Trifecta Averted

With the usual twisted variant on a standard set up, Darth Horak and Kent the Hutt faced down General LaBan's rebel forces.  The Rebels did a passable job on their first turn, but didn't really cripple the Dark Sith Lord's forces.  The Hutts of course, just nibbled on a few systems to get cards.  The Empire, on the other hand, dealt death and destruction across the galaxy. 

Then the Rebels and the Hutts evened things out.  Sectors were won and lost, reinforcements came and went, systems were destroyed and... um, well, they never were un-destroyed.  After a particularly virulent attack by the Rebels, Kent the Hutt went ballistic, attacking everywhere he could, even at only 1:1 odds. 

Typically, this behavior results in catastrophic losses and ends the game quickly for someone other than Kent.  In this rare case, Ric kept up the pressure on the Empire (not knowing that the Emperor was still not on the board) and let the Hutts gather their strength. 

Ultimately, the forces of goodness and the forces of drug dealership together conspired to knock the e-vile Empire back to the stone age.  The Hutts consolidated faster than the Rebels.  In a last ditch effort, the Rebels bounced off the Emperor's starbase at Duro and that gave the Hutt's time enough, not for love, but for victory. 

Game Hutts. 

Belated May 29th Post

Darth Horak and General Wood took up their dice and faced Peetza da Hutt.  In a frenzy of recriminations, the Rebels and Stormtroopers battled each other to exhaustion.  The Hutts led by the wily Ric took advantage of their on-going feud to run the board for a fairly quick and easy victory.

With 2/3 of a trifecta under his belt, next week looks to be a key battle.  Stay tuna'ed.

The Come-back Kid Comes Back Again

General Horak started the game off with great concentrations, good positions, and excellent connectivity.  Then it got better--a tremendous run of good dice rolls pushed Darth LaBan to 15 systems.  Kent the Hutt finished the job by kicking Ric to the curb and knocking him down to 4 reinforcements. 

Despite all that initial goodness and a steadily growing fleet, Imperial stormtroopers kept multiplying, starbases were proliferating, and the force meter was darkening.  Faction cards poured in and soon Darth LaBan had the Ison Corridor. 

Meanwhile, the crafty Hutts, led by the uber-crafty Kent, were knocking off resource planets left and right.  A major assault on Mon Calamari en route to the Empire's stronghold at Kessel demolished a major Hutt concentration, but did little to slow them down.  When they hit 8, alarm bells went off in Rebel headquarters. 

I played the dreaded "Name an opponent.  Randomly remove any two of his faction cards" faction card.  Busted the winning straight. 

But Kent didn't respond by crippling the Empire.  The result was a hamstrung rebellion and, with faction cards for fleets and troops, the Darth LaBan conquered the galaxy. 

Imperial win!

Hutts, again...

Darth Ric and General Kent took up there respective forces with a wink and a nod towards "keeping the Hutts in check."  Initially things swung back and forth with about equal reinforcements and no sector bonuses.  The Hutts nibbled away at the Imperial and Rebel crumbs left behind.  Everyone seemed to be getting two faction cards per turn.

But when Gen. Kent attacked a resource planet in the Mid Rim, that was going too far.  "Money is Power" came out and the orders never came.  First, a Hutt capital ship made good on assaults in the Mid Rim to protect weak resource planets.  Then a bomber followed that led to the capture of Balmorra.

The e-vile emperor struck back, but could only get as far as Elom.  While that was a tragic waste of a resource planet, the garrison belonged to the Rebels.  Gen. Kent misjudged the Hutt threat when he went after stormtroopers in the 4th turn.  The Hutts held a faction card straight.  With 10 legions they struck out from Balmorra through Yevin 4 to Tatooine, thence to Duro, and still had a surplus.  Without defensive cards, both stormtroopers and Rebels were helpless to halt the overwhelming assault.

Victory Hutts.

Due to work-related travel, we will resume this regularly scheduled battle for galactic supremacy in three (count 'em, 3) weeks. 

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.

Another Circumsolar Orbit for Peetza da Hutt

In a magnanimous gesture of friendship and goodwill, Darth Horak and General Wood allowed Ric the Hutt to win tonight.

Hell no!

Let's back up the ol' time machine.  First off, my plan to use the birthday sushi-fest to lure both of my opponents into a protein-comma somnambulent state failed.  Even after wine, beer, and a couple Tanqueray-and-tonics, tons o' sushi, and the combined efforts of carrot cake and double chocolate moose cake, they were both still on their feet. 

This can't be good, I thought to myself. 

The setup went in the usual crazy way.  Seems like we never do things the same way twice.  The Hutts had 6 resource planets yet my Empire was completely connected.  The Death Star held sway over the Wild Space. 

The Rebels came blazing out of the gates and inflicted significant damage on the Empire with amazingly good dice rolls, the last they'd see tonight.  The Hutts made a modest advance.  The storm troopers, well, they gave as good as they got. The first starbase goes on Sluis Van. 

Turn 2, the dastardly Rebels took out the Death Star.  Damn, I hate it when that happens.  The Hutts muddled on with their 3 little troops and played a Spies card:  Randomly remove a faction card from each opponent.  There went my straight and the 7 legions of clones that would've come with it.  With the initial concentration of troops on Bespin, they are able to overrun the Ison Corridor.  That said, I was able do some damage to the Rebels and still snag a Hutt for 3 faction cards.  The Emperor's starbase comes out and I place it on Gamorr. 

Turn 3, the Rebels hunker down, push the force meter over a couple notches, and get their 3 cards.  The Hutts turn in a faction card straight and use those forces to garner more resource planets.  My storm troopers and a bomber make a go at a big run, but the Hutts blow away the bomber with a Mine Fields card.  None-the-less, the Rebels are hurting and the force meter moves to the dark side. 

Turn 4, the Rebels take a shot at Sluis Van and take it out.  The Hutts grow strong with the reinforcements from the Ison Corridor.  The Empire strikes back with a capital ship and significant in-coming reinforcements.  The Wild Space is mine. 

Turn 5, the Rebels make a run at the starbase on Gamorr, but heavy resistance en route causes the assault to fail on Rodia.  The Hutts gain 9 resource planets.  The Empire responds with an overwhelming show of force, but the Money is Power faction card, thwarts the assault.  No matter, the Ison Corridor is neutralized and Bespin recaptured. 

Turn 6, the Rebels make a pitiful attack on Gamorr, but fail hopelessly.  The Hutts sweep up resource planets that the Rebels can not protect.  The final assault from Ord Mantell claws through the light resistance from storm troopers and captures Tatooine from the Rebels.

Victory, Hutts. 

The Lunar Eclipse is Coming

Even with the threat of an impending total lunar eclipse, the Hutts were able to triumph over the forces of light and dark.  Fortunately for me, I was playing the Hutts. 

After last week's victory with the Storm Troopers, Kent sought to move his potential for a trifecta forward with a Rebel victory.  Indeed, he came out of the gates with embarrassingly good luck and quickly damaged the Imperial forces.  The Hutts started with 6 resource planets and limped along, collecting faction cards but little else.  The Emperor carefully deployed his starbases, but his luck with the dice was less than stellar.  Little did we know that the Imperial starbase came out on the second turn. 

Early on, the Rebels destroyed the Death Star.  Unbeknownst to us, Ric had already used both his "Build a New Death Star" faction cards.  As the Rebels ground down the Empire, the Hutts made good on capturing the Ison Corridor, a rare treat for the slimy green hoard.  That plus a couple faction card straights led to a situation where they held 9 systems and 8 of them were resource planets. 

The Empire and the Rebellion fought on for 9 turns, when the Rebels mounted a ferocious assault.  They bounced off the starbase at Balmorra and then turned on the lightly garrisoned starbase at Hapes.  Unluckily, Balmorra was the Emperor's starbase.  So close, General Wood. 

The Hutts had broken a faction card straight to defend Sullust from a Rebel attack, but the remaining cards were enough to sweep up ten resource planets.