This week, I decided to make good on a comment I made on whattheactualzucks blog a couple of weeks ago about trying his Palob and 4-LOM build. I took the pair as described in his The Gruesome Twosome article, and added a simple Fenn Rau as my third ship. Seeing the power of Proton Torpedoes first-hand, I decided to go with those, and added Predator since I am so used to it on my high Initiative ace of choice.

Flying at 200 points didn’t really bother me, as I figured the Initiative 3 guys don’t really care, and Fenn, while he prefers to move last, won’t run into enough Initiative 6s to make it really matter. I didn’t changed the presented Gruesome Twosome at all, wanting to learn them the way they were laid out.

In Zucks article, he talked about how 4-LOM and Palob make a territory somewhere that nobody really wants to be around. I figured I would try to use that to my advantage and flank with Fenn. With any luck, Rau would get off an early torpedo and the dynamic duo can put down whatever he softened up, giving me an early lead over several other lists.

I took the list down to Blue Sky for a couple of games, looking for my first practice night in a couple of weeks. Life has finally started to settle down a bit, so it was definitely time to relax and play around with some new ships. I had played the original G1-A quite a bit upon release into that regionals season, and I played the crap out of the older HWK back when it was relevant for rebels, but have never really played the Protectorate. The first couple of times I did, I flew it like an Interceptor and got swatted out of the sky, and never made an effort to go back to it despite its apparent power and popularity.

My opponent for the night, however, is probably the most practiced Fenn Rau player in the region: Jeff Raiford. He was flying a swarm with L3-37, 2 Quadjumpers, 2 Z-95s, his own Fenn Rau. He also had a couple of points for initiative bid, which means in our first game, he had me moving my Fenn first. He set up his swarm in a powerful block on my right, so I set my duo up centered to force them to come into the rocks to deal with me. Both Fenns set up on my left, wanting to flank each other. The opening round of combat was Round 3, where my Fenn has a lock on that distant Quaddie, but both Fenns are range 1 to one another. They each take the obvious shot, his dealing 1 point of damage to my 2 on him (yay predator!) and 4-LOM opens fire, taking down the Protectorate with some really solid rolls on my part and 4 blank greens on Fenns. Palob puts a damage or 2 on the locked Quad, while his swarm returns the favor, taking down my own Fenn Rau! So much for Initiative being important… A couple of rounds go by, and although I’m dealing a ton of damage, there are too many ships to effectively focus something down, and 4-LOM is taking a beating as well. The flanking Quad swings in and double-tractors 4-LOM onto a rock, and with him having dialed in a red stop maneuver, I was slightly worried – until I remembered Advanced Sensors. A second barrel roll to the right, and 4-LOM was behind his list, having moved roughly speed 2 directly sideways! This spelled trouble for L3, who ate shots from both of my ships and went down.

With most of his ships stressed and facing the wrong way, it becomes a game of seeing how many I can take down before 4-LOM dies. The answer to that question ends up being 4/6, with the final round being Palob on full health with a Focus and L3-37 still faceup against a full health but stressed Z (who Barrel Rolled from where he is here after a 1-straight to force the Quad to bump for a shot) and a 2 hull Quad. Palob aces the Quad, and Jeff calls the game, since Palob is in an excellent chasing position to the stressed Z, who will be forced to disengage the following turn. I end up taking Game 1 having lost all of Fenn and 4-LOM (144 points.) 4-LOM definitely proved to be the monster Zuck said he could be. His ability to have a lock and a calculate, as well as dealing up to 2 stress and possibly having an additional calculate token, makes him hit like a truck and disrupt enemy forces like a champ. Palob seemed more annoying than anything, but this may have been Jeff simply not targeting him over the bigger threats on the list.

After we cleaned up, the only other guys there at the time had just started their game, so Jeff and I agreed to re-rack and play the game again. I discarded the unused Proton Torps in favor of a 9 point Initiative bid, which I immediately used to force his Fenn to go first. He sets his swarm up center this time, lamenting the previous game where they couldn’t all engage at once, and I set the Dynamic Duo up on my right. Both Fenns set up to joust on my left, possibly hoping for a repeat of the previous game. Round 2 saw the first shots taken by both Fenns, neither really being effective at extreme range and both focused. I messed up the approach with the twosome, leaving Palob nearly completely out of the fight (he has a range 3 on that front Z there) and without a token stack due to boosting to keep up with 4-LOM. This turn, my Fenn puts 2 on his in exchange for 1 on mine, and sets me up to chase his into the engagement. 4-LOM loses his shields and takes a hull damage in exchange for shields on the front Z.

4-LOM eats a double tractor again and lands on the left rock, but the 1-straight I dialed in clears him of the obstacle. Unfortunately, it bumps the forward Quad, so he ends up completely without action and with no stress to throw around either. Palob swings in to try to finish the wounded Z, and both Fenns come around that scap, his below and mine above, and send potshots into the greater engagement. 4-LOM manages to take only a single additional point of damage, but Palob loses his shields and flips L3. In exchange, I kill the weakened Z. This is starting to look bad for me, at least in the center. With his Fenn only having 1 real avenue of approach, mine swings in to guarantee the range 1 shot. 4-LOM flips around with the 2-k, and Palob takes a 2 bank, which BARELY doesn’t bump that Quadjumper. He locks Fenn and rotates his arc, but chooses to take Fenns focus. His Fenn dumps on Palob, taking him to 1 hull, while my Protectorate finishes his off. 4-LOM lays into L3-37, dropping her to 1 hull from full, and Palob sends her home before she can attack, but dies to the rest of Jeffs list.

The bottom Quad tractors Fenn onto a rock for no damage, while the top guy throws it in reverse, causing 4-LOM to bump again in range 1 of the Z. Fenn obliterates the Z before it can shoot, but 4-LOM doesn’t have a shot and goes down to Quadjumper fire through the rock from below. A couple of rounds later, Fenn is facing off against both Quads at range 3, stressed from the 2-Troll I had to do to avoid getting stuck on a rock from the tractor from the top Quadjumper. I whiff pretty badly on the attack, and his Quaddies bring it home, taking down Fenn Rau and ending the game in Jeffs favor.

I’m pretty pleased with the way the Gruesome Twosome work, but feel like they may not quite suite my playstyle. I will definitely pick them up again at some point, maybe with Captain Nym to throw some more area control around in the form of bombs; maybe with a pair of Z-95s or something else to serve as support for them. I know I need more practice with Fenn before I’m ready to take him to any events, that’s for sure!

I know I’ve been getting quite a few views, but very, very few people have been leaving me any comments on what they thing. Please, comment after reading, whether let me know what I can do better, offer criticism on the list or my plays, or just to say hello.

Next time: More building blocks!