The 8-8-1-1-1-1 Kingmaker

With Wood's justly famous Sloppy Joes, aka Sloppy Hutts, under our belts, we resumed hostilities.  As the dice would have it, Kent drew the Hutt forces, Ric took the evile Empire, and I was left with the egg-sucking Rebels.  The setup proceeded in an fairly normal way, although truth be told, the Hutts had a good piece of the Mid-Rim resource planets and the Empire looked to easily take the Wild Space.  I vaguely recall that the game went thusly:

My initial assault set the Empire back with minimal losses to the Rebellion.  The Hutts croodled forth cautiously, but gained a 6th resource planet.  The Empire did indeed take the Wild Space and fortified it with the Death Star at Omwat and a starbase at Excarga.

Turn 2 required stern measures and the Rebels, reinforced with a bomber, fought through the Hutts at Gamorr to neutralize the Wild Space by taking the starbase at Excarga.  The initial assault on Excarga was decisively repulsed with 8-8 dice rolls.  A desperate and out-numbered Rebel force with nothing to lose continue the attack and were surprised with consecutive 1-1 / 1-1 victories.  The Hutts continued their slow advance.  The Empire, hamstrung by losses of numerous systems, struggled to gain faction cards, but did push the force meter to the dark side.  That trend continued and that alone kept them on the board as long as they lasted.

Turn 3 saw the Rebels run amok after a faction card straight.  They captured the Ison Corridor and the El'Rood Sector.  The Hutts recaptured Gamorr and ran their number of systems up to 7 for a bonus card, a dangerous situation.  However, the Hutts had now been forced out of half the galaxy.  The Empire responded to these combined threats by attacking into the El'Rood Sector at Sluis Van, which failed, and at Byfassh, which also failed.  They then destroyed the Rebel fleet and garrison at Excarga with the Death Star.  (This was the kingmaker move--had they instead reduced the Hutts at Gamorr, things would've gone differently in the end.)

Armed with reinforcements from two sectors, the Rebels continued to deal death throughout the galaxy.  The Hutts used faction cards to good effect and gained strength.  The Empire appeared to be on the ropes.

Turn 5 saw the Rebels spread thinly between the Empire who were gaining strength and the Hutts who were dangerously strong.  The Hutts continued to advance,finally taking away the Rebel sector bonus by capturing Bfassh.  The Empire continued to be the kingmaker by attacking Rebels in the Outer Rim instead of taking Hutt resource planets.

In the end, despite capturing 3 starbases and driving the Empire down to 8 systems, the Rebels could not resist huge faction card-assisted assaults that overwhelmed all that opposed them.  Victory Hutts.

Twice the Fun -- Twice the Embarrassment

General Kent not only reclaimed the Funky Chicken Trophy from Ric, but he humiliated us twice.  That brings his win percentage up to 30%, which is still well short of Ric's 38% lifetime average.

Game #1. 

Tying a previous record, the Rebels were able to attack through thinly-held Imperial lines and overrun the first starbase on the board at the beginning of their second turn.  Despite a garrison of three legions of Storm Troopers, the Rebels were able to succeed and capture Emperor LaBan.  Bummer!

Game #2.  

Resetting quickly, we dove into a second game, which turned out to be a much more involved affair.  Horak the Hutt was able to drive the Rebels out of the Ison Corridor and maintained control of that sector for the remainder of the game.  Faction card straights came thick and fast, first Hutt, then Empire, then Rebel.

General Kent and Sith Lord Ric battled it out, but the Empire was able to push the Force Meter far to the dark side.  As turns went by, the Hutts could only manage shallow gains, rarely getting into the bonus cards. The Rebels were gradually worn down and it looked like a sure thing for the Empire.  The Empire conquered the Wild Space and things were looking poorly for the Rebels.

But then the dastardly Rebels reinforced their last stronghold at Ylesia with the troops from a faction card straight and struck out for Elom.  Nar Shaddar fell, then Gamorr, next Excarga, and finally Elom itself.  True enough, the Sith Lord Ric was there.

Game Rebels.

A New Hutt Year

Memorable things from last night's game:

• Catastrophic failure of defense of Bffasch on turn 1.  (Rebel Leader Wood attacked a mass of Sith Lord Horak's troops with a slightly more massive force.  Wood blew the defense away with hardly a loss.) 
• Counterattack through the Core Worlds.  (The Empire struck back and nearly conquered the Core Worlds.  Eventually they did capture the El'Rood Sector for 2 turns.) 
• 5 7s in a row by Kent.  (Unspeakably good luck was bad luck for his opponents.)
• Numerous lost opportunities (4-2-2 wins out over 3-1, etc.  Disgustingly poor dice rolls at many key junctures in the game.)
• Numerous thin defenses stopped overwhelming forces.  (Time and again, important offenses were stymied by the casualties caused by one or a very few defenders.) 
• El'Rood Sector and Wild Space.  (Both were captured.  Both were sooner (Rebel control of Wild Space) or later (Empire in El'Rood) invaded, thus revoking the sector bonuses.) 
• Fall of the Mid Rim to the Hutts.  (The Green Hoard was able to sweep away resistance in the Mid Rim, giving Peetza da Hutt 5 easy resource planets from which to launch his eventual victory.) 
• Failure of the Rebels to attack the Hutts.  (The Rebel leader preferred to give the victory to the Hutts rather than let the Empire win.) 
• Hutt victory when the Rebels were one turn away from victory.  (Had the Hutts not prevailed, the Rebels surely would've captured the Emperor's starbase.)

Victory -- Hutts... again. 

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.