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. 

A Hutt Trifecta

Recall that Kent the Hutt slaughtered millions of innocents in his quest for power two weeks ago.

Last week Deputy Rebel Leader Wood took out the Death Star on Kessel that was blocking a Hutt breakout into the Mid Rim.  Bad Death Star movement die rolls had kept the Empire from exercising its power and destroying Sluis Van.  Trapped on Kessel, it still prevented the Hutts from gaining access to four critical resource planets. 

Sure enough, with the Death Star gone, the Hutts soon overran Kessel, Balmorra, Yavin 4, and thence on to Duro and Tattooine.  Game Hutts, their second in a row and a victory for Peetza da Hutt. 

This week, the Hutts collected faction cards until on the third turn they were able to use their lone capital ship plus the seven legions from a faction card straight to sweep to victory.  Valiant efforts by stormtroopers and Rebels were not enough to avoid the avalanche of Hutts who ran all the way to Tattooine.  The tenth resource planet was Dar Shaddar, but even it was finally overwhelmed. 

Victory Hutts, making this three in a row, each by one of us, for a Hutt Trifecta. 

A second game was vainly attempted, but powerful defensive cards by General Horak kept Kent the Hutt from winning.  Darth LaBan couldn't eliminate the Rebels, but he drew them down to four systems.  Time ran out and we called it a draw. 

Happy Turkey (or Salmon) Day!

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.

The First Funky Chicken Mirror Ball Trophy Night

Kent created a masterful trophy in the likeness of a particularly despised piece of nearby street sculpture.  Each week's winner will be able to carry the trophy home until another can reclaim it. 

Tonight Karl the Hutt took on Sith Lord LaBan and General Wood.  Things took a favorable turn for the Hutts as they set up using their new strategy using few but heavily garrisoned resource planets.  While Ric and Kent snapped up the remaining resource planets, the Hutts snarfed the entire Wild Space(!).  Definitely a first for the Hutts to control a sector out of the starting gates. 

With the extra 2 legions per turn, the Hutts soon had an impenetrable lock on the Wild Space.  Then 3 faction card straights in a row led to victory.

More details and photos later.

Trifecta Averted Yet Again

In a most unusual initial setup, last night's battle for galactic domination featured Sith Lord Ric, Rebel Commander Kent, and Karl the Hutt. 

Initial setup before any attacks

The Hutts, fearing a secret agreement between the Rebels and the Empire to deny the Hutts any chance of a trifecta, hunkered down on 3 resource planets:  Ord Mandell, Balmorra, and Tattooine.  With only 3 systems to heavily defend, their garrisons were comprised of 6 legions each. 

The first Rebel assaults in the Outer Rim did a fair amount of damage, but left them with only small garrisons.  The Empire struck back with a minimal number of assaults, just for cards.  The Hutts then consolidated the Outer Rim, collected two cards, and sat tight while small outlying garrisons got picked off by the others. 

By the end of turn 2, the Rebels had captured the Ison Corridor, the Hutts controlled the Outer Rim, and the Empire held the Mid Rim. 

As luck would have it, the Rebels assaulted the starbase on the Wookie home world.  A poor roll on a defensive faction card left the system vulnerable.  As it turned out, it was the Emperor's starbase.  Victory Rebelion. 

A Rare Two-fer

Two games in one night, a rarity these days.  Even more rare, I was twice the victor, once as Rebel Leader and once as Emperor.  Next week I have an opportunity to seize the coveted Trifecta crown. 

Game #1

Peetza da Hutt, true to his name, brought pizza.  Darth Kent took up the imperial reins of power leaving me, the low roller, to struggle with the disorganized Rebels.  The first Rebels assaults fared only modestly.  The Hutts fought a major engagement with the imperial forces at Hoth.  Although the Hutts came out victorious, it was a Pyrrhic victory.  The Empire made numerous counterattacks, especially against the Hutts, but this left them mostly with singletons for garrisons. 

Unbeknownst to the Rebels, the Emperor's starbase came out on turn 2.  With only light garrisons spread widely, Sith Lord Wood placed it on Elom where a few legions could protect him from the small group of Rebels on Omwat. 

That turned out to be ill-fated, because the Rebels had gained 4 faction cards... all Imperial troops must flee and a straight.  With the garrison on Elom reduced to 1 and 10 in-coming Rebel legions, the starbase was overwhelmed.  Game ova by the beginning of turn 3. 

Game #2

With such a quick end to the game, we elected to go on for a second one.  Rotating seats counterclockwise, I became the Emperor, Kent became the Hutts, and Ric moved over to the Rebels. 

Needless-to-say, this game went differently.  Rebel Leader Boom-boom got an early lead by punishing the Stormtroopers.  Typical Imperial reinforcements were only 4 or 5 troops.  Also, the Hutt concentration in the Mid Rim kept the Empire from picking off any stragglers for extra faction cards.  However, that also worked to the imperial advantage by protecting the Wild Space from invasion via Gamorr.  Meanwhile, the Death Star blocked egress at Sluis Van.  Lucky thing, too, because the Emperor's starbase came out in turn 2 again.  Safely placed on Elom, it came under no threats for the duration of the game. 

With so much Rebel attention on the Stormtroopers, the Hutts flourished.  Eventually, Ric had to turn his forces on the green hoards, who had run up to 7, then 8 resource planets.  With that distraction underway, the Sith were able to close off the Wild Space by destroying Omwat and moving the Death Star to Gamorr. 

After securing the Wild Space, the Stormtroopers advanced into the Ison Corridor and the El'Rood Sector.  Hutt attacks nearly won the game, but they fell short and overwhelming Imperial forces soon wiped out the last Rebel vestiges.  Game ova in about 9 turns.