Hutts... again

With Thanksgiving on Thursday (what a surprise), we delayed this week's battle for galactic domination until Friday afternoon.  The result was yet another Hutt victory.  In this case, it was Kent the Hutt defeating Darth Ric and Rebel Leader Horak. 

After a rousing start, it looked like the Rebels had a good chance at sweeping the e-vile Empire off the map while keeping the dastardly Hutts in their place.  For a time the Outer Rim was under Rebel control, but the Death Star took out a huge garrison on Wayland and the Rebels never recovered. 

Taking advantage of the weakened Rebels, the Hutts swept into the Outer Rim and Core Worlds.  The Rebels couldn't stop them and the Empire "forgot" to take out the weakly garrisoned resource planet at Elom in the Wild Space.  Victory, Hutts.  

Two More Hutt Victories

Play of the Day:  In a show of Bravado after Sith Wood rolled 6-5, Flight Squadron Leader Horak placed his dice 6-6.  Ric insisted on an actual roll.  Of course, it came up 6-6, blasting the attacking Storm Troopers to oblivion.  We laughed until our stomachs hurt. 

The Rebels nearly pulled this one off -- one battle, one roll of the dice were all that stood between them and Galactic domination.  Of course, at the time I didn't know that.  Thinking that the exposed star base was just another garrison outpost, I had no desire to exhaust myself on a tactically unimportant target.  I needed to save my troops to repel the inevitable Imperial counter-attacks.  Little did I know the Emperor was hiding within. 

Turns out, those counter-attacks never occurred.  The wiley Peetza da Hutt swept into the Core Worlds and with the capture of Duro, took control of the galaxy and the game.

In the second game the e-vile Hutts once again squeaked out a victory just ahead of Sith Wood's forces.  Kent had his standard hoard of reinforcements and faction cards for seven more legions--an almost certain victory for the Empire was assured.  This time the decisive battle was at Balmorra. 

Meanwhile, here are the summary statistics for 102 games that identified player roles in this blog to date.  (Nine other games were unattributed.  Four games were draws.)

	Horak	Wood	LaBan
Hutt	13	10	31	54
Rebel	7	11	7	25
Empire	14	2	7	23
	34	23	45	102

Clearly the Hutts have the easier time of it, especially when Peetza da Hutt is at the helm.  Interestingly, Deputy Rebel Leader Kent does well in command of the Rebels and Darth Horak has done well with the Dark Side.

My suggestion from this for a balanced and challenging game:  make everyone play to a weaker side.  That would mean Ric as the Rebels, Kent as Empire, and Karl as the Hutts.  Alternatively, Karl would play Rebels, Ric as the Empire, and Kent as the Hutts. 

The Rebels Go Down... and Down Again

After our last battles for galactic domination two weeks ago, where the dastardly Rebels twice fought their way to dominance, this week things went altogether differently.  Darth LaBan and Horak the Hutt both snatched victory away from Deputy Rebel Squadron Leader Kent. 

Game #1.  With uncharacteristic benevolence, both Empire and Rebellion allowed the Hutts to start with 5 resource planet.  After a horrible start in turn 1, the Empire rebounded.  By turn 3 things were looking grim for the Rebels and the Hutts never really got traction.  Only in the very last few turns did the Hutts manage to get even a single extra faction card.  The E-vile Emperor turned up only on the 6th turn and by then the Rebels were destituted.  Victory Empire.

Game #2.  Amazingly, the Hutts got some hot dice, some capital ships, and gradually built their way up to 7 resource planets.  With a straight of faction cards (7 extra legions), they were able to take Rodia, Sullust, and at the very limit of their ability, Bespin.  Victory Hutts.

Johnny Reb Takes Two

What more can I say?  The wily Rebels were able to knock back the Empire by successfully attacking numerous small, single-legion garrisons.  Meanwhile, the E-vile Empire kept the Hutts in check with well-placed star bases and dastardly use of the Death Star.  In one game, two resource planets were reduced to asteroids, puttin' the hurt on the Hutts. 

Chaulk two victories up for Deputy Rebel Leader Wood. 

A 3-way Tie?!

Well... I never would have guessed.  After hours of see-saw warfare... well, see-saw dice rolling... exhaustion set in and no victor was in sight.  We called it a 3-way draw -- the first ever.  When you consider my opponents (see photo below), you'll understand why it was shocking to have victory slip through my fingers

It started out just fine:  Peetza da Hutt attacked the Rebels at Kessel and the Rebels rolled (6,6), then (5,6), and then another (6,6).  Six dead Hutt legions and all for nought. 

Actually, the night went on like that with (5,6) rolls coming up any time there was a critical battle.  Rebel Leader Horak was able to hold onto the Outer Rim for two turns and that was a huge bonus.  But the cards weren't helpful at all.  A fleet was never assembled, large numbers of reinforcements never arrived, and Imperial star bases stood their ground. 

Meanwhile, the Hutts, although tightly hemmed in to the Mid Rim, managed to break out into the Core Worlds and inflict terrible damage to Rebel and Empire alike.  Also, the Hutts continued to destoy star bases, forcing the Empire to relocate them. 

The Storm Troopers tried repeatedly to corner the wily Rebels, but their forces always managed to bounce back.  With all the star bases (and the Emperor himself) deployed, perhaps it was only a matter of time.

At any rate, after ten rounds of play, we agreed to the first-ever three-way draw. 

The Evil Empire Goes Down in Flames.... Twice

Yup, Darth Wood and his minion, Sith Lord Kent, went down to defeat twice in this week's battles for galactic domination.  Oaths and epithets were hurled.  Glasses and dice were hurled.  But to no avail.  Hutts and Rebels conspired to keep victory at arms length from him.

Game #1.  Despite an unlucky start in play order, Rebel Leader Karl let Peetza da Hutt start with five resource planets.  The Rebels took off to an early lead and it looked as though they would take that all the way to the bank.  But Hutts and Storm Troopers managed to turn the tide, with Imperial stock then rising. 

Even so, P da H tenaciously hung on and as the Rebels and Storm Troopers bloodied one another, made his move.  Three times he swept the Mid Rim and three times he fell one system short of victory.  Finally, on the eighth turn he managed to take Duro and end the game.   Victory Hutts. 

Game #2.  In an immediate grudge match replay, game #2 set up very differently.  The Rebels managed to hold on to the El'Rood Sector while everyone else fought over the Wild Spaces.  The Emperor used the Death Star to demolish an Ison Corridor system.  The Hutts were kept in check by constant attacks by both opponents.

Gradually the Empire gained strength and the Rebellion shrank to fewer than 12 systems.  Even after the Death Star was destroyed, a new one was raised in its place.

Even with very few reinforcements but armed with a fleet of bombers and capital ships, the Rebels were able to strike at hardened star bases reinforced with up to six legions.  This in turn drove the Force Meter far to the light side, adding more bonuses to Rebel card draws and dice rolls.  In an epic final battle, faction cards let the Rebels assemble another strike team.  The Death Star was destroyed (again) and a large garrison of Storm Troopers were reduced by attrition, leading to the capture of the Emperor.  Victory Rebels. 

A Storm Trooper, a Freedom Fighter, and a Hutt Go into this Bar...

Like Aunty Entity said in "Beyond Thunderdome," three beings enter, one being leaves."  In this case, Storm Trooper Wood, Rebel Leader Karl, and Peetza the Hutt entered and only the Hutts left... twice.  Bummer :-(((

Game #1.  A huge melee on turn 1 left the Empire sorely wounded, from which they never fully recovered.  The Rebels controlled the El'Rood Sector early on, maintained control, but could never muster enough power to knock out Star Bases.  In fact, the Emperor never arrived on board.

Meanwhile, the Hutts ground down both sides while the Empire made sure the Rebels didn't get too strong.  In the end, victory was to the green team. 

Game #2.  Oddly enough, each faction gained control of a sector at one time or another.  Once again, huge melees on turn 1 left both Rebels and Empire weakened.  The Hutts repeatedly reached 9 resource planets and with the huge number of faction cards gained, ran through their entire deck.

The Rebels had finally begun to knock out Star Bases after the Death Star left the Ison Corridor to destroy Correlia.  In one successful run, they turned left at Sulust and missed the Empire (and victory) by a single planet.

But in the end, the final set of faction cards for the Hutts was a straight for 7 additional legions of troops.  Victory was theirs.  Bummer :-(((