Year End Battle for Galactic Domination

Game Summary:  A see-saw contest tonight with first Darth Kent, then Horak the Hutt, then Deputy Rebel Leader LaBan taking the lead, although never a decisive one until the very last turn.  A strong Hutt initial deployment kept the others at bay for several turns but the Empire and the Hutts repeatedly traded control of Elom and the Wild Space.  Slow Hutt gains captured Tatooine and even dislodged a star base from Elom, which relocated to Gamorr.  But the Rebels managed to push the force meter over to the extreme light side, which turned out to be a critical factor in the game. 

An Imperial faction card straight brought a huge number of stormtroopers onto the board late in the game.  The Empire's heavy footstep echoed throughout the galaxy, especially in the Wild Space, where the Hutts were beaten back.

This was immediately followed by a faction card straight worth 7 additional squadrons for the Rebels.  The "One in a Million" card took out the Death Star on Gamorr.  The onslaught of Imperial forces then swept away the garrison, revealing the Emperor.  Game, Rebels.

Tactical Notes:   The force meter at the extreme end of the light side gave the Rebels a large number of extra cards that in turn resulted in the early appearance of "One in a Million" and a timely straight with its influx of reinforcements.  The appearance of the emperor was relatively early, but his placement on a hotly contested resource planet resulted in a forced relocation and eventual exposure.  Admittedly, the use of the Hutts as a inhuman shield is generally a good idea.  The threat of a Hutt-controlled sector (the Wild Space) distracted the Empire from maintaining constant pressure on the Rebels. 

Strategic Notes:  Have a very happy New Year!

The Empire Triumphant

In a cruel turn of events, for the evening's first game, Darth Ric and Deputy Rebel Leader Kent signed a pact to relentlessly destroy Hutts on the first turn.  Indeed they did, reducing the Hutt garrisons of 3 and 4 legions to so much rubble.  Interestingly, the Empire came out strongly on top, which means the Rebels really need to turn their attention to the Dark Side on the first turn. 

After the unholy allegiance was revealed, game one was terminated and a second one restarted.  Hard fought on all sides, the Hutts were badly set back when DRL Kent destroyed a large fleet of capital ships in the Mid Rim.  Then the Hutts were completely broken when the Death Star destroyed a large garrison on Sullust.  Without the Hutt threat to distract the storm troopers, the Rebels were hard pressed to hold their ground.  As the Empire spread into Hutt-controlled areas, their reinforcement levels overwhelmed the Rebel troops.  Hutts and Rebels capitulated in an inglorious defeat. 

A Doomed Rebellion

A most peculiar game this week -- the Empire started off with a terrible run of bad dice rolls and it began to look like the Rebels were going to grab the brass ring.  But then the Hutts focused on the Rebels, the Empire started to roll some decent dice, and cards began pile up for both Hutts and Storm Troopers. 

As the Hutts inched slowly up to eight resource planets, the e-vile Empire turned in a straight of faction cards and used the seven additional legions to sweep the Outer Rim.  The Hutts responded by controlling all Core Worlds, an unheard of situation. 

In the final turn, the Storm Troopers eliminated the Rebels in the Ison Corridor and Elrood Sector, leaving two lone holdouts on two systems in the Mid Rim.  Armed with a vast army on Gamorr, it looked like curtains with only a single Hutt in the way of total domination by the Empire.

Alas, with a single faction card, the Hutts were able to thwart the avalanche of Storm Troopers.  The Blackmail card prevented any further attacks because there weren't any other Rebel systems to capture.

The Hutts then were able to use their Uprising card to cause the huge garrison at Gamorr to flee to the Wild Space. 

The sole remaining troop was quickly eliminated.  Then an overwhelming attack on Kessel pushed the Hutts over the top.