Had a nice casual 600-pointer yesterday. Been too long since I played a battle of any size bigger than RitR 😅
600-pointers* are my fav for casual games. It feels a lot like 400 (including how objectives affect the game) but with room for more of everything. You can have a good selection of ships of all sizes and still have a decent squad complement. You can also afford some suboptimal picks and not feel that too keenly. 400 points is a good choice for tourneys - a compromise between the feeling of a full fleet and time limitations.
* We have a 150 points in squads/2 flotilla limit in place.
I knew I wanted to run a CW faction because now I have the models but haven't played them before IRL only on Vassal. I tried making a Republic fleet but with only 1 squad pack I couldn't quite get the fleet I wanted so I gave up and ran with Seppies. Having only 4 Vultures meant I was going ship-heavy 😆
Simple fleet really: put as much plastic on the table as possible, keep it simple, roll a bunch of dice. IF! + Linked takes care of dice fixing, Mar Tuuk adds in dice (his drawback is really very small for ships with decent dice pools).
BTs on the Recusants was a last-minute addition to give them some close-up punch. That worked REALLY well. The red flak/LTT also kept enemy squads hiding for most of the game so was decent. But Light Destroyer with Swivel would probably have been even better. 5 red + 2 black at long range. I'll try those next time.
TI-99 and RHD don't really mesh too well but I had to try something to keep the Vultures around long enough for flak to matter. Muni is there to keep the flag alive if it brawls. Same with BoB. In this game that didn't happen (you don't run your flag to brawl into the Ackbar death zone) but IMO it's a solid little trio.
Any hope of staying at range evaporated as my opponent turned out to be Ackbar with H1 (goodbye braces and useless Thermals) and 2 GT potatoes. We were both as 600. Rolled for initiative and my opponent picked 2nd. I went for Opening Salvo. No guts, no glory!
I wanted to kill Ackbar as quickly as possible. Failing that, get an activation advantage. Both of those didn't work. About the only thing that DID work was preventing a circling conga and having the rebel fleet spend its objective tokens piecemeal while I got more mileage out of my (red) bonus dice).
It was quite bloody, ending with the rebels being table 1st activation turn 5, for the loss of 1 Rec, 1 Muni, 1 Battle Refit, 3 Vultures, and a Rec at half points.
Mar Tuuk is a pretty solid commander. Call him simple or unimaginative but he gets his red dice more easily than Romodi. And once you're shooting into unshielded hull zones that's maybe better than extra dice. His drawback only comes into play once the enemy ship is nearly dead and if you've got more than 3 dice chances are that you can toss 1 die without trouble and still get the kill.
After the match, we discussed the fleets and the games:
We agreed that taking out Intel Officer from the AFs to make room for X-wings was a mistake. Same with counting on H1 being safe the entire game and not needing def retros. HFZ/Draven on JL was a specific response to my consistent use of Counter squadrons and not some crazy stunt. It didn't do much here but against my usual fleets it melts my poor TIE Ints 😢
As for the game it was halfway lost at setup with rebels going in two directions and almost crashing and me blocking in an exposed Ackbar. Still, with all the dice being thrown - stuff was regularity doing 7-8 or more damage per shot with blocked braces - things could have gone differently.
Very fun game!
SEPPIES
Commander: Mar Tuuk
Assault: Ion Storm
Defense: Fleet In Being
Navigation: Volatile Deposits
Providence Carrier (105)
• Mar Tuuk (28)
• TI-99 (4)
• Thermal Shields (5)
• Intensify Firepower! (6)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
• External Racks (4)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 162 Points
Recusant Support Destroyer (90)
• Boarding Troopers (3)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 100 Points
Recusant Support Destroyer (90)
• Boarding Troopers (3)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 100 Points
Munificent Comms Frigate (70)
• Tikkes (2)
• Projection Experts (6)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 88 Points
Hardcell Battle Refit (52)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 62 Points
Hardcell Transport (47)
• Munitions Resupply (3)
• Beast of Burden (6)
= 56 Points
Squadrons:
• 4 x Vulture Droid Fighter Squadron (32)
= 32 Points
Total Points: 600
REBELS
Name: Untitled Fleet copy
Faction: Rebel
Commander: Admiral Ackbar
Assault: Opening Salvo
Defense: Asteroid Tactics
Navigation: Infested Fields
MC80 Assault Cruiser (114)
• Admiral Ackbar (38)
• Ray Antilles (7)
• Projection Experts (6)
• Leading Shots (6)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
• Home One (7)
= 185 Points
Assault Frigate Mk2 B (72)
• Ahsoka Tano (2)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Reactive Gunnery (4)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 92 Points
Assault Frigate Mk2 B (72)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Reactive Gunnery (4)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 90 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44)
• General Draven (3)
• Heavy Fire Zone (4)
• Jaina's Light (2)
= 53 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44)
• Ezra Bridger (3)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
• Tantive IV (3)
= 57 Points
GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Comms Net (2)
• Bright Hope (2)
= 22 Points
Squadrons:
• Shara Bey (17)
• Tycho Celchu (16)
• Lando Calrissian (23)
• Biggs Darklighter (19)
• 2 x X-wing Squadron (26)
= 101 Points
Total Points: 600
 |
| Start r1 |
We set up across from each other. My center has to go slow to avoid the Red Fish Death Zone (RFDZ) and is basically activation padding at this point. Muni and battle refit to be sacrificed to draw out objective tokens. Recs to move fast forward and block the conga.
Note the somewhat chaotic rebel deployment. This means a few wasted commands as rebels reorganize. It was helpful for the droid horde.
 |
| Start r3 |
Muni is very much about to die and activates first, maiming JL on the station. Should have killed it but obstruction is a bitch.
Note how Rebel squads are still holding back afraid to fly into flak hell. This turn does see some squad action with rebels jumping forward and my flag sending in the vultures to tie up the rebels.
 |
| Start (ish) r4 |
Pic is actually taken after the battle refit (right) activates. I didn't want to start with the Providence as it would bump the AF and remain in place. The Hardcell does some damage to AF and then lands awkwardly where it shouldn't be and is immediately vaporized. Thug lyfe.
But all is not lost. Red Fish is blocked in my a mostly healthy Recusant. 1 potato is dead, same with both corvettes. Providence and Transport then mauls remaining AF while recusant brings Home One down to 0 shields...should have taken those defensive retros!
 |
| Start r5 |
My flag activates and blows up both the AF and Home One. Rebels kill the 3rd Vulture in retaliation The last Vulture miraculously survives! 😇
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