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. 

Hutt Quadfecta

In a surprising turn of events, the Hutts pulled off their fourth victory in a row, a quadfecta.  With Rebel Leader Wood and Sith Lord Ric both swearing that the Hutts would be halted in their tracks, it was a foregone conclusion that the Hutts were doomed. 

Sooo...

Horak the Hutt implemented Cunning Plan #17 -- start with only 3 resource planets... but garrison them with 7 legions each.  The other 4 systems were merely bait for Rebels and Stormtroopers looking for an easy faction card from capturing a single Hutt system. 

The game, as is always the case, had its share of crazy statistical anomalies.  This time it was a strong bias towards the defender.  Imperial systems stood strong against the Rebel assaults.  Rebels defeated overwhelming numbers of attacking Stormtroopers.   Hutts successfully warded off both factions. 

Only the Empire seemed to have any initial success, capturing the Ison Corridor, garrisoning one side with a heavily reinforced starbase  and the Death Star at the other.  Rebel counter-attacks managed to break the sector but at great cost. 

Soon the galaxy was littered with systems having singleton garrisons, except for the 3 original Hutt concentrations.  Rebel schemes to cause mass casualties fell victim to a rules technicality, but the Hutts returned with the same assault.  However, in the aftermath, the starbase involved fled to a distant and safe system.  Meanwhile, the Rebels pushed the Force Meter towards the light side. 

However, the original 3 Hutt systems stood firm for four turns until they broke away on a run for 10 systems based on the resource planets of the Mid Rim.  As noted, the defense dice were preternaturally strong and the green hoard was stopped by a single Rebel force on Kessel, surviving attacks from both direction.  Both Rebel and Empire counter-attacked, but the 5 faction cards from the previous turn gave the Hutts a reinforced fleet and a straight worth 7 legions.  Again, it came down to a battle for Kessel, but this time the Hutts overcame the Rebel resistance for the win. 

Rules note:  In an experiment, we chose to give each side a single faction card at the beginning of the game from the top of their deck.  It seemed to have little effect on the game, although this meant that the Rebels and Hutts had a chance for a turn 2 faction card straight. 

Hutt Trifecta

Darth Ric faced off against Rebel Leader Karlos while Kent the Hutt lapped up the victory.  With the Wild Space neutralized as a sector of interest by the Death Star on Omwatt, the Rebels set up on Bakura opposite the large Imperial garrison on Bespin.  The addition of the 5 legions of turn 1 reinforcements ensured a high body count.  The Hutts were not disappointed -- something like 28 troops destroyed.  After a few more ill-fated 3:1 attacks, a desperate 2:1 took out enough Stormtroopers to hold their reinforcements down to 4. 

Turn 2 witnessed two Hutt faction cards being swiped by the wily Karlos.  Sith Lord Ric built up his

Turn 3 saw the establishment of Rebel control of the Ison Corridor and the El'Rood Sector.  The Empire's faction-card straight was not enough to neutralize the Rebel threat and the Hutts used their faction cards to build up a significant fleet.  With it they were able to sweep across the Mid Rim and then strike out from Rodia through Falleen into the Core Worlds before doubling back through the rice resource planets of the El'Rood Sector. 

Victory Hutts.  Stay tuned next week for a possible Hutt "quad-fecta".

March Madness

8-8-8-8-7-7

March 19:  We knew we were in trouble when the initial rolls to choose sides came up with 4 eights in a row followed by 2 sevens.  In the end, Ric was the Rebel Leader, Darth Horak led the Empire, and Kent the Hutt led the green team.

Mssr. La Ban broke up the string of Hutt victories by taking home the trophy.

More Hutt Victories

March 26:  In an effort to gain a coveted trifecta, Ric picked the Hutt faction, leaving me the Empire, and Kent the Rebels.  Kent's initial attacks claimed the Ison Corridor and grievously injured the Stormtroopers.  The Hutts made their usual slight gains for cards, but captured no further resource planets.  The Empire struck back with a full assault into the Wild Space, but stubborn Hutt defenses surprised everyone and denied the Empire control of a sector to balance the Rebel one.  Continued counter-attacks against the Rebels in the Mid and Outer Rim evened the score with them but left everyone bloodied.

The Rebels took their handful of reinforcements plus their sector bonus and began their next offensive.  By good luck they were able to take out the Death Star where it guarded egress into the Wild Space.  That was followed by a march on Elom and the neutralization of its starbase.  The Hutts quickly capitalized on the Rebel-Empire mutual weaknesses for a record-tying 2nd turn victory. 

Since game #1 finished so early, we immediately started #2.  Ric moved to head up the Imperial forces and a chance at a trifecta.  I switched to the Hutts and Kent remained Rebel leader.

Although the initial setup was very different, the result was yet another Hutt victory.  By turn 3 a faction card straight led to a 9-system lead.  More faction card bonuses and a capital ship/bomber fleet led to final victory the next turn.
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Hutt Victories #2 & #3

March 5

Ric, aka Peetza da Hutt, takes home the coveted Funky Chicken Trophy. 

March 12

Kent the Hutt makes it a rare Hutt trifecta.  There was foul play on the part of the Empire, but that is to be expected of Sith Lord Karl.  With the Dark Side looking unstoppable, Rebel Leader Ric managed to destroy the Death Star, invade the Wild Space, and march up to the doorstep of the Emperor's starbase only to be twarted by those damn 8-sided dice.  Kent took advantage of the momentary weakness to swoop across the Mid Rim for a victory. 

The Trophy Comes Home

In a game marked by Rudy's BBQ to excess, it seemed that everyone's offensive dice were hot and their defensive dice were not.  Sith Lord Kent made a valiant effort to subdue the Rebel faction, but the wily General LaBan pushed the Force Meter far to the Light Side. 

Horak the Hutt was able to slowly build his fleet and add systems.  When the Death Star abandoned Elom to vaporize a Rebel concentration, the green hoard locked down the the Wild Space.  Meanwhile the Rebels discovered the Emperor's starbase on Mimban and that pulled Storm Troopers and Rebels away from the weakly garrisoned Hutt resource planets in the Mid Rim.  Armed with extra legions per turn, a capital ship/bomber combined fleet, and a timely faction card straight, the Hutts ran up 10 resource planets.  Victory Hutts. 

The Draw of the Three

(with apologies to Stephen King)

Ric da Hutt, General Horak, and Sith Lord Wood took to their space pods after polishing off an entire CostCo pepperoni pizza.  Most of the action concentrated in the Mid and Outer Rim due to the Death Star occupying Elom in the initial placement. 

The Rebels did a passing fair job of hunting down and destroying lone legions on Imperial systems.  That cut their reinforcement rate down, although they made valient and sometimes very effective counterattacks.  That included denying the Rebels control of the Mid Rim.  The Hutts chugged along, biding their time. 

When the Death Star finally struck forth, it took out Sullust and a large Hutt garrison.  Then the Empire captured the Wild Space.  A large Rebel force attempted to reinvade the sector, but they were beaten off.  However, stormtroopers elsewhere were being decimated.  The Force Meter swayed back and forth before becoming lodged in the light side. 

Meanwhile, the Hutts slowly regained their strength.  After the stormtroopers captured Gamorr from the Rebels, the Hutts invaded the Mid Rim, but were stymied by a well-played faction card.  The Empire fortified their newly captured resource planets, constructed starbases in the safety of the Wild Space, and used the Death Star to block egress.  They were otherwise helpless to resist the Hutt onslaught. 

The Rebels attacked across the asteroids left from the destruction of Sullust and set up a force on Eriadu, set to invade the Wild Space.  The Hutts swept past the fortified starbases and conquered systems as far as Rodia, which fell to their Gamorran battle axes and laser blasters.

Thinking the game over, we congratulated Ric.  But in that final moment of "trust but verify," we counted systems.  Alas, the Hutts held only nine.  Gamorr was protected by the Death Star, Nar Shaddar was garrisoned by a starbase with five legions, Elom was safe deep in the Wild Space, and Sullust was gone.  There was little hope that the Hutts could take 10 resource planets until they could reduce Nar Shaddar or destroy the Death Star.  The Empire was effectively barracaded in the Wild Space and the Rebels would need many more turns (and faction cards) before they could defeat that hardened target. 

The exhausted players sued for peace and called it a draw.