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.