Ringing out the Old

In what very likely will be the last game of 2013, Darth LaBan met General Wood and Karl the Hutt in a battle for galactic domination and a feast of tamales, chile, wine, beer, and whiskey.  Kent won the initial dice-off and Ric came in second, but surprisingly I was left with the Hutt faction.  And with a lucky dice-off for starting setup, I snagged five resource planets right out of the gate.  Even so, the Hutts were forced into the El'Rood Sector, the Wild Space, and the Mid Rim with a lonely outpost on Ord Mandel. 

The Rebels' initial onslaught was met with stout resistance, but they picked off the easy Hutt garrison.  After the Hutts picked up a sixth resource planet and two useful faction cards, the Empire had a major setback with the playing of "A Better Offer" card that successfully defended Omwat.  Despite that, they made good headway against the Rebel systems. 

In subsequent turns the Rebels continued to make good progress, capturing the Ison Corridor, but unable to raise their numbers above 15 systems overall.  The Rebels also used a faction card to remove two Imperial faction cards.  As luck would have it, they were both blowie-uppie cards.  The Hutts slowly accumulated a workable fleet, but had to leave many resource garrisons vulnerable with only a single garrison.  The storm troopers amassed upwards of 18 systems, but were matched by the Rebels' reinforcements aided by the Ison Corridor sector bonus.  The Empire suffered another serious setback when then attempted to take the single Hutt garrison at Duro.  Six legions were destroyed in that failed attack.

When a faction card straight let the Hutts deploy a huge force from Sluis Van, they were able to sweep the Rebels completely out of the Ison Corridor and they remained in control of that sector for the rest of the game.  The Empire continued to conquer systems despite occasional The Rebels began to feel the pressure now that their sector bonus was gone. 

The Hutts finally made a run at the Rodia but were forced back with only nine resource planets and six faction cards.  Those cards held off Rebel and Imperial attacks and still left a straight for the last battle.  Due to a miscalculation the starbase at Balmorra was forced off and it relocated to Nar Shaddar, the last resource planet needed.  But a last lucky roll took out the last defender.  Victory Hutts. 

Below is a poorly aimed timelapse of the game.  No tripod mount for an ASUS tablet.  :-/

A Rebellion Goes Awry

General Wood, esteemed leader of the Rebel Faction, was faced by Darth Horak with his legions of Imperial storm troopers and Peetza da Hutt, supreme drug lord and crime boss of the galaxy.  Having defeated Ric and I last week, Kent was after the second victory on his way to a trifecta. 

In an unusual start, the Rebels were gentle on their first assaults, not really inflicting huge damage.  The Hutts started slow but they always gather momentum with their excellent cards.  The Empire seemed to sputter and stall in their initial offense.  All in all, it was a pitiful start.

The despicable dark lord of the Sith attempted to gain traction, but the Hutts kept threatening.  Meanwhile, the Rebels gathered their forces.  In the end, the Emperor was unmasked within his starbase and galactic rule passed to the Rebellion.

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A one week intermission takes place while Ric goes on walkabout in Utah.

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As our combatants resume their weekly engagement, Ric and I generously agree to let Kent take up the mantle of the Empire.  With that, he has at least a tiny chance of gaining his coveted trifecta. Horak the Hutt and General LaBan took up their dice and bravely met their common foe. 

Despite starting with five resource planets, the Hutts were rebuffed at every other turn.  The El'Rood Sector continuously changed hands.  Tatooine was heavily fortified and Bespin was impenetrable.   Every gain was met with a matching defeat.  A fleet of capital ships didn't seem to help.  The Hutts only made it up to six resource planets, tops.  Spies cards kept the others from gaining straights and the seven troops that would come with that.  Surprisingly, when an opportunity to capture Nar Shaddar came up, it was discovered that the e-vile Emperor was hiding there.  He relocated to Kurt, but only garrisoned it with a single troop.

Meanwhile, the Rebels gathered their forces.  Despite some remarkable losses (why was it that all the battles were decided by a single pip?), they climbed steadily in control.  But by Turn 5 they had yet to destroy a single starbase. 

Finally, as we were dipping deeper into the Clynellish, the Rebels cashed in their straight and made a run at the storm troopers.  Along the way, they attacked Kurt, more to move the Force Meter than anything else.  When the single garrison capitulated, it was "game ova."  Victory Rebels and trifecta averted.

Hutts Again

This week's battle for galactic domination was held on Wednesday to allow for the combatants to spend Thanks-a-lot Day with their families.  Kent rolled high and took the Hutts.  Ric chose the Imperial faction, leaving your author to play the despicable Rebels. 

The Rebels made good headway on their opening round and barely claimed the easy Hutt garrisons.  With two faction cards snagged by the Rebels, the play continued with Kent the Hutt, who quickly scrambled up to six resource planets.  Interestingly, the first starbase played by Darth Ric went to Tattooine.  His counter-attacks were weak but effective, giving him three faction cards. 

Turn two began with the use of the "Look under any Imperial starbase" faction card.  And, lo!, there was the e-vile Emperor on Tattooine.  The Rebels attacked with everything they had but failed to make headway against two 8-sided die.  Darth Ric made the minimum attacks to get his faction cards and reinforced Tattooine.  He also pushed the force meter to the dark side. 

With Rebel reinforcements piling up on Wayland and the force meter swinging back and forth with every turn, the pressure on the Empire continued to build.  Fortunately, a "blowie-uppie" faction card turned up in time to allow the destruction of the entire planet of Wayland.  With that, the Rebels were effectively out of the game. 

The Hutts continued to gain in strength and without any effective Rebel resistance, they soon had... wait, wait, let me count again... eleven resource planets. 

Victory goes to the numerically challenged Hutts. 

Rebel Leader Han Horak Claims Victory

As the seventh turn began, there was only one hope for the Rebels and it was a forlorn one:  destroy the Death Star, overrun the starbase garrison on Sluis Van, and attack a second starbase on Excarga.  With Sluis Van destroyed, there was no chance of an indirect assault through that flank.  At least there was a half a chance that the Emperor was hiding under one of these two starbases in that sector.

But I get ahead of myself.  First there was a turn of Imperial conquest, with the storm troopers resisting the Rebel's initial attacks and then swarming over lightly held Rebel outposts.  The Hutts gradually expanded their influence.  The Death Star on Omwat stifled any efforts to control the Wild Space.

Then the Rebel forces had an uncommonly good run and set the Imperial battalions back.  The Hutts struck sharply at the Empire as well.  And in turn, the storm troopers continued to punish the Rebels. 

In the third turn the Rebels continued to focus on outlying single garrisons, using a bomber plus overwhelming concentrations of troops to cause large numbers of casualties.  The Hutts continued to gain strength and obtained a threatening number of systems.  The Empire responded by setting lose the Death Star, destroying Sullust and its garrison of four Hutt legions, a significant blow to the Green Hoard. 

On the fourth turn, the Rebels finally swept from Mimban to Byss, past the starbase on Bakura, and on to Bespin for control of the Ison Corridor.  The Hutts attacked out of Kessel and across the El'Rood Sector as far as Hoth, denying the Rebels that sector.  Then they went one further and captured Bespin.  The storm troopers replied by concentrating on the Mid Rim to good effect.  However, their assault pulled up short after their attack with three 6s was defeated by a single defensive roll of 6.  And only two systems later, Darth Kent rolled three 6s again only to be similarly stopped by a single defensive roll of 6.  (If you listen carefully, you can hear is cries of anguish.)

By the fifth turn, the Rebels were struggling to recover lost ground and assemble a fleet with a significant concentration of forces.  The Hutts used powerful faction cards to cripple Rebel defenses and destroyed their major concentration.  In the end they were in control of 8 resource planets, including both in the Core Worlds,  The Empire stuck back against the Hutts in the Mid Rim and then used the Death Star to take out Duro and a small Hutt garrison.  

Finally, on the sixth turn the Rebel tide was beginning to return, but only barely.  The Hutts who had been largely neutralized, were still not to be dismissed as they regained both strength and systems.  Many non-Hutt resource planets had only single garrisons.  The Emperor made his appearance (finally) and a slip of Darth Kent's tongue let loose the secret location (not that it mattered). 

With an assembled fleet and reinforced legions on Derilyn, the Rebels attacked Sullust, a starbase protected by the Death Star.   Fortunately, the Rebels had card bonuses, Force Meter bonuses, and a faction card that allowed two dice to be rerolled.  In the end they added up to 19 and the Death Star was crushed.  A hard fought battle on Sullust ended with a weakened Rebel force.  Those three legions faced a single garrison of the Empire's best at Eriadu.  When they failed to hold, the Rebels found that the Emperor was indeed their prisoner.  Victory Rebels. 

Damn Those Hutts, Damn Them to Hell

Pepperoni pizza and beer, definitely the high point of the evening.  After that it was just laser blasters, death star superlasers, and mayhem.  Darth Horak took on the dastardly Rebel Leader LaBan and Kent the Hutt. 

We knew we were in for something special when the Empire let the Hutts get six resource planets straight away.  He then dumped over a dozen legions onto Omwat while the Rebels loaded up their Wild Space garrisons and the Hutts put a sizeable force on Elom.  The resulting battle left the Rebels crippled and the Empire in full control of the Wild Space.  The Hutts made a hasty retreat with most of their forces intact.

Unbeknownst to the Rebels, the first starbase out concealed the Emperor and it protected the Wild Space from the Hutt's significant forces on Sluis Van.  Early on the Empire was able to destroy Gamorr and it's Rebel garrison with the Death Star.  Thereafter, the Rebel counter-attacks on the Empire continued to grow.

Meanwhile, the Hutts held on to Bespin, Sluis Van, Sullust, Kessel, Ord Mandell, and Tatooine.  Battles raged in the Core Worlds as the Hutts struggled to take Balmorra and move on to Duro.  In the Mid Rim the Rebels and Hutts fought a seesaw series of battles that left both sides dangerously weak, but the Hutts closing in on 7, then 8, and finally 9 resource systems.  But each time the Rebels pushed them back, occasioning a frustrated fist blow to the table that registered 7.6 on the Galactic Richter Scale.  (Today, three days later, I found four Hutt game pieces scattered around the game room.)

In turn four a huge force of Storm Troopers were assembled on Omwat, poised to overrun the Hutts on Sluis Van and Sullust.  As luck would have it, the "Money is Power" faction card in which "The orders never come" stopped the assault cold.  This gave the Hutts the breathing time to muster a force to attack across the Mid Rim.

When the Hutts started picking off Mid Rim planets in order to cement their victory, they had to veer around the asteroid field where Gamorr once orbited.  Even with five additional legions on Bothawui, the Storm Troopers could not stop the Hutts.  The surviving green hoard simply went around the blockade via Toydaria and Falleen to reach their tenth planet, Rodia.  Victory Hutts. 

Trifecta Averted, again

With Kent's recent victories as Empire and Hutt, Ric and I graciously permitted him to pick up the Rebel forces and try for a trifecta.  As Darth Karl, I loaded up on Elom in the Wild Spaces and blockaded them with a garrison on Gamorr.  Ric in his alter-ego of Peetza da Hutt snagged Bespin, Duro, Sullust, Sluis Van, and Ord Mantell. 

The Rebels quickly knocked off the lightly defended Hutt systems and a few of the Empire's outlying ones.  But with overwhelming forces on Elom, the first wave of Storm Troopers captured the Wild Space after a bloody battle with high casualties on both Rebel and Imperial sides.

The initial starbase went on Corellia as a distraction to pull the Rebels away from the Wild Spaces.  Amazingly, the lone garrison survived the first assault. 

The Wild Space was reinforced with starbases and the Death Star sacrificed the lone garrison on Gamorr to block that egress.  Later the Death Star was able to destroy the Hutts on Sluis Van, but a faction card allowed the Hutts to take away the final blowee-upee card (that's the technical term). 

The Rebels finally were able to use a faction card to invade through the asteroid field where Gamorr once orbited.  That denied the Empire the Wild Space bonus, but the Death Star was able to protect the Emperor in Elom.  Imperial forces also made serious sweeps of the Ison Corridor. 

While Rebel and Storm Trooper struggled in the Wild Space and the Ison Corridor, the Hutts patiently gathered their strength and their faction cards for their final push.  Victory came in the sixth turn, as Peetza da Hutt denied General Wood his trifecta. 

Two Thirds of a Trifecta, again

Well, the dice were with Mssr. Wood this past week.  With a high roll to start, he chose Hutts.  Ric went with the E-Vile Empire, leaving yours truly with the Rebels.  In a daring variation, the set up left the Hutts with 6 planets and the Rebels with much of the Mid Rim.  

Out of the gates, General Karl did quite well, capturing the El'Rood Sector and setting the Empire back significantly.  The Hutts gradually gained strength and the Emperor's storm troopers were able to push the force meter farther to the dark side with each turn.

The turning point was when the Death Star destroyed the garrison at Sullust.  A turn later and a second system, Byss, was eliminated.  With the force meter pegged and the El'Rood bonus lost, it looked like a sure win for the Storm Troopers.

But in Sith Laban's efforts to claw his way back from the initial setbacks, he left the Hutt's too strong.  A lucky run and a faction card straight gave Kent the Hutt his second victory and two thirds of a trifecta.  But next week, he must win as the Rebel faction... a desperate and forlorn hope.

Resumption of Hostilities

After nearly six weeks without a battle for galactic supremacy, dice-driven hostilities resumed this week after Ko Palace take-out.  Horak the Hutt, recently returned from Planet Caledonia, faced off against Rebel Leader Ric and Sith Lord Wood.

With a strong position in the Wild Space, it wasn't surprising that the Hutts were able to control that sector by the second turn and hold on to it for the duration of the war.  The Rebels also started strong, very nearly sweeping the Outer Rim.  Faction cards let Rebel Ric push the force meter far to the light side.  However, the dice and the faction cards still favored the Storm Troopers.  Darth Kent was able to reclaim the Outer Rim from the Rebels, capture the El'Rood Sector, and even destroy the large Rebel garrison on Bespin.

Somewhere along the way, the cask-strength Campbeltown Whiskey came out.  After that, the quality of strategic thinking rapidly declined among the Hutts and Rebels. 

With the Rebels reeling from the Imperial counter-attacks and the Scotch, the Hutts reinforced their 15 legion assault force with a capital ship and struck back at the Empire, taking a round-about path through Mon Calamari all the way to Sluis Van and Sullust.  But eight resource planets were not enough.

Armed with a faction card straight and a small fleet, Darth Kent plowed through the remaining Rebels, surprising the Hutts at Yavin 4, and finished the game on Turn 5.  Victory Empire.

Catch-up Time

8/15 -- Kent won.  Maybe someday I'll remember what happened.  He was probably a Hutt. 

8/22 -- Ric won.  I think there were opportunities for everyone, but in the end, the Peetza da Hutt pulled it out of the fire. 

8/29 -- With the nephews from Vermont in town, there was only one way to avoid a total victory by the Easterners:  split them into opposing factions.  In a rare 5-player game, the Imperial Ric and David took on the Rebellious Kent and Peter (with a nod to Karl the Hutt). 

Despite my best efforts, the Hutts were only able to claw their way once up to six resource planets.  Meanwhile, the Empire inexorably ground down the Rebels and finished them off in turn 6. 

Game -- Empire.

9/1 -- With Ric and Kent otherwise occupied, we had just a couple hours to knock out a final game before the Vermonters headed out to the airport.  Sith Lord Karl took up the Imperial Storm Troopers.  Peter donned the Rebel crown.  David the Hutt filled out the final force for our 3-way battle for galactic supremacy. 

In a now classic move, the Empire quickly overran the Wild Space and fortified both points of egress with starbases and the Death Star.  Even with the Emperor in play on the first turn, he was safe behind layers of defenses. 

The Rebels responded with an all-out assault on the Ison Corridor and gained an off-setting sector.  The Hutts nearly captured the Mid Rim as well. 

Even so, the Storm Troopers suffered severe losses as the force meter moved to the light side.  The Hutts looked poised to win, when the Rebels made a desperate attack on the Death Star with minimal faction card assistance.  Luck was with them and they were able to enter the Wild Space, defeat a second starbase, and attack Elom.  Victory there resulted in the capture of the Emperor.

Game -- Rebel. 

Third Consecutive Hutt Victory (sort of)

The usual suspects conspired to meet at Ric's place for tamales and burritos while Marlene was out of town.  Twas a good thing that we only had a couple beers and a bottle of Cab -- lesson learned from last week. 

After eating our fill, we had the usual crazy dice rolls before things settled down with Ric as Peetza da Hutt, Kent as the e-vile Emperor, and I was stuck with the luzer Rebels.  The setup was a little strange with the Storm Troopers and the Rebels giving the Hutts two shots at claiming their fifth resource planet, which they eventually accepted. 

The Emperor placed his first starbase on Sluis Van but both failed to sweep the Wild Spaces clear of Hutts and to block the Wild Spaces with the Death Star.  Then the Rebels had an exceptional round with 8 consecutive victories as they rolled from Bespin all the way to Topowara.  It looked like the Empire was already on the way down.

But the Storm Troopers slowly fought their way back from the brink of defeat, blew up Sullust and Rodia, and pretty much hammered the Rebels back into place.  The Force Meter got pushed to the extreme darkside, so faction cards flooded in. 

But while that was going on, the Hutts amassed 15 planets, 7 then 8 of them resource planets.  When they cashed in a huge straight and thought to win the game, a single Rebel garrison at Bespin held off 7 invading Hutts and denied them victory.  But with 5 new faction cards, time was running out.

The Empire made a valiant attempt to halt the Hutt swarms, but was thwarted at Nar Shaddar by a stubborn Hutt resistance.  The Rebels abandoned the Ison Corridor and made a desperate effort to take out the Emperor, but they guessed poorly and only knocked out a couple ordinary starbases.  The Hutts were able to capitalize on the resulting weakness and their superiority in faction cards to bring on board 7 + 4 legions to finish off the lightly held Imperial resource planets. 

Victory Hutts.

July 31st Battle for the Bottle

First things first, the Battle for Galactic Domination was declared a draw.  Yeah, Ric was on the ropes, but Kent had drunk two beers and pretty much an entire bottle of Cycles Gladiator Cabernet Sauvignon.  Ric and I had tucked into the Scotch and were pretty much useless.  After beating each other senseless with ridiculous dice rolls, no one had victory in sight.

So we'll just wave all the loyal blog readers past this catastrophe, "Move along.  Move along.  Nothing to see now.  Move along."

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain
Once you go there was never
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become

Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
I'm just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

-- Cold Play, Viva la Vida

Second Consecutive Hutt Victory

Once again the Hutts show their prowess, this time with Kent the Hutt leading them to victory.  We knew immediately that it was going to be a probabilistically strange night on the first roll.  That's when we each roll a die to see who gets to chose which side they will play.  High roll gets first pick, next highest gets second pick, loser gets whatever is left over. 

We rolled 1 - 1 - 1.  Three losers. 

In the end it was Kent the Hutt, Darth Horak, and Rebel Leader LaBan.  And it was the Rebels who just cleaned our clocks with 6 after 6 after 6.  Sheesh!  How many sixes in a row can you roll? 

The Empire took advantage of an early weakness and conquered the El'rood Sector, but one opponent or another always, just barely, managed to deny full control by the next turn.  No one ever received an El'rood Sector bonus, despite it's eventual swinging over almost completely to the mad sixes of the Rebels. 

On about the 3rd turn, the Empire was able to destroy a well-fortified resource planet, Ord Mantell.  Between that and the Death Star on Kessel, the Hutts should have been hard pressed to find 10 resource planets.

But that was not to be.  Rebel Leader Ric finally decided to extinguish the small, single Imperial garrisons in the Mid Rim and then go after the El'rood Sector in earnest.  With only 3 reinforcements per turn, the Emperor was on the defensive despite having faction cards that continually undid any Rebel efforts to move the Force Meter. 

In the mean time the Hutts gathered their considerable strength in the few systems they controlled.  By cleverly snapping up a Storm Trooper here and a Rebel garrison there, they amassed three faction card straights.  In the fifth turn, Kent the Hutt took a large force from the Core Worlds and captured 10 of the 11 "easy" resource planets. 

Victory Hutts.

Ric LaBan, Lord-God-King of the Galaxy

Once again, Kent and I took things a planet too far and Ric* was able to slip it to us. 

While I was able to quickly take over the Ison Corridor and was able to fend off Rebel Leader Kent's best efforts to retake the sector, the Hutt Overlord quietly summoned his strength, collected cards, and blew us away with well-timed faction card straights. 

_______________
* Radioactive
                  The Firm

Well, I'm not uptight
Not unattractive
Turn me on tonight
'Cause I'm radioactive
Radioactive

There's not a fight
And I'm not your captive
Turn me loose tonight
'Cause I'm radioactive
Radioactive

I want to stay with you
I want to play with you, baby
I want to lay with you
And I want you to know

Got to concentrate
Don't be distractive
Turn me on tonight
'Cause I'm radioactive
Radioactive

Radioactive
Radioactive

I want to stay with you
I don't want to play with you
I want just to lay with you
And I want you to know

Got to concentrate
Don't be distractive
Turn me loose tonight
'Cause I'm radioactive, oh, yeah
Oh, yeah, radioactive
Don't you stand, stand too close
You might catch it

June 27th and the Summer Pause Begins

In a reprise of last week's roles, our intrepid trio once again struggled for galactic domination.  Horak the Hutt gained and lost an entire fleet of 3 capital ships.  Trying to be either the King Maker or the victor, he miscalculated and, instead of keeping both opponents equally weak, he injured the Rebels.
Rebel Leader LaBan Held off the Storm Troopers as long as he could, but the white tide swept over him.  The Hutts weren't able to claw their way to 10 resource planets despite high water marks of 8 and 9 systems.  In the end Sith Wood was able to claim victory. 

With Ric on travel and Karl's aunt from Wisconsin visiting next week, it may be  July 18 before conflict resumes. 

Two-thirds of a Trifecta

After winning an unexpected Rebel victory, Darth Horak took the field as the Imperial Overlord with an eye towards an easy victory next week for a trifecta.  The Stormtroopers did passing fair by clipping the Hutt wings early on and aggressively targeting Rebel Ric's strongholds.  Dice and faction cards won the day (June 13 BTW) and put the trifecta within reach.

On the 20th Horak the Hutt took up the dice of power in an epic struggle of good against evil against spice trade.  Alas, my dastardly opponents conspired with a pre-game pact:  to assault the Hutts mercilessly and only take one system from the other each turn.  Amazingly, with all those Stormtroopers and Rebels arrayed against the Hutts, the Hutts still held on for three turns.  Unfortunately, with 20 Imperial systems on the board against 19 Rebel systems, they called for a draw, having defeated the Hutts--their sole ambition.  We have no idea how a one-on-one battle between the Rebels and the Empire would work out. 

Game:  Draw.

A Rare Rebel Victory

So, peace and prosperity reign throughout the galaxy as Rebel Leader Karl vanquishes the e-vile Empire and keeps the Hutts at bay.  It began in this wise....

Seven Rebel invasions against single Imperial garrisons ==> seven planets taken.  Toss in one easy Hutt on Eriadu and it made for a sweep with no casualties.  The Hutts took two planets, just for the cards, but suffered a huge setback when the "Clumsy as he is stupid" card destroyed his first invasion against the Rebels.  Then the Empire responded.  The dice conspired against Sith Lord Ric and he consistently lost win values like 3-4, 1-2, 2-3.  An astonishing number of 1's were rolled by the luckless Sith. 

With only 4 or 5 reinforcements coming in each turn, the Empire was hamstrung.  The Hutts struggled gamely on, but had difficulty getting into the bonus points for faction cards.  The Death Star at Sluis Van protected that avenue of growth and between the Empire and the Rebellion, the Hutts were denied Bespin, Duro, Sullust and other systems outside of the Mid and Outer Rim.

Gradually the easy starbases were picked off, pushing the force meter to the Light side.  That gave the Rebels still more faction cards and those turned into five (count 'em, 5) faction card straights for a total of 35 extra troops.  Eventually the Rebels controlled the Ison Corridor, but even after losing the El'Rood Sector to a Death Star attack, they continued to strengthen and slowly eliminated starbases one by one.  Ultimately they burned through their entire card deck with the "One in a Million" card being last.  Somewhere around turn 4 they were able to use a "All troops must flee" and an "Add 2 to all your dice" card, managing to destroy the Death Star and capture Duro. 

With despair his only friend, Kent the Hutt thought all was lost.  But a last turn draw of the cards gave him a straight, a chance for up to 6 additional reinforcements, and an easy path to victory.  Unfortunately, the Rebels had one last opportunity to attack the sole remaining starbase.  Overwhelmed by superior numbers and crippled by bad luck, the Emperor was captured.  Victory Rebels.
 

Ric Wins Again

Is it any surprise that after Darth Wood/Deputy Rebel Leader Kent/King Tut the Hutt swore undying vengeance (at least for the rest of the year), Sith Lord Horak/Rebel Leader Karl/Horak the Hutt would never win another game?  Of course the flip side of that is that Darth Ric/Rebel Leader LaBan/Peetza da Hutt would score hugely.

And so it has been that Ric has won again -- I don't remember the details through the haze of a blitz trip to Belgium and back.  [Insert details from Ric and Kent here someday.]  With that he has amassed three consecutive Hutt victories, if one doesn't count last week's anomalous end game.  This may be a first for any one of us, although I'm pretty sure there have been longer Hutt winning streaks.

Tell me again, who won?

We're still trying to figure this one out... Darth Horak, Kent the Hutt, and Rebel Leader LaBan were dealing their usual Thursday night death throughout the galaxy.  It certainly looked like it was going to be Kent's night at first, with the Hutts getting high into the resource planet counts only to be knocked back down again and again. 

Things didn't go entirely badly for the Empire.  Gamorr was destroyed, denying the Hutts a resource planet and a home world while protecting the Wild Space.  The Emperor himself was secretly based on Excharga.  But an attack on Elom went awry and the Hutts denied the Storm Troopers the sector they needed.  

Meanwhile, the Rebels were doing very well in gradually conquering systems, harrying the Storm Troopers until they were holed up in their final redoubt, the Wild Space. With the Ison Corrior under their control, they were able to sweep the Outer Rim and the Core Worlds.  They just couldn't find the Emperor's starbase and put and end to the game. 

What wasn't expected was that the Hutts would turn on the Empire in the end.  Faced with the prospect of the Rebels getting all the glory and destroying the E-vile Darth Horak, the Hutts attacked the last Imperial bastion and destroyed it.  With nowhere to flee, the Emperor perished.

The question arises:  who won?  On page 22 of the rules, Section 5: Winning, it states, "The Rebellion wins the moment they take eliminate all Imperial armies OR when they take control of the planet with the Emperor's Imperial Base token."  Meanwhile, "the Hutts win the moment they conquer their 10th green resource planet."  It would appear that Hutts have failed to gain 10 resource planets and the Rebels have (indirectly) eliminated all Storm Troopers.  I'm calling it for a Rebel victory, but one could argue that the Hutts should have taken the Imperial faction cards and battled on.  Either the Hutts would gain 10 resource planets or the Rebels would conquer all 42 systems for a final determination of victory.

Hutts Under the Death Mark for the Rest of the Year

In a very different sort of game, the battle for Galactic Domination took a number of unexpected twists and turns.  Sith Wood, Rebel Leader LaBan, and Horak the Hutt replayed last week's arrangement of sides. 

Straight away the Rebels ran into trouble when their large initial concentration met with fierce Imperial resistance.  Casualties piled up and the offensive fell far short of its objective.  The Hutts did modestly well, moving up to 7 resource planets and gaining 3 faction cards.  But with the Death Star securely on Sluis Van, the Hutts in Elom had no egress to the Ison Corridor, Bespin, or the systems of the Core Worlds.  The Empire struck back and hammered both Hutt and Rebel forces.  Already it began to look like an Imperial victory. 

In subsequent turns the Hutts carefully cashed in faction cards to build up a fleet of 3 capitol ships and a bomber.  The Rebels could only field fighters and the Empire chose to use cards for troops and other nefarious purposes.  The first major Sith offensive burst into the Wild Space and took the sector.  With Sluis Van protected by a starbase, the Death Star moved to Excarga to completely lock in the sector. 

After two turns of Imperial assaults always assisted by the two reinforcements from the Wild Space sector bonus, the Rebels were seriously weakened.  The Hutts desperately threw everything onto Derilyn and struck out to Sluis Van and then Omwat, to deny the Storm Troopers the sector bonus.  Bolstered by easy victories, they pushed on to Arbra, then Elom.  Realizing that the Death Star was vulnerable to the huge Hutt fleet, the green hoard attacked Excarga.  Amazingly, the Hutts destroyed the Death Star with a 19 (5, 5, 8, +1) using only ship bonuses, a first for any Hutt, and captured the starbase. Sith Wood has vowed undying emnity for the remainder of the Earth standard calendar year. 

The Empire was still a significant threat and the Rebels unable to provide much assistance.  Control of resource planets, especially the Mid Rim, swung back and forth.  Rebels were reduced to nine systems and poised for extinction.  Amazingly, the Rebels managed to capture the Ison Corridor but were defeated on the steps of Tatooine.  Eventually they scraped together enough troops to make a run at the three starbases in the Mid Rim, but only captured one.  Little did they know that the Emperor had taken refuge on Toydaria. 

In the end the Hutts used a faction card worth 5 reinforcements, the 2 from the Wild Space, 5 legions for 16 controlled systems, and a straight for 7 troops to make a run for victory.  Hutt forces on Gamorr captured systems all the way to Kessel.  Forces on Sluis Van battled through Sullust and on to Duro for the tenth system and a surprising Hutt victory.

Sith Never Sleep

  Trifecta avoided.  

In a moment of ill-advised mercy, Karl chose the Hutts and Ric took up arms with the Rebels.  Despite losing the dice roll for choosing sides, Kent still managed to snag the Empire and had a real opportunity for a trifecta.

But that was not to be... in the second turn the dastardly Rebels took out the Death Star.  Amazingly, the next turn, the Empire rebuilt a new and fully operational Death Star.  Yaaa!!

Rebel Leader LaBan and Horak the Hutt took pains to keep the number of Imperial planetary systems low.  The Rebels managed to push the Force Meter far to the Light Side.  Hutt ships and faction cards began to accumulate.  The final insult was when the Hutts used their "Money is Power" card so the orders never came to attack into the Wild Space.  That bottled up a large Imperial force and ultimately led to their downfall. 

On turn six, the Hutts cashed in a faction card straight and broke out of Gamorr and Balmora.  Attacks carried the day in Elom, Rodia, all along the Mid Rim, and as far as Duro, Bespin, and Tatooine.  Despite a clever ruse claiming that only nine resource planets had been taken, a recount showed that the Hutts had indeed prevailed with ten. 

Two Thirds of a Trifecta

Kent the Hutt is well on his way to a trifecta:  three wins in a row, once with each faction.  Last posting we saw how Rebel Leader Wood nabbed his first victory.  Here's how it went down this week.

From the get-go Rebel Leader Karl was hard-pressed.  A large assault from Ord Mantell to Kessel ended in disaster as the Hutts inflicted six casualties.  That sturdy Hutt defense in turn protected a large number of Imperial systems that had been threatened.  Sith Lord Ric took advantage and continued to consolidate the Empire. 

Not to be outdone, the Hutts gained strength at the Rebel's expense.  When the Death Star, initially stationed at Bpfassh, destroyed nearby Sluis Van with it's large Rebel garrison, the door was open for the Hutts.  The Sith could have taken out Sullust, a Hutt planet, and that would have made it much more difficult to gain 10 systems.  As it were, the Hutts were able to capitalize on the weak Rebel position before the powerful Empire could finish the Rebels off. 

Game Hutts. 

Will next week bring the third victory for Wood?  He'll have to manage to select the Imperial faction and that will be unlikely. Stay tuna'ed.

One Third of a Trifecta

Somewhere in the deep mists of my memory, I vaguely recall that Rebel Leader Kent won out over Peetza da Hutt and Sith Lord Karl.  It wasn't pretty. 

With good initial position the Empire had blocked off Gamorra and Sluis Van, then stationed an enormous garrison at Omwat, safely under the eyes of the Death Star.  The substantial Hutt garrison on Elom looked to be a goner. 

But that was not to be, the Hutts drew a Blackmail card their first turn.  With all the Storm Troopers on Omwat, they were unable to capture a Rebel planet in order to resume their invasion.  Meanwhile, the Rebels busily harvested singleton Imperial garrisons elsewhere. 

On the second turn, you guessed it, another Blackmail card, another stalled offensive.  The Rebels continued to do their work unmolested.

On the third turn at least there wasn't another Blackmail card and Elom was overrun.  But the damage was already done; the great mass of Storm Troopers, even backed up by a sector bonus, failed to stop the Rebels.  Eventually the Rebels overran the Imperial starbase.  Game Rebels.

When will the Rebels ever loose?

Set your way-back machine to April 11.  After an error in setting up a saved game from last week, Sith Lord Kent carelessly lost to Rebel Leader Ric as "da man" sought to gain an easy Starbase.  Turns out, Kent had mistakenly placed the Emperor on the board when in fact the Big Guy hadn't really turned up yet.  Kent had failed to reinforce what he thought (and what should have been) a nominal Starbase.

Let's call it a draw...

So we dialed up another game using the same sides and fought on. The second game went on far later than we expected and farther than endurance demanded.  At times the Hutts (yours truly) seemed to be on their way to a victory.  At other times Sith Lord Kent looked to be on top.  The Hutts struggled to get extra cards; the Rebels got chewed up by the Empire; the Empire took hits from everyone.  It began to look like Kent was going to put this one away, but Ric pulled another rabbit out of his hat.  In the end, the dastardly Rebels took out the Emperor's Starbase and we collapsed in an exhausted heap.

Victory Rebels.

When Will These Hutts Ever Lose?

After lording over Ric and I for the past two weeks, Kent picked up the reins of power as the evile Emperor.  I drew the Hutts, leaving Ric to suffer on with the Rebel faction.  Kent came out of the gates swinging, pushing Ric down to a mere 4 troops for reinforcements.  However, he quickly picked up a couple bombers, which seemed to unerringly roll 7s. Kent counter-attacked the Rebels ferociously and then nuked Sullust with its garrison of 5 Hutts.  The Rebels in turn wreaked havoc among the Storm Troopers.

Meanwhile, the Hutts gathered their usual 2 faction cards on the first turn, which led to a bomber and "Wretched Hive," good for 6 extra troops.  That allow the Hutts to sweep the Mid Rim and got them up to 8 systems for 4 faction cards and the surviving Hutts pulled back to Gamorr.  The 4 faction cards led to another bomber and a faction card straight, good for 7 extra troops the next turn.  From Kessel the green hoard set out to capture Ord Mandell and finally, with incredible luck, Tattoine.  With the large force on Gamorr, the Hutts were able to storm into the Wild Space and take Elom, while another force struck out through Rodia into the Core Worlds and Duro.   Victory Hutts in less than 3 complete turns. 

Due to the abrupt Hutt victory, we began a second game.  To be continued next week. 

How to Play Kent Like a Violin

This week's game was a game of games, my chance at a trifecta.  Having won the previous two weeks as Rebels and Hutts, I was on for the e-vile Empire.  Peetza da Hutt had brought pepperoni za, so we were well set for an epic struggle.  It was indeed one for the record books.

The Empire was able to amass a huge force on Gamorr, protected by the Death Star and hence safe from early depredations.  After Rebel Leader Kent and Peetza had whacked away at each other and knocked off plenty of easy stormtroopers, it was time to unleash the dogs of intergalactic war. 

The force on Gamorr swept into the Wild Space.  Kent saved his troops on Excarga by using a faction card and retreated to Dagoba, where he was poised to counterattack via Sluis Van.  The Hutts stood firm but quickly fell, a serious loss of troops so early in the game.  The victors on Elom reinforced Gamorr, but the Death Star moved to Sluis Van, effectively blocking any Rebel effort to retake the Wild Space. 

As the game wore on, the Empire was able to take advantage of its secure sector to capture the El'Rood Sector and the Ison Corridor.  This forced the Rebels to make continuous attacks against those sectors and weakening the Mid and Outer Rims.  Those gradually allowed him to move the Force Meter to the Light Side, but that was little consolation as his power and that of the Hutts dwindled.

A turn 5 faction card straight gave the Emperor enough troops to destroy all but three Rebel systems.  Kent was beside himself with despair--his luck had deserted him.  God clearly was punishing him. 

But at the beginning of turn 6, the Rebels cashed in a faction card straight, took their meager reinforcements, a capital ship plus a bomber and made a final suicidal assault on the Wild Space, betting it all that the Emperor was in Elom.  Even the Death Star was not able to repel his advance (7-6-6 plus 3 from the Force Meter bonus).  A weak first roll against the now vulnerable stormtroopers resulted in massive casualties thanks to a "destroy two more" card.  But with their fleet and, finally some good luck, the Rebels were able to capture the elusive Emperor. 

Kent was giddy with joy--his luck had returned.  God clearly was rewarding him.  All Ric and I could do was laugh and laugh and laugh.

[Next week Ric will be in Utah, so no game until April 4.]

March Catch-up

Embark inside your time machine and I'll take you on a trip....

Somewhere in the mists of the deep past, Feb. 28th actually, three powerful entities fought for domination of the galaxy:  Emperor Wood, Rebel Leader Horak, and Ric the Hutt.  In a topsy-turvy game, first the Rebels, then the Hutts are on top.  Then the stormtroopers begin to gain in strength.  Finally, Wood uses his own Death Star to destroy his own starbase on Sluis Van.  He evades the Rebellion's victory conditions, thereby obtaining immortality.  Ric and I call it a draw. 

Step forward a week (March 7).  I draw the Rebel forces, Kent the Hutts, and Ric the Imperial troops.  With things turning toward the dark side, I gain the "Use the Force" faction card.  In desperation, I use it to inspect the starbase at Tatooine, the only system I could conceivably attack.  Lo!  The Emperor is discovered.  Cashing in a faction card straight, I'm able to battle through the storm troopers' defenses and close the game.

Finally, we land our time machine in a recent era (March 14).  Horak the Hutt takes on Sith Lord Kent and Rebel Leader LaBan.  The game is balanced from the get-go, with the Hutts getting smacked down whenever they get uppity.  But the wily Sith makes his move on the Rebels too early.  A faction card straight for the Hutts lets them sweep into Elom, move across Sluis Van to Sullust, eventually taking Duro.  Disappointed at only having 9 resource planets, the Hutts press on to capture Tattooine and the game.  It seems only fitting that the green hoard won on the week of St. Patrick's after a meal of corned beef and cabbage. 

Coming soon to a galaxy near you--the final game in what could be a trifecta. 

SWR Blog Catch-up

We closed out  January with a game of Primodial Soup, which Kent, being experienced, easily won.

The we tried Robo Rally and again, the experienced Wood cleaned our clocks. 

Then back on February 7, Ric as Peetza da Hutt easily cruised to victory while Kent and I beat our legions against one another.  Note to self:  never turn your back on a Hutt. 

Last week (Feb. 14) I was lucky enough to draw the Hutt faction.  Kent turned up as the Rebels and Darth Ric lead the Imperial side.  On my third turn (2-2/3 turns into the game), a faction card straight and a fleet of bomber + capitol ship led to a stunningly quick victory.  Luckily, we had plenty of good single malts to finish up the evening. 

Then this week (Feb. 21), Ric resumed his role as Peetza da Hutt.  Sure enough, Kent turned on the Rebel Leader Horak, ignored the swelling Hutt forces, and again in record-tying time the Hutts won. 

Even so, there were some hysterical moments:

• The destruction of Sluis Van with its garrison of seven Hutts, "Suddenly seven voices cried out and were suddenly silenced."
• The desperate defense dice roll that spun and spun and spun and spun and... "Hey, Ric, it's still spinning" and spun and came up... six.  
• And several other truly amazing things that kept us laughing all night long. 

Best of all, though, over these past few weeks have been the birthday goodies:  the framed photos of last year's fire extinguisher extravaganza and the diorama/display of Capt. Henry Horak's photo, dog tags, and 384th emblem along side a realistic Grafton-Underwood landscape and a miniture Henry figurine.

The Shortest, Longest Game

Harrumph!  On the 3rd we played to exhaustion, with the Hutts (me) being drubbed solidly by Darth Kent and Rebel Leader LaBan.  It was the top of the 7th turn, so we photo-documented the gameboard and resolved to resume this week. 

And indeed, after an orgy of sushi we painstakingly set up the board, the card decks, the fleets, the legions, and started up again.  Rebel Ric immediately reinforced his troops in the El'Rood Sector with both his normal tranche plus 7 more from a faction card straight. 

First, he assaulted Hoth, which fell after a brief battle.  Then he attacked the star base at Bespin, which quickly surrendered.  As it turned out, this was the Emperor's secret location.  Game ova!

We finished off the evening learning the rules to Primordial Soup, a potential alternative game. 

An Open Letter from Kent the Hutt

After nearly three weeks without a galactic deathmatch due to infections picked up in a Sarlacc pit, we are set to resume tomorrow.  Meanwhile, we are pleased to bring you this e-mail rant from Kent the Hutt.

To the mettlesome conspirators; The impudent Darth Trilby and traitorous Peetza the Hutt,

You fools!  You insufferable, treacherous wipers of Yak bottoms and shovelers of cockroach frass!

Has not the Six Sectors profited and stabilized under the Mighty and Powerful Tutt the Hutt's kind rule for these three millennium?  Has he not brought stability to galactic markets?  Peace and prosperity reigns!

King Tutt the Hutt smells a rebellion.  Ingrates!  How you will suffer!

Just for the hint of an uprising, King Tutt the Hutt, now decrees a 5% rebellion tax on Romulan Ale, all Scotch, chocolate and Za from Old Earth.  He suspends both your delegations from the Supreme Council.  Should you persist, your consulates will be smashed into rubble and rebuilt as casinos.

He shall crush your infantile rebellion with his cousins, the giant Sandworms of Tatooine, juggernauts from the mills of Bpfassh, spice Balrogs from the deep mines of Kessel and the four armed Yeti of Hoth.  Beware you measly insects, beware,  He will draw and quarter you with feral Tontons, grind you up and feed you to his octopods for amusement. 

So it is written, so it becomes Galactic Law, so shall it come to pass.

Hutthoowah!

Hoongwah the Hutt, Grand Vizier to the Munificent and Benevolent King Tutt the Hutt