Oh, man, what a day/night!
First off, I have to say it was quite possibly one of my favorite days of minis gaming ever, and those props go out to Audri for organizing an awesome event, Les for being a great judge, the prize support gathered, and the most respectable group of players you could ask for!
I had a squad built for Missouri's Regional, but I second guessed myself and switched at the last moment, much to my own demise. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that New Republic was going to be represented in Danville, and it certainly did not disappoint!
-- Solo, Charged and Korr-ed --
50 Han Solo, Galactic Hero
45 Mara Jade, Jedi
33 Jaden Korr
29 Ganner Rhysode
27 Lobot
9 General Dodonna
3 Mouse Droid
3 Ugnaught Demolitionist
(199pts. 8 activations)
Round 1 - Audri and her Vong of Death
Reinforcements - Twi'lek Bodyguard, Salacious, Uggie (I think)
As she reported, it was a great game, and many people know I hate the words "Auto-loss," so, regardless of what I was facing, I would never back down. The game could have ended differently if Han had killled the Praetorite Vong giving out Scarification, but, alas, he failed that roll (but not many more let downs by him the rest of the day).
0-1 Not worried yet
Round 2 - Chance and his Rebel Commando Charging Assault squad
Reinforcements - R7, Twi'lek Bodyguard
Chance won map roll and I got my first experience on the Cantina map. In this game, Han was the MVP. His accurate shot on Han in Stormtrooper Armor, and Disruptive on the Super Stealth pieces made it pretty much a clean sweep. Although, thinking back on the game, when I levitated Mara to kill Luke, RC (before he got to attack, btw), I hit and he kept Djem So hitting. Hey, yeah, I allowed that, lol. Chance, if you're reading this, you can't Djem So Mara's attacks, because they are non-melee, LOL. Didn't make a difference, and it was a victory for the New Republic. Chance's dice really did not play well, because he was rolling horrible.
1-1 Time for lunch
Lunch - Buffalo Wild Wings
Order - Gunther and I split a combo plate of Ribs and Honey BBQ wings
Result - $19.49 for both of us, good times getting to talk to people, helping Chance play the on screen trivia game.
Round 3 - Chris Elwell and a Sith Squad with Lord Kaan, Dash, Atton, HoloSid
Reinforcements - Salacious Crumb and Momaw Nadon
Once again, I lose map roll, and we go play in Salacious's home, Jabba's Palace. First two rounds are pretty uneventful, but he gets some shots off with Dash, and gets Kaan right up in Mara's grill. Momaw goes down without much of a fight, but he did his job of being a road block for a bit. Atton does some damage to Korr, but I quickly finish Atton/Exar FS off with a shot from Han, a Lightning from Korr, and a Force Push from Ganner. Mara kills Kaan, he blows up, kills two of his own pieces, and Mara makes the save. After that, Mara kills Dash, and it's just playing clean up. One of the highlights from that game is that Ganner used all three different Force Powers in one game.
2-1 Excited and nervous about what is in my future
Round 4 - Shawn and "Mace in the Face"
Reinforcements - I have to give props to Daniel for the idea of keeping two Twi'lek Bodyguards around!
Oh my God, I won map roll (only time all day, in fact), so we definately have to play on Ravaged Base. Shawn is my kind of player, get the pieces into battle, play the game, don't wait for mistakes by opponent, and boy did we get it on. As he said, by a few activations into the second round, Mara was dead, Mace and Foul were both wounded, and we were all up in each others' face! I used Lightning on Anakin and Doombot, and it was a chasing game after that. I knew that winning that game meant Top 4, and I was in it to win it. Shawn, you were a great opponent, man, no doubt about that.
Okay, so I get third after Swiss and will be facing . . .
Round 1, Playoffs - Randy Barker and Imperials: Weir, Nyna, GAThrawn, 3 Storm Commandos, Tyber, Pelleon, Dignitaries
Reinforcements - Momaw Nadon and Salacious Crumb
I brought in Momaw again because on his map, I saw some choke spots where his Imperial Dignitaries could hold me back, and with his squad having Nyna and Tyber, I needed access to his characters quickly. In this game, Han was the star, due to NTMTO and Disruptive. I moved in fast, with Momaw popping off War Throat at the end of Round 1 and beginning of Round 2 to put damage on quite a few pieces. I then levitated Han into the mix, and he finished off Calixte on the third activation of Round 2. His Double Bubble meant I couldn't use Force Powers as commonly as I had been doing all day, but in the end, it didn't matter.
On to the Final Game!
Reinforcements - Momaw Nadon and Salacious Crumb
Wow, who ever would have thought a squad with Cad Bane, Corran Horn, and a Klatooinian Captain would go undefeated, but Wes played like a champ all day long! I used Momaw again and killed off two Uggies and a Mouse at the beginning of Round 2, plus some damage on other characters. However, in this game, I made my first critical mistake of the day by letting Cad Bane get a clear shot on Mara, and I thought that would be the end of it. Corran came in for the kills, but with some good shots, Force Powers, and winning inits, I killed him and R2/P0 off. Then, once I killed his Lobot, the game got much closer and much more interesting. I locked the door (we were on Throne Room), and made him come around to the backside. I killed off his TBSV and Klat Capt in this respect, and only had to worry about Cad Bane. It was a nail biting affair with Cad Bane at 60, Ganner at 40, my Lobot, my Uggie, both of our Dodonnas. Cad was across the room, I had to spend renewal point to get to him, and I missed the attack. I win init, pop Cad down to 20, but no crits. Ganner dies, Cad flies. Both Dodonna and Uggie go in for possible crits, but it never happened, and so Wes wins in one of my all time favorite games. Kudos to you, my friend!
Hey, have a said yet how much of a great time I had? Well, if you aren't sick of it yet, I haven't said it enough. Oh, and by the way, Daniel Stephens, you're out of the will for this statement.
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Big congrats to Wes! I was definitely rooting for you to win this one.
Now, someone tells me there is something called "GenCon" coming up. Does anyone have any information on it? It sure sounds like something I might want to attend.