First let me say a big THANK YOU to everyone who came to our regional this year and made it a HUGE success. It was great to see the Atlanta and Cincinnati guys again, as well as the Carbondale crowd. Glad Ray and some of his locals were able to make the trip as well, and I enjoyed meeting more of the Kokomo guys. 30 people breaks last year's record and right now is the largest regional. (Yes, that is a challenge to the rest of you.
) Thanks to Jason for judging, and for putting our store on the map. I remember last year at this time when some people wondered how in the hell Owensboro, KY could be considered a viable spot for competition, but I think all those people have seen the wisdom and foresight of how, and Jason Alvey has more to do with that than any other person who plays there.
I ran Deri's squad from the Chicago regional, and finished 10th place. To be honest, I really wasn't trying that hard as I don't need the badge for GenCon and would rather see someone else who would appreciate it more get the chance. I don't usually play New Republic, and the squad I had been practicing (Gen. Skywalker + Yobuck + Panaka) just couldn't cut it against the Lord Vader 20-act swap squad, so I figured I would give this a run. I did make one change, I put in a Camaasi instead of the Ug + Mouse Droid for the final 5 points. This made my squad:
50 Han, GH
45 Mara Jedi
29 Ganner
27 Lobot
23 Anakin
12 Gha Nackt
09 Dodonna
05 Camaasi Noble
(200 pts., 8 acts)
Map - Ravaged Base
My first game was against a guy from Carbondale. I won map roll (as I did just about every game during the tournament). He had SS Rebel Commandos, including Crix and Luke. He also had Rieekan but not Dodonaa, so I wasn't too worried about out-activating him. I grabbed an R7, an Ug, and 5 mice for reinforcements. Round 1, I lined up a clean shot on Luke with no cover and Mara popped him for 20 (he made 1 save). In round 3 or 4, I rushed Mara (using Ganner) the rest of the way up to base Luke for the kill. My rolls were 19, 19, 3, 3. He made one Deflect save, so I only put 30 more on Luke. I won initiative the next round and decided after my rolls the last turn not to risk it. I used Assault and killed Luke, then moved into cover as best I could. It was not enough to save Mara, as she had already taken some damage due to a lucky AoO crit. At that point, At some point after that, I towed Anakin up for an UtF explosion, taking out or severely wounding several commandos, effectively ending the game.
1-0
Round 2 was vs. Gray on Ravaged Base. It was a slow game, and somewhere around the 30-minute mark I decided to force the issue. I needed to be able to activate 3 to have a chance against his squad, as we just had a big stand off. If I had taken first round gambit, I might have been able to force him out of the room, but as it was I decided to press the issue by unlocking the door and using Ganner to tow up Mara. I figured at best he would use Leia and his ERC to get one hit on her for 50-60 damage (he would need 9's), two at worst. He ended up hitting her with every single shot. She died before she activated. We played it out for another 25 minutes or so but I just never could catch up on points and finally conceded.
1-1
Round 3 I faced Carl with a Vader 501st Commander squad that also included Ozzel, Tarkin, Thrawn, and Rex, 501st commander. We were again on Ravaged base. I like Carl well enough but I have to admit I don't like playing against him. I think he takes the game a little too seriously, and can make even the most laid back opponents uncomfortable (which I am not in that category). I only mention that because I think it was a factor in how the game turned out. He spent most of the game hiding in the turbolifts while I stayed in the control room. At some point during the initial rounds, he took a quick bathroom break, which was fine - I probably could have stood to take one as well, lol, but seemed like every time I glanced down the hall it was occupied (mental side note - tell the store owner to build a second bathroom). Anyway, somewhere around round 5 or 6, I towed Han around the corner and based Anakin, putting 60 damage on him. I expected to lose Han, but figured it would be just enough bait to force Carl out of hiding so Mara could finish him up. From there, I would just run Rex down for the win. What I didn't expect was that he would use Rex immediately for the kill shots (I failed two Evade saves with Han) and then set Anakin up for a swap on the following round so he could kill Dodonna. I quietly and carefully positioned Mara and Ganner so she could be levitated in either direction. He won initiative with Master Tactician, and went first, swapping Anakin with the brute that was based against Dodonna, then said, "Go." I just looked at him for a second, and then said something like, "Wow, how did you not see this coming?"
I levitated Mara to within 4 of Anakin (after announcing I was choosing 2), and then she ran up for the assault on Anakin. Carl did not take it well, nor did I expect that he would from my various game experiences with him over the years. As I said, I like the guy well enough, but playing with him is something I secretly (well not so secretly anymore) hope I can get through a tournament without doing. He's a solid player who just needs to remember it's just a game. (Sorry, Carl.)
Anyway, at some point after that I lost Mara - which was fully expected, and set Anakin up for the bomb play. Time was called after the first bomb went off, so we stopped - but I had forgotten about the bathroom break. I might have asked for another round, but I can't say with any certainty that it would have made much difference, as I was down in points by more than 60, and killing Rex one round later probably wouldn't have been possible with just Ganner and Anakin (and probably facing the fact I would lose Anakin on a triple +13 attack).
1-2
At this point, I knew I was out of contention so I just kicked into cruise control/auto=pilot and played out the rest of the day. My fourth round game was against a guy from St. Louis whose name I don't recall. He had a version of the squad I had thought about playing, with Yobuck and Skywalker. He also had Commander Tano.
I outactivated him without bringing in mice so I settled on a Felucian, R7, and 2 ugs. Mara got towed up and killed his Skywalker, and he conceded. He never galloped. He never put Yobuck in range to gallop. I got the impression he was as disappointed with the squad as I had been in the various playtest sessions.
2-2
Final round was against a local player who didn't seem that interested in what happened in game 5. He had Yoda of Dagobah with Rebels, but he never moved Yoda out of the starting area, which I didn't understand. This was the only game all day that I didn't play on Ravaged Base, as his map was Chancellor's Starship. I used Mara and Han to kill his ERCs and Luke while Dodonna and Gha Nackt took pot-shots at his Crix, and Rieekan. I can't remember if he conceded or if time was called, but I know I won.
3-2
I finished the tournament in 10th place, good enough to score me another booster of MotF (though I really didn't need anything from it).
All in all, it was a fun day, and I enjoyed getting to play with some of the people who attended. As for the squad, there were several moments where I wished I had had Wedge and Kyle instead of Anakin Solo and Han, but I can see how Deri did so well with it. You have to play a very slow and very calculated game to make it work, and you have to be very lucky with the dice. I tend to play more aggressively when I'm not playing seriously, and the dice didn't go my way enough to pick up the slack.
Now I just have to decide whether to play hard-core or goofy for the Atlanta Regional this coming weekend. I've got a few days to figure it out.