X-wing: Trondheim HST, Swiss (5 rounds)

No regrets. Except that thing with Luke and the tractor beam... and the dumb 3-ahead with Wedge in the final round of the same game.

First match of the Swiss was against Tobias Hjalmarsson. He was running a Rebel 4-ship list, not unlike one I had considered, but eventually rejected bc A) I find Arvel to be too matchup dependent and B) haven't flown B-wings enough. It's nevertheless a strong list. Four ships, lots to eat through.

I got to be 2nd player, but I don't think it helped that much. Got a good opening, and put two torpedoes into Braylen, taking him to 1 hull. Wedge got hit hard in return, but survived. Next round Wedge ran and regenerated, while Luke PS-killed Braylen. Arvel tried to block Wedge, but he got outsmarted. I lost my U-wing and so did he. Leaving me with Wedge+Luke and him with Luke+Arvel. When game was called he was down to just Arvel and me just Luke, so win me, but not a great MoV. 1-0

Tobias' NM list (200)

Luke Skywalker — T-65 X-Wing 62

R2 Astromech 4

Servomotor S-Foils 0

Ship Total: 66

Half Points: 33 Threshold: 3

 

Braylen Stramm — A/SF-01 B-Wing 47

Ship Total: 47

Half Points: 24 Threshold: 4

 

Arvel Crynyd — RZ-1 A-Wing 34

Crack Shot 1

Intimidation 3

Ship Total: 38

Half Points: 19 Threshold: 2

 

Cassian Andor — UT-60D U-Wing 47

Leia Organa 2

Pivot Wing 0

Ship Total: 49

Half Points: 25 Threshold: 4

Second game was vs Doc, a local player. Fenn Rau AND AS Guri is a potentially fatal combo. Dalan I don't see much, but he's pretty good. I got Wedge into a nice flanking position, with Luke hanging as bait, with Cassian supporting him. Fenn tried to get into r1... and just failed. That's BAD NEWS for Fenn. Then my dice sucked bad, and somehow Fenn didn't just not die, but took ZERO damage. Bummer.

But from there my movement and blocking was ok, and so were my green dice. Dalan got mauled and so did Guri. Luke was hurt bad, but lived. Fenn had a couple of r1 shots, but due to bumping never got any mods, so wasn't too bad. I popped Dalan. Then Guri and Luke popped each other. 

Wedge and Cassian regrouped and Fenn was forced to come to them... and boom. Game, with a good MoV for me. 2-0.

Doc's NM list (195)

Fenn Rau — Fang Fighter 68

Ship Total: 68

Half Points: 34 Threshold: 2

 

Guri — StarViper-class Attack Platform 63

Advanced Sensors 10

Ship Total: 73

Half Points: 37 Threshold: 3

 

Dalan Oberos — StarViper-class Attack Platform 54

Ship Total: 54

Half Points: 27 Threshold: 3

3rd game was vs Elias Holmgren. He had a mirror list to mine, 2x double modded torps included, but with a slightly better bid. Hmmm... I really did not want to joust with this guy. So I set up noncommittally, looking for an opening. And there, right at the start an opportunity presented itself - his U-wing sped up along the back edge, while the X-wings took their sweet time. 

I pressed the pedal to the metal so to speak and made a mad rush towards his U-wing, which popped to twin double mod trops without too much return fire. Then right after my Cassian made a surprise hard turn and got in a key block on his Wedge, while mine flipped around with Leia (his Leia was already gone, and important advantage at this point). After that it was mostly cleanup. It was not an easy game, but my plan worked quite well and it was a decent win for me. 3-1.

Elias' NM list (193)

Luke Skywalker — T-65 X-Wing 62

Proton Torpedoes 12

R2 Astromech 4

Servomotor S-Foils 0

Ship Total: 78

Half Points: 39 Threshold: 3

 

Partisan Renegade — UT-60D U-Wing 43

Leia Organa 2

Lando Calrissian 2

Pivot Wing 0

Ship Total: 47

Half Points: 24 Threshold: 4

 

Wedge Antilles — T-65 X-Wing 52

Proton Torpedoes 12

R2 Astromech 4

Servomotor S-Foils 0

Ship Total: 68

Half Points: 34 Threshold: 3

4th game was vs my old buddy Rolf from Østersund, Sweden. We have played Armada many times, but never X-wing (since I just started). I had played Maul + droids several times on Vassal, so I had a fair idea what the list could do. I discounted the tractor on Maul as a waste of points - the forgot all about it (I came to regret it).

My plan was to use Wedge to remove 2 droids, then focus on cleaning up the rest and bringing Maul to half, using Cassian to cause movement trouble for Maul. This might have worked out, had not tractor happened. I put Luke at r1 of Maul... between two stones that would make Mauls next round movement super-predictable. I was sooo pleased. Then I got pushed onto a rock. So... fucking... dumb :-D

At the end he had 1 droid left + maul, I had Cassain (half) and Wedge left. Win to Rolf, 9 MoV. I might have pulled out a win if Wedge had done a better maneuver on the last round, giving my a decent change of putting 2 damage on the remaining droids. Loss. 3-1.

Rolf's NM list (199)
Feethan Ottraw Autopilot — Belbullab-22 Starfighter 37
Kraken 10
Ship Total: 47
Half Points: 24 Threshold: 3
 
DFS-311 — Vulture-class Droid Fighter 24
Energy-Shell Charges 4
Ship Total: 28
Half Points: 14 Threshold: 2
 
Trade Federation Drone — Vulture-class Droid Fighter 20
Energy-Shell Charges 4
Ship Total: 24
Half Points: 12 Threshold: 2
 
Trade Federation Drone — Vulture-class Droid Fighter 20
Energy-Shell Charges 4
Grappling Struts 3
Ship Total: 27
Half Points: 14 Threshold: 2
 
Darth Maul — Sith Infiltrator 65
Hate 3
Tractor Beam 2
General Grievous 3
Ship Total: 73
Half Points: 37 Threshold: 5

Vs Johan Hofverberg, another Swede. From Gøteborg IIRC. Tough one. Really tough. Resistance aces. Well, Bastian is at I2, and he's used as a sweeper, so not possible to pop early. I've played almost this list quite a bit: Poe and the 2 As, but I never could find their 4th buddy. And it turned out that might well be Bastian.

He was at 198 and I'm at 199, so I got to be 1st again. This game it would have been MUCH BETTER for me to be 2nd player, and I regretted that Instinctive Aim. But nothing to be done about it. There was LOT of maneuvering before the first shots got fired. When they did, I managed to get some damage onto Talli, but she lived. I got some in return, but not so bad.

Then we maneuvered some more, I popped Talli, he focused down Cassian HARD!!! He tried to chase down Wedge, Lulo died... Poe and Bastian tried really hard to kill Wedge, but he kept moving and used R2 to max effect. Then time was called and Luke popped Bastian, who blanked out... and can't have Heroic... leaving only Poe. It would have been a win anyway, but not as big. Have to say that this was probably the most hard fought match of the Swiss. Losing to Johan would not have troubled my sleep. But win. 4-1

Johan's NM list (198)
Poe Dameron — T-70 X-Wing 68
Heroic 1
R4 Astromech 2
Integrated S-Foils 0
Black One 2
Tractor Beam 2
Ship Total: 75
Half Points: 38 Threshold: 4
 
Lieutenant Bastian — T-70 X-Wing 48
Integrated S-Foils 0
Ship Total: 48
Half Points: 24 Threshold: 4
 
L’ulo L’ampar — RZ-2 A-Wing 38
Heroic 1
Ship Total: 39
Half Points: 20 Threshold: 2
 
Tallissan Lintra — RZ-2 A-Wing 35
Heroic 1
Ship Total: 36
Half Points: 18 Threshold: 2

That was it for day 1. My mind was tired, but it was a LOT of fun. Felt good to have made the cut. I did so too at Nordics, but then I dropped to play Armada... not so this time!

I also got to know my next matchup and his list.

Just going to leave it here, then finish the rest in my next post:

Eirik's NM List (199)
Koshka Frost — Firespray-class Patrol Craft 71
Trick Shot 2
Qi’ra 2
Rigged Cargo Chute 4
Ship Total: 79
Half Points: 40 Threshold: 5

Guri — StarViper-class Attack Platform 63
Outmaneuver 6
Advanced Sensors 10
Afterburners 6
Ship Total: 85
Half Points: 43 Threshold: 3

Captain Seevor — Mining Guild TIE Fighter 30
Juke 5
Ship Total: 35
Half Points: 18 Threshold: 2