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".