This was my first time using the CW pieces in a competitive format, so I really didn't know what to bring. I eventually put together a triple-movement-breaker Republic squad, and it looked like fun to play, so I gave it a whirl:
--Bombad Kybuck--51 Yoda on Kybuck
33 Captain Rex
23 Captain Panaka
18 Jar Jar Binks
9 R2-D2, Astromech Droid
8 Mas Amedda
5 Caamasi Noble
3 Ugnaught Demolitionist
(150pts. 8 activations)
It WAS a lot of fun to play, but it will take me quite a while before I get used to it, because I almost never play swap squads, and with all the options available, it can be hard to decide which move is best. This squad is entirely a finesse squad, for a number of reasons: As with as with most swap squads, it requires you to think a Round or two ahead; the complexity of that is only compounded by the fact that R2 adds more options, and then Yoda adds a multitude of options on top of that: he can run 10 or 16 and attack, or 26...and there is some square-counting to do for all of those plans. As a result, while I was never stalling, some of my moves took me longer than I or my opponent would've liked. Oh well, chalk it up as a learning experience and proof that this squad, while it can be effective, is also very difficult to play.
My map was Ravaged Base, but in some ways I think Chancellor's Starship might have been a better choice.
Round 1 vs Billiv15 on Ravaged Base (we both had the same map, and Bill chose the left side)
58 Boba Fett, Mercenary
49 Anakin Skywalker, Champion of Nelvaan
23 Padme Amidala, Senator
9 R2-D2, Astromech Droid
5 Bespin Guard
6 Ugnaught Demolitionist x2
This game was a nail-biter. My 8 activations actually managed to out-activate Bill's squad, and that proved to be a factor in this game. In the first round, I towed Rex into the Command Center and R2 opened the door in the north of the room. Then I ran Yobuck up through that door so that he opened the other one, which led into the hallway. Then, at the end of the round, I swapped Rex for Yoda, so that Yoda was now adjacent to R2 and Rex was able to mobile attack and hit both of Bill's Ugnaughts, which he had left in that hallway. Now I was up by 3 activations, and that made a big difference later. Bill won the next init and killed my R2 with Ani. Boba hadn't activated yet, so I tried to do a job on him with Rex, but as I would for most of the night, I missed half of my shots with Rex, so Boba only took 40 dmg. Then I ran Yobuck past Ani (20dmg on the aoo) up to Boba, for another 40dmg, leaving Boba at 30 hp. However, Bill pointed out that my Yobuck had to attack Ani if he was going to use Gallop Attack on Boba as well, so I reluctantly attacked Ani, who then made his Djem-So save and then DOUBLE-CRITTED Yobuck for another 80 dmg! Ouch! Yobuck was down to 60 hp, with Boba and Padme yet to go. Boba doubled and missed one, but then hit his Padme-CE attack, so Yoda was at 20. Panaka finished the round by putting 20 more on Boba (down to 10 hp) and swapping Yobuck out for my Caamasi Noble, who then ran past Boba to base his R2. Bill won the next init, so he Intuitioned Boba to safety and killed Rex with Ani and Padme. At this point, I had to lay down some heavy damage fast, or it would be all over, so I swapped Yobuck in for the Caamasi Noble, and Yobuck then attacked R2, then Master-Speeded himself around for 16 squares, in such a fashion that he killed R2, the Bespin, and Boba. Not a bad turn, for a piece with 20 hp left. Next round, Ani and Padme brought Panaka to within an inch of his life, and I put some damage on Padme. I won the next init, put 10 dmg on Ani with Panaka, then swap Yoda in such a way that he can kill off Padme and run away from the always-dangerous Anakin. Ani then killed Panaka and I spent the rest of the time running Yoda away from Ani. I thought I'd was a goner when I lost Rex and had 20 hp left on Yoda, but the flexibility of this squad saved my tail. 1-0
Round 2 vs empirejeff (on Chancellor's Starship; I won map choice but decided that I liked his map better. He chose to start on the left.
Master Lucien Draay
Nomi Sunrider
Visas Marr
Juggernaut War Droid x2
At first when I saw 3 strong melee figs, I thought, "Well, Yobuck will be useless here"...but I was oh so wrong. Rex had a heyday, putting holes in almost anything that showed itself, and with swap-action helping me out, he was great. But the broken Towed Gallop was what won the game...that and the fact that I won every initiative roll all game. I think it was 3 times that I used the Tow-Gallop-Gallop combo on Jeff, and his pieces just couldn't stand up to that barrage, in addition to Rex's firepower. On the bright side for Jeff, my Jarjar failed all is bombad saves and died; I think that was satisfying to us both.
2-0
Round 3 vs Joruus C'baoth (I won map so we played on my Ravaged Base rather than his Coruscant...he chose to start on the left side)
--Opportunistic Droids!--
57 General Grievous, Droid Army Commander
51 IG-86 Assassin Droid x3
12 Gha Nachkt
10 San Hill
9 Battle Droid Officer
12 Battle Droid x3
6 Ugnaught Demolitionist x2
(150pts. 12 activations)
I knew from the very start that a GGDAC-IG squad would be the hardest matchup for my squad...and it figures that I faced that exact squad for my last game of the night.
I started off Round 2 by doing the same Yobuck/Rex swap then Rex attack that I used in my game with Bill...and I hit one of his IG droids (26 defense!!) for 40dmg. San Hill really handicapped Joruus in this match, because it meant that whenever he opened a door I could either lock it or shoot the opener. Also at the end of the second round I ran Yoda 26 squares to kill a Battle Droid that had ventured within range...and I thought I had retreated Yoda far enough, but I miscounted by 1 square, and so Joruus was able to put 60dmg on Yoda with an IG droid. Joruus and I then each rolled 2 14s for init, so we had a double-init roll-off, which I've never seen before...but I won the next roll-off, so Rex popped out and killed the 20 hp IG droid and put 20 more on another one...that made a big difference. He's a beast. At this point I really wanted to run Yoda out and kill the other IG droid (with 40 hp) but I knew I'd probably lose Yoda, so I just spun Panaka and swapped Jarjar with Yoda. Then Joruus responded by moving an IG droid up to shoot Yoda, so Jarjar Drew Fire; Joruus had forgotten that Jarjar could do that, so I let him take the move back and shoot at Jarjar from a less dangerous spot (it's DCI,
not death! 
)...and then Jarjar proved his worth by making his Bombad save, and forcing the IG droid to blast my Caamasi Noble for 60dmg.
At this point I made an epic move, with Yoda and R2 Galloping and flying out to spread 80 dmg over a BD, San, and the IG droid that had just shot...San is now alive, but at 10 hp. Then R2 locked the door. Now there was just 1 IG droid left, and a swapping Rex could take care of that. However, I knew I might lose R2 and Yoda. Grievous moved out to shoot R2, needing a 5...and rolled a 3. Then a BD shot at R2 and hit once, which means that, if Grievous would've hit, R2 would've been dead and the door opened, and Yoda likely dead next round.... Joruus then won the next init, and tripled with Grievous, killing R2 and putting 30dmg on Yoda (failed the block), so Yoda was down to 70 hp. Now I figured,
"I'm gonna lose Yoda anyway, so I might as well make it worth it"...so I galloped past Grievous, the BD, an Ugnaught, and base the last IG droid, hitting everything except for the BD, who critted Yoda on the aoo...then I said,
"You're gonna hate me for this" and swapped Jarjar in and Yoda to safety.
At this point, Joruus needed to win the init (which he did) and hit once (which he did) and then crit once on Yoda (he rolled a 19)...so Yoda lived with 20 hp. I then killed the door openers, San and a BD, with Yoda and hid him, after which I killed an Ugnaught with Panaka. Joruus conceded after that. Whew...that was an epic game, full of daring moves and epic dice. As always, Joruus was a very dangerous and enjoyable opponent. He used his squad really well and made it hard for me to attack with Yoda without leaving him exposed for punishment. Killing R2 a round earlier might have swung the game the other way. GG, Joruus! 3-0
This was a really fun tournament. I was suprised with how well the triple-movement breaker worked out, with its low activations; I think the combo of Rex pouring out heavy damage, along with Yobuck/R2/Panaka attacking almost any targer is what made up for it.
Once again, big thanks to Dean for running the tournament. I'm looking forward to the next one.
3.0
