b>GAR<br /></b>You're obviously going to want to start with the GAR starter; 2 great admirals, 3 wonderful ships, it's a perfect way to begin. I find myself including that Acclamator or one of the C70s more often than not in a LOT of the lists I bring, and I like bringing them. You're going to want at least one of the fighter packs and the upgrade card packs so you can start ACTUALLY customizing these ships. Because of the potential for rolling a bunch of dice, you're going to want a dice pack, and if you're flying for the Republic, you obviously joined so you could grab your own Venator. So rounding out the starter purchase:</p><p>GAR starter 99.95<br />Republic fighters 24.95<br />Upgrade Card Pack 24.95<br />Venator 64.95<br />Dice Pack 9.95<br /></p><p>All that for $225! That's a solid core, AND the list you're going to make for it looks a little something like this.</p><p class="margin-10-t" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 10px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Gar Starter</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">Faction: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Galactic Republic</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Commander: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Bail Organa (com)</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Points: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">395/400</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">Assault Objective: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Most Wanted</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Defense Objective: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Contested Outpost</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Navigation Objective: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Dangerous Territory</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Acclamator II-class Assault Ship</span> (71 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Implacable </i> ( 4 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Thermal Shields ( 5 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- External Racks ( 4 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />= <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">84</span> total ship cost</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Consular-class Armed Cruiser</span> (37 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Radiant VII </i> ( 1 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Clone Navigation Officer ( 4 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Comms Net ( 2 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />= <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">44</span> total ship cost</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Consular-class Charger C70</span> (45 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Linked Turbolaser Towers ( 7 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />= <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">52</span> total ship cost</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">[ flagship ] <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Venator II-class Star Destroyer</span> (100 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Bail Organa (com) ( 28 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Tranquility </i> ( 3 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Clone Navigation Officer ( 4 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Clone Gunners ( 4 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- External Racks ( 4 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />= <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">150</span> total ship cost</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">1 <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Anakin Skywalker (delta)</span> ( 24 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />1 <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Axe</span> ( 17 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />2 <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">V-19 Torrent Squadron</span> ( 24 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />= <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">65</span> total squadron cost</p><p>It's a little token generation heavy, but this shows you the basics of a Republic fleet, allowing the ships to all end up supporting each other. Bail is here to help you as you learn the basics of Republic navigational patterns ("Hope" is a navigational plan!). If you can pass the tokens, getting the free accuracy when needed with Clone Gunners is both a slight dice modification for your dice, allowing you to reroll one, and also showing you that "en masse" fixing isn't really a thing GAR does. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF8kih5XQeIEDspnRkMadE0v55JzBV7kfC3gtHr_ZdzROFpRsUWJuLEs-StboJQ3Ij7eqNpsi4JBlCm-EC0TIcONdSn-TchJUKbY-Dg1LBTgEj3U4BQ4vCaz8FxtSv0vE4bkjP-6SFIP8IXGbVGq7-t2zih__2LxzrlxnFwdTtq0O4NBgR2-mW2D_kSA/s1200/bail-and-leia.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="1200" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF8kih5XQeIEDspnRkMadE0v55JzBV7kfC3gtHr_ZdzROFpRsUWJuLEs-StboJQ3Ij7eqNpsi4JBlCm-EC0TIcONdSn-TchJUKbY-Dg1LBTgEj3U4BQ4vCaz8FxtSv0vE4bkjP-6SFIP8IXGbVGq7-t2zih__2LxzrlxnFwdTtq0O4NBgR2-mW2D_kSA/w640-h360/bail-and-leia.webp" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me and my daughter in about 8 years</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Next purchases:</b><br />The FIRST thing you should be buying next is a Pelta. Truthiness would tell you that it should be part of your starter set, but the problem is that buying it takes you to $265 ($255 if you don't buy the dice pack, which is STILL over our limit). You REALLY need one, but our initial arbitrary limit prevents it. PERSONALLY, I'd buy one over the dice pack immediately and then buy a dice pack later. But, our limits ARE our limits and I can't go back in time to tell 2017 John to update that article's numbers again. If you have the $5, buying a Pelta is going to do SO much work for you.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZSGzGbh1XYQFn9kqM8zA9RE4fzH0UB5cJLuLlFCfE0IocJlZpKFRJn4LqixI7twtFCwrlwWonnIXAl1OmN4suD-HZHEDv6sNIZbQJpBDKTxm65kNRzVqVMIt3G4Or29KdcRQRy5EhBfBh-lDfaZCX0QDggelq1ccToUOZr6j67QBhdA-ftDfmA0FEBQ/s347/200k%20units.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="145" data-original-width="347" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZSGzGbh1XYQFn9kqM8zA9RE4fzH0UB5cJLuLlFCfE0IocJlZpKFRJn4LqixI7twtFCwrlwWonnIXAl1OmN4suD-HZHEDv6sNIZbQJpBDKTxm65kNRzVqVMIt3G4Or29KdcRQRy5EhBfBh-lDfaZCX0QDggelq1ccToUOZr6j67QBhdA-ftDfmA0FEBQ/w640-h268/200k%20units.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><p>After you buy your FIRST Pelta, you can start buying a few more squad packs if you enjoy running squadrons heavily, or start grabbing a few duplicate ships as desired. In fact, let me just detail your (current) FINAL total purchases for GAR.</p><p><b>FINAL GAR PURCHASES<br /></b>2 total Venators<br />2, maybe 3 Peltas<br />1 starter set/Upgrade Card Collection (maaaaaaaybe a 2nd starter)<br />3, maybe 4 Squadron packs<br />2 Victories MAYBE I GUESS UGH THIS SHIP</p><p>Do NOT go out and buy all of these immediately; this is me saying "I've seen double Venator lists that aren't goofy memes, I've seen 8 Y-wing lists, I've made many lists with dual Peltas." I haven't seen a 6 Pelta list that I would describe as anything more than "sure, try it once online and see how much you like it." I technically own a Vic, someday I might get a second. We'll see. I've seen ONE triple Venator list work at Adepticon, but I think you can do it better with 2 Victories now. I think Theia would agree with me, but you'd need to ask her. Don't buy 3 Venators.</p><p>"So I should go buy 15 Venators right? For my 8000 point game that takes all weekend to move 1 turn?" No. Stop it. Don't go full warhammer army on this until you've played several 400 point games and even THEN I still don't recommend anything past 800 points. Go put your money in a bank, I'm sure by the time we get another wave you'll have earned enough in interest to get a new ship or two. If you can PROMISE me you're going to play a full 8000 point game EVERY weekend, then sure, go give AMG more of the money for ships that will see your table. In this game that they're DEFINITELY going to keep supporting. But I'd still be hesitant, myself.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4ZKHt3xI8OR5eRCoywLycyyssqU0TgLAjSGiDDxTcIourN0SOvUENfwYRrKD7JulLwDmq7PlmIxvCkv3gB4vVJSxUuZDGUQxEqurckHvu69DrnGvBfonK9eZYGWWy07O4zYM-7UF8ZRICTtRanZN-regWyeLmONSHtCe_AN4uiAHpd-JSDff4UKbAQ/s1310/SepCouncilUtapau-ROTS.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="728" data-original-width="1310" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4ZKHt3xI8OR5eRCoywLycyyssqU0TgLAjSGiDDxTcIourN0SOvUENfwYRrKD7JulLwDmq7PlmIxvCkv3gB4vVJSxUuZDGUQxEqurckHvu69DrnGvBfonK9eZYGWWy07O4zYM-7UF8ZRICTtRanZN-regWyeLmONSHtCe_AN4uiAHpd-JSDff4UKbAQ/w640-h356/SepCouncilUtapau-ROTS.webp" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">There are DOZENS of useable officers!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>CIS<br /></b>This may sound familiar, but let's start with an upgrade card pack, starter set, dice pack, and 1 set of squadrons. So different from anything above! After that, it's really a choice of if you want the Recusant or if you want the Invisible Hand. I'm going to steer you towards the Recusant, but the IH is a valid choice also.</p><p>CIS starter 99.95<br />CIS fighters 24.95<br />upgrade card pack 24.95<br />Recusant 64.95<br />Dice pack 9.95</p><p>And what sort of list do we get from that? Well, here's what I was able to cobble together (with Fox's approval/"yeah that seems ok")....</p><p class="margin-10-t" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 10px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">CIS Starter</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">Faction: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Separatist Alliance</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Commander: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Kraken</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Points: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">397/400</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">Assault Objective: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Most Wanted</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Defense Objective: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Contested Outpost</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Navigation Objective: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Dangerous Territory</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">[ flagship ] <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Munificent-class Star Frigate</span> (73 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Kraken ( 30 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Wat Tambor ( 5 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Thermal Shields ( 5 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Linked Turbolaser Towers ( 7 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />= <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">120</span> total ship cost</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Hardcell-class Battle Refit</span> (52 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Reserve Hangar Deck ( 3 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Linked Turbolaser Towers ( 7 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />= <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">62</span> total ship cost</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Hardcell-class Transport</span> (47 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Beast of Burden </i> ( 6 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Comms Net ( 2 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />= <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">55</span> total ship cost</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Recusant Light Destroyer</span> (85 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Patriot Fist </i> ( 6 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Shu Mai ( 4 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- Reserve Hangar Deck ( 3 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />- External Racks ( 4 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />= <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">106</span> total ship cost</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #646464; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">2 <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Droid Tri-Fighter Squadron</span> ( 22 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />4 <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Vulture-class Droid Fighter Squadron</span> ( 32 points)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />= <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">54</span> total squadron cost</p><p>This fleet has a good amount of dice fixing with Kraken and all the reroll mechanics, especially that Patriot Fist, but the one thing it lacks is token generation. Rune and Tikkes are in-faction, but Tikkes comes in the Invisible Hand pack. I put a lone Comms Net in, but for a start of "learn how the faction works" this should get you moving along.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2CzIftTQQA7bBPbirkPJ4T4wGQN0UAlMeetcHxN2slLx7yX-As2HIpqkKMYy4Oje4ew8ldo3FS3k_7KqjaD5fTPViqv7CppoFkYHv6k6wrj2d9jqQmOI3Rvz9OrxjhxfMbwtUpsPVnhjaJJQSGJ6hkd-gHnFYr0ZIOxf5ia7zNP4rzAt3Gur0ht1OLQ/s1450/InvisibleHandROTS.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1450" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2CzIftTQQA7bBPbirkPJ4T4wGQN0UAlMeetcHxN2slLx7yX-As2HIpqkKMYy4Oje4ew8ldo3FS3k_7KqjaD5fTPViqv7CppoFkYHv6k6wrj2d9jqQmOI3Rvz9OrxjhxfMbwtUpsPVnhjaJJQSGJ6hkd-gHnFYr0ZIOxf5ia7zNP4rzAt3Gur0ht1OLQ/w640-h360/InvisibleHandROTS.webp" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Invisible Hand, the Wobbly Left Leg of Cthulhu, and the Infrared Torso! Join together in VOLTRON!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Next Steps:<br /></b>If you bought the Recusant, buy an Invisible Hand. If you bought IH, buy a Rec. Semi-obvious answer is semi-obvious, but hey! Add another squadron pack if you're getting to that point of enjoying those as well. And let's get to the final totals for CIS as well (again, do not start out buying all of these, be smart about this)</p><p>FINAL CIS PURCHASE LIST<br />2 starter sets<br />1 upgrade card pack/dice pack<br />2 Recusants<br />1 Invisible Hand<br />2 gozantis<br />2-3 fighter packs</p><p>It's a "nicer" faction in that you don't need to go ham on squad packs, but I've seen many viable lists with 3-4 hardcells or 2 Munificents in them. Buying a second starter pack seems like the dumbest thing ever, but I promise you will get good use out of all of those ships.</p><p>Again, don't go ham on buying all of these at once; go in slow and purchase what you want/need as you go. I've SEEN the 4 Recusant list, I've yet to see it not be a meme. Prove me wrong and win Worlds and I will write an article about how you were right, buying 4 Recusants WAS a smart idea.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6d_f2-bCqY9TK2sYF06UvxdvYENwAWKoSngtoDXGSCV9inAlWdT43oCD7hSuntredY3UEaFvyFu0b45s9l4Ica00cUMlDd-ulOSkxVr15MboATgAuQ8km8Oh-7Zg_p5wvnOKGKgJ8U0sBd4zZI2qvsA0KAK0S43TRQcii7p5JhOudc59uixDOdRChdg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="631" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6d_f2-bCqY9TK2sYF06UvxdvYENwAWKoSngtoDXGSCV9inAlWdT43oCD7hSuntredY3UEaFvyFu0b45s9l4Ica00cUMlDd-ulOSkxVr15MboATgAuQ8km8Oh-7Zg_p5wvnOKGKgJ8U0sBd4zZI2qvsA0KAK0S43TRQcii7p5JhOudc59uixDOdRChdg=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br />For BOTH factions, you're likely going to have to buy Rebellion in the Rim AND Corellian Conflict if/when you get REAL competitive because they are the only place to get the objective cards that you're going to run outside the starter 12. You CAN win with the basics, but why cook with only salt and pepper when you can get cumin, garam marsala, and chili pepper? Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get some takeout Indian food after THAT metaphor. Good luck getting into your new factions!<p></p>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-73038353968814515032022-11-13T17:02:00.006-06:002022-11-13T17:02:58.459-06:00Kelorn Day 2! Return of the Guest Post!<span id="docs-internal-guid-5fc829c3-7fff-04f8-e5ae-356203e4652c"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">geek again, letting Kelorn take the wheel ONE MORE TIME! Enjoy the AAR, I'm working on another article myself currently....</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiE6fkqwtc6d9AhONsZoOQEvAWimcK6CQd-tMfsH-Rpkrhh1bjZEDzs9HW1-s2flKOZ4rVxXBa461tzJMIvXWFEK4mz2y-znyoqdVGUjvzOXveXjQnchdQf_9bkhuZtX-iLTixd_5EY7xRYFPDv4Wl8gVmY0HUX5HfUxZLTzkoMZjE6WMOuY2DiyR4m2w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="938" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiE6fkqwtc6d9AhONsZoOQEvAWimcK6CQd-tMfsH-Rpkrhh1bjZEDzs9HW1-s2flKOZ4rVxXBa461tzJMIvXWFEK4mz2y-znyoqdVGUjvzOXveXjQnchdQf_9bkhuZtX-iLTixd_5EY7xRYFPDv4Wl8gVmY0HUX5HfUxZLTzkoMZjE6WMOuY2DiyR4m2w" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In most stories, the hero gets in trouble, finds a mentor, gets stronger, overcomes adversity, and emerges triumphant. From the moment you start consuming the story through whatever media you choose, you KNOW that the hero will win in the end.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not one of those stories.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reality can be a really unpleasant mistress, crushing dreams, ruining plans, and generally creaking havoc. When Patrick first told me that Golden State Games would take place on weekend of a conference my work was already sending me to, I thought the stars were aligning and this was my chance. In a way it was, I mentioned at the end of the last article that I met a ton of people, forging relationships that just never happen any other way. I will treasure those relationships for a long time, and I’m thrilled that I was able to meet everyone.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The situation at the start of Day 2 was not bleak in any way. There were four world’s invite tickets up for grabs and two of the Top 8 already had tickets. The odds were fairly good or so it seemed.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Game 1 - Patrick</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First off, mad props to Patrick, he was the eventual winner of GSG and had just won the Endor championships on TTS with his Raddus MC80 list. I thought that I had a solution to his list and a way to destroy his flagship before he dropped. However, discussion with Patrick and the judge revealed a slight snag. My strategy was dependent on using a pass token on turn one as second player. However, there’s a sometimes forgotten clause for pass tokens, that you can’t pass if they do not have more unactivated ships than the first player. Because I had three activations and Patrick kept his MC80 in hyperspace, I couldn’t pass until he dropped. All of that being the case, I abandoned that plan and chose to go first, choosing Patrick’s Most Wanted objective.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As usual, I center deployed the Gozanti and squads, trying to determine where Patrick would deploy before committing my ships. His squads and GR75’s deployed to my left, so I put the Quasar on the outside and the ISD in the middle to oppose him. Raddus’s flagship deployed on the backline but with Speed 4 + engine techs, i knew it would be a factor soon.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/UMUFy6is7BoavYRKz7uh8_8At-0i8mGZfXGBiWQu61ZaYD8_lH1S4IlhG7fV4w86omuWM-KkGG0T2VVqPmSiFP3--W2f_ZOcwZZ1uzsk3Lr9GUwOfs-RbW2Tu6GHSvxvbZr686lnSO0LisvlrfcpPJyslhpW80mKC7R-fL3LMWYgPy9bSrTD0iNbgtXI3g" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Turn one, I slowly moved up while the CR90 flagship paralleled the backline towards the GR75s. I put my Interceptors out front a bit as bait, but he didn’t take it. My remaining squads took position to attack on turn 2. Patrick chose not to Raddus on turn 2 and off we went.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/9tCQM4b3FVZ2B9eZyvuQe7KFKYBJmDGzcB0Eqjs-70RezEmH3-qdtsiuXrb7zWE6AGMbbL-7aqjzC7ZlXlk7ERmd6Wr4AK5ysOG5j342a5UuFXZ-Ko5kZrAWk0eFR5pik7JlmWTRY36r6WEU0RcfTSYiZHwFojl2HxUqp6p1NQN535TRjchBYKiKhhJ1Gg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Turn 2 was interesting, I was first and Patrick had a slicer tools GR75 in position. With that in mind, I activated the Quasar first, blowing Shara Bey to bits and killing Rogue Squadron. The GR75 chose to slice the Quasar and the ISD retaliated by killing the slicer GR75. The real key here, however, was Jaina’s Light and her LTT flak. My generic’s started dying and I brought back two with reserve hangar deck, trying to maintain my squad screen and prevent a good raddus drop. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/DKMFIVMPe5yCOE3-RkEey04grkmwd6tHvMpP9Y2s6g3RGeB0jiXsCjMLw3r18Kyl1k6Z4RIXMPqxT6HqwB_vRKytUQsenAer2cQVf8dowvx0wz3I6RGuFzyEooFlmQfaCaEusNq78Ur_b_VqkGD7lOJl_4xi7jsISBCNYOV_pDMRg4qHf3R-do3iACg4kQ" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was partially successful and prevented my ISD (with its Most Wanted objective token) from dying. However, Patrick did manage to squeeze his MC80 into the gap and block my Quasar at the top of round 3.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/G-knENPMXgtT4adsM6RNaHPliD8-GKKpWEHV50p6nMr5X-jBd-_zN-jfYo1FToctsLQ-O6D-Egd7wYFDhBZBln1nkbtF6FTTkRI2oARy45Us45EcDJofGnFCD81j8awTr_qwoT8D6iCz9AjkLtx11aPjZhaW-9pn3aSXHVEsmV5PLwoYSkAr6f94wAVeQQ" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The rest of this game was fairly pre-ordained. Despite the MC80’s first epic whiff of a front shot on the Quasar, there was no way to save it. My squads killed everyone but Ketsu, and Vader/Maarek chased down the Most Wanted GR75. In return, Patrick killed my gozanti and most of my squads. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/e-cX1zB4QbaJ5U2auwPfOp69phIVXJ0nKZzuKk2-yJ1WjhQNJHPkld465YZZu4JJDRr1xhLHX_jef4DAcEG6jH8EcCt_Wm9grrLQzzzktIfRnG_upEcbfSd5Md5gkF-bY6_TIcG0mgv8xnX3pRXnNo-bYbu9_rHUNpemkYCcnniLd98ouYn0vaZqqK9c6g" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_EDq35Yl8WIW7AVjf1cx9RBpL7xoOUuIGjpzBN3n9QqKVhNElnyFkHwucK36d0hNM234EO1tbUggnMVx6Fqix4fwT6iR69mWxTg_8rq7SSeczo5XHeZKA_-AsEapN_fDUti_JNOnG-Zk4a6G9MrjOFCkDqRe5W4WuB343fr3CoRi0bgE4DXy9UVWEWcbLg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The game ended with a very close 6-5 margin, with Patrick edging me out by 12 points, which particularly hurt because his Jaina’s Light one shot Saber squad on turn 3, which was the entire difference. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Game 2 - Samuel Wang</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wasn’t in a bad spot with a 5-6 and I figured that I had a decent shot of still making top 4. I paired round two with Samuel and his Sloane list. He had a slightly different flavor, with a Boarding Teams Kuat and two defenders. He chose second player and I chose his superior positions, fully deploying before my opponent.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/37-MLEsz31cB3HzrjX1ycdS3AIw5D4c6UiS-sD1f22x0Y8G8bXL1J-xuhWxY_fPgrcystLn8l1WYs9Ngl6cQ4GDrDcuYjIgx8E6PPcFOsnvP66HT0pb0W_UOZX3IuixtJFQwZ1abyTfZPWCGzrlaKS7P3CoX9juUyblOPGW-l9KZ1592ws7IOWlOBmvY5g" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Samuel chose to corner deploy in a way which would make it difficult to kill his Quasar. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/5jbkQry6k8FOZhl4Bb9r_DJzAdOmcJ_eOYXYU1JFKdG-3aCuRuMMBbuJUBFn8V1wnu_45l0FYAZaIPypFmPjBoJkmmjrXB9qXigDG3tquEgDnxaWmhB2jC3vIqDj7XsftG_kfdFBdCKGHjYvBEqvqi-n6lAwzsVI3bDiAclk4w0y8gslvSqPIBuX1tMKlQ" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ll be honest, hubris bit me in the ass here. I expected to overwhelm my opponent and made critical errors. For his part, Samuel played an excellent game.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I chose to speed up to 3 on turn one, which was a critical error and would force me into close range too soon. I tried to cut across my quasar and ended up taking a boarding teams shot for 11 damage to the ISD. I didn’t want to burn the brace so I burned the redirect, taking four damage cards. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/tMyck_OKGyjC97UjyQMcEobw0NhHC4c6KuJ5qVtLUyH5u9R0Ye6qGyDfO20Az3mIFyxY_NBWuVNlpsAfP_P4g0P6oAtcyakUDlv4qN6kaJPiZynciB4n7Jh2bTDsy3LcaCtVOi04lARYJB2xUwM0rUCHkkE2oEPZWV2bQbXw0dJW_gC82yMRLinjsY0_og" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This still left me at close range of the side arc of the Kuat and my ISD would eventually die. I managed to save the Quasar and kill all of his squads, picking up a couple net Superior Positions tokens. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/nAN4reMhG7BNSnyAkyV_ieSWS2ml8svkm_rAL6jF29A5UOdbPJGclAkCb5DOPh_py8IVN46-X_ttCQsbyn6hWATVkTSzVWMh5jUDDGM4ISiXPny_AXnJc12TWLqO8aKBJX5w0mj-j84jamrPdUA01RpmmOWliMtMTFKunxNQ3XXiyPXZB-8KleY53pBYNA" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/lqS8YEjzmZRFhT-JIN3XfMMiyQTy6L4DmeorVLOp7eaXBVrZLGQAt8xqyQ7LIVez9LsvAl_AfAFerWNstOkeUpbKlh5yYHqWWr62Mu5BgQ0Yaepz7sMyyog6kjZO5JEpvsolXJ0YfXiFzYlZ47hnDTpDU7GGl-P9d5pOv2MucZKQ3tni1481BT73A5DQ8Q" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/WUCRrBRRUubapGFajNxxD62Zb4ho9-fcfMnosodkci4ObXp29bWOp1B9i1CmmjyB7pUUZUodr1NMaTTHbIYKfr9VrEyfMAPG-q0YsEnaCX6agbQ3rY7uxRVsyQAnKMaT9CDqYkmxYEMI9f25hzY2co6rkoWT83dyIXTVQlAJAWgPxrERoTzTOPKJQLQsHA" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once my flagship was dead, I no longer had the firepower to finish off the Kuat, which at one point was at 8 damage cards. Even with winning the squad war, it wasn’t enough, with me losing 194 to 290 for a 4-7. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Game 3 - Jordan Shettel</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point, I was starting to get very tired, it had been a long two days, a long week away from home. Later, when I got home the next week, I would learn that I had caught COVID as well. All of which explains the last game, but doesn’t excuse it. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I essentially doubled down on my hubris, attempting to bully my final opponent, and getting tabled in the process (I told you this didn’t have a happy ending).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jordan was playing an Agate MC30 fleet with Jaina’s Light and a medium squad ball in support.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Y3CQdxk870a_194ZqnPhkV-_2CbYRIWR9VEtR9VURxltLleeEd1FhrjesgXDjgGnXVu2qQBaRoGP4psJ7l12f0tU3j8LOfW_0X-E2L5b1BaMMHzsJiu66AnuWd0Wsuxss0ztL1-3xY4AhNseuTCPkVTid6a1BMcqamRY9bRMAJ8aaCigv1g9I09xuwDLnQ" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stupidly, I lined up for joust across the table. Turn 2, my squads pounced on his squads, killing Tycho and Shara and severely wounding Lando. Ketsu jumped to a rock to poke at my Quasar and Jordan maneuvered beautifully, trapping my ISD in four arcs from his MC30’s. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/gj-QStfoOT9RksoH_MVX84V9_kGeEl9-iEwpaRxTau48Epq8qA5p9TWpnLmTa3xZlmQWCrDGh3S3VzigK8sBA3iEHEBiaI73PqoD6e6y0mqh5dutoC9VWmDn853DgdlLDlhdl9hD-gsBs7liuz_VD67JiBbmf5aAce-C9KAU51wm5H0DwNQ0h8wlaXUwow" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I tried very hard to kill the non-flagship MC30 before it activated but didn’t manage it. Making matters worse, my quasar had no way to get away either because of my deployment errors.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Turn 3 my ISD died and I managed to kill Ketsu and Lando, but it wasn’t enough when my Quasar died Turn 4. Even Vader finishing off Jaina’s light didn’t change it out of a 10-1 loss and my hope went up in smoke for a world’s invite with an 8th place finish on day 2.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Traveling for tournament’s is hard. Competitive Armada is hard. Making it even worse, I KNOW I could have played better in games 2 and 3. But I didn’t and I have to live with that. Looking at the bright side, I did make day 2 cut, even after flying off the board game 1. I was happy with my list, it was a good meta call for the tournament and I have no regrets in playing what I played, merely HOW I played it. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Will this make me a better player? Only time will, but I feel like I learned a lot. Ever game both days, I was thrilled with my squad play, never losing the squad war and leveraging Sloane in the anti-squad role very well. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My biggest takeaway is to slow down, you don’t need to force engagement on turn 2 and 3, you can wait. Patience and control are key, the longer the tournament went on, the more I let those get away from me. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Until next time, catch me and the crew on the Armada Podcast and fly safe out there!</span></p>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-61170249491928053262022-11-13T16:45:00.001-06:002022-11-13T16:45:41.574-06:00Kelorn Guest Post Golden State Games (part 1)!<p><span style="color: #2b00fe;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQ69j5tmr_CPr7dAzVRieaQWU3uGDfWR7UsFyWgBCrJc8XDwxHemxb3AsTN43hn4t-MWSrP0OBwCI7Bh3Q8FY7QyEy3Ov--RkJUV4amtOEJ_DjgPORwLrtojP8-pRRC2R-haiRdSc5bigoaoDlW6fNAlPqsqFkF_e4sXtCpu36W2vYW29luovxoKrELA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQ69j5tmr_CPr7dAzVRieaQWU3uGDfWR7UsFyWgBCrJc8XDwxHemxb3AsTN43hn4t-MWSrP0OBwCI7Bh3Q8FY7QyEy3Ov--RkJUV4amtOEJ_DjgPORwLrtojP8-pRRC2R-haiRdSc5bigoaoDlW6fNAlPqsqFkF_e4sXtCpu36W2vYW29luovxoKrELA" width="240" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Hey, we still exist! And we have a guest post from Kelorn about his weekend at Golden State Games! I'll just let him hit everything after the jump, enjoy!</span><p></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe;">-geek</span></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">How to describe the Golden State Games Worlds Qualifier?</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-2402e3d4-7fff-187f-8b3f-01f8073cc173"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Car’s got broken into, collection’s stolen, Leia Hammerhead MSU was dominating, and ships were flying off the board. It was a recurring conversation point that the whole tournament just felt… strange. Which is not to say it was a bad tournament, just a strange one.</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With that out of the way, let’s dig in. For those of you who know me, my ambition is limitless. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Kelorn and I am one of the hosts of the Armada Podcast and admin of the Armada Tabletop Simulator discord server.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a fair bit of soul searching and the Endor tournament, I chose to bring a Sloane list to GSG in my bid for a world’s invite. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Name: Piotr sloane copy</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Faction: Imperial</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Commander: Admiral Sloane</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Assault: Advanced Gunnery</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Defense: Hyperspace Assault</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Navigation: Superior Positions</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Imperial II (120)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Admiral Sloane (24)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Captain Needa (2)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Local Fire Control (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Electronic Countermeasures (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• SW-7 Ion Batteries (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 172 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Quasar Fire I (54)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Commander Vanto (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Flight Controllers (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Boosted Comms (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Squall (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 77 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gozanti Cruisers (23)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Comms Net (2)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 25 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Squadrons:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Colonel Jendon (20)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Darth Vader (TIE Defender) (25)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Maarek Stele (21)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Mauler Mithel (15)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Saber Squadron (12)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• 2 x TIE Interceptor Squadron (22)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• TIE Fighter Squadron (8)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">= 123 Points</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total Points: 397</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/4ESI6Ywu-L56Yn1UQfVHBOeXNWUnQnExw6rohceLNfJrtDkrDwA-NPDjS5Z0xsMbmBBTyNlKupca850IoQq1AvAapxLKYfFbq5kPx87yOPDrLF-BV7GFn5-4oLoLulT8R14nToZoY830ZxWulwWEUzn8LN9W4hJxpc8ALgIqekez5MoK3AiKa2sf8bLYUw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a fairly old school take on Sloane, but with some fun tokens on the ISD2 and Commander Vanto on the Quasar, both of which are fairly crucial to how this list works, which you’ll see in my various games.</span></p><br /><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Game 1 - Cory Benson (aka Ardaedhel)</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cory and I split a room for the tournament, so clearly RNGesus states that we must be paired for the first round. Cory was flying Cracken CR90’s with some light squad support from Tycho, Shaara, and a couple of generic A-wings.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/ihVo_M_qp8U14t-ZNGJABmWeRvXAjrlJdTuOCG-i_92BxbrMiKg9XB4L_mFUFEOBe1GDl6RYr8HAXlNRmK27SdwUMk2xmz9Q9h-NYv3LW9lxyRERncaauDCNHFUFjYm80PtR4Me0Egz-nWTO3jUn1VCK9Xw_cv5zJ6D5dEsRmTcRsM0dvLxuI0cUp00pkA" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had the bid and chose first player, along with Cory’s Infested Fields objective. I center deployed my gozanti along with the squads, forcing Cory to split up his deployment some. He opposed my ISD and Quasar with a CR90B, CR90A, his Cracken flagship, and slicer tools GR75.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/GbNoxdYIha4R3vSqPf_g0HdOTgXkmzKlpMFr0wQPnCayRa93BaufALhcNncAx9SVD9YzPSIfGCX6_4DD7XzDHjfRr-fyYE_hmTtDlxfrFRt4WKMh1zD_aXMw8LhumYufdkt2Z2mHSAxUD3wVUnrfpck8SLPw4K5HjdHcOCK8fAXiJDTXFG_CRP2yJt9j-w" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The key for me here was trying to avoid getting multi-arced by lots of CR90s and not getting sliced by the GR75. Accordingly, I spent a fair bit of effort on turn 1 and 2 to eliminate the Slicer Tools GR75. This was unusually difficult because of Bright Hope’s ability to reduce incoming damage from squads, but in the end, I did manage to kill it before I got sliced, from a lucky Vader 2x double roll, rerolled one dice into another double. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I paid a bit of a cost for this, as I ended up fairly surrounded by CR90’s, and my quasar went down to concentrated fire.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/0exmAdRlLl4RKwWuLLAwXQfa_p-u6P1UYRZLjiljY-FGbtUhG5mUo304FVTsy6gJWykTM5B5d18hpItUrY1_4qFNczauU5YUyRg5BR57R9s8pZW0YMcjmpLn0yTyKh1nz5FIlTEU1lh6E2nJ1emLLQRW_UWmmWrmx9uith4dq_IE5vi81Fq72LHRjdKpXw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/HTVJodIspWizBvZhBBrepnAAYXWrmSs8j9Wrw7-R80_zN-350H_ETrAtbx9ti2un0kZ7Y708oLyieMx9_BLczLl8CurSCtH4Igk61mL_V7gsU7M8lxYfff5iTCkYZqEQl-fmF0rpJ9cvdZJJK3aqEbzAh1g0SOE3PHQrRzmRwXKoE5tERrgpwURzIlF3bw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I managed a nice move at the end of turn 3 that kept my ISD in only two arcs, but my pride was not to last. Turn 4 I activated the ISD first, killing two CR90s with my squads and guns, but promptly flying off the board by a couple of millimeters. Even with all the damage I did, I lost 204 - 475, for a 2-9.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/W6hQu2cegWyvQTvZBF-yIhSK70fCGfx9VSE7ROkn0RVpuCYllfdEL_a0j6hSbT3MdaychxZhXNSbCcyHOwdizoWN2G4Y_turH0wn_yNTaC9Fubq4XcehwoKtC9p-K0JVRLLpEF0l8Ue8XvZxewmy3vHibpizZaAQiHh_TBLu3sv_zPOPn3brtpVNGzF5pQ" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point, I was surprisingly not despairing. The day before, I’d listened to Fox and Jason on the podcast talk about how going on tilt was the worst thing you can do after losing your first game. I took this to heart and set out to claw my way back up the standings.</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Game 2 - William Anderson</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I had dropped to the bottom of the standings, I played Will, who had lost 1-10 in round 1. Mad props to Will, as we had a great comradely game, but I knew I had the upper hand and set out to get a 10-1 to bootstrap myself back towards contention. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Will was playing an Interdictor/Harrow fleet with a medium squad ball. Will had bid and chose to go second, so I center deployed and chose his most wanted objective. His squads were ahead of me, and he chose to deploy to my left, which would delay engagement some.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/TSLkFNywNJB7Q0eiW4RY2LQGmuJatLGjad9Xzirur627EW8Na5z9tFBKwJzh_U17m62ZCq_yd07LILDxJmjnzPTBFbYrO2HTRBCyKTIFarqPmTQYrd4u1FxMbgSO69Qzj2wbhzqhDuOVRcWLGheNEBSBUaPKevE7qIZa1oVptnwkpoxVsn1hX4-nYH8h8Q" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I came in at speed 3 with the ISD, moving my quasar slowly to the outside, away from his ships. At the top of Turn 2, I was far enough ahead that I sent my squads in to kill his squads, killing all of them on that turn.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/4krjxKfX9sP5R0WHsrvv8a7C0kSzdOQmsA0-3roRpSAdQL3sHWtFAGmaqk-XUEyeQ9-TrsVxhDHE738ixcoPNEqVpiI8sWcsWUUFHgVJOdeqF8ube9zYusJxIQVnwP_VV1SjueBZB84aV-WV5B6FRFLAsmZ6OAd46235ufBm_iI1Xb0J37_J1YnMQ_HQ-A" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Will dove in his victory and Interdictor, trying to kill my quasar and gozanti. The Gozanti died, but the quasar used Vanto to speed up to 3 and run away. Meanwhile, the ISD barely edged out a double arc on the Interdictor and between the squads and the ISD’s guns, the Victory and the Interdictor quickly perished, leaving me with a 10-1 (400-51). </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/uIaSNSzeMG5ufoSAoZYaE_g_Bh0v0Simg_V8Z6FCdkAeNk4Om3nX0T1_iHeIAZbZS8i81SVqQn-cmR3KoWpu4uhdKwpcDpcYPmekN5jEPq9uIcYKtx_bPNaeXbcEhFc4MS76vYf7MIUrayLciwaQarLGm0MMUwg4uR3-LETUa5uBHlB-f4b8mfBEE-7OMA" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’d like to emphasize that Will was an amazing opponent. We had a very casual type game; laughing and enjoying ourselves. Will really exemplified the ideal of an Armada player and I hope he continues to play for a long time.</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Game 3 - Edward Han</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hadn’t met Edward before and I nearly had a heart attack when he said he was playing Sam’s double interdictor/Onager list. He had the bid at 394 and chose second, leaving me with some fairly awful choices to make. His objectives were:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ion Storm</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Abandoned Mining Facility</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Doomed Station</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AMF is a very dangerous objective, especially against an interdictor with Grav shift reroute. Ion Storm can be very dangerous and allow 2nd player to farm points virtually at will. Doomed station means moving obstacles and lots of points for 2nd player, but there was the hope that I could get some station points late in the game. So Doomed station it was.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Edward put the station and the G7X token to the left, forcing me into the center and needing to go around the Rift to get to him. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/26U93bJcm-9ngpGmV0v3cuZvqeuu02viKsfuR1YoNcCNHJm1xBaEFRroun6M7C72e2tc8rSF-RxrNU0McchlL8cI3nsHCywI2ZFgZ3AJzCy71nXH5kkkKtgkxzL7bN4kInfHgIFTXyxdMAavanB_7NchjQIVQcZgvjSgx4GHkfBMsCXKLG4tlnI1dYAI5Q" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point in the tournament, I knew that if I lost here, it was likely all over. So without much to lose, I shoved my chips all in and charged his ships. His flagship interdictor was on the inside, offering me a fair bit of points if I could crack the tank, which was not at all certain. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/A2qSy30H0CTv54xbdgzmI_29VyiCYwiOlbq2c8x1owwg8BwstQik_9K1uHS8dNk4e0JD5ufXpMNobCavcXgOlqBmwSp_gby77tu0FbNaim4e4C14Gy_DshHC6SNj09UPRMU7c1EfF9RcHjmYEN0YBBPOON-vvwG8klOgcGrK5SJYYkFDUxR3vYB9_Ab4Aw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Pgg5QasklO_j3G5US9puNQRnQbUov8M6YThMA1LSsV24_SXV8YsW-DgrgQ6JF0Rgld-vDbIMUUcL-CssJWIuqgia4fwPckzfaFEcKi5m-0Zb0OiTCXAV2a9lKvo1ZEYWqScwjhBbIv_QwoIn9RaXhLc9XKgwC91xSK8Kv77Rt0bDEIdc6bfLJMh2Gf_Lsg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The thing here is that both interdictors have Point defense ion cannons and targeting scramblers, plus his flagship had Needa Officer, giving it an evade. He could reroll and reroll my squad dice. Persistence here was critical and I was able to delete the redirect token on the flagship interdictor relatively early. Getting damage to stick was more difficult, but turn 4 and 5, my ISD was finally in position to give it two front arc shots. Turn 4 I got a little scared, as both my quasar and Gozanti were destroyed, but turn 5 I was able to kill his Interdictor and the Onager. Turn six I grabbed the Gozanti with my squads, and held on for a 304-202 victory (7-4). </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/7AeZdM-hs1WjgRC0zkjB_C8vi53gH6MfYgkym4ag7CrcKOuzmqqTPRSkD_31bVTrJ5oMuBweeQH8hlursfQW4yyzEB7E33G_nMQRiYYUVn0mj9PLAJWuZlBlzMz4St6AUqTgGL8JUY5qC8F0UcpvE25rZZLZg0eo0FOOUdCfVAHc-82GdTmF0LjN9UMufA" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/LkTbo1GT5vusHx4wBIHb1Fx6QuCzoZSZ0sCHwWYlzntgTl89_-MPS4Q_Y_Alc1b6wXf_4D_7N2ZYGuQJqbZeg6snA3bpd-q7D-XX0m_kgHvABLLxjfRFqZuF2ddsKWIE9X5skugZBHrrXruwfc6RIGOu7sTt_bEEXHFfBU1-cP9X3OIAWKQyqZO9GW-Tww" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Edward was a great opponent and used his rerolls, but at the end of the day I was very persistent in just piling damage into the interdictor flagship until it died, which paid dividends when I was able to kill three of his four ships. He got 5 doomed station tokens to my 1, but for all that, it could have been very different if I wasn’t able to take anything down.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Game 4 - Sascha Strait</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Going into game 4, I knew I needed a 7 to have a chance to make it to day 2. An 8 was probably a guarantee, given my high MOV from the 10-1. Sascha was playing an Agate liberty list with a medium squad ball in support. He had the bid on me and chose to go first. He chose my Hyperspace assault, and I left three of my squads plus the quasar in hyperspace. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/9AFQwVnpfq7tn__e7l39T9MF3NyGeN5RnP9oujXUIPeLirp2hkuH6mp8Q4o6uosWm_Y_VAK-Bg4rFSDOMDqwrN0ZAmU8CiD8Ks_1jfkdimOr5cSGM2-gvyQf8RQ0pBc1N3nuywLtaMvE9GcjDnsQ-Xmg4JAOhO9k7znxJvvZ4xw9diQQ0fgqZ-llsMg1Gg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was fairly badly out-deployed, but that didn’t matter as I knew my quasar wasn’t going to die. I brought the Quasar in at the top of Turn 2, leaving it the rear arc of the MC80, which was barreling at me at speed 3 + Engine techs. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/F-TY5JLskTcTE4sFv_waOYRLRJys82MGeDjDyw0V4YhvrW3d0ZFGtERBH9yFVBMWU8fx1Kehgo5bvKbXuhOCL-UvBawU5JekPDp_JkbXahH0HDfpgE-pqZb-vIdJpUQKQkhpNJFB014LdsxdxsFiSAGDnmpzpAdxXiTmF09NWdX2WtOpj1WmzQA1zcLuFw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I used my squads to destroy Jaina’s light and start working on his squad ball. The MC80 sidestepped the front arc of the ISD and I was setting up to clean up his squads and GR75s. At this point, one of the downsides of the MC80 came into play and Sascha flew it off the board when he couldn’t get enough yaw to stay on the board and prematurely ending the game. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/v91ds99pgVn-AQV9lj6nihKiNS9H4JOeACpaQMyyad9TGS55LZuxx4SAxhugdGbyPH4n4SN6GqQeNuAAYka_koQT2mNQLCHEKrv1VCX7FgrGoBoJRh-9DIYAaGn0KRxKjT1wP-5F041Ryz23uljYW9HXWCZy0QV5_tMjCM8SzXFY_CJpvsc_HOuFERep1A" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This unexpectedly gave me a 10-1 and vaulted me to 29 tournament points. I was fairly certain I was going to get an 8 without killing the MC80, but the big win put me in 4th place. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The big takeaway here was that even though I lost badly in game 1, persistence paid off and I was able to come back and make it to Day 2. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will say that I very much enjoyed meeting people at GSG. On Friday night, I had dinner with Karneck and met Patrick, Phoerix, Corsec, and others for drinks afterwards. When I got back to my hotel, Taserface and his crew were playing warm up games in the lobby, Saturday morning lots of folks met for breakfast before the tournament started. Saturday night, we went out for dinner with another crew. Overall the camaraderie and social aspects of GSG were amazing and even though I didn’t end up with a world’s invite (spoiler for day 2) I was very happy to have met everyone.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="display: inline-block; position: relative; width: 100px;"></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Friday night group:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/axVznMNqjReugV-iMMgBeBpMXnESwIRgumDEjo3l51fsuNVvdHheGX7wXci5WXK9HtmJYh9xwfSsnYZoHzr6vz6ANC5nJRnnhC_cJGfCXqJZIyv7XgqGfO6782Y81M4LwVCGnl5V8_CLVLoDsISlyZVrncPvvgC1fB64y2Hc7d6_MF5VYN5YdAtl-okiNQ" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Friday night hotel warmups:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/ZETDrNXqlpk3JI3JHdk4EajbunKhQ4ZHdAbG3Ng_Qc80VUKJXJaDe0seo4vj7wYgCxxKLyyMrstWk8Z0S326Va8RXH9GAmjtm-egJ_AZqolYl5kKIlAHBffIqnSd8QQGlRDKmurAYY_2rAfYyw2DQhOGDtgyFo9ehVlLTOPnx4_loIJcBzDi24JegrFpOQ" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Saturday morning breakfast club:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 468px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="468" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/QB4HHZ2UKrW0xDswEklcIyEdGBQR4D5QcNDjMOA4Ks4bb4i0AhIAHS57dVQnoRUX2YMUdgFkXP1yUNVYNyuMLkhkosCLQX6RHVJLN8h5UpeCL6PyD2pRHHQnd9Y_EaDbAGTVSEBFT6_eXbmGR-Uc8qlNLjGFUaMQYU-1tDVOgZh6Jhma_V3v5-hT328PpA" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 469px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="469" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/dn3k7SnUCNDvKtYqYlwPVUgDmywF90Hxdcc0Qu0KFCNmQCGvfr_1d4IdiSbqO0FkDRTPRvw769G2xY0BnlwZNr8B5ED8HZDmw6gBHmy5sBq43FKNn2DnjY1GPhCQnnMtQmVqK7tywHC2YeQvokf2s9-vt6_efrfGMtZnBnrvPJhwD97uynUBHccW3t8kpg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Saturday night Dinner crew:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 468px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="468" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/3FAVeA7u_mR-gwYCoTgtu_WtOL_1sS7kR5LrgOTSNpEQtt-HRtuP_PxlAiZzAUXSCmz7QLxmpkZ4E4_TEzlU-hy_vqHL5uNeBq1GEOElzOY9EezvBwK4Ct86ZDbr9lEiiG5DjY2h1vYfDOT-xhrdKfBkkZUYSDDlRRSC2h2y0sRsaQubmtdk04CJbZFL6g" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p></span>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-31373827376667077892022-09-06T12:38:00.004-05:002022-09-06T12:38:36.882-05:00C-ROC CIS Gozanti<span style="color: #2b00fe;">Geek again, in my traditional blue. I've been able to get noted podcast host Fox "Left Foot of Space Cthulhu" Omega to write up the C-ROC Gozanti article. He will be appearing below in </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">orange</span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">, and anything I add will be in my blue, as always. On with the show!</span><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5R_H0lSp-GrJJSB7e-yXxvEL3R_ulUd8D72nayGTE6u7CiSIJm2Yl1czsgL34QlZDfV6MBW1D8wOadltIMgzmvkTBGTfTXYPRpWiGmfpiynqgEYeYVZ0KqGU7Pxc1HMiURqgjUsWSnjqiA1aWb7jQcteO_CGbH4WBGhLoMDsSbDFjyX35zA4awDjyA/s250/gozanti.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="146" data-original-width="250" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5R_H0lSp-GrJJSB7e-yXxvEL3R_ulUd8D72nayGTE6u7CiSIJm2Yl1czsgL34QlZDfV6MBW1D8wOadltIMgzmvkTBGTfTXYPRpWiGmfpiynqgEYeYVZ0KqGU7Pxc1HMiURqgjUsWSnjqiA1aWb7jQcteO_CGbH4WBGhLoMDsSbDFjyX35zA4awDjyA/w400-h234/gozanti.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: x-small;">The finest of Wookieepeedeeeaa searches</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #b45f06;">If you were one of those people who was screaming “Separatists deserve another small!”: Firstly, please stop shouting, and secondly, look no further than the C-ROC Gozanti-class Light Cruiser! A welcome addition to the CIS armada thanks to Rapid Reinforcements I. The basic stats of the chassis are essentially the same, but there are also some significant differences that allow you to build some wacky things, so we will touch on that in a bit. Onward!</span><br /><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDRcnF4o5PzDlsvgeG3onvxIbXzIaMXE3Wmc-J5-BQUVWQAVNDFHDcHHP0nDtaiHdQP3won_YHRhC6ZDcCcNl7NI0XnEgkzX0-JAxOX2q06EMBjJqSt8_Cat9Y9g0Bvu-xG3fDzagGTxp2F8JYXyhp5EFNonAIaQvgo6dDlBWEXksmHjX-qiBsmgw2kw/s583/gozcard.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="583" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDRcnF4o5PzDlsvgeG3onvxIbXzIaMXE3Wmc-J5-BQUVWQAVNDFHDcHHP0nDtaiHdQP3won_YHRhC6ZDcCcNl7NI0XnEgkzX0-JAxOX2q06EMBjJqSt8_Cat9Y9g0Bvu-xG3fDzagGTxp2F8JYXyhp5EFNonAIaQvgo6dDlBWEXksmHjX-qiBsmgw2kw/w640-h378/gozcard.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #b45f06;">Quick reminder on flotillas and how they operate in the game. Flotillas have 4 special rules that apply only to them:</span><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #b45f06;">When a flotilla <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/10/overlapping-or-demolition-derby-in-space.html">overlaps or is overlapped by another ship</a>, the other ship only takes a facedown damage card if it is also a flotilla.</span></li><li><span style="color: #b45f06;">Commanders cannot use flotillas as flagships. They need to use a real ship.</span></li><li><span style="color: #b45f06;">You cannot have more than 2 flotillas in a fleet.</span></li><li><span style="color: #b45f06;">If one fleet has all of its non-flotilla ships destroyed, that player loses at the end of the round.</span></li></ul><span style="color: #b45f06;">These Gozantis are identical to the cruisers (cheaper variant) from the <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/03/imperial-ship-review-gozanti-cruisers_28.html">Imperial faction</a> EXCEPT for their upgrade suite and price (</span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Drive 'em like you stole 'em!</span><span style="color: #b45f06;">). For a 5 pt increase over their Imperial twin (and a 10 pt increase over their rebel cousins), we are losing an <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/06/offensive-retrofits-im-offensive-how.html">offensive retrofit</a> and <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/03/fleet-support-upgrades.html">fleet support</a> and gaining a <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/weapon-team-upgrades-best-defense-is.html">weapons team</a> and <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/ion-cannon-upgrades-she-blinded-me-with.html">ion cannon</a>. I will pause while you take that information in… You read that right, this tiny little guy is built for PAIN. The Imperial article has some general considerations when flying cheap little flotillas, so John is going to hook me up with a link <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/03/imperial-ship-review-gozanti-cruisers_28.html">HERE</a>. I’m going straight into considerations within the context of the CIS. Here we go!</span></div><div><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLuTJsJhEN7dv5gAjrGlxyhM8w73GsOuMCUGfPjCXY1dEbgsviwkzhc5AXZNaRUs5-dm5tZ6Z9j02yebmhCQgkvyEgwOr6GOO_H36_uh5a_MOijNYlp0mPV85BtdyD1yGyzcsCxeCFKFCwSzLL7i-LztMf0SffRnjRQJNBJVm-sAzlBSLZkOMqM8e8nQ/s259/IROC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="479" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLuTJsJhEN7dv5gAjrGlxyhM8w73GsOuMCUGfPjCXY1dEbgsviwkzhc5AXZNaRUs5-dm5tZ6Z9j02yebmhCQgkvyEgwOr6GOO_H36_uh5a_MOijNYlp0mPV85BtdyD1yGyzcsCxeCFKFCwSzLL7i-LztMf0SffRnjRQJNBJVm-sAzlBSLZkOMqM8e8nQ/w640-h479/IROC.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: x-small;">IROC, C-ROC, what's the difference</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><u><span style="color: #b45f06;">Basic Usage Recommendations/Commander Considerations</span><br /></u></b><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;">This thing is already pretty expensive, so some general guidelines on usage within the faction:</span><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #b45f06;">Keep it cheap. You need to have a very good reason to get it over 30 pts (we will get there)</span></li><li><span style="color: #b45f06;">Activation padding. Stinks to have to waste 27 pts just for another activation, but your more fragile damage dealing activations will thank you. Looking at you, Patriot Fist. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I know it's not exciting, but for a faction with one small base before this, the C-ROC is very helpful in filling out those list archetypes of "I could really use one more activation but I only have about 30 points for it; a <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-ship-review-hardcell.html">Hardcell</a> is just too much!"</span></li><li><span style="color: #b45f06;">Pushing squads. Pushing 2-3 <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-vulture.html">Vultures</a> isn’t going to eliminate a lot of aces, but it will help. Pushing 2-3 <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-hyena-class.html">Hyenas</a>, though. THAT could get some work done.</span></li><li><span style="color: #b45f06;">Token farm. <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-officers.html">Rune Haako</a> loves silly C-ROCs at distance 5, trodding along tokening commands to feed his hunger.</span></li><li><span style="color: #b45f06;">Other shenanigans. <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-officers.html">Wat</a> can use the shields. <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2021/05/separatist-commander-review-general.html">Commander Grievous</a> can capitalize on a blown up Gozanti. Having another ship on the board to feed off of is beneficial in a lot of builds.</span></li></ul><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Before you start strapping them in and loading them up with upgrades, </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">almost every commander brings an additional consideration into the mix, especially when including the upgrade suite available to the C-ROC:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;">As mentioned, <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2021/05/separatist-commander-review-general.html">Grievous</a> doesn’t hate the idea of a flotilla absorbing shots and ultimately benefiting the bigger activations. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Or letting a scatter return when something ELSE dies in its stead, comma, ugh.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-commander-review-kraken.html">Kraken</a> can have big plans with the Gozanti acting as a spotter OR holding an ion crit of its own. More to follow.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2021/05/separatist-commander-review-admiral.html">Trench</a> with <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-officers.html">Tikkes</a> on the Goz makes an excellent squad pusher. Definitely one to consider. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Especially as Tikkes can give the token for the Trench dial and token while the ship itself does something else. Go crazy!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;">That weapons team slot can make some people sweat in a <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2021/06/separatist-commander-review-tf-1726.html">TF-1726</a> fleet since <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/weapon-team-upgrades-best-defense-is.html">Ordnance Experts</a> is around. A 31 pt ship throwing 1 blue 3 blacks with a confire and 2 rerolls? That becomes a priority really quickly.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2021/06/separatist-commander-review-mar-tuuk.html">Mar Tuuk</a> doesn’t help at long range, but a Gozanti that can throw 5 dice with a double arc again presents some target priority issues for your opponent.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: #b45f06; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRfi3VuhtvUB5iiy9TmxUwpJk_-SfHV5DBxsisCfwMcS0uHtMeJAgt9cVAgkQPuXP8AnViU1SQRkZ8rmWAuhHHZ-f7BJXys326aVn_Qvj_zOTUkz--rhZGCDlHldHoNSQsp85IPw05r0YDSl99Zxc1Cso-tauOu4sK_s0EHeCdWCZ1gCktOdw1FETZAg/s1310/NeighborhoodWatchAlliance.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="728" data-original-width="1310" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRfi3VuhtvUB5iiy9TmxUwpJk_-SfHV5DBxsisCfwMcS0uHtMeJAgt9cVAgkQPuXP8AnViU1SQRkZ8rmWAuhHHZ-f7BJXys326aVn_Qvj_zOTUkz--rhZGCDlHldHoNSQsp85IPw05r0YDSl99Zxc1Cso-tauOu4sK_s0EHeCdWCZ1gCktOdw1FETZAg/w640-h356/NeighborhoodWatchAlliance.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: x-small;">The greater good, Nicholas</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #b45f06;">What is important to understand, regardless of the commander you take or function you choose for it, the CIS Gozanti was intended to be a distraction. A red herring. That bag of sand Indiana Jones uses when he takes the actual valuable thing (</span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">It's a fertility idol, and YES I knew that without looking it up</span><span style="color: #b45f06;">). Separatists don’t have many robust options in their faction. With sufficient pressure, <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2021/06/separatist-ship-review-recusant-class.html">Recusants</a>, <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-ship-review-munificent-class.html">Munificents</a>, even <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2021/05/separatist-ship-review-providence-class.html">Providences</a> will fall in short order. A properly kitted Gozanti that is worth <b>just </b>enough points and is <b>just</b> dangerous enough either in guns or squadron pushing capability can distract an opponent for 1-2 shots, giving your other ships the time to evade a critical arc, line up a critical shot, or repair those critical shields. Gozantis, more than the flotillas from other factions, are intended to fall on the sword while executing their primary directive so that the rest of the fleet can execute theirs.</span></div><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;">So, when flying a C-ROC, the goal can at times be to tug at the fishing line for a <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2022/08/imperial-venator-jotto-otts-guest-post.html">Venator</a> lining up a shot on your <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2021/06/separatist-ship-review-recusant-class.html">Patriot Fist</a>. Sometimes it’s landing at long in the front arc of an <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/02/imperial-ship-review-imperial-class.html">ISD-II</a> while your </span><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-hyena-class.html">Hyenas</a> <span style="color: #b45f06;">also bomb the front arc, creating a nasty choice for that player to either flak the dangerous stuff, or attempt to grab your Gozanti. Sometimes it’s setting up a nasty double arc with your </span><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2021/05/separatist-ship-review-providence-class.html">Providence</a><span style="color: #b45f06;"> </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">and blocking the only escape out of that shot with a Gozanti.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;">Flying a Separatist C-ROC like an Imperial Gozanti is a mistake. C-ROCs do not provide support for the fleet by staying at long. They don’t have the capacity to command squads at long range with <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/06/offensive-retrofits-im-offensive-how.html">Boosted Comms</a>. They can’t pass tokens at distance 5 with <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/03/fleet-support-upgrades.html">Comms Net</a>. They can’t have <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/03/fleet-support-upgrades.html">Bomber Command Center</a> and stay at distance 5 from danger. A LOT of their value relies on being at medium range of their chosen task: squadron pushing, crit delivery, etc. So learning the maneuvering chops to get those Gozantis into the most annoying, target priority confusing spots possible is the name of the game.</span><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b><div style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div></b></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_To9AbtL-QPFgIy5GBvc4jAExel4fYZMEuD_D3bYrnk5Afih16sdHNjvD-0kl1Z5LgDCF0HyO37ARNDy7x1KmyNDLIZjYY3nXE9kvNeqG46JviHMG2_tnH5nIk0rVw91uRl1QvlAdBpj5RjHZaFUExvFqCTcDvmiwNlpc4KOPfqQJPwYs_S2-KEJZBg/s850/paint%20pattern.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="850" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_To9AbtL-QPFgIy5GBvc4jAExel4fYZMEuD_D3bYrnk5Afih16sdHNjvD-0kl1Z5LgDCF0HyO37ARNDy7x1KmyNDLIZjYY3nXE9kvNeqG46JviHMG2_tnH5nIk0rVw91uRl1QvlAdBpj5RjHZaFUExvFqCTcDvmiwNlpc4KOPfqQJPwYs_S2-KEJZBg/s320/paint%20pattern.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: x-small;">May I suggest a paint scheme?</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b><u>Builds/Upgrades</u></b></span><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Because these generally shouldn't be overloaded with upgrades, and there's only 3 slots and no title, we're combining this into one section because it isn't worth breaking down individual sections unless they're worth mentioning in a specific build.</span></div><div><br /><u><span style="color: #b45f06;">Dwayne “C-ROC” Johnson</span><br /></u><span style="color: #b45f06;"><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-officers.html">Tikkes</a></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;">Cheap(ish) at 29 pts. Can push 3 squads at the drop of a hat. Can step on it/slam the breaks when trouble arises. Can Concentrate Fire dial+token for an annoying amount of damage on a ship or squadron. Along with all the benefits of having a flotilla in your fleet for blocking/activation padding purposes. It’s the actor that can appear in any movie and get some work done. Side Note: If you are planning on using Dwayne to push some squadrons, namely </span><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-vulture.html">Vultures</a><span style="color: #b45f06;">, I would <u>NOT</u> recommend adding <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/weapon-team-upgrades-best-defense-is.html">Flight Controllers</a> to the mix. I know it is very tempting, but pushing 3 </span><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-vulture.html">Vultures</a><span style="color: #b45f06;"> </span><span style="color: #b45f06;">doesn’t reach enough anti-squadron damage to guarantee a severely limped response from your opponent’s squadrons.</span> <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-vulture.html">Vultures</a> a<span style="color: #b45f06;">re very fragile, and you will want to make sure you take something off the board before your opponent goes. 3 doesn’t cut it. So instead of pushing your Gozanti to 35 pts for a lackluster squadron push that will end up getting 24 pts of </span><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-vulture.html">Vultures</a> <span style="color: #b45f06;">and 35 pts of you killed, just stick with cheap Dwayne, pushing bombers or a few cheap clean up squadrons after a bigger alpha strike.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;">Crit Krak Applejack</span><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/ion-cannon-upgrades-she-blinded-me-with.html">Ion Crit of Choice</a></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;">Careful with this one. Kraken loves the cheap blue crit delivery system, but you need a very good reason to take one over the 5 pt line. <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/ion-cannon-upgrades-she-blinded-me-with.html">MS1s</a> and <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/ion-cannon-upgrades-she-blinded-me-with.html">ICBs</a> are so annoying, are on a 32 pt or less vessel, and will do work in almost any meta. <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/ion-cannon-upgrades-she-blinded-me-with.html">OLP, HIE, and NK7s</a> cross that 35 pt threshold where it isn’t a dilemma to consider popping that flotilla at medium range. It’s important to remember that blue dice are the devil for flotillas with their fragile chassis and absolutely critical-for-survival defense tokens. You have to balance the target priority aspect of the game and have many other targets for your opponent to think about before you add in the more premium blue crits. Still super fun though!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;">Belbullab Bunker</span><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-officers.html">TI-99</a>, <a href="http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/weapon-team-upgrades-best-defense-is.html">Ruthless Strategists</a></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;">Planning on going with heavy squadrons in the CIS? You’ll want to keep them alive for as long as possible. Maybe think about having a Gozanti escort 2-3 <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-belbullab-22.html">Belbullabs</a> and 3-4 <a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-hyena-class.html">Hyenas</a>. They will have to be addressed by your opponent’s squadrons, but if they shoot the </span><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-hyena-class.html">Hyenas</a><span style="color: #b45f06;">, they get counter 3 and some nasty </span><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-belbullab-22.html">Belbullabs</a><span style="color: #b45f06;"> recourse and flak back. If they attack the </span><a href="https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2020/12/separatist-squadron-review-belbullab-22.html">Belbullabs</a><span style="color: #b45f06;">, their shots may not even land. A truly annoying combination.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBe_JtoWZZwH6RgZtCyCIst4HhYiaaeI8Mj4HQdItoncVWN1e1wE_683lKiRu0yNJkI36WMAJQFz8_zPptyMb2o2eilYg1TC-CCa7xyAGpNRASFzmozvtuBC41cAakOW1-Es8UEoKHYEqmBxpLQaRL9yPVcQgx3GWpHU1PlsuzYBO5ZBSvbBMTZQmEgA/s683/zoomzoon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="683" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBe_JtoWZZwH6RgZtCyCIst4HhYiaaeI8Mj4HQdItoncVWN1e1wE_683lKiRu0yNJkI36WMAJQFz8_zPptyMb2o2eilYg1TC-CCa7xyAGpNRASFzmozvtuBC41cAakOW1-Es8UEoKHYEqmBxpLQaRL9yPVcQgx3GWpHU1PlsuzYBO5ZBSvbBMTZQmEgA/w640-h282/zoomzoon.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: x-small;">More engines make it zoomier than the Imp one.</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Keep it simple, keep your other ships safe! The C-ROC!</span></div>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-50889744348451626782022-09-01T08:00:00.001-05:002022-09-01T08:00:00.150-05:00Keep Exploding You Cowards: Trials and Tribulations of a Grievous Fleet<span id="docs-internal-guid-c1a4b67b-7fff-e5dd-6b5f-be90ee13d780"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://c.tenor.com/yZsZ9gs_C70AAAAC/stop-exploding-zapp-brannigan.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="320" height="218" src="https://c.tenor.com/yZsZ9gs_C70AAAAC/stop-exploding-zapp-brannigan.gif" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hey everyone. Your friendly neighborhood Truthiness here, back again to break down another one of my crazy fleets. Despite our “latest” podcast saying otherwise, I won’t be taking Yularen to the NOVA Open. In the month it took to edit and publish that podcast (yeah…sorry about that), I burned out on the Yularen fleet pretty hard. While absolutely deadly, it requires a precision of play that wears you down after a while, with a single mistake compounding quickly. I might pick it up again some time, but for now I’ve moved onto a different fleet. While I had my Hera X-Wings in my back pocket, I didn’t really want to fly another squadron heavy fleet. They’ve been all the rage in the meta again lately, and lord forbid I ever do something that’s popular. After some solid input from FoxOmega and Formynder, I settled on what has become an incredibly fun Separatist fleet. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve mentioned this in a number of places at this point, but I’ll say it one more time: Grievous is the most thematic card in the entire game. I think the reason a lot of people don’t care for him is because most competitive Armada players are pretty conservative. The focus of a great many players, especially of late, is on castling and preserving points. Grievous, plain and simple, doesn’t work like that. Using him as a commander requires you to lean heavily into the ol’ cyborg’s persona. You have millions of droids and your opponent has underestimated how little you care for their lives. March your droids single file into their weapons until they become clogged with debris. Throw wave and wave at your enemy until that enemy hits their pre-programmed kill limit (no John, I will NOT stop with the Zapp Brannigan references). While I first won a smaller tournament with Grievous over a year ago, that version of the fleet wasn’t particularly well rounded. It was only a three round tournament, and I benefited a good deal from luck and matchups. The process of refining the fleet into something more optimized has been a long road. My goal today is to walk you through the stages of how this fleet came together, and the reasoning for each part.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-weight: 700; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLfoHyUO1yhz8p3UcgoV7VmFzSOo_-Gz6-uKX3pGUjZRFVp8Lf-cQUS-kKRIu4dV4DZ6wAOQUoDZ6Dn3kFu8qqfQKsW_8NB-7G8j41a4epiaaDOG23yf9GkJzj9Onqe56ynJPRr_-d1yWZSWRnjfFF2p9HjsO_xtE_GoW5xXDE5t5go73uHC4b-P2RRw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLfoHyUO1yhz8p3UcgoV7VmFzSOo_-Gz6-uKX3pGUjZRFVp8Lf-cQUS-kKRIu4dV4DZ6wAOQUoDZ6Dn3kFu8qqfQKsW_8NB-7G8j41a4epiaaDOG23yf9GkJzj9Onqe56ynJPRr_-d1yWZSWRnjfFF2p9HjsO_xtE_GoW5xXDE5t5go73uHC4b-P2RRw" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">Angry Eggs are coming for you</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">TRCells</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The initial core theory of this fleet was using Grievous to enable TRCs on Hardcells. While Linked Turbolaser Towers (LTTs) seem to be the most popular turbolaser these days, and there is no doubt they are very well rounded, I have always preferred the certainty of Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (TRCs) for the same cost. Unless you have two evades, though, you end up compromising your defenses. Arquitens, Nebulons, Hardcells, and the like all have difficulty justifying TRCs because of that. With Grievous, however, the theory went that by bringing defense tokens back, I could afford to spend evades freely for both defense and offense on Hardcells.</span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This aspect of the fleet worked quite well from the outset. There’s something immensely satisfying about using TRCs, then discarding the evade to cancel or re-roll up two dice, then getting that evade back as squadrons explode. I initially paired it with Intensity Firepower (IF) to create a floor of three damage, but ultimately found IF to be more of a luxury than a necessity. The Hardcells typically roll three to four dice depending on if they need a navigate or have the luxury of using a con fire command. With three dice, I found myself only really needing to correct one die, making IF superfluous. With four dice, two blanks would crop up from time to time, but they were also fairly frequently offset by a natural double damage. The result was that I could often count on three damage on four dice. TRC pushes that to five, which typically triggers the use of a brace. The difference between five damage and six damage against a brace is zero. That realization helped loosen what I felt were the requirements I needed in the fleet, leaving three Hardcells with TRCs and Reserve Hangar Decks (RHDs) as the core of the future fleet. Throughout every iteration of the fleet, those three ships have been the best and most reliable part of it.</span></p><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhi_roSFM3R6rl9Bu3Hb7a5HDLLY6nl-4BDacp_gEYILV2E3x4S31wfvA9893IPDMSzKn9wxyPUAwtKOwwnEFFiqQmeMqmDpkfz2z1UdrXwK5epxFj5-3aQoBYIg6Rzn4wBoFZJHLuGxckS6rkuP5w0u9z3gJCcSc0GtUgeygdZ0Hmf68Pi9UL7LeI7Nw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhi_roSFM3R6rl9Bu3Hb7a5HDLLY6nl-4BDacp_gEYILV2E3x4S31wfvA9893IPDMSzKn9wxyPUAwtKOwwnEFFiqQmeMqmDpkfz2z1UdrXwK5epxFj5-3aQoBYIg6Rzn4wBoFZJHLuGxckS6rkuP5w0u9z3gJCcSc0GtUgeygdZ0Hmf68Pi9UL7LeI7Nw" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Roger Roger, baby</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vultures</span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hardcells themselves, however, wouldn’t really be able to do what they do without disposable squadrons exploding left and right. The fact that I needed cheap squadrons around wasn’t something that was ever really up in the air. It was the exact type of squadrons and the appropriate support elements that was a bit harder to nail down. I started off with three Vulture droids and alternated between the Tri-Fighter Aces. These worked fine enough in getting Grievous procs, especially with objectives like Asteroid Tactics and Infested Fields which would eat my own squadrons. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, I found my squadron often just getting eaten quickly by heavy squadron wings. This was a two fold problem. First, with so few squadrons in terms of raw numbers, I couldn’t cover that much ground, leaving me unable to cover my ships as I’d like. I came to the conclusion that two Vultures was more valuable to me than either Ace, both in terms of offensive firepower and sheer numbers. Second, I didn’t have much of a plan for pushing the squadrons I had. How my initial fleets were set up, I could only dedicate a single command to get my Vultures into their initial positions. After that, they would just sit around, tying things up and exploding. I tried supplementing with TI-99, but that created a limited bubble for protection as well. I eventually realized that I needed to tool my flagship to be a dedicated squad pusher.</span></p><div><span><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBIWKvh0ZlcOJffj6c9REdqIcctJs-l8Mlt6vCYyyTZLrAffR8aTL7oG7N3wcf7aRLp5lAvbYDKnAJhEWo_IPWHRrPrS8DIDvt14immmxXdodTB91hQ3WI6_8D116pQuAzQBKbfwGeViMaQedbTDZ8vAMlrNU155Ml-MVz72P8bB40acZBKAj2XTmvtA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBIWKvh0ZlcOJffj6c9REdqIcctJs-l8Mlt6vCYyyTZLrAffR8aTL7oG7N3wcf7aRLp5lAvbYDKnAJhEWo_IPWHRrPrS8DIDvt14immmxXdodTB91hQ3WI6_8D116pQuAzQBKbfwGeViMaQedbTDZ8vAMlrNU155Ml-MVz72P8bB40acZBKAj2XTmvtA" width="106" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hey! I found him!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Search for a Flagship</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As discussed earlier, the initial fleet was led by a Providence class carrier so that I could get access to IF. I have largely soured on the Providence for a number of reasons. I found both playing with it and against it that you can often force it into a sub-optimal deployment and force it out of the critical turns of a game. Its short range armament combined with its high cost made it ill suited to my needs. In addition, it struggles a bit as a dedicated carrier due to its more limited navigation chart at speed three.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next ship I tried was a Munificent, which I’ve found to be just as tough as a Providence, but at a significant discount. The cost savings even allowed me enough room to put in a Hardcell Transport with Slicer Tools. However, I found the value of the slicer to be hit or miss. The Munificent was certainly tough, but since I was leaning on the Star Frigate variant so I could have access to Thermal Shields, it wasn’t any better of a carrier. I could have switched over to a Comms Frigate, but I wasn’t comfortable with a speed 2 flagship that didn’t have a way to brace against Onager shots. I also felt I was lacking a flexible piece that could finish off ships that had made it past my Hardcells.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s where a Recusant Support Destroyer came in. It turned out to a best of all world solution to my problems. With the Patriot’s Fist title, it was a nasty gunship from long and medium range. That satisfied the finisher role I felt I was lacking. The Support Destroyer also has two offensive retrofit slots and one weapons team slot, allowing me to use Boosted Command and Expanded Hangar Bays in combination with Flight Controllers to not just satisfy, but significantly boost my Vultures. With Tikkes in the officer slot, I could guarantee commanding up to five Vultures in a given turn. Let me tell you, 40 points of Vultures able to spit out TIE Defender levels of anti-squadron attacks </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with swarm</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> punch well above their weight. The ability to flex to a blue die with AI also gets you a surprisingly reliable accuracy against scatter aces. The native evade of the Recusant also leaned into the same TRC/GG synergies I was going for with my Hardcells. It was such a natural fit that I’m kind of embarrassed it took me so long to try it. The only real downside was it could be fairly fragile if forced into a bad deployment and forced to fight more than one ship at a time.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnK89fFcRKZbhpG3ccDnbmC8mcjQ4ul3R3qtXFDJT5FamG88jBg1eg--B4Jj9ACQ6N5vXrEkHibfNDeircZAwrleHG0_2wIrEHC4d03Mjb5ILHxHq3WKW0VgJBiT52RfDBI24u7k6KMDLPjNif2TuV93LXWWxdr5ecPRF6vKljuVJcKBhXj9_dIV363w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnK89fFcRKZbhpG3ccDnbmC8mcjQ4ul3R3qtXFDJT5FamG88jBg1eg--B4Jj9ACQ6N5vXrEkHibfNDeircZAwrleHG0_2wIrEHC4d03Mjb5ILHxHq3WKW0VgJBiT52RfDBI24u7k6KMDLPjNif2TuV93LXWWxdr5ecPRF6vKljuVJcKBhXj9_dIV363w" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is an accurate depiction of my Hyenas</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hyenas</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The selection of the Recusant left me in an awkward place for points. It was cheaper than both Providence and the Muni/Slicer combo, but not enough so that I could fit in another ship. I initial tried Reinforced Blast Doors on the Hardcells, but that was hit or miss. The solution came when I included two Hyenas for a trial run. It was by this point that I noticed I sometimes struggled again squadronless or squad light opponents. While Asteroid Tactics and Infested Field helped, they couldn’t quite get enough juice out of Grievous to justify what were essentially wasted points in the Vultures. If I was forced into first player against a squadron light player, I was at a noticeable disadvantage.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hyenas proved dangerous even without a Bomber Command Center to help them. The had to be dealt with by squadron heavy fleets, which meant more explosions for Grievous. Against squadronless or squadron light fleets, it provided an absolutely brutal extra punishment. I’ve come to view them as a combination Walex and red-dice External Racks. If they only attack once, that’s fine. They’re there to throw two red dice and then blow up. Anything extra is just gravy. This was also about the same time I realized that the Tri-Fighter Aces weren’t really pulling their weight. The final piece of the fleet fell into place when I realized I could squeeze out an extra deployment if I replaced the Tri-Fighter Ace with a Vulture and a Hyena, which where the exact same cost as the more expensive of the two Tri-Fighter Aces. That left me with eight deployments, a significant advantage in the current meta. It allowed me to place Patriot’s First last, giving it as much protection as I could. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With the Hyenas firmly in place, I also reconsidered my objectives. Those bombers were proving a far more effective punishment against light squadron wings than Asteroid Tactics or Infested Fields. Instead, I shifted over to point-generating objectives. Volatile Deposits was a natural fit for my Large plus Multiple Small Unit (LMSU) structure. Contested Outpost, though typically thought of as a deployment tell, was well suited to the fleet as well. Because of the significant amount of long range firepower, the fleet can hold down the station with different pieces throughout the game, all while still taking advantage of its eight deployments.</span></p><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgwoMWAA__xfaEpqxskLmaQMgnnk_4ewtVvJC3U41e1ig0dyD5GHz-hVS6cp6T4uLP7SRLDJsp-nKKSsX5GEp0RIHPoLhWm07j2IMIpGV70tCOXMRqC_kAdtGFIbvcdghrVk2H7tck8AjZJIAiVUv6OAS0FdJ3996Q_LXlRbbBwTWZopSiS3KC33LoZ7w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgwoMWAA__xfaEpqxskLmaQMgnnk_4ewtVvJC3U41e1ig0dyD5GHz-hVS6cp6T4uLP7SRLDJsp-nKKSsX5GEp0RIHPoLhWm07j2IMIpGV70tCOXMRqC_kAdtGFIbvcdghrVk2H7tck8AjZJIAiVUv6OAS0FdJ3996Q_LXlRbbBwTWZopSiS3KC33LoZ7w" width="240" /></a></div><br /></span><b>All Together Now</b></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That brings us to the final product. This is the version I'll be using at the NOVA Open. It might not look like much, but it has it where it counts. Wish me luck!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Keep Exploding You Cowards! (73/399/400)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">========================================</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recusant-class Support Destroyer (90 + 50: 140)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· General Grievous (20)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Tikkes (2)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Flight Controllers (6)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Expanded Hangar Bay (5)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Boosted Comms (4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Patriot Fist (6)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Battle Refit (52 + 10: 62)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Reserve Hangar Deck (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Battle Refit (52 + 10: 62)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Reserve Hangar Deck (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Battle Refit (52 + 10: 62)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Reserve Hangar Deck (3)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">· Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 x Hyena-class Droid Bomber Squadron (3 x 11)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 x Vulture-class Droid Fighter Squadron (5 x 8)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ion Storm</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Contested Outpost</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Volatile Deposits</span></p></span><p> </p>Truthinesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07570269864109016330noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899368611583210454.post-90958905494673860762022-08-07T18:04:00.005-05:002022-08-19T17:07:48.981-05:00Imperial Venator (Jotto Otts Guest Post)<p><br />As mentioned in my previous post, I'm turning over the Imperial Venator to Jotto Otts, who makes our fancy ship cards, helps manage the Chicago Armada group, and also a knowledgeable guy in his own right. Everything he wrote will be in <span style="color: #800180;">purple</span>, below, and my comments will be in my geek standard <span style="color: #2b00fe;">blue</span>.<br /></p><p><span style="color: #800180;">Imperial Venator Star Destroyer</span></p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: 11pt; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYKs-_YJC-q3fJVpUN4V33LhybGf0xA5b5j3JTu2VjEvHl9VVjKm8-qrxbQ4Oj-q0rJCeABMlDwq_Q4bjoZ0pHwcC1I7CwMvgm4qIcm2Ni7JpNfT728as_wK5r53KLNQ4jvZrl7ZQva80mRwX4A9421ZLhnQT0h_0BGEeIEEELIPDy2YUA6vSPsWj6lg/s3840/friendator.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYKs-_YJC-q3fJVpUN4V33LhybGf0xA5b5j3JTu2VjEvHl9VVjKm8-qrxbQ4Oj-q0rJCeABMlDwq_Q4bjoZ0pHwcC1I7CwMvgm4qIcm2Ni7JpNfT728as_wK5r53KLNQ4jvZrl7ZQva80mRwX4A9421ZLhnQT0h_0BGEeIEEELIPDy2YUA6vSPsWj6lg/w640-h360/friendator.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">A long time ago, we used to be friends.....</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><span style="color: #800180;">The Imperials get a relic of the past to bring into battles with Rapid Reinforcements I. A Venator II-class Star Destroyer kitted out with massive ordnance bays. The Imperial Venator is a mighty force to be reckoned with if used correctly, but like many imperial ships there are a few drawbacks.</span><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">As always, the card!</span><br /></span></span><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJiiPyVsqEkZCv6qf99zOwDNVfHLWrcoCiabKqtqzonMRSN0M4H0vswk4IgZ0NxpWSBaJfGc9kS_4KMtvfQxEMRTVE6k_VQ-XlgIEHWcEODgsI-jp1e2dDkJlWgLpuX53YCsrmZYmVJ4OCtdhFNQshhjmNaAz5R-AhpRda6PKoIf56uMLAiNN2ByDgQ/s2953/Venator_II_IMP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1772" data-original-width="2953" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJiiPyVsqEkZCv6qf99zOwDNVfHLWrcoCiabKqtqzonMRSN0M4H0vswk4IgZ0NxpWSBaJfGc9kS_4KMtvfQxEMRTVE6k_VQ-XlgIEHWcEODgsI-jp1e2dDkJlWgLpuX53YCsrmZYmVJ4OCtdhFNQshhjmNaAz5R-AhpRda6PKoIf56uMLAiNN2ByDgQ/w640-h384/Venator_II_IMP.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Jotto Otts Special! Oooooh so fancy!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #800180;">The Imperial Venator lies somewhat between the <a href="#">Victory Star Destroyer (VSD)</a> and <a href="#">Imperial Star Destroyer (ISD)</a> in terms of firepower, resiliency, and navigation.</span> <span style="color: #2b00fe;">It's entirely unique in faction; they've all been mothballed and we only have one left for you to fly.</span><br /><span style="color: #800180;"><br />The Imperial Venator has 2 black 2 blue 2 red in its front arc, 2 blue 2 red on the sides, and 1 black 1 blue 1 red on the rear. This gives you the same side armament of an <a href="#">ISD-II</a> but with the same amount of front dice as a <a href="#">VSD</a>. The Imperial Venator also has a native Salvo token, which makes the rear armament a bit more important. It has a narrower front arc than either the <a href="#">ISD</a> or <a href="#">VSD</a>. This helps you to get double arcs a bit easier, but you sacrifice being able to keep enemies in front. Smaller ships will be able to slip out from the front arc and escape the wrath of the black dice. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">However, unlike a GAR Venator, you cannot equip SPHA-Ts to it, so you're limited to the dice printed on your ship and any additional ones you can add with upgrades equipped to your ship.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #800180;">The Venator has 9 hull points and 4/3/2 shields. That is 2 more shields and one more hull point than a </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">VSD</a><span style="color: #800180;">, and 2 hull points less than an </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">ISD</a><span style="color: #800180;"> with the same shields.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #800180;">No redundancies in your defense token suite means that your tokens get overheated easily. The </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">VSD</a><span style="color: #800180;"> and </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">ISD</a><span style="color: #800180;"> have the redundant redirect, which can help to move some damage to the generous side shields when getting attacked multiple times in a round. The Venator does not really have that luxury, and will be taking hull damage sooner than other Star Destroyers. Engineering is your friend to move shields around.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #800180;">The Venator’s nav chart is better than the </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">VSD</a><span style="color: #800180;"> but worse than the </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">ISD</a><span style="color: #800180;">. With only a single click of yaw at Speed 3 (probably the preferred speed for this ship), you will want some help from nav dials, </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">Moff Jerjerrod</a><span style="color: #800180;">, or other navigational aids.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXaqJ2_LxQuUbEDKTz9F6-t7pDcqeqJ509FMrerI3etLkr8xQp7URA6LkxNa8nwPAQedpSpD13RoHtUPWAz5jh7TDwH5O_lyhyxMoQyIlSFvmH0Uvfh3f-s3ApFqZHCkxcTDcpYRnkeAKLM53oB9CWvlwUmcEdYXVUxr_rhEZ4d0VOunzqvs9jc-f6fw/s1920/jerry.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1920" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXaqJ2_LxQuUbEDKTz9F6-t7pDcqeqJ509FMrerI3etLkr8xQp7URA6LkxNa8nwPAQedpSpD13RoHtUPWAz5jh7TDwH5O_lyhyxMoQyIlSFvmH0Uvfh3f-s3ApFqZHCkxcTDcpYRnkeAKLM53oB9CWvlwUmcEdYXVUxr_rhEZ4d0VOunzqvs9jc-f6fw/w640-h272/jerry.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Efforts, redouble, yada yada<br /></span><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #800180;">The Venator clocks in at 100 points, which is less than the cheapest <a href="#">ISD</a>. But not a lot less. You will likely end up putting more points into fixing the shortcomings of the Venator than you would save by choosing an <a href="#">ISD</a>.<br /><br />Based entirely on the "missing" upgrade slots, the Venator does not replace an <a href="#">ISD</a>. It's a lot more focused in its purpose but not as much of a potential "all-arounder" as an <a href="#">ISD</a>.<br /><br />When the Empire took this Venator out of moth balls, they sacrificed some hangar space for more ordnance. The Imperial Venator has a squad value of only 3. This is enough of a squadron presence to matter, but this Venator does not have any <a href="#">offensive retrofits</a> to improve that. It will only be able to command squads at close to medium range and is limited to activating 3 (4 with token) squads. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">This can HELP your squad game, but the Venator should NOT be your primary squadron pusher.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #800180;">The Empire could not add an </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">Ion slot </a><span style="color: #800180;">to this Venator. This ship has blue dice in all 4 arcs but no ion slot to take advantage of those dice. Pity.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #800180;">The Imperial Venator has 2 </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">Ordnance</a><span style="color: #800180;"> upgrade slots, but only has black dice in the front and back. This makes your choice of </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">Ordnance</a><span style="color: #800180;"> upgrades a little less amazing than you think.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #800180;">In most cases, you will want to take </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">External Racks</a><span style="color: #800180;"> over any other </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">Ordnance</a><span style="color: #800180;"> upgrade for the first slot. The opportunity to make the side arc 6 dice and be as powerful as the front arc on a key turn is worth 4 points every time.</span><span style="color: #800180;"><br /><br />For the second ordnance upgrade,you have a little more flexibility in what upgrade you choose. <a href="#">Expanded Launchers</a> is excellent. That upgrade takes the front arc from meh to menacing. <a href="#">Assault Proton Torpedoes, Assault Concussion Missiles</a>, and even dedicated anti-squad upgrades like <a href="#">Ordnance Pods</a> are good choices too. It all depends on how cheap you want to keep the ship. </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The upside of the cheapness from the black die crit effects is mitigated by the LACK of black dice in your side arcs. If you're going to get a critical effect to go off, it's either entirely in your front arc or when they're already past you in your rear.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9mvSzphXXoNBLY41QWeT0r87gWV-PK5MH5sCCBmPXut9kM4RFn1Ki62HkfbW6N8G3TWo_GvfMo7TnZvlqkZIMq9MT-Vvxw8NyCBjUUOb-qokyZ5AXb12lNv4fPJ1F1lshf1_ijSKVUYUfb_JAy5RAmTEPxd6-R-_Chvf6ST2bYLduhh6UPuhsb7wIJQ/s1000/back%20it%20up.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="1000" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9mvSzphXXoNBLY41QWeT0r87gWV-PK5MH5sCCBmPXut9kM4RFn1Ki62HkfbW6N8G3TWo_GvfMo7TnZvlqkZIMq9MT-Vvxw8NyCBjUUOb-qokyZ5AXb12lNv4fPJ1F1lshf1_ijSKVUYUfb_JAy5RAmTEPxd6-R-_Chvf6ST2bYLduhh6UPuhsb7wIJQ/w640-h274/back%20it%20up.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">AKA this position</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Title</b><br /><br />There's only one, and it's the <a href="#">Seventh Fleet</a> title. It actually isn't a bad idea here, as the ~10-20 points you save from an ISD allow you to take other ships with the title to mitigate the damage coming in. The obvious issue of "well what other ships DO I take that want this title" are the same as they are with an <a href="#">ISD</a>, but hey, points!<br /></span><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJKdhzvLJKNepUTIxpCgQBe7oAZRk6waqwJ1rdZkV3m3x7Nolt1mRz3wjIXirX08ThJ4-9sdig4rQ1BYOcNItHuv-xJeDhSvgNPaEP_eswSmDRRn28dqym_1kz7M0bDRfkmxPnsi9a_YxPliQcnVeutCrK6mo1Ai41v4tb7x3vNdUU8CxbaPJ1nxSf0Q/s230/lucky7.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="230" height="383" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJKdhzvLJKNepUTIxpCgQBe7oAZRk6waqwJ1rdZkV3m3x7Nolt1mRz3wjIXirX08ThJ4-9sdig4rQ1BYOcNItHuv-xJeDhSvgNPaEP_eswSmDRRn28dqym_1kz7M0bDRfkmxPnsi9a_YxPliQcnVeutCrK6mo1Ai41v4tb7x3vNdUU8CxbaPJ1nxSf0Q/w400-h383/lucky7.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Enjoy, weirdo Thrawn fanboys</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Basic Usage Recommendations<br /></b>With TWO <a href="#">Ordnance</a> slots, only two red dice, no ability to equip <a href="#">Flak Guns</a>, and a Salvo token, this ship is going to want to get into close range. Its dice are meant to get into close on the front, just to get some good damage going. Unfortunately for you, the faster you're going, the harder that's going to be. You'll likely want to lurk at speed 2 until you go speed 3, and then get going through your opponent as quickly as you can. The longer you and your single tokens remain in range, the faster you're gonna die. It's "sad" that your ship can't just run its way out of trouble, which is something you're going to need to mitigate in its use.<br /><br />Otherwise, it's much like a lot of other front arc black dice ships in the game. Get into knife fighting range, double arc, and get moving through your opponent's ships quickly. You will not like sustained fire. You on your lonesome (if built right, see the Hate Bear below) are very akin to a <a href="#">Rebel Liberty</a>, with the ability to beat up on small bases very quickly. However, you will not take down a large base on your lonesome (barring better double arcs then they have, of course) and are going to need help. <a href="#">Starhawks</a> especially.<br /><br />From an outsider's perspective, this ship looks like yet another nail in the <a href="#">Victory's </a>coffin, but points are always crucial. As I've (fish) farmed this article out, look for future updates in this section as desired/needed.</span><br /><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA5is0kPpnO88GfDu78H95Y2tSCdQrbkbRH01guAAP8glL42lUEJH8jOjBDVr3V89pQFIIU0J4ApaAuwY85aggyCsr8HguR3iZL-lqbajoemVkYpua8y-GLNXxV9IoGi2nwayw458mCeCD0bXgYhAb4bpE3ECv84XW2IZIlM3MNz4yLRyuqO4rwrm8jw/s1000/ven%20and%20arqs.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="1000" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA5is0kPpnO88GfDu78H95Y2tSCdQrbkbRH01guAAP8glL42lUEJH8jOjBDVr3V89pQFIIU0J4ApaAuwY85aggyCsr8HguR3iZL-lqbajoemVkYpua8y-GLNXxV9IoGi2nwayw458mCeCD0bXgYhAb4bpE3ECv84XW2IZIlM3MNz4yLRyuqO4rwrm8jw/w640-h360/ven%20and%20arqs.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">A fleet I've seen multiple times....</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b style="color: #800180;">Recommended builds<br /></b><br /><span style="color: #800180;">The Hate Bear</span><br /><br /><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">Captain Needa</a><span style="color: #800180;">, </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">Ordnance Experts</a><span style="color: #800180;">, </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">Electronic Countermeasures</a><span style="color: #800180;">, </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">External Racks, Expanded Launchers</a><span style="color: #800180;">, </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">XI7 Turbolasers</a><br /><br /><span style="color: #800180;">This build combines massive amounts of ordnance dice with XI7 Turbolasers to be able to punch damage through. On a close range shot the front arc can throw up to 11 dice (6 base, 2 for Ex Racks, 2 for Expanded Launchers, 1 for Con Fire). Captain Needa turns your Contain into a more useful Evade token for surviving Onager shots on the approach. And ECM helps you to survive the close up brawls against larger ships. This ship is mean. It’s capable of destroying a healthy Medium ship with a single arc of fire. Send it towards the biggest threat in the enemy fleet and let it go crazy.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #800180;">The Flak-O-Matic</span><br /><br /><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">Agent Kallus</a><span style="color: #800180;">, </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">Ordnance Experts</a><span style="color: #800180;">, </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">Flechette Torpedoes, Ordnance Pods</a><span style="color: #800180;">, </span><a href="#" style="color: #800180;">Linked Turbolaser Towers</a><br /><br /><span style="color: #800180;">This build keeps the Venator very cheap at 120 points and makes it a dedicated squadron hate machine. The normal flak of this ship combined with Agent Kallus and LTT means that you can throw 5 flak dice at the first unique squadron that’s in your arc. Flechette Torpedoes will activate the enemy squadrons as well, keeping them from leaving. Ordnance Pods will give you an extra shot to toggle one of those squads if you missed it the first time.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The Ven puts the battle in battlecarrier, and will brawl its way through your ships, provided you've lined it up right. In the words of some old space movie, "stay on target..."</span></div></div>geek19http://www.blogger.com/profile/16235858181206883749noreply@blogger.com0