Here is the squad that I placed first with, and MtMagus placed 3rd with at this year's Gencon.

--Speedy Cannon--
46 Han Solo, Scoundrel
45 Luke's Snowspeeder
20 Princess Leia
11 Human Bodyguard
8 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Spirit
8 R2-D2
12 Ugnaught Demolitionist x4
(150pts. 10 activations)

Now, here is where it gets interesting. The map list as most of you know, was restricted, in particular, my favorite map for this squad (Hoth Outpost) was not on the list. So we had to look for another option to run it. The two maps that come to mind first are Deathstar (general shooter map) and Rancor Pit. However, Rancor tends to have too little space to move a huge around on, and Deathstar has one door rooms, and one and two wide hallways. So while, these work well enough, I really needed something more open. So I started thinking about Starship.

At first, you might think, "Why would anyone play Starship with the new Set up rules that means you will always be on the bad side?" But that is precisely the point. With Han Cannon and Luke's Snowspeeder as the interference piece, setting up second is ever so much more important than any side advantage. In particular, Starship leaves little room on the left that is safe for your opponent if you get to set up second. Finally, with all the MTB, Dodonna, and high activation squads I expected to see, and did see, I wanted the ability to start killing fodder right away. Hence, knowing I was on the right side everytime I won map, actually worked to my advantage.

So you might also notice there is no General Dodonna. This was on purpose. Number 1, he has become as much of a crutch as Boba BH, as I saw several squads running him that didn't need it. There were certainly well designed Dodonna squads as well (Knightswhosaynigh's Loda squad being one of them - top 8 qualifyer). I can tell you, while Dodonna changed my tactics to a certain degree, I just always assumed I would be out activated. So I would shoot when safe, never let myself into Mara, Loda, or Boba BH's range without being properly prepared with the BG. Second, I noticed this trend, and here is why Dodonna is becoming a crutch. At least twice, I set up second on the right side of Starship, and had counted out a major first round shot with either Han SC or the Snowspeeder and Leia, then lost the first init. Only to watch my opponent activate Dodonna as if it was an automatic move, and allow me to pound their big piece anyway.

Now, Dodonna was replaced in the original version of this squad with a Human BG. In a field with 23 Boba BHs, its pretty clear the BG is a must. We joked about giving disintegration lessens after Gencon. In particular, my friend Lou lost a game in 200 when his opponent's Boba disintegrated his Snowspeeder, Han SH, Chewy RH and Princess Leia, that's right 4 of them. But more than Boba, the BG does many things. For example, my last game of the Swiss, I played Lou and we were both 5-1. He had Boba Merc, Aurra JH, San Hill and we played on Starship. He was down to Boba with 40 or so hps, and I had Han SC with the BG and Obi remaining. Either big figure dying would end the game. I won init and tried to kill Boba and missed one of the attacks. He responded with a crit (40 dmg) for his turn on my Han. Now most people might think, take the crit on the BG is the obvious answer, I didn't. I took it on Han leaving my BG at full health, and Han at 40hps. Init comes and I lose it, so Boba pumps 60 into Han, which I bg one shot and take the other on Han. Now I combine fire with the BG and kill Boba. Had I missed, and lost the next init, I would have lost. The BG combining was a nice little boost.

So to say one more time about Dodonna, if your squad is based solely on ranged cunning attacks, you don't need him, its a waste of points that could be better spent. In 150 where the points for power are tight, you have to consider every option. The flexibility of the BG was a better choice than the flexibility of running Dodonna. I never lost to any squad with activation control, or Tempo control. My one loss of the tournament was to MtMagus in the Swiss rounds in our mirror match that took 14 minutes

Congrats Bill, you deserved this.

Nice name for your squad though: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3001

I posted that squad (the Dodonna variant to yours) back in April. Great to hear it did so well for you. The Human BG is a very valid option as it does help immensely for those pesky Boba BH's. All that I want to say is that I knew the SS would somehow be in the top squads after that Huge Errata.

Again, congrats!

Yep, the name you gave it stuck.

Let's see Fool - Final game.

I lost map roll, so Trevor took Deathstar. I defered set up to force him to set up first, he took the right side and filled the upper right rooms and hallway. I put most of my figs in the bottom of the hanger bay, near the lower door, and all key figs were surrounding the BG (he had Boba BH). First round, was minimal positioning, he tried to set up a shot on an ugo, or the speeder with Boba to start the 2nd round, but I won init. I used an Ugo to charge the little door in the lower middle of the map, and the speeder moved through it to get a long clear los shot on Boba, I think landing 20 dmg on him. He shoots the Speeder twice with Boba and the Bothan, and then Princess Leia gives the Speeder another twin, again, landing 20 dmg. I move everyone out to the middle, he has Boba in the middle of the catwalk. I think the speeder had taken like 30-40dmg, but now the BG was in place to cover the big 4. Basically same thing happens next round and we each take some more damage. So he moves R2PO up to use draw fire on Han and the speeder for the next round. I win init, say I am shooting with Han, he says ok and I roll the dice and hit. He rolls evade, and fails. I then remind him that he forgot about Draw Fire He concedes at that point, then just for run, I roll the draw fire save and make it so it wouldn't have mattered anyway, but it was a funny brain fart.

That's about the best I can remember Fool. Perhaps Trever can fill in any more details.

Great job Bill. Wonderful squad, and I'm glad to see a squad win with no tempo or initative control.





Again, congrats.

Yep, that's about right, Bill. However, before Han and the Draw Fire activation, you also moved the SS up for two no-cover shots on Boba, both of which hit and both of which I evaded. The previous round I had killed Leia with Boba...that was the key to my win vs Matt about 20 minutes earlier. However, the SS was a real pain to me, since I didn't win any of the important inits, and therefore never had a chance to shoot your SS with those 30dmg-shots (ala Han's CE).

I analyzed the game on the way home (8.5 hours gives me a lot of time for that sort of thing!) and I realized some mistakes that I made. First, I played too aggressively with Boba. It was good to remove Leia from the equation, but that left Boba open to take a pounding from your shooters on my failed evade saves. I would've been wiser to keep Boba and the Noble closer to Han, timing my strikes more carefully rather than trying to force the action. Boba was the lynch-pin of my squad, and so I should've been much more careful with him; his 120hp drops really quickly to powerful twin attackers, even with evade. Second, I didn't capitalize enough on my activation advantage. I should've played cat and mouse with you more, safely laying down damage after your pieces had already gone. I could've even used the Control Room (just below where I kept my pieces that game) more than I did, especially since I had the last Override of the round and if you used R2 to open the door to shoot at me, I would've been able to shoot him.

So in the end analysis, I think I stood a decent chance of winning (after all, I had just beaten Matt, who played the same squad), but I made some costly positioning mistakes with Boba. Even though I lost the key inits, I can't blame the dice this game, since Boba did evade a 40-dmg Leia-Han shot and another critical hit, both of which would've ended the game much earlier. It was a good game, even though it had a disappointing finish.

Yeah, I certainly didn't think your squad was subpar in anyway. You did make the right move in moving into the pit area, as it makes it tough to base. The issue was, I expected that when I saw your set up, and so I set up to be able to get my shots. With Speedy Cannon (as opposed to old Han Cannon or some other people's variants) I am not that dependent on init. All that typically changes is who gets Leia's bonus twins. What it might have changed was whether or not you got the speeder down before Han finished Boba or not (or giving you another round for a 20 on Han).

I just don't think there was much else you could do. Even winning inits, you have to leave Boba out there for me to shoot to use the Bothan, and evade vs mettle evade and DR typically isn't enough. But obviously, in this case, me winning in particular the last init, made it over quicker.

And to be honest, I was shocked to come back from my break with Dean and hear that you had beaten Matt. How you got away with a 10hp Boba at the point we left, I'll never know Anyways, great tournament, and it was even better to get to hang out with you all weekend. You played great!

Hey, thanks Bill! I didn't know what to expect going in to the Gencon Masters Tournament...I just wanted to go 4-3, since I'd never played real life DCI before, and I knew this would be the toughest tournament anywhere. The latter was certainly true: so many of those games pushed me right to my limits. I was utterly speechless when I made the Top 8--that epic game vs JamesWys was the craziest thing! And then I was so happy to find myself playing in the Finals. "Who'da thunk it?" It really was more than I ever expected! I guess Vassal is better preparation than I thought. Those Vassal tourneys run by Dean were very important preparation for me.

It was fun hanging out with you and the rest of the guys too. You were right: it was an amazing weekend of SWM goodness! I'm only now starting to catch up on sleep.

Thanks for your reflections on our game; they help to set my mind at ease more fully. I knew going in to the tournament that Snowspeeder squads would be some of the most difficult matchups for me; in order to take it down in one round would I need to win init at least once with Boba, Han and Noble all close to each other: the Boba-Noble combo for 80dmg afer DR10, and then next phase Han has to hit his attack (usually needing 13). Lucky for me (something I had a lot of during the first 7 games) I did not face a Snowspeeder squad in the first 7 games.

As for the big D on your Han, well, I obviously can't "plan" for the big D, so it would've been pure luck if it ever happened. My only hope vs Han (after Leia has gone) is to activate first so that he needs 15s to hit (11s with Mettle), and then I have evade. If I'd somehow survived the round after killing the Speeder, I would've retreated Boba and company into the room and healed Boba for a few rounds. The Bothan is a great piece, good for more than just his CE.

The way Boba survived in my game vs Matt was a matter of running out of LOS long enough to heal enough hp that Han would need to hit both cunning attacks and I would need to miss both evades in order for him to win (less than 25% chance of all that happening). At the end of the previous round I even brought up an uggie adjacent to the spot where Han would need to be for LOS to Boba, thus forcing him to shoot the Ug rather than Boba...but I miscounted the squares. lol Chalk it up to accumulated fatigue! As it turned out, Han missed both his attacks and then my Boba based Han for 80dmg, as well as healing up to 70hp.

According to Uliq, not only is this not my squad, but I am also an inferior player to the almighty PAX Regional Tournament Winner.....

Get a nice laugh out of these comments.

http://bloomilk.com/Squads/ViewSquad.aspx?SquadID=2321