In the weeks leading up to this tournament, I wasn't sure what to play. I knew I'd face a lot of GOWK, but I didn't really want to use him myself either. And then I saw TimmerB's report, about his Speedy Smuggler Cannon, and I liked how it looked.
Squad: Luke SS, Rieekan, Dodonna, Princess Leia, Han SMuggler, Lobot
Map: Taris
It wasn't really a GOWK-counter, because it didn't have a solid way of killing GOWK...but it could be pretty effective against his support. In a practice game I discovered that I really liked the playstyle of this squad, and also that Timmer's map-choice of Taris was spot-on. So, kudos to Timmer for creating such an excellent squad!
Apparently, he used it much more defensively and conservatively than I did...but then again, I prefer to play more aggressively anyway. I might have been wiser to adopt his approach.
On to the reports:
Round 1: Erik (Ukezwoll)
Mitthrawn, Lobot, Echani Handmaiden, Stormtrooper Commander, Imperial Officer, Amanin Scout, Amiral Ozzel, Mas Amedda, Gran Raider, Ugnaught. His reinforcements were 2x Gran, 3 Ugs, and a 2 mice. Map: Chancellor's Starship
Erik won the map roll, so we played on the C's Starship, and I took the left for easy first round gambit. I had two big advantages going for me: 1) the SS's DR10 and Evade, and 2) Juno's Disruptive. As we discovered halfway through the match, he was missing his STC, which would've been much more helpful for the handmaiden...as it was, the most she could do was 40dmg per round to the SS, if all 4 attacks hit and I made no evade saves. I played conservatively at first (locking doors, picking off activations), knowing that Erik only needed 1 good round of Amanin/Handmaiden swapping to really put a pile of hurt on my squad. Eventually I was able to kill the Handmaiden, and it was cleanup after that (though some 30dmg crits by scrubs were impactful), and my SS finished with 20 hp.
1-0
Round 2: Owen (Rebel Hero)
Squad: Crix Madine, Elite Rebel Commandos x 3, Princess Leia, Han RH, Mouse Droids
Map: Death Star
Quite honestly, this squad scared me when I looked at it. Those ERCs could make some heavy 50 dmg shots at my SS (10 base, 20 from Crix, 10 from Han, 20 from Ion Gun, -10 from my DR10). Luckily, they were at best only +11 with Cunning (need 13s to hit the SS) or +15 at best with Leia’s CE (need a 9). Since my squad was entirely shooters, I would have a hard time getting in there to remove the super-stealth. My only advantage was that he didn’t have Dodonna, so I could easily out-activate him with Lobot’s reinforcements. I won the map roll and chose Taris; Owen chose the right side. The first round or two was positioning, with the ERCs taking a few shots at the SS, shots which either missed or were evaded. Late in Round 3, I knew it was time to strike. Crix and his Disruptive were trapped behind an ERC-locked door, and there was an ERC within striking distance. I could run a Mouse 12 spaces, so that extended Leia’s CE another 6 spaces, which just barely reached the space my SS had to be in order to base my first ERC target. So I ran the mouse, then ran the SS, then Leia gave her CE to the SS, and both shots hit, so there was 1 less ERC to worry about. I won the next init, so I activated the SS (important because it removed +4/+30 from his ERC’s damage output vs the SS), and charged another ERC, to hit for 40 dmg more, and then backed up...he could either negate evade by coming out to base the SS (thereby leaving the 10hp ERC without the benefit of cover and ripe for a counter-attack by Han/Leia/Juno), or shoot at +7 vs evade and run away. He chose the second option. I won the next init, so I again activated the SS and finished off the 10hp ERC. The last ERC dropped later on that round. It was that perfect-distance-charge in the end of Round 3 that turned the tables. Without that move, I don’t think I could’ve won. Great game, very intense!
2-0
Round 3: Joe (Kael Dronna)
Squad: Gowk, Lobot, Dash, Roron Corob, Doombot, uggies x 2
Map: Ravaged Base
His reinforcement was Lando DS, and mine were a Human BH, 2 Mice, and 1 Ug. He won the map roll, so we played on Ravaged Base. I chose the right side. At the end of Round 1, I killed R2 and an Ug, plus I gained Gambit pts, so I had a significant lead. Next round, he charged with Obi to put 20dmg on my SS. Then I made a really dumb move (apparently, Dean and Jonny, who were watching, were banging their foreheads over the idiocy of it); I flew my SS in to kill Lobot, before Dash, Lando, and Roron had activated. So I killed off his last door control...but now my SS was at 20 hp. Luckily, I won init (thanks to Rieekan’s Recon), so I flew my SS away. I could’ve taken a twin attack vs a 30hp Roron, but I wanted to save the speeder; it turns out I should’ve just gone for the kill. Obi based Han and critted (Han now at 30 hp), then GOWK proceeded to avoid all my attacks with Obi’s SSM. Joe won the next init, so he ran Obi to kill the SS. Now I was in serious trouble, so I ran my squad into the Command Center, blocked the doorway with a Mouse Droid, and locked the big door with Lobot. I was able to base Lando with a 12-square Han-Leia combo, and kill him off. Now it was just Dash (70 hp), GOWK (120hp, 5 FP) and Roron (30hp, 2 FP) left, and my only solid attacker was a 10 hp Han, supplemented by a 10hp Bodyguard, Rieekan, Leia, Juno, and Lobot. I placed that last 30dmg on Roron twice, but both times he deflected it. Leia hit him once for 20dmg. Then Han needed a 5 to hit...rolled a 4, Rieekan needed a 10 to hit...rolled a 9...Juno needed 14 to hit...rolled a 13. :rolleyes: If any of those had hit, I would’ve been fine. I could’ve locked my 4 most expensive pieces in the turbolift in gambit, and won on points. However, since Roron survived so long (deflected 140dmg on 3 shots), I lost my BG and Han to Dash’s barrages (even with Evade). Now it was 10 hp Leia, along with Rieekan, Juno and Lobot, vs a 50hp Dash and an untouched Obi. We were exactly tied on points, so I couldn’t lock myself into the turbolift, because he would end the game with a piece closer to the center of the map. So I had to come out and fight, and I lost. It was a great game, and very exhausting. Superb play by Joe to overcome my door control.
2-1
Supper break. My wife cooked her epic pasta...just what I needed!
Round 4: Matt (MtMagus)
Squad: Gowk, JWM, Dash, Lobot, Camaasi Noble, Doombot
Map: Bespin
Matt’s reinforcements were a Jawa Scavenger and fodder, while mine were Mice, Ugs, and a Noble. Matt and I have played vs each other a lot before, and he’s always a tough opponent. I won the map roll (Taris) and Matt chose the left side, setting up near the top. This allowed me to put 50dmg on Dash (failed Evade) and kill R2 at the end of Round 1, and then kill Lobot (with the SS) and his Jawa (with Juno!) near the beginning of Round 2. At the beginning of Round 3, I finished off Dash and based his last Ugnaught (so I could lock out the impossible GOWK). However, this allowed the JWM and Obi to put 60dmg on the SS. Luckily, I won the next init, so I killed the Ug and ran my SS to safety. Soon the JWM was out of FP, and so I finished it off in the following round. Then it was GOWK vs my whole squad, and GOWK was out of FPs. Matt’s SSM saves were horrible (he had to use so many FPs to reroll), and GOWK fell within 2-3 rounds. This is the only time I have been able to kill off GOWK in a competitive match...and I could only do it because it was GOWK (and bad dice) vs my whole squad.
3-1
Round 5: Joe (Kael Dronna) again
At this point, I was in 4th place and so I was paired with Joe (Kael Dronna) again for the first round of the playoffs.
I won’t repeat the squads again, but Joe won map again, and this time (thanks to his advice after the earlier game), I took the left side of Ravaged Base. He brought Lando DS again, and I brought a Caamasi, Mice, and Ugs. This game didn’t go so well for Joe. I was able to kill off R2 in the end of Round 1. Then at the end of Round 2 I killed Lobot with Han, and also killed Dash when Han rolled a crit with Leia’s CE (70dmg) and Dash failed the evade save. Roron died the next round (not so much luck with Deflect this time). After that, GOWK stepped into a turbolift to kill one of my Ugs, so I locked him inside, because there was no way I was going to let a full-hp GOWK out to have his way with my squad. At that point, the score was 115-10, so I won on Gambit.
4-1
Round 6: Philip (Joruus)
Squad: GOWK, JWM, Dash, Lobot, Doombot, Camaasi Noble
Map: Train Station
Beyond my expectations, I found myself playing in the Finals vs Joruus. Throughout the tournament, we were joking that we just KNEW we’d be paired together at some point (because it’s happened so often in the past)...but I don’t think either of us expected it to be in the Finals, battling for a Gencon badge.
I won the map roll, so I chose Taris; Joruus set up on the left. His reinforcements were a Caamasi, 3 Ugs, and 2 Mice. Mine were the same, but +1 MD and -1 Ug . Joruus played really well. He used his fodder to screen his important pieces (Dash, R2, JWM) from the SS, even though he did lose Lobot in the first round and R2 in the 2nd, both to Han. I had a number of chances to really pour the damage onto the JWM and Dash, but either Joruus’ evades were hot, or my dice were off (Han rolled a 1 on a killing shot vs the JWM, my SS rolled 7s and 5s for most of his shots). As a result, they lasted much longer than I would’ve liked. All the while, I was locking doors and manoeuvring to place more distance between my troops and Joruus’. Dash killed my Lobot when Joruus won an init. Eventually I was able to base a 40hp Dash with the SS...but I only hit 1 attack, even with the fprr. Dash was down to 20 hp. I mobiled away, to avoid having my SS based by the JWM, and then Joruus smartly filled in the gap with fodder again, so my SS couldn’t finish him off next round. I won the next init and flew away to finish off the JWM which had been dropped to 20 hp by Han. Joruus responded by killing the SS with Dash and GOWK. At the end of that round, I made a crazy move and found a LOS on Dash with Han, and hit the shot (hurray!)...and after some post-rolling LOS-checking by Joruus, he failed the evade. So now it was GOWK and some fodder vs most of my squad. I was up on points and would have won if I had stalled for 20 seconds...but that`s not my style. We rolled init and I won with recon. In my exhausted mental state, I neglected to notice that GOWK didn’t have enough FP to push, otherwise I would’ve taken an AoO from GOWK and retreated behind some mice. So instead, I shot GOWK (SSM saved it) and hoped that GOWK couldn’t roll a crit on his double attack. He did. Oh well, that’s the way the dice roll sometimes. Joruus needed to win the badge more than I did (I’ve got a full-time job), so it was a good end result. Furthermore I’ve been trying to help him build his confidence for Gencon...I guess this helps, eh?
This was a super-close game, and Joruus played it superbly (especially with all that fodder-interference!). Great game, Joruus!
4-2
So, there it was. My first Regional tournament, and I had a great time; I even placed second! Hmm, I’ve done that before....
I was exhausted by the end, for sure, but it was awesome! Thanks again to Dean and Jonny for organizing it. I can`t wait to see many of you at Gencon....