In an effort to make it a short night, Ric and I gave Kent an easy shot at his second trifecta...
Not!
Despite blazing lasers and ion canons, huge fleets of ships, and overwhelming numbers of Storm Trooper reinforcements from the Ison Corridor, somehow the wiley Kent the Hutt managed to sneak a couple faction cards, roll a few lucky rolls, and punch through to victory.
It wasn't without its humorous moments as a Hutt roll of 2-1-1, a certain loss, was met by a Rebel 1, an even more certain loss. Faction cards came and went, including a straight when the Rebels stole my capital ship and fighter cards.
That said, I should have known there would be trouble when the Rebels tried to take the Wild Space despite the Death Star on Excarga. The bloody and inconclusive battle only served to weaken us both.
Struggles over control of the Wild Space, the Ison Corridor, and the El'Rood Sector were key to the game. Attacks from Mon Calamari to Bffasch were key to undermining the Death Star's blockade at Excarga and the Star Base at Sullust. All in all, it was over too quickly (4 turns), before the Rebels could discover the Emperor hiding out at Da Soocha V since the second turn.
Victory Hutts.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Two-thirds of a Trifecta
Last Thursday's galactic brouhaha went down as another Wood victory, this time as the Hutts. With one Rebel victory and this Hutt victory, he only needs a third consecutive victory as the Empire to gain the much coveted "Trifecta" title. There's only two little problems with that plan: (1) Ric and (2) Karl.
The real winner of last week's match was "card lust," that insatiable desire to get that one extra faction card by knocking off a single garrison somewhere. When it goes horribly wrong, as it did for both Rebels and Storm Troopers, the result is a long list of weak systems barely defended waiting to be picked off by anyone with any troops at all.
Rebel Leader Horak quickly went down in flames with a long series of bad dice rolls against Hutt targets. Soon after, Sith Lord Laban did the same. Within 4 turns, the Hutts had amassed a critical number of resource planets, which in turn gives them a large number of faction cards. This in turn leads to more resource planets and then more cards. It's a positive feedback loop and it always ends poorly for two out of three players.
At least with a quick, decisive loss, I was in bed early after a long week at Sandia. On top of that, Wood gets stuck bringing dinner for the next battle.
The real winner of last week's match was "card lust," that insatiable desire to get that one extra faction card by knocking off a single garrison somewhere. When it goes horribly wrong, as it did for both Rebels and Storm Troopers, the result is a long list of weak systems barely defended waiting to be picked off by anyone with any troops at all.
Rebel Leader Horak quickly went down in flames with a long series of bad dice rolls against Hutt targets. Soon after, Sith Lord Laban did the same. Within 4 turns, the Hutts had amassed a critical number of resource planets, which in turn gives them a large number of faction cards. This in turn leads to more resource planets and then more cards. It's a positive feedback loop and it always ends poorly for two out of three players.
At least with a quick, decisive loss, I was in bed early after a long week at Sandia. On top of that, Wood gets stuck bringing dinner for the next battle.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
A Hutt too Far
The usual Thursday evening shenanigans led to pizza overdose and a fair bit of statistically implausible dice rolling. Darth Laban, Horak the Hutt, and Rebel Leader Wood duked it out for galactic supremacy. Amazingly, the galaxy survived.
With the Death Star thwarting any chance of anyone taking the Wild Space, the night's setup was far from usual. With that constraint in mind, the Rebels turned instead to the Ison Corridor. After clearing out the few Storm Troopers, they heavily garrisoned both inbound hyperspace links. The Hutts were left to cautiously creep forward. Unfortunately, the Empire's first attacks meant to regain lost ground against the dastardly Rebels failed disastrously.
In subsequent rounds, the Rebels spread like a plague, but concerted attacks by Hutts and Storm Troopers kept them in check. One of the key features of this campaign was the back-and-forth balance of the Force Meter. Often victory is determined by which side can move the Force Meter farthest. This time, for every move to the dark side, the Rebels were able to match with an equal move to the light side. With the Force in balance, neither side accumulated significant bonus cards.
The Hutts slowly acquired a fleet of ships and when they obtained a faction card straight, they launched a devastating sweep through the Core Worlds and Outer Rim. A turn later, the Hutts, of all people, actually controlled the Outer Rim (and 9 resource planets).
The Rebels and the Empire responded and knocked the Hutts back. But another Hutt faction card straight turned them loose once again. At the doorstep of victory again with 8 resource planets, Elom held fast, so the Hutts turned on Rodia. It was a fateful mistake -- they should have taken unfortified Sluis Van first. Although Rodia fell, it's Star Base fled to Sluis Van and after a brutal battle managed to survive.
The dilapidated Rebel forces gathered once more and made a forlorn hope assault on Sullust, just to take out a Star Base and move the Force Meter one notch to the light side. As it were, Sullust was protecting the Emperor. With his capture, the Rebels gained control of the galaxy ... at least for a single week.
With the Death Star thwarting any chance of anyone taking the Wild Space, the night's setup was far from usual. With that constraint in mind, the Rebels turned instead to the Ison Corridor. After clearing out the few Storm Troopers, they heavily garrisoned both inbound hyperspace links. The Hutts were left to cautiously creep forward. Unfortunately, the Empire's first attacks meant to regain lost ground against the dastardly Rebels failed disastrously.
In subsequent rounds, the Rebels spread like a plague, but concerted attacks by Hutts and Storm Troopers kept them in check. One of the key features of this campaign was the back-and-forth balance of the Force Meter. Often victory is determined by which side can move the Force Meter farthest. This time, for every move to the dark side, the Rebels were able to match with an equal move to the light side. With the Force in balance, neither side accumulated significant bonus cards.
The Hutts slowly acquired a fleet of ships and when they obtained a faction card straight, they launched a devastating sweep through the Core Worlds and Outer Rim. A turn later, the Hutts, of all people, actually controlled the Outer Rim (and 9 resource planets).
The Rebels and the Empire responded and knocked the Hutts back. But another Hutt faction card straight turned them loose once again. At the doorstep of victory again with 8 resource planets, Elom held fast, so the Hutts turned on Rodia. It was a fateful mistake -- they should have taken unfortified Sluis Van first. Although Rodia fell, it's Star Base fled to Sluis Van and after a brutal battle managed to survive.
The dilapidated Rebel forces gathered once more and made a forlorn hope assault on Sullust, just to take out a Star Base and move the Force Meter one notch to the light side. As it were, Sullust was protecting the Emperor. With his capture, the Rebels gained control of the galaxy ... at least for a single week.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Another Hutt Victory
Seems like the Hutts can do no wrong, although this time it was far from a sure thing. Horak the Hutt made good starting dice rolls and so had five resource planets to begin with and control of Gamorr. Rebel Leader Kent began with a solid position and excellent dice rolls in his initial attacks. Darth Laban came back with good play in general and things see-sawed back and forth for a few turns.
There were some notable disasters: the Rebels were twice unable to crack the pitiful defenses at Duro, Sulust held out against overwhelming odds, and the Death Star destroyed a large Hutt garrison at Omwat.
That should have spelled the end of the Hutts, but they clung on with 4 resource planets, using faction cards to build a substantial fleet. The other opponents meanwhile pushed the Force Meter into the neutral middle, denying both the benefit of extra cards.
When the Hutts finally collected seven cards, they had a straight worth seven legions, a faction card bonus that turned out to be worth six legions, and a card to subtract one from the Rebel's highest die. With that huge influx of troops they were able to capture all of the Mid Rim resource planets and then sweep from Sluis Van through Duro all the way to Tatooine. Victory Hutts.
There were some notable disasters: the Rebels were twice unable to crack the pitiful defenses at Duro, Sulust held out against overwhelming odds, and the Death Star destroyed a large Hutt garrison at Omwat.
That should have spelled the end of the Hutts, but they clung on with 4 resource planets, using faction cards to build a substantial fleet. The other opponents meanwhile pushed the Force Meter into the neutral middle, denying both the benefit of extra cards.
When the Hutts finally collected seven cards, they had a straight worth seven legions, a faction card bonus that turned out to be worth six legions, and a card to subtract one from the Rebel's highest die. With that huge influx of troops they were able to capture all of the Mid Rim resource planets and then sweep from Sluis Van through Duro all the way to Tatooine. Victory Hutts.
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