Well I hit the tournament scene again on Saturday. I thought long and hard about fielding GG DAC, but decided to go my own way (as I usually do) with something that could stare down strafers/gallopers and hold its own against the wider field. In the end, this is what I came up with:
55 General Obi-Wan Kenobi 52 Jedi Weapon Master x2 39 Kel Dor Bounty Hunter x3 18 Lando, Dashing Scoundrel 18 Jar Jar Binks 09 R2, Astromech Droid 09 Ugnaught Demolitionist x3
200 even, 12 acts.
There were 6 people at the tournament, down slightly from our average of 10-12.
Game 1 on Rancor Pit
One of the better players at our venue built the Yobuck/Panaka/Rex combo squad for his friend, who hadn't played in a few weeks. I won map and he picked side (the Rancor Pen side, of course).
If he had more practice with the squad, he probably would have won. But bad dice rolls and inexperience with the squad gave me enough of an upper hand that I was able to pull out a victory. Our game went to time, as there were a lot of tough decisions about where to move pieces.
1-0
Game 2 vs. Dark Jedi 21 on Muunilist Commerce Plaza (the one from the CW battle pack)
Jason played Boba Merc, Dodonna, Lando DS, Kyle Katarn, General Wedge, Wicket, T3, and filler. He won map, and I decided to start from the control room. He won init and made me go first. On his first phase of the game, he announced he was activating 2 characters. He then used T3 to open the door, and tried to line up a shot with Boba or Lando. I can't remember now if he made an attack or not, only that on my next phase, I moved Lando where he could see T3 and blasted him, giving me a 17 point lead. We then spent the next 50 minutes dancing around the map. I had no reason to engage, and I had to place carefully and deliberately to keep him from unloading on me at the end of each round. I can't recall every move of that last round, but I do remember using one JWM to kill his Wicket, and then losing 2 of my 3 Kel Dor while they were adjacent to Kyle. I also remember winning init in that final round because I went first so I could lock the control room door where Boba was standing just inside (he was adjacent to the door). Obi and Lando were hiding on the other side of the control room, just outside, and Kyle was based by a KDBH. I moved the other one up to try to pin him down, and he ended up killing it too. At the end of the final round, he had a less than 5 pt. lead, and I moved Jar Jar into gambit to try to get the win. I had Lando and Obi left, and he had Dodonna, and so he moved Dodonna into gambit as well. I then positioned Lando where he could see Dodonna and no one else, and took my shot. It pretty much all came down to 3 dice rolls - the one for init on the final round, and Lando's 2 attacks for the game (the one on T3 and the other on Dodonna). Everything else that game was just for show.
If I had missed any of those shots, or lost that init on the final round, the game could easily have gone the other way. I really felt like a slow player that game, but it was one of the hardest tactical games I have ever played in my entire time playing SWM. Every decision was important, and looking back, I am sure that I was right about my assessment during the game - one false move at any point between the first round and the last round would have spelled defeat.
2-0
Game 3 against "Admiral Graybar" Graybar is playing Rebels, with Loda, Dodonna, Princess Leia, R2P0, Han Smuggler, and Chewbacca
This game wasn't as intense or mind numbing as game 2 was, but that doesn't mean it was easy either. We were on broken Christophis. For all the moaning about RS Tarkin being able to break the init rule, it's pieces like PL that are the really abusive. Win init, activate PL, then give Loda a free Twin Attack for a total of 70 damage. Finding the best combo for abuse will take time, but it is there I think.
Anyway, the game played rather slowly as we pushed our pieces to engagement along the top edge of the map. Loda circled up to the middle and found his way into the fray as he stared down a Kel Dor and Obi-Wan. R2P0 got up close enough to disrupt Obi's CE, which I really didn't need, and I had a fair chance at winning. Time was called in this game as well, and I said aloud, "I don't think I can get him on points." Someone sitting nearby pointed at Chewie, who had 30 HP, and I noticed Lando had him in LOS as the legal target. Excited at the recognition, I immediately activated Lando and rolled my attack. It was a hit, but then Graybar said, "Chewie hasn't gone yet."
Total silence. DOH!
Frustrated that I allowed myself to get caught up in all the surrounding commotion, I simply conceded the game. It was a good reminder about why it is a pet peeve of mine when people give advice to their friend, my opponent, although they are not in the game. Conceding was the responsible thing to do as much as it pained me to do so, but it was an important reminder. Ignore the people sitting next to you during a game, and don't get excited about potential game plays.
2-1
I finished second, and my head was pounding from the tedious nail-biting games of the afternoon. SWM should not be that hard lol.
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