As I mentioned previously I was just having one of those days and took a long weekend. But it wouldn’t be proper to mope around the house, I needed to escape. Gee I wonder if there are any tournaments this weekend. Escape Games in Coventry you say? That sounds… predetermined. I was planning on flying Rey/Norra with Saw crew, but I wanted to try out my shiny new Reaper. Reaper won the coin flip and it’s also an Imperial ship so you know who’s coming along to party.

Deathrain w/ Unguided Rockets, Lightweight Frame, Trajectory Simulator, Bomblet Generator

Colonel Vessery w/ TIE/x7, A Score To Settle

Major Vermeil w/ Trick Shot, Director Krennic, Courier Droid, Advanced Ailerons, Lightweight Frame

Normally I don’t have more than one ‘support’ ship in a list, but Vermeil doubles up as a solid fighter. Basic premise is; Jam target to remove green tokens, throw red dice at it (not literally don’t be a dick), remove one to Krennic a shield off, Vermeil’s ability to mod another, Krennic drops a lock for Vessery to follow up, repeat. The only thing I’m worried about is the speed of Vess and Verm. Deffers wants to move slow for the launch so making sure there is adequate room between the two groups is of the utmost importance.

The venue is a lovely little hidey hole with room upstairs for the tables (the boards had wood glued underside to lock them in place which was a genius idea). There were only 12 of us but there was definitely room for a few more bodies in there. Staff were friendly, atmosphere was chill and the battles were brutal. I’d recommend a visit. Speaking of those 12 players….

Fun fact: I’m not the only one who refers to him as ‘Deffers’

Three of us had Punishers in our lists. That’s 25%. At store champs. Call in the chopper for EXFIL, objective complete. I wonder if FFG will pay me to shift their old stock? Now that my ego is sufficiently topped up it’s time to talk games.

Game 1 vs. Fenn, Thweek and Guri

Aces hate Deathrain. The threat of bomb damage slipping past their tokens cannot be ignored. Whenever there was a perfect spot for the range 1 shot, Mr. Rain was waiting. Damage was thrown back and forth in equal measure and I just happened to have more health. Credit to my opponent for dodging 3 arcs for 20 minutes with his last ship at PS disadvantage. Round win 100–0.

Game 2 vs. RAC, Soontir

RAC went down early, but not before dishing out the hurt, leaving my ships on low health. Vermeil tripped over one of Deffers toys and broke his neck. Now I had to take on Baron Slippery himself. Most rounds I’d park my ships close to Soontir’s starting location to ensure he couldn’t get a shot off. A little while later I managed to get the block on and Vessery pulled 3 natural crits out his arse. Soontir blanked out. Round win 100–33.

Game 3 vs. Contracted Scout, Contracted Scout, Contracted Scout, and er… Contracted Scout

Vessery spent most of the game attached to Jumpmaster booty. Deathrain was having a field day, he could throw a bomb anywhere and it would hit something. The 2 dice shots weren’t having any effect on his hull so he just kept going all game. Round win 74ish-33.

Game 4 vs. Major Vermeil, Scarif Base Pilot (palp), Inquisitor

My second tournament where I’ve gotten to the top table in the final match. One more round to claim the title. Can I do it? First it was a no, then a yes, then a no again. It went back and forth all game, a quick snipe here and there. Deathrain didn’t pull his weight this time, the asteroid cluster and the opponent’s ailerons making a line up joust difficult. I pulled a lovely kill box on the palp reaper and brought it down to 1 hull. Time was called at 10 minutes left and no ships had exploded yet which was a new experience for me. That 1 hull reaper was hounded for 4 turns by Vessery until it finally gave out. Too little too late. I parked my Reaper dead on an asteroid because I thought I could clear it, leaving him open for a laser show. Round loss 32–33.

Missed the mark by a single point and coming in second place. You’d think that would get to me but it really didn’t. I came here to throw everything I am into battle and that’s exactly what happened. Got some range rulers for my efforts which is awesome, never got round to picking these up.

That’s your lot, go away.