One additional blighting aspect of the COVID-19 Pandemic for the X-Wing community of Peru is that its largest event, the community-run Lima Open, is simply not possible. Although I take it that it is no true replication of the real thing, porting the event to Tabletop Simulator nevertheless is a comfort. Speaking of comfort amidst a sobering global pandemic, all the proceeds from the event are donated to La Casa de Todos (https://www.casadetodos.pe/), succinctly described by one of the event organizers as a “project to build a shelter for 120 people (men, women and children) who live on the streets and need support to survive the pandemic, in addition to finding help to rebuild their lives.”
One upside to this, however petty it seems, is that the event is now open to those who weren’t going to travel to Peru. This in turn cascades into another upside being that the event is now multilingual to accommodate the international roster (y sí, yo puedo hablar un pocito de español, pero hagolo muy lentamente, mal, y tengo problemas suficientes cuando escuchando a personas en inglés). Even if my experiments in the time preceding this event weren’t enough to shake me out of my previously-planned break from online play, I’m not going to turn down this very open opportunity to play X-Wing for a good cause. Hopefully I can bring the heat and break out of my Mustafar/Coruscant slump. Given how competent this international roster is, the 119 player event will be a difficult cut to 16. Sure, we’re playing for good cause and many see this as the afterparty for Gold Squadron’s Galaxies series, but we’re also a competitive lot and new points and content have been made legal for the event. Time to give Kylo + Vonreg a go in this new meta.
Game 1: Marco (Italy)
GALACTIC EMPIRE (192)
Darth Vader TIE Advanced x1 (75)
Fire-Control System + Afterburners
“Echo” TIE/ph Phantom (65)
Passive Sensors + Fifth Brother
Grand Inquisitor TIE Advanced v1 (52)
As an archetype, Pocknell aces are still strong, even if the list has to make sacrifices in the upgrade/pilot department. Marco is fielding what is probably the “correct” base version of the list, as Echo is almost as good as Whisper but only a fraction of the price. An 8 pt. bid will take the archetype places despite the current bid war, and that is important as Passive Sensors are costly on Vader. But an 8 pt. bid won’t help him against my 13 pt. bid, save for scoring matters.
A 13 pt. bid? Yes, I dropped Vonreg’s Afterburners down to Mag Pulse Warheads. Afterburners are still the secret sauce that turn him into a proper interceptor and for 7 pt. they’re still worth it, but deepening a bid by 2 pt. takes you places. Mag Pulse Warheads are also better suited for flying as if it were Ghostmode (the subject of my last post in response to probably being driven to insanity by very outlier variance), and as a field test of the tactics appropriate for Ghostmode–but in the actual game–I’m doing my best to fly as if my dice were indeed haunted. If you’re not generating results, there is little difference between a disengaging boost and a green token and a disengaging boost: sure, you’ll die slower, but you’re still going to die very badly. Reducing dice and mod counts of opponents are good, and if playing cagey, then the magnificent option of swooping into Range 1 full mods isn’t going to help me that if the extraction plan can be assumed to be doomed. True, 7pt. Afterburners are still the correct decision, but I’m not known for making the correct decision, aren’t I?
Well, good thing I didn’t do the “correct” decision of baiting the not-Vader Imperials with Vonreg only to join Kylo to attack Vader, as that would involve Kylo critted out and limping at best. Also, it turns out TIE Phantoms just don’t like Mag Pulse Warheads. Typically, Vader doesn’t either, but in using force to pre-maneuver reposition Kylo, my condition is not desperate enough that I’d force deplete Kylo to assign the Dark Side to Vader to worsen the possibility of his Mag Pulse Warhead. I still have to do damage or manage my resources to make my shots count.
That being said, one dangerous tendency I’ve noticed with utility weapons in general (and these tend to be cannons or missiles), is that damage is sort of spread throughout the opposing list. Be this out of necessity, i.e. the need to reduce Vader’s dice counts or the requirement to ionize a Firespray, or fear, i.e. the perceived needs aforementioned–it perhaps is irrelevant. If you get distracted with the objective of staying alive, you could end up dying faster. Case in point, it might be tempting for Kylo to just disappear from this end of the board to where he knows Vader can’t possibly reach him, but doing so would leave Vonreg dry and left to die. I’m fine with him dying, but he has to remove Vader first.
All the same, I’m still a realist as to the mortality of my pieces, and thus fully expecting the Grand Inquisitor to finish off my 3hp Vonreg. I’ll take that as a worthy trade for getting Vader hurt enough for Kylo to finish him from behind. 2 surprises however: Vader is fine shooting Vonreg’s strain away as he needs to get his 1 die attack from the deplete over with. Vonreg only deals another damage to Vader, but his good position is retained when he actually doesn’t get massacred by the Grand Inquisitor fully modded 3 reds versus the baron’s 3 focused greens. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one! Also, not a surprise but still good news, Echo is dead.
Pointed the wrong way and needing a lock, Vader hopes to escape behind the cloud, but Vonreg rolls back after a simple turn and finishes the job thanks to Outmaneuver. At this point, the Grand Inquisitor could kill him for all I care, but as a little bonus, he is only half-pointed. From then on, he and Kylo buzz one of Seinar Engineering’s earlier projects and do it in (Outmaneuver is really good on things that deny offensive range bonuses). 200 – 94 victory.
Game 2: Piotr (Poland)
REBEL ALLIANCE (196)
Han Solo Modified YT-1300 Light Freighter (106)
Trick Shot + Kanan Jarrus + R2-D2 + Millennium Falcon
Luke Skywalker T-65 X-wing (90)
Supernatural Reflexes + R2 Astromech + Servomotor S-foils
I suppose that since I’m actually functioning during this day of X-Wing and I’m not dropping absurdly prohibitively bad dice, I should be offering some actual proper batreps for this event instead of rambling on about Vonreg upgrades. Han thought he was going to gain some early board control, but he went too fast, and thus was caught by Vonreg’s Outmaneuver joust. Sure, the lack of Afterburners means that it is sadly modless, but I got lucky and punched in damage anyway. The following turn, depicted above, Vonreg counter-intuitively persists in jousting Han, which puts him again out of arc. By not disengaging, he’s not caught in that widened turret arc set for him or pushed into Luke’s arc. Instead, he’s burning the smuggler down quickly, whilst forcing him to stick to blue maneuvers to ditch the unwelcome deplete tokens.
Piotr wanted to Supernat a boost with Luke, but with his foils open, he didn’t have boost listed on his bar. That in turn would mean that he would take a point of damage, but noticing this, he recanted the boost. Since I’m probably the least particular player in X-Wing about the foil status of my opponents, I let him make the decision as to how he wanted to treat this. Don’t misconstrue this as a gesture made out of nobility, as Luke was in a bad spot any way that you slice it with the dialed maneuver, and thus it mattered not for either of us. Vonreg had the tools to get out of his arc regardless and Kylo had the tools to get his torpedo off regardless. I simultaneously felt agony and past experienced stress when I saw Luke blank out against Kylo’s torpedo, but I wasn’t going to back off a very Panicked Pilot whose hull was breached.
Actually, I will back off. There are times where it is better to have only one ship engaging. There is a world of difference between Vonreg chasing Vader whilst the Grand Inquisitor and Echo are out there versus Vonreg chasing just Han. I’m not going to get excessively greedy once I have the lead. I also technically don’t have the lead yet anyway, as once both of Luke’s R2 charges are spent, unless further damage is landed on him, he’ll recover to full points. Meanwhile, Han can just toss a 4-5 dice attack and one-shot Kylo should he blank out. In fact, I’m operating under the assumption that Kylo will blank out on the very first green die roll of his against Han, and thus I won’t engage until I have a better angle and Vonreg can pull off some shenanigans with his ability and missiles. Sadly, Vonreg was halved by Han’s Range 3 shot despite holding on to an evade token, but I’m still very pleased with this game state. Vonreg is pursuing Han and Luke will remain a non-factor in the game. Even if the Mag Pulse Warhead missed, Vonreg’s ability is very useful in depleting Han and forcing his maneuver choices. The missed missile just means I can’t double deplete Han and guarantee his shot to be nerfed next round.
Well, given Han’s deplete token, I don’t have to fear him performing a non-blue maneuver as much. And given the current board state, I can’t try to avoid engagement as the I6 with a large base boost can go places very quickly. I might as well bring Kylo in to focus fire in on Han. Pleasantly surprised by Han’s boost–which would have had him trade Range 1 shots with Kylo–fail, more hurt is put into the Falcon for 0 consequences. Structural Damage also means that Han’s typically respectably modded defenses are stunted even further, as it stacks with Outmaneuver and strain, whilst being ever-present.
Han only has Vonreg in arc, so he takes that shot, as meaningless as it is. Trickshot Han is still very good and a force to be reckoned with, but gas clouds under normal circumstances limit the things he can do. Meanwhile, Vonreg’s return missile, thanks to Structural Damage, lands. Since R2D2 will undo the shield of damage done by it, it was done purely for the deplete token. Since Han has to perform a white maneuver next round to remain on the board, his offense will be limited. Kylo undoes both of Luke’s regenerated shields with his second torpedo.
The “correct” move in this instance of catching a depleted Han here on the inside is to just focus with Vonreg. Use it on defense if needed, but probably use it on offense to kill Han before he can make a comeback. I don’t think this Han can make a comeback without some wacky variance, so I close the door on his hopes of wacky variance with the evade. Turns out that was the correct decision and it allowed Vonreg to dodge Han’s single crit! Meanwhile Kylo finishes what Vader started: firing shots from behind Luke’s X-Wing with Han trying to sweep in to a rescue.
Kylo 2 banks and rolls, chilling out and preparing to block Han next turn. He’s not going to do anything fancy as he doesn’t want to give Trickshot Han obstruction or a path to chase him. Han boosts towards the inside of the board, lining up a Range 2 shot on Kylo. As the prophecy foretold, it half points the full-health TIE/vn, but it’s not enough. It’s an MOV gain, but it’s also an MOV gain that shows Han the Dark Side of a Panicked Pilot to guarantee that he can never boost again. Also cool for sneaking damage beneath regen. After Kylo blocking Han, it was only a 5 forward boost from him off while Vonreg punches in the final damage for a 200 – 94 victory. Variance resistance!
Game 3: Lukasz (Poland)
REBEL ALLIANCE (197)
Han Solo Modified YT-1300 Light Freighter (120)
Trick Shot + Hotshot Gunner + R2-D2 + Kanan Jarrus + Hull Upgrade + Shield Upgrade + Millennium Falcon
Leia Organa Modified YT-1300 Light Freighter (77)
Given that Lukasz and I have had our fair share of games against each other, I suppose that this will be the Tabletop Simulator equivalent of playing against a local in a Hyperspace Trial. We both know that my highest priority target is his Leia, as she dies quicker than R2D2 and health upgraded Han, especially since Kylo reacts to her maneuvers. The question is if she and Han can lay down enough hurt such that Han can finagle a victory in the endgame.
As one can expect, the initial turns are spent circle-strafing around a central point, trying to bait the other into over-committing or into exposing a weak flank. On Lukasz’ side he has large base boost and turrets, and on mine I have slow maneuvers for Vonreg and pre-maneuver reposition+maneuver+reposition from Kylo that allow some serious powerslide power. At this point, we recognize that we are in a bind and forced to engage in some sort of thonkjoust. Target priority will be key.
I assumed Leia’s holding of a corner was intended to punish a charging Kylo, so I utilize my slow maneuver to weather whatever Han has cooking. Surprisingly, Han counter-intuitively turned so as to joust Vonreg! My Discord friend certainly knows me well, as he predicted a bank from Vonreg. Unable to meaningfully engage Han, Vonreg rolls back and evades. Demonstrating further familiarity with my playstyle, Lukasz opts out of shooting at Kylo and risking the Dark Side, even if a Trickshot is available. Instead, he aims at Vonreg, who lucked out with 2 natural evades modded out to full evasion thanks to the evade token.
Decisively sandwiched, the best Vonreg could do is weather Han’s shot with an evade at Range 3 while locking Leia for his Mag Pulse Warheads. True, focus is mathematically better, but I’m operating on the assumption that my greens are haunted for the purposes of this tournament, even if they have been magnificent on their first roll. Vonreg dodges Han, but misses his Mag Pulse shot at Leia. A Range 1 Kylo does not bait the fire away from Vonreg, who luckily dodges the shot at Range 3. Kylo puts in the pain, essentially gaining a free Proton Torpedo.
Not in a spot to save Vonreg nor ready to allow the fickle greens to flip their favor, Kylo absconds to a place where he can’t be shot at. Meanwhile, Vonreg pounces on the open opportunity to inflict unretaliated damage, extending the lead in the damage race. Kylo’s occupation of his wingmate’s dialed 3-turn portside’s final location was key, as it meant that the Red Baron’s widest and fastest maneuver would not be blocked. I’m not a fan of speed 1 blues instead of speed 2 blue maneuvers, being a Kylo main and all, but I respect Vonreg’s dial when he gets behind a large base ship with no hard 1 maneuvers. He can’t be blocked and he’s coming from behind.
The following turn, nothing happens, save for Kylo Talon Rolling on the map’s bottom left corner while Vonreg declines Leia as bait and dodges Han’s arc, easily dodging Leia’s obstructed single-modded Range 3 shot. Lukasz knows that my Red Baron sometimes suffers from his namesake’s cause of death, target fixation, but I’m holding myself back and keeping the burden of execution on him. After that, Vonreg depletes Leia while Han and Kylo trade a shield apiece. I’ll Show You the Dark Side cooks up the slow-roasted meal of Panicked Pilot, ready to be made relevant later in the game. Leia is also made aware of Vonreg’s ability by means of the arc check from the attack notifying the players of the bullseye status. That will either influence her flying or stunt her next attack. O Nien, where art thou?
For the both of us, it is in our best interests if we disengage and regroup. Not knowing where Han will choose to rotate, Kylo disappears until he can get a 2v1 on Han. With Leia guarding Vonreg’s only attack vector, the Red Baron patiently locks and then boosts to get out of arc. She’s going to run over that debris and miss out on an action, while Vonreg can reengage.
I didn’t consider Kanan used for Leia, which I should have seen coming. Thus, it appears that Leia would have an unretaliated shot on Vonreg after her boost. Not a fan of that nor disengaging and exposing the clunky “interceptor” to Han from the outside of the board, I reengaged, as Han was still out of range. Vonreg is brought down to 3 hp, but Leia limps on 1 hp.
Kylo dodged Leia’s arc but still maintained his Range 1 double-modded shot on her. Vonreg disengaged from both YT1300s to live another day. Han’s shot isn’t enough to power through Kylo’s evades, nor is Leia’s shot enough to power past Vonreg’s evade token and Range 3. Kylo’s shot, however, means that there is only one large base ship left in the fight.
Han finishes off Kylo’s last shield, but Vonreg’s now turned his sights on the smuggler. As if Panicked Pilot being inflicted by the outmaneuvered shot weren’t bad enough, Kylo’s first torpedo volley deactivates more of those precious shields, and R2D2 won’t start regenerating health until no shields remain. R2D2 will also have diminishing returns, given that I’ll Show You the Dark Side slips the cards past that single perennial shield to make a larger portion of the game’s inflicted damage irreversible.
Lukasz’s 2 hard from Han was quite the bold move, but it makes sense in retrospect. Instead of taking a poor shot at best at Kylo while he flings another torpedo, some proper shots are traded. Plus, it means that Kylo will have to cycle around before reengaging, although not much could be done about the ever-creeping portent of doom, Vonreg. Speaking of whom, seeing as Kylo will be taking the Range 1 shot, he tokens up for maximum damage against the Millenium Falcon. Han’s gambit of an unmodded Range 1 shot (unmodded because he spent the force to remove a stress and he’s out of range of obstacles) pays off and inflicts a Blinded Pilot to Kylo. Vonreg, in turn, enforces Kylo’s second Dark Side of the other Panicked Pilot, further gimping Han. I don’t regret spending Kylo’s only offensive mod currently available for the Dark Side not only for the game state effects, but since he couldn’t hit Han with his roll anyway, not unless he was permitted to use his lock.
Kylo disengages to repair his crit, while Vonreg tanks what Han shoots, lining up his bullseye to give Han further dillemmas with an incoming deplete. Clearing the deplete with a blue maneuver is nice and all, but…
Sad Solo. Outmaneuver is just pulling so much work against Han and his otherwise tankiness through the force and his ability. Even with R2D2, he’s on a very limited timer, and he has to shoot for a miracle: catching Vonreg by surprise and then finishing off Kylo.
By the time Han clears his stress, he Segnor’s Loops, but Vonreg has his defensive mods about him and pushes forward. Solo is still able to block the opposing I6 while punching in another damage to Kylo, but the following torpedo, even with R2D2 and all the health upgrades, reduces him to 1 hull remaining, renerated up to just 1 hull and 1 shield. Kylo slowly 1 forwards as he is ionized, hoping that Han doesn’t finish him off.
He gets lucky in that Han is able to only deal 1 more damage to him. Using the Dark Side to pull Blinded Pilot as a slight to Han’s ability, Kylo now ensures that so long as Vonreg scores 1 uncancelled critical hit, the game is automatically over. Vonreg finishes off Han, undramatically with 2 hits and Outmaneuver. 200 – 61 victory.
Round 4: Juan Carlos (Peru)
SEPARATIST ALLIANCE (199)
General Grievous Belbullab-22 Starfighter (54)
Impervium Plating + Soulless One
Bombardment Drone Hyena-class Droid Bomber (35)
Proximity Mines
Bombardment Drone Hyena-class Droid Bomber (35)
Proximity Mines
Trade Federation Drone Vulture-class Droid Fighter (25)
Discord Missiles + Grappling Struts
Trade Federation Drone Vulture-class Droid Fighter (25)
Discord Missiles + Grappling Struts
Trade Federation Drone Vulture-class Droid Fighter (25)
Discord Missiles + Grappling Struts
Juan’s list holds some strong area denial. Bombardment Drones add to the traditional bomber-class area denial thanks to their ability to launch devices 1-speed forward, even mines. Each Trade Federation Drone can fling some Buzz Droids for an unavoidable critical damage inflicted if they are jousted, while they can hold back on asteroids.
My goal then, is to punish an over-extended piece by removing it from play, and then to dance around until I can generate another situation like that. I consider eating a Vulture Droid’s Buzz Droid payload an acceptable blood price on Vonreg. Delete the Vulture, lose a shield, and then play as bait for Kylo to utilize in his flanking. It all works to plan!
Then I realized what a bad plan it was! I was playing as I used this list during Ryloth! I was making trades and calculating damage expectations while hoping to escape. This tournament was supposed to be a field test for playing as if it were Ghostmode, and here I was playing as if I were flying Cromwell Aces. Sure, Vonreg has a 21% chance of taking 2 or more damage, but I’m supposed to be avoiding these probabilities, even if it is once a game. Furthermore, that number is far too high, even if I were playing Cromwell Aces or this archetype as I had designed it. If I were to be doing that correctly, I would have engaged at a different point such that the math was significantly better and favoring Vonreg’s extraction. As one can expect, Vonreg takes the 2 damage.
Not allowing this good variance to go to waste, Juan pushes harder on Vonreg while forcing Kylo to take extra care as he rounds the corner. Vonreg fortunately scores the expected result of not getting damaged, but that’s a small comfort. I’ve misplayed this game such that I now have to engage and make the most of the board state, which I had only just previously had much stronger agency over. After Kylo struggles to land his second torpedo on Red, Blue just casually snipes both of Kylo’s shields off from Range 3. The variance is bad, but I’m not “getting diced”. I’ve put myself in a position where I can get diced and Juan is pouncing on the opportunity. The slanted variance is a symptom, not a cause, of my unfavorable condition in this round. I should know, as I’ve actually beaten a very list similar to Juan’s while playing with the Ghostmode parameters. I was patient then, obviously, whereas I was far too eager here.
Given that a 5-Koiogran Turn offers Vonreg the least amount of incoming heat, out of desperation I take it. I fortunately plink Grievous’ shields off thanks to Outmaneuver and some hot reds, but it’s still not looking good. There is a shot after all, posed by Green: almost 33% chances of killing Vonreg here. Goodbye, Red Baron. Meanwhile, Kylo’s front isn’t faring much better. He’s not taking any shots, but he just can’t damage Blue.
Well, simply unable to damage Blue, Kylo is forced to disengage, as Blue has now had enough turns to fully rotate around to fire at him. The droids haven’t fully regrouped, but their area denial is still strong, engaging whilst not getting meaningfully shot at is very tricky with all the arcs around here. If only I still had shields. But for forcing myself to persist in the engagement by irresponsibly starting the game on a gamble, I am at fault.
I do my best the following turns to not get shot at, and even if I’m still somehow not landing damage, I can take comfort in not getting halved quite yet. That changes when I finally not only land damage, but 1-shot Blue. The euphoria of the achievement vaporizes when Kylo is half-pointed from Yellow’s snipe.
Credit where credit is due, Juan is fully utilizing his very favorable variance to make sure victory doesn’t slip away. He’s cycling his arcs to keep the pressure on Kylo consistent, and he’s also blocking repositional options. I’m able to punch in some damage on Red, but Kylo bleeds more health as the game progresses. Eventually, it’s 1 HP Kylo hoping for a lucky break as he tries to engage such that he can’t be bombed, buzzed, or shot at by a meaningful shot. That looks like looping around the rock…
And then a few turns later…
Ultimately trapped. Red and Green are blocking his escape route, so Kylo’s gotta grit his teeth and fight his way through it. He’s able to remove Red and even save a force charge against Green’s single-modded attack at Range 2! There’s a chance! But when Green generated 2 hits, it was then that I knew it was truly and irrevocably over even before rolling dice. 85 – 200 defeat. Well played, Juan. I’m very glad that he made the cut as he is undoubtedly an opportunist.
Round 5: Bruno (Brazil)
SCUM AND VILLAINY (200)
Black Sun Soldier Z-95-AF4 Headhunter (26)
XX-23 S-Thread Tracers
Black Sun Soldier Z-95-AF4 Headhunter (26)
XX-23 S-Thread Tracers
Black Sun Soldier Z-95-AF4 Headhunter (30)
Concussion Missiles
Black Sun Soldier Z-95-AF4 Headhunter (30)
Concussion Missiles
Black Sun Soldier Z-95-AF4 Headhunter (30)
Concussion Missiles
Black Sun Soldier Z-95-AF4 Headhunter (30)
Concussion Missiles
Black Sun Soldier Z-95-AF4 Headhunter (28)
Cluster Missiles
As bad as the last round was, I have to leave it behind. True, I’m not dealing with external stress as I was during Coruscant, but I still let a misjudgment from Coruscant’s Round 1 set me off-kilter and rekt for the rest of the day back then. This is an online–not IRL–tournament, after all, and thus, I am susceptible to negative momentum. Finally heeding the drinking during X-Wing group, I cracked open a cold one. Even if a single drink is not going to affect a person of my alcohol tolerance especially given how much I’ve eaten and hydrated during the day, I can feel like a pretentious tactician with it. Maybe the Placebo Effect will come in handy.
Fortunately, Bruno is a very fun person to play X-Wing with. My previous 4 opponents were all great people and I even correspond with one of them, but Bruno has a very unique and appealing approach to playing the game as a social activity. We could tell that this was going to be a fun game of X-Wing full of interesting interactions. One could point out that my list is favored in the matchup, but then one could counter with what happened on the first turn of engagement: Kylo’s torpedo was met with natties on Pink, who held the only return shot on him, removing a shield from him despite the force charge available.
Things already on a concerning start despite Kylo getting the best angle he could reasonably ask for on an opening engagement, Vonreg stays behind the cloud to function as a damage sink. Yes, I could have had him zoom up the board and avoid getting shot at this round, but then he would be pursued without scoring any shots and likely killed quickly. Fortunately, he suffers no damage, although it is hairy at times with those Z-95 primaries coming close to landing some hits.
I hope to get cheeky with Vonreg by 3 turning through the cloud to escape, but the Z-95’s trying to catch his turning in the opposite direction blocked him. As we laughed off this “task failed successfully” situation, things get wackier as Vonreg’s Outmaneuver shot 1-punches Brown. Kylo uses all his mods to punch in a single damage to Red at Range 1. Meanwhile, Pink, yet again, has the only shot on Kylo, again a Range 3 primary. Again, another shield inflicted. As careful as I am right now, it’s not good enough. I’m fine with Vonreg taking a damage from Yellow. The primary concern is Kylo.
Kylo disengages from the fight, given that he doesn’t want to be in any ship’s arc, let alone Range 1 of Pink or in the locked and loaded missiles of Blue and White. They, Yellow and Green, as well as Red cover as much ground as possible to catch Vonreg, whose 2-Segnor’s Loop “task fails successfully” as the safest move available. Between depletes and Green being the only ship with missiles, Bruno fires only primaries at Vonreg, inflicting the other shield of damage on him and that alone, fortunately for me.
With Blue and White inching forward, as well as the dreaded Pink and its ridiculously unstoppable R3 primaries (probably the TIE/FO “Longshot” planning an insurrection and incognito piloting that Z95), I put Kylo as far in the corner as possible so that the Z’s have to commit one way or another the next turn. Then, I can use the cloud as cover while fortressing, and then teleport away to safety the turn following that. As for now, not expecting Vonreg to do anything meaningful again should he even successfully disengage for now, I go full aggro and turn in with him. Surprisingly, that was the correct decision, as it means only 1 arc is on him! It brings him down to 1hp, but not before putting in some more hurt. Also of note, I still suck at gauging the geometry of the game on Tabletop Simulator. I’d thought I’d have Blue in arc with the boost but was off by more than a few degrees.
With his final act, Vonreg eliminates one of the Z-95’s looking at Kylo funny, albeit if that was through the cloud at Kylo, with a Range 1 Outmaneuver shot. Before Pink could land the killing blow on Kylo (double Direct Hit! crits? At this rate I wouldn’t doubt it.), the second Proton Torpedo volley removed him from play. That left Kylo with only one missile to contend with, fortunately blocked by the gas cloud and the force.
From then on, it’s more or less 2 game states. Either the Z-95’s don’t have shots on Kylo, or they do and they’re obstructed by a gas cloud. That doesn’t make it any less frightening when the shots are lined up, however. All Bruno needs is one abysmal roll to match a good offensive roll in order to get half points on Kylo. But if I go full run mode, then the Z’s know exactly where Kylo will be and thus, he’ll be exposed at some point in the open. Besides, tight turns and repositions before and/or after the maneuvers are rather valuable to undercut a pursuing formation.
That having been said, Bruno is doing a very good job of keeping his ships together such that I can’t slide in some unretaliated shots against any of his pieces. If I want to extend Kylo’s lead to something comfortable, I have to risk some meaningful and clear shots. Which means even if single-modded shots are coming my way, I wouldn’t be extending my lead as I would probably get halved over doing some damage. That is some excellent swarm play on Bruno’s part.
Eventually, Bruno outdoes himself and lands his ships such that if Kylo defends, he is guaranteed to take an unobstructed shot from Green regardless what he dialed (unless he’d prefer fully moded unobstructed shots from Blue or Red). The screenshot I took does not do his play justice: that Green Z-95’s front left corner actually is clear from the gas cloud if reaching to the widest reach of the firing arc. Afraid of the worst, I peel away with Kylo through the rock to not get shot. Who knows if I take some horrendous crit that prevents me from winning? Whereas if I get halved by the rock, I can unretaliated make a Talon Roll and attack my way back to the lead. I take a hit from the rock, but then I deal the last shield of damage to Red.
Foolishly believing that I held on to the lead after Kylo’s unretaliated attack on Red, the two of us continued to play as before, only to be thoroughly shocked. We both scored 127 points! As it turns out, I accidentally punched in “Binyare Pirate in YASB” when checking how many points Bruno had alive left and not “Black Sun Soldier”. Bruno, meanwhile, legitimately agreed with the numbers I was in-game announcing, stating that “it seems probably right.” My 3 hits on the Final Salvo, the luckiest possible roll on my part, are not enough to power past the 5 hits generated on Bruno’s 6 dice. 127 – 127 defeat.
Granted, Pink scoring both shields off Kylo was unfortunate, especially in that the disengage rock clip by Kylo halved him, but I lost the game by not continuing to rengage, consequences be damned, to get another half of a Z-95 and clinch the win. Besides, I had Supernatural Reflexes, and thus could mitigate the odds of a Z killing Kylo. Ah well, good game and a funny one we both enjoyed. I don’t think I’ve seen that many tasks failed successfully. I’ll learn my lesson and move along. I wish Bruno could have made cut, but sadly, he lost his Game 6.
Round 6: Martin (Chile)
FIRST ORDER (196)
Commander Malarus Xi-class Light Shuttle (45)
Epsilon Squadron Cadet TIE/fo Fighter (25)
Epsilon Squadron Cadet TIE/fo Fighter (25)
Epsilon Squadron Cadet TIE/fo Fighter (25)
Kylo Ren TIE/vn Silencer (76)
True, I’ll learn my lesson, but I’ll put that off for another time. It’s Round 6 and although my MOV is high, it’s not going to be high enough to make the cut should I win this one. Thus, instead of setting up one ace in each corner in a bid to split the forces and/or to bait with one just always out of reach until undercutting and attack with the other, I send both up the enemy Kylo’s corner, forcing him to run. My initial objective is to see how fast I can kill that Kylo, just for the lols. If my Kylo’s in danger, I’ll extract him, but it looks Vonreg’s gotta stick where he goes.
I’m not letting up on the aggro sent Martin’s Kylo’s way. The TIE fighters turn in, ready to start firing next round. If Vonreg weren’t at that part of the map, that would be an excellent game state, as Kylo would be wasting arcs on a killbox that isn’t going to catch him. But Vonreg is there, as he wants to catch the enemy Kylo in this exercise. As it turns out, he’s not going to be able to catch his target, especially with company incoming. Oh well. The following turn, he turtles up and loses his shields to the TIEs, whilst Kylo’s torpedo deshields Malarus.
The following turn, Vonreg and Malarus trade mising shots in the forms of a missile and a primary. In the meantime, the enemy Kylo tries to escape while still posing a return to relevancy, but my Kylo teleports from behind the cloud to just behind him with a lock and a force, ripping the shields off in a Range 1 attack.
As it turns out, forgetting to take screenshots in Round 6 is sort of a tendency of mine. Vonreg’s 5 forward keeps him stressed, but that’s better than taking the 4 forward into a bump in Malarus while the TIEs kill him. Thus, he takes only a point of damage from the only shot sent his way. My Kylo again attacks at Range 1 at Martin’s, inflicting a spicy Fuel Leak that will trigger should the torpedo hit. Sadly, when the enemy Kylo blocks the fleeing Vonreg to his predictable death, my Kylo’s torpedo is most unimpressive and doesn’t land. Now with a screen of TIEs and allowing himself to breath easier, Martin repairs the Fuel Leak and tries to hold on to his lead.
Unfortunately for Martin, this was his introduction to the absurdity that is Supernatural Reflexes Kylo. The only shots he’s getting on him are bad shots at best, while perfect information pre-maneuver repositioning gets my Kylo out of killboxes whilst consistently evading Martin’s Kylo’s arc. My opponent might have the numerical lead, but seeing a single ship completely disregard the movements of literally an entire list are bit disheartening. That numerical lead is only temporary, as given the Xi’s inability to turnaround or reverse, it’s trivial for SuperKylo to start working on finishing off Malarus. The Stunned Pilot and Structural Damage are not good news, as they limit the defenses and the safe maneuvering options of Malarus, even if a shield is plinked off the 121 point monster.
Malarus jumps through the cloud anyway as that’s the least expected spot for her. But it’s not called Supernatural Reflexes for nothing, as Kylo threads the needle between the enemy I5’s and kills off Malarus, saving his force and focus to weather the 2 TIE fighter shots incoming. From then on, it’s the same charade as before, except more favorable despite an enemy Kylo there. He complicates matters thanks to the 3 red dice base attack and Autothrusters, but he is still flown around and dealt another damage card. True, my Kylo eventually loses his second shield as he halves Red whilst trying to avoid all but the least likely of shots, but it’s still a favorable game state.
My inability to range-gauge Tabletop Simulator persists, as my Kylo does get sniped by the enemy Kylo late in the game. Fortunately, nothing comes of it as a result of only 1 blank on the 4 greens. This burst of positive variance (the odds to hit were an entire 41%) means that not only will my Kylo not be coerced to finish off the enemy Kylo before halving or finishing off a TIE, but he’s in a great spot. Since a 5 forward can ignore whatever the TIE fighters have dialed, the enemy Kylo has to speed up around the corner so as to be able to snipe my Kylo again–solely on the basis of the possibility of the 5 forward and its game-ending implications. As such, my Kylo’s undercut is all that more potent. As expected…
Hard 1, lock and roll, kill off the enemy Kylo. At this point, Martin understandably concedes. 200 – 66 victory.
Conclusion:
Sitting at 19th out of 119, 4-2 with 1570 MOV and 0.59 Strength of Schedule, I would venture to say that this has been a very respectable showing. It’s good to see that this list performing well for Ryloth wasn’t a fluke or lightning in a bottle, although it might be safe to assume that me making cut in a 100+ player tournament is outlier. It feels good and sure is better than being spazzed out and off-kilter as in Coruscant or playing with normal tactics whilst getting outrageously diced–thereby requiring an entire paradigm shift and the very invention of a new testing/training tool–as in the subsequent kit tournament.
In terms of this being a field test of flying as if Ghostmode were being played, I’d also believe that it was a successful test. My first loss was the game where I forgot to play as if it were Ghostmode and my second loss was on my inability to properly track score and adapt accordingly; the tactics encouraged by Ghostmode in the second loss as well as the unfortunate variance in both losses are not to blame in either case. As for the victories, I am convinced that Game 1 would have been a fiasco had I baited Vader with Kylo at Range 2 while Vonreg would attempt to inflict the Panicked Pilot Dark Side with the Mag Pulse Warheads. That strategy typically sees trading Vonreg and shields on Kylo for Vader, but the variance would have forbidden that. Playing dangerously cagey with Vonreg–out on the other end of the battle–until after Vader is lined up in his sights helped me overcome an unfortunately early blankout which was mitigated by the gas cloud. As for Game 2, had I gone after the panicked Luke with Kylo and still rolled as I did for Kylo’s only defense roll that game, Kylo would have been hopelessly crippled at best and still obliged to defend at least once more given positions on the mat. Those are 2 games in all likelihood salvaged by the recent change in tactics.
I do miss the Afterburners on Vonreg, but the Mag Pulse Warheads were rather good for being 2 points cheaper than the 2 free boosts. I don’t know how necessary even those were. On one hand, they made escaping from certain situations (Echo’s arc, Vader’s turning in, Han’s rounding the corner, and Leia’s broadsiding) significantly easier to endure instead of needing to escape. They are great utility on a ship with Outmaneuver and innate double offensive modifications. On the other hand, the bid war has gotten egregious as of late and dropping them entirely for just a 61 point Vonreg means that I can bid 18 points: nigh untouchable in the race to the bottom. On the games where I would have been moving last anyway, it’ll be OK if I can work without the missiles as 61+ points is that much easier to reap off efficiency than 66+ points. Just like playing as if the game’s natural state were Ghostmode, I suppose this is something that requires a field test. An online 3 or 4-round tournament this weekend seems the perfect testing grounds for it, especially since people tend not to bid nearly as low for small tournaments as they do for large ones. Perhaps in a place where those missing points are “wasted” we’ll see how sorely those missiles/Afterburners are missed. But I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to clear this weekend in order to participate.
That will do it for now. The testing of 61 point Vonreg also means that I’ll have to put off testing a special cancer sauce I’ve been cooking for later. From the games I’ve flown with it, I can attest that it probably isn’t competitive, but it is without a doubt a negative play experience whilst I maniacally block, K-turn, get actions, and then inflict purely unavoidable damage. It makes me reminiscent of the thiccer alternative to SuperKylo + Quickdraw + TIE of choice, as you ignore the bid war, replace Supernatural Reflexes with Sense, make the TIE a Squad Leader Muse, and fill the rest of the points as you please:
Anakin Skywalker (ETA-2) (56)
Sense (5)
Marksmanship (1)
Autoblasters (3)
R7-A7 (3)
Stealth Device (8)
Ship total: 76 Half Points: 38 Threshold: 2
Obi-Wan Kenobi (ETA-2) (49)
Sense (5)
Elusive (3)
Ion Cannon (6)
Stealth Device (8)
Ship total: 71 Half Points: 36 Threshold: 2
104th Battalion Pilot (42)
Plo Koon (10)
Ship total: 52 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 5
Total: 199
View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0: https://raithos.github.io/?f=Galactic%20Republic&d=v8ZsZ200Z441X75W125W232W364W166Y440X75W119W11WW166Y341XW325WWW&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron&obs=
Screaming into the Void 