Monday, February 29, 2016

BattleCry 2016 - Escalation Tournament

Event : BattleCry 2016 - Escalation Tournament 20/02/2016

Before I start for those of you not familiar with escalation its a game mode which starts with a squad of 60 points and the squad size increases in 30 point increments each game. So your first game will be a 60 point squad, your second a 90 point squad, your third a 120 point squad and fourth a 150 point squad and so on and so forth. You may add new ships and new upgrades each time but you may not remove any existing ships or cards. The idea is to build on what you have each time. Another important rule is that you have to have 2 ships in your first 60 point squad, so you can't take a loaded large ship ace by itself this made my first round quite challenging. My list was as follows:

Round 1 - 60 points -

Boba Fett + Push the limit (42)
1x Syndicate Thug (18)

(60)

Round 2 - 90 points -

Boba Fett + Push the limit (42)
2x Syndicate Thug + Twin Lazer Turret + BTL-A4 Y-wing (48)

(90)

Round 3 -120 points -

Boba Fett + Push the limit + Counter Measures + Glitterstim (47)
2x Syndicate Thug + Twin Lazer Turret + BTL-A4 Y-wing + R4 Agromech (52)
1x Syndicate Thug +  Auto Blaster + BTL-A4 Y-wing (20)

(119)

Round 4 -150 points -

Boba Fett + Push the limit + Counter Measures + Glitterstim (47)
2x Syndicate Thug + Twin Lazer Turret + BTL-A4 Y-wing + R4 Agromech (52)
1x Syndicate Thug +  Auto Blaster + BTL-A4 Y-wing (20)
Talon Bane Cobra + Glitterstim + Crackshot (31)

(150)

Round 1 vs Chris

My naked Y proved completely useless and shortly died. Boba was taken down to half points and the whistle was blown before I could finish either of my opponents damaged ships. It was unfortunate that the game went to time as it was still anyone's game but its also an element of competitive play all pilots must contend with. Chris was flying Poe with VI and another no name X-Wing I could not recall. End result I lose by an 18 point Y wing and half Boba Fett.

Round 2 vs X-Wing Kid

At 90 points my squad is looking a lot healthier than before at only 10 points short of 100 with a few luxuries not present on Boba Fett it looks a lot like one of the standard 100 point lists I'd flight tested at tournaments before. I am way more comfortable in at the pilot seat now as I take on X-Wing Kid and his 3 T65 X-Wings. Killing 1 of the no name brand X-Wings in the first round of fire I had the game in hand and continue follow through by eliminating Wedge Antilles and his rogue squadron brethren with minimal shield damage.

Round 3 vs Adam

Adam is flying 3 Tie Fighters and Kenkirk. I don't remember the exact list but it was a short lived match as Adam accidentally flew his Decimator off the map. This was due to an overly enthusiastic boost in the previous turn. I had offered Adam the opportunity to play on as if it hadn't happened but being the T/O* of X-Wing in New Zealand and a good sportsman who is strict on the rules we continued the game without his decimator. Much to the disappointment of my 2 Y wings who were lined up to slowly gun his deci down. I take out the rest of Adam's ties quickly and its onto the next round.

Round 4 vs Dave

Dave's complete 150 point squad:

4x Green Squadron Pilot + Crack Shot + Predator + Chaardan Refit + Autothruster
Tarn Mison + R2-D2 + Intergrated Astromech x1
Blackmoon Squadron Pilot + Fire Control Systems x1

(150)

Dave has been cleaning up today with no loses thus far. He is running a list mostly of chaardan refitted A-Wings, Taron Mison and a lowbie E-Wing. I know he is familiar with low pilot skill swarms as it's all I've seen him play. In the first round of fire I get Boba right in there at range 1 of several of his ships evade and pop both my glitterstim and my counter-measures in hopes that my Boba can survive the onslaught of A-Wings and their E-Wing compadre. Dave reacts by only taking 1 shot at Boba which yields no damage he decides to target my autoblasting Y wing instead as he felt it presented a significant threat. Which he wasn't wrong about as it managed to peel off 2 A-Wing shields that same turn.

In the next few rounds of fire Dave's A-Wings put the hurt on my Y-Wings with predator making a significant difference here as could use it to re-roll up to two attack dice due to their pilot skill. Maybe next time I won't be such a tight arse and recruit some hired guns instead of my petty syndicate thugs.

After a few rounds of fire I lost all three of my Y wings and Dave loses Taron and 3 of his A-Wings leaving Dave with an E-Wing and an A-Wing and myself with Boba and Talonbane. The game looked to be well in hand for me as I had both of my higher pilot skill aces on the board at full hit points.

Until what happens next, I was sure I could make the maneuver with room to spare, but I misjudged it, I wasn't sure how. I watched in disbelief as my full hit point Talonbane 4k turns right off the map. I could have done a soft 2 behind a debri instead but I was being too aggressive and paid the price. Its now just Boba left up against an A-Wing and a E-Wing. I shortly take out the A-Wing and its just the E-Wing left.

I'm finding it hard to navigate Boba around the asteroid fields as I try to keep the E-Wing in arc, he is playing very defensively mostly staying at range 3 using his fire control system alone for attack and evading for defense. While I struggle and manage only to take off  two shields he cleans off four of mine with ease, my two defense dice not reacting positively to my threats to burn them later.

With my hull now open the next attacks devastates my firespray, at first Dave rolls two crits and a blank he then re-rolls the blank for a third crit. I roll to defend and I blank out. I curse my dice again. I am quickly taken out in the next round and Dave emerges victorious.

I am bitterly disappointed but I know there will be other days  to redeem myself. I look forward to facing Dave again at the store championships coming up soon.