We were really looking forward to this event, since this was going to be the first large store championship that we would be able to attend. The event was capped at 50. Of course, with the general malaise about the end of 1e, and GenCon occurring the same weekend, the turnout was only 15 people. That meant that TIE/die, Cobra, and I would only be playing 4 rounds on the day without a cut.

I was running my Wombo Combo list again. TIE/die was playing a triple Imperials list that he’s been practicing. Cobra was running a janky double Scurrg bomber list.

Skipjack

Round 1: Loss 61-100

Considering this was a smaller event with 3 from my casual night players group, it wasn’t that odd that TIE/die and I got matched up. But, also because it was a smaller event, that meant that the loser would be eliminated from chasing 1st place. I set up in one of my corners, and TIE/die set up almost straight across from me. Having practiced against his list, I knew that Vermeil needed to die quickly. I was able to take him out in the first engagement, but Shara took enough heat that she was gone the following round. Sabbac got turned around and Quickdraw was getting involved. I thought Quickdraw would SLoop to set nicely behind Norra, so Fenn moved to block. Quickdraw instead did a speed 1 maneuver and now Fenn was bookended by her and Sabbac. We traded Fenn and Sabbac, but Quickdraw was able to get into a good position to follow Norra and pound her until she died.

Round 2: Win 100-27

This was going to be an interesting match for me since Boba and Fenn like to be close up just like the ARCs do. I set up in the corner like I usually do, and he set Fenn across from me and Boba in the opposite corner. Fenn was the obvious bait, so I just slow rolled up my board edge until Fenn bailed to follow in behind Boba. A couple of rounds later we unleashed hell on one another. Boba dropped to just a couple of hit points, but Norra’s potential 5 dice attack forced his Fenn to split off. His Fenn managed to kill mine, but I took out Boba shortly after that. That left Fenn Rau against two ARCs. We exchanged some good shots, but eventually the ARCs were able to finish off the Protectorate Fighter.

Round 3: Win 100-67

Once again, getting the Wombo Combo out in the wild means facing some things I otherwise wouldn’t, in this case a Firestorm Nym and Boba. I set up in the center of the board, not knowing where his two PS10s would go. He set up to my left. Knowing that Nym’s proton bombs would really hurt if more than one of my ships took the damage, I split the two ARCs to run on opposite sides of a line of three asteroids that basically lead from the center of my edge to the corner my opponent was in. On engagement, I pincered with Norra and Shara, driving in hard with Norra to get a barrel roll away from the bomb. It wasn’t enough, but my card was worth Boba also pulling a direct hit from his own bomb. He didn’t last too much longer as he had 11 dice dumped on him that round.

Not wanting to hit Boba with another proton bomb, my opponent chose not to drop his second for fear of damaging Boba further. Boba died that round, but Norra did shortly after that. Fenn and Shara were able to put a little damage on Nym and we both got turned around for another set of engagements. Nym killed Fenn, and Shara just picked away at Nym and eventually killing him off.

Round 4: Win 100-0

After the third round, standings were posted and I was in 5th. If I could win the next one, I won’t win, but maybe it would vault me up enough to grab a Krennic alt art and some extra store credit. Once again, in the final round of a store championship, I pull a matchup against another Rebel beef list, this time 4 X wings and 1 U wing. Having lost to a similar list two weeks ago, I knew that I needed to have very good range control or risk taking four or five shots on my expensive 1 agility ARCs.

He set up in the corner, and I placed opposite from him. He drove his X wings straight up the board edge and split the U wing in my direction. I slow rolled up my edge and, seeing an opportunity on the lone U wing, jumped on it. The U wing dropped to half and tried to escape. His X wings, now back in the fight, were coming forward fast. Unfortunately they weren’t fast enough, as only two had range to Norra (my most forward ship), one of which I killed before it could fire. The next round I was able to remove another X, with a second on an asteroid, and again only taking one shot in return. The following round I was able to knock off another X wing with Fenn taking a little damage.

That left 1 X wing and a half health U wing. I used my rear arcs to finish off the now-pursuing X wing and pushed myself into position to knock off the remaining health on the U wing.

Conclusion

That final 100-0 win gave me enough MOV to push me all the way up to 2nd place. It wasn’t the tournament win I was hoping for, but it was a fun day and a great tournament. I still have a couple events left before 2e drops, so there are still chances to pull out a win. In any case, I learned how deadly those Reapers can be if ignored and I continue the mantra in my head that I need to BE PATIENT!

TIE/die

Round 1: Win 100-61

It was a rematch for the ages…again. Skipjack was flying his Fenn/Shara/Nora list. It was a good, close game. Vermeil went the way of the dodos first, but Shara was soon to follow. A pincer on Fenn cleared him off immediately. Nora finished off Sabacc, but that left a full health QuickDraw to settle in behind and wear her down.

Round 2: Win 100-61

Opponent : Josh

Another close match, which I love. Josh was flying a Rey/Lowhrick build. Managed to get PS 0 on Rey. Had them both on the ropes, but lost Vermiel and Sabacc. Full health QuickDraw to the rescue.

Made a close 3 straight to clear the stress and take off Rey. Then just a matter of finishing off Lowhrick.

Round 3: Loss 20-100

Opponent : Daniel

Man…I got wrecked. But still a fun game. Flew it right. 2 U-Wings and 3 X-wings. Just a lot to chew on, and no cooperation from dice and lock of mods to get shots. These things happen. Did get the equivalent of one his ships.

Round 4: Win 100-25

Opponent : Brian

Breaking even on MOV with this one. The higher PS really made the difference in this game as he was running an Upsilon and 3 harpoon Nu Gunboats. Ended up being a quicker match.

Conclusion

Overall a good, fun day. One bad match up sadly pushed me down further than I would have liked, but the list did very well. Did manage to impede 2 Rebel players from going 4-0, even if they did place higher than me in the final standings.

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