Resumption of Hostilities

After a respite of several weeks, we return to our regularly scheduled galactic conflict.  The impetus for this was the arrival of the Vermonters, including my nephew David.  Rather than rolling for who got first and second choice of faction, we let the dice decide.  They awarded me the Hutts and David got the Empire.  That left Kent with the Rebels.

The setup was unremarkable except for the six systems left to the green worm.  That said, the Hutts quickly lost one and thereafter struggled to get even close to a bonus card.  It was well into turn four that they clawed their way up to seven resource systems. 

Meanwhile, the Storm Troopers and Rebels exchanged blows repeatedly.  Early in the second turn, the Rebels were able to destroy the Death Star.  Sectors were captured but never held.  Starbases accumulated but the Emperor was nowhere to be found.

A slight advantage in the Force Meter let David get ahead with faction cards, which led to more vessels, which led to more systems.  Rebel Leader Wood struggled to hold the line, but for every push of the Force to the light side, the Empire was able to push back to the dark side.  It began to look like the game would soon go to the Imperial forces.

But as luck would have it, the Hutts picked up a faction card straight for 7 legions of reinforcements just in time to take a run at a series of 3 resource planets.  It was turn 5 and the Hutts already had 7 resource systems and a capital ship (1d8) to help lessen the Starbase defensive rolls (2d8).  After a desperate and costly battle onYlesia, the remaining Gamorran mercenaries were forced to fight on against a reinforced Kessel.  Eventually, a few survivors were able to push on and attack Ord Mantell.  With the help of all things that the Hutts hold holy, they were able take the 10th system and a victory. 

Trifecta Averta (again)

After two crushing victories in a row, the Empire stood to win its first Trifecta, an Imperial win by each of Kent, Ric and Karl.  Alas, Kent the Rebel king-maker attacked Darth Horak's storm troopers to the benefit of the Peetza da Hutt.  Ric was able to easily take 10 resource planets, since the Rebels were intent on denying the Empire a clean victory. 

On Turn 2 the Rebels were able to use a fortuitous faction card to destroy the Death Star.  That led to a complete flip of the Wild Space, which the Rebels were able to use to good effect.  It took several turns for a new Death Star to be built and then it was able to convert Omwatt to a smattering of asteroids. 

With the Wild Space neutralized and the Force Meter well into the Dark Side, it was only a matter of time before the Rebels were crushed.  But the ever-resourceful Rebels threw in with the Hutts and refused to attack them.  (Perhaps a non-aggression treaty?  We'll never know.) 

In the end, Hutt cards won the day and Ric will be carrying the Funky Chicken Trophy to Utah to share with friends.  For my part, Kent now has a Death Mark upon his head. 

Trifecta Averted... Well, not really

It was an ugly match... with an ugly ending.  There were two conflicting goals:  Ric the Rebel needed an orange victory to gain his Trifecta Badge while Sith  Kent and Karl the Hutt sought to deny him this at all costs. 

The initial deployment had the Hutts at 3 resource systems, but firmly entrenched in the Wild Space and El'Rood Sectors.  The Death Star held sway over the Ison Corridor.  On turn 1 the Rebels had terrible rolls.  The Hutts fared slightly better, gaining ground in the El'Rood Sector.  But the Empire struck back with great good fortune, significantly hamstringing the Rebels. 

By turn 2, the Rebels were suffering from continued poor dice rolls.  The Hutts managed to capture the Ison Corridor and the Empire continued to grind down the Rebellion. 

On turn 3 the Rebels neutralized the Hutt sector, only to lose the Wild Space.  This sector bonus would greatly assist Horak the Hutt for several turns.  Meanwhile, the Empire continued to salt the Mid Rim with starbases. 

The Death Star marched forth and destroyed Dathomir with its large Rebel garrison.  Neither Hutt nor Storm Trooper elected to disrupt the tenuous balance between Dagobah and Hoth--each side gained benefit.  The Hutts managed to get sector bonuses from El'Rood and the Wild Space for one turn. 

Rebel assaults against the starbases in the Mid Rim failed miserably.  The Hutts could not gain traction beyond 6 resource planets.  In the end, the Empire slowly strangled the Rebels, ending Ric's dreams of a trifecta. 

In two weeks:  Darth Horak will attempt a first-ever Imperial trifecta, 3 Imperial victories in a row. 

Boom-boom La Ban Rides Again

Two games to summarize today in order to bring the blog up to date.  Alas, both were La Ban victories, taking him two-thirds of the way to a Trifecta.  The next game will be a desperate one for all sides. 

Game the First

Rebel Leader Horak took on Darth Kent and Peetza da Hutt.  Bickering between the Storm Troopers and Rebels left an opening big enough to drive Jabba through, and that's just what Ric did. 

Victory:  Hutts.  

Game the Second

Horak the Hutt thought to have an easy time taking the Funky Chicken Trophy away from Sith Lord Ric.  Even with the tacit help of General Wood's Rebel forces, the Dark Side consistently held strong on defense and attacked even stronger on offense.  Hutt fleets were demolished after failed assaults (twice) on Ylesia.  The Wild Space was captured by the Empire and cordoned off by starbases and an asteroid field on Sullust.  Only a counter-balancing stream of reinforcements from the Ison Corridor kept the Hutts in the game at all. The Rebels kindly looked the other way rather than counter-attack into the Hutt sector. 

Despite General Wood's surprising attack through the asteroids, which successfully denied the Empire it's sector bonus, the dice and cards continued to fail Wood and Horak.  Eventually the Outer Rim fell to the Dark Side and then the Rebels were carved up for serving.  However, that was not before a desperate attack on a Mid Rim starbase, hoping to get lucky and snare the Emperor.  Of course, with the Force being so strong in Ric tonight, there was little danger of that.  The Emperor was safe and the Storm Troopers soon finished off the last of the Rebels.

Victory:  Empire. 

Snatching Victory from the Jaws of Defeat

Rebel Leader Kent and Ric, the Pizza Delivery Hutt, went up against a seemingly unstoppable Darth Horak in this week's battle for galactic supremacy.  By ignoring the opportunities of attacking large numbers of weakly held systems, the Sith Lord was able to control the Wild Space in the first turn and protect its hyperlinks.  The Death Star plus a starbase made attacks on the sector futile.

Even better, the Death Star was able to destroy Gamorr and turn it's attentions to the protection of Sluis Van.  With two extra legions coming in regularly and the Hutts prevented from occupying 3 of 13 resource planets, the Empire slowly but steadily ground down the opposition.  Starbases accumulated in the Wild Space with little chance of their capture.  At one key juncture, the Empire used a "Snarf one Rebel card" faction card and managed to eliminate a "Snarf two cards from any opponent."  Both Hutt and Rebel were ready to sue for peace. 

But when the Death Star left its protective station to take out Balmorra, the wiley Rebels were able to launch a sneak attack from Bfassch.  Reinforced with a bomber, they attacked the starbase at Sluis Van, capturing it quickly and then moved on to Omwat.  As luck would have it, that system fell revealing the Emperor's redoubt.

Victory Rebels.

Hutt Night

It being the Kent's birthday, he had the rare prerogative to choose his faction, which was the Empire.  With Sith Lord Wood bringing his justifiably famous "Sloppy Kents" for dinner, the battle for Galactic Domination was certainly well fed.  Birthday cake was a combination of birthday cupcakes and birthday chocolate chip cookies.  Altogether, it was washed down with Caol Ila. 

Horak the Hutt and Rebel Leader LaBan set out with the express goal of denying victory to the Empire.  The twosome did quite well in holding the Sith at bay, but the Rebels couldn't gain traction against the starbases and the Empire built up a significantly fortified zone in the Mid Rim. 

Later in the game, with an Imperial faction card straight, things started to go sour for the Hutts and Rebels.  Fortunately, the Rebels were able to reply with one of their own.  However, the sneaky Hutts built up their fleet, captured the Ison Corridor for a sector bonus, and used their own straight to overwhelm ten resource planets. 

Victory Hutts.

Blog Catch-up Post

June 25

For the 5th game in a row, General Horak led the Rebel Forces against Sith Wood and his Storm Troopers.  Peetza da Hutt did indeed provide pizza. 

Unlike last week's disaster, this time the Rebels were fortunate in getting a faction card that revealed the Emperor's whereabouts on Elom.  Knowing that the Storm Troopers would heavily reinforce that starbase as soon as they were able, the Rebels launched a desperate assault that swung through Sluis Van and Omwatt.  The battle at Elom was hard fought, but the last Rebel unit was able to overcome the last Imperial legion.

Victory Rebels

July 2

General Ric took up the Rebel forces and Kent the Hutt led the green team.  Sith Lord Karl positioned himself for a possible trifecta with the Hutts next week.  But it was not to be...

Although initial attacks against the Rebels set them back seriously, they were able to control the Ison Corridor for two turns early in the game.  As they counter-attacked, the Hutts slowly gathered cards.  Eventually, a Rebel faction card straight allowed them to partially recover, but they failed to set back the Hutts sufficiently.  (General LaBan would say that the powerful Storm Troops were remiss in attacking the Rebels so furiously, when the Hutts needed further attention.)  At any rate, Kent the Hutt used his faction card straight to break through weakened Imperial systems and take ten systems.
 Victory Hutts

The Hutts Strike Back

As luck would have it, things fell out such that I was playing the Rebel faction, Kent took the Imperial pieces, and Ric held the reins of the Hutt hoard.  My efforts to secure a third straight Rebel victory failed.  Sith Lord Wood came down hard on the Rebels and denied them any headway. 

After several failed attempts to gain traction, the Rebels hunkered down for the long game... waiting for cards, looking for a chance to take out the Death Star, hoping for a faction card straight.  Even with the Empire on the rampage, they took one turn too many attacking the Rebels.  With lightning-like swiftness, Ric the Hutt snapped up 10 resource planets. 

Game ova!

Double Rebel Whammy

Game #1

Rebel Leader Karl went up against Sith Lord LaBan and Hutt Spice Merchant Extraordinaire Kent Wood in a pizza-fueled battle for control of the galaxy.  In an unusual initial setup, the Rebels were very strong in the Mid Rim. 

After their first turn, they managed to capture the Wild Space, only to follow up with capturing the Ison Corridor and, surprisingly, the Mid Rim as well.  Of course, the Mid Rim was immediately invaded and neutralized. 

But the cards were all in the Rebels hand.  The Emperor's starbase was discovered and destroyed at the beginning of turn 3 for a short game. 

Game #2

After such a quick game there was time to spare, so we set up with the same factions for a rematch.  The Emperor came out on the first turn and his starbase went under the Death Star at Hoth.  The Rebels had drawn a "Move the Force Meter one space to the light side and look under any starbase" faction card as well as "Set all dice on their maximum value."  Playing the first card revealed the Emperor's hiding place and neutralized the initial +1 Imperial Death Star advantage.  The second card destroyed the protective Death Star and the remaining troops were quickly overcome by eager Rebels forces.  This represents the shortest possible SWR game (1-1/3 turns or 4 plays).

Ric La Ban, King Maker Extraordinaire

April 30

Wood the Hutt came out against Horak the Hutt and Darth Ric.  The Empire grabbed the Wild Space and began to put the hurt on both opponents.  Then the Sith Lord played the dastardly "Name an Imperial planet.  All troops must flee..." against a mighty garrison at Gamorr.  While it was easy for them to flee to Elom, it opened the way for the Hutts to capture Gamorr and Rodia.  With the addition of a faction card straight, the ten required systems were quickly taken for the victory.

Side note:  On April 24, McGoey retired from Boeing.  :-)

May 7

Tonight Horak drew Hutts and LaBan took the Rebels, thus sticking Wood with the unenviable position of playing the Empire.  The initial set up left the Hutts in control of 6 resource systems.  By turn 2 they had one capital ship and captured a 7th resource planet.  Meanwhile, Ric had pushed the force meter completely to the light side.  The E-vile Empire was hurtin' for certain. 

On turn 3 the Rebels attacked Imperial and Hutt forces thoughout the Mid Rim from his stronghold in Kessel.  This drove the Hutts down to 5 systems, but it was too costly.  The capital ship plus troops already on Rodia sweep up the Rebel bomber and garrison on Gamorr followed by the destruction of the weaker force on Nar Shaddar.  At the same time, a Hutt straight gave them a huge force on Ylesia, which overwhelmed in turn Kessel, Ord Mandel, Yavin 4, and finally Balmorra for the win.  Victory Hutts.   

Hutt Quinfecta

Inconceivable!

Yes, Kent the Hutt was able to put another one away for the Green Team.  At first Sith Lord Ric was able to keep both my Rebels and the Hutts at bay.  But when he blasted through the garrison on Gamorr, it opened the door for the green hoard to pour through.  First they took Elom, then the marched through and took Sluis Van and Sullust.  In the end, the Rebels were too weak to stop their march towards victory.  April 16th will be a date remembered in infamy. 

Note to self:  When you've got the Hutts down, kick 'em again!

Defensive Dice and Offensive Cards

Darth Horak took up arms against General Wood and both of them swore on a stack of Alderaanian constitutions that Ric the Hutt would not win a hexafecta.  Straight away the Rebel attacks began, but good defensive dice rolls limited the damage.  The Hutts cautiously advanced and in their turn the Empire made small dents in both parties.  Efforts against the Hutts left the Rebels strong in the number of systems they controlled.

But the cards were always in the Empire's favor.  A bomber was helpful early on, causing the Hutts to use a shipyard attack to destroy it.  Eventually the Imperial fleet would grow to a two bomber squadron.  By turn three the Death Star was able to destroy Bespin with a large Hutt garrison.  By turn four the Empire controlled the Wild Space.  That left only 11 systems for the Hutts to prey on. 

Good use of cards pushed the Force Meter to the full Dark Side and this prevented the Rebels from making a one-in-a-million shot at the Death Star, which protected the Emperor on Endor.  One faction card straight led to significant Rebel losses in the Core Worlds and this was followed up with a capital ship flush that punished them in the Mid Rim.

The Rebel forces conceded on Turn 8.  The Hutt string of victories was at last halted. 

Hutt Quadfecta

In a surprising turn of events, the Hutts pulled off their fourth victory in a row, a quadfecta.  With Rebel Leader Wood and Sith Lord Ric both swearing that the Hutts would be halted in their tracks, it was a foregone conclusion that the Hutts were doomed. 

Sooo...

Horak the Hutt implemented Cunning Plan #17 -- start with only 3 resource planets... but garrison them with 7 legions each.  The other 4 systems were merely bait for Rebels and Stormtroopers looking for an easy faction card from capturing a single Hutt system. 

The game, as is always the case, had its share of crazy statistical anomalies.  This time it was a strong bias towards the defender.  Imperial systems stood strong against the Rebel assaults.  Rebels defeated overwhelming numbers of attacking Stormtroopers.   Hutts successfully warded off both factions. 

Only the Empire seemed to have any initial success, capturing the Ison Corridor, garrisoning one side with a heavily reinforced starbase  and the Death Star at the other.  Rebel counter-attacks managed to break the sector but at great cost. 

Soon the galaxy was littered with systems having singleton garrisons, except for the 3 original Hutt concentrations.  Rebel schemes to cause mass casualties fell victim to a rules technicality, but the Hutts returned with the same assault.  However, in the aftermath, the starbase involved fled to a distant and safe system.  Meanwhile, the Rebels pushed the Force Meter towards the light side. 

However, the original 3 Hutt systems stood firm for four turns until they broke away on a run for 10 systems based on the resource planets of the Mid Rim.  As noted, the defense dice were preternaturally strong and the green hoard was stopped by a single Rebel force on Kessel, surviving attacks from both direction.  Both Rebel and Empire counter-attacked, but the 5 faction cards from the previous turn gave the Hutts a reinforced fleet and a straight worth 7 legions.  Again, it came down to a battle for Kessel, but this time the Hutts overcame the Rebel resistance for the win. 

Rules note:  In an experiment, we chose to give each side a single faction card at the beginning of the game from the top of their deck.  It seemed to have little effect on the game, although this meant that the Rebels and Hutts had a chance for a turn 2 faction card straight. 

Hutt Trifecta

Darth Ric faced off against Rebel Leader Karlos while Kent the Hutt lapped up the victory.  With the Wild Space neutralized as a sector of interest by the Death Star on Omwatt, the Rebels set up on Bakura opposite the large Imperial garrison on Bespin.  The addition of the 5 legions of turn 1 reinforcements ensured a high body count.  The Hutts were not disappointed -- something like 28 troops destroyed.  After a few more ill-fated 3:1 attacks, a desperate 2:1 took out enough Stormtroopers to hold their reinforcements down to 4. 

Turn 2 witnessed two Hutt faction cards being swiped by the wily Karlos.  Sith Lord Ric built up his

Turn 3 saw the establishment of Rebel control of the Ison Corridor and the El'Rood Sector.  The Empire's faction-card straight was not enough to neutralize the Rebel threat and the Hutts used their faction cards to build up a significant fleet.  With it they were able to sweep across the Mid Rim and then strike out from Rodia through Falleen into the Core Worlds before doubling back through the rice resource planets of the El'Rood Sector. 

Victory Hutts.  Stay tuned next week for a possible Hutt "quad-fecta".

March Madness

8-8-8-8-7-7

March 19:  We knew we were in trouble when the initial rolls to choose sides came up with 4 eights in a row followed by 2 sevens.  In the end, Ric was the Rebel Leader, Darth Horak led the Empire, and Kent the Hutt led the green team.

Mssr. La Ban broke up the string of Hutt victories by taking home the trophy.

More Hutt Victories

March 26:  In an effort to gain a coveted trifecta, Ric picked the Hutt faction, leaving me the Empire, and Kent the Rebels.  Kent's initial attacks claimed the Ison Corridor and grievously injured the Stormtroopers.  The Hutts made their usual slight gains for cards, but captured no further resource planets.  The Empire struck back with a full assault into the Wild Space, but stubborn Hutt defenses surprised everyone and denied the Empire control of a sector to balance the Rebel one.  Continued counter-attacks against the Rebels in the Mid and Outer Rim evened the score with them but left everyone bloodied.

The Rebels took their handful of reinforcements plus their sector bonus and began their next offensive.  By good luck they were able to take out the Death Star where it guarded egress into the Wild Space.  That was followed by a march on Elom and the neutralization of its starbase.  The Hutts quickly capitalized on the Rebel-Empire mutual weaknesses for a record-tying 2nd turn victory. 

Since game #1 finished so early, we immediately started #2.  Ric moved to head up the Imperial forces and a chance at a trifecta.  I switched to the Hutts and Kent remained Rebel leader.

Although the initial setup was very different, the result was yet another Hutt victory.  By turn 3 a faction card straight led to a 9-system lead.  More faction card bonuses and a capital ship/bomber fleet led to final victory the next turn.
\

Hutt Victories #2 & #3

March 5

Ric, aka Peetza da Hutt, takes home the coveted Funky Chicken Trophy. 

March 12

Kent the Hutt makes it a rare Hutt trifecta.  There was foul play on the part of the Empire, but that is to be expected of Sith Lord Karl.  With the Dark Side looking unstoppable, Rebel Leader Ric managed to destroy the Death Star, invade the Wild Space, and march up to the doorstep of the Emperor's starbase only to be twarted by those damn 8-sided dice.  Kent took advantage of the momentary weakness to swoop across the Mid Rim for a victory. 

The Trophy Comes Home

In a game marked by Rudy's BBQ to excess, it seemed that everyone's offensive dice were hot and their defensive dice were not.  Sith Lord Kent made a valiant effort to subdue the Rebel faction, but the wily General LaBan pushed the Force Meter far to the Light Side. 

Horak the Hutt was able to slowly build his fleet and add systems.  When the Death Star abandoned Elom to vaporize a Rebel concentration, the green hoard locked down the the Wild Space.  Meanwhile the Rebels discovered the Emperor's starbase on Mimban and that pulled Storm Troopers and Rebels away from the weakly garrisoned Hutt resource planets in the Mid Rim.  Armed with extra legions per turn, a capital ship/bomber combined fleet, and a timely faction card straight, the Hutts ran up 10 resource planets.  Victory Hutts. 

The Draw of the Three

(with apologies to Stephen King)

Ric da Hutt, General Horak, and Sith Lord Wood took to their space pods after polishing off an entire CostCo pepperoni pizza.  Most of the action concentrated in the Mid and Outer Rim due to the Death Star occupying Elom in the initial placement. 

The Rebels did a passing fair job of hunting down and destroying lone legions on Imperial systems.  That cut their reinforcement rate down, although they made valient and sometimes very effective counterattacks.  That included denying the Rebels control of the Mid Rim.  The Hutts chugged along, biding their time. 

When the Death Star finally struck forth, it took out Sullust and a large Hutt garrison.  Then the Empire captured the Wild Space.  A large Rebel force attempted to reinvade the sector, but they were beaten off.  However, stormtroopers elsewhere were being decimated.  The Force Meter swayed back and forth before becoming lodged in the light side. 

Meanwhile, the Hutts slowly regained their strength.  After the stormtroopers captured Gamorr from the Rebels, the Hutts invaded the Mid Rim, but were stymied by a well-played faction card.  The Empire fortified their newly captured resource planets, constructed starbases in the safety of the Wild Space, and used the Death Star to block egress.  They were otherwise helpless to resist the Hutt onslaught. 

The Rebels attacked across the asteroids left from the destruction of Sullust and set up a force on Eriadu, set to invade the Wild Space.  The Hutts swept past the fortified starbases and conquered systems as far as Rodia, which fell to their Gamorran battle axes and laser blasters.

Thinking the game over, we congratulated Ric.  But in that final moment of "trust but verify," we counted systems.  Alas, the Hutts held only nine.  Gamorr was protected by the Death Star, Nar Shaddar was garrisoned by a starbase with five legions, Elom was safe deep in the Wild Space, and Sullust was gone.  There was little hope that the Hutts could take 10 resource planets until they could reduce Nar Shaddar or destroy the Death Star.  The Empire was effectively barracaded in the Wild Space and the Rebels would need many more turns (and faction cards) before they could defeat that hardened target. 

The exhausted players sued for peace and called it a draw.  

The 8-8-1-1-1-1 Kingmaker

With Wood's justly famous Sloppy Joes, aka Sloppy Hutts, under our belts, we resumed hostilities.  As the dice would have it, Kent drew the Hutt forces, Ric took the evile Empire, and I was left with the egg-sucking Rebels.  The setup proceeded in an fairly normal way, although truth be told, the Hutts had a good piece of the Mid-Rim resource planets and the Empire looked to easily take the Wild Space.  I vaguely recall that the game went thusly:

My initial assault set the Empire back with minimal losses to the Rebellion.  The Hutts croodled forth cautiously, but gained a 6th resource planet.  The Empire did indeed take the Wild Space and fortified it with the Death Star at Omwat and a starbase at Excarga.

Turn 2 required stern measures and the Rebels, reinforced with a bomber, fought through the Hutts at Gamorr to neutralize the Wild Space by taking the starbase at Excarga.  The initial assault on Excarga was decisively repulsed with 8-8 dice rolls.  A desperate and out-numbered Rebel force with nothing to lose continue the attack and were surprised with consecutive 1-1 / 1-1 victories.  The Hutts continued their slow advance.  The Empire, hamstrung by losses of numerous systems, struggled to gain faction cards, but did push the force meter to the dark side.  That trend continued and that alone kept them on the board as long as they lasted.

Turn 3 saw the Rebels run amok after a faction card straight.  They captured the Ison Corridor and the El'Rood Sector.  The Hutts recaptured Gamorr and ran their number of systems up to 7 for a bonus card, a dangerous situation.  However, the Hutts had now been forced out of half the galaxy.  The Empire responded to these combined threats by attacking into the El'Rood Sector at Sluis Van, which failed, and at Byfassh, which also failed.  They then destroyed the Rebel fleet and garrison at Excarga with the Death Star.  (This was the kingmaker move--had they instead reduced the Hutts at Gamorr, things would've gone differently in the end.)

Armed with reinforcements from two sectors, the Rebels continued to deal death throughout the galaxy.  The Hutts used faction cards to good effect and gained strength.  The Empire appeared to be on the ropes.

Turn 5 saw the Rebels spread thinly between the Empire who were gaining strength and the Hutts who were dangerously strong.  The Hutts continued to advance,finally taking away the Rebel sector bonus by capturing Bfassh.  The Empire continued to be the kingmaker by attacking Rebels in the Outer Rim instead of taking Hutt resource planets.

In the end, despite capturing 3 starbases and driving the Empire down to 8 systems, the Rebels could not resist huge faction card-assisted assaults that overwhelmed all that opposed them.  Victory Hutts.

Twice the Fun -- Twice the Embarrassment

General Kent not only reclaimed the Funky Chicken Trophy from Ric, but he humiliated us twice.  That brings his win percentage up to 30%, which is still well short of Ric's 38% lifetime average.

Game #1. 

Tying a previous record, the Rebels were able to attack through thinly-held Imperial lines and overrun the first starbase on the board at the beginning of their second turn.  Despite a garrison of three legions of Storm Troopers, the Rebels were able to succeed and capture Emperor LaBan.  Bummer!

Game #2.  

Resetting quickly, we dove into a second game, which turned out to be a much more involved affair.  Horak the Hutt was able to drive the Rebels out of the Ison Corridor and maintained control of that sector for the remainder of the game.  Faction card straights came thick and fast, first Hutt, then Empire, then Rebel.

General Kent and Sith Lord Ric battled it out, but the Empire was able to push the Force Meter far to the dark side.  As turns went by, the Hutts could only manage shallow gains, rarely getting into the bonus cards. The Rebels were gradually worn down and it looked like a sure thing for the Empire.  The Empire conquered the Wild Space and things were looking poorly for the Rebels.

But then the dastardly Rebels reinforced their last stronghold at Ylesia with the troops from a faction card straight and struck out for Elom.  Nar Shaddar fell, then Gamorr, next Excarga, and finally Elom itself.  True enough, the Sith Lord Ric was there.

Game Rebels.

A New Hutt Year

Memorable things from last night's game:

• Catastrophic failure of defense of Bffasch on turn 1.  (Rebel Leader Wood attacked a mass of Sith Lord Horak's troops with a slightly more massive force.  Wood blew the defense away with hardly a loss.) 
• Counterattack through the Core Worlds.  (The Empire struck back and nearly conquered the Core Worlds.  Eventually they did capture the El'Rood Sector for 2 turns.) 
• 5 7s in a row by Kent.  (Unspeakably good luck was bad luck for his opponents.)
• Numerous lost opportunities (4-2-2 wins out over 3-1, etc.  Disgustingly poor dice rolls at many key junctures in the game.)
• Numerous thin defenses stopped overwhelming forces.  (Time and again, important offenses were stymied by the casualties caused by one or a very few defenders.) 
• El'Rood Sector and Wild Space.  (Both were captured.  Both were sooner (Rebel control of Wild Space) or later (Empire in El'Rood) invaded, thus revoking the sector bonuses.) 
• Fall of the Mid Rim to the Hutts.  (The Green Hoard was able to sweep away resistance in the Mid Rim, giving Peetza da Hutt 5 easy resource planets from which to launch his eventual victory.) 
• Failure of the Rebels to attack the Hutts.  (The Rebel leader preferred to give the victory to the Hutts rather than let the Empire win.) 
• Hutt victory when the Rebels were one turn away from victory.  (Had the Hutts not prevailed, the Rebels surely would've captured the Emperor's starbase.)

Victory -- Hutts... again. 

A Missing December Post

Although pizza arrived 30 minutes late, the game commenced more or less on schedule Dec. 18th.  Much wine and whiskey was consumed.  Dice were rolled.  Legions fought and were victorious or vanquished.  Somewhere along the way, Ric bested Kent and I.  Delirious with joy, he took the coveted Funky Chicken Trophy home. 

Ringing out the Old and Ringing in the New

Friday December 5

Peetza arrived about 45 minutes late after a day-trip to Taos and back.  Horak the Hutt, Rebel Ric, and Sith Lord Wood battled until exhaustion set in around 11:30.  Despite being fortified by gringo chile, we called it a draw.

Thursday January 1

Same forces again, due to the luck of the draw in choosing fondue forks.  Ham, broccoli, yellow squash, baguette, mushrooms, merlot-soaked pears, melted cheese made for good eats.  Ric came out with all guns blazing and sent the Empire reeling.  Something like 8 systems captured with only two Rebel losses.  The Hutts did their gradual Hutt thing, snagging a couple stragglers and getting two faction cards.  The Empire limps along with terrible dice rolls, but manages to get three cards with help from the Force Meter.  Turn 2 is much the same, except the Sith pushes the Force Meter deeper into the dark while the Hutts eliminate the few Imperial garrisons at Omwat and Arbra to take the Wild Space. 

By turn 3 the Rebels have taken the Ison Corridor, but the Hutts are able to turn in a faction card straight and capture Bespin.  In later turns, while the Empire is still weak, the Hutts run up to 7 resource planets and poise themselves for a run for victory, but they weaken the Rebels, who might also win, significantly in the process.  The Empire starts to slowly gather its strength.  Eventually, they are able to destroy a large Hutt garrison at Elom, which simultaneously denies them their sector bonus.  

The Force Meter stays pegged on the dark side.  The Rebels have a set of lousy dice rolls against the Hutts that break their momentum before they can engage the Stormtroopers.  The Hutts are looking at having to reduce several starbases before they can garner 10 resource planets.  Good Hutt cards help them resist assaults from both opponents.  The Empire simply hunkers down behind a bevvy of starbases in the Mid Rim. 

Finally, turn 7 arrives with an Imperial faction card straight (their second in a row) and they run the board on the dozen or so Rebels systems that are left.  Not needed:  their ace in the hole--a blowie-uppie card for the last Rebel outpost in the Mid Rim.  Clearly, the extra cards from the skewed Force Meter was a tremendous asset to the Empire.

Victory:  Stormtroopers.