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

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. 

Hutts, Hutts, and more Hutts

After Horak the Hutt gained the coveted mirror ball trophy, it was up to Kent and Ric to win it back.  And that they did, or rather, Kent did (Oct. 30).  As the wily Hutt leader, he was able to sweep to victory.  Unfortunately, I've slept since then, so I don't remember how exactly he managed to pull it off.  I suspect he got Rebel Ric and Sith Lord Karl to go after one another, while he quietly gained strength and cards.

The week following (Nov. 5), Ric as Peetza da Hutt made an excellent run at gaining the trophy and a trifecta for the Hutt faction.  Initially, it looked like a sure thing for General Horak as his Rebels overran much of the galaxy.  But two well-placed attacks by the Death Star decimated his forces and destroyed the Rebel fleet.  That said, the Empire was not able to take out the Hutts nor finish off the Rebels.  After many, many dice rolls, a draw was declared and the Hutt trifecta averted.

Now (Nov. 13) we've had two more battles for galactic domination.  In Game #1, Sith Lord Ric was able to overcome the Rebellion in just 3 turns.  Horrendously bad dice rolls in the initial turn and poor faction cards left the Rebels vulnerable.  The Hutts never got traction and were never much of a threat.  Game Empire.

In Game #2, the same arrangement of forces led to a different outcome.  The Rebels held the advantage for most of the game, even taking out 3 starbases.  But as luck would have it, the Emperor's starbase was the last one to come out.

Meanwhile, the crafty Hutts built up a fleet and made good on mopping up the Stormtroopers in the Mid Rim before succeeding in a flanking attack against Sullust and then a breakthrough to Tattooine.  Game Hutts.

Postscript:  We've completed 242 games.  Watch this space for the big 250th Galactic Battle Celebration.

Rebel Rousing

The Great Hail Storm of Omwat

Peetza da Hutt came through with real live pizza despite a torrential downpour and significant hail storm.  The arroyos were running and so were the gutters.  His reward:  half a bottle of Chianti.

That in part might explain our failure to recognize arch-Rebel Wood's dastardly setup with a plan to control the Outer Rim on the very first turn.  He was successful in capturing the sector, but he failed to take Kurt from the Hutts.  That left him vulnerable to the Imperial counter-attack that swept into Kurt, through Balmorra and into Yavin 4.

A Rare Two-game Evening

Game #1

In a very odd initial setup, Sith Lord LaBan controlled the Outer Rim and very nearly owned the Wild Space.  The Death Star effectively neutralized the Ison Corridor.

The Rebels led by General Horak countered by starting off with the capture of the El'Rood Sector, taking out many outlying Imperial garrisons, and leaving it to the Hutts to deal with the Outer Rim by taking Ord Mantel.

Kent the Hutt came hard up against one of the worst runs of dice rolls we have ever seen.  The assault on Ord Mantel failed completely, efforts to take Hapes from the Rebels were repulsed, leaving Balmorra dangerously weak.  In desperation, the Hutts attacked Da Soocha V and Kashyyyk and eked out two faction cards. 

The Empire came out with 4 reinforcements and 5 legions for the Outer Rim sector bonus.  The first starbase was constructed on Tatooine and then the storm troopers ran amok, seriously damaging the Rebel forces, but neglecting to attack the El'Rood Sector.

Armed with a handful of reinforcements plus the large garrison on Duro, the Rebels attacked into the Outer Rim.  A timely "Use the Force" faction card gave them +1 to all dice while attacking Tatooine.  Although a close battle, the Rebels prevailed, and to their surprise, the Emperor was discovered.  Game ova.  Victory Rebels. 

Game #2

Since the first game ended in record time, we elected to keep the same sides and restart a second match.

Kent the Hutt began with a strong position after the initial setup.  The Rebels and the Storm Troopers knocked each other around to no avail.

[I've slept since then... need input for others here.]

Eventually, the Hutts prevailed.  Victory Kent.

Standard Risk

Game 1. Generals Laban and Wood deployed heavily in Australia with an aim towards repeating Nathan's trick of quickly taking and holding that continent. Wood's initial assault went rapidly awry and left Laban in a strong position.

However, on the other side of the world, concentrated on South America, where little was done to counter-balance his forces, merely a token garrison of Woodites in Argentina. Gen. Horak struck out of West Africa and swept up the four cities objective, cutting a swath through Central Asia. Next he finished off South and North America, claiming the control one continent objective.

With insufficient troops to muster a counter-attack, Wood and Laban resigned themselves to their fate as Horak simply claimed the control North America objective and the game without any further effort.

Game 2. Laban watched Horak and Wood inflict mutal casualties on one another while he took Australia and began his march into Asia. Although Laban was poised to win, Wood snatched victory from him by sweeping Horak out of North America for his third objective.

Game 3. Another quick one. Wood took an early lead and held it. World domination was his in three turns.

Guns were silenced by shortly after 10:00.